A Wolf's Oath

by Alli, Jennifer T.

  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.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  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 bod
y. “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?”

  “Damn straight. You caught it, you deal with it.”

  “That’s fair enough. Are you willing to finish chopping those vegetables for me?”

  “I don’t see why I shouldn’t,” she laughed, pulling away from his embrace and returning to the kitchen.

  Anna had watched the interaction between Erica and Sebastian from the kitchen and though she was happy that her friend was managing to smile despite her situation, she couldn’t prevent a scowl appearing on her face at who was generating the response. As Sebastian approached her, fish firmly in hand she tried to rearrange her face into a friendlier visage, if the scowl he was directing at her was anything to go by, she had failed. He moved past her, refusing to acknowledge her presence and the atmosphere for the night was set. She didn’t like him and he didn’t like her, there was no need to try and hide that fact.

  Sebastian got to work quickly, cleaning the fish and beginning to prepare it for consumption. His eyes were glued to the fish as he tried to pretend that Anna wasn’t in his immediate vicinity but he couldn’t help but wonder what she had said to Erica in the time he’d been away. He didn’t think that they had been gone long, but it was dark now and it had been light when they had set out so maybe he was wrong.

  “Now that you’re not holding that disgusting fish,” Erica began, looking up from her task of cutting vegetables to eye her siblings. “Go and have a shower and change your clothes. Smelly children don’t get fed. Anna, do you mind keeping an eye on them so they don’t get into any trouble.”

  “Sure,” Anna agreed, moving away from the kitchen to coral Dylan and Wyatt down the hall.

  Erica watched them leave but the distraction cost her. Her finger began to throb and she realised that she had cut herself with the sharp knife. The scent of blood captured Sebastian's attention and he was instantly by her side.

  “Erica, are you ok? I smell blood.”

  She brought the finger to her mouth, trying to smile while soothing the small injury with her tongue. “I’m fine Sebastian, honestly.”

  “Let me see,” he demanded, waiting expectantly for her to present him with the finger.

  She popped it out of her mouth and showed it to him. “See it was nothing serious, just a small nick. In fact it’s so small that you can’t even see it. There’s no need to get worked up over such a small cut and just a little bit of blood. Are you squeamish or something? Is that it?”

  “I don’t like it when you’re hurt. The sight and smell of blood doesn’t bother me, it’s only when I know that it comes from you that I worry.” The memory of Erica bleeding heavily in his arms resurfaced and he couldn’t seem to dislodge it. It was as though he were back on that hard pebbled beach, soaking wet and cradling her ice cold body close to his while blood continued to flow from the large gash on her head with no indication of stopping soon.

  Sebastian seemed to have frozen and Erica wasn’t sure of what had caused it or how to bring him back to her. His skin seemed to be paling before her eyes and he was staring intently into space. Had the sight and smell of her blood affected him that badly? She placed her hand against his bare cheek, trying to draw him back to her through touch. “Sebastian, are you ok?”

  The sound of her voice pulled him out of his memory into the present. Immediately taking in the concerned expression on her face, he was quick to reassure her. “I’m fine. I should get back to the fish, if we’re going to be eating tonight.” He turned from her and returned to the task at hand.

  The fish didn’t take long to prepare and cook and soon enough they were all seated around the dinner table. The children might not have noticed it, oblivious to anything other than the game they were playing between themselves, but it was impossible for Erica to be unaware of the tense atmosphere that existed between Anna and Sebastian. She still couldn’t understand why it was there, these two people were important to her; they should get along. Anna was picking at her food, studiously avoiding looking at Sebastian who was glaring intently at her. Erica squeezed his knee beneath the table, silently grabbing his attention. He turned to face her and she smiled pleadingly before turning her head in Anna’s direction. The message was clear.

  I can be civil to the woman, Sebastian decided.

  So long as she does nothing to endanger our mate, I’ll even try to restrain myself from physically harming her, his wolf added.

  How magnanimous of you, Sebastian laughed.

  I think so. Initially I actually wanted to tear her throat out not just throw her out. You’re mellowing me Sebastian.

  Remembering the wolf’s aggressive thoughts since he had met Erica and his own increased willingness to resort to violence on her behalf, Sebastian chuckled. I sincerely doubt that. If anything you’re changing me.

  I have nothing to do with it, the wolf stated, pleading his innocence. It’s all her.

  “So Anna,” Sebastian began, doing his best to keep his tone even and unaggressive. “When did you get here?”

  “A while ago,” she responded ambivalently.

  “Any particular reason for your visit?”

  “No.”

  Erica groaned at the stilted conversation that was occurring between the two. Maybe silence was best after all. “Anna, did I tell you, Sebastian's teaching me how to sculpt?”

  “No. Are you any good?”

  “No,” Erica laughed. “I’m terrible actually. I’m so bad that I can’t even sculpt a twig out of wood. But Sebastian, Sebastian's really good at it. You should see some of the things he’s made. They’re beautiful.” She smiled before a frown appeared on her face as a strand of hair fell into her face. “Stupid hair, sometimes I think that I should just cut the whole lot of it off,” she cursed, reaching for the hair band on her wrist and tying it up into the familiar mess Sebastian was accustomed to.

  Anna turned to Sebastian, struggling to smile at him while inwardly seething as a result of Erica's praise of him. “Maybe another time.”

  Sebastian felt slightly disappointed at the disappearance of the long strands and Erica's remark unwillingly drew a question from his lips. “Why do you keep it
so long if it bothers you so much?”

  Her hands didn’t stop moving and she answered his question automatically with no conscious thought on her part. “Well, my mother always said that a lady’s hair was her pride and joy and so I guess I keep it this long in her honour. Besides, it’s not that bad. There are days when I love having it this length, I only get frustrated with it on rare occasions.”

  Anna had watched the easy exchange between the two with narrowed eyes. It was aggravating that Sebastian could draw out memories from Erica's mind without so much as a second thought when she couldn’t do the same. While she had been aware of it before, seeing it with her own eyes was angering. “Eric, you remembered something,” she applauded.

  “I guess I did,” Erica shrugged. Apparently the memory wasn’t as much of an achievement as Anna had thought it would be.

  Erica returned to eating the fish on her plate and Anna began to feel increasingly uncomfortable. “I should probably start heading home, Michael will start to worry.” She stood and Sebastian rose from his seat in response.

  “I’ll see you to the door,” he stated casually, moving towards it and expecting Anna to follow. He opened the door and held it open as Anna approached him. “So Anna, is there anything that you need to tell me about your conversation with Erica?”

  “I don’t see how the conversations between my best friend and I are any of your business,” she responded, her grip on her bag tightening.

  Frustration filled him and Sebastian could feel elements of the change wash over him. There was a sharpness to his teeth that hadn’t been there before and he knew that his eyes were now undeniably amber. Leaning down, he allowed Anna to see the changes, she was well aware what they meant. “Erica is my mate,” he whispered. “Everything about her concerns me. If you’re going to continue to behave like this then I don’t want you around her any more.”