A Wolf's Pride (31 page)

She groaned
anew in frustration, wondering how her mate had put up with this
level of emotional retardation for more than two centuries. Taking
a deep breath, she tried again. “Blood that she couldn’t smell.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m eternally thankful to you for getting rid
of the smell before I could discover it, but Chloe is human. She
smelled nothing, no blood and no scent of death. What you were
doing was asking her to believe in something she couldn’t see,
couldn’t touch and can’t experience. It’s like me telling you that
I can see fairies and I want you to believe that they’re flying
around us.”

He frowned
confused by the change in conversation. “Fairies don’t exist
Erica.”

“
I know that
and you know that. But what if I really believed that they were
here. You couldn’t see them, couldn’t feel them but I told you that
they were a danger to us and the only way to be rid of them would
be to burn the contents of the room.”

“
That’s
ridiculous. Why would you burn down your home because of
non-existent fairies?”

“
Exactly!” she
crowed in triumph. “To Chloe’s mind that’s what you’ve done. Her
things, things which from the sound of her voice when I spoke to
her earlier, were precious, were given to her only be to taken away
callously because of something which to her is the equivalent of
fairies.”

“
But her things
were putting her life in danger. Owen attacked me because of them.
If Owen, my friend, can do that who knows what others are capable
of? There are already people who want to harm her because of her
lineage. Her possessions were throwing fuel onto a fire that I
might not have been able to put out and save her from. I did what
was necessary to protect her. I won’t apologise for
that.”

“
Did you once
explain to her what exactly had made you do what you did? The
events leading up to your final decision? The thoughts that went
through your mind? Anything?”

“
No, but…” he
stuttered, understanding finally dawning upon him.

“
With our long
life span, things aren’t important. They come and go, break and rot
away into nothing, but Chloe is human, was raised to think and feel
like one. To her, things are important, the span of her life until
she met you was finite, she probably thought some of those things
would be with her forever and you destroyed them without a word of
explanation. What makes things worse–”

“
How could
things possibly be worse?” Ryan groaned, his head falling into his
waiting palms.

“
What makes
things worse is that you tried to claim her straight after. You
came to her, drenched in the smell of her burnt possessions and
there were no words of appeasement, apology. What did you think was
going to happen?”

“
I knew she was
angry,” Ryan began, finally making an attempt to defend his
decisions. “But I didn’t think. We fought, I didn’t understand why
at the time. I see now that it was probably the full moon. It and
my wolf made sure I couldn’t think straight, couldn’t see past my
need for her to ensure I went through with the claiming. I thought
she was mad because I’d hurt her, it was unintentional but I still
hurt my mate. It’s unforgiveable.”

“
I can safely
say that your hurting her might have made her angrier but it wasn’t
the root of the problem. That lies with your actions. You abducted
her Ryan, brought her to a place where she has no friends, no
allies and people gunning for her head.”

“
She has me,”
he roared, standing from the chair.

“
You. Her
kidnapper, the man who’s keeping her from her family and by doing
so putting her life in danger and that’s before we even factor in
the destruction of her treasured memories. When you mess up, you
mess up badly. You don’t explain yourself and just expect her to
follow your lead blindly, even when her senses are telling her that
you’re lying.”

“
I don’t need
you to talk to me any more about what I’ve already done wrong. I
came here for advice, so help me.”

“
If you want my
advice, I would say do what you need to do. Beg, grovel, spend
obscene amounts of money. Do whatever you have to for her to
forgive you and maybe by the next full moon she won’t want to rip
your balls from your body. It might be hard work but I think the
timeline is possible. Hard, given the magnitude of your mistake,
but possible. Just how much are you willing to do to earn her
forgiveness?”

“
Anything,” he
stated fervently.

“
Then you know
what to do,” she explained calmly.

“
Yes I do,” he
answered honestly, walking to the door and turning the handle.
“Thanks for everything.”

“
Oh and Ryan,
one more word of advice. If at any point during the time you’re
trying to apologise, your wolf makes a suggestion, ignore it. It
will be hard for someone like you but listening to your wolf won’t
help you win back Chloe’s affection.”

“
I’m willing to
do whatever it takes to fix this. Chloe is everything to me, I can
ignore my wolf for her.”
At the very least
I can damn well try.

Chapter Twenty
Six

“
I can’t
remember the last time I was this nervous,” Ryan gulped as he
walked down the halls to his rooms. The halls were emptier now, the
full moon had passed and the celebrations to commemorate the birth
of the royal triplets ended. As Ryan walked, he could hear nothing
but the sound of his feet hitting the floor and the wild pounding
of his heart.

After his
talk with Erica, he had briefly returned to Tobias’ rooms
entrusting Chloe’s safety to Sebastian before leaving the estate.
His wolf had howled, roared and screamed for him to return to her
and after a lifetime of simply following its advice the pain had
almost been unbearable. Nothing he had said would calm it, his
words only serving to inflame its anger as the distance between he
and Chloe had increased. The wolf was furious that he had left
their mate surrounded by other males when she was unclaimed. Ryan
had explained that he trusted Sebastian with his life and even the
life of their mate but the wolf was still unsatisfied. Though it
had pained Ryan to do so, he valiantly ignored the wolf’s pleas
from that point on.

He had spent
the entire night alone in the cave where he had taken Chloe for the
claiming, deciding that it would be better for her to have time
alone. A new day meant a fresh start; clean from the massive
mistakes he had made the previous day. Despite the time he had
given himself to prepare he was anxious. His palms were damp with
sweat, his mind was frantic and his heart was racing within his
chest.
I wasn’t this nervous when
Sebastian and I told mother that the greenhouse had burned down.
Compared to how I’m feeling now, I was calm when I fought my first
war. What’s wrong with me?
The answer came
instantly.
This is Chloe, my mate, my
future, my life. If I mess this up then I won’t have anything
left.
“So I had better get it right,” he
stated decisively, turning the door handle. The door refused to
open and Ryan smiled. He had asked Sebastian to take care of Chloe
and it was clear that he had. No one but his family had keys to
enter his rooms and none of them would think to harm
her.

He shifted the
objects in his arms, reached for the key, unlocked the door and
walked into the room. Moving silently into the bedroom where
Chloe’s scent was strongest, he felt his heart twist at the sight
of her laying against the sheets.
She’s
like an angel,
he decided, creeping closer
to her. Her bright blonde hair fanned out against the pillow like a
halo, her skin was aglow with life and beneath closed eyelids; he
knew ethereal violet eyes lay hidden.
My
own personal angel,
he breathed.
And I might have lost her.
The thought staggered him, his chest constricted and for a few
moments it was impossible to breath.
No!
Erica said I hadn’t done anything irreversible, I just need to
apologise and then she’ll forgive me.

With that
thought spurring him on, he sat down on the bed, placing his gifts
beside him. He ran his fingers down the side of her face, caressing
the soft skin. This was the most peaceful he had seen her in days,
safe and warm in their bed, protected from the outside world while
she was vulnerable. He was reluctant to wake her but her proximity
was beginning to affect his wolf and he was once again trying to
press his demands.

Kiss her
Ryan,
it encouraged.
Her lips are so soft, so beautiful. She reacts so
passionately, how can you not want to kiss her? Distancing
ourselves from her is madness. Kiss her.

His eyes were
drawn to the curving bow of her lips and he couldn’t help but
gently run his thumb over her bottom lip. She quivered and he
forced his mind away from his wolf’s desires.
No! Erica told me not to listen to you. I want our mate; I
want her to love us. Your advice will only push her further away.
If you want to help, just be quiet.

He pulled his
hand away from her face, resting it on her shoulder and shaking her
lightly. Her slumber had apparently not been too deep as she
quickly woke, her eyes opening almost immediately. She smiled
sleepily at him and his heart sped up. Her hands rose to his neck
and he froze in shock, the warmth from her bare arms flowing
through him, leaving his body thrumming with heat.

“
Where have you
been?” she purred. “I missed you.” She pulled against him, her
slender arms surprisingly strong though he suspected her ability to
bring their bodies closer may have had more to do with the lack of
trying on his part to stop her. “I had this horrible dream,” she
began. The warmth of her breath feathered over his face and his
body shuddered in response, the urge to settle into her warmth
compelling. “I dreamt that you’d burned my things,” she giggled,
her body swaying gently. “Silly I know. You’d never do anything
like that would you Ryan? You’re special, different. I think you
actually care about me. You’re nothing like Gary.”

“
Who’s Gary?”
he growled angrily, the sound of an unknown male’s name on his
mate’s lips stirring him to anger.

“
He’s an ass.
He broke my heart you know?”

Ryan’s eyes
narrowed, amber filling the brown orbs. “He hurt you?”

“
I don’t want
to talk about this anymore,” she sighed her breath wafting into his
sensitive nose. Her proximity had distracted him, dulled his senses
and as he breathed in Ryan realised why his angry mate was suddenly
so talkative. Her breath was sweet, her lips wine reddened and he
looked around the room, finally taking in the messy state that it
was in. Her clothes were scattered around the room, objects lying
haphazardly on the floor as if she had bumped into them whilst
stumbling to bed. “Kiss me Ryan,” she demanded trying desperately
to pull him closer.

He resisted
her attempt, fully aware that something wasn’t right. “Chloe, are
you drunk?”

“
I might have
had a teeny, tiny bit to drink,” she chuckled. “It was a party,
everyone drinks at a party. I was upset about something, I can’t
remember what though.”

Me,
his mind inserted, filling in the
blank.

Ryan,
the wolf purred.
She
asked you to kiss her, there’s nothing wrong with doing it now. Go
on, you know you want to. I can feel how much denying her is
paining you. I’m in your mind remember?

How many
times do I have to tell you that I’m ignoring your advice before
you listen? She’s drunk. Sebastian allowed my mate to become drunk.
She could have been taken advantage of.

With you in
charge that clearly isn’t going to happen,
the wolf scoffed, disapproval radiating from his
tone.

“
Chloe, I hate
to tell you this, I really hate to tell you this,” he groaned. “But
that dream you had wasn’t a dream. I really did burn your things.”
Her face screwed up in concentration, her mind processing the words
slower than it would have done had she been sober. “But I’ve come
to apologise.”

“
It wasn’t a
dream?” she asked confused.

“
No.”

“
I, I, I have
to go,” she blurted out, springing out of bed and rushing to the
bathroom.

Ryan stood,
leaving his gifts on the bed and walking to the bathroom door. He
frowned when he found it was closed. “Chloe, I’m sorry. Please talk
to me. Don’t hide from me.” He paused listening for her response.
She said nothing but the sound of retching floated to his ears and
his heart began to race. “Chloe open the door,” he bellowed. “Open
the door Chloe!” The sound of vomiting continued and his patience
snapped. Amber flooded his eyes and he threw his full weight
against the wooden door, creating a man shaped hole in the
material. Entering the bathroom, his chaotic heartbeat sped
up.

Chloe lay
hunched over the toilet, retching loudly as she proceeded to empty
the contents of her stomach. He rushed to her side confused.
What’s wrong with her? Why is she sick? Did
someone do something to her?
“Chloe, angel,
speak to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”