“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.” Anna reiterated and Tobias groaned in dismay.
“I agree with Lady Anna,” Isabelle stated calmly, her face twisted into a mask of grim determination. “One of our sons was taken from us by those monsters, it’s only fair that we do the same to them. She’s a threat to us all; she cannot stay here your majesty. Surely you aren’t comfortable with the idea of having someone so closely related to the hunters near the Queen right now, in her condition.”
“We cannot allow her to simply leave either,” Seth continued. “She knows where we are, if she goes free or escapes, she will lead the hunters back to our door.”
“Chloe isn’t going to do anything of the sort,” Alex snapped, smiling encouragingly at the nervous blonde. “I’ve spoken to her, unlike you, so don’t jump to conclusions that you have no evidence to support. Chloe is Ryan’s mate, the instinct wouldn’t have chosen her if she was a threat to us. The very idea of hurting her for something that she has no part in and cannot help is ridiculous. No one chooses their family.” I should know that better than anyone.
“Calm down dearest,” Tobias whispered, leaning over to press a kiss to her temple. “The only reason I agreed to you coming was because you promised to stay calm. The doctors said that stress isn’t good for you or the babies.”
“I know,” she whispered back. “But they want to condemn Ryan to death or worse, we can’t let that happen.”
“We won’t,” he reassured her as he pulled back. “Lady Eliza, you have been very quiet. Do you have anything to say on the matter?”
“I’ve listened to everything that has been said here and I’m forced to conclude that the young woman will have to stay here. She’s Lord Ryan’s mate, that is undisputable, but her link to the hunters makes her a risk to us. She cannot be allowed to leave until Lord Ryan is certain of her affections and sure that she won’t lead trouble back to us.”
“I concur with Lady Eliza,” Lord Evan stated. “From what I’ve heard the woman knew nothing. We cannot punish her for the errors of her family.”
“You couldn’t have said it better,” Lord Richard inserted. “She should stay within the clans. We cannot deprive Lord Ryan of his mate.”
“I don’t even see why we’re discussing this,” Nathaniel snarled angrily. “The instinct is never wrong. It led Lord Ryan to this woman and so she must live, she must stay with him.” He slammed his fist against the table to emphasise his point.
Chloe’s voice was soft as se spoke in hushed tones to the man beside her. “Ryan, I don’t want to be here anymore. Please let me leave.”
He turned to face her upon hearing the desperation in her voice. A brief glance back at the room told him that despite the finality of Richard’s statement, the discussion would continue for quite some time. “Fine, you can go. It isn’t as though you can go anywhere everyone knows that I want you to stay within the walls of the estate. Take some time away from all of this. I’ll come and find you as soon as I can.”
As soon as the words left his lips, Chloe was out of her chair. Ryan had offered her an escape route and she fully intended to use it.
Chapter Fourteen
As soon as she left the oppressive atmosphere of the meeting room and entered the corridor, Chloe ran. She didn’t care that she had no idea of where she was going, that she didn’t know the layout of the huge estate that she was now confined in. The only thing that mattered was getting away from that room and those people. She ran until her lungs burned and her feet began to ache and it was only then that she stopped, leaning against a wall to catch her breath. Her mind was still reeling from the discussion she had so recently heard. Even now she still couldn’t believe it. Some of the people in that room, those that led the werewolves that now surrounded her, had openly discussed her death. My murder. Her mind corrected. It was unnervingly comforting to have Ryan keep true to his word and defend her. It didn’t change the fact that he had brought her to this place but it was reassuring to know that he wanted to keep her alive. He’d told her that he was a lord; she didn’t know what that meant in werewolf terms but sincerely hoped that he had enough power to prevent serious harm befalling her before she managed to escape. After what she had just heard escape was more important than it had ever been.
She began to scan her surroundings hoping to see a means of achieving freedom but found only obstacles. The doors to the outside world were guarded by two large and very muscular men and she had no doubt after what she was referring to as her morning walk of shame, that they wouldn’t hesitate to send her back to Ryan if they so much as suspected she was trying to flee. High walls surrounded the areas that were unguarded and not for a moment did she try to delude herself into believing that she could climb to her freedom. She sighed, resigning herself for staying behind luxurious bars for the minute. The sound of childish laughter floated to her ears and instantly perked her interest. Walking around the corner she saw two small children chasing each other and the sight brought a smile to her face. Children playing in this place gave it a sense of normalcy that she hadn’t expected.
“Give up Dylan,” the boy shouted. “You’ll never be able to catch me. I’m older and that means I’m faster too.”
“You’re only older by a few minutes and I’m going to catch you Wyatt. Just wait.” The little girl quickly replied.
“In your dreams Dylan.” He came to an abrupt halt as soon as he spotted her and Chloe immediately began to feel self-conscious under his intense brown gaze. Dylan crashed into his back as he stopped running and her chocolate eyes began to study Chloe as well.
Even if she hadn’t heard their conversation, it would have been easy to guess that the two children were twins. Their faces were very similar though there were slight differences that marked one as a girl and one as a boy. The coffee coloured eyes that were staring at her were however identical.
“Who are you?” Dylan demanded.
The blunt question caused Chloe to smile; it reminded her of the questions the children she taught asked and anything that reminded her of home was very much appreciated at the moment. “I’m Chloe.”
Wyatt inhaled deeply as his sister extricated her limbs from his own. “You smell like Ryan,” he commented simply.
Reaching for the shirt that she wore, Chloe sniffed the simple cotton material confused. The shirt she was wearing was a woman’s shirt, Ryan should have had no reason to wear it and yet here was this child claiming that she smelt of him. You haven’t even known your kidnapper for a week, he could be a cross dresser for all you know. The thought seemed unlikely but it brought a smile to her face. “Ryan gave me these clothes so I suppose it’s reasonable that I smell like him.”
“No silly,” Wyatt scolded. “It’s not on your clothes, it’s on your skin.”
“Yeah,” Dylan agreed. “You smell like Ryan just like Erica smells like Sebastian and Alex smells like Tobias. Does that mean that you’re his mate?”
Her weak smile faded. “He seems to think so. He brought me here on the premise that I was.”
“That’s good,” Dylan beamed. “He’s been so grouchy lately. He kept looking for you and when he couldn’t he would just get upset. I’m glad that you’re here. Ryan is really fun to play with but he hasn’t been acting like he normally does.”
“I hope he gets better now that he has you. I want to race again and Ryan wouldn’t play anymore.”
“Race?” Chloe asked confused.
“Yeah,” Wyatt laughed. “Ryan and Sebastian change into their wolf forms and we get on their backs and race them. You can’t play with only one of them, it doesn’t work.”
“Ryan’s been so busy going to the different clans that he hasn’t had the time to play with us, but now that you’re here things will go back to the way they were. What clan are you from?” Dylan questioned moving closer to Chloe’s side.
Remembering the clan representatives that had been talking about her murder as though they were discussing the weather
, Chloe barely repressed the need to shiver. “I don’t belong to any clan. I’m human.” She waited with baited breath for the first sign of rejection but it didn’t come.
“Really?” Dylan asked cheerfully. “That’s good Alex will be happy to have someone like her around. I think she gets lonely when she can’t do what we do.
Wyatt moved closer. “She can’t change like we can so she can’t come running either. I know she really wants to come but she can’t. It’s good that you’re here, you can make Ryan and Alex happy.”
They make it sound so easy, Chloe thought. Well they probably don’t know how I came to be here. It’s not their fault that they’re seeing things so simply. “We’ll see,” she mumbled noncommittally.
“Dylan! Wyatt!”
At the harsh calling of their names the two children turned their attention away from her and Chloe couldn’t help but try to find the source of the noise. Erica stood at the end of the hall, fear etched across her face, fear so real and vivid that Chloe felt a sliver of terror run down her spine. Turning her head frantically from side to side, she tried to find the cause of Erica's fear. She could see nothing in their immediate vicinity that warranted such a response.
“Dylan, Wyatt,” Erica called again. “Come here.”
“What’s the matter Erica?” Wyatt questioned wide-eyed. His sister’s fear seemed to be contagious as he too scanned their surroundings.
“Don’t ask questions, just get away from there and come to me.” The children looked as though they were about to ask another question but the pleading tone in her voice convinced them otherwise. “Please,” she croaked.
“We’ve got to go.” Dylan smiled, grabbing her brother’s hand and pulling him towards Erica.
“We’ll see you another time Chloe,” Wyatt shouted.
As soon as her siblings were at her side, Erica's arms wrapped around their small bodies. Using the superior strength of her species she easily lifted them both from the ground, sending Chloe a fearful glance before running out of sight.
“What was that about?” Chloe mused aloud, the image of Erica's terrified face imprinted in her mind. “She was looking at me as though I was the devil. She was perfectly fine with me last night, what happened to change that?” She began walking aimlessly, mumbling to herself, unconcerned about where she was headed now that she had something else to occupy her thoughts. “She did leave the meeting pretty quickly after Ryan said that my family were hunters, is that it? I remember him telling me that she’d been tortured but that can’t be right. My family wouldn’t do that. They don’t have it in them to do that to anyone.” But Erica was genuinely terrified, that has to mean something. Her mind whispered cryptically. “I don’t get it,” she groaned loudly.
“What don’t you get?” Alex asked curious.
Startled, Chloe jumped away from her placing her hand theatrically over her heart. “What are you doing here Alex, you really scared me.”
The shorter woman laughed, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I did call your name but I guess you didn’t hear me. Are you okay?”
“Aside from hearing people plot my demise right in front of me, I’m just fine.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Why? You weren’t the one who was out for my blood.”
“You’re safe here Chloe, no one is going to hurt you.”
“Could have fooled me,” she snorted in derision.
“Ryan isn’t going to let anything happen to you. You haven’t known him long but it’s true. As long as he’s here, you’re under his protection. You heard him in there, he’s prepared to do whatever it takes to make you safe and comfortable here.”
“I still don’t understand why, he doesn’t even know me. To go to these lengths for a stranger? A stranger that you’ve kidnapped? It doesn’t make sense. He got arrested for crying out loud but that didn’t deter him from coming after me again. This is madness.”
Alex sighed, she could feel that this was going to take a lot of work but after all that Ryan had done to help her keep Tobias the least she could do was help see to his happiness. They were family after all and that’s how things worked. “Come with me and we’ll have a chat.”
“A chat?” Chloe asked perplexed at the odd sounding word.
“Yes, a chat.”
“You’re not from around here are you? I don’t think I’ve ever been asked to have a ‘chat’ with someone before.”
“The accent should have given me away last night.” Smiling, Alex grasped Chloe by the arm and began leading her down the halls. “I’m originally from England. Like I said last night Tobias brought me here, at the time it was most definitely against my will, but as you can see I’ve settled in here just fine.”
Stopping at the end of the familiar hallway, Alex spared a quick glance at Chloe unsure of whether bringing her here was a wise idea. She was already struggling with the existence of werewolves, was adding a witch a step too far? It’s not as though I’ve much of a choice, she decided. Her garden was the only place they were guaranteed privacy, not even her personal guards could enter it without her express permission though they hovered around the entrance at all times. It would be best if they were the only participants in this discussion, the presence of wolves might make her unwilling to talk. What’s the worst that could happen? She opened the door and guided Chloe into the floral heavy garden. The sight of so many healthy plants wouldn’t have looked out of place had winter not been on the approach. While the rest of the world’s plant life shed their leaves in preparation for winter, hers were alive and well.
“What’s this?” Chloe demanded the instant they were inside and the door closed behind them.
“This is my garden. No one is allowed in here without my permission so it should be alright for us to talk. No one will bother us, not even Ryan can get in here.”
“That isn’t what I meant. It’s fall. These plants should be dead. If I didn’t know better I’d think it was the middle of summer.”
“I’m not exactly normal,” Alex began cryptically. “I sort of happen to be a witch. My talent lies with plants and wildlife.” Her grip on Chloe’s wrist tightened as she pulled her to the ground to sit beside her. The grass beneath her immediately began to grow, providing her with a cushion from the hard earth. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” Alex shrugged.
Watching the unnatural growth of plants around them Chloe forced herself not to scream. Alex seemed to be her only other ally in this strange place aside from Ryan and she didn’t want to alienate her in case she was eventually willing to help her escape. “Right…”
“Think of it this way,” Alex began cheerfully. “I’m a lot more effective than bug spray. I’m not the biggest fan of certain types of insect either. I understand that they’re natural and help keep my garden healthy but it doesn’t mean I have to like them.” It was only then that Chloe noticed that the area they were sitting in was blissfully insect free and she laughed at Alex’s description of herself. “Enough about me, I brought you here so we could discuss the Ryan situation.”
“Are you going to help me escape?”
“No. You’re staying here, there’s nothing I can or will do about that. I brought you here so that we could talk about you becoming more accepting of that fact.”
“Ryan kidnapped me, there’s no way I can get comfortable with the situation.”
“Tell me, if he hadn’t done that, if you’d met under normal circumstances, would you consider a relationship with him?”
Her treacherous mind instantly brought forth memories of his intense brown eyes, the feel of his lips against her own, his long warm fingers stroking the inside of her thighs and Chloe moaned aloud.
“I’m going to take that as a yes then,” Alex laughed.
Forcing her mind away from the arousing images, Chloe snapped, “That’s beside the point. He kidnapped me, wishing it was different isn’t going to change that fact.”
“Chloe I know that they’re your family but yo
u have to understand that they’re out to kill us. If Ryan had stayed and tried to get to know you in the normal way they would have tried to kill him. He didn’t have any other choice but to bring you here. I know it’s going to take some getting used to but you have to understand that the man is already half in love with you. Being mated is an amazing thing. I love Tobias more than anything, more than my next breath and he feels the same way about me. If you’d only give him a chance Ryan would make you the happiest woman alive. Well the second happiest,” she chuckled. “I think I’m first.”
“I’m sorry Alex but I can’t forget that I’m trapped here. I can’t leave and that puts a fairly large dampener on my willingness to give him a chance.”
“If he knew that you wouldn’t run away, you’d be free to go wherever you liked. He’s a little anxious at the moment. Please Chloe, give him a chance. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for you.”
“Aside from letting me go home and be with my family.”
“Yes.”
“And what if that’s all I want?”
“Then I’m sure one day he’ll let you go to them. Maybe once they’ve been persuaded not to cut his head off. Chloe, the fact of the matter is that Ryan isn’t going to let you leave here. No one knows where you are so it isn’t as though you should expect anyone to come looking for you. From what Sebastian told me, he pretty much arranged it to look like you had just chosen to move away. You can be happy here; all you have to do is try. Ryan will never hurt you, he’ll do everything in his power to make you happy that’s more than some people ever hope to get.” She stood up, deciding to leave Chloe alone with her thoughts. She had tried her best all they could do now was see if Chloe was willing to listen to her words. “I’ll leave you alone now. You can stay in here as long as you like, I’ll tell the guards that no one is allowed in. Will you at least consider what I’ve said?”
Chloe nodded more confused now than she had been mere moments ago and watched as Alex left the green space. Alex is right, no one is going to come looking for me. My family might not even notice I’m missing until I don’t show up to cook them breakfast on Sunday. I’m not going to be able to just walk out of here either. If things had been different and Ryan had shown an interest in me before this would I’ve taken him up on it? Without a second thought. Her mind answered enthusiastically leaving her with the question, Should I give him a chance? Should I even be considering giving him a chance after all that he’s done? Chloe groaned. It was going to be a long day.
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