A Wolf's Duty (47 page)

“She was with me
yesterday.”

“Doing what?” he demanded,
stepping towards her.

She took an instinct step
back, slightly afraid of the wildness in the Prince’s movements.
“She was lonely and just wanted to spend some time
together.”

“Lonely?”

“Yes, she didn’t want to
be a burden to you and knew that preparing to be King was important
so she didn’t say anything to you. We spent the day together, she
helped me care for my children.”

A burden? I’ll
never understand how that woman’s mind works. She could never be a
burden to me. Is this my fault? Has she gone missing because I
wasn’t spending enough time with her? Or has she been taken because
I wasn’t there to protect her? My fault. This is all my
fault.

“When was the last time
you saw her?”

“She left my rooms at
about nine o’clock last night. She was exhausted so she said she
was going to sleep. I said goodbye at the door and she started
making her way back to your rooms.”

“You didn’t see her to the
door of our rooms?”

“I didn’t think that
anything would happen to her in the estate.” She shook her head
feeling increasingly guilty for not ensuring her friend’s
safety.

Her scent was
so weak in our bed this morning,
he
mused.
It would have been much stronger if
she had slept there last night, how could I’ve missed it? Has she
been gone all night? Had she only woken up this morning? I should
have gone to bed last night, then I would have known that something
was wrong. How far could she have been taken?
His mind raced and he became increasingly unaware of his
surroundings as guilt racked him.

“Your highness, I found
lord Ryan he’s on his way here. Lord Sebastian wasn’t with him.”
The guard he had assigned to find his cousins called from the
doorway entering the room. “Lord Ryan is a little behind me,
something caught his attention on the way here. We’ll head out and
search the grounds.”

“She’s been gone all
night,” Tobias groaned.

“Your
highness?”

“She didn’t sleep in our
bed last night and I didn’t even notice it. If someone took her
then they won’t be on the estate anymore and if she didn’t sleep in
our bed then I think it’s more and more likely that someone took
her. She wouldn’t make everyone worry like this. What’s happened to
her?”

“Tobias!” Running into the
filling audience chamber, Ryan didn’t even stop for breath as he
wove his way through guards and council members until he came face
to face with his cousin.

“What is it now?” he
groaned.

“It’s bad
news.”

“This situation couldn’t
get any worse.”

“The man who attacked Alex
in England, his scent is here.”

“What? I thought you
killed him!”

“So did I but I smelled
him, his scent was all over the corridor leading to your bedroom.
And Tobias, that’s where Alex’s scent is strongest.”

“Leading from
where?”

“What?” Ryan asked
confused.

“Does the hallway with his
scent in it lead to Ilyanna’s rooms?”

Ryan paused a moment,
mentally mapping out the location of the rooms and corridors that
connected them. “It’s the fastest way to get from Ilyanna’s room to
yours.”

The man that
tried to kill my mate managed to catch her and take her from the
safety of the estate! Is he going to try and kill her? I’ve got to
get to her.
“I’ve got to get to her!” he
roared before turning to look at the council members gathered
immediately noting that a new influx of guards filled the room.
“You will move out of my way or I’ll mow you down and I won’t hold
back,” he growled, prepared to defy his advisors and take out any
who stood between him and his mate.

Chapter Forty
Two

“Alex it’s time to wake up
now,” Elijah coaxed, shaking her shoulders lightly causing her back
to hit the back of the chair she was currently sat in. Her eyes
eased open, a small squeak escaping her lips as she noted the
closeness of Elijah’s face to hers. “I was beginning to worry,” he
sighed. “Humans are so hard to take care of I don’t know how Tobias
does it,” he groused, stepping away from her to sit in a seat
directly opposite her.

Tobias,
her mind breathed as she remembered the events
that had led up to this moment and fear coursed through her. “This
has got to be some kind of nightmare,” she groaned.

“I assure you that it’s
not Alexandria, this is happening.”

Her head lifted and she
stared intently at the man sat in front of her. “This is my
nightmare so I’d appreciate it if you would just be quiet.” He
laughed at her revealing more emotion than she could remember
seeing on the man’s face.

“Alex, you can’t simply
wish that this isn’t happening because it’s and you must come to
accept that.”

“Well let’s just say
hypothetically that this isn’t a dream and that you and I are
actually here.”

“We’re really here
Alex.”

“Fine so we’re here. Let’s
just get some facts straight so that I can clear up what’s real and
what was actually a dream.”

“Fine, if you feel the
need to do so then go ahead,” he conceded calmly, sitting down in a
chair opposite her.

“In my dream you killed
Sean.”

“That actually
happened.”

“Oh,” she sighed. “In my
dream you two were working together and you took me from the estate
and Tobias.”

“That also happened you’re
no longer on the estate and Tobias is no where near
here.”

“Last thing. In my dream
you said that you wanted my help to steal Tobias’
crown.”

“That’s only partially
right. I do wish for your help but the throne rightfully belongs to
me anyway so we aren’t stealing anything.”

“So nothing was a
dream.”

“That is
correct.”

“Brilliant,” she scoffed.
“This is just bloody brilliant. I don’t suppose you would just let
me go if I asked nicely? I wouldn’t tell anyone. I
swear.”

“That isn’t what’s going
to happen here.”

“Well its more likely than
me helping you steal Tobias’ crown,” she muttered rebelliously
under her breath. A familiar tick began to develop in the side of
Elijah's head and she clutched the armrests of the chair she was
sitting in, bracing herself for the fallout that the tick would
result in when it had appeared on Fred’s features.

“I’ve told you that the
crown is mine!” Elijah roared, throwing the chair back as he
stood.

“Well excuse me for not
believing that,” she replied, bravado making her minimise the
potential consequences of her actions. “You see I was under the
belief that thrones typically belong to Princes and Tobias is the
Prince. No one has said anything different to me, so you’re going
to have to explain yourself for me to believe that load of horse
shit!” she screamed, adrenaline coursing through her.

I’ve got to
contact Tobias somehow. He said he could hear me when the emotion
was strong enough. Anger is as good an emotion as any,
she reasoned, trying to justify the stupidity of
her actions in light of the fact that the man before her had
murdered before her very eyes.

Breaths shuddered through
him, her defiance causing the opposite reaction she had anticipated
as he calmed instead of raged. “I think you’re right. You aren’t
one of us so you don’t know what has happened before Tobias brought
you here.” He retrieved his chair putting it back in front of her
before sitting down. “I’ll explain it to you.”

“What if I don’t want to
hear it?”

“No one said that you had
a choice in the matter now did they?” He smirked. “Now don’t
interrupt, I don’t like it.”

Who gives a
rat’s ass what you like, twat!
she cursed,
but chose to remain silent.
Might as well
get his side of the story and it’ll give Tobias more time to find
me and keep me alive until he gets here.

“Well Alex, you know that
Tobias and I are cousins.” She nodded. “Our fathers were brothers
and my father was the elder of the two. Traditionally it’s the
eldest son that takes the crown when their father chooses to give
up the throne. So as you can see already, traditionally I should
have been the heir. Our Kings stay on the throne for centuries and
so we haven’t had many. Among the kings that we have had there’s
never been a problem with succession because by the time they chose
to step down, there was a large difference in age between their
eldest son and the second oldest. I don’t know if anyone told you
but us wolves are never born alone, take me for example I had a
younger brother, but he died not longer after being born. Anyway
let’s not get sidetracked. The point is that typically there was a
clear heir.”

“That wasn’t the case with
Thomas and my father. They were twins but neither died before
reaching maturity leaving us with two potential heirs. Though my
father was older, the difference in age wasn’t significant enough
to make him the clear heir. Now following tradition, the crown
should then have gone to the son that produced an heir first. Again
my father succeeded in doing so before Thomas. I’m almost a hundred
years older than Tobias. Following the traditions of our people, my
father should have been made King and I would have been the Prince.
So as you can see the throne rightfully belongs to me and I would
have been the Prince if tradition had been followed.”

“But you’re not, so
something must have happened.”

“Yes, something
happened.”

“Are you going to tell me
what?” she questioned desperate to gain time for Tobias to
arrive.

“I might as well,” he
conceded. “Our grandfather was conflicted as to who he should give
the crown and so he went to ask for the advice of a close friend,
one he trusted with his life. A witch just like you.” She gasped at
the revelation of his grandfather’s friend’s identity, surprised
that witches had once interacted with the wolves. “You people have
been around for a long time. This friend, this witch, was
apparently gifted with the power of sight.”

“The power of what?” she
interrupted despite his earlier warning.

“She could see the future
and apparently whatever she saw was guaranteed to come true, she
was never wrong. My grandfather asked her to see what lay ahead for
our people depending on which son he gave the crown to. The witch
apparently saw that if the crown was given to my father, great
misfortune would follow, while if the crown was given to Thomas
then we would have a strong hand to guide us through the dark times
that lay ahead. Needless to say when given those options and
believing that his friend could do no wrong, our grandfather gave
Thomas the crown and Tobias became Prince in my place.”

“Well as you guys are all
alive and well with Thomas being King then maybe your grandfather’s
friend was right,” she suggested.

The slap to her cheek was
unexpected, stunning her into silence. “My father was a great man.
He would have made a great King! The witch was wrong!” he
roared.

The stinging
pain in her cheek was familiar and as she rubbed the sore skin in a
habitually soothing manner, the pain receded.
If that’s how he reacts to someone saying something he
doesn’t like then I’d say that the witch was right. He’d make a
terrible King. If Ilyanna’s anything to go by he makes a terrible
Lord. He doesn’t even care about what happens to those he’s meant
to look after,
she scoffed, defiance
filling her as she sat up in her chair, calmly folding her arms
across her chest and glaring at him.

“Maybe its karma,” Elijah
suggested. “A witch was responsible for stripping me of my title
and now another one is going to help restore it to me and I think
it’s especially poignant that it’s you helping me.”

Karma would be
served if you were struck down by lightning, bastard. This isn’t
karma. This is madness.
“Oh and why is
that?”

“Tobias was unmated for
longer than anyone had expected and you can’t ascend to the throne
without a mate. If you hadn’t turned up then I would have been
given the crown eventually. My father and I waited patiently for
the people to demand that the crown be given to us when Yvonne
couldn’t seem to carry a pregnancy to term and give them the heir
that they needed. But they never did and then Tobias and his
siblings were born,” he snarled. “The clans were so happy you would
have thought it was the second coming of the Christ or something
but my father being the great man that he was tried to restore me
to my rightful place on the throne.”

“What did you do?” she
murmured, increasingly apprehensive about what he would
say.

“I did nothing especially
important. I was still young, as were Tobias and
Travis.”

“Travis? Who’s
that?”

“Hasn’t Tobias told you
about his brother and sister?”