Reluctant Guardian

by Elisha Bugg

  "You're a coward if you give up before you even try," Tynan scoffed, turning to leave him alone, a wise move after he dared to insult a superior for a second time, but before he left he added, "You bit her you know. The mark is already showing brightly and still she hasn't fled. Don't keep being a fool by pushing her away. The hunters might take the chance from you."

  Thane stared at the door for a long time, letting everything Tynan said sink in.

  He'd bit her, marked her as his. That must have hurt, yet she remained under his roof? This girl doesn't know what she's let herself in for.

  Sighing, he perched himself on the worktop, clenching and unclenching his fists.

  Tynan was right. He was a coward. Constantly pushing people away so he wouldn't have to face losing or hurting them, but he'd seen the hurt in her eyes when he looked down at her before he left, and it had nothing to do with him biting her.

  She wanted him as much as he wanted her. Only, he was weak. Unable to rein the beast back and keep control.

  Even now the wolf was howling to break free, to run back and finish what they'd started, taking her to all new levels of pleasure. But could she handle the beast when it overtook him entirely?

  Chapter Fifteen

  Thane and Lucas exited the gym, their eyes still glowing wildly with exhilaration. Both covered in sweat and each other's blood.

  They spotted Amelia in the distance waiting for them, standing and joking with Edwin.

  Lucas’s smile was wide and full of joy, Thane couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy.

  He’d been searching for his mate for a while, but nobody was suitable.

  He didn’t want a submissive female, but very few people dared to put him in his place.

  Thane sighed, but smiled and waved along with Lucas.

  “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Lucas asked as they headed toward her.

  “She’s alright for a human,” Thane joked, receiving a jab to the ribs.

  “You’re a very lucky man, Lucas.”

  “I know. But you’ll know the joy yourself someday.”

  “I don’t think I’ll ever find a female who’s willing to go head to head with me.”

  “I have something to tell you, Thane. I wanted you to be the first to know.”

  Thane turned to him with curiosity. What could Lucas possible want to tell him?

  He knew that he and Amelia were trying for a child, had been for the past year. Only, shifter babies were rare. When one was conceived, everyone gathered to celebrate it.

  Surely they hadn’t succeeded, had they?

  “Amelia’s pregnant,” Lucas informed him with the biggest smile painted on his face, his eyes shining a brilliant emerald.

  “I think it’s a girl, but don’t tell Amelia. She doesn’t want to know. She’s told the healers not to say anything either.”

  Lucas’s grin grew wider, his whole face lighting up with overwhelming joy. Thane smiled back at him, wrapping his arms around him in a tight embrace.

  “Then you are indeed a lucky man, Lucas. She’ll no doubt be beautiful like her mother. It would be such a shame if she ended up with your ugly mug,” Thane laughed, receiving yet another jab as Lucas laughed with him.

  “You want me to kick your ass again, boy?”

  “That was weeks ago old man. You’re getting slow. I’m pretty sure I won that last match.”

  Thane stirred in his sleep, remembering the look on Lucas's face when he told him about his child. He’d never seen Lucas as happy as he had that day and the months that followed.

  Amelia may have been human, but she was one of the few that had earned Thane’s trust, despite his hesitance about her in the beginning.

  How foolish they'd all been to trust her family with their location and the truth about who they were. They'd handed all the information over to the hunters, disowning their daughter and despising Lucas for being different, never giving their grandchild a second thought.

  Lucas wrapped his arms tightly around Amelia, holding her close as she wept. His face torn, but he knew what must be done. They all knew the hunters were coming for them. They just didn’t know when.

  Lucas and Thane had assembled a team of men and women to accompany Amelia and her unborn baby to safety whilst they stayed back, luring the hunters away.

  A miracle baby they had all been waiting for. The first wolf shifter in over ten years.

  “You must go, Amelia. Protect our child. I’ll find you once it’s safe.”

  Amelia couldn’t speak past her sobs as she was pulled along by some of the healers leaving with her.

  Lucas turned away as they dragged her into the car waiting for them, the sight unbearable to witness.

  Never had Thane seen something so heartbreaking as the sight before him.

  He wished he could spare them both this fate, but they needed to send her away to safety. If she remained here, their baby would die. Richard knew the child would soon be born and had sworn to make Lucas pay for taking Amelia from him.

  They couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t be allowed near the child.

  Amelia’s screams cut through Thane like a knife, reminding him of his past, but he couldn’t turn away. The sight of Amelia holding onto her round tummy, draped in a blanket covered in protective runes.

  The door to the car slammed shut, yet Thane could still hear her cries as she fought to be free, a shifter now sitting on either side of her.

  She was in safe hands.

  Richard wouldn’t find her.

  The sound of the engine echoed in the space around them, all remaining sounds of hurt and anguish disguised by the roar of the car. Lucas glanced over his shoulder, a single tear sliding down his cheek as he closed his eyes and howled to the moon above them.

  Thane fought the urge to howl along with Lucas. He had to be strong. Had to save him and the family he had created. He wouldn’t let anything happen to them. Not his pack. Not the only people he had left.

  “Thane!” Lucas shouted from behind. “Up top.”

  Thane spun around, aiming his pistol into the sky just in time to shoot another hunter who had taken to the trees like a cat. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have sworn the man wasn’t human.

  The man’s large body fell to the floor with a thud as another five men rushed them from the bushes.

  “It’s no good,” Lucas whispered, defeated. A gaping wound in his side, blood soaking through his thick jumper. Thane's leg sliced to the tendons making each step agony. But he wouldn't give in. He couldn’t allow Lucas to give up. He had a mate, and a child on the way, if it hadn’t been born already. He had to keep fighting, if not for himself, for them.

  “Run, Lucas. I’ll hold them off for as long as I can,” Thane insisted, pushing Lucas toward the trees before he transformed, his eyes shining wildly in the low light around them.

  Lucas went to argue, but knew he'd be wasting his breath. nodding, he held onto his side and hobbled away, transforming as he went.

  Both of them knew they had the best chance of survival if they were in their wolf form. Their hearing and sight was far superior to the humans surrounding them.

  Lucas ran toward the shadow of the trees, his caramel coat flickering in the moonlight, his voice a whisper on the breeze.

  “Gratias tibi.”

  Thane knew he wouldn’t survive five versus one, but he would buy Lucas enough time to find shelter or help.

  He would risk his life for his pack.

  One of the hunters circled around him, hoping to bypass Thane and follow Lucas. Thane couldn't allow it. He leapt through the air, pinning the man to the floor by his shoulders. The man's eyes were white as he stared up at the dripping canines above him. Like Thane had first thought, this man didn’t smell human. But what was he? His scent was like nothing he'd smelt before.

  Thane looked down at the man beneath him and growled.

  He didn’t have time to think or question what was going on, he needed to end this man before any
more tried to make it past him. He needed to stall them for as long as possible.

  Thane sunk his teeth into the man’s chest, piercing his heart as he heard a shot behind him.

  He spun around fast, jumping up off of the corpse beneath him. A woman stood several feet away with a shotgun pointed in his direction. She was human, and from the looks of the tattoo around her bicep, she was a hunter.

  Thane had learnt his lesson hesitating to kill a woman, he would not make the same mistake today.

  He lunged toward her, springing up from the ground to grab hold of her throat, but he was too late. As he moved through the air in what felt like slow motion, he felt a piercing pain shoot through his side.

  The bullet missed his heart and lungs, but shattered several ribs. They would heal with time, but the pain was excruciating.

  He landed on top of her, slicing his claws across her face as he fell, determined to kill her before she killed him and went for Lucas. His mouth found her neck, her screams gurgling on blood as he bit down hard.

  "Thane.”

  He heard someone shouting his name, felt a tight grip on his shoulders.

  “Thane. Wake up.”

  He opened up his eyes and froze.

  “Amelia?” he asked, leaning forward.

  She cocked her head to the side and frowned.

  She looked so beautiful and so young in front of him. He wanted to kiss her, but why? She was Lucas's mate. He had never had those feelings toward her before.

  "Thane, it's alright. You were having a bad dream.”

  Thane pushed her away, holding her at arm's length, staring into her face.

  No. This wasn’t Amelia. Those eyes weren’t hers. Those were the eyes of Lucas staring back at him.

  "Anya? "

  She nodded, her face etched with concern as she slowly lifted her hand back to his face.

  Without hesitation he pulled her back toward him and clutching onto her, savouring the feeling as he reminded himself what was real and what wasn't.

  She didn't fight him, didn't push him away or ask questions, just let him hold her.

  "Are you OK? " she finally asked once he let go.

  "I haven't had that dream in a long time."

  “Whose Amelia?"

  "My friend's mate," Thane replied, unsure what else to tell her.

  How had he not noticed the similarities in their looks before? She was the spitting image of Amelia, except for her eyes. They were definitely Lucas's. And her scent, why didn't she smell like them?

  "What happened to her?" Anya asked, wrapping her hand around her necklace, something she did for comfort Thane noticed.

  "I don't know. She was sent away a long time ago. Nobody has seen her or the baby she carried since."

  Thane watched her for any reaction as she fiddled with the ring around her chain, again something he had never truly paid attention to before now.

  The ring was Lucas's. No doubt a gift he'd given Amelia before she was born.

  How could he have been such a fool?

  "That's terrible. I hope they're both alright."

  "I don't think Amelia survived the trip," he replied, his voice shaking as he said her name and continued to stare at Anya in disbelief, "but I have a feeling her child did."

  He needed to speak with Edwin and tell him what had happened.

  Either he was losing his mind, his dream giving him false hope; or the girl before him was indeed their child.

  "Why are you up so early?" Thane asked. Anything to break his mind free from the dream and the possibility of who she was.

  "I had a bad dream too. One I used to always have when I was little."

  "Oh?" he asked now very intrigued.

  It seemed unusual that both of them would have an old dream at the same time.

  "It's silly really. I never see anything. I'm just locked away in the dark and all I hear is my own breathing and my thoughts."

  "You fear the dark?"

  Anya gave a quick nod, her cheeks turning pink.

  Was she ashamed of her fear? Foolish child.

  "It's OK," he reassured her, holding her to him. "It was only a dream. You're safe here."

  "I wasn't expecting you so early," Edwin commented as Thane burst through the doors, filling the dimly lit room with sunlight.

  "I want to know more about Anya," Thane demanded, plonking down on the chair opposite him. "I thought you didn't care. She's just a human, remember?"

  "Don't get cocky with me, Edwin," Thane growled, digging his nails deep into the wood of the desk, his teeth sharpening into razor fine points as he peeled his lips back, not caring about reining the beast back in. “You know more about her than you’re letting on.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Explain to me why she looks the spitting image of Amelia. Why her eyes glowed that night at the pub? She's not human is she?”

  Edwin continued to stare at him, the colour draining from his face as he pulled out an old photograph from his top draw, running his fingers gently across the border.

  “As she grew older, of course I began to wonder. From the moment she came to me, I believed she was more than human, always doing my best to keep her away from the hunters.”

  “Then why didn't you tell me that in the first place?” Thane spat, punching the desk with clenched fists.

  All this time he'd been pushing her away because of his hatred for humankind, never realizing how much danger he was putting her in.

  He'd sworn to protect her before she was born, and now, he may well have damned her, letting her get close to that hunter boy.

  “I was never certain, not until Oleander confirmed it for me. I couldn't give you false hope, Thane. Nor did you seem to notice those similarities until recently.”

  Edwin slid the photograph across the desk toward him, holding a hand to his face as he spun around in his chair, facing the wall behind him.

  Thane stared down at the three people smiling back up at him, and sagged back in his chair.

  Edwin was right of course. Damn him, he always was.

  He hadn't seen anything but a beautiful human stranger when he’d first met her, her emerald eyes nothing but a colour.

  Yes he’d felt something for her in that instant. A hunger he’d never felt before, nor understood. But he’d refused to see past her human facade, judging her before he knew her.

  What a fool he was.

  If only he’d looked harder, trusted the wolf’s instincts.

  “How did you find her?”

  “When she was just a child she was left on my doorstep, battered and bloody with a small note tucked in her pocket,” Edwin muttered, sliding yet another photograph toward him, paper clipped to a worn-out piece of paper.

  "That was her sixth birthday. We spent the day playing in the garden with some of the other cubs and pups in the area. Nobody ever made her feel unwelcome, they all loved her as much as I did."

  Carefully Thane unwrapped the note and studied the faded writing.

  Edwin,

  This is Anya. I found her caged like an animal in a small hut whilst on a hunt.

  I don't know much about her, and she refuses to speak to me, cowering whenever I look at her.

  I hope you have better luck than I did.

  Please take care of her. I've grown attached to this little dot in the two weeks she was with me.

  Erebus.

  "Erebus later told me what he'd seen in the hut, sending me a file listing the girl’s details. We assumed the place was owned by hunters, using it as a base to carry out experiments on people of all ages and backgrounds."

  "She wasn't alone when he found her?"

  "No, but the others were old enough to take care of themselves, so he freed them. The girl, Anya, was only four."

  Thane felt his fur bristle beneath his skin, the wolf fighting to break free and cause some damage.

  How could they cage such a small child? Children were everything to shifters. Their one true weakness.
<
br />   He continued to stare down at the photograph, mesmerized by Anya’s beautiful eyes. So much passion and emotion in such a small child.

  She'd been through hell at such a young age, yet here she was, smiling up at a man who clearly loved her with all his heart after such a short time together.

  "Why didn't you ever tell me about her?"

  “I wasn’t sure what she was, Thane. I didn’t know how you’d feel about me taking in a child who could possibly be human. It’s no secret how much you despise them.”

  It’s true he resented every human he’d ever met, treating them as badly as he would a hunter. But she was just a child. He could never have blamed her for being what she was. It was only as they grew that a human's mind was turned against them. Brainwashed by the hunters.

  “But she’s not human is she, Edwin. She’s half shifter.”

  It explained her eyes glowing the way they had at the pub, and how she could understand them whilst in their animal forms. It also explained Thane’s overwhelming need to protect her just like he’d promised Lucas he would the moment he’d found out Amelia was pregnant.

  The only wolf pup to be born in over thirty years, and she doesn’t even know what she is.

  Thane slouched back in his chair and held a hand to his throbbing head.

  When did his life become so complicated?

  “If I’d have known. I would have told her sooner.”

  “Excuses, Edwin,” Thane growled, glaring at him below his hand. “You should have told her about us. About what you are, rather than bringing her up ignorant to it all.”

  “How would that have helped?”

  “She wouldn’t have gone near the hunters. Hunters you let her befriend.”

  Edwin was at a loss for words, something that rarely happened. Still Thane didn’t feel better.

  He knew what Edwin had done was to try and keep the girl safe, sparing her from their world of constantly running or hiding from those that would rather see them dead. But in doing so he’d left her unprepared and unprotected.

  Luckily for them, and herself, she had chosen to side with them, despising the hunters for what they did. But things could easily have ended differently.