A Wolf's Oath (12 page)

Chapter
Twelve

The moon had finally disappeared from the sky and as he lay
against the cool grass staring up at the sky, watching the breaking
dawn Sebastian felt a sense of satisfaction course through him. He
hadn’t caught her. She had escaped him. His body was exhausted and
he felt as though to move even a finger would require too much
effort. He had fought against his inner wolf every step of the way
and while the wolf inevitably won the battles, strengthened under
the influence of the full moon, he had wasted time having to deal
with Sebastian's futile struggles. Each morning, though his limbs
were visibly shaking with strain, he had stood from wherever he had
transformed back into his human body. Scenting the air he had found
the direction that his mate had ran in and turned in the opposite,
walking miles each day until the moon once again gave control of
his body to his wolf. His struggles had apparently paid off as his
mate had escaped the claiming.

I can’t believe you let her escape!
the wolf howled. Contained as it was behind strengthened bars
within his mind, Sebastian felt no worry as it continued to demand
his attention, choosing instead to lie against the grass and gather
his depleted strength. The sun felt warm against his skin, helping
drive away the cold that had seeped through his body from
exhaustion. Relaxing though it was his mind couldn’t help but
wander to Erica.

I hope she isn’t as worn out as I am.

So now you start thinking of our mate? It is a bit late to do
so now,
the wolf groused.

I’ve always been thinking of her, it is just that, unlike
you, I’m not so selfish as to put my desires before her
needs.

And what of our needs? Should they just be
ignored?

You don’t seem to be capable of thinking ahead. Things will
be different next month.

You seem pretty sure of that.

She had reasonable doubts, all she wanted was time to get to
know us. That isn’t a hard request to fulfil.

She already had time to get to know us.

Three days isn’t enough to overcome a lifetime of
insecurities, especially when you would prove her concerns to be
true.

I see no reason to agree to that silly request of hers. She’s
our mate, where she goes then it is only natural that we
follow.

I’ve had enough of you, just be quiet so I can get some sleep
and then we’ll head back to collect Dylan and Wyatt.

Are we not going to get Erica?

No. She can have this time to herself. If we leave her alone
then it will only work in our favour. She’ll know that we did what
she asked of us and that might go some way to gaining her
trust.

And what if I want to go and get her now.

You can want all you like. The moon is no longer full. I’m in
control now and what I say goes, so just be quiet so I can get some
sleep.

Closing his eyes, Sebastian allowed his body to finally
succumb to the lure of sleep. After two days and nights of constant
running with no chance of rest he was in desperate need of it. When
he finally woke, the sun was still in the sky, though it was much
higher than the last time he had seen it, telling him that he had
slept a great deal of the day. His body however was in a much
better condition now that he had rested; his muscles were no longer
protesting the even simplest movement and he found that he could
now stand. He was further pleased when he found that he could move
his limbs much easier than he had anticipated and immediately began
walking in the direction of his home.

A thought occurred to him as he walked and he quickly pulled
his mobile from his pocket and dialled his brother’s number. After
a few brief rings Ryan answered.

“
Hello?”

“
Ryan, it’s Sebastian.”

“
Hey, how are things with you?”

“
I’m good. I’m actually on my way back home.”

“
So you’re finished with whatever you needed to do?” his
brother questioned.

“
Yes I’m all done. I was just wondering exactly where you were.
I didn’t want to show up at the cabin only to find that you were at
the estate.”

“
Nope, we’re still in the cabin. I didn’t know if you wanted
anyone else to know about your little crisis so I figured it was
best for us to stay here. Besides the kids didn’t seem to quite
understand what was going on so I figured it would just confuse
them more if we moved.”

Thank god for that. I completely forgot to tell him not to go
back to the estate. Dylan and Wyatt aren’t stupid; if they stayed
at the estate then they’d wonder where we were.
“That’s good,” he replied, still unprepared to enlighten his
twin as to his thoughts while Erica was still adamant about the
need for secrecy. “How are they? Have they been
alright?”

“
Easiest favour you’ve ever asked of me,” Ryan replied
confidently and Sebastian could practically see the grin that would
have crept onto his brother’s face.

“
Really?”

“
Yeah, they pretty much took care of themselves. I didn’t even
have to do all that much. But that doesn’t mean I’m not keeping you
to that promise. Remember when the time comes that I want your
help, I expect no questions.”

“
Have you got something in mind already?”

“
No, but that doesn’t mean I’m not confident that the time
won’t come.”

Sebastian laughed at his brother’s reasoning. “You act as
though I wouldn’t have done it anyway.”

“
I know you would agree to helping me, but the important factor
here is the lack of questions. I mean it Sebastian. None. Not even
a hint of a question.”

“
Fine.”

“
How much longer do you need me to be here?”

“
I’m not really sure where I’m exactly, probably a good few
hours run away though in my condition it might take me longer than
it normally would, I’m exhausted. I’ll see if I can find a city or
something and find a method of transport that’s easier on my limbs,
hopefully I should be back by tonight. If not then I’ll be home
tomorrow.”

“
I guess I’ll see you later then.” The phone went silent as
Ryan hung up.

Surrounded by trees on all sides, Sebastian came to the
conclusion that the wolf had ran through the countryside, reducing
the possibility that humans would see a lone wolf on the hunt.
Unfortunately this meant that he was probably a fair distance from
the nearest town.

“
I’d better move faster if I want to get home today,” he sighed
wistfully, longing for a real rest, before quickening his pace to a
gentle jog as he began his search for civilisation.

*****

The sound of voices floating around her sensitive ears forced
Erica into a state of wakefulness but as the last moments of
consciousness flooded her mind she knew she didn’t want to open her
eyes and be confronted with the harshness of her current reality.
With wakefulness came pain, her mind was almost overwhelmed with
the feeling as it regained control over her body. Her wrists,
ankles and neck burned and the air was saturated with the smell of
her burnt flesh. Her stomach rolled in response and she had to
force herself not to lose the contents of her stomach. Despite
refusing to open her eyes, she knew that she was seated. Discreetly
flexing her wrists, she found them confined and as she moved, more
flesh was burned, telling her that she was held captive by silver.
Another few slight movements of her ankles and neck told her that
they were in a similar condition, bound by the same
metal.

As she had examined the shackles that kept her bound, the
voices that had woken her had moved closer without her noticing. A
hard slap to the cheek caused her eyes to open in shock. Glaring
briefly at the man who had hit her, she recognised him as the one
who had burnt her skin with a silver coin, marking her as a wolf.
He was large, his body heavily muscled as though he had spent a
great deal of time acquiring the extra body mass. His hair was cut
so short that he was practically bald, though from the dark
bristles that covered his scalp she guessed that his hair if longer
would be black. Her eyes darted to the other men in the room,
finding that their hair was cut in a similar fashion. Resisting the
urge to growl in anger, her eyes quickly scanned her surroundings,
searching for a way out.

The room she was being held in was dimly lit with a single
light bulb over head, otherwise it was completely empty of
furniture, though filled with humans. She counted at least eight
that she could see and her nose told her there were more beyond
this room. There was only one door that she could see and two men
with large weapons guarded that exit. Her eyes continued their
scan, noting that the windows had been boarded with dark wood,
preventing sunlight from entering.
And
stopping others from seeing what these mad men are doing,
she added ruefully, aware of what would likely
happen to her in this room. Though her people were hunted less
vigorously than they had been in previous time periods, they were
by no means left alone to live their lives in peace. A group of
individuals continued to hunt and kill them throughout the ages,
their membership seemingly undepleted despite all those that they
had dealt with over the years.
Lunatics
will always find each other,
she grumbled,
trying to hold on to her sense of humour despite the fact that she
knew they would likely kill her.

They’re going to kill me anyway so there’s no need to be
polite.
“What the hell are you staring at?”
she hissed. “Is there something you want?”

The man in front of her smiled, his grey eyes shining with
barely suppressed glee. “Of course I’m staring. We caught a genuine
freak of nature, a monster from legend. This isn’t the sort of
thing you see everyday.”

“
I would have thought you’ve seen plenty of my people in your
line of work, murderer!”

His cold smile didn’t falter. “You would think that wouldn’t
you. I’m not the murderer here, you are.”

“
It doesn’t look like it from where I’m sitting. I’m not the
one guilty of kidnapping and bodily assault.”

“
We’re keeping you from hurting others. If you were out there
then things would be different. You’re a killer.”

“
You don’t know me, you can’t make judgements like that. I’ve
done nothing to you.”

“
No?”

“
Of course not!” Erica argued. “I’ve never met you before so
how on earth would I’ve been able to do anything to hurt
you.”

“
You personally might not have done anything but you’re an
abomination, a monster. Who knows what you’ve done to
others.”

“
Nothing!” she screamed angrily. “I’ve never hurt a soul in my
life. Just because I’m different doesn’t mean I’m
dangerous.”

“
And you just expect me to take your word for it? You know that
you’ve been caught, there isn’t anything that you wouldn’t say to
get away.”

“
Please, I have a family,” she pleaded, desperate to escape if
not for herself then for her brother and sister.
If something happens to me then they’ll have no
one.

“
That, wolf, is exactly what I want to talk to you about. The
thing is that our particular unit hasn’t had much luck in capturing
any of your kind in recent years. We know that you’re out there;
our organisation hasn’t killed enough of you to have eradicated you
from existence. So we would like your help in finding your people.
Once you tell us where they are, we’ll give you a quick
death.”

She stared at the man in front of her, astonishment stamped
clearly on her features. “Let me get this straight. You want me to
tell you where the clans are?”

“
So that’s how you’re organised, clans? Exactly how many are
there and where can we find them?”

“
I hadn’t finished with my question,” she interrupted. “You
want me to lead you to the clans when I just told you that I have
family in them?”

“
Yes.”

A moment of silence passed before Erica's loud laughter
filled the room. Despite the burning of her skin as she moved, she
couldn’t stop herself and continued to chuckle hysterically,
gasping for breath. Her eyes watered as the tears eventually
subsided. “You’re kidding me. I’m not going to lead you lunatics
right to my family. They’ve done nothing to you. They’re children,
completely innocent of the outrageous crimes you think we’ve
committed. Even if you kill me, as long as they’re within the
safety of the clans they’ll be taken care of. I’m not going to tell
you anything, so you might as well kill me now.” Though she was
aware that asking for death wasn’t the wisest decision it was still
preferable to giving them men before her what they asked
for.

The leader’s eyes narrowed at her statement. Extending a
hand, he called one of his followers over. A blade was pressed into
his open palm and his cruel smile retuned. “You may not want to do
what I ask, but make no mistake you will do what I want. I’m not
going to kill you right away, I want something and you’re going to
give it to me. Everyone has a breaking point and that includes
werewolves like yourself.” The knife was pressed against her skin
and she could feel her flesh burning from the light contact. “I
just have to find out what it is.” His smile widened before he
pushed the blade deeper against her skin before slicing through
muscle. Erica screamed, her voice filling the room, wishing more
than ever that she had stayed with Sebastian.