A Wolf's Duty

by Jennifer T. Alli

  “I can’t do that your highness,” Adam stated calmly. “If the enemy has caught the Princess then we can’t allow the only heir to the throne to walk into their arms. What would become of our people?”

  “I don’t care, now move!”

  “Your highness we can’t allow you to leave this room.”

  Agitation ran through him and he began to pace in front of the throng of people that had gathered, taking stock of their numbers. Outnumbered. They’ll listen to the stupid council, I’m not King yet so can’t override their orders when they’re supposedly in the best interest of our people. Damn it father, where are you when I need you?

  “I don’t want to have to hurt you,” he growled. “Just let me go look for her.”

  “If you die then what will become of our people?” Charles demanded.

  “What sort of King would I be without a mate? The royal bloodline would die with me. I can’t take another mate if I lose Xandria and I won’t stay long in this world if something happens to her.”

  “Your highness,” Charles continued. “The entire estate is searching for her, we will find her.”

  “The whole world could be searching for and it would make no difference to me. I want to join the search.”

  “No,” Adam stated firmly.

  “I’m leaving,” Tobias growled stepping forward.

  Shaking his head, Adam looked on at his Prince disappointed. “I’m sorry your highness.” He turned the guards now in the chamber. “Restrain him.”

  The guards that had until now remained stationary around the council members moved forward cautiously and he eyed their approach as his frustration found a target. Roaring loudly, he leapt forward claws slashing at an unprepared guard, blood gushed forth from the wound as the man fell to the floor. One down, nine to go. Spinning from the fallen guard he jumped onto another, pulling hard against the man’s arms until a loud popping was heard followed by the man’s screams. A claw swiped against his arm but the pain was forced to the back of his mind as he retaliated slashing down against the man’s chest. Three dealt with. Realising that their best chance for success was to attack as a single unit, the remaining guards surged forward tackling Tobias to the ground. Fists flew as Tobias struggled under their weight; fangs and claws were used to inflict as much damage as possible but eventually their superior numbers managed to subdue him. Hands gripped his wrists and ankles holding him against the floor while he struggled against their restraints. The guards wheezed as their bloody wounds struggled to heal, claw marks and missing chunks of flesh coating their bodies.

  “Your highness, please calm down,” Charles pleaded; distressed by the sight of the Prince he had watched over for decades being confined in such a manner.

  “Fuck you! Fuck all of you, I’m the Prince of our people and I order you to let me go. Let me go now.” The guards holding him down looked confused as to whose order to follow their grip loosening slightly.

  “Prince Tobias?” The familiar feminine voice floated to his ears and he struggled harder against the men who held him, shaking one loose. “It’s Ilyanna Beaumont, someone told me you were looking for me. Has something happened?”

  “Let me go!” he roared. “I need to talk to her.”

  “We can’t let you go Prince Tobias, not while you’re so insistent about leaving,” Adam inserted.

  “I won’t try to leave this room, I just need to speak to her.”

  “Let him go,” Adam ordered, his voice resigned.

  Springing up from the floor he spared a passing glance at the injured guards. Obstacles, he shrugged, dismissing the injuries he’d caused them. “Ilyanna, when was the last time you saw the Princess?”

  “She was with me yesterday.”

  “Doing what?” he demanded, stepping towards her.

  She took an instinct step back, slightly afraid of the wildness in the Prince’s movements. “She was lonely and just wanted to spend some time together.”

  “Lonely?”

  “Yes, she didn’t want to be a burden to you and knew that preparing to be King was important so she didn’t say anything to you. We spent the day together, she helped me care for my children.”

  A burden? I’ll never understand how that woman’s mind works. She could never be a burden to me. Is this my fault? Has she gone missing because I wasn’t spending enough time with her? Or has she been taken because I wasn’t there to protect her? My fault. This is all my fault.

  “When was the last time you saw her?”

  “She left my rooms at about nine o’clock last night. She was exhausted so she said she was going to sleep. I said goodbye at the door and she started making her way back to your rooms.”

  “You didn’t see her to the door of our rooms?”

  “I didn’t think that anything would happen to her in the estate.” She shook her head feeling increasingly guilty for not ensuring her friend’s safety.

  Her scent was so weak in our bed this morning, he mused. It would have been much stronger if she had slept there last night, how could I’ve missed it? Has she been gone all night? Had she only woken up this morning? I should have gone to bed last night, then I would have known that something was wrong. How far could she have been taken? His mind raced and he became increasingly unaware of his surroundings as guilt racked him.

  “Your highness, I found lord Ryan he’s on his way here. Lord Sebastian wasn’t with him.” The guard he had assigned to find his cousins called from the doorway entering the room. “Lord Ryan is a little behind me, something caught his attention on the way here. We’ll head out and search the grounds.”

  “She’s been gone all night,” Tobias groaned.

  “Your highness?”

  “She didn’t sleep in our bed last night and I didn’t even notice it. If someone took her then they won’t be on the estate anymore and if she didn’t sleep in our bed then I think it’s more and more likely that someone took her. She wouldn’t make everyone worry like this. What’s happened to her?”

  “Tobias!” Running into the filling audience chamber, Ryan didn’t even stop for breath as he wove his way through guards and council members until he came face to face with his cousin.

  “What is it now?” he groaned.

  “It’s bad news.”

  “This situation couldn’t get any worse.”

  “The man who attacked Alex in England, his scent is here.”

  “What? I thought you killed him!”

  “So did I but I smelled him, his scent was all over the corridor leading to your bedroom. And Tobias, that’s where Alex’s scent is strongest.”

  “Leading from where?”

  “What?” Ryan asked confused.

  “Does the hallway with his scent in it lead to Ilyanna’s rooms?”

  Ryan paused a moment, mentally mapping out the location of the rooms and corridors that connected them. “It’s the fastest way to get from Ilyanna’s room to yours.”

  The man that tried to kill my mate managed to catch her and take her from the safety of the estate! Is he going to try and kill her? I’ve got to get to her. “I’ve got to get to her!” he roared before turning to look at the council members gathered immediately noting that a new influx of guards filled the room. “You will move out of my way or I’ll mow you down and I won’t hold back,” he growled, prepared to defy his advisors and take out any who stood between him and his mate.

  Chapter Forty Two

  “Alex it’s time to wake up now,” Elijah coaxed, shaking her shoulders lightly causing her back to hit the back of the chair she was currently sat in. Her eyes eased open, a small squeak escaping her lips as she noted the closeness of Elijah’s face to hers. “I was beginning to worry,” he sighed. “Humans are so hard to take care of I don’t know how Tobias does it,” he groused, stepping away from her to sit in a seat directly opposite her.

  Tobias, her mind breathed as she remembered the events that had led up to this moment and fear coursed through her. “This has got to be
some kind of nightmare,” she groaned.

  “I assure you that it’s not Alexandria, this is happening.”

  Her head lifted and she stared intently at the man sat in front of her. “This is my nightmare so I’d appreciate it if you would just be quiet.” He laughed at her revealing more emotion than she could remember seeing on the man’s face.

  “Alex, you can’t simply wish that this isn’t happening because it’s and you must come to accept that.”

  “Well let’s just say hypothetically that this isn’t a dream and that you and I are actually here.”

  “We’re really here Alex.”

  “Fine so we’re here. Let’s just get some facts straight so that I can clear up what’s real and what was actually a dream.”

  “Fine, if you feel the need to do so then go ahead,” he conceded calmly, sitting down in a chair opposite her.

  “In my dream you killed Sean.”

  “That actually happened.”

  “Oh,” she sighed. “In my dream you two were working together and you took me from the estate and Tobias.”

  “That also happened you’re no longer on the estate and Tobias is no where near here.”

  “Last thing. In my dream you said that you wanted my help to steal Tobias’ crown.”

  “That’s only partially right. I do wish for your help but the throne rightfully belongs to me anyway so we aren’t stealing anything.”

  “So nothing was a dream.”

  “That is correct.”

  “Brilliant,” she scoffed. “This is just bloody brilliant. I don’t suppose you would just let me go if I asked nicely? I wouldn’t tell anyone. I swear.”

  “That isn’t what’s going to happen here.”

  “Well its more likely than me helping you steal Tobias’ crown,” she muttered rebelliously under her breath. A familiar tick began to develop in the side of Elijah's head and she clutched the armrests of the chair she was sitting in, bracing herself for the fallout that the tick would result in when it had appeared on Fred’s features.

  “I’ve told you that the crown is mine!” Elijah roared, throwing the chair back as he stood.

  “Well excuse me for not believing that,” she replied, bravado making her minimise the potential consequences of her actions. “You see I was under the belief that thrones typically belong to Princes and Tobias is the Prince. No one has said anything different to me, so you’re going to have to explain yourself for me to believe that load of horse shit!” she screamed, adrenaline coursing through her.

  I’ve got to contact Tobias somehow. He said he could hear me when the emotion was strong enough. Anger is as good an emotion as any, she reasoned, trying to justify the stupidity of her actions in light of the fact that the man before her had murdered before her very eyes.

  Breaths shuddered through him, her defiance causing the opposite reaction she had anticipated as he calmed instead of raged. “I think you’re right. You aren’t one of us so you don’t know what has happened before Tobias brought you here.” He retrieved his chair putting it back in front of her before sitting down. “I’ll explain it to you.”

  “What if I don’t want to hear it?”

  “No one said that you had a choice in the matter now did they?” He smirked. “Now don’t interrupt, I don’t like it.”

  Who gives a rat’s ass what you like, twat! she cursed, but chose to remain silent. Might as well get his side of the story and it’ll give Tobias more time to find me and keep me alive until he gets here.

  “Well Alex, you know that Tobias and I are cousins.” She nodded. “Our fathers were brothers and my father was the elder of the two. Traditionally it’s the eldest son that takes the crown when their father chooses to give up the throne. So as you can see already, traditionally I should have been the heir. Our Kings stay on the throne for centuries and so we haven’t had many. Among the kings that we have had there’s never been a problem with succession because by the time they chose to step down, there was a large difference in age between their eldest son and the second oldest. I don’t know if anyone told you but us wolves are never born alone, take me for example I had a younger brother, but he died not longer after being born. Anyway let’s not get sidetracked. The point is that typically there was a clear heir.”

  “That wasn’t the case with Thomas and my father. They were twins but neither died before reaching maturity leaving us with two potential heirs. Though my father was older, the difference in age wasn’t significant enough to make him the clear heir. Now following tradition, the crown should then have gone to the son that produced an heir first. Again my father succeeded in doing so before Thomas. I’m almost a hundred years older than Tobias. Following the traditions of our people, my father should have been made King and I would have been the Prince. So as you can see the throne rightfully belongs to me and I would have been the Prince if tradition had been followed.”

  “But you’re not, so something must have happened.”

  “Yes, something happened.”

  “Are you going to tell me what?” she questioned desperate to gain time for Tobias to arrive.

  “I might as well,” he conceded. “Our grandfather was conflicted as to who he should give the crown and so he went to ask for the advice of a close friend, one he trusted with his life. A witch just like you.” She gasped at the revelation of his grandfather’s friend’s identity, surprised that witches had once interacted with the wolves. “You people have been around for a long time. This friend, this witch, was apparently gifted with the power of sight.”

  “The power of what?” she interrupted despite his earlier warning.

  “She could see the future and apparently whatever she saw was guaranteed to come true, she was never wrong. My grandfather asked her to see what lay ahead for our people depending on which son he gave the crown to. The witch apparently saw that if the crown was given to my father, great misfortune would follow, while if the crown was given to Thomas then we would have a strong hand to guide us through the dark times that lay ahead. Needless to say when given those options and believing that his friend could do no wrong, our grandfather gave Thomas the crown and Tobias became Prince in my place.”

  “Well as you guys are all alive and well with Thomas being King then maybe your grandfather’s friend was right,” she suggested.

  The slap to her cheek was unexpected, stunning her into silence. “My father was a great man. He would have made a great King! The witch was wrong!” he roared.

  The stinging pain in her cheek was familiar and as she rubbed the sore skin in a habitually soothing manner, the pain receded. If that’s how he reacts to someone saying something he doesn’t like then I’d say that the witch was right. He’d make a terrible King. If Ilyanna’s anything to go by he makes a terrible Lord. He doesn’t even care about what happens to those he’s meant to look after, she scoffed, defiance filling her as she sat up in her chair, calmly folding her arms across her chest and glaring at him.

  “Maybe its karma,” Elijah suggested. “A witch was responsible for stripping me of my title and now another one is going to help restore it to me and I think it’s especially poignant that it’s you helping me.”

  Karma would be served if you were struck down by lightning, bastard. This isn’t karma. This is madness. “Oh and why is that?”

  “Tobias was unmated for longer than anyone had expected and you can’t ascend to the throne without a mate. If you hadn’t turned up then I would have been given the crown eventually. My father and I waited patiently for the people to demand that the crown be given to us when Yvonne couldn’t seem to carry a pregnancy to term and give them the heir that they needed. But they never did and then Tobias and his siblings were born,” he snarled. “The clans were so happy you would have thought it was the second coming of the Christ or something but my father being the great man that he was tried to restore me to my rightful place on the throne.”

  “What did you do?” she murmured, increasingly apprehen
sive about what he would say.

  “I did nothing especially important. I was still young, as were Tobias and Travis.”

  “Travis? Who’s that?”

  “Hasn’t Tobias told you about his brother and sister?”

  She nodded. “So Travis was the brother that died?”

  “Yes and Tobias would have died with him if all had gone to according to my father’s plan. But things didn’t work out that way as you’re aware. I lured them and a group of friends to a secluded place on the pretence of a hunting trip and my father arranged for hunters to be waiting. Travis was killed but Tobias managed to get away, his friends protected him until they were back among the clans and safe and so Tobias is alive and well to this day.”

  “You want to kill my Tobias?”

  “I don’t want it to come to that?”

  So you don’t think you could win against him in an honest fight basically. “What exactly do you think I can do to take Tobias’ crown from him and give it to you? And what exactly makes you think that I’m going to do it?” When it could end up with you killing him.

  “You have an amazing ability Alex, I saw what you did to Lucinda. I was there. You forced her to submit to you against her will. I want you to do that to other members of the clan. When enough members of the clans have submitted to me, then I’ll be able to gain the throne.”

  “Even if I agreed to do that, which by the way I don’t, those people wouldn’t have wanted to submit so that can’t count for anything.”

  “You might not want to submit in a fight but when faced with the prospect of death then I’m sure you’ll do it. It’s how things work among my people, the act itself is enough.”

  “Fine, let’s say that the act itself is enough, why would I do that? Tobias is my mate and I think he’s going to make a great King, why would I do anything that isn’t in his best interest?” Not to mention that I can’t control that power unless I’m genuinely scared for my life. There’s no need to tell you that though, she grinned, don’t want you going all wolfie on me now do we?