A Wolf's Duty (38 page)

His head bent and he
nuzzled the exposed skin of neck before placing the locket around
it. “Get dressed dearest, I have something else I want to give
you.”

“Tobias, this is more than
enough, I don’t need anything else,” she said, pulling away from
him and clasping the locket within her hand.

“No, I’ll decide what’s
enough and today is a special occasion. I’ve never celebrated a
birthday with you, I get to give you whatever I want and all I want
to hear from you is thank you.”

“Fine, but just this
once.”

“No. There’s next year to
think about and the year after that and so on. They’re all special
occasions so get used to presents, lots of them, now go and get
ready dearest, I’ll be waiting for you.” He grinned, gently pushing
her off the bed.

“Fine, I get it, I’m
going,” she replied, rushing from the bed to the shower. Showering
and dressing in what she thought had to be record time; she quickly
re-emerged in the bedroom.

“That was quick dearest,
excited?” He smirked, leaning against the doorframe.

“Maybe,” she mumbled,
walking towards him.

Holding out his hand, he
beckoned her forward. “Well then let’s not keep you waiting any
longer.”

Grasping his hand she
allowed herself to be led out of the bedroom and along the
corridors that led to their destination. They finally stopped at
the door she knew led to her garden and she looked at him
quizzically, slightly confused as to his actions. A wide smile was
the only answer she received before the door was opened and she
found herself squinting against the bright sunlight. Her eyes
immediately took stock of the large number of men that were
wandering through her garden and she felt her ire rise.

This is meant
to be my place, what are all these people doing here?
her mind growled, angry at the perceived intruders
in her personal space.

Apparently her mouth had
mirrored her mind as Tobias pulled her closer to his body to answer
the question that she had unconsciously spoken. “I know it’s meant
to be a private place dearest and it still is; they’re just here to
deliver some things and then they’re leaving I swear. Now look.”
His arm around her waist, he guided her towards a crate that one of
the men had just deposited on the ground forcing her to crouch so
that she could look into the crate and examine its
contents.

She gasped, her
hand shooting out automatically to stroke the petals of the fragile
flower. “Bluebells.” She whispered almost reverently. Her eyes
darted to the next crate, her body dropping to the ground to inhale
the fragrant smell of the next flower. “Buttercups.” Her green eyes
widened as she finally took stock of the sheer number of crates
that literally covered every inch of the large garden before she
took off running, identifying the flowers as she passed her smile
widening with every step she took. “Evening-primrose; clovers;
goldenrod; honeysuckle; lily-of-the-valley.” She laughed, listing
the plants that she was familiar with as soon as her eyes landed on
them. A sense of elation filled her and she found herself smiling
wider than she had ever thought possible.
Mum’s flowers. How did he know?
“Are
these all for me?” she questioned.
Please
say yes. Please say yes,
her mind chanted,
hopeful.

“Of course, who else would
they be for?” He sneezed, rubbing a hand against his sensitive nose
while trying to inhale as little as possible of the potent floral
fragrances. “They’re all flowers I hear grow in England and I hope
you can grow them here as well, so you never get
homesick.”

She smiled at his
reasoning before frowning as she realised the stream of men
carrying flowers into her garden hadn’t stopped and space was
becoming increasingly scarce. “Tobias, I think you over ordered,
there’s not enough room here for all of them.”

“Yes,” he commented,
moving closer towards her, “at the moment there isn’t quite enough
space to accommodate all the new additions comfortably but that
won’t always be the case. I’m having the garden expanded. I tried
to get it all done for your birthday but even a Prince can’t
produce miracles apparently, so they’ll have to start work on it
later. I’m sorry.”

“Tobias, this is more than
I could ever have hoped for, so why are you saying sorry? I would
have been satisfied with just the locket.”

“I don’t want you to
simply be satisfied, I want more for you. I want you to be
overjoyed.”

“I am,” she countered.
“Trust me I am. I’ve never been so happy in all my life.” He smiled
at her statement, but a small sigh managed to escape his lips. “Is
something wrong Tobias?”

“No dearest,
nothing is wrong.”
Yet.
“But I need to talk to you.” He grasped her hand
leading her away from the crates of plants to a relatively clear
area of the garden. Pulling against her hand, he urged her to the
ground, staring at her for long moments before she decided to
interrupt.

“Tobias? I thought you
wanted to talk.”

“I do,” he answered before
returning to his former silence.

“So talk then.”

He sighed deeply preparing
himself for the conversation and the consequences it might bring.
“Xandria, the moon will be full tomorrow.” He took another deep
breath allowing her to digest the information before he pressed on.
“I told you that I’d give you a choice and I always try to keep my
word and that could never be truer than when it comes to you.
You’re my mate and there should be no secrets or lies between us,
so I’ll keep my promise. When the moon is full, I won’t be able to
control my wolf’s instincts and it’s urges. I won’t be simply
content just being in your company. Should I run Xandria? Should I
run like I did on the last full moon and keep you safe from my
desires or will you let me stay with you? Will you allow me to
finally claim you?”

Her heart began
to race as his question and the implications of her answer seeped
into her mind. Her thoughts soon followed the path of her heart,
different ideas flitting across her mind at an incredible
pace.
Am I ready for this? Why did he have
to leave it up to me? It’s such a huge step! Why did he have to
come out with it like this?

“Alexandria,” he sighed
heavily, having apparently taken her silence as an answer. “I
shouldn’t have brought this up, I’m sorry. I’ll run. Don’t worry
about this anymore, you’ll be safe from me, I swear it.”

What are you
doing?
his wolf snarled, shaking the bars
of the cage that confined him and restricted its actions.
She’s our mate and I won’t wait any longer. We’re
claiming her tomorrow!

No, we won’t.
She doesn’t want this, can’t you tell?

Our mate is
sometimes irrational in her actions, you must have realised this by
now. Don’t you remember when she refused to speak to you simply
because you hadn’t consulted her when we took her away from that
bastard of a father? We’re her mate, it’s our responsibility, no,
our duty, to protect her even if that’s from herself.

She won’t be
in any danger if we don’t claim her this full moon, there’s no need
to protect her from herself in this situation. She has a right to
an opinion about this.

What about us?
Aren’t we entitled to the same opinion? We’ve waited two bloody
centuries for this moment and yet you think to deny us. This is
madness!

If she doesn’t
want to be claimed then what are you suggesting? That we force her?
What kind of mate would we be then?

I never said
anything about forcing her; no male should force themselves upon
their mate! That doesn’t however mean we aren’t allowed to use
intense methods of persuasion to get her to see things our way, the
right way.

“I can’t do this,” he
snapped, clutching his head and trying to relegate the wolf to a
far corner of his mind. “I can’t do this.” He stood. “I’m sorry
that I brought this up dearest, especially today, it’s meant to be
a special day of celebration for you. I won’t be able to stay much
longer, otherwise I might not be able to get far enough away from
you and I might be able to reach you while the moon is still full.
I’m sorry dearest, enjoy the garden.”

Her heart still racing,
she grabbed his hand, preventing him from leaving her. “I didn’t
say anything Tobias, how can you just assume what I’m going to
decide? You should at least wait until I’ve said something. Sit
down.” He sat, dumbfounded at her comment while the seeds of hope
bloomed within his chest.

“You’re willing?” he
croaked. “You’re willing to allow me to claim you? Thank you
dearest, I’ve waited so long for this day. I know it’s different to
the human way of joining but we can have a ceremony for you in the
human way too if you want.”

She averted her gaze from
him, still unsure of her answer but unwilling to crush the
hopefulness that poured from him. “I don’t know Tobias. I haven’t
really been thinking about it and you kind of left it a bit late to
tell me. The moon is full tomorrow which means I have to have
decided everything by today doesn’t it?”

“You don’t have the whole
day,” he admitted ruefully. “I need to be taken far enough away
from you that I can’t make it back to you while I’m still under the
moon’s influence.

“Just how far away is
far?”

“Hundred of miles away
dearest, that’s how far I need to travel by tomorrow night
otherwise I’ll be back too soon.”

“Wow that is far, just
what are you using to get back exactly? A rocket?”

“No,” he chuckled amused
by her assumption. “I run.”

She laughed, “You’re
kidding right?”

“No I’m not, I run all the
way. It’s the fastest way of getting from wherever I am, back to
you.”

“So you run hundreds of
miles?”

“You make is sound so
impossible.”

“It is impossible,” she
scoffed.

“I’m not human Xandria,
what may be impossible for you isn’t for me. On the nights of the
full moon I’m stronger and faster than I normally am. You have no
idea of just what my body is capable of doing for you.” He took a
deep breath preparing himself to explain another element of a world
that was utterly foreign to her. “I’ve told you before that when
the moon is full I can no longer control the instincts of the wolf
that lives within me.”

She nodded and he
continued.

“For an unmated male,
who’s found their mate like me, the full moon pushes any other
thoughts out of my head. I’m completely focused on you. Everything
that stands between you and me is an obstacle and to get to you I
remove them ruthlessly. I never put a foot wrong in a forest,
buildings in cities are easily leapt over and people who try to
stop me should be wary. The last time I ran I left England and went
to Russia thinking that would be far enough.” He groaned at the
memory. “I nearly made it back to you on the second night. I had to
fight my wolf, trying to slow my steps until the moon had
disappeared. I just made it. The whole day after I was
incapacitated. I was exhausted from running non-stop and then add
to that fighting against what should be natural for me…it certainly
took it out of me. This time when I run I have to be sure that
doesn’t happen again. I’ll have someone contain me this time.
Hopefully that should take up enough time that I won’t make it back
here.”

“If you run,” she
corrected.

“What?”

“You said when you run,
that makes it sound as though it’s a foregone conclusion that I’ll
say no.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Look, I’m still new to
this wolf thing so let’s get one thing straight. This claiming,
it’s just us…you know.” She flushed.

“You know
what?”

Her face heated further.
“It’s just us having sex right?”

“There’s no need to be
embarrassed dearest, it’s a perfectly natural thing between two
people. It’s even more natural between mates. And as for your
question, sort of.”

“What do you mean sort of?
It’s a yes or no question. There’s no middle ground.”

“I’ll be making love to
you, yes, but there’s more.”

“And…” she
drawled.

“You’re human dearest and
that means it’s not quite that simple.”

“I hate that excuse! What
does me being human have to do with anything?”

“Don’t get upset Xandria.
I’m not implying that you’re any less that we are, all I meant is
that there are additional steps to the claiming because of what you
are.”

“Why? Why should the fact
that I’m human mean I should be treated any differently from a
wolf?”

“Centuries and centuries
ago, when we were still a relatively new people, our males would
claim human mates without the additional step that we have now and
it led to complications and tragedy for all involved. Back then we
were brutally hunted and misunderstood which led people to fear us,
females in particular. They were different back them I guess, more
fragile and unaware of what was going on outside in the world
because they were raised to be like that. And they were taught to
fear what was different, they were taught to fear us.”