The front door creaked as she eased it open and Erica winced at how the sound echoed through the otherwise silent house making it seem louder than it really was. Disregarding the loudness of her entry, she slipped inside, closing the door on another loud creak. I should probably fix that, she noted adding another task to her list. The house was dark, as she’d expected but her sharp eyesight made it seem as though it were fully lit. The cabin would be considered small by some standards, composed of two small bedrooms with one larger master bedroom and a living room that linked directly to the kitchen through a large arch instead of a door. The bathroom lay at the end of the hall, with the bedrooms lining the hallway. She locked the door behind her preparing for Sebastian's arrival. He probably won’t take my advice and just leave me be. He’s a wolf so it’s not as though I should expect anything different.
The reality of her situation had finally begun to sink in and a long heart felt sigh escaped her lips. If I tell him no enough times maybe he’ll just give up and leave me alone. Who am I kidding? He’s never just going to give me up. She touched her wrist lightly, remembering the one place on her body that he had touched and despite the time that had passed since that moment, she could still feel the warm imprint of his long fingers against her bare skin. Treacherous damn body, she grumbled, you’re supposed to be on my side.
Her wolf decided to make its presence known, adding to her inner turmoil as it whined. Want. Want him.
She groaned aloud at its demands. Not you too? You’re not siding with him as well are you?
Want, it repeated.
Fine! If you’re going to side with him, then whine all you like, I don’t care. I don’t want a mate and I’m not going to accept one. I suggest you grow to like the idea.
A light flickered on at the end of the hall gaining her attention and she turned towards it. “Erica?” The sound of the small voice forced a smile to her face as she pushed herself away from the door and began walking towards the light. Leaning out of her bedroom door, the small child was dressed in her pyjamas and she rubbed wearily at her eyes obviously having just woken. Appearing no older than six years old in age, the little girl’s cheeks were well rounded despite the firmness and strength in her limbs.
“Dylan, what are you doing awake? You should be sleeping.” Easily lifting her sister’s small body from the ground, she placed a light kiss against hair as dark as her own holding her close. Dylan pushed away from her sister’s chest far enough that she could easily look her in the eye.
“Thought I heard something.”
The warm brown of her sister’s large, questioning eyes was distinctly unappreciated this night as images of Sebastian floated through her mind, reminding her of the intensity his chocolate brown eyes had shown when he had claimed her as his own. Treacherous body. Stupid damn wolf and now my own mind has decided to abandon me in favour of him. Well it’s not going to change anything. I don’t want a mate. “Sorry if I woke you.” Though her thoughts were chaotic, her voice was calm and even as she spoke to her sister.
“It’s ok, Erica.” Another small voice reached her ears as her younger brother stumbled blearily out of the bedroom. Wyatt looked much like his twin, though his hair was slightly lighter and his skin darker from years spent roughhousing outdoors. Though her friends called her Eric, both her siblings refused to address her as such and she allowed them the privilege.
“Come on lets get you two back in bed.” Taking her brother by the hand, she led them back to their room, putting Dylan on her bed and urging Wyatt into his.
Settled comfortably in between the warm layers that made up her bed, Dylan turned to her sister as she was pulling up the sheets around her brother. “Erica?”
“Yes Dylan.”
“You’re back early,” she noted, watching the hands on their bedroom clock tick slowly onwards towards morning.
“I guess I am,” Erica answered, hoping that her siblings would leave it at that, luck however wasn’t on her side as Wyatt joined in the questioning.
“You were meant to be out having fun with Anna, what happened?” he questioned, trying to appear as stern as possible.
“I had fun, I just decided to come home early. I missed you guys.” Not a complete lie, she reassured herself. I did miss them but there’s no need for them to know why I really left.
“Did you really have fun? You’re not just saying that?” Wyatt pressed.
Smiling widely at her siblings, she tried not to let them become aware of her apprehension. “I swear I had a great time.”
“Erica?” Dylan began anew.
Deciding that the questioning session might continue for some time Erica sat down at the foot of her sister’s bed sighing with relief as her feet received a well earned rest. “What is it now?”
“Anna said that you were going to look for a boyfriend is that true?”
She hedged not liking where this line of questioning could lead. “Anna says a lot of things Dylan.”
“That doesn’t answer her question,” Wyatt pointed out calmly, turning to lie on his side so he could watch both his sisters.
“You’re right as usual. Anna did want me to go and look for someone I could spend some time with.”
“Did you find anyone?” Dylan pressed.
An image of Sebastian as he stood smiling in the moonlight flashed through her thoughts and she had to resist the urge to growl as her body continued to work against her and in his favour. “No Dylan, I didn’t find anyone.”
“Oh.”
“Did you want to find one Erica?” Wyatt inserted.
“No, I’m happy with my life just how it is. I don’t need any one else. I’ve got my family and that’s all that matters right?” Wyatt nodded vigorously and she smiled widely at him, the false smile she had previously worn fading the longer she spent amongst her family.
“Erica, are you going to leave us?” her sister asked, twisting the sheets roughly in her small hands.
“Why would you think that?”
“I heard from Isaac that when you get a mate you’re going to have to leave us and everyone is always saying how pretty you are, it wouldn’t be hard for you to get a boyfriend. Is it true?”
Stupid Isaac, next time I see him he’s dead, she assured herself picturing her hands wrapped around his throat. Though almost fully mature, Isaac continued to astound her with his childish antics and this latest prank was simply another bad mark against his name. “Guys, how many times do I have to tell you that I’m not going anywhere? I promise. Trust me a little more ok?”
Her brother frowned at her claim. “But what if you find a mate?”
I’ve apparently already found one of those. “It won’t change anything.” And you don’t Sebastian; you don’t change one little thing. This is my life and I’m going to live it how I choose, and I have no need of you in it.
Want, her wolf continued to whine.
Shut up, she snapped hoping to silence the constant whimpering. The pleas continued and she groaned.
“But people are always telling us that there will be a male one day who will need you to be his mate,” Wyatt continued.
“Well that’s his problem, not ours.” No matter how attractive he is, she admitted silently to herself.
Chapter Three
Her tantalising scent still filled the corridor even after she had left and Sebastian found himself returning to the party in an attempt to escape from it. His eyes were unseeing as he wandered the room aimlessly with no direction in mind and his thoughts were filled to the brim with her. She rejected me. She rejected me. Why? Why would my mate do such a thing? She’s a wolf like me; she knows how much I would value her. This is unreasonable.
Go after her, his wolf growled, the sound rumbling around his mind. Go after her. Leave now, you’ll still be able to catch her.
We’ve got to try and think logically about this. She’s one of us so she knows how important a mate is to a male, therefore there must be a reason why she rejected me. There
has to be, he reasoned, refusing to believe otherwise.
Stop trying to be calm! Our mate is getting away from us the longer we stay here. Chase her and bring her back to us.
And then what? What do you propose we do after that?
We make her see reason.
How would you go about doing that?
I don’t know and I don’t care! I want her, are you telling me that you don’t?
Nothing could be further from the truth. Our mate is beautiful how could any male not want her?
And yet you let her escape! She doesn’t bear our mark. Others may try to take her from us.
The thought turned his stomach and a low growl escaped his lips. Ignoring the curious stares from those that stood around him, he continued his aimless stroll through the room. She said that she didn’t want a mate; she won’t take another. The words meant to reassure his wolf felt distinctly hollow as he spoke them.
That could mean that she’s involved with someone and simply doesn’t want us, her true mate, to separate them.
The growl that passed his lips was louder this time. You’re being ridiculous, she didn’t smell of another male, she’s ours. There’s no one else.
Then do as I’ve been telling you and chase her!
She doesn’t want us to. We’ve got to give her time to see that we’re right, she deserves at least this one night alone with her thoughts.
She doesn’t need to be alone when she has us.
Though it was faint, Erica's fragrant scent teased his sensitive senses and he stopped abruptly, his head turning as he tried to find where it came from. She’s come back. Perhaps she has finally seen reason. The trail of her scent led him to a small brunette. That isn’t her. He sighed in defeat. It was too much to hope that she would simply return considering the way she ran from me.
The brunette turned, smiling widely at him. “Hello,” she purred, the tone of her voice should have been pleasant but Sebastian felt himself slightly repulsed by it now that he had his mate’s smooth and honest tone to compare it against.
Years of tuition in manners and etiquette kicked in and he felt his mouth moving automatically. “Hello.”
“I don’t think we’ve met, I’m Anna.”
The few words that he had spoken with his mate returned to him as he inhaled the lingering fragrance of his mate that surrounded the woman before him and he cocked an eyebrow in interest. “I’m Sebastian, it is nice to meet you.”
“I can say the exact same thing about you.” She grinned.
“May I ask you a question?”
“Of course you can, it doesn’t mean I’ll answer it, but nobody is preventing you from asking.”
“Well I hope you will answer me then. Do you know someone called Erica?”
“Eric?”
He frowned at the masculinisation of his mate’s name but continued regardless. “Yes, she did mention that her friends called her that.”
“So you’ve met her then?” Anna beamed, clapping her hands together joyously before rubbing them in what appeared to be immense satisfaction
“Yes I did. She looked beautiful in the dress, you did good work though I believe she would look just as attractive in whatever she chose to wear.” He smiled weakly feeling increasingly nervous around the exuberant female he stood beside. I’ve got to do this, he repeated to himself, trying to calm his agitated nerves and brace himself for the next part of the conversation. But if this Anna is her friend she may be unwilling to tell me what I need to know if I tell her the truth.
Then lie, his wolf suggested.
I’ve never been very good at lying. I’ve never felt comfortable doing it and I give away too much in my scent. I’ve always been caught out.
Well now is the time to get good or do you want to lose our mate?
The wolf’s words touched him and he found himself smiling brightly at Anna, his nerves now surprisingly calm. “I did meet her but she seemed very anxious around me.” If I’m going to lie then I must stick as close as I can to the truth otherwise she will probably be able to tell that I’m being untruthful.
“Damn!” Anna cursed under her breath.
His grin widened as he realised that he had a potential ally in the cheerful brunette. “I did manage to speak to her for a few moments.”
“You did?” Anna gasped, sounding increasingly excited. Sebastian nodded. “And? What happened?” she demanded.
“I very much enjoyed her company.” Anna clapped quietly in delight before he continued. “But –”
“But?” she interrupted angrily. “What do you mean but?”
“Well, when I expressed that I was interested in spending some more time with her.” That isn’t exactly a lie. I do want to spend more time with her, my lifetime’s worth. “She ran away.”
“She did what?”
“She ran away,” he repeated.
“Why did she do that? In fact never mind the why, how did she do it? She could barely walk in those shoes I gave her let alone run.”
“She abandoned the shoes,” he explained calmly. “She did apologise to you. They may still be out on the balcony if you wish to retrieve them.”
“I went to all that effort to bring her here and introduce her to some nice males and then she runs off.”
“I would like to apologise to her for whatever I did wrong.”
“It had nothing to do with you Sebastian, Eric isn’t comfortable around males that express a romantic interest in her. The girl is paranoid about –” Anna smacked a hand over her mouth realising that she may have let too much slip, but Sebastian smiled on as though he hadn't heard a word of the latter part of her rant, while storing it away for future reference.
“I would still like to apologise and perhaps get to know her as a friend,” he continued. Mates can be friends, he justified. Very good friends.
“I’ll tell her you said sorry.”
“If possible I would like to deliver the message to her, if you could just tell me what clan she’s from then that would be much appreciated.”
She hesitated a moment, taking in his bright eyes and honest smile. “Well I suppose it couldn’t hurt, besides I don’t know what’s wrong with that girl running away from an attractive man like you. If I knew you before I had met my mate…” She trailed off allowing his mind to fill in the gaps before responding to his question. “Eric and I are from the West clan.”
“Thank you very much for your help. I should stop taking up all of your time and let you get back to the party.”
“Don’t worry about it, it’s not as though it was a hardship to talk to you.”
“Thank you.” He smiled before disappearing into the crowd.
Are we going after her now? His wolf demanded.
No. I said that we were going to give her tonight alone and I meant it. We will be spending enough time with her later; there’s nothing wrong with us leaving her alone for a night. Besides she should have some time alone to overcome her aversion to taking a mate. But tomorrow is a different matter. He grinned, slipping out of the ballroom to make his way back to his own rooms.
The night passed slowly for Sebastian as he struggled to subdue his wolf’s incessant needs and urges. Remnants of her scent lingered on his skin and while they made his wolf increasingly frantic in its demands that he go to her that night, he was reluctant to wash the smell from himself, breathing deeply and allowing his senses to linger over the trace of her existence. At least I didn’t have to wait two hundred years like Tobias. He grinned trying to console himself despite her rejection of his claim. She exists and that means there’s hope. I know where to find her and come morning, I’ll go to her directly. Sleep, however, didn’t come easy. As soon as he closed his eyes images of Erica flitted across his eyelids and the wolf’s demands would begin anew. When morning finally arrived he sprung from the bed, showering reluctantly as he assured himself that he would be in her presence again soon enough and her scent would once again linger on his skin.
He raced along the corridors; desperate to reach the entrance and be free to visit her once more, however a loud commotion in the entrance hall caught his attention. A large man was screaming loudly, demanding attention and receiving it.
A worker from the kitchen ran to his side. “Lord Sebastian thank the heavens that you’re here, we don’t know what to do with this man. You have to help us.”
He sighed, eyeing the open doors with desire in his gaze. “Fine, let’s hope that this is over with quickly then.” He stepped forward until he could tap the man lightly on the shoulder.
The man spun round small dark eyes locking with his own. “Who are you?” the stranger spat.
“I’m welcome here, I’m not sure the same can be said of you. What do you want here?”
“I’m here for my daughter.”
“Your daughter?”
“Yes my daughter and I’m not leaving until you give her back to me, I know she’s here.”
“You think we have your daughter here?”
The stranger prodded Sebastian in the chest with a thick finger to emphasis his point. “I know that you have her here and I want you to bring her to me otherwise I’m going to call the police.”
“Do you think we’ve kidnapped her or something? We’re not criminals.”
“I don’t care how she came to be here all I know is that she’s here and I want her back.”
“What’s your daughter’s name?”
“Her name is Alexandria. Now that you know, you can just run off and get her.”
This man is Alex’s father? His tone was distinctly disbelieving, his mind unable to connect the large, loud and rude man to his cousin’s small and gentle mate. How is that even possible? A thought occurred to him and he groaned. Tobias is going to go wild over this. This isn’t going to go smoothly. He took another longing look at the door. Damn it, there’s no way I’m going to be able to see Erica today. Stupid abusive bastard getting in the way of my plans.
Get rid of him, his wolf demanded, becoming angry at the idea that they wouldn’t be spending time with their mate after a night without her.
A Wolf's Oath Page 2