A Wolf's Oath (44 page)

“
Things have changed.”

“
How?”

“
Alex is pregnant.”

Sebastian's eyes widened at the statement. “Are you
kidding?”

“
Nope and neither is Tobias. After all that Alex has been
through, he’s just doing what he thinks is necessary to protect his
mate and cubs. I think if he had his way she would be on
twenty-four hour lockdown.”

“
I should call him and give him my congratulations,” Sebastian
decided. “How does Alex feel about the whole thing?”

“
She’s happy enough about the babies, she isn’t however too
happy about everyone hovering over her like she’s going to break at
any second. It’s to be expected though, she’s Queen now and
carrying the heir to the throne.”

“
Queen? When did that happen?”

“
Not long ago now. You missed the ceremony. It was beautiful,”
Ryan laughed before his voice became serious. “Enough about other
people. You needed a favour?”

“
Yes,” Sebastian agreed solemnly. “I need you to watch over
Erica.”

Ryan groaned at his brother’s request. “Not you too. What is
it with my family trying to turn me into some sort of guard dog?
This isn’t funny any more.”

“
I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important Ryan.”

“
Why can’t you watch over her? You seemed to have been doing
fine without my help these last few weeks. What’s
changed?”

“
The full moon is coming Ryan. I kept hoping that she would
have regained her memories by now but that hasn’t happened. She’s
just as unaware of what we are as she was when she first had the
accident.”

Ryan’s brows furrowed in confusion. “I don’t understand what
the problem is. She’s here, you’re here, claim her. It isn’t rocket
science, although when I really think about it, you could probably
manage the science with greater ease than dealing with your mate.
Sheesh, I would have thought your wolf would have been guiding you
along the right path, apparently not. You should claim her as soon
as you can Sebastian, there’s no need to wait any longer. You found
her; it’s only natural that you do so. I don’t know how you’ve
managed to hold off for so long. I would be going crazy if my mate
wasn’t bearing my mark.”

Sebastian's head fell into his waiting palms; he should have
known that Ryan wouldn’t see the situation in the same light as he
did. “You sound exactly like my wolf and I’m going to tell you what
I told him. She didn’t want it before the accident; I won’t take
advantage of her amnesia. What sort of a mate would I be if I did
that?”

“
I don’t understand how you can not agree with your wolf when
he’s making a perfectly valid point.” Sebastian glared at him and
Ryan threw his hands up in surrender. “But that’s your prerogative.
I’m not here to ask questions, I’m here to do you a
favour.”

“
There’s more,” Sebastian began. “I don’t need you to just
watch her from a distance, I need you to pretend to be me.” Ryan
began shaking his head, not liking where his brother’s thoughts
were taking him. “If I told her that I was leaving, she might want
to come with me and that defeats the objective. The best thing I
can do for her is to simply not be around her, but I can’t just
leave and disappear for a few days, that would bring up questions
that we can’t answer. I’ve got to go but she can’t realise that I’m
missing.”

“
No. I won’t do it. I won’t Sebastian.”

“
You’ve already agreed to it Ryan. Remember? You said you’d do
this favour for me in exchange for a future one. You can’t back out
now.”

“
It won’t work Sebastian.”

“
And why won’t it?” he demanded.

Ryan’s eyes darted over his brother’s frame, looking for an
escape route from a plan he had hastily agreed to. “I’ve got
broader shoulders than you. The woman isn’t blind or stupid, she’ll
know something is going on.”

“
Wear baggy clothes and hunch your shoulders,” Sebastian
replied automatically, refusing to allow Ryan to get out of helping
him. He needed his brother’s help and when it came to Erica he was
finding that he could be as ruthless as they came. “And the woman
has a name, use it. Don’t talk about her in that way again Ryan, I
don’t like it.”

“
It won’t happen again. I’m sorry but it does show another
difference between us, we don’t act the same. We never have. After
spending all this time with you, surely Erica will be able to see
that you’re not behaving like your usual self.”

“
Yes, it’s true that Erica and I’ve spent a lot of time
together.” Ryan breathed a sigh of relief hoping that this
signalled the demise of Sebastian's ill-conceived plan. His
brother’s next words however, ruled out that possibility. He should
have known better, once Sebastian had decided upon something it was
nigh impossible to get him to change his mind. “The time that Erica
and I’ve spent together is however nowhere near the time we’ve been
together. We’ve been at each others side for over two centuries,
you should be able to think of what I would do or say in any given
situation and respond accordingly.”

“
Our eyes aren’t exactly the same shade of brown Sebastian, you
know mine have a tendency to shift colours.”

“
Try not to look at her too much or too long. As long as you
keep your eyes averted and don’t make look at her for too long I
doubt she’d know.”

Ryan breathed heavily consigning himself to his fate before
giving one final last-ditch attempt to persuade his brother that
this wasn’t the wisest course of action. “Your hair is shorter than
mine.”

“
I have a pair of scissors in the car, I’m going to cut your
hair and then it will all work out fine. Ryan, we could do this all
day but the end result is going to be the same. This is going to
happen, you should just accept it.”

Even Ryan had to admit that the last attempt was pathetic and
he finally gave up. “The favour I’m going to ask is going to be
absolutely massive,” he groused. “It’s going to make your eyes
bulge and your head want to explode and you’re going to do it with
what?” he waited expectantly for a response.

“
No questions,” Sebastian responded easily, moving around his
brother to open the back door of the car. The boot space wasn’t
quite as large as Sebastian would have liked, but it would suffice.
“Sit here so that I can cut your hair. We don’t have long. I want
to be off as quick as possible.”

Muttering under his breath, Ryan complied with Sebastian's
request, sitting in the now open trunk space. Pleased that his
brother was complying, Sebastian quickly retrieved his scissors.
“Thank you for doing this for me Ryan. I couldn’t ask for a better
brother.”

“
Damn straight. I should be adored all across the globe for my
fraternal services.” He took a deep breath, preparing himself to
slip into Sebastian's persona. “What are you waiting for? Let’s get
this over with. Just cut my hair so that we can both be on our way.
The things you and Tobias are making me do for your mates, it’s
unbelievable. The things you put yourselves through are astounding.
First there was Alex and her unwillingness to even talk to Tobias,
which left me behind to deal with the mess that had been created in
England and now you. For you I’m willing to cut my hair, dress up
like you and try to fool your mate into believing I’m you. All of
this while you run away from something that you’ve wanted to do for
nearly your entire life. It’s unbelievable.”

“
When you find your mate, you’ll understand. You’ll be willing
to do all of this and more just to make her smile or make sure that
she’s not upset.” Ryan scoffed and Sebastian laughed at his
attitude. “Trust me, you’ll see that what I’m saying is all true
when the time comes.” Sebastian worked quickly and efficiently,
cutting the almost shoulder length strands of Ryan’s hair until
they just above his neck. Satisfied with his work, he brushed off
the residual hair from his shoulders and stood back to admire his
work.
This is going to work,
he grinned. Aside from the deep scowl that was
etched onto Ryan’s face, they were identical.

“
Judging from that smile on your face, I’m going to take it
that you’re satisfied.”

“
Definitely. Thanks for agreeing to help me.”

“
Don’t worry about it,” Ryan shrugged. “Is there anything in
particular you call her? Or is it just Erica?”

“
Sweetheart, I call her sweetheart.” The small piece of
information seemed to have been torn from Sebastian, he couldn’t
abide the idea of someone else using endearments to refer to his
mate, even if that person was his brother and even if he had
bullied him into doing it.

“
Well go on then. I haven’t got all day to be standing around
talking to you,” Ryan declared, shooing his brother with his
hands.

“
Right,” Sebastian agreed preparing to make his mad dash into
the forest before he realised something. “You’re going to need my
clothes. It will look pretty suspicious if I left the house in one
thing and came back in another.”

“
There’s always one more thing with you isn’t there?” Ryan
groused pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it in
Sebastian's direction. They swapped clothes quickly, throwing the
items back and forth between themselves.

“
Ryan before I go, there’s just one last thing that I want you
to do.”

“
What is it now?”

“
Don’t touch her,” Sebastian growled, the vehemence of the
three simple words momentarily shocking Ryan. “I know you’re my
brother, I know that you wouldn’t try and do anything to her but
I’m not rational when it comes to her. Just the thought of anyone
else touching her takes me to heights of anger I’ve never felt
before. I can just about tolerate the idea of you calling her
sweetheart, but touching her would be a step too far.”

“
I’ll keep my hands to myself,” Ryan reassured him. “Now
go.”

At the order, Sebastian transformed into his lupine form and
sped off into the woods leaving Ryan alone in the clearing with
nothing but the car. “The things you do for family,” he groused,
pulling the car door open and hopping into the vehicle.

Chapter
Forty-Two

The house seemed quieter without Sebastian within its walls,
Erica decided. Though she could hear her brother and sister playing
loudly outside as she walked aimlessly through the house, she felt
remarkably alone without Sebastian's comforting presence nearby.
She wasn’t sure when she had become so reliant on him being there
but she knew without a doubt that she was as addicted to him as
some people were to caffeine and she was most definitely
experiencing withdrawal symptoms. He had been gone a few hours and
he hadn’t told her when he was planning to return so that left her
waiting anxiously for his return. Her mind seemed to be working
against her, conjuring up a wealth of scenarios that could have
taken place to prevent him from coming home. The idea of an
accident was upper most in her mind, but she decided that after
what had happened to her, it was reasonable that her mind would
think it was happening to someone that she cared about.

Is this how Sebastian felt when I went to town without
telling him? I did leave him a note but now thinking about it, it
wasn’t really enough to reassure him that nothing would happen to
me. Plus, I took the car without even knowing if I could drive. It
definitely explains why he was so angry when I got back. I’m never
going to do that again.

The door creaked open and a wide smile appeared on her face
as Sebastian walked through the door, in one piece, safe and
uninjured. She walked towards him before leaping into his arms to
welcome him back. “Sebastian.” He tensed as soon as her arms
wrapped around his body and a frown appeared on her face. Sebastian
always welcomed her embrace, had something happened? “Are you
ok?”

“
I’m fine sweetheart.” He smiled though he refused to meet her
gaze and the smile on his face seemed forced.

“
You’re sure?” she persisted, tightening her grip on his
body.

“
Mmm.” He nodded, finally meeting her gaze.

The hands around his waist rose to his neck and Ryan tensed,
he didn’t like where this was going. His concerns proved to have
merit as Erica pulled his head down to meet hers and pressed her
lips against his. His eyes were wide in shock and his hands hung
limply at his sides, unsure of what he should be doing.
Sebastian’s going to kill me,
Ryan decided. His twin’s newfound possessive streak had
forbade him from even touching his mate and yet here he was kissing
her.
I’m a dead man.
He was trapped between his brother’s demands that he keep his
hands to himself and his insistence that Erica know nothing of his
absence. If he pulled away, Erica would definitely suspect
something was going on but if he allowed her to continue, when his
brother inevitably found out, his demise was assured.

The decision was thankfully taken out of his hands as Erica
pulled away on her own initiative and he had to force himself not
to sigh in relief. He hadn’t initiated it and the kiss had been
brief, those points surely had to count in his favour. Regardless,
he wasn’t going to willingly volunteer the information to
Sebastian.
It’s his own fault that this
happened; he has no one to blame but himself.
Ryan watched as Erica took a step back her hand rising to her
lips before she touched them lightly with a finger. She looked at
him bewildered but he simply smiled in response hoping that she
wouldn’t probe too deeply into his behaviour.