A Wolf's Pride (33 page)

The smell of
food assaulted Chloe’s nose as soon as she walked into the room and
her stomach contracted painfully in response. Letting her feet lead
her, Chloe walked through the room until she found the table where
the food was waiting. Her mouth almost watered at the sight of the
heavenly prepared meal. After tasting the head chef’s cooking last
night, she knew that the food was inevitably delicious but manners
kept her standing.

“
Dig in Chloe,”
Alex encouraged as she walked up behind her. “From personal
experience I know that one of the best cures for a hangover is a
good meal.”

You don’t need
to tell me twice.
Sitting at the table,
Chloe dug in, eager to appease the painful demands her stomach was
making.

Erica sat
down to join her while Alex left the room, making her way into what
Chloe vaguely remembered was the bedroom.

“
So Chloe,”
Erica began. “How are things going on the Ryan front?”

The delicious
food suddenly tasted bitter on her tongue. “I’d rather not talk
about it.”

Strolling
back into the room, Alex shook her head disapprovingly. “Come on
Chloe, you can tell us. We bonded yesterday didn’t we?”

“
Yesterday was
one thing, today is a totally different matter.”

“
Why?”

“
Because you’re
on his side,” Chloe sighed, her tone indicating that the answer was
obvious.

“
Why would we
side with that idiot?” Erica demanded.

Sitting down
at the table, Alex threw her weight behind Erica's statement. “He’s
hopeless, a lost cause.”

“
If that’s your
attempt at distancing yourself from him then nice try but it won’t
work on me. Ryan has already told me that only people who care
about him call him an idiot. I doubt he would allow just anyone to
go around insulting him.”

Alex sighed.
“Does this really have to be about sides?”

“
Can’t we be on
both your sides? You seem like a lovely person from what I’ve seen
so far and it isn’t your fault that you were dragged into our
world, you deserve happiness as much as, if not more, than the next
person.”

“
But Ryan,
idiot that he may be,” Alex continued, staring intently at Chloe,
“is important to a lot if us. I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t
for him. I love him like a brother but I can see his faults and
when it comes to romance he’s clueless.”

“
I have to
agree with Alex. Ryan is a great guy, aside from Sebastian, there
isn’t anyone else I would rather have in my corner. I’ve seen the
lengths he goes to to lend a hand to people who ask for his help.
He helped save me when I was captured, risked his own neck for a
stranger just because his brother asked him to. Ryan is a good
man.”

A mischievous
twinkle entered Alex’s eyes. “You shouldn’t let Sebastian hear you
talking like that, his jealous streak would start to
show.”

My jealous
streak is starting to show as well,
Chloe
thought although she instantly reprimanded herself for thinking
along such dangerous lines. Even though she was aware that Erica's
compliments were intended to make her think more positively about
Ryan, jealously had crept its way into her gut and now it was
festering. “Would you want him as a partner?”

“
Ryan as a
mate?” Erica's voice was horrified.

Chloe folded
her arms across her chest, her point clearly made.
“Exactly.”

Seeing the
situation rapidly deteriorate, Alex rushed to intervene. “What
Erica means is that Ryan isn’t meant for her. He couldn’t make her
happy and she couldn’t make him happy. You’ve seen Sebastian
right?” Chloe nodded. “And from what you’ve seen, you probably
think he’s the nicer twin right?” Chloe nodded again. “That’s what
I thought when I first met them too. But, if Sebastian were my
mate.” An angry growl slipped past Erica's lips, her canines
lengthening. “It’s only a hypothetical Erica. Anyway, as I was
saying, if Sebastian were my mate I would be miserable. No one but
Tobias can make me happy and the same applies with you and Ryan. He
would drive us crazy, but you could never be happier than you would
be if you were to stay with him.”

“
You could have
fooled me,” Chloe snorted. “He’s done nothing but drive me crazy
since we first got here.”

Erica
groaned. “That’s because you’ve been fighting against him and he’s
an idiot. He told me he was going to apologise, did he?”

“
He did come in
this morning and explain to me why he’d burned my things but I’m
going to tell you what I told him. A simple sorry isn’t going to
bring my things back.”

A light knock
at the door prevented Erica from speaking as her attention was
diverted to the woman standing in the doorway. Maria stood, as
always, with her back erect, her posture perfect. Her long black
hair cascaded down her back and as was befitting someone who knew
as many secrets as she, her dark eyes, though seemingly open, were
guarded.

“
Your majesty,
Lady Erica, Lady Chloe, Lord Ryan is looking for his mate,” Maria
smiled, her voice as always calm and serene.

“
Speak of the
devil,” Erica chuckled, standing from her chair and walking to the
doorway. “Is Sebastian with him Maria?”

“
Yes, as is his
majesty.”

Alex nibbled
nervously at her bottom lip, torn between staying and continuing
the conversation and leaving to find out what her mate had seemed
so determined to keep concealed. “Curiosity always manages to get
the best of me,” she sighed. Standing from her chair, she smiled
warmly at Chloe in apology for the interruption. “Come on Chloe,
we’ll go and see what he wants.”

“
I don’t
understand how you seem so settled in here,” she groaned, standing
from the chair. “Is it just because you’re Queen and everyone does
as you tell them to?”

“
No. Tobias is
my strength. I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without him. What
you have to realise is that you have power in your relationship
with Ryan. He will do almost anything to please you. Once you
understand that, I think your relationship will progress just fine
on its own.”

“
Are you
coming?” Erica called loudly from the door leading into the
corridor. “Chloe, I really think you should come and see
this.”

“
I guess
there’s nothing else he can really do to make the situation worse,”
she conceded. Chloe dragged her feet, reluctantly moving towards
the door. There was no doubt in her mind that whatever Erica wanted
her to see was in someway linked to Ryan. Hope shone brightly from
her sapphire eyes, quickly and easily giving her away. Despite
knowing this, she moved into the hallway. She was outnumbered and
if Erica and Alex wanted her to see something, she was going to see
it one way or another.

The hall was
crowded once again, but instead of the wild and frenzied activity
that had preceded the full moon, all movement was headed in one
direction, a direction Chloe quickly recognised as leading towards
the rooms she shared with Ryan. The people that were filling the
corridor were all carrying different objects and as she looked at
the object nearest to her, a sense of familiarity crept over
her.
It couldn’t be,
she mused internally. Curiosity quickly got the better of her
and she began walking quickly alongside those in the halls, her
eyes scanning the things they held. Her heart began to race as each
object again sparked the feeling of familiarity and
belonging.

“
Chloe!” Ryan
called from outside the door to their rooms. The habitual smile on
his face widened at his first sighting of her and Chloe’s heart
sped up further in anticipation.

She quickly
closed the distance between them. “Ryan, how?” she asked, tears
beginning to well in her eyes. The objects that were flowing
steadily into their rooms were the things she had thought were lost
to her, destroyed in a fire that Ryan had created.

“
You wanted
your things back, I got them back for you. I’m your mate, I want
you to be happy.”

“
But how? You
burned everything. Mum’s diary!” she gasped running from him to
retrieve the object. Small and covered in green suede, the book was
one of a number that her mother had kept over the duration of her
tragically short life. This particular volume was special, it had
been written during the early years of her parents’ relationship.
Tales of their whirlwind romance had kept her entranced when her
mother was alive and told her the stories vocally, now all she had
was the book and her fading memories to rely upon. Thoughts of the
book crumpling to ashes in the fire besieged her and she turned the
page to remind herself that all was well. She had the book. It was
safe.

Her blood ran
cold when she saw the first empty page. She flicked through the
pages, her heart falling with each blank page that she saw. She
lifted the book to her nose, breathing deeply but found that
instead of the familiar fragrance of her mother’s favourite perfume
there was a new book smell clinging to the pages. Eyes narrowed in
suspicion, she turned her attention to the other objects that were
flowing into the bedroom. While familiar, they lacked the history
that her own things had. There were no scuffmarks, no stains, no
signs at all that they had ever been used.

“
Ryan, what do
you think you’re doing?” she hissed, turning to face him, her face
flushed red in rising agitation.

“
I’m bringing
your things back.”

“
These aren’t
my things.”

His brow
furrowed in confusion. “I thought I got everything. Did I miss
something?”

“
Ryan, my
things are gone. They can’t come back and going out to buy new
things won’t change that. There was history in these pages and now
there’s nothing. My things had sentimental value to me, nothing can
replace them and trying to do so is only making things worse,
making me miss them more.” Tears were welling in her eyes again but
for a completely different reason.

The salty
scent of her tears was making Ryan’s heart twist and contract in
agony. His mate was hurting and so he was too. “What can I do
Chloe? Tell me. Anything, I’ll do it. I’ve said how sorry I am,
I’ve begged for forgiveness, I tried to undo my mistake. None of it
has worked, just tell me what to do.”

“
That’s the
thing, I don’t know. I just don’t know. Please Ryan, for now just
leave me alone.”

“
Chloe,” he
groaned reaching for her.

She slipped
away from him. “Get them to take these things away, they’re only
reminding me of what I don’t have anymore. For now that’s the only
thing you can do.”

“
If that’s what
you want…”

“
It
is.”

“
Then I’ll do
it. I’ll leave you alone for a while but Chloe, I need you. I need
to be with you.”

His words were
honest, his expression heartfelt and Chloe again cursed their
circumstances.
Why couldn’t we have met
under normal conditions? To have a man like you feel how you do
about me was my fondest dream but now everything is ruined.
She turned from him and slipped into the open
doorway watching as Ryan rushed to fulfil her request. “He really
is an idiot,” she grumbled softly.

Chapter Twenty
Eight

The pounding in
her head had finally stopped but now Chloe was fully aware of the
decision she had to make. To forgive him or not. What he had done
was by most standards unforgivable but the lengths he had gone to
in order to apologise were extreme. It wasn’t his fault that he was
an idiot when it came to romance and he was trying his hardest to
earn her trust. According to his version of events he’d had to make
a choice between her life and her things and as he had done since
the first night they had met, he had chosen her life.
I should be grateful to him. He saved my
life.

But what if
he’s lying to you?
An insidious voice in
her mind inquired.
Why would he want to be
with you? He could have anyone he wants, he’s just toying with you.
Men lie all the time. Don’t you remember Gary?

Shut
up!
she snapped.
Ryan is different. Ryan doesn’t lie.

How would you
know? You haven’t known him for nearly as long as you knew Gary and
he managed to trick you too. And we can’t forget the fact that Ryan
is a creature from myth. The stories dad told you were terrifying.
How can you forget that?

“
Ryan isn’t a
creature,” she groaned aloud, moving to the window to watch him. He
was shirtless, sweating lightly as he took an axe to the trees that
had sprung up over night. Though she had locked herself away in
self imposed confinement, she had overheard a conversation between
Ryan and Alex about the explosive growth of foliage.

It was too
close to the estate for it to stay as it was, according to Ryan it
was a hazard. Alex had said she had nothing to do with the over
night growth of the trees but was too exhausted to coax the many
trees back into seeds; taking care of three newborns was beginning
to take its toll. Ryan had offered to cut them down, saying he had
a personal project that was going to need a lot of wood, wood they
now had in abundance. Chloe had barely resisted the temptation to
open the door and ask him what it was but she had reined in those
impulses, keeping herself firmly behind the door. Alex had agreed
but only on the condition that he start when she left, she had
mentioned something about voices and screams but it hadn’t made any
sense to Chloe’s ears.