“As a creature very much tied to its animal instincts, a werewolf is in a constant state of increased sexual awareness and is continuously driven to mate.” She began to fan herself faster at the image of her and Sebastian in the kitchen rose to the forefront of her mind. There was definitely increased sexual awareness that day but the feeling was mutual. Other than that one time, he’s been the perfect gentleman. He keeps his hands to himself even though I can tell from the way his eyes watch me that he wants to do more than that. But driven to mate? That doesn’t describe Sebastian at all. Ok, so what’s the last one? she mused, her eyes scanning down the page until she saw the final indicator.
“A werewolf, by nature, is a nocturnal creature that lives its life by the cycles of the moon. As a result, werewolves tend to sleep late into the day and most of their waking hours are at night.” So what if he sleeps in late. You would too if you spent all day with your family and then all night talking to your brother. Is that it? she pondered. She gave the website a final look over and concluded that she had reached the end of the list. She groaned in frustration, closing the browser and folding the laptop screen down.
Sebastian doesn’t have anything in common with most of those points. She thought. I knew that man was talking nonsense. My Sebastian, a werewolf? A monster? Never. The few points that she was unsure of began to niggle at her mind and she stood from the chair. I’ll go and check the last few things that I wasn’t sure of and then I can put this entire werewolf business behind us and move forward with my plan to forget the past. Striding down the hall, she walked into Sebastian's room. Upon seeing his peaceful face as he slept, she had to resist the urge to simply slip between the sheets and join him in sleep. Shaking her head to dislodge the idea, she walked to the edge of the bed and lifted his hand from the bed, placing it within her own. She examined the nails on his fingertips and found that they were no longer than her own. Well that’s another point checked off the list that proves Sebastian isn’t a wolf. One down, two to go.
She placed his hand back against the sheets and ran her fingers over his jaw. His lips were slightly parted and she took advantage of that, easing a single finger between them. He didn’t seem to mind the intrusion as he continued to sleep. Her finger probed gently, running along the edge of his teeth. They weren’t overly sharp, but she retracted the finger from his mouth and repeated the same motion within her own mouth. They’re no bigger than mine. This is ridiculous. It’s obvious that Sebastian is as normal as they come. Vincent was clearly a raving lunatic. Laying a hand against his bare chest, she began to relax. Simply being near him tended to have that effect on her.
She was therefore justifiably shocked when Sebastian arms wrapped themselves around her, pulling her to him and holding her in an iron grip. His eyes opened suddenly, the flash of amber drawing a gasp from Erica. Her eyes widened in shock, but the eerie colour was gone almost as quick as it had come fading to Sebastian's natural brown. Did I just see what I thought I did? her mind demanded. That wasn’t on the list of symptoms. Maybe there is something different about him.
“Erica?” His warm voice easily garnered her attention and her internal thoughts quieted. “Did you have another nightmare?” The hands around her loosened their grip and began to gently caress the line of her spine in a soothing gesture.
“No,” she squeaked.
“You can tell me if you did,” he urged, his voice gentle and reassuring.
“Nothing happened Sebastian.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I just wanted to sleep with you tonight. That isn’t a crime is it?”
He threw the duvet off himself, shifting his body to pull her under with him before covering them both. “No sweetheart, it’s not. In fact it’s the furthest thing from that. I love being with you like this.”
“Maybe we should think about making it a permanent arrangement,” she purred, the warmth of his skin seeping into hers as his scent surrounded her. His smell was intoxicating, she could never seem to get enough but that didn’t mean she didn’t try. Her head was against his chest and she breathed deeply, relishing in it.
“You shouldn’t say things you don’t mean Erica. It’s not nice.”
“And who said I didn’t mean it?” she quipped.
His hands forced her head away from his chest and she had to resist the urge to whine at the separation. “Nothing would please me more sweetheart.” He sat up, pulling her close before his lips met hers and thought fled.
He may be different, but different isn’t a bad thing. In fact in his case, it’s most definitely a good thing. Right?
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“Sebastian.” At the sound of his name being called by a familiar young voice, his fingers stopped their movement against his keyboard and he turned to face the door, readying himself. He knew that tone of voice and he prepared himself to being persuaded to do something that he normally wouldn’t consider. He was quickly proved right as the door to his study was flung open and Dylan and Wyatt barrelled into his private space. The duo didn’t give him long to brace himself before they leapt onto him, climbing onto his chair and hanging off of whatever limb was available to them.
“Careful guys, you shouldn’t just jump on someone without warning. What if something had gone wrong? Doing things like that could end up hurting someone.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” Dylan pointed out. “You’re fine.”
“Besides,” Wyatt added, “if something happened, you’d heal.”
“Ssh,” he hissed, extracting himself from their small hands and standing up to close the door. “Don’t you remember? You can’t say things like that, Erica might hear you.”
Positioning herself into Sebastian's now vacant seat, Dylan smiled in the face of his anxiety. “Erica’s outside,” Dylan noted. “She won’t be able to hear us.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. His heart had begun to race at Wyatt’s innocent comment. Erica couldn’t find out about what they were, she might never recover if she did. “What’s gotten into you two? Is something wrong? You usually behave a lot better. I don’t normally have to worry about what you’re going to say.”
Odd behaviour seemed to be a growing trend within his small family, first with Erica and now Dylan and Wyatt seemed to have caught whatever was going around. It had all started when they’d returned from town after getting a new power generator. Erica had become increasingly introspective and refused to voice her thoughts on whatever was bothering her. There was something worrying her, it was embedded deep within her scent how could he not know, but whatever it was she refused to tell him about it, brushing off his questions easily. The strange behaviour had all culminated last night when she’d slipped into his bedroom. His body and his wolf were always aware of her but his mind had been adrift, lost in dreams of her. He’d been vaguely aware of her touching his skin, running her hands over his fingers, it wasn’t until she’d slipped her fingers into his mouth that his mind began to rouse. The thin line between dream and reality had blurred in that instant. In his dream Erica had been beckoning him, her arms had been open inviting him to slip in to the haven of her body and he’d reacted, pouncing on her like any true predator. In reality something all together different had happened and he’d pulled Erica into his bed, his mind becoming increasingly alert at the feel of her soft curves pressed against him. There had been many times over the last day that he’d wished he had managed to remain unaware of her actions, managed to keep his mind in the dream and follow it where it led. He could feel his body responding as images of what might have been assaulted him.
“We’re bored,” the duo whined, swiftly pulling his mind back to the present.
“You have lots of toys in your room,” he argued. How they could be complaining about having a lack of things to do when he well remembered how many things they had brought along for entertainment he didn’t know.
“We know that Sebastian, we’re not blind,” Dylan quipped.
&nbs
p; “Then how exactly can you say that you’re bored?”
Wyatt moved across the room, coming to stand directly in front of him and looked him directly in the eye to emphasis his point. “We want to run.”
“Run?” Sebastian kneeled to be level with the young boy, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder to ensure that his mate wasn’t nearby. “As in take to the woods and run? As a wolf?”
“Yes!” Dylan cried in relief, coming to stand beside her brother. “We haven’t had a good run since we got here. It’s not fair.”
“Oh,” he sighed unsure of what exactly he could do. I should have known that this was going to happen sooner or later, he realised. It was natural for young wolves to transform frequently into their lupine form. The need to change was akin to a compulsion in wolf cubs, it was how they grew, how they developed, it was the most natural thing in the world and they were being denied it. The few days that Dylan and Wyatt have stayed with us must have been difficult on them.
“Please Sebastian,” Dylan began. “Just a little run, it’s not as though we’re hurting anyone.”
“That’s true,” Sebastian agreed.
“Please Sebastian, it doesn’t have to be long. The woods behind the house will do,” the little girl pleaded.
“What about Erica?”
“She doesn’t have to know,” Wyatt replied easily, his desire to be free overcoming his wish to be near his sister.
Smiling at her brother’s suggestion, Dylan decided to throw her support behind him. “Yeah, we can sneak out, run a little and be back before she even realises we’re gone.”
“I’m not going to lie to her if I can help it. We can’t just leave without telling her, what if she comes looking for us? She’ll be worried.” Both Dylan and Wyatt groaned at Sebastian's statement, resigning themselves to being increasingly uncomfortable. Their skin itched constantly, the pelt beneath their human skin begging to be released. Their small arms were covered in red lines marks from the constantly scratching and it was beginning to hurt. Sebastian watched, increasingly concerned, as their claw like nails wounded their young flesh again. I can’t just let them suffer, he decided. “But that doesn’t mean that I’m willing to let you two put up with this anymore.” Brown eyes widened in expectation, small smiles emerging on their faces. “I’ll think of something. Get ready to run.”
“Yay!” The loud cheer made Sebastian smile as he stood and left the room to search for his mate.
Erica wasn’t outside as he had been told, she was instead sitting on the sofa in the living room, her eyes glazed over as she continued to stare into space. There was something wrong with her, there had been for the past two days but whenever he broached the subject she dismissed his concerns. He’d initially thought whatever was plaguing her thoughts might be related to her amnesia, but he’d dismissed the idea almost as soon as he had thought of it. Erica was very vocal in her frustrated attempts to regain her memories; she was never this pensive. It was something else, of that he was sure.
He approached the sofa and yet she did nothing to indicate she was even aware of his approach. His hands came to rest lightly on her shoulders and he rubbed gently. “Erica, sweetheart?”
She blinked rapidly bringing her surroundings into focus. “Sebastian?”
“Who else would it be?”
She turned slightly, careful to keep his hands on her shoulders and gave him a half-hearted smile. “What’s going on?”
That’s what I’d like to know. His mind quipped before he brought it back into line. One thing at a time. “Nothing much, I’m just thinking of taking Dylan and Wyatt out for a walk.”
“Oh?”
“Mmm.” He nodded, bending down to place a light kiss against the side of her neck. Now that Dylan and Wyatt knew about them being mates, there was no need for him to hide his affection and he planned to shower her with it as often as possible.
She leaned into his kiss silently enjoying his touch. “And what exactly would you be doing on this walk?”
Forcing himself to stop touching her, he lifted his head away from her neck. His eyes never left her face as he began to gauge her response to his suggestions. I need to find something that she won’t like the idea of doing. I don’t want her to come, but I don’t want her to know that. “I don’t know, I was thinking that maybe we could do a little hunting.” Her expression remained unchanged. Well she’s actually a wolf, that’s to be expected. “Maybe do a nature trail, show them the local wildlife.” Still nothing, he sighed. “Or we could go fishing.” Her lips twisted into a grimace at that suggestion. “Yes, I think fishing is a good idea.”
“Are you kidding? What’s so good about fishing? You have to sit in an uncomfortable position for God knows how long just to be in with a chance of catching anything and then you have to gut a dead fish.” The grimace on her lips became increasingly severe as she listed the negatives of fishing and Sebastian struggled not to smile.
“I like fishing,” he stated firmly. “Would you like to come?”
“No.” Her emphatic reply forced a smile from him.
I can’t let her get off the hook that easily; she might suspect something. “Are you sure sweetheart? There’s so much fun to be had in just relaxing with a good rod for an afternoon.”
“For you maybe, for me? No. Just the idea of touching those slimy things and ripping out their insides makes me sick. Are you sure that Dylan and Wyatt want to go? It’s disgusting.”
“They’re all for it. In fact they were the ones that suggested it.”
“Well then you three go and have a good time. I’ll stay here.”
“Are you sure sweetheart? I don’t want to leave you here by yourself.”
“I’ll be fine, I’m a big girl I’m sure I can find something to do that will keep me entertained.” And hopefully keep my mind off of other things. “Go. Have fun on your fishing trip.”
“We’ll be back before you know it,” he grinned. He placed his lips against her own, intending to give her a chaste kiss but the moment they met, his innocent plan was annihilated. Erica's arms wrapped themselves around his neck and he could do nothing other than to fall deeper into the kiss. Groaning in surrender, Sebastian pulled her closer towards him, eagerly parting her lips with his tongue. He swept through her mouth, desperate to engrave the taste of her into his brain and she responded eagerly. Breath mingled, tongues met and teeth clashed before he could gather the strength to pull away.
“No you won’t, you’re going fishing, you’ll be gone for ages. I guess that kiss will have to tide me over until you get back.”
He smiled and stood to his full height, gently caressing the side of her face. “Trust me, it won’t take us that long.” She nodded in agreement and he turned to walk down the hall. Dylan and Wyatt were waiting for him at the back door, shifting anxiously on the balls of their feet as they awaited Sebastian's arrival.
“What did she say?” Wyatt demanded.
“She’s fine with us going. Come on, I told her we wouldn’t be all that long.” Taking a small hand in each of his larger ones he led them out of the back door and into the cold outdoors. They walked for a few minutes, clearing a path through the heavy snow that covered the ground. When Sebastian was sure that they were far enough away from the cabin that the small family of wolves wouldn’t be spotted by an unsuspecting Erica, he released his grip on Dylan and Wyatt. “Alright you two, you’re free to run,” he chuckled before allowing the transformation to wash over him. The twins quickly followed suit, the change coming swiftly after days of being restricted to their human forms. Sebastian spared a final look in the direction of the cabin, wishing that Erica could be with them before he sped off after his two young wards to ensure that they didn’t find trouble.
Erica sighed heavily at Sebastian's departure, glad to have time alone to gather her racing thoughts. She couldn’t shake Vincent and his accusations from her mind. Though Sebastian had failed to be a match for the majority of the criteria for a werewolf tha
t she had found, the image of his transformation seemed to be seared into her retina. Even if she wanted to dismiss the video as simple a fabrication of technological advancements, she couldn’t forget the momentary flash of amber that had entered his eyes a few nights ago. She hated to say it but the colour hadn’t been human, the split second that she had seen his amber eyes, they had been wild, feral. There was something different about her fiancé and she didn’t like not knowing what it was. If Sebastian was indeed a werewolf then he wasn’t what Vincent or that website had described him as. Both sources were trying to make Sebastian into some sort of monster and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t paint him in that light.
She pulled Vincent’s card out of her pocket and stared intently at it. I can’t shake the feeling that he whatever he wants to do to Sebastian isn’t pleasant. How am I meant to think any thing else with his description? The small card had been burning a hole in her pocket since the first day it had been given to her and she didn’t want to have to deal with the feelings it invoked in her. She had been tempted on more than one occasion to simply ask Sebastian directly. She doubted that he would have kept such a huge secret from her before her memory loss, Sebastian was too honest for that. If that was the case then there was a reason he hadn’t told her this time around and that could only mean that he thought keeping the secret was what was best for her health. He couldn’t be moved on matters of her health and if he felt that keeping the secret would aid her recovery, he would tell her nothing, so she hadn’t asked. There was no point in agitating him over something that he was reluctant to talk about. The more she thought about it, the more she realised that her decision had already been made.
In all her wild musings, she had never once thought to inflict harm on Sebastian, and she never wanted to. Yes he’s different, he might be a creature from myth but when you love someone, you accepted them as they are. Her breath hitched as the thought floated through her mind. Her body went still for a moment before she realised just how right the thought was. She loved Sebastian. There was nothing she could do to change that. She had been half way there when she had woken in the infirmary, vulnerable and defenceless and he had wrapped her in the safety of his arms as though he could protect her from the world.
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