A Wolf's Pride (17 page)

“
We cannot
allow her to simply leave either,” Seth continued. “She knows where
we are, if she goes free or escapes, she will lead the hunters back
to our door.”

“
Chloe isn’t
going to do anything of the sort,” Alex snapped, smiling
encouragingly at the nervous blonde. “I’ve spoken to her, unlike
you, so don’t jump to conclusions that you have no evidence to
support. Chloe is Ryan’s mate, the instinct wouldn’t have chosen
her if she was a threat to us. The very idea of hurting her for
something that she has no part in and cannot help is ridiculous. No
one chooses their family.”
I should know
that better than anyone.

“
Calm down
dearest,” Tobias whispered, leaning over to press a kiss to her
temple. “The only reason I agreed to you coming was because you
promised to stay calm. The doctors said that stress isn’t good for
you or the babies.”

“
I know,” she
whispered back. “But they want to condemn Ryan to death or worse,
we can’t let that happen.”

“
We won’t,” he
reassured her as he pulled back. “Lady Eliza, you have been very
quiet. Do you have anything to say on the matter?”

“
I’ve listened
to everything that has been said here and I’m forced to conclude
that the young woman will have to stay here. She’s Lord Ryan’s
mate, that is undisputable, but her link to the hunters makes her a
risk to us. She cannot be allowed to leave until Lord Ryan is
certain of her affections and sure that she won’t lead trouble back
to us.”

“
I concur with
Lady Eliza,” Lord Evan stated. “From what I’ve heard the woman knew
nothing. We cannot punish her for the errors of her
family.”

“
You couldn’t
have said it better,” Lord Richard inserted. “She should stay
within the clans. We cannot deprive Lord Ryan of his
mate.”

“
I don’t even
see why we’re discussing this,” Nathaniel snarled angrily. “The
instinct is never wrong. It led Lord Ryan to this woman and so she
must live, she must stay with him.” He slammed his fist against the
table to emphasise his point.

Chloe’s voice
was soft as se spoke in hushed tones to the man beside her. “Ryan,
I don’t want to be here anymore. Please let me leave.”

He turned to
face her upon hearing the desperation in her voice. A brief glance
back at the room told him that despite the finality of Richard’s
statement, the discussion would continue for quite some time.
“Fine, you can go. It isn’t as though you can go anywhere everyone
knows that I want you to stay within the walls of the estate. Take
some time away from all of this. I’ll come and find you as soon as
I can.”

As soon as
the words left his lips, Chloe was out of her chair. Ryan had
offered her an escape route and she fully intended to use
it.

Chapter
Fourteen

As soon as she
left the oppressive atmosphere of the meeting room and entered the
corridor, Chloe ran. She didn’t care that she had no idea of where
she was going, that she didn’t know the layout of the huge estate
that she was now confined in. The only thing that mattered was
getting away from that room and those people. She ran until her
lungs burned and her feet began to ache and it was only then that
she stopped, leaning against a wall to catch her breath. Her mind
was still reeling from the discussion she had so recently heard.
Even now she still couldn’t believe it. Some of the people in that
room, those that led the werewolves that now surrounded her, had
openly discussed her death.
My
murder.
Her mind corrected. It was
unnervingly comforting to have Ryan keep true to his word and
defend her. It didn’t change the fact that he had brought her to
this place but it was reassuring to know that he wanted to keep her
alive. He’d told her that he was a lord; she didn’t know what that
meant in werewolf terms but sincerely hoped that he had enough
power to prevent serious harm befalling her before she managed to
escape. After what she had just heard escape was more important
than it had ever been.

She began to
scan her surroundings hoping to see a means of achieving freedom
but found only obstacles. The doors to the outside world were
guarded by two large and very muscular men and she had no doubt
after what she was referring to as her morning walk of shame, that
they wouldn’t hesitate to send her back to Ryan if they so much as
suspected she was trying to flee. High walls surrounded the areas
that were unguarded and not for a moment did she try to delude
herself into believing that she could climb to her freedom. She
sighed, resigning herself for staying behind luxurious bars for the
minute. The sound of childish laughter floated to her ears and
instantly perked her interest. Walking around the corner she saw
two small children chasing each other and the sight brought a smile
to her face. Children playing in this place gave it a sense of
normalcy that she hadn’t expected.

“
Give up
Dylan,” the boy shouted. “You’ll never be able to catch me. I’m
older and that means I’m faster too.”

“
You’re only
older by a few minutes and I’m going to catch you Wyatt. Just
wait.” The little girl quickly replied.

“
In your dreams
Dylan.” He came to an abrupt halt as soon as he spotted her and
Chloe immediately began to feel self-conscious under his intense
brown gaze. Dylan crashed into his back as he stopped running and
her chocolate eyes began to study Chloe as well.

Even if she
hadn’t heard their conversation, it would have been easy to guess
that the two children were twins. Their faces were very similar
though there were slight differences that marked one as a girl and
one as a boy. The coffee coloured eyes that were staring at her
were however identical.

“
Who are you?”
Dylan demanded.

The blunt
question caused Chloe to smile; it reminded her of the questions
the children she taught asked and anything that reminded her of
home was very much appreciated at the moment. “I’m
Chloe.”

Wyatt inhaled
deeply as his sister extricated her limbs from his own. “You smell
like Ryan,” he commented simply.

Reaching for
the shirt that she wore, Chloe sniffed the simple cotton material
confused. The shirt she was wearing was a woman’s shirt, Ryan
should have had no reason to wear it and yet here was this child
claiming that she smelt of him.
You
haven’t even known your kidnapper for a week, he could be a cross
dresser for all you know.
The thought
seemed unlikely but it brought a smile to her face. “Ryan gave me
these clothes so I suppose it’s reasonable that I smell like
him.”

“
No silly,”
Wyatt scolded. “It’s not on your clothes, it’s on your
skin.”

“
Yeah,” Dylan
agreed. “You smell like Ryan just like Erica smells like Sebastian
and Alex smells like Tobias. Does that mean that you’re his
mate?”

Her weak
smile faded. “He seems to think so. He brought me here on the
premise that I was.”

“
That’s good,”
Dylan beamed. “He’s been so grouchy lately. He kept looking for you
and when he couldn’t he would just get upset. I’m glad that you’re
here. Ryan is really fun to play with but he hasn’t been acting
like he normally does.”

“
I hope he gets
better now that he has you. I want to race again and Ryan wouldn’t
play anymore.”

“
Race?” Chloe
asked confused.

“
Yeah,” Wyatt
laughed. “Ryan and Sebastian change into their wolf forms and we
get on their backs and race them. You can’t play with only one of
them, it doesn’t work.”

“
Ryan’s been so
busy going to the different clans that he hasn’t had the time to
play with us, but now that you’re here things will go back to the
way they were. What clan are you from?” Dylan questioned moving
closer to Chloe’s side.

Remembering
the clan representatives that had been talking about her murder as
though they were discussing the weather, Chloe barely repressed the
need to shiver. “I don’t belong to any clan. I’m human.” She waited
with baited breath for the first sign of rejection but it didn’t
come.

“
Really?” Dylan
asked cheerfully. “That’s good Alex will be happy to have someone
like her around. I think she gets lonely when she can’t do what we
do.

Wyatt moved
closer. “She can’t change like we can so she can’t come running
either. I know she really wants to come but she can’t. It’s good
that you’re here, you can make Ryan and Alex happy.”

They make it
sound so easy,
Chloe thought.
Well they probably don’t know how I came to be
here. It’s not their fault that they’re seeing things so
simply.
“We’ll see,” she mumbled
noncommittally.

“
Dylan!
Wyatt!”

At the harsh
calling of their names the two children turned their attention away
from her and Chloe couldn’t help but try to find the source of the
noise. Erica stood at the end of the hall, fear etched across her
face, fear so real and vivid that Chloe felt a sliver of terror run
down her spine. Turning her head frantically from side to side, she
tried to find the cause of Erica's fear. She could see nothing in
their immediate vicinity that warranted such a response.

“
Dylan, Wyatt,”
Erica called again. “Come here.”

“
What’s the
matter Erica?” Wyatt questioned wide-eyed. His sister’s fear seemed
to be contagious as he too scanned their surroundings.

“
Don’t ask
questions, just get away from there and come to me.” The children
looked as though they were about to ask another question but the
pleading tone in her voice convinced them otherwise. “Please,” she
croaked.

“
We’ve got to
go.” Dylan smiled, grabbing her brother’s hand and pulling him
towards Erica.

“
We’ll see you
another time Chloe,” Wyatt shouted.

As soon as
her siblings were at her side, Erica's arms wrapped around their
small bodies. Using the superior strength of her species she easily
lifted them both from the ground, sending Chloe a fearful glance
before running out of sight.

“
What was that
about?” Chloe mused aloud, the image of Erica's terrified face
imprinted in her mind. “She was looking at me as though I was the
devil. She was perfectly fine with me last night, what happened to
change that?” She began walking aimlessly, mumbling to herself,
unconcerned about where she was headed now that she had something
else to occupy her thoughts. “She did leave the meeting pretty
quickly after Ryan said that my family were hunters, is that it? I
remember him telling me that she’d been tortured but that can’t be
right. My family wouldn’t do that. They don’t have it in them to do
that to anyone.”
But Erica was genuinely
terrified, that has to mean something.
Her
mind whispered cryptically. “I don’t get it,” she groaned
loudly.

“
What don’t you
get?” Alex asked curious.

Startled,
Chloe jumped away from her placing her hand theatrically over her
heart. “What are you doing here Alex, you really scared
me.”

The shorter
woman laughed, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I did call your name but I
guess you didn’t hear me. Are you okay?”

“
Aside from
hearing people plot my demise right in front of me, I’m just
fine.”

“
I’m sorry
about that.”

“
Why? You
weren’t the one who was out for my blood.”

“
You’re safe
here Chloe, no one is going to hurt you.”

“
Could have
fooled me,” she snorted in derision.

“
Ryan isn’t
going to let anything happen to you. You haven’t known him long but
it’s true. As long as he’s here, you’re under his protection. You
heard him in there, he’s prepared to do whatever it takes to make
you safe and comfortable here.”

“
I still don’t
understand why, he doesn’t even know me. To go to these lengths for
a stranger? A stranger that you’ve kidnapped? It doesn’t make
sense. He got arrested for crying out loud but that didn’t deter
him from coming after me again. This is madness.”

Alex sighed,
she could feel that this was going to take a lot of work but after
all that Ryan had done to help her keep Tobias the least she could
do was help see to his happiness. They were family after all and
that’s how things worked. “Come with me and we’ll have a
chat.”

“
A chat?” Chloe
asked perplexed at the odd sounding word.

“
Yes, a
chat.”

“
You’re not
from around here are you? I don’t think I’ve ever been asked to
have a ‘chat’ with someone before.”

“
The accent
should have given me away last night.” Smiling, Alex grasped Chloe
by the arm and began leading her down the halls. “I’m originally
from England. Like I said last night Tobias brought me here, at the
time it was most definitely against my will, but as you can see
I’ve settled in here just fine.”

Stopping at the
end of the familiar hallway, Alex spared a quick glance at Chloe
unsure of whether bringing her here was a wise idea. She was
already struggling with the existence of werewolves, was adding a
witch a step too far?
It’s not as though
I’ve much of a choice,
she decided. Her
garden was the only place they were guaranteed privacy, not even
her personal guards could enter it without her express permission
though they hovered around the entrance at all times. It would be
best if they were the only participants in this discussion, the
presence of wolves might make her unwilling to talk.
What’s the worst that could happen?
She opened the door and guided Chloe into the
floral heavy garden. The sight of so many healthy plants wouldn’t
have looked out of place had winter not been on the approach. While
the rest of the world’s plant life shed their leaves in preparation
for winter, hers were alive and well.