A Wolf's Oath (41 page)
Erica sighed heavily at Sebastian's departure, glad to have
time alone to gather her racing thoughts. She couldn’t shake
Vincent and his accusations from her mind. Though Sebastian had
failed to be a match for the majority of the criteria for a
werewolf that she had found, the image of his transformation seemed
to be seared into her retina. Even if she wanted to dismiss the
video as simple a fabrication of technological advancements, she
couldn’t forget the momentary flash of amber that had entered his
eyes a few nights ago. She hated to say it but the colour hadn’t
been human, the split second that she had seen his amber eyes, they
had been wild, feral. There was something different about her
fiancé and she didn’t like not knowing what it was. If Sebastian
was indeed a werewolf then he wasn’t what Vincent or that website
had described him as. Both sources were trying to make Sebastian
into some sort of monster and no matter how hard she tried, she
couldn’t paint him in that light.
She pulled Vincent’s card out of her pocket and stared
intently at it.
I can’t shake the feeling
that he whatever he wants to do to Sebastian isn’t pleasant. How am
I meant to think any thing else with his description?
The small card had been burning a hole in her
pocket since the first day it had been given to her and she didn’t
want to have to deal with the feelings it invoked in her. She had
been tempted on more than one occasion to simply ask Sebastian
directly. She doubted that he would have kept such a huge secret
from her before her memory loss, Sebastian was too honest for that.
If that was the case then there was a reason he hadn’t told her
this time around and that could only mean that he thought keeping
the secret was what was best for her health. He couldn’t be moved
on matters of her health and if he felt that keeping the secret
would aid her recovery, he would tell her nothing, so she hadn’t
asked. There was no point in agitating him over something that he
was reluctant to talk about. The more she thought about it, the
more she realised that her decision had already been
made.
In all her wild musings, she had never once thought to inflict
harm on Sebastian, and she never wanted to.
Yes he’s different, he might be a creature from myth but when
you love someone, you accepted them as they are.
Her breath hitched as the thought floated through
her mind. Her body went still for a moment before she realised just
how right the thought was. She loved Sebastian. There was nothing
she could do to change that. She had been half way there when she
had woken in the infirmary, vulnerable and defenceless and he had
wrapped her in the safety of his arms as though he could protect
her from the world.
I’m going to call Vincent and tell him to jump off a cliff.
I’m not handing Sebastian over to him. I’m going to tell Sebastian
that I’m ready to leave this town and go home. I don’t need to have
all my memories back, I’m happy with the ones I have. Once he sees
just how well I can manage in our normal environment, he’ll
understand that I’ve done what’s for the best and he’ll tell me his
secret.
She stood from the sofa, gripping the card tightly in her
hand as she prepared to close this chapter on her life. One phone
call and it would be over, the last difficult tie from her past
dealt with, all the others weren’t so hard. She walked towards the
phone and lifted it from its cradle. Her attempt to dial was cut
short by a loud thumping against the wooden door. She turned,
eyeing the door with confusion. They weren’t expecting anyone. The
banging continued and a familiar voice quickly joined
it.
“
Eric, are you there? Eric?”
“
Anna?” she called back confused as to why her friend was
here.
“
Oh good, you’re in Eric. Come and open the door
then.”
Erica's eyes looked sadly from the phone to the card in her
hand before she sighed, replacing the phone and putting the card
back in her pocket. She walked to the door, opening it to find Anna
waiting expectantly on the doorstep. “What are you doing here
Anna?”
“
I came to see you silly, that’s what friends do,” Anna
chuckled. “Well are you going to let me in or am I meant to just
stand here all day?”
Opening the door and stepping back, Erica allowed Anna to
enter the house before closing the door behind her.
Anna’s hazel eyes scanned the empty house before she turned
her gaze to Erica. “The house is awfully quiet. Where’s the
mischievous duo? Where’s Sebastian?” Anna’s cheerful voice hardened
when she inquired about his whereabouts and it didn’t go unnoticed
by Erica.
Does Anna have something against Sebastian?
Her mind began to race with the possibilities
while her mouth answered mechanically. “Dylan and Wyatt have gone
out with Sebastian,” Erica answered calmly sitting back on the
sofa.
“
And they left you here by yourself?” Anna gasped
appalled.
“
Sebastian asked me to go of course. He wouldn’t just leave me
here without a good reason, he’s not that sort of person.”
Which begs the question why you don’t like him.
There’s nothing not to like about him.
“They went fishing. I hate even the idea of fishing, you
couldn’t have paid me to go.”
Anna moved, coming to sit beside Erica. “Oh.”
I can’t think of a reason why Anna wouldn’t like Sebastian,
unless she knows. Maybe she knows that he’s different and doesn’t
like it. Maybe Sebastian told me and I told her. We’re meant to be
best friends after all. That’s the sort of secret you would only
tell to your best friend.
“Anna?”
“
Yes Eric?”
“
Did I ever tell you anything odd about Sebastian? Something
really shocking?” Anna opened her mouth as though to answer but
Erica cut her off before she could speak. Now that she had someone
to talk to, the floodgates were open. “I met a man the other day.
He said that we knew each other, his name was Vincent and he showed
me this footage. There was a wolf, it was fighting with people,
there was blood everywhere and then he changed into a man
Anna.”
“
A werewolf?” Anna gasped, trying to appear surprised. Erica
nodded enthusiastically. “What’s this got to do with
Sebastian?”
“
Vincent thinks that Sebastian is a werewolf.”
And you apparently knew nothing about it.
“He gave me this card.” She pulled the small piece
of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Anna. “He wants me to
hand Sebastian over to him.”
Anna’s eyes widened as she read over the information on the
card.
Organisation for the Protection and
Defense of humanity?
Realisation dawned
quickly.
Hunters!
“What are you going to do about it? Do you really think that
Sebastian is a werewolf? And if he is are you going to give him to
these people?”
“
I had actually made a decision on that before you got
here.”
“
Really?”
“
Yes. Sebastian might be different.”
“
If he is a werewolf Eric, he isn’t human. That’s more than
just a little different.”
“
That’s the point though Anna. I don’t care. I love him. So
what if he isn’t a normal person? It doesn’t change who he is and
it doesn’t change how I feel about him. Whatever Vincent says isn’t
going to change that. Sebastian is the best thing that’s ever
happened to me.”
“
How would you know that?” Anna demanded. “You don’t even
remember him or what other good things you had going for you in
life.”
The harsh tone of Anna’s voice momentarily shocked her, but
Erica was quick to recover and come to Sebastian's defense. “You’re
right, I don’t remember what came before him and I’ve decided that
it doesn’t matter. My life couldn’t have been that great before him
otherwise I would have more to show for it. Judging from what I do
know, what I do remember before Sebastian, I lived alone with Dylan
and Wyatt and dedicated myself to them. That was my life, there was
nothing that I did for myself, there was nothing that was solely
mine. I love my brother and sister; I really do so I can’t resent
them for what came before. But despite the fact that I had a family
to care for Sebastian didn’t let that daunt him. And now I have
him, I’m happy, beyond happy actually. So excuse me if I’m not
willing to let that happiness slip away.”
“
Wow, I didn’t know you felt that way Eric.”
“
Well, I do.”
“
So what are you going to do about Vincent then?”
“
I’m going to call him and tell him to take a hike. I want
nothing to do with him. The best thing he could do for me would
simply be to stay away.” Erica reached for the card, meaning to
take it from Anna and act on her plan but Anna held it away from
her. Erica's eyebrows rose in a silent question.
“
Don’t call him. If you do that he might try and persuade you
to change your mind.”
“
That isn’t going to happen.”
“
If you contact him and tell him no he might try and take
matters into his own hands. The best thing you can do is to leave
him ignorant,” Anna declared, calmly tearing the card into two neat
pieces. “Just put this whole thing behind you and go on as though
it never happened.”
“
That was the general plan.” Erica grinned she stood and
stretched, raising her hands above her head completely oblivious to
Anna discreetly placing the two halves of Vincent's card into her
bag.
Laughing, Sebastian, Dylan and Wyatt stumbled through the
front door leaving trails of thick snow in their wake. The run had
been good for all of them and Sebastian was now feeling
particularly joyful. There were problems in his world, of that he
was well aware, but at the moment life was good. Or at least it was
until he was firmly within the house and a very unwelcome scent
reached his sensitive nose. “Anna,” he growled, the sound
reverberating throughout the house.
As soon as she heard Sebastian's rough voice, Erica turned
from the vegetables she was chopping to look at him. The muscles in
his arm were taut from strain, his jaw was set tightly and who
could forget the feral growl he had emitted moments before? He
wasn’t happy, that much was painstakingly obvious.
What’s happened to make him so upset?
What exactly happened between these two to make
them dislike each other so much? It’s not the fact that Sebastian
is different, I know that now, so what is it?
Her mind mulled over the question for a second before she
realised what she was doing and she was quick to scold
herself.
What happened to ‘I’m not going
to worry about the past anymore?’ Stop doing this.
She dropped the knife on the counter, side stepped
Anna and walked to his side.
“
Sebastian, what’s wrong?” she asked, placing her hand against
the tense muscles in his forearm.
The sound of her voice relaxed him and he felt his anger slip
away. “Nothing sweetheart. I’m fine.”
“
You didn’t sound fine.”
“
Trust me, I’m fine.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and
pulled her into the warmth of his body. “Better than fine,” he
murmured, breathing in the fragrant scent of her hair. It was one
of the rare occasions she allowed the long length of it to escape
the messy bun that she usually wore it in and he smiled against it,
caressing the silky strands with careful fingers.
“
Did you catch anything?”
He released her and took a step back allowing her to see what
Dylan and Wyatt were holding between them. A large fish lay nestled
against their chests and they smiled widely at her seemingly
uncaring of the fact that their clothes were being saturated with
its pungent juices.
“
You caught something,” she remarked, trying to take pride in
their achievement though the smell of it was turning her
stomach.
“
I told you we would,” Sebastian beamed, pulling her close once
more.
“
But you weren’t gone all that long. I thought it took a lot
longer to actually catch a fish.”
“
Well we wanted to get home quickly so that we could talk you
into having fish for dinner and I guess luck was just on our
side.”
“
I didn’t think that you liked fish,” she mused.
Sebastian frowned, confused as to why she had made that
particular assumption. “Why did you think that?”
“
Well you’ve never asked for it and you really seem to like red
meat whenever I make it.”
“
As long as it’s made by you, I’ll love it.”
“
Well I hope you love your own cooking just as much
mine.”
“
Huh? I don’t understand.”
Erica's eyes wandered to the fish that her brother and sister
were still holding, her mouth twisting in disgust as the fish’s
dead eyes stared at her. “If you think that I’m gutting and cooking
that thing then you’re mistaken. I’m willing to eat it, but like I
said, handling recently deceased fish isn’t high on the list of
things I want to do in life.”
“
So you’re leaving the cooking of the fish to me?”
