A Wolf's Obsession (10 page)

“Yeah.” A sad smile came to his face but he didn’t feel the urge to stroke Emily’s likeness as he normally did, there was no point. Emily was gone but he had Kass now.

“You must have really loved her.” With the torrent of emotions of rolling through her Kass was surprised her voice came out so steady. She felt like crying. She had no claim to Wyatt, she barely knew the man but her heart broke all the same at the thought of him loving someone else. Steeling herself for his response she waited for the final nail to be placed in the coffin of her heart.

“I loved the idea of her. This Emily,” he waved to the photographs on the walls. “This Emily, I never met.”

Brows creasing in disbelief, Kass spun round to look at Wyatt her voice ready to extract the truth. No one felt so strongly about a woman they’d never met. Men didn’t lose their sanity over just pictures of a woman. “What do you mean you never met her? You said you loved her.” The purity in her voice demanded the truth, would be satisfied with nothing less and she waited expectantly for the words he’d just said to vanish under her influence.

“I met Emily when I was a kid. She was five I was fifteen.”

Shock mingled with disgust as soon as the words hit her ears and Kass tried to pull back, tried to separate herself from Wyatt’s warm touch. There was a lot she was willing to tolerate but this wasn’t one of them. Her struggles didn’t even seem to register as his grip on her hand remained steadfast and unmovable but for the first time his unbelievable strength was tempered. Despite her struggles he didn’t hurt her.

“It’s not what you think. Wolves age differently to humans. She was five and so was I. I may have been more savvy than your average five year old but I thought, felt and looked like I was her age.” Pulling her over to the sofa, he sat down and guided her down with him. Shuddering in pleasure as her soft curves pressed so closely against him, Wyatt fought to remember how to speak. Grabbing a handful of her hair, he ran his fingers through the strands, needing to touch her desperately. “My aunt Alex is human and she thought that we’d isolated ourselves too long and that if we wanted to find more mates we should look for them outside of the clans. There were no wars anymore, no hunters trying to exterminate us. We were at peace and with how long we live and how many children we have that meant there were a lot of males without mates. It wasn’t hard for her to get people to agree with her. She’s queen and Tobias, the king, is known for doing serious damage to people who hurt her. She decided that children should go to school with humans so that they could really function in the world outside and that’s when I met Emily.

“I saw her on my first day at school and it was like getting struck by lightning. What I felt for her in that second…” He groaned, recalling how his heart had raced, his chest constricted and his life forever altered. “I didn’t understand it, my mind
couldn’t
understand it but my wolf knew we’d found our mate. I was like her second shadow throughout elementary school. Anywhere she went I had to go too.”

A shadow came over his face and Kass could feel the depths of his sadness even without him speaking. She quickly decided she didn’t like what he was feeling. She could cope with her own sadness, she was used to it by now, but his was intolerable. It felt like a weight had been dumped onto her chest and it was sucking all the life out of her. “What happened?”

“She grew up and I didn’t. I couldn’t stay with her anymore. When we’re kids, we don’t age like normal children. I was twenty but I had the body of a seven year old. If I’d tried to stay I would have exposed us. Going to human school only made me more aware how little humans tolerate difference, especially if that difference is better in some way. From then on I only got to see her once, maybe twice, a year and I wasn’t allowed to speak to her or touch her.” His grip on her tightened and he breathed in Kass’ lush fragrance almost overwhelmed by the simple pleasure of being able to do just the opposite now. I could only take pictures and wait to track her down in a few months. It was never easy finding her but I could always manage it. There was always a trace of her left behind and her scent was permanently engraved in my mind. Even if she left the country I’d be able to find her eventually. One year I couldn’t find her at all. No scent, no trace left behind, nothing.”

There was raw emotion in his words and Kass’ heart broke for him.
It must be hard to be so close to someone when they don’t even know you exist and then to lose them…

It wasn’t hard. It was maddening.
“After shadowing her for so long I was an expert in tracking her down but no matter how hard or how long I looked, I couldn’t find her. There was only one reason to explain why I couldn’t find her. She wasn’t alive for me to find.” The hands around her tightened even further threatening to cut off Kass’ supply of oxygen. He might have lost Emily but he’d been given a second chance with Kass and he wasn’t going to lose her. “The day I realised I wasn’t going to find her my life ended. I knew there was no point in trying to go on. I tried to join her.”

Stunned, Kass sucked in a ragged breath. It would be a travesty for the world to lose a man like Wyatt. Resentment building in her chest, Kass forced herself to try and breathe normally even as her hands balled into fists. Violence was never the answer but she’d never wanted to hurt Ethan more than in that moment. She knew exactly what had happened to Emily and Ethan was responsible. Hurting her was one thing; ruining Wyatt’s life was another. “I’m glad you didn’t manage it.” The tight-lipped words were all she could manage and considering the fact she was seeing red she thought her voice remained surprisingly calm.

“Not through a lack of trying,” he scoffed. “My family stopped me. They tried to convince me that Emily wasn’t my mate. They kept telling me that I was too young to have known what it felt like to have a mate, that my wolf had made a mistake but I knew better. It was hopeless but they didn’t want me to join her. There were so many people trying to convince me that I’d find my real mate, trying to convince me that life was still worth living.”

Kass saw red. Her life flashed before her eyes and she saw every near miss, every near death experience. Her whole life was a fight for survival, that people could have such little value for their lives was maddening. “Of course they didn’t want you to die!” She yelled, her blue eyes flashing with anger. “People fall in and out of love everyday. One person isn’t worth dying for especially when she didn’t even know you existed.”

Her words made his hackles rise. It was like talking to Dylan all over again. “You don’t understand. No one who hasn’t lost their mate can ever understand! Everyday that I spent without her pushed me that little further into madness. I was constantly at war with myself. My wolf howled until my ears bled, he snarled until I lashed out at everyone and he drove me mad with wanting her. Look at me. Do you think someone who was sane would have done what I’ve done to you?” He groaned, running his hands through his hair as his agitation increased. “This is the longest time I’ve spent as a human for years. After I left the castle, I spent years in the woods as a wolf because that was the only way I could cope. If I hadn’t met you I’d still be there. A life without a mate wasn’t a life at all. Dylan and Erica were both mad to think otherwise.” The hardness in his face slipped away as he began to smile. “I might not have liked what they did and it did make me crazy but I’m grateful to them now.”

“Why?”

“Because I found you. My mind isn’t right otherwise I would have recognised you straight away but with time I can get better. I promise.”

Though she was sorely tempted to just relax into his embrace at the sweetness of his words, Kass forced her body to remain tense. Life was important, something to be protected above all and if he couldn’t see that then they were going to have a problem. “And what if something happened to me? What if I died?”

His whole demeanour changed in a flash. He bared his teeth; the sharp canines ready to tear flesh. The amber that had dulled returned in force, his eyes once again wild with a feral intensity. His voice when he spoke was barely human and Kass instinctively put her hand against her throat trying to protect herself from the inevitable fallout. “Nothing is going to happen to you,” he roared. “I’m going to protect you. I’ll keep you safe. Nothing will come between us and survive. I’ll kill anyone that even thinks about hurting you.”

“Wyatt, you’re scaring me.”

He ran the back of his hand against her cheek carefully, all too conscious of the razor sharp nails that could so easily slice through her tender skin. “You have nothing to be scared of mate. I’d tear my own arm off before I raised a hand against you.”

“You don’t need to go that far. Just promise me that if something happens to me you’ll forget about me and go on with your life. Even if I die now I’ll come back, just like Emily.”

“No!” he snarled. “I can’t lose you.”

Words continued to flow from her lips spurred on by the treacherous voice at the back of her mind that reminded her Wyatt was only interested in her because of Emily. “If I die you might get someone who’s more like Emily the next time I’m reincarnated. That’s what you want isn’t it? You want someone like her.” She pointed to the photo of the Amazonian like woman hanging on the wall. “You don’t want someone like me. It’ll be better that way.”

Snarling as his blood boiled and his wolf surged to the surface, Wyatt leapt to his feet leaving a stunned Kass to bounce on the sofa alone as he strode over to where an enormous photograph was. Glancing at his nails, he forced them to grow into deadly weapons and shredded the image until nothing but tatters remained. Chest heaving he turned to look at Kass stunned anew at just how perfect his mate was. Emily had been beautiful but Kass…Kass was perfection. “No it won’t. I thought I loved Emily. Now I know that I didn’t. My heart didn’t beat for her the way it does for you. Now that I’ve touched you, kissed you, held you in my arms I know that no one else will do.
You’re
my mate. Even if you came back again and again, it wouldn’t be you.” Emotion overwhelming him, he staggered back to her and fell to his knees. “What I felt for Emily is nothing compared to what I feel for you. I let people persuade me to keep living without Emily but I know that I wouldn’t even manage a day if you weren’t in the world anymore. I’d follow you in a heartbeat. You Kass, you’re my obsession and I’m not giving you up.”

Words of protest began to form on her lips but Wyatt silenced her with a kiss before they could be spoken. Intense didn’t even begin to describe how hard he devoured her mouth. It was like he was trying to climb into her body through her parted lips. His lips clashed against hers with bruising force, his hands ran through her hair keeping her close as his tongue duelled with hers trying to force her submission. The fight was over before it begun. Relaxing into his kiss, Kass let the intensity of his emotions roll through her body and felt her heart lurch. He meant every word he’d spoken and the reality of that made her body limp. As the need for air waged war with her need to keep kissing him, Kass was almost overwhelmed with the reality of her situation. Wyatt really would do anything to protect her even if that meant giving up his own life. Her life was now inextricably bound to another’s and for the first time in a long time she felt hopeful about her chances for survival. She’d fought hard to live before but now she’d be relentless. Wyatt deserved to live.

And you deserve to be loved.

His voice crept along the halls of her mind all the more intimate for how completely it merged with her thoughts. She shivered, throwing her hands around his neck and rubbing her tongue sensuously against his as she savoured his minty taste.

Don’t worry Kass; I’ll take care of everything. I’ll love you harder than any man ever could.

She had no doubt of that and though her heart would probably not thank her for it she was going to let this man, this wolf, into her life. It was the very least she could do as she suspected he was already worming his way steadily into her heart.

Chapter Seven

“Take off your clothes.”

The breathy request put a very quick stop to Kass’ wandering hands and cooled her passion faster than an ice cold bath. She forced herself to pull away from his addictive lips and put an end to the bone melting power of his kiss. “What did you say?”

His gaze never faltered even as his fingers reached
for the hem of her shirt. Her sharp intake of breath as the pads of his fingers brushed against her stomach went straight to his shaft. “Take off your clothes,” he repeated as his fingers danced over her flesh.

Scooting back, Kass pulled down her shirt and clutched the material to her chest defensively. “No! I’m not having sex with you.”

Madness was returning to his eyes as his hands reached for her jeans. “Need you,” he muttered, his eyes darting frantically over her body. “Need you Kass.”

She slapped his grasping hands away and jumped to her feet. The desperation in his rough voice felt like an aphrodisiac trying to beat back her logic. Her mind knew she couldn’t even entertain the idea of having sex with Wyatt despite the strange connection she felt to him but he was tempting her to throw caution to the wind and her treacherous body was clearly on his side. “Are you crazy?” She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Don’t answer that. You might have a very weak grasp on reality but I don’t. Kisses are one thing and sex is another. I can’t go from not knowing you one day to jumping into bed with you the next. Even if I could, I’m not that kind of woman.”

“You don’t understand Kass.” Clutching his head he tried to stay calm, a task made nearly impossible by the uncontrollable snarling of his wolf.

Claim her. Do it now. Claim her dammit! She’s ours. Our mate is right here for the taking. Don’t let her get away. Claim her. Claim her. Claim her!

His eyes rolled as the wolf’s chanting became incessant, drowning out any thought that didn’t involve sinking into the heat between Kass’ thighs. Struggling to control his wolf and his pounding heart, Wyatt clutched the back of the chair, his razor sharp claws slicing through the material like a hot knife through butter.

Staring at the destruction he’d caused so easily he felt his heart begin to race. Kass was standing so close that if he reached out he’d be able to pull her back to him. That was exactly what his wolf was demanding but it was the one thing he couldn’t do. If he reached for Kass with his control hovering on the edge he’d cut straight through her soft skin.
I’ve hurt her enough already.

Groaning, he began to rock back and forth trying to force his wolf to relent his assault on his brain.
No. Can’t touch her.

Let me out of here! We need to claim her now. She’s our mate, we need to claim her.

She said no. Do you want to force her? Is that what you want for her?

She needs to be protected. Claim her and no one will be able to hurt her. She’ll live forever with us. Claim her now.

The wolf’s words turned the blood racing through his system to ice in an instant. If he hadn’t believed it before he had all the proof he needed now. His wolf was half feral. He had to be, otherwise he’d never have suggested claiming their reluctant mate without her permission.

Struggling to his feet, Wyatt crashed into a wall as his feet almost gave out beneath him.
Can’t stay here. Can’t hurt her again. Need to get out of here.
Clutching the wall with all his strength, he moved slowly away from Kass edging closer to the exit. Until his wolf calmed down he couldn’t be around his mate. The very thought of leaving her almost sent him plummeting into the depths of madness but the very real scent of her fear gave him the strength to stay focused. He needed to protect her from everything and if that meant him then so be it.

His voice rough and his breathing hard, he locked eyes with her, mesmerised by the glittering white flecks in her dark blue eyes. “Kass.” Each word was a struggle but he needed her to know. “Have to go.”

“What?”

“Have to go,” he repeated, clawing his way to the door.

“You’re kidding.”

“Need you safe.”

“And somehow my safety is related to us not having sex?” she scoffed.

Sweat beaded on his brow from the effort it took to hold his wolf back and the amber of his wolf crept into his eyes. “Back soon.”
I hope.
He gripped the door handle almost tearing it from the wood as his wolf slammed hard into the cage that he’d erected around it. “Stay here.”

And with that final command he was gone.

Stunned couldn’t begin to describe how Kass felt staring at the doorway that Wyatt had just fled through. She’d heard of men being led by their baser instincts but she hadn’t thought her putting the brakes on their kiss would lead to him leaving her. How long she stood staring at the woods that lay beyond the cabin she didn’t know but when the shock faded it was replaced with a burning anger that left her gasping for breath.

“That bastard!” she screamed. Storming to the door she slammed it so hard that the walls shook. “I’ll take care of you,” she sneered, mocking the words Wyatt had said so tenderly to her. “I’ll love you. I’ll protect you. We’re mates. Liar! The bastard clearly only wants to get into my pants and that is not going to be happening any time soon. I should have used my voice on him, made him tell me exactly what he wants with me. How could I be so stupid?” She risked a glance at the shredded portrait of Emily that hung limply from the wall. When she’d watched him decimate the picture of the woman she’d once been hope had blossomed in her chest. For the first time in a long time she’d felt safe, cared for, and he’d ruined it. “Men!” she growled. Her hands balled into fists and she wished she had Wyatt’s ability to smash walls.

Her skin flushed with anger, she took a deep breath trying to calm herself and failed miserably. An angry scream spilled from her lips. She screamed until her throat was raw but her anger still refused to fade. Storming into the kitchen she turned to the one thing that was guaranteed to calm her raging temper. Cupboards slammed one after the other until she found what she needed. Her arm curved around a large mixing bowl and a spoon in the other she beat the butter and sugar she’d thrown into the bowl frantically feeling her emotions mellow with each whisk of the spoon. By the time she was adding the eggs and flour she almost felt like herself again at least until she heard the door creak open. Her body tensed and she eyed up the drawer that she’d seen housed a wide variety of knives her mind contemplating how reasonable it would be to take one of the sharp blades to Wyatt’s flesh. He’d brushed off bullets without a second thought; if she vented her anger at him like that he’d probably not even notice.

“Kass?”

The female voice was a surprise but when Dylan walked into the kitchen she began to beat the mixture even harder as her anger returned to the front of her mind. “Did Wyatt send you?”

Dylan nodded.

Bastard, couldn’t be bothered to deal with the fallout so he sent his baby sister?

“I know what you’re thinking,” Dylan said calmly.

“You wolves mind readers now too?” she snapped in response.

“No but if you mix whatever’s in that bowl any harder I think it’s going to try and run away from you. I know you’re angry at my brother it’s all over your face.”

“Good but do you know
why
I’m angry at him?”

“Wyatt couldn’t really explain much when we spoke, he just asked me to come over here and stay with you.”

“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?”

Sighing, Dylan ran a hand through her long locks in a gesture that immediately reminded Kass of Wyatt. He did the same thing when he was stressed. The memory of him running his hands through his hair brought a smile to her face. When Wyatt did it she was constantly tempted to add her own hands to the mix. Just as quickly as the smile had come she forced it off her face. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about him in any way that was complementary. He was an ass.

Moving closer, Dylan sat down on one of the bar stools and watched Kass behind the counter silently examining her for injuries. Wyatt had sounded desperate when he’d called her and the few words he’d managed to growl over the phone had done nothing to reassure her. He’d sounded like a mad man and when he’d ordered her over to the cabin to check on Kass there had been a moment where she’d thought Wyatt had killed her. “He didn’t manage to tell me much. Why don’t you explain it to me?”

Kass’ face flushed but her anger allowed the words to flow uninterrupted from her throat. “We kissed. I don’t know how a kiss turned into an open invitation for sex with a practical stranger but that’s what your brother interpreted it as.”

Understandable,
Dylan thought but the look on Kass’ face told her it wouldn’t be wise to express such an opinion.

“I told him no.”

Dylan barely managed to stifle her wince. With Wyatt so closely wrapped up with his wolf and after all that had happened to Kass it was only natural that he wanted to claim her. All the threats to her could be eliminated in one fell swoop with the act of claiming joining their lives together.

“He freaked out,” Kass continued. “Ran from the house as though
I
had done something wrong. He almost had me fooled with all that ‘you’re my mate, I’ll take care of you’ crap. Don’t worry, I know better now than to believe a word he says.”

“You don’t understand Kass. He was trying to protect you.”

“You’re damn right I don’t understand. Wyatt brought me here, claimed that he was going to protect me and then as soon as I don’t spread my legs for him he fucking abandons me. His protection comes at too high price. I don’t care if I ever see him again.”
Liar.
“I’m not going to jump into bed with him just because he says so.”

“Exactly!” Dylan crowed.

Surprised by Dylan's reaction, Kass eyed the other woman up carefully. It was all too possible that madness ran in the family and Dylan was suffering from the same affliction that crippled her brother emotionally.

“I don’t understand. Shouldn’t you be on his side?”

Smiling, Dylan got off her chair and moved around the counter until she was standing beside Kass. “I’m always on Wyatt’s side and that means I’m on your side too. You’re his only chance at being happy. What makes you happy makes him happy and so I’ll do anything I can to make you happy. Come.” She put an arm around Kass and led her back to the living room. “Let me explain everything.”

“Well at least someone is nice enough to talk to me about what’s going on. Shame your brother couldn’t do the same.”

“He wanted to. Trust me, he wanted to.”

“Then why didn’t he?”

“He was about to lose control. He didn’t want to hurt you. Wyatt’s wolf is unstable at best and until he claims you he’s going to be prone to these meltdowns.”

Raising her brow at the unusual words, Kass didn’t try to hide her confusion in her voice. “Claims me?”

“It’s like sex but so much more. It’s the joining of two souls. When he claims you your lives will be joined and you’ll become as immortal as we are. After he claims you unless he dies then nothing anyone does will be able to kill you. He was trying to protect you. He can’t claim you until you’ve done the claiming ceremony and he knows that but I’m betting his wolf was riding him pretty hard. I can guarantee that he didn’t start kissing you with mating in mind. He probably just wanted to be close to you and then when he smelt your arousal and had you so close, reason went out of the window.”

“And he couldn’t have just explained this himself?”

Dylan shook her head. “Wyatt, all of us, have a wolf that lives inside of us. As long as we have the same goal in mind we can live in peace, harmony. Wyatt doesn’t have that anymore.”

“Because he lost Emily?”

“Exactly. He’s been at war with his wolf for years and now he’s going at it again. His wolf is stronger than most because of how long he spends in his other form and if we can’t find a way to put them back in balance soon then I think the damage will be irreparable. His mind is going to tear itself apart until he claims you.”

Kass’ face paled. Her anger disappeared all together and fear filled her veins. “You can’t be serious,” she muttered, shaking her head constantly.

“Until he can guarantee that you’re going to be safe no matter what happens then his mind is going to keep slipping away.”

“But I can’t sleep with him.”

The kind smile on Dylan's face faded. This woman was her brother’s mate and she was the reason that her beloved brother was slowly but surely going down a path that she couldn’t follow. Wyatt would be claiming her, even if she had to strap Kass down to a bed to make it happen. “What do you mean you can’t? Do you have any idea of what’s at stake here?”

“I can’t sleep with Wyatt. I can’t have sex with anyone. I thought you were a doctor.”

“I am a doctor,” Dylan snapped angrily.

“I can’t have sex with anyone because of my heart. You can’t put that kind of responsibility on me when there’s nothing I can do to help him without killing myself in the process.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The last time I tried to have sex I was seventeen. My boyfriend and I had played about before but we’d never actually had sex. The thought never even crossed my mind that there could be a problem. In my mind sex was just an extended petting session. I was wrong. I had an attack. I almost died that day. That was when I found out about my heart problem. I can’t have sex with anyone because even trying throws my heart completely out of its natural rhythm. I can’t risk trying that again.”