A Wolf's Duty (13 page)

“They sent me back with him. I
guess they were overworked and didn’t want to deal with my case so
they chose to believe him. He broke my other arm for that, but that
didn’t stop me from trying again,” she chuckled, trying to make
light of the situation. “I was caught again and sent home. That
escape attempt earned me a broken leg and a cracked rib. He
threatened to break both my legs if I tried it again and I believed
him. I gave one more half hearted try, third time is the charm
after all, and as usual I was caught. He didn’t manage to break
them, but I think he came close. I stopped trying after that. I
just couldn’t see how it was worth it. It’s amazing just how much
regular beatings can suck the life out of you.”

She turned to face him, a weak
smile flitting across her face. “I guess you think I’m pretty weak
just giving up like that, if it was you I’m betting they wouldn’t
have caught you the first time let alone the second.”

What? I’m
beginning to wonder how my woman’s mind works. I’ve never met
someone so brave. She kept trying even though she knew how badly
she’d be hurt when they caught her. Many wouldn’t have even tried
after the first time let alone doing it three times.
He shook his head emphatically, shocked at the low
regard in which she held herself.

“I didn’t stop trying to get
away; I just chose a different method of doing it. I was trying to
save money for a plane ticket out of there. As soon as I hit
twenty-one and got my degree, I was going to leave regardless of if
I had the money or not. Finishing university was the last thing my
mum asked of me, after all she’d gone through for me, the least I
could do was grant her her last wish. We’d both spent so long
choosing it, she fought Fred for me to be able to go to university
and I had to honour that. There it is Tobias, the truth is my
father has been beating me senseless for the past three years oh,
and apparently I’m a witch.”

He stared at her intensely
allowing the silence to continue to grow between them. She squirmed
under his scrutiny. “You can talk now Tobias, I’ve told you
everything.”

He continued to silently regard
her before he began moving, his motions slow and cautious as though
he was afraid she would suddenly flee. He inched closer until they
were face-to-face his warm breaths feathering over her skin. Using
his bigger body to crowd her, he forced her back until she was
lying flat against the mattress. Raising both hands above her head
he quickly shackled both of her small wrists within one of his
large hands.

“Tobias, what are you doing?”
she demanded struggling to escape his grip.

“Don’t fight me on this Xandria,
I kept my word and stayed silent and now there’s something I need
to do. I won’t hurt you I promise. Just relax.” Turning away from
her he stared calmly at his free hand, smiling in satisfaction as a
lone nail elongated into a sharp claw.

Fighting her instinctive need to
scream, she watched as he moved the claw to the neckline of her
shirt. He easily sliced the thin material in half before continuing
to claw the rest of her clothes, exposing her to his intense
scrutiny. She felt a blush creep up her cheeks once he had reduced
her attire to her underwear.

Mine.
His wolf growled possessively upon seeing the
expanse of almost naked skin.

Focus,
he snapped,
we have a job
to do. Now isn’t the time to be ogling her.
His wolf growled low but was apparently content to sit back
and allow Tobias to continue his examination. His eyes roamed over
her almost naked frame, a growl rising in his throat as he took
stock of the scars and bruises that peppered her small
body.

“Tobias?” she squeaked, becoming
increasingly uncomfortable as his eyes became amber and his throaty
growl filled the room.

He released her wrists, quickly
rising from the bed. She clutched the sheets to her chest to cover
herself as he paced the length of the room. His strides ceased
abruptly, before he turned to smile at her, his eyes now completely
amber and his sharp canines increasingly prominent. Reaching into
one of several drawers, he pulled out a simple t-shirt and a long
pair of sweatpants.

“Put them on sweetheart.”
Placing the clothes beside her, he stood back expectantly waiting
for her to dress.

Her blush increased and she
could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks. “Turn around.”

“What?”

“Turn around so I can get
dressed.”

He frowned at her, sighing
before turning on his heel to face the door. She dressed quickly,
tapping him on the shoulder to let him know he could look at
her.

“The clothes are too big,” she
mumbled shyly.

He silently agreed, his clothes
effectively swallowing her in their mass, but the sight of her
wearing his clothes was definitely an appealing one, one that
called to his possessive instincts.

“Tobias I think I should go now,
it’s late.”

“Go where exactly?”

“Home, where else did you think
I’d be going?”

“You aren’t going back
there.”

She groaned feeling the
beginnings of a long and protracted argument emerge. “I have
nowhere else to go.”

“I gave you my word that I
wouldn’t harm your father, but after all that you’ve told me, after
all that I’ve seen for myself, you expect me to just let you go?
Let you go back there?”

“What other choice is
there?”

“You’re coming home with me.
You’re my mate and I’ve done nothing but fail you. You’ve been
beaten, cut and injured by one of my own people while under my
care. It’s my duty to see to your protection and safety and I won’t
stand for this anymore. I’m taking you home with me where I can
keep you safe and protected. There are no other options.”

“Tobias, you can’t just make
that kind of decision by yourself, what if I don’t want to go with
you, what if I want to stay where I am?”

“That isn’t an option, you’re
coming back with me and there will be no further discussion on the
subject. It’s my duty to protect you, even if I have to protect you
from yourself.” Turning away from her, he strode to the door and
flung it open wide. “Sebastian, Ryan we’re leaving. Pack up all the
stuff and get it shipped back.”

I can’t
believe he’s doing this.
Rushing to his
side, she grabbed his arm and forced him to face her. “Tobias,
you’re being unreasonable. You can’t think you can just up and take
me from my life and I’ll be fine with it.”

He smiled, cupping her face in
one of his hands and her treacherous body responded, leaning into
his warmth. “That’s exactly what I plan to do. You can’t want to go
back to that life.”

“Maybe not, but it’s my life,
you can’t just decide this by yourself.”

“I think that’s exactly what I’m
doing. If you won’t see to your own safety, then I have to do it
for you.”

“I’ve been taking care of myself
my entire life. I don’t need you telling me what to do!” she
yelled, frustrated by his outlook.

“You’ve been battered for the
past two years, and I intend to remedy the situation.”

Entering the room cautiously,
Ryan eyed the bickering pair hovering by the door in case they
chose to turn on him. “Tobias, when do you want us to head
out?”

His eyes never left Alex’s,
defiance stamped clearly across his features. “Pack up now. We
leave as soon as possible.”

“Ryan, you don’t know what he
wants to do, don’t listen to him.”

“I intend to protect my mate.”
Tobias smiled, walking closer to her.

Nodding, Ryan turned as though
to leave the room and begin obeying Tobias’ command. “Stop!” Alex
yelled. “You can’t just go along with him; if you do then it really
does count as kidnapping.”

“I would do the exact same thing
in his situation.” He grinned. “If it were me I wouldn’t have even
waited the week, I would have taken you as soon as I saw you.”

She threw her hands in the air,
clearly exasperated. “What the hell is wrong with you guys? Sanity,
anyone ever hear of it? This isn’t normal.”

“We aren’t normal Alex.” He
quickly left the room, leaving them alone once again.

“Ryan is right sweetheart. We
aren’t normal but then neither are you.”

“And what if I decide that I
just won’t go?”

“Then you’ll force my hand,” he
growled, stepping closer, causing her to take a step back as the
habitual fear rose within her. “You’re afraid, I can smell it.
There’s no need for it. I would cut off my own arm before I laid a
hand on you in anger.”

“Then what exactly did you mean
by that force my hand comment?”

He smirked, “Do you really want
to know?”

Nodding, she watched as he
approached her, refusing to move a muscle. Placing his hands at her
waist, he easily lifted her into the air, before resting her on his
shoulder.

Her breath left her body in a
large whoosh as his shoulder met her stomach and the blood rushed
straight to her head as she was placed upside down. It took her a
moment to regain her bearings but she soon realised that they were
moving.

Thrashing about wildly, she
tried to dislodge herself from her resting place. “Tobias, put me
down. Put me down now!”

“Have you changed your mind? Are
you going to come willingly?”

“You can’t just do this Tobias,
you can’t take away my ability to decide things for myself and then
expect me just to go along with your choices.”

“You wanted a choice?”
Chuckling, he raised an arm to secure her more firmly in place.
“Fine I’ll give you a choice. You can come with me or you can come
with me. What do you want to do?”

“That’s not choice!” She
spluttered indignant.

“Well it’s the only choice
you’re going to get in the matter. I don’t really see what the
problem is. You wanted to escape and I’m helping you. This was
going to happen eventually. All you have to do is sit back, relax
and let me take care of you. Trust me, dearest, this really is for
the best.” He laughed, palming her upturned buttocks as he headed
out of the open door into the outside world.

Chapter
Twelve

Walking into the darkened house
Fred felt a deep scowl forming on his face as he fumbled for the
light switch by the door. The bright lights stung his bleary red
eyes and he threw an arm over his face to protect them from the
onslaught. Soon becoming accustomed to the light, he realised that
the scent of cooking food had failed to reach his nose.

Stupid girl
had better have a good excuse for why she hasn’t made my
dinner.
He smiled to himself.
It doesn’t matter even if she has a great reason
for not being here, it won’t save her from a beating.
He chuckled aloud, the harsh sound reverberating
around the room. A low groan forced him to turn his head and his
laughter died immediately at the sight that awaited him.

A large body lay in a pool of
congealing blood, deep scratches marring the flesh of the man’s
back. Easing away from the semi-conscious form, he rushed to the
empty kitchen, quickly acquiring a large knife before moving back
to where the intruder lay resting. The scars on the man’s back had
healed slightly in his absence and Fred took a moment to regard the
figure, amazed as the flesh continued to scab over under his
gaze.

Tightening his grip on the blade
in his hand, he placed a well-aimed kick to the man’s ribs,
eliciting another groan from him; he frowned as the figure
continued to lay unresponsive. Kicking harder against the man’s
ribs, he managed to roll the figure on to his back. His eyes
narrowed as the familiar face was exposed to the light.

“Sean?” Blue eyes shot open at
his name and he groaned again, becoming increasingly aware of the
stabbing pain in his back and the burn in his side.

Struggling, he managed to raise
himself enough so he was sitting against a wall, his head turned
frantically as he scanned the room for Alex’s presence. “Where is
she Fred?” He demanded, gripping his side to staunch the flow of
blood from the gaping wound as he continued to heal.

“Where’s who Sean?” His eyes
were once again drawn to the large pool of blood on the floor as he
became aware that Sean was still bleeding over the dirty carpet.
“Never mind that, what the hell happened to you? And what are you
doing in my house?” he yelled.

Ignoring his friend’s questions,
Sean continued to scan the room, desperately hoping that she was
still in the house, although he was becoming increasingly aware
that the likelihood of her sticking around was very slim. “Alex,”
he pressed, “Alex, Fred, where is she?”

“I have no idea. I just got back
and found your ass passed out on my floor. Now what the fuck is
going on? What happened to you?”

“I was attacked. I would’ve
thought that was obvious.” He sneered, the pain causing him to snap
at his friend. Disappointment filled him at the realisation that
his prize had slipped through his fingers, just as her mother had
managed to keep her powers from him by killing herself.

“And what the fuck are you doing
here?” Fred demanded becoming increasingly frustrated with Sean’s
evasive half answers.

“I needed something from Alex.”
Fred’s small eyes narrowed further at his friend’s off hand comment
and he reached forward pulling Sean towards him by his collar.

“Did you know about it too?”

“Did I know about what exactly?”
Sean gasped.

“The money, Sean, the money. Did
you know? Even if you knew it doesn’t make a difference, that money
belongs to me and I’m going to get it,” he snarled, spittle flying
from his mouth to land on Sean’s face.

“I don’t know anything about the
money Fred, that isn’t what I wanted from her.”