A Wolf's Obsession

by Jennifer T. Alli

  Pleased with her analysis of the upcoming day’s events Kass pulled away from Wyatt expecting him to be beaming with joy but his smile didn’t reach his eyes and she frowned in confusion. Questions almost spilled from her lips but her mind reached for his instinctively, trying to solve his problem and help her mate.

  Don’t tell her about the chase. Don’t tell her about the chase. Don’t tell her about the chase. The words repeated in his mind on loop and she tried hard to prevent herself from frowning in confusion. His agitation had made him forget that she could hear his thoughts, now was not the time to remind him of that.

  “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I’ll make it good for you, I promise. I’ll take care of everything. All I want you to focus on is getting better so that the claiming can happen without any problems.”

  She forced a yawn she didn’t feel hoping he would get the hint so that she could delve into his mind and see what it was that he wasn’t telling her. Whatever the chase was it was clearly important to him otherwise he wouldn’t have tried to hide it from her. She hid another smile in a yawn. Didn’t he realise that there was no hiding a secret from your mate? He was the one that was constantly reminding her that there were no lies or secrets between mates and yet here he was trying to keep one from her. It didn’t matter that it was probably for her own good, all that mattered was that there was something about the claiming that he was keeping from her. If he wanted the claiming to go off without a hitch then she had to know everything and thanks to her connection with his mind she fully intended to know what she was heading into. If he wasn’t going to tell her then she’d just have to go rooting about his brain for the knowledge.

  He stood up and ran his fingers through her hair before he kissed her. Brushing his lips over hers, he tried to keep things light; there was no point in getting worked up when relief was days away. His attempt failed miserably. The taste of her exploded in his brain sending every nerve in his body on to full alert. He groaned then pressed his lips against hers more firmly, sighing contentedly when she began kissing him back. His hot tongue slid over the seam of her lips silently asking for an invitation and he got one quickly. Her luscious lips parted on a breathy sigh and he quickly pressed his advantage, sliding his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues tangled furiously, each trying hard to taste the other before Wyatt pulled back. Her heart was racing and she was running out of breath. With the claiming only days away there was no way he was going to risk his chance to claim his mate just because he couldn’t control himself.

  His lack of control made him curse. There was only one thing that could make him risk the claiming happening successfully. His mind had been so focused on getting back to Kass that he hadn’t stopped to think about anything else but now reality was unavoidable. “Kass,” he sighed and rubbed the strands of her flaming red hair between his fingertips. “The moon is full.” He didn’t need to look out of a window to know that the milky orb had would be taking up residence in the sky tonight. His skin itched with the need to let his wolf free and allow reason and logic to disappear. The moon changed things. It made him dangerous. It was difficult enough reasoning with the wolf on a good day but the moon would drive every thought from the wolf’s mind. He wouldn’t remember there were reasons that they couldn’t claim their mate, all that he’d be thinking about would be fulfilling its instincts.

  The frown she’d been working so hard to hide appeared quickly. “Does that change things?”

  You have no idea. Another sigh left his lips this time much heavier. How to phrase this so that she doesn’t freak out? His mind raced to come up with the perfect words to explain the situation. “My control…isn’t going to be as good as I’d like for it to be and with my…” It was never easy discussing the broken state of his mind especially with his mate. Who would want to admit to such a massive flaw especially when it had been responsible for hurting her in the past? I don’t have a choice. She deserves to know the truth and if she doesn’t want to go ahead with this then that’s her right. “With my…condition, I might try to claim you before your birthday. I can’t let that happen. Your heart wouldn’t be able to take it especially not with the moon, I’d have to take you again and again until the wolf was satisfied…that might not be until the next morning when the moon has disappeared.”

  She didn’t have to read his thoughts to know where he was going with this. “No. You are not going to allow yourself to be restrained. I can talk to the wolf, I can reason with him. I know he doesn’t want to hurt me–”

  “Not deliberately,” he interrupted. “But that doesn’t change the fact if I hang around then I’ll be putting you at risk. I can’t live with the idea of hurting you again. I’ve done enough of that to last me a lifetime.”

  “Well then don’t hang around. Go somewhere else but I’m not having you restrained because of me. I’ve seen enough of you being hurt to last me two lifetimes and seeing as I’m the only one in this room that has actually lived two lives then I win. You don’t like the idea of me being hurt and I feel the same.”

  He started to pace the length of the room. “Running could work,” he mumbled under his breath. “If I could get far away enough then you’d be safe and by the time I got back I’d have worn myself out, I’d be able to be gentler with your body.”

  “This is sounding like a win, win situation. I’m not going anywhere for the next few days. I’ll stay here, get better and then by the time you’re back I’ll be one hundred percent fit and ready for the claiming.”

  He rubbed his chin in thought. It didn’t take long to make a decision. “I’ll go. You stay here. Dylan will take care of you and you’ll be safe. Promise me you’ll stay here. If I don’t know you’re safe I won’t be able to stay away.”

  “You’re sure it’s safe here?” she joked.

  “My family is here, they’ll protect you with their lives. As long as you stay inside these walls nothing bad will happen to you. Promise me Kass, promise me you’ll stay here.”

  His voice was intense, his plea desperate and Kass couldn’t refuse him. What was the harm in staying where it was safe? It wasn’t as though she had a death wish. With Wyatt out of commission then the safest place was with his family. “I’ll stay. I promise.”

  “Good.” He moved towards her and Kass’ heart fluttered in anticipation expecting another bone melting kiss.

  He stopped just short of the bed and clenched his hands into fists, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her. “I’d better not risk it. If I touch you I might not leave.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to ask whether that would be such a bad thing but she resisted. Wyatt’s whole body was tense, it was so strong that it radiated from him in waves. She’d better not push him any further otherwise he was likely to break. “I’ll miss you but you know what they say. Good things come to those who wait.”

  “Then considering how long I’ve waited I expect this to be nothing short of spectacular.” It was the last thing he said to her before he rushed from the room all too aware that he had hundreds of miles to travel and only a few short hours to do it in. Already he could feel his wolf stirring in protest but he forced his mind away from the surly voice at the back of his mind and with a picture of Kass firmly at the front of his thoughts he ran. The instinct might give the wolf the advantage when night fell but he fully intended to use his love for Kass to his advantage during the day and push his body above and beyond its limits. He’d done his mate enough,damage he’d never cause her harm again he’d rather rip his own head off and if that’s what it came down to…he’d be more than happy to do it. Kass was his mate and it was damn well time that he started acting like a proper mate should. Her safety and well being came before his now and always.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “He couldn’t have meant stay here in bed all day.” Kass muttered the words aloud all to aware that her thoughts were no longer her own. If Wyatt heard that she wanted to get out he might misunderstand and turn back
. She knew they couldn’t risk him coming back but after hours lying alone in her hospital bed she was climbing the walls. She risked a glance at the clock on the wall and wanted to cry. It was morning, which meant more hours in her self imposed prison if she didn’t get out of bed.

  Her stomach growled loudly and she sighed in relief. “I guess that decides it. I need to keep my strength up and that isn’t going to happen if I don’t eat.”

  Decision made she threw the duvet aside and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. Wriggling her toes, she braced the soles of her feet for the upcoming coldness of the tiled floor. As soon as she stood up the door flew open and an angry Dylan stormed in.

  Brown eyes bright and her fangs elongated in her mouth, she cast Kass an angry look. “What do you think you’re doing?” she barked.

  Taken aback by the hardness of Dylan's voice Kass didn’t say a word.

  “Get back in bed!”

  Dylan's yelling prodded Kass into action. She appreciated that Dylan was her doctor but that didn’t give her the right to order her around. “I was going to look for something to eat. That isn’t a crime.”

  “It may not be for anyone else but it is for you. You’re not going anywhere. Get back into that bed right now.”

  Kass’ jaw dropped. Dylan couldn’t be serious. She couldn’t have escaped from one prison so that she could willingly enter another. Wyatt trusted his family but that didn’t mean she had to feel the same way. They were strangers to her and Dylan was doing a fantastic job of reminding her of why she didn’t rely on people she didn’t know. They couldn’t be trusted.

  Anger filled her and she clenched her hands into fists and met Dylan's intense stare with one of her own. “I didn’t realise that I was a prisoner here. I’m free to do whatever I want and what I want is to get out of this room and get something to eat.” Ignoring Dylan's early comments, Kass took a step forward determined to leave the room. She didn’t make it very far. She barely had enough time to blink before Dylan had stalked across the room and forced her back into the bed.

  “You are not going anywhere,” Dylan seethed. “You seem to have no idea of what you’re worth to this family so let me educate you. My brother lives or dies depending one what happens to you and he’s asked me to keep you safe so I’m going to do exactly that.”

  “I don’t need to be in this room to be safe.”

  Dylan cocked a mocking eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest in disbelief. “You’ll excuse me if I don’t believe you. The last time you told what you could and couldn’t do you told me that it would be perfectly fine to run through the woods with you in my arms. Look how that turned out.”

  Kass’ cheeks turned red in embarrassment and it was suddenly clear why her once jovial doctor had turned into a nightmare.

  “About that–”

  “Whatever your excuse is I don’t want to hear it. What you told me to do almost got you killed and therefore it almost got my brother, my twin, killed. Wyatt is running when all his wolf wants to do is claim you. That’s dangerous for both of you. I can’t risk that you won’t be one hundred percent healed by the time he gets back. He needs to claim you and I’m not going to let you jeopardise that by unnecessarily putting a strain on your heart.”

  “He told you about the claiming.” Her face was so red that it was beginning to blend in with her hair. What was it about these wolves that meant they had no qualms discussing sex with their family? It was unnerving and uncomfortable.

  “Of course he told me. We had to put precautions in place.”

  “Why? It has nothing to do with anyone but the two of us.”

  Sighing, Dylan let her head fall into her hands. Wyatt was hard enough work as it was without adding in a mate that didn’t understand what was going on because he was too crazed to explain things to her. The things we do for family. She rolled her eyes skyward before sitting on the bed beside Kass. Aggression and anger weren’t getting her anywhere, maybe it was time she tried a different tactic. “Because when he gets back there’s always a chance that you won’t be physically up to the claiming. His wolf…his wolf wouldn’t understand. We’d have to restrain him.”

  Kass’ face paled. There’d be no more restraining Wyatt not so long as she lived.

  “I don’t want to have to do that to my brother. He’s been through so much already. He deserves for the claiming to go ahead without any problems and the only way that’s going to happen is if you are completely healed.”

  There was logic in Dylan's words and Kass found herself leaning in favour of her heavy handed tactics. The idea of lying in bed for the next few days wasn’t an appealing one but if that’s what she needed to do to make sure the claiming happened it was something she could do.

  “Fine,” Kass conceded. “I’ll stay here in bed but you have to do something for me.”

  Dylan tensed, ready and willing to turn down Kass’ request if it was something that would put even the faintest strain on her heart. “What is it?” she asked suspiciously. “Bear in mind if I think it’s something that’ll put you at risk I will not only refuse to let you leave this bed, I’ll strap you down to it to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Relax. It’s nothing that means I need to be tied down to anything. I just want to know something.”

  “What?”

  “The chase? Do you know what that is?”

  Gobsmacked, Dylan simply stared at Kass for a few minutes as though she’d grown another head. “How do you not know what the chase is?”

  “I’m meant to know about it then?”

  “Didn’t Wyatt tell you? He said he’d explained what happens for the claiming. He told me that you were prepared.”

  “I am. I know what’s involved.” Great, now I’m as guilty as they are. I can’t believe I’m talking about this to Wyatt’s sister. “I’m ready to be claimed.”

  “No you’re not, not if you don’t know what the chase is. If Wyatt didn’t tell you then how do you know about it?”

  “I heard it in his head. He was mumbling to himself not to say anything about the chase.”

  The worry faded from Dylan's face and was replaced with a loving smile. “He was trying to protect you.”

  “From what?”

  “From himself. If you haven’t noticed by now we wolves are very literal. The chase is exactly that. You run and he hunts you down. It proves to him and his wolf that they’re worthy of you. With your heart running from a wolf is probably not the wisest idea.”

  “What’ll happen if there’s no chase before the claiming?”

  “I’m not sure. Maybe nothing, maybe the claiming fails. I really don’t know.”

  “Well then that makes the decision for us. I’ll be doing the chase. There’s no way on earth that I’m going to let this claiming fail. I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll stay in bed for the next few days, I’ll do exactly what you tell me to but in exchange you let me go in the morning on the day that Wyatt’s meant to get back. It’ll practically be my birthday by then and the risk will be small. I presume that the chase doesn’t mean that I have to run for ages, as long as I let Wyatt catch me out in the open it’ll be fine right?”

  Dylan nodded her head in agreement.

  “Then let’s make that deal.” Kass held out her hand in the age-old gesture to symbolise an accord. “You let me go the morning of the claiming and I’ll stay here.”

  Dylan took her hand and shook it firmly. “Deal.”

  True to her word Dylan had refused to let her leave the bed for anything more than using the toilet and though she hated to admit it, the rest had done her good. That morning the good doctor had come to her room and held the door open finally releasing her from the infirmary and Kass knew exactly why. She didn’t need to talk to Wyatt to know that he was on his way back to her. She could feel him getting closer, the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck standing on edge.

  For days she’d felt him fight against his wolf as he resisted returning to
her side but now they were in perfect unison, both parts of him wanting the same thing. Her. Kass couldn’t help but smile at that thought. There were so many people in relationships where they didn’t know what their partner wanted. She’d never have that problem. Wyatt was a simple, uncomplicated man and he made it abundantly clear with his every word, his every action and his every thought that he couldn’t live without her. It was lucky that she felt the same way. Her heart didn’t feel like it was in her chest any longer. It was in the hands of a half mad wolf…who would take better care of it that any one else in the whole world.

  She cast a final backward glance at the estate that had kept her safe for the last few days and was off. There was no need to look back when she had such a bright future in front of her. Kass began slowly, her movements no faster than a well paced walk but she quickly came to speed up, jogging before she began to run. Her feet flew over the ground, each step filled with determination and purpose. It didn’t take long before she came to an empty clearing and she stopped to look around. The area was remarkable devoid of any form of vegetation and her lips curved into a smile. She hadn’t managed to gather as much information as she would have liked from Wyatt’s mind and her knowledge about what the chase entailed wasn’t as detailed as she’d originally hoped. Kass had tried to sneak into his thoughts and get more information but Wyatt was so focused on getting back to her that as soon as she even brushed through his mind he was instantly aware of her presence. His wolf had been firmly in control the few times she’d reached into his thoughts and there had been several times that she’d thought about calling the whole thing off.