A Wolf's Oath (22 page)

And what about when she does eventually remember how things
were between us? Do you think she’ll be so understanding
then?

I don’t think that far ahead remember? That’s your
job.

“
Sebastian?” Erica called from the doorway.

Her soft voice immediately gained his attention and he turned
to look at her, groaning low in his throat at the sight she made.
The small towel that she had found to dry herself left very little
to the imagination. Her long toned legs were easily displayed and
he could see the top curve of her breasts confined by the soft
cotton. Much in the same manner he had done with his mental
imaginings, he followed the trail of a droplet of water before her
voice demanding his attention forced his gaze upward to her face.
“Yes Erica?”

“
The shower is free.” She smiled warmly, clearly unaware of his
distress.

I can see that.
“Thanks.”

“
You’re welcome but hurry, I’m getting hungrier by the
second.”

“
I’ll be as quick as I can.”

“
Ok.” She walked away from the door and down the hall into her
own room, closing the door with a quiet click.

I’m going to need a nice cold shower to help alleviate my
problem,
Sebastian thought shifting the
duvet across his legs to hide his state of arousal.
She’s going to think I’m sex crazed if this keeps
up.

It’s not all that far from the truth,
his wolf remarked casually.

Don’t lump me in the same category as you, I can control my
body’s urges.

It really looks like it,
the wolf
laughed.

Oh shut up!
Throwing the duvet away
from his body, he strode down the hall and into the
shower.

True to her word it hadn’t taken Erica very long to be ready
for the trip, the mysterious voice hadn’t made a return and she was
feeling positive.
This is going to be a
good day.
She smiled, walking from her room
and into the living room. She was surprised to see that Sebastian
was showered and dressed, waiting for her on the sofa despite the
fact that she had showered first.

“
That was quick,” she commented

“
You were hungry, I didn’t want to have to make you wait around
here any longer than was necessary.”

“
There was no need for you to rush.” Her stomach grumbled
again, making a falsehood of her claim. She flushed in mild
embarrassment, mortified that she was unable to control her body
better.

Sebastian laughed. “Come on let’s get you something to eat.
I’m getting hungry myself and I think that if I don’t eat something
soon it’s going to be making even louder sounds than yours.” He
easily took her hand leading her from the cabin.

As soon as they stepped outside, Erica froze. Her eyes glued
to the white flakes of snow that fell from the sky. “It’s snowing,”
she commented.

“
It’s colder up here in the mountains, snow is
normal.”

She smiled fondly at the light covering of snow that now
covered the ground. “I love snow,” she remarked
casually.

Sebastian froze at the comment, turning to look at her.
“Really?” he coughed, uncertain about interrupting her wistful
musings but anxious for her to continue. This was the first thing
she’d remembered about herself since she’d woken.

“
Yeah, it’s so pretty don’t you think?” He nodded dumbly and
she continued. “I always take Dylan and Wyatt out to make snowmen
in the winter. We can get some really thick snow sometimes.” At the
mention of her brother and sister Sebastian's heart began to race,
was her memory returning already? She started to laugh as she
continued. “Last year it got really heavy and when Wyatt fell in
the snow I thought I’d lost him and then Dylan…” she stumbled as
the memory began to fade. Her mind kept reaching for the lost
memory desperate to remember something of importance. As she pushed
herself she could feel the beginnings of a headache build.
“Dylan…damn it what did she do?” she shouted in
frustration.

“
That’s enough sweetheart.” Sebastian's voice was gentle,
soothing as he pulled her close to him, his hands stroking gently
over her back. “You don’t have to force yourself.”

“
But I remembered something. I really thought it might mean
something. I thought it might mean that my memory was going to come
back.”

“
You remembered something Erica, that in itself is something.
This is the first thing you’ve remembered and it does mean
something, it means that your memories will eventually return.
Don’t worry so much.”

“
How can I not worry Sebastian? I can’t remember who I am. I
can’t remember my family. I can’t even remember you. Doesn’t that
concern you at all?”

“
You don’t have to worry about these things because you have me
Erica. I’m never going to leave you I swear it. I don’t want you
pushing yourself sweetheart, I could see that trying to force that
memory wasn’t easy on you, your health and safety are my number one
concerns at the moment. That’s all that I’m worried about.
Everything else isn’t of immediate concern to us.”

“
The way you think about things when they concern me is very
simple isn’t it Sebastian?”

His brow furrowed in confusion at her comment. “What do you
mean?”

“
You just see a problem and take all of it onto your shoulders
and just tell me not to worry. I’m sure that you can take care of
yourself but I don’t want you overstretching yourself for me. I
might not remember you, but I’ve come to trust you. I just feel as
though I’m safe around you. Don’t ask me why because the best
explanation I can come up with is that it’s a gut feeling, like an
instinct. You seem to always put me first and while it’s really
nice to know that I’ve got you watching out for me, I’m not
completely helpless. I want to have a partnership and for that to
work you can’t take all the problems onto yourself.”

“
Erica,” he groaned unhappy with her train of
thought.

“
I’m serious Sebastian, we have to work together.”

“
I don’t want you to have to worry sweetheart, is that really
so bad? I want you to get better and stress and worry aren’t likely
to help you.”

“
Is this how we were before I forgot everything? Did you really
have to do everything by yourself? Because that isn’t how a
relationship should work.”

“
Fine,” he conceded. “I’ll try not to take everything onto
myself. I’m not saying that I’ll worry you with anything major, but
little everyday things, I’ll be sure to tell you about.”

“
All I want is to be able to help. I’m enough of a burden as it
is, I want to be helpful even if it’s only by a little
bit.”

“
And I’m agreeing to that but not if it begins to affect your
recovery.”

“
I want to get better as well Sebastian, I’m not going to
jeopardise my chances of doing that. No one wants my memories to
return more than me.”

I wish that were true sweetheart,
he
sighed.
You might want your memories to
return but I need them to. There are so many dangers out there that
you’re not even aware of and I can’t tell you about them either.
That puts you in even greater danger than before, we don’t know if
the hunters will strike again. I’ve never heard of a wolf escaping
their captivity alive and you wouldn’t even know them if they were
in plain sight.

It’s our job to make sure that doesn’t happen,
his wolf counselled.
If
hunters think they can take her from us again then they’re in for
an unpleasant surprise.

We won’t let her be taken again.
Sebastian assured himself, turning to smile widely at her.
“Come on then let’s go and get some breakfast, I’m getting hungrier
with every second that we’re hanging around here.”

“
Thank God,” she groaned in relief. “I’m absolutely famished. I
was beginning to think that you’d forgotten the concerns of my
stomach.”

“
I’d never forget anything of importance to you,” he laughed,
heading towards the small jeep they were using for transportation.
Though he knew it would be faster for him to simply run on foot to
the nearby town, Erica's belief that she was human prevented him
from using his natural abilities.
I really
hope that her memories return soon, I’m not sure how much I can
take of pretending to be human.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

The drive to the nearby town centre was a short one but it
wasn’t anything Sebastian hadn’t anticipated. He had chosen to
relocate them to this particular town for a reason. The cabin that
he and Erica were living in was far enough away from the town that
they didn’t have to sacrifice their privacy but close enough that
Erica wouldn’t find herself lacking in accessible human
companionship. As he parked in the parking lot of the town’s only
diner, he found himself appreciating the fact that it wouldn’t take
long to return home. Driving, in his opinion, was very much
overrated. He had learnt the skills to drive as all of their kind
did in order to better blend in with humans should they need to
interact with them for extended periods of time. Despite the fact
that he knew how to operate cars, he couldn’t manage to find any
enjoyment in the act of driving. Perhaps he was more in touch with
his wolf’s instincts than he had previously thought, he found long
runs more satisfying than being contained within the metal frame of
the car.

It had been easy enough to locate the diner and as he scanned
his surroundings the reason for that became clear. The town centre
was laid out in a very simple manner with a wide main road covering
the length of the town, leading both in and out. This road was
flanked on both sides by buildings that fulfilled all the needs of
the nearby residents, with side roads shooting of the main one as
and when necessary. He could find no pattern in how the side roads
were laid. He knew that the town was small, he had picked it after
all, but the town centre served only to reinforce this fact. Some
of the buildings that lined the main road were undoubtedly
residential and while he knew that others lived further away from
the town centre like him and Erica, there weren’t many of them
meaning that the rest of the towns population all lived within the
small area that he had driven them into.

The growling of her stomach guiding her actions, Erica
grasped Sebastian's hand and led him into the warmth of the diner,
desperate for food to satisfy her hunger, it felt as though she
hadn’t eaten in days. The inside of the diner was much what she had
expected, wooden floors and wood panelled walls. Tables, chairs and
booths were scattered throughout the small area, which seemed
almost empty this particular morning. The couple made their way to
an empty table, sitting in the chairs and flicking through the
menus they found left on the tables.

“
I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” Erica groaned, her eyes
scanning the page in front of her voraciously as she tried to
decide on what she would order.

“
I can tell,” Sebastian commented, looking casually at his
menu.

“
You can?” Erica asked perplexed.

His body was gradually attuning itself to hers the longer he
was in her presence. While his senses were much sharper than a
human’s, when it came to his mate his already heightened senses
sharpened significantly. Though she wasn’t aware of it their bodies
were gradually becoming more accustomed to each other and the
simplest disturbance could be felt. But he couldn’t tell her the
truth while she was still under the belief that she was human so he
temporised. “Your stomach is really good at making its needs
known,” he chuckled nervously.

“
Oh, I thought that it had finally settled,” she sighed, her
eyes still glued to the menu in her hands.

“
Hello.” A woman’s voice managed to divert their attention from
the demands of their stomachs and both Sebastian and Erica turned
to look at her. The woman was tall for a human though not as tall
as Erica, with curly, dirty blonde hair that surrounded her face.
Her eyes were so dark that they appeared black, a surprising
contrast given the light hair atop her head. Erica eyed the roots
of the woman’s hair with mild curiosity but could find no traces of
a different colour and concluded that the woman’s colouring was
natural. The waitress was wearing a red dress that seemed to match
the theme of the diner’s interior with its red chairs, red booths
and red menus.

“
You guys are new around here aren’t you? It’s nice to meet
you, I’m Claire.” The woman’s warm welcome drew their gazes to her
attire. The small white name tag on her chest was the only splash
of a different colour the woman wore and it confirmed her name. She
waited expectantly before Erica realised that she wanted them to
introduce themselves as well.

“
It’s nice to meet you as well, I’m Erica and this is my fiancé
Sebastian.”

“
Are you ready to order or is there something I can get you to
drink if you haven’t quite made up your minds?”

Erica's eyes once again wandered over the colourful images of
the menu trying to make a decision but her lack of knowledge about
what food she liked or disliked proved an impediment.
I don’t want Sebastian to have to do everything
for me,
she thought stubbornly, her grip on
the menu tightening. Smiling she turned to Claire. “Is there
anything that you’d recommend? We’re new here so I don’t really
know what’s good or not.”
Let’s hope this
works and doesn’t backfire on me.