A Wolf's Duty (34 page)

Chapter
Thirty-Two

The sound of fists
pounding against flesh created a rhythmic beat that echoed
throughout the dungeons where Fred was being held. Tobias’ mind was
a haze of fury and his body moved mechanically, one punch after
another, as his wolf gained dominance within his mind and he
continued to act on instinct. The sound of Fred’s grunts and groans
of pain proved to be soothing to his inner beast and so he
continued, blinded as to the man’s condition beneath his fists. A
restraining arm on his forearm prevented his next punch from
reaching its target and he snarled, displeased by the unwanted
interruption.

“Tobias, stop,” Ryan
instructed, struggling against his cousin’s wish for his arm to be
freed from his grip. “You promised Alex that you wouldn’t kill him
remember?”

His brow furrowed in
confusion as he struggled to regain his awareness of what was going
on around him. “Alex?”

“Yes, remember you
promised that you wouldn’t kill her father. You don’t want to break
a promise you made to your mate do you?” Ryan reasoned, trying to
force his mind to regain its idea of consequences and break his
wolf’s grip over his thoughts.

“Xandria,” he sighed, her
name acting as a catalyst, forcing his mind to return from the
realm of base instinct. He stepped back, finally aware of what he
had done. Fred lay sprawled across the cold stone floor, his face a
mass of swelling and bruising as he coughed blood onto the dirty
floor.

“Did I break anything?”
Tobias inquired.

“I made sure you didn’t do
too much damage, he might have a broken rib or two but I’ll have
someone come and see him, make sure it’s not fatal. I don’t think
the blood he’s coughing all over the floor is from anything too
serious, he probably bit the inside of his mouth.”

“Did I do all of this? I
can’t remember.”

“Well I think you probably
did quite a bit of it, but the guards weren’t exactly gentle bring
him down here and I did a little. Cousin, there’s no reason to be
too upset about what you’ve done to this piece of trash. He
deserved it.”

“I know, but Xandria
doesn’t want him to die.”

“She doesn’t understand
exactly what this means to us Tobias. You gave her a choice about
what’s going to happen to him, that’s all that matters.”

“I know, but she probably
won’t order for him to be killed.”

“She might not order it
cousin, but you and I both know that’s the only fate that awaits
him.”

“Yes, one way or another,
he won’t be alive much longer.”

“We’ll give him the night
to rest and recover from the worst of his injuries and then we’ll
come back tomorrow and go another round yeah?”

“Definitely, but now I
need to go and see her. She was afraid of me Ryan,… I don’t want
her to be afraid of me.”

“You’ve got nothing to
worry about cousin, you’ve given her a little time to calm down and
I bet she’s fine now.”

“But what if she’s not?
She never once freaked out about what we are, what if it’s just hit
her now what she’s gotten herself into? I just got her back; I
don’t want her to go back to that time when she refused to talk to
me. Not now, the moon is coming and I was just beginning to think
she might accept me, let me claim her. What if I’ve ruined any
chance of that?”

“Tobias, you worry too
much. This is Alex remember? The woman that was prepared to take on
a fully grown wolf to stay with you. She risked death so the two of
you could be together.”

“Don’t remind me. Her
introduction into our world has been so violent, what if this is
the last straw and pushes her over the edge?”

Ryan groaned, increasingly
frustrated by his cousin’s line of thought. “Just go and see her,
that’ll sort this out and prove that I’m right. She’s not going to
want to leave you Tobias, she loves you.”

“You’re right, I just need
to go and see her.” His wolf growled his agreement. He frowned
looking down at his bloody knuckles and blood spattered shirt. “I
can’t go and see her like this, not with her father’s blood on my
hands.”

“You act as though it’ll
never come off. Just come down to my room, have a wash and then
borrow some of my clothes and all will be well. Besides, you kept
your promise, the asshole isn’t dead yet.”

“Yes,” he turned to look
at the battered body of Fred, a sense of satisfaction rising within
him despite his worries. “He’s not dead, yet. I’ll take you up on
that offer of some clothes. Thank you.”

“That’s what family is
for.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what
they’re for.”

The pair turned away from
their bloody work to walk towards the door. Tobias’ eyes narrowed
as he took in the thunderous expressions on the faces of the guards
at the door as they eyed Fred’s body. “Don’t kill him,” he
ordered.

“Your highness?” one
questioned, confused.

“I said don’t kill
him.”

“Your highness we heard
what he did to the Princess. He should suffer.”

“He is suffering,” Tobias
replied. “And he’ll suffer even more if he isn’t killed tonight.
Don’t kill him. Princess Alexandria will decide what happens to
him.”

The second guard spoke up.
“Your highness, the Princess is too kind to allow him to be
punished accordingly for what he’s done. I was assigned to watch
over Lady Lucinda the night of the party and the Princess found me
that night to ask about her well-being. After all Lady Lucinda did
to her highness, she wanted to see if she was being treated well.
This man is her father; if she shows such compassion to her enemy,
she won’t order his death.”

“I’m aware that’s probably
what’s going to happen.”

“And you’ll order that
he’s left alone your highness and the man will be free,” the first
guard inserted, disheartened by what would probably
happen.

“I never said that I would
give an order preventing him from being harmed. What people within
the clans decide to do after Xandria has made her decision is up to
them.”

“You’re serious your
highness?”

“Of course I am, so don’t
kill him tonight, he has much to pay for and much to suffer through
before Xandria makes her decision.”

The guards grinned,
pleased by Tobias’ statement and stepped aside, allowing him to
leave the room. They walked along the halls and up the several
flights of stairs that took them to the more used levels where most
people lived.

“I did the right thing,
didn’t I?”

Ryan turned to his cousin,
increasingly disgruntled by his repetitive line of thought. “We’ve
gone over this, of course you did the right thing. He got
everything he deserved. Don’t tell me you or your wolf are having
doubts about this now?”

“No, my wolf is quite
certain that we did the right thing, he’s a little upset by the
fact that Fred is still breathing, but other than that everything
with him is fine.”

“You need to take a page
out of his book and stop worrying about this, what’s happened has
happened and there’s nothing we can do to change that. Now come on,
my room is just around the corner, we’ll get you changed and then
you can go see Alex.” Tobias nodded, following his cousin’s lead
into his room. “The shower is just through there, shirts are in the
top drawer and if you need a pair of trousers then they’re in the
wardrobe over there,” Ryan chuckled, leaving the room and his
cousin alone in it.

Following Ryan’s
instructions he soon came across the bathroom, looking down at his
bloody fists he felt a moment of apprehension, before he remembered
the way Alex’s body had trembled in the mere presence of her father
and his doubts about his actions dissolved. Entering the shower, he
quickly washed all traces of blood from his body, drying himself
quickly when he was finished. A borrowed shirt soon clothed his
frame but he opted against borrowing a pair of trousers from his
cousin, preferring his own dirty though they were.

I guess I
can’t hide from her any longer,
he sighed
leaving the room and making his way to where he knew Alex was
waiting for him.

He opened the
door and felt the air rush from his body as Alex flew into him,
enveloping him in a loving embrace. “Tobias, I was worried about
you.” His arms hung limply at his sides as his mind struggled to
interpret her words and actions. She pulled away and he groaned as
she began to respond to him how he had expected.
She’s already distancing herself from me.
Her eyes wandered his frame as though seeking
something; apparently satisfied she leapt into his arms again,
hugging him tightly against her. “Where have you been? I’ve been
waiting for you to come back.”

“I was doing something,”
he mumbled, his body still unresponsive to her proximity as he
waited for her to be angry with him.

The expected anger failed
to manifest and instead he found himself being dragged back to the
bed, led to sit at the edge while she knelt beside him.

“Tobias, are you ok? It
seems like something’s bothering you,” she questioned, gently
stroking his hair and holding him close to her chest.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine, talk
to me Tobias.”

“You’re not mad at me?
Scared? After what I did?”

“You were angry; I can
understand that. I wasn’t afraid of you. I was more scared of what
you were doing.”

“I’m not sorry for what I
did,” he stated resolutely. “And I’m not going to apologize for
what I did to him back there.”

She kissed the top of his
head gently, continuing to caress him. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”
His head pulled out of her grasp, turning to look at her, her
reactions defying all his expectations. “Sebastian explained how
your mind works to me. I know that you want to hurt him, apparently
what he did is seen as a major crime here.”

“What else did Sebastian
explain to you?” he demanded, increasingly concerned as to what his
cousin had revealed.

The smile she had worn
when greeting him faded as a shadow crept across her features. “He
told me that no matter what I say, Fred is going to die. He said
that the people in the clans will kill him regardless of what I
give him as punishment.” He was silent and a small but sad smile
emerged on her face. “He was right, wasn’t he? Fred isn’t going to
make it out of here alive.”

“Yes dearest, your father
will die. There isn’t anything you can do about it.” He pulled her
down so that she was sat beside him. “What I can’t understand is
why, after all he did to you and your mother, you would even
hesitate over this decision. I know that killing people for crimes
is looked down upon in your world, but there has to be a certain
line that people cross where forgiveness is no longer an option and
your father has definitely crossed it.”

“I know that Tobias. I
shouldn’t even spare him a moment of my time but I don’t want him
dead.”

“Why dearest?” His hands
landed on her shoulders and squeezed. “Why do you care if he lives
or dies? He didn’t spare you the same courtesy when he broke your
arm or nearly broke your legs. He didn’t care and neither should
you. The world would be better off for his death.”

“He’s the only family I’ve
got left Tobias, I know he’s a waste of space, I know he’s a
horrible person, but if he dies then I’m officially an orphan with
no family.”

“What?”

“My mother is dead Tobias.
I never had any brothers or sisters, no aunts or uncles and no
grandparents. Fred is all I have left of my family.”

He shook her lightly in
frustration before pulling her to lie across his legs. “Xandria,
you’re not alone. I’m your family now and I’ll never leave you.
We’re mates for life and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for
you. I love you.” He chuckled, brushing his lips against hers
before continuing with his tirade. “If you want family, then mine
is here for the taking. I don’t have brothers or sisters anymore
but if you want siblings then I’m sure Ryan and Sebastian would
happily take you up on that. Parents? I would offer mine but then
we’d be kind of siblings,” he joked. “But if you want them that
badly then I’m sure Maria would be glad to act as a surrogate
mother, she practically raised me. Aunts and uncles? Anybody within
the clan would be willing. As for grandparents, there are a couple
of really old people on my council of advisors, I could order them
to take the position, and they will have to listen to me once I’m
King. Alexandria, you’re part of a clan now and we think of each
other as family. Fred isn’t the only member of family that you’ve
got, I’ll always be with you and you can take your pick of my
family to claim as your own.”

Her eyes shimmered with
unshed tears and she pulled him close, embracing him before
peppering his face with light kisses. “I don’t need that much
family, talk about going from one extreme to the other.”

“I’m serious Xandria, if
you want them, they’re yours.”

“Tobias, you can’t just
order people to be your family,” she scolded.