A Wolf's Pride (40 page)

He allowed the
abrupt change in topic, her body was going haywire with worry,
there was no need for him to put even more pressure on her…yet.
“Sure angel. I’ve got to eat up so I’m strong enough to deal with
Lucinda.”
And then I’ll move on to Gary.
No one breaks my angel’s heart and gets away with it.
Not even me. Especially not me,
he mentally corrected remembering his propensity
for making mistakes. He released her hand, allowing her to slip
away from him and retrieve a tray of food.
You can trust me with your heart Chloe, I’ve already given
you mine, an exchange is only fair. I’ll protect it from harm. I
promise.

Chapter Thirty
Four

True to his
word, it hadn’t taken long for Ryan to recover once he had consumed
the food Chloe had brought him. His body, armed with the necessary
energy for regeneration, had quickly healed the hole in his body
leaving nothing but smooth unscarred skin in its place. He had
known the exact moment he was healed, the second the skin had
stopped knitting itself back together, the instant his organs were
once again as they were meant to be. As soon as his body was
healed, his mind had turned to his next concern, dealing with
Lucinda. The threat to his mate was pressing in on him, becoming
the sole focus of his thoughts the longer she was left to roam
free.

It was as if
the instinct were punishing him for leaving his mate vulnerable. He
had always said to himself and advised others accordingly that
wolves who defied the instinct should expect to be punished by it.
It was one of several reasons he gave others for continuing to
listen to his wolf’s advise in flagrant disregard of forward
thinking. Not only was his mind a mess, his thoughts centred solely
on Lucinda, but his body was suffering too. His muscles were tense
with strain, the sharp fangs that had exploded in his mouth were
slicing his lips and tongue, leaving the tangy taste of blood in
his mouth. His amber eyes were wilder than usual, darting back and
forth across the room as though Lucinda would appear at any moment.
The only thing that wasn’t suffering had been his hand. Clenched
tightly in Chloe’s grip it alone was safe from the instinct’s
backlash. Even subconsciously he sought to keep her protected from
the worst side of his nature.

“
Angel, I need
to get out of here,” he growled. While the instinct may have sought
to protect her physically, it wasn’t so concerned about protecting
her from harsh sounding words when they were for her own
safety.

“
Ryan, you’re
hurt,” she said calmly, her tone dismissive. Over the last few
hours she had become accustomed to Ryan’s continual pleas for
freedom in spite of his injuries.
How did
he manage to survive all those years without someone like me trying
to keep him from hurting himself?

Apparently
her subconscious thoughts had spilled from her mouth as Ryan
proceeded to answer her mentally rhetorical question. “I’m only
like this because I need to take care of the bitch who thought she
could get away with trying to take you from me. Leaving you open to
potential harm isn’t in my genetic makeup. You’re my mate; you
deserve nothing less than the best. Besides Chloe, I’m healed now.
I have no reason to lay here like an invalid.”

“
Ryan, less
than twenty-four hours ago your organs were splattered all over the
ground, you were dying. You aren’t healed and you aren’t leaving
this bed.”

“
Chloe, I was
never in the danger you seem to think I was, physically anyway. The
only thing life threatening about that fall was the danger it posed
to you. If something had happened to you then my death was almost
guaranteed, I won’t go back to the lonely half-life I had before
you came into my life. If anything my life without you would be
worse than it was before. The scents of everyone mated around me
and me knowing that I’d failed my mate and had her taken from me,
my wolf would drive me to my own end.”

“
There’s no
need to think so seriously. You’re meant to be resting,
recovering.”

“
You are about
the only thing in my life that I take seriously love, you’re that
important to me. Now Chloe, I’m leaving this bed. I’m healed.
Look.” He sat up; after all of the pain that had racked his body
for hours the simple sensation of moving and not being in agony was
amazing. His hands moved to the beginning of the bandages wrapped
around his middle only for Chloe’s hands to move, surprisingly
quickly for a human, and stop him. “Trust me angel.” He smiled
confidently, reassuringly and her hands fell away reluctantly.
Moving quickly with self-assured, deft movements, Ryan unwrapped
himself and allowed the hidden skin to breathe. “See, I’m fine.”
Gripping Chloe’s much smaller hand in his own, he placed it on the
completely healed skin.

He sucked in
a breath and swore softly the instant she touched him. His body was
beginning to respond to her unknowingly sensual motions. Her hands
were sweeping over the taut skin of his stomach, moving
frustratingly close to part of his body he most wanted her to
touch. A look of awe was embossed onto her angelic features. Her
appearance was so at odds with how she had looked at him over the
time he had known her that he wanted it to stay. It was only when
he saw the sheet begin to move that he sprung into action. There
was no need to embarrass himself in front of his mate whose body he
couldn’t yet take.

Rising from
the bed he moved about the room, careful to keep his semi hardened
shaft from her line of sight. “See I told you that I was
fine.”

“
But I thought
it would take you days, weeks to heal.”

“
I told you I
wasn’t in danger. Now, I have to deal with the matter of
Lucinda.”

“
What’s going
to happen to her?” she asked softly, unsure of what fate exactly
she wanted to befall the woman who had tried to kill
her.

“
She’s going to
die,” he replied simply, the stark statement all the more shocking
for its casual delivery.

“
Are you
serious?”

“
Deadly. What
she did is a capital offense. She tried to take you from me, who
knows; if I hadn’t been where I was she may have succeeded. I’m
going to kill her.”

“
You’re going
to do it?” she gasped.

“
Of course,
unless Tobias beats me to it. She tried to kill Alex once. I don’t
think his wolf has ever gotten over the fact he let her live.
Tobias may have allowed reason to overpower his wolf’s need for
retribution but that won’t happen with me. My wolf is powerful and
I’m not inclined to disagree with him on this. Maybe we could deal
with her together,” he mused.

I’m glad to
know you’re not going soft,
the wolf purred
before its thoughts turned to the many ways in which he could kill
Lucinda.

“
Don’t worry
love, I won’t let this threat to you stand.” His voice was
distracted, his mind already wandering from convincing Chloe to let
him leave the room to how exactly to deal with Lucinda. If he could
have everything his way he would simply walk up to her and tear her
head off but she was a Lady, nobility. He couldn’t simply behead
her, there were procedures to be followed, people to be contacted,
a trial to be conducted before he could kill her. He snarled,
distinctly unhappy with all that he had to do before Lucinda was
brought to justice.

You’d better
get going then,
his wolf snapped, eager for
the taste of Lucinda's blood in its mouth.

He turned his
gaze to Chloe, noting her eyes were wide with shock, her mouth
slightly open. He thought of never being able to see her again,
never being able to touch her, hear her angelic voice calling to
him and he saw red.
I’m going to make that
bitch bleed!
“I have to go angel. I’ll be
back as soon as I can. When I get back there will be a trial and
after that you’ll never have to worry about her,”
or anyone else,
“ever
again.”

“
So there will
be a trial, you aren’t just going to take her out back and shoot
her or something?”

“
Unfortunately
she will have a chance to explain herself.”
Not that it will do her any good. I’m going to deal with her
one way or another.

Good
Ryan,
his wolf purred, their thoughts
beginning to merge into a unified course of action.
She doesn’t deserve mercy.

No mercy, no
clemency, no chance for escape, no hope of survival.

“
So when will
you be back?”

“
I don’t know,
there are things I need to take care of, people that I need to talk
to. It doesn’t matter how late it gets, I’m having her tried today.
I’ll come for you when I return.” And with that he was gone. He
sped from the room, gently caressing her cheek as he ran. The
leaders of the clans had to be notified and brought together before
a Lady or Lord could be executed. Killing off leaders for things
that could be excused would only result in disorder and so
unanimous agreement to do so was necessary.

Lord Jeremiah
could make things difficult,
his wolf
mentioned thoughtfully.

He won’t be a
problem,
Ryan answered confidently.
If I have to rip his tongue out so that he can’t
speak I’ll get him to agree.

*****

It hadn’t
taken long to gather the clan leaders; a wolf intent on protecting
their mate was akin to an unstoppable force. Ryan had run from clan
to clan, dragging leaders from whatever task they had been doing
and forcing them to run to the royal estate where Lucinda was being
held. It had been easier to gather some leaders than others, those
in his family were a prime example. Others, such as Jeremiah, were
considerably harder to move. It had almost been understandable, if
he were a father he wouldn’t have wanted to attend his daughter’s
possible execution. But he wasn’t a father and if Lucinda had had
her way he never would have been one. It had been easy enough to
threaten Jeremiah into compliance; a not too subtle threat to his
life had been all it had taken to get him to move. Jeremiah was a
lord, he was strong but Ryan had the instinct on his side, he was
stronger and they both knew it.

Sitting
beside his nervous mate Ryan felt anticipation thrum through his
veins. He was eager for the trial to end so justice could begin.
The instinct was pressing him hard to finish what he had started.
He had done the right thing, taking the first steps to ensure her
demise but he was a werewolf led by his wolf, led by instinct and
wolves weren’t known for their patience or their ability to deal
with technicalities and paperwork.

The leaders had
been gathered and now sat in a circle, surrounding Lucinda and
keeping her fenced in though there were also guards stationed at
all of the large room’s exits. If she tried to escape they would
kill her without hesitation. As he looked at her porcelain skin,
her bright blue eyes and long blonde hair he vaguely remembered
that people had often referred to her as the angel of the
Northeast. He snorted in derision. Compared to Chloe, Lucinda
looked like a cheap imitation of an angel.
I hope she tries to escape so I can send this fake angel to
hell.

Tobias eyed
the woman in front of him, his grip tightening protectively on
Alex’s hand. Lucinda was sat, primly as though she had done nothing
of serious import and the image she portrayed was angering him even
more than her presence. She had tried to kill not one but two mates
in his family. He had spared her once, he wouldn’t be so lenient
this time. “Lucinda Delphine, Lady of the Northeast clan,” he
began. “You are accused of the capital punishment of trying to kill
another’s mate. Do you understand the severity of the charges
lodged against you?”

“
Yes,” she
smiled.

“
And how do you
plead?”

“
Not guilty.”
The smile on her face never faltered.

Tobias
growled before his grey eyes turned to his cousin. She had picked
the wrong mate to go after if she was hoping for a peaceful trial,
Ryan’s temper was legendary and she was about to be on the
receiving end of an explosion. “Ryan, she’s all yours.”

Placing a
gentle kiss to Chloe’s brow, Ryan stood, reluctantly releasing his
grip on her hand. As he walked towards the chair Lucinda was seated
in, his eyes became amber, fury filling his every move. He gripped
the armrests of her chair so hard the metal crumpled beneath his
strength. “Lucinda, you tried to kill my mate. Don’t try to lie to
me; I can smell your deception as can everyone else in this room.
You’re going to die.”

Chloe gasped,
this was a side of Ryan she had never seen before, pure anger,
aggression and violence. While her mind was aware that he should
have repulsed her, she was strangely attracted to even this side of
him. He was doing this for her, acting like this because someone
had tried to kill her, protecting her from all threats. Though she
had chafed under her family’s protection she wanted to get closer
to Ryan. Her reactions to him went against everything she had ever
known but still she was drawn ever closer.

“
We both know
that you’re guilty, now what I want to hear is the truth. The truth
won’t set you free in this case, it’s too late for that, what it
will do is determine how you die. I can do it quickly, so quickly
that it will almost be painless or,” he paused, “I can drag it out.
Shall I tell you what I’ll do to you? I’ll peel the skin from your
body and douse the flesh beneath in silver powder.” Their audience
gasped collectively in shock but Ryan continued as though they had
said nothing. “Your skin will burn and fester as it tries to grow
back. Once your skin is back in place I think I’ll take a limb or
two. Cut them from you with a silver blade and hang them from a
wall so you can see them and know they won’t grow back. How am I
going to do that you ask? Wolves regenerate all lost limbs. I’ve
learned a few things over the years and I’ll put them all to use on
you. If you cauterise a wound with silver it won’t grow back. And
then because you’ll be taking up far too much of my time by this
point, time better spent with my mate I’ll grant you death but even
that will be slow. I’ll behead you obviously but I’ll do it over a
few days, maybe even weeks. I’ll build a silver blade and hang it
from the ceiling have it cut a few millimetres every day and leave
it in over night to burn some more before setting it in motion
again the next morning. It’s up to you, slow or fast? The truth or
a lie?”