A Wolf's Pride (42 page)

Ryan rubbed his
hands together gleefully, unmoved by Jeremiah’s speech. He had
gotten what he wanted.
And I didn’t even
have to tear his tongue out.
A heavy hand
landed on his shoulder and he turned to see Tobias standing at his
side, amber eyes staring back at him instead of his normal grey. A
feral smile crept across his face as he looked towards Lucinda
before turning back to Ryan. Although silent the question was
clear, Ryan nodded. Tobias could help.

“
Because you
told the truth Lucinda, I’ll make it quick.” She smiled in
relief.

Relatively
quick,
his wolf amended.

Everything is
relative,
Ryan agreed, sighing in relief as
the pull of the instinct began to lessen now that he was preparing
to deal with the threat to his mate.

Chapter Thirty
Six

Chloe paced
the length of the suite restlessly. Lucinda's trial had finished
hours ago and Ryan had yet to return. He hadn’t returned to the
suite with her, saying that he had matters to deal with, his gaze
affixed firmly on Lucinda. He was going to kill her, his eyes had
confirmed all that he had said during the trial and she was unsure
of exactly how to deal with that knowledge. The man she was coming
to care for was probably at this very moment extinguishing a
helpless woman’s life.

She wasn’t
helpless when she tried to kill you,
a
voice in the back of her mind inserted.

“
Ryan isn’t a
murderer. He can’t be,” she said to herself.

It was at
that moment that the object of her worries strolled into the room,
a wide grin fixed firmly on his face. He didn’t look as though he
had just killed someone and she breathed a sigh of
relief.

I knew he
couldn’t kill her.

As soon as he
saw her his smile brightened even further and he rushed to her
side, pulling her against his chest. “Angel, you waited up for me.”
His heat seeped into her and she sagged against him, wrapping her
arms around his body. He froze for a moment unused to Chloe
willingly returning his embrace. His moment of hesitation passed
quickly and he pulled her even closer, dropping warm kisses against
the exposed column of her neck. The skin beneath his lips was soft
and he had to resist the urge to fall further into her, kissing her
as she deserved to be kissed, until she was breathless and panting
with desire.

“
I knew you
couldn’t kill her. I just knew it. You’re not a
murderer.”

He froze again,
his lips moving away from her neck. His mind was quickly filled
with indecision. If he allowed her to continue believing that he
hadn’t killed Lucinda no one would ever tell her anything
different, she would never know what he had done, that he had
enjoyed ensuring Lucinda's taint could never again touch her. If he
told her the truth she would be upset, the clear relief in her
voice warned him of that.
Decisions,
decisions.

You aren’t
considering lying to our mate are you?
His
wolf demanded.

No,
he sighed. For once in his life the idea of being
human tempted him, human males never had such problems with lying
to their mates. The desire was gone as quickly as it had come.
Chloe deserved better than lies. There were no lies or secrets
between mates, they only hurt and damaged relationships and their
relationship was on uneven ground as it was.

Reluctantly
he pulled away, grasping her hands tightly in his own in case she
tried to run from him. He wouldn’t have her run from him again, he
would explain the reasons behind his actions and hope she accepted
him as he was. He wasn’t sorry for what he and Tobias had done
earlier. “Chloe, angel, I dealt with Lucinda. She will never again
threaten you or anyone else again.”

“
Oh God,” she
gasped, “You killed her.”

“
Yes.”

“
You’re a
murderer. Ryan, you killed her.”

“
Yes angel I
did and I would do it again. She threatened you.”

She looked
him over, finally noting that he was wearing different clothes. Her
eyes narrowed questioningly as she looked at his serene expression.
“You seem awfully calm for a man who’s just killed someone. Have
you done this before?”

“
Killed
someone?”

“
Yes.” She
dragged the word out; unsure of whether she wanted to know the
answer to her question.

“
Come,” he led
her further into the room, sitting down on a chair and pulled her
down to sit on his legs, wrapping his arms around her waist and
drowning himself in her rich scent. It was in his nature to
protect, that wasn’t something he could change. No matter how he
had to do it, they would have to over come this hurdle now or they
could never be true mates, ones who loved and understood each other
without hesitation. “Yes Chloe, I’ve killed people before. A lot of
people actually.” She began to struggle in his grip. “No angel. No
running. Let me explain.”

“
People have
been threatening my life all because of some misguided belief you
have that my family are murderers and yet here you sit, calm as
anything, telling me that you’ve
murdered
people before. And you’re
not even sorry.”

“
Chloe, I’m
still the same man I was yesterday. What I’ve done will never
change how I act towards you, how I feel about you. Lucinda tried
to kill you, she brought this upon herself.”

“
And what about
all the others? Did they all bring it upon themselves
too?”

He groaned,
tightening his grip on her, his head falling into the curve of her
neck. “I’ve been alive a long time. A very long time and in that
time I’ve had to fight a lot. Every human war impacts us, my
people, our way of life. I’m one of the best warriors we have. When
your wars get too close to affecting us, a group of us are called
together. The group is made up of the warrior sons of the nobility.
Being noble isn’t just a title for us, its something that’s in our
genes. We’re stronger, faster and better at what we do than those
we lead. It’s the nature of the clans; a hierarchy built on
strength. Those of us in this group, infiltrate your militaries,
find out all that we can, see how long it will be before the war
truly starts to affect us. If it looks like the war may seriously
impact our way of life, more of us are called, all of the guards
here in the estate, they’re warriors too, they would come with
me.”

“
And do what
exactly?”

“
What warriors
are built to do, fight. We lend our strength to the country we’re
residing in and protect our people, our mates and our children.
We’re good at what we do. We’re faster, stronger and virtually
invincible in combat. Unfortunately, loss of life can’t be
prevented in a war. I always tried to subdue rather than kill but
if my life was truly in danger or the situation called for it, I
kill. I’m no different to any other soldier in the world. Are you
really going to be angry with me for acting in self defense? If I
hadn’t killed those people in all those wars I might not be alive
today. I might never have met you.”

She nodded
slowly, relaxing in his grip. Wars and soldiers were exceptional
circumstances. If it were kill or be killed, then those deaths were
understandable. Regrettable, but war was war and she couldn’t hold
defending his own life against him. “And what about
Lucinda?”

“
What about
her? She tried to hurt you! I acted in self-defence. I meant what I
said earlier, if you were to die I would die with you. Acting to
protect your life is equivalent to acting to protect my life,
self-defence. I’m not human Chloe, no matter how I
look.”

“
How could I
possibly forget when you keep doing that weird eye thing,” she
chuckled.

“
The laws that
govern us are different to the laws that govern humans. They have
to be if we want to continue to exist as a species. Lucinda was a
rogue, a danger to our people she had to be dealt with.”

“
But,” she
stuttered, unsure of what to say next.

He turned her
in his arms so that she could look at him directly in the eye. His
tone was fierce as he spoke but his eyes were clear, there wasn’t
even a speck of amber in sight. “You don’t seem to understand just
how important you are angel. I live for you, breathe for you. I
love you dammit.” She gasped at the admission but he didn’t give
her addled mind an opportunity to respond. “I can’t lose you. I
won’t be without you again and anyone who thinks to threaten your
life should expect to forfeit theirs. I’ve made this clear to
everyone. Mates are the foundation of our species, without them we
are nothing. Having one destined, true mate is what differentiates
us from humans. Mates are what have allowed us to live alongside
you for so long. Mates give our lives meaning. Lucinda knew all of
this. I’ll never hesitate to protect you. Ever. I understand that
this may be hard for you; Alex was the same way when she arrived
here. Humans seem very opposed to the taking of life even when
someone truly deserves it. If it makes you feel any better Lucinda
was over one hundred and fifty years old, that’s at least two human
life spans. Think of it as dying of natural causes.”
Her natural stupidity.
“Don’t worry angel, the less pleasant side of our existence
will never again touch you. If I’d known that it would upset you so
much I would never have taken you to the trial. I won’t do it
again.”

“
I don’t want
secrets between us Ryan. After Gary, I swore never again to be in a
relationship where one of us was keeping secrets.”

“
If that’s
really what you want angel then I can only do as you
ask.”

She gulped,
“Did she suffer Ryan?”

“
No. I stuck to
my word, I made sure I was quick.”

“
Then why were
you gone so long?”

“
I let her say
goodbye to her family. I’m not so heartless that I would deny her a
final request.”
Especially when Alex was
demanding that Tobias and I give her one.

“
You’re a good
man Ryan.”

“
I don’t want
to be a good man.” Confusion became etched on her features at his
statement. “I only want to be yours. I want to be your man whatever
that entails.”

She smiled
shyly. “Then just keep being yourself. I like you as you
are.”

“
Even though I
killed someone?”

She paused,
trying to give him an honest answer to his question. “You’ve said
it yourself, you aren’t human. I can’t expect you to act like one.
Since I met you you’ve shown a flagrant disregard for the laws that
I was raised to follow, your laws aren’t my laws, I can accept
that. Still, I can admit that something had to be done about
Lucinda, she tried to kill me. Murder isn’t acceptable in any
society it seems.”

“
So do you
still think of me as a murderer?”

“
No, she was
punished according to your laws, someone had to dole out her
sentence, it just happened to be you.”

“
And Tobias,”
he inserted cheerfully.

“
And Tobias.
You’ve never hidden who you are from me, I’ve been hearing your
threats towards others since I got here, it’s my own fault that I
shrugged them off as a joke. You’re still exactly who you are when
I met you. You’re still arrogant, aggressive and very, very
demanding.”

“
Don’t worry,
you’re learning to manage me very quickly and I meant what I said,
I won’t let this side of my nature touch you again. If it’s really
what you want, I’ll do my best not to fight again.”

“
Do you mean
that?”

“
Yes I do
Chloe.”

“
When I got
here Ryan you told me that I might be able to go home.”

“
Yes,” he
drawled uncertain whether he liked where this turn in the
conversation might lead.

“
Is that still
true?”

“
A promise
between mates is practically sacred, of course it’s still
true.”

“
I know that
you think my family are dangerous, but they’re not. I don’t mind if
you fight other people but I want you to promise me that you won’t
hurt my family if you meet them.”

“
If I let you
go to them, I’ll be going with you. If I let you go alone they
might try and stop you returning to me and I can’t have
that.”

“
Fine,” she
sighed. “When you eventually meet my family promise me you won’t
hurt them.”

“
Not even a
scratch?” he whined.

“
Not even a
scratch.”

“
Is this what
you really want?”

“
I want my
family to be safe. I love them Ryan.”

So she can
love a bunch of lunatics but she can’t say the same to me?
He groaned in frustration before looking at the
eager look on her face. His heart twisted in his chest at the mere
sight of her and he could feel the instinct beginning to press in
on him, demanding that he please his mate. “Fine, I won’t hurt
them.”

“
Yes,” she
cheered triumphantly.