A Wolf's Duty (10 page)

“We do know each other
Alex, we have done for a long time but that doesn’t change the fact
that for me to get what I want, you have to die. I would feel sorry
that you want to live but in reality, that’s your problem my dear.”
The blade dug deeper and the blood began to leave her body even
faster in response. She felt herself grow light-headed at the
sensation, her body beginning to sway in the man’s
grasp.

A low growl interrupted
the silence and reverberated around the small room, her eyes
frantically scanned the room in a vain attempt to find help, her
ears straining to hear the sound again. The pressure on her throat
eased as the chin on her head was lifted as her assailant turned to
try and discover where the sound had come from. The rumbling growl
returned, louder than before and Alex wanted to cry with relief as
the body pressed against her moved a scant few inches away as the
man became distracted.

“There isn’t meant to be
anyone else here,” he muttered to himself before turning his head
to stare intently at the empty room. “If there’s anyone there show
yourself!” he yelled.

Help
me,
she whispered to the voice in her mind,
praying that it had entered the house and was here to save
her.

The attacker’s demands
were soon met as a heavy weight barrelled into his back throwing
both him and Alex to the ground and tossing the knife out of his
reach. As soon as his arms were no longer trapping her body against
her Alex scrambled across the floor to ensure she was out of his
grasp before turning to take in her saviour. Her back against the
opposite wall of the room, she gasped at the size of the wolf that
was pinning her attacker to the ground.

Amber eyes regarded her
intently before turning to snarl at its captive, exposing
dangerously long canines. The wolf’s dark brown fur looked clean
and well-kept, appearing soft to the touch as though someone had
taken great care of the creature. Its ears were cocked and its
muzzle was contorted in anger as it howled its obvious displeasure.
The long length of its body was pressing down on the attacker,
trapping him beneath the wolf.

Why on earth
someone would keep that as a pet, I don’t know. That thing could
probably reach my waist, and look at those teeth!
Taking her eyes off the wolf to the man hidden
beneath his large frame, she reconsidered her previous thought, her
hands reaching up to slow the trickle of warm blood from her
throat.
Then again it did save my
life.
Her heart began to race as the large
animal moved and she clutched at the wall behind her trying not to
startle the wolf and cause it to turn on her.

She watched as the wolf
sat back on its hind legs appearing to examine its sharp claws
before it turned them on her assailant. There was none of the
savagery she had expected as the animal calmly and meticulously
clawed the clothes from the man’s back. Once the skin was exposed
it leaned heavily on one paw keeping him pinned to the ground while
it dug deep with the other paw dragging the claws down his back and
rending the flesh as it tore rending strips of flesh from his
exposed skin. When one paw had scored the man’s flesh it was calmly
removed before it pressed down allowing the other paw to tear
flesh, one paw then the next, its motions still devoid of any form
of wildness instead characterised by an almost eerie thoroughness.
The man screamed in obvious pain as the wolf continued, holding him
in place with its girth while it shredded his back, the frantic
shrieks soon died out as the man clearly lost consciousness.
Opening its jaw wide to expose rows of glistening white teeth, it
snapped them close around her attacker’s side snarling against the
flesh before removing them and turning once again to stare at the
terrified Alexandria.

She had begun to shake as
she witnessed the animal’s calm maiming of her attacker, but the
shakes transformed into full body tremors as the wolf began to pad
silently over to her leaving bloody paw prints on the carpet as it
traversed the floor. She shook her head as it stalked ever closer,
amber eyes locked with her own.

“No,” she whispered, her
panic rising. “No! Stay away from me! Just stay right there, don’t
come any closer!” Surprise flooded her as the wolf stopped,
seemingly frozen in place. Cocking her head, she studied the animal
lest it move again. Relatively sure that the wolf was content to
remain where it was she tried to stand, quickly finding that her
legs had chosen this moment to cease functioning and turn to
jelly.

“Not now,” she
muttered to herself, eyes still trained on the wolf in case it
began to move again. “Come on now legs work for God’s sake! I need
to get out of here before wolfie over there decides he’s hungry or
crazy psycho man wakes up and tries to kill me.” Leaning against
the wall and holding it for support, she managed to make it to her
feet, closing her eyes as she sighed in relief.
Life isn’t bad enough with Fred as a father, I have to make
my university explode with foliage, be attacked by a raving lunatic
and be saved by a wolf. I’ve had enough excitement for a lifetime,
I’m done, I’m getting out of here and then –
Her line of thought was cut short as she opened her eyes to
find the body of her saviour wolf transforming into something
else.

The hair on his
large form was receding and becoming increasingly smooth with each
second that passed. The air was filled with the sound of cracking
as his limbs changed shape, his forelegs becoming longer and more
flexible as they transformed into arms while his paws extended into
fingertips. The wolf’s shoulders became increasingly broad and his
torso lengthened becoming human in definition and shape. His hind
legs also became longer and more muscled as they joined his upper
body, completing his transformation from wolf to human. As the man
stood in place of the wolf an inane thought floated through her
mind in the face of his transformation.
He’s wearing clothes; I would have thought he’d be
naked.
She blushed at the thought before
the man smiled as he began to approach her and all thought fled as
her eyes rolled back and her mind went blissfully blank, the
stresses of the day apparently having taken their toll.

As her body fell towards
the ground, the man rushed forward with astonishing speed, catching
her body in his arms. Looking down at her unconscious face, he
frowned before reaching into one of the pockets on his khaki shorts
for his phone. Quickly retrieving the small device, he pushed a
single button for speed dial and waited for an answer.

“Sebastian,” he sighed,
looking down at the unconscious female held in his arms, “we have a
problem.”

Chapter
Nine

Loud voices woke Alex and
as her mind began to struggle against the fog of unconsciousness,
she became aware of the sensation of silken smooth material against
her skin and she fought her body’s reaction as it attempted to get
closer to the pleasant sensation and return to blissful
unawareness. Her eyelids felt unusually heavy but she forced them
to rise so that she could see her surroundings. Like her eyelids,
her brain felt sluggish and so it took her a moment to realise that
she wasn’t at home nor anywhere she would usually find herself.
Taking a look down at the heavy satin sheets she realised that
should have been her first hint. Her eyes quickly scanned the large
room as she fought to regain her bearings. She quickly noted the
large double bed she was sitting on wasn’t out of place,
complimented by seemingly plush cream carpets and rich heavy
furniture.

An open door to the side
of the room caught her wandering gaze and she craned her head over
the bed fighting to catch a glimpse of what was within. Seeing the
edge of a toilet, she concluded that it was a bathroom and returned
her gaze to the room she found herself in before the increasingly
loud voices caught her attention once more and she began to strain
her ears to catch what the voices were saying.

“He’s going to kill you.”
The first male voice stated, calmly delivering a death sentence to
the second voice.

“You think I don’t know
that?” The other voice bellowed.

“Well what do you expect?
He asked us to take care of her and she nearly dies while in our
keeping.”

“You act like it’s my
fault that happened.”

“It was your turn to watch
her this morning.”

“How was I to know that
she’d make her campus explode with greenery and have to end up
running home? She was meant to be safe there.”

“Apparently not.” The
first voice stated.

“He didn’t tell us she
could do that.”

“No he didn’t.”

“Will anyone be looking
for her because of it?” The second voice questioned.

“No, the humans have
written it off as a chemical accident from what I’ve heard.” The
voice sounded as though it were closer now and Alex’s mind began to
panic.

Humans? He
speaks like he’s not one, what have I gotten myself
into?

The door to the room swung
open and she gazed wide-eyed into the face of the newcomer. It took
her slow mind a moment to realise that the face she was staring at
was that of her wolfish saviour. Her eyes widened in shock upon
noticing the tall figure now leaning calmly against one of the
room’s walls, but she took the moment to take in his features. His
short cut hair was a deep red contrasting sharply to his pale skin.
His eyes were a now a deep brown instead of his previously feral
amber. She suspected they could turn to a warm chocolate brown when
happy, but at the moment his features were marred by the deep
furrows on his brow from frowning. The corners of his eyes were
marked with laughter lines, contrasting enormously to his current
frosty demeanour. Her eyes moved over his large frame, immediately
noting the strength in the arms crossed over his chest.

I’d never make
it far enough.
She sighed, resigning
herself to being in his presence.

The two stared continued
to stare at each other, allowing the silence to continue to flow
between them before the man turned away moving back towards the
door. Clutching the sheets tighter against her, Alex pressed her
body closer to the bed’s headboard, her eyes quickly looking around
for a means of escape. The only other door was the bathroom.
Quickly looking out of the window; she abandoned jumping as a plan
upon seeing the height of the buildings around them.

We must be on
the top floor of wherever this is. It’s night now; I’ve been here
all day! It isn’t right that one person can be so unlucky in just
one day.

“Sebastian, she’s awake.”
The man yelled, leaving the door open before walking back into the
room, she recognised the voice from the conversation that had woken
her.

Pulling her mind back from
escape, she turned her gaze to the door watching as another man
entered the room and walked over to the bed.

“Hiya Alex, do you mind if
I call you Alex?”

This must be
the other voice then. The one that was doling out death sentences
or at least I hope he is. God if there’s more than two of them I
might not be able to escape.

She shook her head,
immediately seeing the similarities between the newcomer and her
saviour. Although the newcomer’s hair was slightly shorter, that
was where the differences between the two ended, though she
suspected they would look even more similar if her wolf friend
chose to smile as widely as the newcomer.

“You probably guessed but
I’m Sebastian and the grouch in the corner is my brother Ryan,” he
chuckled.

She opened her mouth to
respond but found that her voice had deserted her, coughing she
attempted to force it to return. “I’d like to go home now,” she
croaked.

The smile on Sebastian’s
face disappeared immediately and she tightened her grip on the
sheets surrounding her tightened in response. “We can’t let you do
that.”

“Why not, I’d like to go
so just let me go.”

He sighed, turning to Ryan
for advice. “Look Alex,” Ryan quickly began, his harsh tone
reflecting the anxious look on his face. “You nearly got killed the
last time you went home if I remember correctly, so excuse us if
we’re not going to just let you wander off again. You’re staying
here and that’s that.”

“Ryan!” Sebastian
chastised, “Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?”

“It’s the truth, there’s
no need to sugar coat it. She’s a big girl, I’m sure she wouldn’t
want us to lie to her just so she feels better,” he replied,
clearly unrepentant at his actions.

“But you’re just scaring
her more.” Ryan sighed his frustration rising. “I’m sorry about him
Alex, he’s normally a really nice guy, but what happened to you has
put us all on edge.” Sebastian’s eyes wandered now her face to the
angry red line across her throat. “Look we’re not going to hurt
you, so just relax.”

“Give me one good reason
why I should believe that? I don’t know either of you and you just
up and take me from my home. You do realise that some people would
consider that kidnapping?”

“I saved your life,” Ryan
snarled, stalking closer to the bed.