A Wolf's Duty (26 page)

“They wouldn’t believe you
Tobias, they would simply see it as another attempt to get out of
mating me.”

He stood taller at the
claim, his eyes narrowing to slits as he glared at her. “I’m the
Prince of our people, if I say something happened in a particular
way then people will believe what I say. Are you really willing to
take the risk?”

Her eyes darted from the
thunderous expression etched on Tobias’ face to the satisfied look
plastered onto Alex’s, quickly accepting defeat. “This will all be
over tomorrow anyway and then you will have to accept that we’re
meant to be together.” Spinning on her heel she stormed off, soon
moving out of their line of vision.

The breath left Alex’s
body in one large sigh as the confident act she had put on for
Lucinda vanished. “Good riddance to bad rubbish.” Smiling, she
turned to look at Tobias, her hands automatically seeking the
warmth of his body. Running her palms over the hard muscles of his
stomach she moved closer, leaning against him to savour the
sensation of being so close. His arms soon wrapped themselves
around her, pulling her even closer against him, awareness of their
surroundings fading.

“I’ve missed you Xandria.”
He groaned, nuzzling his face into her neck. He allowed her warmth
to seep into him for a moment longer before pushing her away from
his body to look her over. His eyes immediately zeroed in on the
deep bags under her eyes and concern rushed through him. “Xandria?”
he questioned, bringing a hand up to her face and running his thumb
lightly over the darkened skin.

“I haven’t been sleeping
well.”

“I can see that dearest,
what’s the matter? Are you worried about the Challenge tomorrow? Is
that it? I felt that you were anxious about something. I don’t want
you worrying over this. You have a bag packed?”

“Yes Tobias,” she sighed.
“I’ve done it but I don’t see why I even bothered. I’m not running
away from Lucinda, I’m going to win.”

“We’ll see what Ryan has
to say about that before any decisions are made.”

“That’s not why I’m not
sleeping,” she rushed, desperately trying to distract his attention
from finding Ryan.

“Then what’s the
matter?”

“The nightmares,” she
mumbled, her body beginning to tremble as the images from her
nightly sessions came to the front of her mind. “They’ve gotten
worse. I know you were only there for one night, but I’m beginning
to find that once something bad doesn’t happen even once, it seems
all that much worse when it happens again.”

“Tell me about them,” he
encouraged, rubbing his hands up and down her shaking arms in a
comforting gesture.

“He’s there every night; I
can’t seem to get away from him. It always starts with him hitting
me, which is fine, I mean I’m used to it by now.” Tobias growled at
the statement and she rushed on, hoping to get it all out before he
became too mad. “But then after he’s beaten me so badly that I
can’t move, my mum comes in and he starts on her. I try to get up,
I try to help her but I can’t move. All I can do is watch him as he
keeps on hitting her again and again and again. Then he stops; the
first night I was so relieved when he did, but now I know what
happens next and I don’t want him to stop anymore.” She hiccupped,
her body wracked by sobs. “She stands up, she’s bruised all over
and how she even manages to get to her feet baffles me but she
looks at me. She looks me straight in the eyes and then starts to
cut open her wrists. I can’t move and I can’t seem to look away and
she just keeps going and there’s so much blood…” She trailed off,
unable to continue, tears now streaming down her face.

Wiping away her tears as
they continued on, seemingly endless, he brought her closer to his
body. “Has this happened both nights I haven’t been with you?” he
questioned, becoming increasingly concerned by her tale of her
disturbing nightmares.

“Every night,” she
confirmed, nodding into his chest. “I wake up and don’t want to go
back to sleep, so I just stay up all night.”

“You can’t fight Lucinda
like this dearest, your body is exhausted, Ryan’s been working you
too hard. How can he not have seen this? He should’ve said
something to me.”

“Don’t be mad at Ryan,
Tobias. He was only doing what I asked him to. I didn’t want you to
worry.”

“How can I not worry?
You’re going to be fighting Lucinda tomorrow in her wolf form.
She’s more experienced than you, more vicious, and she won’t be
dead on her feet from fatigue either.” He groaned, increasingly
worried about the outcome of the Challenge.

Her tears subsided as she
became aware of Tobias’ distress and sought to help him. “She might
have all of those things in her favour but I’ve got more of a
reason to win.” She smiled at him as she stroked the side of his
face. “I’m going to win Tobias, don’t worry about me,
okay?”

The distant sound of
footsteps approaching gained his attention and he was quickly
reminded of their situation. “People are coming Xandria,” he
whispered in her ear. “Go to your room and lock the door behind
you, tell Maria that you’re going to sleep. Can you do that for
me?”

She nodded her agreement,
reaching up to place a quick kiss to his cheek before running from
him on what she hoped were silent feet. Quickly reaching an area of
the estate she hoped was far away enough from Tobias, she stopped
to catch her breath, leaning against one of the many hard stone
walls that made up the corridors. Sighing deeply, she pushed off
the wall and walked back to her room, spotting Maria waiting for
her at the entrance.

“Your highness.” Maria
smiled in welcome.

“That could very well be
Lucinda tomorrow,” Alex remarked as she walked past Maria into her
bedroom.

“I have no reason to doubt
Tobias’ judgment, if he says you’re his mate then you deserve to be
called your highness. Besides, I dread to think how horrid life
around here would be if Lucinda was the Princess and can you even
imagine what would happen if she managed to be crowned queen? I
can’t even bear thinking about it. It would just give me
nightmares.” Maria shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself for
effect, drawing a small chuckle from Alex.

“I’m going to go to sleep
Maria, big day tomorrow.”

“You’re sure that you want
to go through with this?”

“I want to stay with
Tobias, there isn’t another choice. Besides I have every confidence
that I can win.” Maria remained silent and Alex could practically
feel how unconvinced she was by her claim. “Trust me Maria, I can
win.”

Maria smiled, but they
both knew it wasn’t genuine. “Good night your highness, I’ll see
you in the morning.” The door closed with a quiet click and she was
alone once more. Breathing deeply to calm her ragged nerves, she
dressed quickly in one of Tobias’ shirts, revelling in his rich
smell. Crossing the room, she opened the door that linked their two
rooms, moving into his and shutting it behind her as she made her
way to his bed. Diving into his sheets, she wrapped them around
her, hoping that the shadow of his presence would be enough to keep
the nightmares at bay. Her eyelids closed but soon opened as an
insistent knocking prevented her from succumbing to the lure of
sleep.

What on earth
is that?

Rising from the bed she
tried to focus on where the sound was coming from. The sound
contained the distinct noise of something hitting glass and so she
quickly ruled out the doors. She strained her ears to focus on the
sound, shuffling slowly towards it. Standing in front of the
balcony window, she pulled back the curtain a smile instantly
appearing on her face at the sight of Tobias standing outside.
Rushing forward, she turned the lock and opened the window,
inviting him inside and closing it firmly behind him.

“What are you doing here,
Tobias?”

“I could ask you the same
question. You aren’t in your bedroom, why? I went there first but
didn’t get a response, which worried me. It would have been
disastrous if someone else heard me and we were caught. Moving from
there to here was risky.”

She turned her head,
determined not to meet his gaze, mumbling a response to his
question. “I thought that I might be able to sleep better in your
room.”

He smiled, amused by her
embarrassment, bringing her closer to himself. “You don’t have to
worry about nightmares tonight, that’s why I’m here.”

“I don’t
understand.”

He lifted her into his
arms, easily carrying her over to his bed and laying her down. “I’m
going to spend the night here so that you get a good night’s
sleep.”

“Isn’t that against the
rules?”

“Of course it is, but my
mate needs me, how can I stand by and do nothing? No one knows I’m
here and no one will know unless you tell them.” He shrugged off
his shoes and lay down besides her, gathering her close.

“Well, I’m not going to
say a word Tobias.” She grinned, gripping his shirt to hold him
closer.

“Go to sleep dearest and
have peaceful dreams.”

“Thank you,” she
whispered, her voice low as her mind began to fade into the realm
of sleep.”

“For what
Xandria?”

“For staying with
me.”

“I love you dearest, how
could I possibly stay away?” He held her tighter, lightly kissing
her hair.

“I’m not ready to lose you
Tobias, I’m going to win and I’m going to keep you.”

“Forever?” he questioned
lightly.

“Forever,” she responded
easily before her mind went blank and exhaustion caught up with
her, sending her into a deep sleep.

Chapter Twenty
Six

The loud sound of banging
woke Alex, making her jolt upright as the noise intruded on her
peaceful night’s sleep.

“Your
highness?”

Recognising the voice, she
answered the summons from bed, shouting in the direction of the
door. “Yes Maria?”

“You’re awake?”

She found herself
chuckling at the pointless question, her sense of humour apparently
having returned after a good night’s sleep. “Yes Maria, I’m
awake.”

“Your highness, the
Challenge will soon be taking place. You need to prepare
yourself.”

“Do I have
long?”

“A little while, your
highness.” She leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, “His highness
told me to let you sleep for as long as I could. So I would advise
you to be quick in your preparations. I’ll wait out here for you.”
Tobias’s scent hung heavy in the room and around Alex’s body but as
Tobias had marked her none would think that they had stayed the
night together and clearly flouted clan rules.

“Thank you Maria, I’ll be
out in a minute.”

“Of course your
highness.”

Throwing
herself back against the warm sheets, her mind began to
race.
I wish I’d had more time to get
ready…even if it had been just a few more days. What if I can’t
manage to beat her? I’ll lose Tobias.
The
thought made her stomach turn and she rolled in the bed, the sound
of crinkling paper soon gaining her attention. Searching the duvet,
she found a small envelope hidden within the bedding, her name
written across the front. Tearing the envelope open her eyes
quickly scanned the contents of the letter.

Xandria,

I’m sorry that
I couldn’t be there when you woke. I left a little before dawn so
that I wouldn’t be seen. I wish I could have stayed with you
longer. I’m sorry. I hope that you managed to get enough sleep and
that you’re now feeling refreshed. Dearest, I’m still concerned for
your safety in this Challenge but as you seem so determined to do
it, there’s nothing I can do unless you say otherwise. If you don’t
think that you can win then tell Maria and we’ll leave, it’s not
too late. I, however, have every faith that you’ll win. Even if you
don’t, then I won’t leave you. We will be together regardless of
what happens.

I love you
dearest and will see you soon.

Tobias

Xxx

Clutching the
letter to her chest, she felt any reservations she might have had
vanish.
I’m going to win; I’ve got to
win.
Rising from the bed, she ran to the
shower, washing and drying herself quickly. She dressed carefully,
opting for a simple white t-shirt and knee length khaki shorts that
would give her more manoeuvrability than a skirt or jeans could
provide. Folding the letter, she placed it in one of the zipped
pockets of her shorts, determined to keep it close to her, before
striding towards the door and leaving the safety and comfort of the
bedroom.

“I’m ready
Maria.”

“You’re sure about this?”
she questioned.

“Positive, let’s just get
this over with.”

Nodding Maria moved away
from the door, motioning with her hands that Alex should follow.
They moved in silence along corridors and down stairs Alex hadn’t
even known existed until they were outside, standing at the
entrance of an enormous clearing. Her eyes widened and her heart
started to pound within her chest at sight of so many people and
wolves awaiting her arrival. They formed a circle, staying at the
fringes of the clearing, close to the tall trees that kept it
hidden. Her eyes darted around, frantically searching for Tobias.
As soon as she saw him her heart began to slow and she stepped
forward, leaving Maria behind.