*****
Ryan watched Chloe leave him with a heavy heart. The claiming hadn’t gone well and his mate had seemed overly eager to be rid of him. Something was going on and he had better find out what it was quickly if he hoped to attempt the claiming again that night. Tobias’s voice pulled him from the haze he had fallen into and Ryan forced himself to listen rather than dwell on the problems that had developed with Chloe.
“Our parents have just left,” Tobias began, gently rocking the small baby within his arms. “But Sebastian and Erica are still here. I’m going to take your premature return and lack of mating scent as evidence that the claiming didn’t go well.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Ryan snapped.
“I know you don’t,” Tobias continued, his eyes never leaving his son’s as he followed his mate’s scent. “But it’s important. I want you to know this happiness Ryan. After all that you did to help Alex and I, you deserve it most of all.”
Standing in the doorway Ryan looked into the bedroom his eyes wandering to where Erica and Chloe stood gathered around Alex who held a small baby comfortably in her arms. Apparently even Erica was willing to place her dislike of Chloe on a back burner to bond over the arrival of a newborn. “I want it too Tobias,” he murmured. “You have no idea how bad.”
“She’ll come around,” Tobias reassured him.
“I hope you’re right.”
The sad look on his normally jovial cousin’s face was disconcerting, Tobias decided. “Enough of this,” he commanded. “Jasmine and Lily want to meet you.”
“You’ve named them all already?”
“Alex did,” he admitted. “I think her exact words were ‘if I have to go through the pain, the least you can let me do is pick their names’. How could I disagree?”
“Do you want to hold her?” Sebastian asked. While talking to Tobias, he had managed to sneak up undetected on his brother a feat he rarely managed to do. It instantly made him worried. Ryan wasn’t the most emotionally astute person and after burning his mate’s possessions a deep talk would have been necessary to make her understand. But Sebastian knew his brother. In all likelihood there had been no talk, no discussion and therefore no claiming. And the idiot probably thinks he’s done nothing wrong, Sebastian sighed. Maybe I should have a talk with him. Poor Chloe, she can’t help who her family is and then she get’s stuck with my emotionally deficient brother. The woman has not had it easy.
Taking the little girl from Sebastian's arms, Ryan smiled warmly at her, instantly recognising the grey eyes that she showed him occasionally when she deigned to open them rather than simply keep them closed. “Who’s this?”
“This is Jasmine,” Sebastian answered.
“As pretty as the flower for which she was named,” Ryan cooed.
Tobias’ expression darkened and he turned his gaze towards Alex and Lily. “Yes and unfortunately her sister is the same.”
“Unfortunately?” Ryan asked confused.
“They’re going to grow up and be beautiful, I can tell.”
Gazing warmly at the little bundle in his arms Ryan could see why Tobias would think she would be beautiful when she matured. He couldn’t however see why Tobias’ sounded so distraught over that fact. “I’m not seeing the problem Tobias.”
“When you’re a father you’ll understand, or maybe you’ll be lucky and have only boys like Travis. I can just see all the boys who will want to take my daughters from me before they reach maturity. I know all the disgusting things they will be thinking at that age.”
“Tobias, they’re females,” Ryan began calmly. He could sense his cousin was agitated and didn’t want to make the matter worse. “One day their mate is going to come and he will want to claim them.”
“Yes,” Tobias conceded. “And before he does that there will be conditions, trials that he will have to go through to prove he’s worthy of one of my daughters.”
“And I thought you were protective of Alex,” Ryan scoffed.
“Like I said, when you’re a father, you’ll understand.”
“When I’m a father,” Ryan muttered. His gaze was instantly drawn to Chloe, the only woman he would ever contemplate starting a family with. If he couldn’t claim her his hopes of a family would wither and die. The thought was a sobering one. “Sebastian, here, take Jasmine.” He handed the baby to his brother and stepped away from the room.
“Where are you going?” Sebastian called.
“I need some time alone, to think,” he answered and walked from the room.
Chapter Twenty Five
“Hey, Orville!” A loud voice called, the sound reverberating around the corridor. Ryan turned slowly as mortification filled him. Only a few people were aware of his middle name and the fewer that knew the better. Whoever was calling him, spreading his own personal shame, was making his life difficult and they were in for a lifetime of grief for doing so. He groaned loudly as he spotted Erica waving cheerfully to him from the end of the hall. It would have to be one of the few people I can’t cause grief without making trouble for myself. If I upset her not only will Sebastian be out for blood, Alex won’t be pleased and when she’s not pleased Tobias isn’t too happy either. He groaned aloud in distress. I wonder who told her, mother or Sebastian? Why they feel the need to spread such a disgraceful secret I don’t know.
“Hey, Orv–” she called again though she was unable to finish speaking as Ryan put on a burst of speed, rushing to her side and clamping a hand over her mouth.
“Don’t say it,” he hissed in her ear. He lifted his hand from her mouth slowly, hesitantly, as if ready to spring back into action should she begin to say his name again.
“I wouldn’t have had to say it in the first place if you had been aware of your surroundings. It was the only way to get your attention,” she stated calmly as soon as his hand left her face.
“Excuse me?” he demanded astonished. There were other, less embarrassing, ways to strike up a conversation.
“I’ve been calling you for ages. It was only when I called you Orville that you even showed signs of life.”
“How long have you been following me?”
“I left literally a few seconds after you.”
His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why? You seemed like you were happy right where you were.” Even you seem to be getting on better with my mate than I’ve been in the last few hours, his mind added, his tone jealous.
“Because I wanted to talk to you.”
“I left because I wanted to be alone. I need some time to think.”
“About Chloe?” she drawled. He scowled and turned to walk away from her. Seeing his intention, Erica sprung into action, linking her arm through his and preventing his escape. “Where do you think you’re going? I want to talk to you.”
“I already told you that I want to be alone Erica. And what do you think you’re doing?” he snarled, moving his arm. His attempt to dislodge her was significantly hindered by his need to be gentle. Erica was his brother’s mate after all; he couldn’t harm her.
Not the way you hurt our mate you mean? His wolf added snidely. I’m blaming you for the claiming failing. If you hadn’t hurt her, we could have been buried deep inside her by now. We could have taken her again and again and again. She would have been screaming our name, begging for release. Instead we’re reduced to simply imagining what could have been. The wolf was cruel, merciless in its tormenting.
Ryan growled a low and dangerous warning. I’ll talk to her. I’ll figure out what’s bothering her, and when I’ve appeased her concerns, I’ll explain the claiming to her so she doesn’t run from us again. The claiming will go ahead tonight.
“Let go of me Erica,” he repeated. “What do you think Sebastian would do if he saw us like this?”
“My guess,” she paused. “He would probably hit you like he did when he found out that we kissed.”
“That was your fault,” he hissed, angry at the memory. Never in his long life had he fou
ght back against Sebastian and he never intended to. It was for his brother that he fought, not against him but if Erica continued to touch him in this way Sebastian wouldn’t hesitate to try and hurt him and he had a mate to think of now. He couldn’t afford to be injured when Chloe might be in danger.
His anger is reasonable, the wolf began, What would you do if the situation were reversed? If Chloe were this close to Sebastian? Her body pressed up against him like this? His scent bleeding into hers, clouding that intoxicating fragrance? Ryan saw red. His struggles to be free intensified.
“Calm down Ryan, you’re attracting even more attention. Look, Sebastian doesn’t need to see us like this. I just want to talk to you about Chloe.”
“What do you know about my mate that I don’t? You’ve refused to speak to her since we got here. What happened to you was a tragedy and I’ll always be sorry we didn’t reach you sooner, but my mate had nothing to do with it, she’s completely innocent.”
“I know.”
“What?” he spluttered.
“I said I know. Chloe isn’t Vincent. That bastard is dead, Sebastian and I saw to that. If I’m honest I feel sorry for her. She didn’t believe in any of this and now you’re telling her that her family are torturers, murderers? To be with you, she would have to throw away her family, her life, as she knows it. If the situations were reversed, could you do it?”
He paused, thinking. “It would be difficult, but for her…I think I could do it.”
“Because she’s your mate?”
“Yes. I would do anything for her.”
“Or your wolf would drive you crazy?”
He frowned deeply. “It’s more than that. She completes me. I can’t be without her again. I won’t.”
“Things are different for her,” she stated simply.
“How do you know so much?” he asked seriously.
“Because I listen. I want to help you. You’re ill equipped to deal with this situation alone. You are somewhat emotionally handicapped so I’m here, for Sebastian's sake, to act as your crutches until you can learn to walk alone. Are you coming or do you want to muddle through by yourself? I do warn you though that if I leave you to your own devices you will probably make things even worse than they already are.”
“Things aren’t that bad, we’ve just had a little misunderstanding. Once I explain things to her everything will be fine and we’ll attempt the claiming again tonight.”
Erica's jaw dropped in shock, her mouth hanging wide open. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re worse than I thought.”
“Is something wrong?” he asked innocently.
“I feel really sorry for Chloe, she has to deal with you. You’re coming with me. Now.” Her grip on his arm tightened and she pulled him down the hall, past the royal quarters and into the rooms she shared with Sebastian. A quick sniff told her that Dylan and Wyatt had left recently along with Yvonne and Elaine. “We’re alone but I’m not sure for how long. Dylan and Wyatt have probably just been taken to see the babies, I’m not sure when they’ll get back so we have to make this quick. Sit down,” she commanded. He stood dumb for a moment and Erica snapped at him, “Do you want to claim your mate or not?” He sat quickly.
She paced for a few moments, trying to find the right words to begin. Her eyes would occasionally flicker towards Ryan and she would instantly curse softly. She had known he would be somewhat unaware of what he had done but to be completely ignorant? She couldn’t put into words how she felt and that was a major problem when trying to give advice.
“You said you could help me,” Ryan prodded gently. “Perhaps you could start by explaining to me why things are so different for Chloe than they are for me?”
“Yes,” Erica decided. “That would be a good place. Firstly, Chloe is human. She has no wolf guiding her, no compelling reason to be with you. There are no horrid consequences to deal with if she doesn’t accept you and your claim, no voice inside her head that would try to drive her mad. And secondly, she’s a woman, even if she were one of our people; she could ignore her inner wolf. I did when Sebastian first tried to claim me. The instinct isn’t guiding her to you, your actions are what are guiding her to either stay with you or hate you and what you’ve done is definitely pushing her towards the latter.”
“What I’ve done?” he asked incredulously. “I haven’t done anything.”
“You are amazingly dense. No, you’re beyond dense, you’re an idiot,” she stated adamantly and Ryan growled in response. “You burned her things Ryan.”
“To protect her, of course I did.”
“Did you tell her that?”
“Of course I did.”
“Did she understand what you meant?” Erica pressed.
Ryan frowned, remembering Chloe’s confused look as her possessions had been carried away. “She must have. I told her why I was doing it and after that…” He paused, racking his mind for any sign that she had understood what was going on.
Our mate isn’t stupid, his wolf inserted. Of course she understood. Besides, at the time there were other, more important things to focus on.
Like her safety?
Exactly! Ryan, don’t let this woman make you feel guilty for what we did. Everything we do is in the best interests of our mate. Sometimes females can be irrational. They don’t worry enough about their safety. It’s our responsibility, our privilege, as a mate to rectify that deficiency. Take Erica for example. She ran from her mate disregarding the consequences and got caught by hunters.
And Chloe… he mused. She never wears a seatbelt when she drives. She unknowingly invites trouble. She doesn’t understand our people. I have to look out for her, even if it’s against herself.
“She had to have understood. I have told her time and time again that everything I do, I do for her protection. She has to know and understand that.”
Erica screamed aloud in frustration, throwing her hands into the air and resuming her pacing. “I can’t believe that people as stupid as you are allowed to live. Just talking to you makes me understand why herds are culled.”
“We’re wolves Erica, sheep are culled, not us.”
“Well maybe they should transfer the practice. You really aren’t going to understand what I’m trying to tell you unless I spell it out for you. I’ve spoken to your mate and unlike you I’ve listened. You, yes you Ryan, are wrong. She doesn’t understand and because she doesn’t understand she’s starting to hate you. If you don’t fix this quickly it may be too late to save your relationship.”
“I did what I had to do, the smell Erica. There was so much blood. Everyone could smell it, those things were endangering her life.”
She groaned anew in frustration, wondering how her mate had put up with this level of emotional retardation for more than two centuries. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. “Blood that she couldn’t smell. Don’t get me wrong, I’m eternally thankful to you for getting rid of the smell before I could discover it, but Chloe is human. She smelled nothing, no blood and no scent of death. What you were doing was asking her to believe in something she couldn’t see, couldn’t touch and can’t experience. It’s like me telling you that I can see fairies and I want you to believe that they’re flying around us.”
He frowned confused by the change in conversation. “Fairies don’t exist Erica.”
“I know that and you know that. But what if I really believed that they were here. You couldn’t see them, couldn’t feel them but I told you that they were a danger to us and the only way to be rid of them would be to burn the contents of the room.”
“That’s ridiculous. Why would you burn down your home because of non-existent fairies?”
“Exactly!” she crowed in triumph. “To Chloe’s mind that’s what you’ve done. Her things, things which from the sound of her voice when I spoke to her earlier, were precious, were given to her only be to taken away callously because of something which to her is the equivalent of fairies.”
“But her things wer
e putting her life in danger. Owen attacked me because of them. If Owen, my friend, can do that who knows what others are capable of? There are already people who want to harm her because of her lineage. Her possessions were throwing fuel onto a fire that I might not have been able to put out and save her from. I did what was necessary to protect her. I won’t apologise for that.”
“Did you once explain to her what exactly had made you do what you did? The events leading up to your final decision? The thoughts that went through your mind? Anything?”
“No, but…” he stuttered, understanding finally dawning upon him.
“With our long life span, things aren’t important. They come and go, break and rot away into nothing, but Chloe is human, was raised to think and feel like one. To her, things are important, the span of her life until she met you was finite, she probably thought some of those things would be with her forever and you destroyed them without a word of explanation. What makes things worse–”
“How could things possibly be worse?” Ryan groaned, his head falling into his waiting palms.
“What makes things worse is that you tried to claim her straight after. You came to her, drenched in the smell of her burnt possessions and there were no words of appeasement, apology. What did you think was going to happen?”
“I knew she was angry,” Ryan began, finally making an attempt to defend his decisions. “But I didn’t think. We fought, I didn’t understand why at the time. I see now that it was probably the full moon. It and my wolf made sure I couldn’t think straight, couldn’t see past my need for her to ensure I went through with the claiming. I thought she was mad because I’d hurt her, it was unintentional but I still hurt my mate. It’s unforgiveable.”
“I can safely say that your hurting her might have made her angrier but it wasn’t the root of the problem. That lies with your actions. You abducted her Ryan, brought her to a place where she has no friends, no allies and people gunning for her head.”
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