A Wolf's Oath (15 page)

“
Sebastian?” Though she had voiced the question and hope was
now almost a living breathing entity within her, she still doubted
that he was with her in this hell.

He spoke softly to her, telling her that he had come to take
her home and she felt tears well up within her eyes. Having
resigned herself to dying at the hands of the hunters, home was
almost like a dream.
I can’t believe he’s
actually here.

You needed to have a little more faith in our mate. I knew he
would come.

But I’ve been horrible to him,
she
moaned.

I doubt there is anything you could do to change his feelings
towards you. We’re mates.

Her wolf’s simple words of explanation made the flow of her
tears increase and she could now feel the salty liquid sliding down
her cheeks. His hand briefly brushed against the burnt skin of her
neck and her eyes widened in shock as he grasped the deadly silver
metal at her neck. The smell of his burning flesh made her stomach
churn despite the fact that she had endured the smell of her own
skin being seared for the entire time she had been held captive.
Despite the obvious pain, he endured it for her. A quiet wince the
only indication that he was suffering, his face otherwise remained
serene, a small smile on his lips as he tried to reassure her. The
chair that had caused her so much agony was dismantled around her
and in that moment she truly believed they would escape. The horror
of her situation was made abundantly clear as a loud sound echoed
through the room, before Sebastian gasped in shock. Her eyes
wandered his frame, immediately becoming riveted on the blood
soaking through his shirt. He had been shot and most likely with a
silver bullet.

No, not Sebastian, I didn’t want him to get hurt. Why did he
come here? He should have just left me at least he would have been
safe. He’s going to die and it’s all my fault. I should never have
run from him, I brought all this upon myself.

“
Run,” he commanded before speeding off to meet his attacker.
She sat frozen in the chair for a moment before she realised the
sacrifice he was prepared to make.
If I
stay here then at least one of us will die. I’m not of any good to
him in this condition but if I can make it back to the clans, I can
tell them what’s going on. They’ll keep him alive until I get
back.

Standing from the chair, her legs nearly collapsed beneath
her, days of abuse and not using the limbs taking their toll.
Drawing on a reserve of strength she didn’t know she had, she
allowed the change to wash over her, transforming her body and
limbs until she was on all fours. The body of the wolf was built
for speed and though she was a great deal slower than she normally
would have been, she managed to rush past Sebastian and into the
room beyond. She had never seen the space beyond the four walls
they had trapped her in and so she was initially confused as to
where to go. She stopped for a moment, quickly taking in the bodies
that were scattered across the floor in the next room and the dark
wolf attacking the last survivor. A fresh breeze reached her nose
and she sped of towards it, intent on achieving freedom and
bringing back help for Sebastian.

Her limbs felt heavy and her vision was obscured by dark
clumps of her blood-matted hair but she refused to slow, quickly
reaching the exit of her prison. Running out of the open door she
found her senses bombarded with new sensations, there were so many
that she instantly became disorientated. Days of being confined
within a dark room made the natural light from the moon seem
excruciatingly harsh on her eyes and she was forced to close them,
but her hectic pace refused to falter driven on by the idea of
freedom. It didn’t take long for the adrenaline to wear off and her
legs felt weaker than they had ever done before. Each step felt as
though she had walked miles and she was forced to slow. Her legs
began to twist and weave along the path, stumbling as though she
had consumed too much alcohol but she knew that it was simply
exhaustion. She hadn’t eaten in days and her stomach was making its
complaints known. The lack of food meant that her body couldn’t
recover from the injuries that covered her, she felt as though she
were dead on her feet. Regardless she continued upward.

“
Where do you think you’re going freak?” She turned to face the
voice, stunned to see that there was another human in her vicinity.
The man was bleeding, blood covering his body to such a degree that
she was surprised that he could stand at all. He was staggering on
his feet almost as badly as she was, and she couldn’t help but
wonder whose feet would give out first. Judging from the large
chunk of flesh missing from his side it would be him, she could
eventually recover, a wound like that on a human was fatal. The
hunter seemed to be aware of his impeding demise and was determined
to take her with him. His arms lifted as he pointed a gun at her,
she instinctively took a step back but it was too late, the bullet
had been fired. It caught her in the chest, passing straight
through her body while its momentum propelled her
backwards.

A small smile graced her lips as she watched the hunter fall
to the ground, succumbing to his injuries but her joy was short
lived. The ground beneath her feet vanished and her eyes opened in
shock. Her limbs struggled for purchase on the rocky walls of the
cliff but her weak and exhausted body couldn’t manage the task. She
heard a voice shouting her name just as her limbs lost the battle.
As she fell, her body returned to its human form from shock.
Floating through the air, she could hear the waves crashing against
the rocks beneath her.
Sebastian manages
to free me from that hell and I get myself killed. I’ve got to be
the most useless person alive.
She cursed,
resigning herself to ending her life on the jagged rocks
below.

*****

The silver was working steadily through his system and
Sebastian felt as weak as a newborn.
Heck
newborn wolves are probably stronger than I am right now,
he scoffed, disgusted with himself.
I let that idiot shoot me. But Erica escaped,
she’s free and that’s all that matters.
Though his situation was wretched, he was immeasurably pleased
that his mate had escaped from this hell. Anger coursed through
him, fresh and new as he remembered his first sighting of her
battered body.
And I took a good few
hunters down with me.
The steady pounding
of feet against the stone floor caught his attention and he forced
his head to turn in the direction of the footsteps.

“
You got shot,” Ryan chuckled. His body was covered in thick
dark blood, though Sebastian was unsure if the blood came from a
wound on his brother’s body or if it was the blood of his victims.
Judging from the easy smile Ryan wore, it was the latter. Ryan was
a born fighter and they both knew it, he had been involved in
scuffles since the first minute he could walk and the decades of
practice and living through various human wars, had apparently paid
off leaving him relatively uninjured.

Though aware that the silver would soon leave his system, he
wished that the process were faster so that he could punch his
brother for the unhelpful comment. “Erica?” he croaked. She would
have had to pass Ryan to reach the exit and he was anxious to hear
that she had done so.

“
I saw a black wolf run past me, I assume that was her. I’ve
got to say Sebastian from what I saw she wasn’t in the best
state.”

“
No, she wasn’t,” Sebastian agreed. “No worries, I took care of
the idiots that thought they could get away with doing that to my
mate. I want to get her back home, she probably hasn’t made it far,
I don’t think her body would carry her that far even if she was
determined to.”

“
Well then let’s go get her.” Lifting the dead weight of his
brother from the ground, Ryan pulled Sebastian onto his back. “You
scent her and I’ll do the walking.” The pair walked from the room
and into the larger space that led to the exit. Blood coated the
floor and bodies and limbs were scattered along the ground. “What
do you think? Overkill?”

“
After what they did to my mate? I think that you went a little
to easy on them.”

“
You seemed to have developed a bit of an aggressive streak,”
Ryan commented as he walked out of the building, inhaling clean air
that didn’t carry the scent of blood.

“
It’s Erica,” Sebastian explained. “When it comes to her, I
just can’t seem to gather any sense of control. I become angry over
things that I usually would have let pass and I can’t do anything
about it. Walk up that path,” he directed casually.

Easily following his brother’s guidance Ryan began the
journey up the cliff side. “I guess that’s what it’s like to be
mated. Seeing it is one thing and experiencing it is completely
different. You and Tobias are prime examples of that,” he
sighed.

“
Ryan did something happen at the estate? You’ve been really
quiet ever since you met me after going there.”

“
Alex was abducted.”

“
What?” Sebastian spluttered.

“
It’s ok now, she’s fine. Last I heard she was back at the
estate resting. Elijah took her, he thought that she could help him
steal Tobias’ crown.”

“
What happened?”

“
What do you think happened? Elijah had hurt her. Badly. Tobias
killed him.”

“
Well it’s not as though he could have done anything different,
he couldn’t just let a threat to his mate stand.”

“
Wow,” Ryan breathed. “Being mated really does change you. Not
too long ago you might have said something different. I don’t know
like, we should have tried to see where Elijah was coming from and
talk things out with him.”

“
Like I said, it’s all Erica. I’m seeing the world in a whole
new light. If being mated has made me this violent I dread to think
what will happen when you find your mate. You’re already aggressive
enough for ten males.” Ryan scoffed.

From his perch on his brother’s shoulder Sebastian finally
caught sight of Erica moving along the cliff side. Her gait was
unsteady but she was moving, she was alive. A shot rang out, she
faltered and his heart jumped into his throat. She had fallen from
the cliff. “Erica!” he screamed, watching her body fall through the
air as though in slow motion. Though his body was weakened he felt
a momentary surge of strength fill him and he leapt from Ryan’s
back to run to the edge of the cliff. There was no hesitation as he
threw his body off the cliff after hers. She was falling out of
reach and he knew that she would land in the water before he could
reach her, though his hands never stopped reaching for her. She hit
the water with a loud splash and he braced himself for the
fall.

He sucked in a deep breath before he landed in the water. The
water was ice cold and though he normally wouldn’t have noticed the
freezing temperature, the silver was still in his system. He opened
his eyes despite the stinging of the water and began his search. He
saw her plummeting further into the depths of the sea, her body too
weak to even try and prevent her rapid descent. The shock from the
fall had forced her body from its lupine form and her human body
was steadily sinking. A steady stream of a dark liquid was flowing
from her head and he panicked. His weakened body pushed itself to
its limits, reaching her and pulling her close. Wrapping one arm
around her waist, he swam for the surface. They broke free from the
deep water and Sebastian immediately began to examine his mate. She
had hit the rocks on her fall. A large gash was bleeding blood from
her head and while her body was covered in cuts, he was unsure if
they were from the fall or from the inhumane treatment of her
captors. The wound on her head worried him, it wasn’t healing and
her blood continued to flow despite the seconds that
passed.

“
Erica, you can’t leave me. I just found you. I’m not ready to
let you go dammit!”

Chapter
Sixteen

“
Sebastian!” The sound of Ryan’s loud voice calling to him
momentarily drew his attention away from the unresponsive body of
his mate. Treading water, he struggled to keep them both afloat as
his momentary surge of strength began to wane.

As he saw his brother’s strength begin to fade, Ryan pulled
his phone from his pocket and placed it on the pebbles that covered
the ground.
I have a feeling we’re going
to need that,
he thought before he dove
into the water, swimming recklessly towards them. Watching his
brother dive into the sea that surrounded him, Sebastian easily
understood what Ryan was trying to do and swam forward, intent on
giving Erica to his brother and ensuring that she made it to land
and out of the frigid water that surrounded them.

“
Take her Ryan, get her to the shore. You’ll get there faster
than I can at the moment,” Sebastian shouted over the roar of the
waves as he met his brother.

The seriousness of the situation prevented Ryan from even
attempting to make a joke of what was happening around them and he
took Erica without argument. As soon as he handed Erica to his
brother, a low growl slipped past Sebastian's lips. Though the
logical side of his brain knew that it was necessary for Ryan to
wrap his arm around her body to get her back to the shore, the
sight didn’t sit well with him and he felt an unreasonable surge of
anger towards his brother.