A Wolf's Duty (3 page)

*****

Leaning against a heavily
leaved oak tree, Tobias allowed the shade to hide his features as
he calmly watched the students walk on to the university’s campus.
The campus was fairly small, with only a few buildings dedicated to
teaching itself, so he guessed that it didn’t have all that may
students, but the number of students was irrelevant, as he only
wanted to find one. After four years of searching he had finally
managed to track her down and so he waited, confident that she
would soon appear.

As a lone figure
approached the building his head shot up as his mate’s scent
floated into his nostrils and he breathed deep relishing the strong
scent that replaced the faint one that had been his only guide on
this hunt. His claws unsheathed and he had to dig them into the
tree at his back to prevent himself from simply grabbing her and
taking her away. Instead he contented himself with watching her
from afar to learn all he could.

The first thing he noticed
was that his mate was small, she couldn’t have been more than 5”2
and from her perspective he’d likely tower over her. Her clothes
were ill-fitting hiding her figure from his gaze and he found
himself frowning at their state of disrepair. Her hair was thick
and curly tied back although a few strands had escaped their
confinement and seemed to be causing her problems, judging from the
way her hand would constantly rise in an attempt to hold it behind
an ear before the errant strand fell again into her face. He smiled
at her actions, immensely pleased with what he had seen of his mate
so far. His gaze came to rest on her face and he felt his heart
skip a beat as their eyes met. Hidden as he was in shadow, he knew
she couldn’t be looking at him and this was confirmed as her head
turned and she rushed towards one of the larger buildings, but it
hadn’t prevented his heart skipping a beat.

He drew in a
breath taking her scent further into his mind to cement its place
and make it easier to find her. As the smell was processed in his
mind he realised something he had overlooked in the euphoria of his
first sighting.
She’s not a
werewolf.
He inhaled again quickly hoping
to quickly memorise her smell. She’s
human.
He breathed deep for the third
time her scent now engraved in his mind.
I
think.
Pushing off from the tree, certain
of his ability to find her at anytime he strolled away from the
building to inform his parents and advisors that he had found his
mate.

Although it was
rare for a werewolf’s mate to be human, it wasn’t unheard of and
this was his true mate regardless of her human heritage.
She’ll be under my protection when I mark her and
no one would be stupid enough to try and harm her then. And if
anyone is that stupid, I’ll gut them as a warning to
others.

Chapter
Three

Disregarding
the feeling that she was being watched, Alexandria hurried into the
building, slightly annoyed that her clock had once again informed
her of the wrong time, so now instead of being late she was
early.
I hate being early; I never have
anything to do or anyone to talk to. Although I suppose it’s not
all that different from any other time during the day. I mean, who
would want to be seen with me. Hell, not even I want to be seen
with me. That’s life I guess.
Her heart
dropped as she saw Emily with her two cronies flanking her on
either side coming down the hall and by the looks of it they were
headed directly for her.
This just isn’t
fair,
she groaned as the trio stood
directly in front of her, their Barbie like leader smiling coldly
at her.

“Now look what we have
here, it’s raggedy Ann,” Emily laughed.

Rolling her eyes at the
implied insult Alex shrugged. “My name is Alex not Ann.”

“Don’t you feel
embarrassed? I’d never leave my house dressed like that. I’d kill
myself before I let myself be seen in public like that,” Emily
continued, her blue eyes radiating contempt.

I’d have
thought people grew out of this by now,
she
groaned.

“Maybe it’s because she
doesn’t have a mum.” One of the females surrounding Emily
suggested, causing Alex’s jaw to tighten while her hands formed
fists.

“Yeah,” Emily agreed, “she
lost her at such a young age but then if she was my kid then I
wouldn't want to hang around either...”

The rest of Emily’s tirade
faded into the background as Alexandria tried to fight her
instincts and to punch her enemy regardless of the gathering
crowd.

Don’t,
she mentally chastised,
she’s not worth it and I can’t afford to start another
fight.

She wrapped her arms
around her bruised ribs as she remembered the beating she had been
given by Fred after causing a fight. She had been forced to leave
the campus and had been asked not to return for a week. A week with
Fred and his incessant need for alcohol had almost meant a trip to
the emergency room in the hospital.

If I got
another beating like that I’d probably end up breaking a rib and I
have to stay with him for two days.
She
shivered at the thought. Two days may not have been as bad as a
week but it was still something she would rather not
experience.

“You guys just aren’t
worth the trouble,” she sighed walking around them and ignoring the
voice in the back of her mind that was begging her to teach them a
lesson.

Why is it that
when I want time to grind to a halt it just rushes by?
Alexandria groaned as she walked along the
darkening road towards the off licence. After the incident with
Emily and company the day had sped past her, actually amazing her
with its degree of ordinariness.
The story
of my life, this weekend is going to feel like an eternity I can
just feel it.

As her thoughts continued
to spiral further out of her control she paid less and less
attention to her surroundings, walking on auto pilot until she
collided with a wall and fell to the ground. Or at least it felt
solid enough to be a wall but when she looked up she found herself
staring into the eyes of a stranger and falling further into their
thrall.

“Are you hurt?” The voice
of the stranger washed over her and she had to resist the sudden
urge to close her eyes and relish the sound like she savoured the
occasional bar of chocolate she managed to acquire. He bent down
and his hand on her arm was like a wake up call for her common
sense to return. Snatching her arm away from him she hastily stood
up, gathering her bag and dusting off her clothes. Clutching the
arm he had touched close to her chest she was disconcerted to find
that she could still feel the imprint of his warm fingers on her
skin.

“I’m fine thank you very
much,” she snapped. It sometimes paid to be rude, it meant people
were less likely to accost you on your way home. That had been a
painful lesson to learn but one she was grateful for nonetheless.
“No thanks to you, you should watch were you’re
walking.”

As she looked at the
stranger, she found it was more difficult than it normally was to
issue the barbed words that were meant to flow from her mouth in
this situation. Everything about the man in front of her drew her
in, calming her. The odd cadence of his accented voice, his ageless
grey eyes. Even the heavy muscle that covered his body was
appealing though in any other situation it would have been
terrifying. She couldn’t explain her out of character reaction to
this man and as he continued to speak, drawing her further into his
enticing web, she found she was no longer as concerned as she had
initially been.

“I was watching,” he
laughed. “I watched you walk down this road and saw your eyes glaze
over as your mind wandered off and then I watched you walk right
into me.”

“You’re a regular
comedian,” she retorted, not amused at with his observation of her
mistake.

“No I’m not,” he stated
simply. “I’m Tobias.” He held out his hand expectantly.

Staring at his empty hand
for a moment, she almost spluttered in disbelief as her hand took
on a will of its own and placed itself within his grasp. The warmth
from his palm seemed to spread out, quickly covering her entire
body in its heat. “Alexandria.”

“Alexandria,” he muttered
seemingly rolling the word on his tongue to get the best fit.
“Alexandria.” He frowned confused as to why it didn’t sound as he
intended. “That’s what everyone calls you?”

“Well, no. Most people
usually shorten it to Alex.”

“If that’s what all the
others call you, then I think I’ll call you Xandria because I’m not
like everyone else.” He turned her hand over, before bending down
to place a chaste kiss against the flesh.

Although it went against
every thought she had ever had, she couldn’t bring herself to
remove her hand from his and she found the corners of her mouth
pulling upwards in a rare smile. The small smile left as quickly as
it had appeared when she saw that not only was he failing to return
it, but was frowning at her hand.

“What?” she demanded,
curious as to his intent focus on her flesh.

The hand that wasn’t
holding her own moved to pull up her sleeve and exposed more skin
to his gaze and the furrows on his forehead deepened. “What’s this?
You’re hurt; there are bruises on your skin. Tell me who did this
to you and I’ll make them regret laying a hand on you.” His
previously warm voice was now harsh and angry in its
demands.

“What are you
talking about?”
He shouldn’t be able to
see any bruises, my skin is dark enough that they’re not that
visible and it’s dark out here.

“The bruises,” he
reiterated, “they’re finger marks I can see them. Someone grabbed
you very hard to leave these bruises, did they do anything
else?”

“I have no idea what you
are talking about,” she replied, the automatic response for her
bruises flying from her mouth as she began to struggle to regain
her hand. His grip refused to loosen but it didn’t get any tighter
despite her thrashing.

“Don’t lie to me,” his
voice demanded, his face coming closer.

“I don’t know you so I
have no reason not to lie to you. I don’t owe you anything. Now let
go of me!” she screamed.

She’s
human,
his mind chastised.
She doesn’t understand our ways. If she were a
wolf she’d understand my need to protect her, but she’s not,
he realised. Taking in the flustered look on her
expressive face he felt himself inwardly smile.
And I wouldn’t want her any other way.
Acquiescing to her demand he released her hand but didn’t move
from her path. “I’m sorry if I’ve scared you, but I just want to
help you. I don’t like seeing you hurt.”

“I don’t want to talk
about it ok?”

“If you don’t want to talk
about it, then we won’t talk about it. Let’s talk about something
else instead.”

“Oh God, I’m
gonna be late!” Looking down at her tattered and now dirty clothing
another fear crept into her mind.
They’re
not going to sell me alcohol when I look like this! Fred’s gonna
kill me.
She had never been particularly
concerned with her young appearance, taking her mother’s words to
heart. When she had once complained that she looked too young,
Natasha had reassured her telling her that she would appreciate her
high, rounded cheeks and smooth skin when she was older. Now
however, she didn’t look mature enough to be able to legally buy
what her father required and she couldn’t disappoint him, not if
she wanted to escape a brutal beating. Her mind began to race as
all the likely outcomes of what her failure would end came upon her
in rapid succession.

As her face blanched
Tobias became concerned, his protective instincts making themselves
known. “Xandria, are you alright?”

“Not really,” she
responded before an idea formed. “How old are you?”

He frowned at the sudden
change in subject, but chose to answer her regardless. “Older than
I look.”

No matter how hard she
looked at him, she could not identify just how old the man in front
of her was. His facial features were angular and somewhat harsh and
she suspected that when he wasn’t laughing he could be a very
imposing figure. While normally she would press the issue of his
indefinable age, she knew that time wasn’t on her side. She was
well aware that she’d spent longer than she should have done
dawdling on the street. “Look, I know that we’re basically
strangers, but I’m hoping you can help me.”

“With what exactly?” he
inquired.

“I need you to go and buy
me some alcohol, quite a lot of alcohol actually.”

He frowned at
her request. “That stuff isn’t good for you.”
While it may be fine for me, humans are so vulnerable that
it’ll hurt her in the long run. Why would she want something that’s
going to hurt her?

“I know that! It’s not for
me I swear, but I really need it or else I’m going to be in
trouble. Please help me.”