A Wolf's Oath (9 page)

“
Sebastian! Hurry up!” Dylan demanded, her small but sharp
voice pulling him forcefully from his thoughts.

From his position on the cabin’s roof, Sebastian's eyes
quickly blinked into focus, leaving his wandering thoughts behind.
Dylan and Wyatt stood on the ground below him, their postures
easily showing their impatience. Their arms were folded across
their chests and scowls seemed to have become etched on their
normally smiling faces. He spared them only a passing glance before
his gaze became riveted on his mate. Her eyes were glazed as she
stared in his direction. The exquisite scent of her arousal floated
up to his sensitive nose and the reason for her dazed expression
became clear.

So she likes what she sees? Another point in my
favour,
he grinned.

Of course she does,
his wolf
inserted.
And tonight when we claim her,
we’ll finally be able to see all that she hides beneath her
clothes.
It practically purred in
anticipation of the event.

She hasn’t agreed to allowing us to claim her,
Sebastian cautioned, reminding the wolf that while
he had made progress with his mate, she was still not as close to
him as he would have liked.

Ever the optimist when it came to the prospect of intimate
moments between itself and their mate, the wolf casually
inserted,
yet,
immediately after Sebastian's observation.
She hasn’t agreed to anything yet. She will; trust me. It’s a
certainty.

*****

Walking up the well-travelled path to her cabin, Erica felt
her mouth become dry at the sight that greeted her upon her return.
Sebastian sat bare chested on the roof hammering at the aged wood
as he tried to mend it. The roof had been in a state of disrepair
for some time now but she had never found the time to fix it, other
things always taking priority. She vaguely remembered muttering to
herself about the need to fix it before she left and a smile
appeared on her face. It was clear that Sebastian had taken the
burden onto himself.
It’s probably a
genetic imperative to provide shelter for your mate, he can’t help
himself.
The thought didn’t inspire any
negative feelings within her and she sighed, nothing he had done in
the last few days had caused the reaction she had thought it would.
Little by little, he was stealing his way into her
heart.

High in the sky, the sun’s rays beat against his skin causing
him to perspire and a thin layer of sweat now covered his bare
torso. She had never thought that sweat could be particularly
attractive, but as she watched a single bead of moisture move down
the well-defined muscles of his chest she was forced to reconsider.
His body was like a well-orchestrated symphony, each muscle working
together with all the others to achieve a goal, tensing and
relaxing in unison as he worked steadily. She was distantly aware
of her siblings calling out to him, but her attention was focused
firmly on the wonderfully exposed expanse of his body. She couldn’t
however prevent a scowl appearing on her face as her brother and
sister stopped him working, disrupting her new favourite pastime,
ogling the movements of her mate’s body. The scowl quickly
disappeared as he stood and she once again became fascinated by the
way he moved, the corded muscles of his stomach clenched as he
crouched before leaping off the edge of the roof.

He landed gracefully on both feet, perfectly balanced and
smiling widely at her. Quickly gathering her scattered thoughts she
watched him approach, cursing her body’s weakness and his ability
to know of it.
He knows I’m attracted to
him. Damn it. I’m never going to live this down and he’s just going
to use this against me when he tries to convince me to accept his
claim. What the hell was I thinking standing around here and just
staring at him like some kind of idiot?

“
Hello sweetheart, is Anna still coming?”

His question surprised her. She had expected him to at least
make a passing mention of his knowledge of her aroused state. She
sighed in relief and slight exasperation, he seemed to delight in
not doing what she expected him to do. His actions were so unlike
those of the male wolves she knew that she didn’t know what to make
of them. Most of the males she knew were cocky and arrogant,
assured of themselves and their actions while Sebastian seemed
content to remain in the background, unnoticed.

Though the small cabin now radiated his scent and there was
nowhere she could go to escape him, she was beginning to doubt it
was intentional on his part. During the brief time they had spent
living together, she had come to realize that he would completely
leave her vicinity at the slightest indication that she was
uncomfortable. She reluctantly admitted that having him around
wasn’t as unpleasant as she had thought it would be. The chores she
was forced to undertake to maintain the cabin had been drastically
reduced with him around. He seemed to anticipate what she would
need to do next and have half completed it by the time she arrived.
Despite his helpfulness he never asked for acknowledgement of
having done the tasks for her, apparently satisfied with simply
giving her more time to herself.

His shyness was rather endearing though she would never admit
that to him. Despite his apparently reserved nature, her siblings
adored him. He never complained when they demanded he join their
games at all hours of the day, making time for their needs
regardless of whatever task he had decided needed doing. The
kindness of his actions was beginning to affect her, but years of
mistrust of the opposite sex among her people was hard to shake
even with Sebastian being as wonderful as he had been.

“
Erica sweetheart?”

The endearment pulled her from her thoughts, she still didn’t
want her brother and sister to know the true relationship between
her and Sebastian and he was usually very good about it, only
calling her by that when they weren’t around. Keeping true to his
normal pattern of behaviour, both Dylan and Wyatt were out of
earshot, trying unsuccessfully to climb a tree in the distance.
“Did you say something Sebastian?”

He grinned, unimaginably pleased that she had responded to
the endearment without even a token complaint. “I asked if Anna was
still coming today.”

“
Yes. In fact she’s right over there.” She pointed to the hill
that led to their cabin where Anna was quickly making her way
towards them. “I just came ahead to ask you if you wouldn’t mind
keeping an eye on Wyatt and Dylan while we’re talking.”

“
Of course I’ll do it sweetheart. They’re beginning to grow on
me.”

She felt a curious tugging sensation in the region of her
chest at another reminder of his kindness and turned away from him,
unwilling for him to notice how much she was affected by him. As
she watched Anna move closer and closer towards them, she was
startled by the surge of jealousy that coursed through her at the
thought that someone other than herself would see Sebastian
topless. “Put a shirt on!” she hissed in admonishment.

He smiled, pleased at her momentary sense of
possessiveness.
Now she knows how I
feel.
Looking over his shoulder, he assured
himself that both Wyatt and Dylan were far enough away that they
wouldn’t be able to witness his next action before he moved closer
to his mate and placed a light kiss against her cheek. “I’ll do it
right away sweetheart. Have a nice talk with Anna but remember you
and I need to talk soon as well.”

“
I know,” she breathed, her heart was fluttering wildly in her
chest while her stomach felt as though it were tied up in knots and
she was shocked at how much a small kiss could affect
her.

He stepped away from her and moved towards where Dylan and
Wyatt were still trying and failing to climb a tree, grabbing his
previously discarded shirt and pulling it on as he moved.
Struggling not to get drawn in once more to watching how he moved,
she turned her attention back to Anna who had now reached her
side.

“
You needed to talk to me?” Anna questioned, her eyes watching
the playful interaction between Sebastian and Erica's
siblings.

“
Yeah, I most definitely need to talk to you Anna but I haven’t
got long so come in.” She quickly led her friend inside the cabin,
sitting her down on one of the chairs.

“
Let me guess,” Anna began. “What you want has something to do
with him.” She jerked her head in the direction of the open window
where Sebastian could be seen playing with Dylan and
Wyatt.

Ignoring the clear hostility in her friend’s voice when she
spoke about Sebastian, Erica nodded her agreement. “You know me too
well.”

“
It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out Eric. He’s a male
wolf who thinks he’s found his mate and the moon is full tonight.
You’d be crazy to bring me up here to talk about anything
else.”

“
When you put it like that I guess it is pretty easy to work it
out. You haven’t told anyone else have you Anna?”

“
Of course I haven’t Eric. What would be the point in me
telling anyone else when nothing is going to change for
you.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
You’re not going to let him claim you’re you Eric?”

She hesitated a moment before replying. “I don’t know Anna,
he seems like a genuinely nice guy. I’m beginning to care for him
and I know he clearly feels the same way about me.”

“
Eric, how could you forget what happened to your parents? I
thought you were completely against the idea of taking a
mate.”

“
I know Anna. It’s not as though I’ve forgotten but Sebastian
promised –”

“
You told him?” Anna interrupted shocked at this latest
revelation.

“
No. Someone else did. But the fact is that he knows, he knows
what happened to mom and dad and he knows why I didn’t want to take
a mate.”

“
Didn’t?” Anna asked, confused by her friend’s choice of words.
“You act as though it’s a foregone conclusion that you’re going to
let him claim you tonight.”

“
He’s a really nice guy Anna. I’ve been horrible to him, but
he’s never even uttered a word of complaint, he’s different to
other men.”

“
Eric, you’ve only known him for a few days. This is the rest
of your life we’re talking about here. Anyone can pretend to be
nice for a few days. If you allow him to claim you and then he
turns out to be exactly like your father and every other male wolf
alive what are you going to do then? It’ll be too late to do
anything about it. You will be stuck with him for the rest of your
life.”

“
Anna he seems so genuine, I don’t think he’s pretending to be
anything other than what he is.”

“
That’s what you think. You’re forgetting the ease with which
he lied to me at that party so I would give him information about
you.”

Erica sighed, finally understanding Anna’s clear animosity
towards Sebastian. “Are you still mad about that?” Anna remained
silent, choosing not to answer the question. “You are aren’t you?
Anna I’ve never known you to hold on to a grudge for so long and
from what Sebastian told me happened he was only telling partial
lies. They were mainly truths.”

“
Eric, I’m your friend I just don’t want to see you get hurt.
You haven’t known him long enough to be able to make character
judgments about him. And it’s not only your life that will change
if you do this. Have you considered what Dylan and Wyatt will have
to say about it?”

Looking to the open window, a smile crept onto her face as
she saw how well the three of them got on, remembering how happy
her brother and sister were around him. “Dylan and Wyatt love
him.”

“
Yes they might like him now but that’s only because they don’t
know who he really is. Are you sure they’d feel the same way about
him if you told them that he’s your mate? I personally doubt it.
Don’t you remember what they told you when you ran home from the
party? They don’t want you to have a mate.”

“
Maybe if I just explained it to them…”

“
For years you’ve told them that you don’t want a mate, they’re
bound to think that it’s a bad thing no matter how hard you try and
explain it to them. They won’t want this for you.”

Remembering the worried looks on their faces at the mere
prospect of her finding a boyfriend, let alone a mate she felt her
confidence waver. “What should I do then Anna?”

Leaning towards her friend, Anna grasped Erica's hands within
her own. “Run. Run like you’ve never run before and do it now. He
will be coming for you and you can’t even imagine how fast he’ll
move to reach you. Run Eric; run as hard and as fast as you can.
But don’t look back because if you do he’ll be right behind
you.”

Chapter Ten

The sun was beginning to set as Sebastian finished playing
with his mate’s siblings. Though they pleaded with him to rejoin
them in their play he ignored them, he had more important matters
to attend to. He had been watching the cabin since Anna had arrived
and was becoming increasingly unnerved by how silent it was. He
hadn’t seen Anna leave and that was the only reason he had delayed
talking to her for so long, wanting to give her as much time as
possible to decide what would happen tonight. However as the sun
continued to sink lower and lower into the horizon he realized that
they were increasingly short on time, the moon would soon dominate
the sky and he would become a slave to his wolf’s
desires.