A Wolf's Duty (28 page)

Tobias threw Lucinda in
their general direction, not caring how she landed, before bending
down to see to Alex. “You’re bleeding,” he exclaimed. Though he had
seen Lucinda draw blood, the sight and smell of it on his mate
close up was still shocking to him. He touched her skin and was
shocked by how cold her trembling body was. “Xandria?”

“It hurts Tobias,” she
groaned gripping her still bleeding stomach, turning to face him,
her eyes unfocused. “Poison. Her claws Tobias, poison.” Her mind
became unfocused once more and she stopped speaking, clutching her
bleeding leg and stomach in a vain attempt to keep the pain at
bay.

Amber filled his eyes as
his wolf gained dominance. Turning he stood and walked to where
Ryan and Sebastian were helping Lucinda to her feet. Grabbing one
of her hands, he brought it to his nose and sniffed. “Poison? You
poisoned her?” A hush descended over the anxious crowd, none daring
to speak as the accusation floated through the air. “You poisoned
her! What’s wrong with you? Poison is illegal in the Challenge and
you thought you would get away with it?” he roared, grabbing her
shoulders and shaking her.

Now can we
kill her?
His inner wolf demanded,
I told you before that we should have dealt with
her before this ridiculous Challenge. Our mate is injured and this
bitch is to blame. Kill her.

A red haze
descended over his vision and he found himself agreeing with his
inner wolf.
Maybe you’re right. If I kill
her now then she can be of no threat to Xandria in the
future.
A hand rose to Lucinda's throat and
he began to squeeze, uncaring of the redness that appeared on her
cheeks as she struggled for air.

This won’t
kill her,
his wolf reminded him.
You need to take her head, otherwise she’ll
recover.

That might be
true,
he remarked studying her face as it
became increasingly red, distantly aware of the feel of her fingers
tugging wildly at the hand at her throat.
But if we just kill her then she won’t suffer, look at what
she did to our Xandria, she has to pay for each injury.

With
interest,
his wolf inserted.

Clearly,
Tobias agreed.

A tall blonde man rushed
forward, studiously avoiding Alex’s prone form. “Your
highness.”

Tobias turned to look at
the man, instantly recognising him as Lucinda's father. “What do
you want Jeremiah?” he asked, his voice strangely devoid of any
emotion while his grip on Lucinda's throat tightened.

“Please have mercy on my
daughter, I beg you.”

“Your daughter doesn’t
deserve mercy, she brought this all upon herself and you helped
her!” Throwing Lucinda aside as a new target for his anger
appeared, he stepped forward menacingly. “She spread her lies about
us being mated and you did nothing to discourage her. When her lies
went unchallenged within her clan she thought to bring them here
and in so doing thought that there was nothing wrong with invoking
the Challenge against my true mate. She lost and still believed
that she wouldn’t be punished for attacking my mate. On top of all
of that she poisoned my mate! How can I let this stand?” he
bellowed and Jeremiah took a step back, recoiling from his prince’s
anger.

Jeremiah looked ashamed of
his daughter’s actions when confronted with them so bluntly, a
light blush rising to his pale cheeks. “What will you
do?”

“I should have her
killed.” Jeremiah winced.

Should? What
are you talking about?
his wolf
demanded.
There is no ‘should’. I thought
we had agreed on this, we’re going to kill this bitch and make her
suffer.

You don’t
think of the consequences killing her would bring and apparently,
when I’m angered, neither do I.

I can’t
believe you. You’re going to let her go!

I never said
anything about letting her escape from this unscathed. She hurt our
Xandria and for that she will suffer, don’t worry.
His wolf grumbled but seemed content with the idea
of Lucinda suffering even if it was disappointed that she wouldn’t
be dying any time soon.

“
I should have
her killed for her actions but I won’t, as you’re well aware she’s
likely the mate to one of our clansmen. I cannot force an innocent
to suffer forever the half life of unmated males just because of
her stupidity.”

“What are you going to do
then, your highness?”

“She will be confined to
the dungeons of the estate until her mate comes to claim
her.”

Dungeons?
His wolf piped up.
I like the idea of a dungeon, not as much I did
the idea of chopping her head off, but I can work with it. Dark and
dreary?

The darkest,
dreariest one I can find. If I can’t find one that I’m happy with,
I’ll have one built specifically to hold her.

Can’t forget
the spiders, it has to have spiders.

Of
course,
he agreed,
but we can’t forget the rats either, it has to have those
too.
His wolf purred, apparently satisfied.
The sound of voices outside of his head forced his attention back
to Jeremiah.

“But no one knows how long
that could take your highness. She could be there for decades,
alone and waiting.”

Good. The
longer the better.
The thought floated
through his mind but he was unsure whether it was his own or his
wolf’s.

“It is her own fault, she
had the opportunity to wait for her true mate in freedom and she
squandered the chance. As I’ve said, she brought all this upon
herself. No one is to blame but her, and perhaps you indirectly for
not guiding her properly. If she has to wait decades then hopefully
by the time she’s released she will have learnt her lesson.”
Turning from Jeremiah, he found Alex still shivering on the floor.
“Call a doctor,” he ordered, his voice frantic. Shrugging out of
his jacket he draped it over her shoulders, trying to warm her by
rubbing his hands up and down her shivering flesh.

“Tobias?”

“Yes, dearest?”

“You seem worried,” she
remarked, her voice fading.

“You’re injured and
poisoned why would I not be worried?”

“I’ll be fine, trust me.”
She smiled, trying and failing to bring a hand up to reach his
face. Seeing the failed movement, he removed his hands from her
arms and cupped her cold palm against his cheek.
“Tobias?”

“Yes?” he answered,
kissing the back of her hand before placing it back in her lap,
where it lay limp.

“I love you.” Before he
had a chance to respond to her statement, the vines that had lain
dormant around them surged to life, discarding their thorns and
wrapping themselves around her body. Lifting her from the ground,
they moved towards the trunk of a tree, setting her down in front
of it. The grass beneath her body grew, coating the vines and the
tree branches lowered, resting their foliage against her cold skin.
Rushing forward, Tobias felt his body readying for an attack, as he
prepared to tear Alex from her leafy cocoon. Her soft sigh of
relief floated through his mind and his body faltered. Moving
towards her slowly, he ran the tips of his fingers against the bare
skin of her face, noting that her skin was no longer so cold and
that she seemed to be alright within the confines she had made
herself. He sat down on the overgrown grass, sneezing as a wealth
of new scents floated to his nose.

“Is she ok?” Looking up,
Tobias noted that his mother and father had moved closer, with what
appeared to be the entire assembled body of clan representatives at
their backs.

“I have no idea,” he
groaned. “Lucinda poisoned her.” A collective gasp sprung up at his
statement, the overheard words of Tobias’ heated confrontation with
Lucinda now confirmed.

“She couldn’t have done
that,” Yvonne exclaimed in disbelief.

“Well Alexandria was
fairly sure she was poisoned and as it’s her body, I’m inclined to
believe her. Smell Lucinda for yourselves, if you have any doubts
that what I say is the truth.”

“I’ll have Lucinda tell us
what poison she used and it will be easy enough to find an antidote
or have one made,” Thomas inserted. “But we can only help her once
she’s out of there.” He stepped forward and Tobias raised a hand to
halt his advance.

“Don’t father. Don’t touch
it.”

“We have to get her out of
there Tobias, otherwise we can’t help her,” Thomas asserted, trying
to reason with his son.

“She isn’t being hurt in
there. Xandria isn’t like normal humans. These plants wouldn’t hurt
her and if she did this to herself she must have had a
reason.”

“Tobias, listen to
yourself, your mate is poisoned and injured and you’re suggesting
that we do nothing about it?”

“That’s exactly what I’m
suggesting father,” he stated, leaning his head back against the
tree trunk and calmly waiting for her to wake. Time passed slowly,
seconds blurring into minutes and minutes into well over an hour
and yet all those gathered continued to wait, anxious to see what
would become of their prince’s mate. As time ticked on Tobias
became increasingly concerned until a small groan from her grabbed
his attention.

Her eyes fluttered open
and she smiled at him. “Tobias.”

“Xandria.” He reached for
her and the vines around her body slid away, receding into the
ground. Gathering her close to him, he breathed deeply, relishing
the feel of her small, warm body against his.

“I won right?” she asked
her question muffled against the fabric of his shirt.

“Yes dearest, you won.” He
responded before thrusting her away from him to examine her. The
white shirt she wore was now bloodied and torn but the hand that
touched her stomach was met by firm skin, healthy and whole.
Reaching forward he lifted the shirt to confirm with his eyes what
he had felt with his hands, the flesh beneath the shirt was
unmarred though blood was still spattered across her skin. His gaze
lowered and he found that the skin on her calf was also
healed.

“Xandria?”

“I just hear plants in my
head, eh Ryan?” She threw over Tobias’ shoulder, seemingly unaware
of the crowd that had gathered around them and were watching her
with questioning looks in their gazes. “I told you that I’d win,”
she chuckled.

“Are you ok Xandria?”
Tobias inquired.

She swayed within his
grip, the wear of the constant barrage of whispers in her mind and
the extended use of her ability finally catching up with her. “I
feel tired Tobias.” She fell forward, landing against his
chest.

“Rest for now then, you’ve
got a busy day ahead of you.”

“Mmm?”

“Yes, you have to be
introduced to the clans.”

She groaned at the mere
idea of meeting so many new people in a single day; pushing the
voices to the back of her mind before it went blissfully
blank.

Lifting her still body
into his arms he stood, turning to face the gathered
crowd.

“She’s well?” Yvonne asked
again.

“She’s fine now,
apparently she’s gifted at healing as well, but the strain has
proved too much for her. She’s just tired now.”

Yvonne sighed in relief.
“I was worried for her.”

“So was I.” He mumbled
under his breath.

“Prince
Tobias?”

He scanned the crowd,
quickly coming across the face of the speaker. “What is it
Samuel?”

“Your highness, there are
several tasks that need to be completed now that the Challenge is
over.”

His gaze flickered from
Samuel to the sleeping form of Alex, his decision made.
“No.”

“Your highness?” Samuel
inquired perplexed.

“I said no, I’m staying
with my mate until she wakes up.”

“Your highness, there are
things that require your urgent attention.”

“I’m aware of that, she’s
right here in my arms.”

“Your highness, it’s your
duty to attend to these tasks.”

“My duty is to my mate,
the one that you let get in such a state by allowing Lucinda's
preposterous Challenge. I’m not doing anything until she wakes up,
am I clear?”

“Your highness?” Another
Council member injected, preparing to throw his support behind
Samuel’s demands.

“You heard him,” Thomas
interrupted, “he’ll be taking care of his mate and will see to
these tasks once he’s sure she’s well. Not another word will be
said on the subject. Now everyone, let’s go inside, there is no
point in us staying out here, you can’t meet her until she wakes so
we might as well be comfortable.” Thomas turned heading back in the
direction of the estate, confident that the others would follow his
lead.

Looking down at
the small body he carried in his arms, Tobias found himself smiling
despite what had occurred.
She admitted
it; she loves me.
He grinned, pulling her
closer to his body and she began nuzzling the side of his neck,
causing him to groan.