A Wolf's Oath (39 page)
“
Sebastian isn’t a killer. He’s not what you’re describing him
as. Sebastian is a gentle soul.”
“
Didn’t you just see the evidence that that isn’t true? He
killed people Erica. Those men he attacked are dead.” Vincent could
feel the phone in his pocket vibrating and he groaned. His time was
up.
“
Sebastian wouldn’t have done that without a reason. He isn’t
that sort of person. Maybe that isn’t Sebastian, you can do amazing
things with computers these days. Why should I believe you over
him?” Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t even know you,” she
growled.
What the hell is wrong with this woman? She doesn’t even
remember that she’s one of them, I’ve just given her irrefutable
evidence that he’s a monster and yet she still comes to his
defense. What exactly do they do to each other to garner this kind
of loyalty? It makes no sense, none at all.
“If that’s what you want to believe then fine, put the lives
of your family in danger. My conscience is clear. I tried to warn
you. It isn’t my fault that you refused to see sense. When you do
eventually see that what I’m telling you is the truth, call me and
I’ll do my best to help you. I just hope that it’s not too late by
that point.” He reached across the table and grabbed the DVD player
that contained the damning evidence of Sebastian's differences and
placed it back in his briefcase. His movements were quick and
efficient and Erica watched him slightly dazed.
It can’t be true, not my Sebastian.
Vincent reached into his coat and pulled out a small case,
opening it he quickly handed Erica his card ensuring the contact
his skin had with the card was kept to a bare minimum. “This is my
number, keep it and call me when the time comes.” He pressed the
card into her hand, stood up and left leaving Erica alone with her
thoughts.
Sebastian’s a werewolf?
Despite all
that she had seen, she couldn’t bring herself to condemn
him.
It might not have been him and even
if it was he must have had a reason,
she
decided.
He might even have told me before
his accident. Well, there go any ideas I had about leaving my
memories in the past. The past has most definitely caught up to the
present. My fiancé could be a werewolf, so what do I do about it? I
have no bloody idea,
her mind answered and
she couldn’t help the groan that slipped past her lips.
Lying against the cool sheets of her bed, Erica continued to
stare at the ceiling of her bedroom well aware that it couldn’t
provide her with the answers she sought. Every time she closed her
eyes her mind was flooded with the images that she had seen two
days ago and much as it had yesterday, the knowledge was preventing
her from sleeping. Sebastian's transformation from wolf to man was
uppermost in her thoughts; it was impossible to think of anything
else. It was a physical impossibility, an animal couldn’t become a
man and yet she had witnessed such a feat with her own eyes. With
time she knew that it would be possible to accept his
transformation, he was still Sebastian after all. Just because he
might have been a werewolf it didn’t change the fact that he was
still the same Sebastian who had stayed with her throughout her
memory loss, the same Sebastian who constantly put her needs above
his own. No, his ability to become a wolf wasn’t the issue at hand
here, it was what came along with it. Her knowledge about
werewolves was non-existent, the only things she knew were what
Vincent had told her and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t
think of Sebastian in that way. Her Sebastian wasn’t a killer. He
was none of those things Vincent had told her. It just wasn’t
possible.
Giving up on sleep, she threw the duvet aside.
Staring at the ceiling isn’t going to do me any
good. I have to take control of the situation.
Throwing herself out of bed, she placed her feet against the
floor and began making her way out of her bedroom. She trod softly
as she walked down the hall, determined not to wake any one along
the way. As always, Sebastian's door was open in invitation, his
sleeping body beckoning her to join him. She pulled her eyes away
from the bare expanse of warm skin and continued to make her way
along the corridor. The door to Dylan and Wyatt’s room was shut
tightly and she paused, leaning her ear against the wood to check
for any signs of wakefulness. Satisfied that she was the only one
awake this night, she continued down the hall into the room that
Sebastian had declared his office.
They had been living in the cabin for almost three weeks and
never once in that time had she felt the need to enter Sebastian's
sanctuary. It wasn’t as though he forbade her from entering, on the
contrary, he often invited her in, but there was nothing for her in
this room so she stayed out. The room was on the small side and
didn’t have much in the way of furniture, a simple desk, chair and
a mostly empty bookcase. There were a few titles on the shelf that
at another time she might have been interested in reading, but at
the moment, it was the laptop that rested on the desk that had her
full attention. Sebastian had finished talking to his brother early
this night and she was glad of it for more than one reason. Firstly
he was catching up on some much needed sleep and secondly it gave
her access to his computer, alone.
She didn’t like keeping secrets and Erica momentarily wondered
if she had always been this way, but the almost physical reaction
she had to lying, even if it was simply by omission couldn’t have
developed overnight. Her stomach churned whenever she thought too
much about it and whenever she laid eyes on him, the words sat on
the tip of tongue and she could barely repress the urge to set them
free. The one positive that she had found in this situation was its
proof that she as a person wasn’t different to how she had been
before her accident. The only thing that prevented her from telling
Sebastian the truth was the thought of adding another problem to
his seemingly never ending list of worries made her feel even worse
than the sickness that accompanied her lie.
There’s no need to bother him with this. It probably isn’t
even true. I just want to know a little more so that I can confirm
that.
She padded over to the desk, her fingers skimming the outer
case of the laptop; the metal casing was warm telling her that it
was still running after his discussion with his brother.
He probably never turns it off,
she chuckled to herself before she slid into the
well-padded desk chair, placed her fingers against the keys and
began her search. The Internet was an amazing tool and one that she
intended to put to good use.
How do you
recognise a werewolf?
Her fingers typed in
her search and she waited a few seconds for something to appear in
response to her search. Dozens of websites appeared before her eyes
and she quickly scanned the list clicking on one that she thought
had some semblance of respectability. The website that she had
chosen had a list of ten criteria for identifying a werewolf and
she began to take note.
“
A werewolf can’t resist transforming from its human form to
its lupine form when there is a full moon,” she mumbled the words
to herself, pondering on how the criteria related to Sebastian. The
full moon transformation was at the top of the list so she presumed
that it was the primary identifier of a werewolf, but it was
swiftly dismissed.
I have no idea when the
full moon is, so that makes that one useless. I don’t want to have
to keep lying to him until then. What’s next?
“
The metal silver is deadly to a werewolf. A silver bullet will
kill them and should the metal touch their skin, it will burn as
though it were being scorched by a blazing fire.” That identifier
was also dismissed as soon as she read it.
I don’t want to hurt him, let alone kill him. Even if he is a
werewolf, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s my Sebastian. He
doesn’t deserve to be treated like some sort of wild
animal.
“
A werewolf is extremely aggressive and will often resort to
violence at the slightest provocation. As a werewolf is inhumanely
strong, it is unwise to anger them.”
Well
we can cross that one off the list. Sebastian isn’t violent. He’s
only shown anger towards me once in the entire time we’ve been here
and he’s so gentle and patient with Dylan and Wyatt. If the rest of
the criteria are like this then it will only prove that Sebastian
isn’t a werewolf.
She breathed a sigh of
relief.
“
The canines of a werewolf in human form are abnormally large
reflecting their animalistic nature. The size of the canines, while
always larger than those of a normal human, vary, increasing in
size as the full moon approaches.”
Well
I’ve never really done an in depth inspection of his mouth so I
can’t really say if that one is true or not. Just to be sure, I’ll
have a look.
“
Werewolves are attracted to the scent of blood, which triggers
their voracious hunger. Upon smelling blood they will then be
driven to consume large amounts of raw meat even in their human
form.”
Well that’s another one I can test,
even if the end result does sound disgusting. Raw meat?
“
A wolf doesn’t have typical nails, instead they have a sharp
set of deadly claws that can be used to tear through flesh.”
Last time I checked, Sebastian's nails looked
normal but it can’t hurt to have another look.
“
As a result of their condition, a werewolf in human form has a
large amount of thick hair that largely covers their entire
bodies.” She laughed at that.
Sebastian
isn’t hairy.
Her mind wandered back to the
warm expanse of his skin and a flush rose to her cheeks.
No, definitely not hairy. Deliciously not
hairy.
“
When angry, a werewolf emits a low growl as a prelude to
violence.”
I don’t think I’ve ever heard
Sebastian growl. He definitely makes a rumbling sound, but he
doesn’t always make it when he’s angry. He does it when he’s
enjoying something as well.
The tint of her
cheeks became even redder as she remembered the last time she had
heard that brilliantly sexy sound. Her back had been plastered
against his bare chest and his hands had been roaming her naked
body while his warm breath feathered across her cheek. She raised a
hand to her face and began to make a gentle fanning motion as she
attempted to cool herself.
“
As a creature very much tied to its animal instincts, a
werewolf is in a constant state of increased sexual awareness and
is continuously driven to mate.” She began to fan herself faster at
the image of her and Sebastian in the kitchen rose to the forefront
of her mind.
There was definitely
increased sexual awareness that day but the feeling was mutual.
Other than that one time, he’s been the perfect gentleman. He keeps
his hands to himself even though I can tell from the way his eyes
watch me that he wants to do more than that. But driven to mate?
That doesn’t describe Sebastian at all. Ok, so what’s the last
one?
she mused, her eyes scanning down the
page until she saw the final indicator.
“
A werewolf, by nature, is a nocturnal creature that lives its
life by the cycles of the moon. As a result, werewolves tend to
sleep late into the day and most of their waking hours are at
night.”
So what if he sleeps in late. You
would too if you spent all day with your family and then all night
talking to your brother. Is that it?
she
pondered. She gave the website a final look over and concluded that
she had reached the end of the list. She groaned in frustration,
closing the browser and folding the laptop screen down.
Sebastian doesn’t have anything in common with most of those
points.
She thought.
I knew that man was talking nonsense. My Sebastian, a
werewolf? A monster? Never.
The few points
that she was unsure of began to niggle at her mind and she stood
from the chair.
I’ll go and check the last
few things that I wasn’t sure of and then I can put this entire
werewolf business behind us and move forward with my plan to forget
the past.
Striding down the hall, she
walked into Sebastian's room. Upon seeing his peaceful face as he
slept, she had to resist the urge to simply slip between the sheets
and join him in sleep. Shaking her head to dislodge the idea, she
walked to the edge of the bed and lifted his hand from the bed,
placing it within her own. She examined the nails on his fingertips
and found that they were no longer than her own.
Well that’s another point checked off the list
that proves Sebastian isn’t a wolf. One down, two to go.
She placed his hand back against the sheets and ran her
fingers over his jaw. His lips were slightly parted and she took
advantage of that, easing a single finger between them. He didn’t
seem to mind the intrusion as he continued to sleep. Her finger
probed gently, running along the edge of his teeth. They weren’t
overly sharp, but she retracted the finger from his mouth and
repeated the same motion within her own mouth.
They’re no bigger than mine. This is ridiculous. It’s obvious
that Sebastian is as normal as they come. Vincent was clearly a
raving lunatic.
Laying a hand against his
bare chest, she began to relax. Simply being near him tended to
have that effect on her.
