A Wolf's Pride (47 page)

“
Chloe!” he
howled.

“
Ryan, what’s
happening? Tell me.”

He roared
again, his vocal cords changing, making his voice rougher. “Angel,
please…” He trailed off in an angry snarl, unable to communicate
with her anymore as his vocal cords completed the transformation
from human to wolf.

“
Please what?”
she demanded, her heart racing for an entirely different reason
now. She had never seen Ryan in so much pain. Even when his organs
had literally been hanging outside of his body he had borne the
pain silently. He continued howling and her pulse leapt. “I’m going
to get a doctor,” she sobbed. “Please, just be okay until I get
back.” Pulling herself free of his body, she rolled off the bed and
onto her feet.

His agonized
howls died the instant their bodies separated and she turned to
look at him again. The shakes that had been savaging his body were
gradually dying down, his claws receded and the fangs in his mouth
once again became normal length teeth. His eyes opened, any traces
of amber gone as he looked at her with honey brown eyes.

“
I’m sorry
angel,” he apologised. “I scared you.”

She threw
herself onto him, the relief flowing from her almost tangible. Her
knowledge of werewolf physiology was non-existent, her experiences
with it traumatic and Ryan’s howls of pain had reminded her of when
she had thought he was dying. She couldn’t lose him. “Ryan, are you
okay?” Her hands ran over the length of his body, searching for
some sort of visible wound.

“
Yes angel, I’m
fine. I swear.”

She stopped
her investigation, sitting up beside him. “Then what just
happened?”

“
The instinct
just happened.”

“
The instinct?
I thought that was what helped you guys survive, it just tried to
kill you.”

“
No, it was
punishing me. I was about to break one of its laws. An unbreakable
law as I well know.”

“
What? Making
love to me? Is what we just did so bad? A crime?”

Hearing the
uncertainty and sadness in her voice, Ryan sat up and gripped her
hands tightly within his own, peppering her much smaller hands with
warm kisses. “No Chloe, it’s natural for mates to come together
like this.”

“
Then why was
it punishing you?” she demanded.

“
Because you’re
human and I haven’t claimed you properly.”

“
Claimed?” she
ran the word over her tongue. “I’ve heard that word
before.”

“
Yes. I tried
to claim you at the last full moon remember?”

“
I remember
trying to run you over,” she mused, suddenly unable to meet his
gaze as she remembered her actions that night. “I remember that
horrible cave, I remember you being a wolf in the morning and
refusing to talk to me. I don’t remember any claiming.”

“
We never
actually got to the claiming part. You left.”

“
Because you
refused to talk to me,” she retorted, unapologetic over her
actions.

“
They were all
necessary steps towards a successful claiming.”

“
So we have to
do this claiming thing before we can make love without you being in
excruciating pain?”

“
Yes.”

“
So what does
it involve?”

“
It involves
everything that happened that night plus one additional step before
we can be together fully. You have to run and I have to catch you.
There’s nowhere I wouldn’t go to catch you, I love chasing you. The
last full moon was amazing. Once I’ve caught you I have to show
that I can provide for you, keep you safe. We managed to do all of
that but we didn’t complete the last step.”

“
And what would
that be?”

“
You have to
spend an entire day with me when I’m in my wolf form and you can’t
leave me Chloe. You have to stay by my side no matter what happens.
If you don’t then the claiming fails and we have to try
again.”

“
Everything?
Including the part where I tried to run you over?” she
laughed.

Apparently he
didn’t see the joke if the stern look on his face was anything to
go by. “There will be no more attempts to run me over.”

“
I know. I
can’t bear the thought of you in pain. I won’t try and do that
again, unless you really, really deserve it.” Leaning forward, she
placed a gentle kiss to his lips, her eyes watching him carefully
as she pulled away in case anything happened to him. “Why can’t we
just get on with it? You know, like normal people?”

He sighed.
“Chloe love, do you remember I once told you that werewolves used
to bite their mates and turn them into what we are?” She nodded in
agreement. “Well once wolves were sure that their mates weren’t
going to turn into werewolves, they didn’t see the point in telling
them what they were at all. But they found out and once again the
continued survival of our species was at risk. Mates were dying.
The instinct changed. Now if our mate’s human then she has to see
us, know what we are and accept us. When you left during the last
full moon, the instinct took it as a sign of rejection and the
claiming failed.”

Her eyes
narrowed slightly in anger. “This claiming involves sex
right?”

“
Yes. Once
we’ve gone through all the steps then, I can claim your body
properly and make love to you all night. That’s when I’ll bite you
and mark you right here. After that, you’ll be mine forever,
nothing will ever separate us again.” His hand caressed the side of
her neck already imagining his mark embedded against her
skin.

“
I can’t
believe you try to sleep with me when I was furious with you! You
can be such an idiot. There are meant to be limits to stupidity you
know?”

“
I’m sorry, I
didn’t understand that you were mad at me.”

“
There you go
again, breaking any and all limitations that I thought nature
imposed on stupidity. Even though you’re the most emotionally
redundant man I’ve ever met, I’m going to forgive you because you
may be an idiot, but you’re my idiot.”

“
Possessive,”
he purred, pulling her against his naked chest. “I like it. That’s
all I ever want to be. Yours.”

She
remembered the damp cave Ryan had made her sleep in that night and
her body shivered in response. “Do we have to go back to that
horrible cave?”

“
The claiming
has to outside angel. You need to run and I need to catch
you.”

“
We can do that
indoors,” she protested.

“
I need the
moon.”

“
So we have to
wait until the next full moon before we can do this. That’s ages
away.”

“
We don’t have
to wait for the full moon. I’m thankfully not that restricted but I
need something. There’s an animal living inside of me Chloe, I need
to be outside, the claiming can’t happen within these walls. It’s a
very private thing. There’s too much help here for it to work
properly. I have to show that I can take care of you,
alone.”

“
You do take
care of me Ryan.”

“
Thank you love
but I have to prove myself and the best way to do that is outdoors.
Besides, I can’t spend a day as a wolf inside the estate. It would
drive me mad. These stone walls would seem like a cage. I’m sorry
angel but this is the way it has to be.”

“
I don’t know
what you’ve done to me,” Chloe began, “but whenever I look at you I
seem to fall into those big brown eyes of yours and I find myself
agreeing to all sorts of things that I know I’ll later regret.
Nevertheless, I’m going to do it again. We only have to do this
outdoor claiming thing once right and then we can be together like
normal people right? Indoors?” Ryan nodded enthusiastically, hoping
this was headed where he thought it was. “I can’t believe I’m doing
this,” she muttered to herself. “Fine, if your claiming needs to
happen outside then we’ll go outside. See how much I care for you,
I’m willing to put myself through that hell so that we can be
together. I must be insane. When should we start?
Tonight?”

“
No.”

“
What?” she
questioned confused by his refusal. He was still hard with desire
despite the minutes that had passed. Didn’t he want this? Didn’t he
want her?

“
There’s
something I need to do before I can claim you. It’s
important.”

“
What is
it?”

“
It’s a
secret.” He jumped from the bed, a wide smile plastered on his
face. “Wait for me angel. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” With that
he was gone, rushing to dress himself as he went.

Chloe’s mind
was still racing as she sat naked on the bed.
What could have been so important that he would run out on me
like that? I guess I’ll soon see. With Ryan there’s no point in
even trying to guess. I’ve never met anyone as unpredictable as
him…but I guess it’s just one of the things I love about
him.

Chapter
Forty

Chloe had
never thought of herself as a particularly obsessive person but it
seemed to be the only word that fit her at the moment. The object
of her new-found obsession? Ryan. Not only did he have the ability
to drive her crazy when he was around her, it appeared that he
could still do it when he was nowhere near her. It had been three
days since she had last seen him but those three days may as well
have been three months in her mind. After being in his presence
almost constantly since she had arrived his absence was all the
more pronounced.

She stood
alone within the room, staring out of the large window into the
dark night sky wondering how long she would be alone. Her hands
were clenched tightly against the wooden barrier that prevented her
from falling. She didn’t even entertain the thought that something
could happen to her again. Ryan had gone to extreme lengths to
protect her while he was away though she wasn’t sure exactly how
far the protection extended past the walls of the suite. Trusted
guards were at the door twenty four hours a day according to
Sebastian and he would be on call whenever she needed him. She had
barely resisted the urge to scoff at that, remembering when she had
run through the halls screaming his name at the top of her lungs to
no avail.

Though she
had become more comfortable within the walls, she was still
reluctant to push the boundaries of her security and instead had
opted for self imposed exile. Though there were benefits to being
alone, it also had its downsides. It was far too quiet in her self
imposed confinement, even when the room was filled with loud
children. Alex and Erica visited often, bringing with them what
seemed like an entire nursery. Dylan and Wyatt, who she had since
learnt were Erica's siblings, not her children played loudly but it
wasn’t the same as Ryan’s loud roars filling the room. Nothing was
the same since he’d left. There were moments when she entertained
the idea that he’d left her because he was secretly disgusted by
what he had seen the day he’d left. Those thoughts were however,
immediately banished by remembering the heated words he’d spoken to
her. Ryan thought she was beautiful, he would come back.

For someone
who was as exhausted as he was, Ryan moved on surprisingly silent
feet as he walked back into the rooms he shared with his mate. For
three days he had pushed himself above and beyond his limits,
working around the clock in preparation for this night. He hadn’t
slept, hadn’t eaten since he’d left his mate but despite the
exhaustion that made his limbs feel so heavy, he was smiling.
Tonight was the night he had been waiting for since before he had
even seen Chloe’s face and now that he knew who she was he couldn’t
imagine being with anyone else. Tonight he was going to claim his
angel, his mate. Her intoxicating smell was heavy in the air and he
breathed deeply, savouring the scent he had missed since he’d been
away. He walked towards her, his step sure and without hesitation.
He would always be able to find his way back to her. Moving
quickly, he pulled her back flush against him and held her
tight.

“
Chloe,” he
growled as he rubbed his lightly stubbled cheek against the soft,
silky strands of her hair.

His unnatural
warmth seeped into her and she instantly relaxed in his embrace,
all traces of tension leaving her in an instant. His breath
feathered over her skin as his head came to rest in the crook of
her neck and her body shivered slightly in response. Though her
body’s extreme reactions to his had at one point frightened her, it
was welcome after his long absence.

“
I missed you,”
he purred, placing light kisses against the side of her neck. “Did
you miss me?”

She nodded,
lifting her hands and placing them atop the solid muscle of his
forearms, another step to keeping him in place. “Where did you
go?”

“
There was
something I had to take care of.”

“
For the
claiming?”

“
Of course.
There’s nothing else that could keep me away from you for so long.
I did the best that I could in the short time I had but I had to
come back today. I don’t think I can take it any longer. I need to
be with you. I need to claim you.” His hips rocked against hers,
forcing her to notice the hard length of his erection.