Ch. 11..15: The Alpha Contract Chapter 11-15

Chapter 0011

Dane

"Did anyone have a clue?" I demand as I watch my sleeping mate. She was out cold and likely would be for some time. Raven had gone as far as stitching her up once she was certain the tie had been severed and Neah's body had been pumped full of drugs.

'Someone's head is going to roll!' Aero growls

"No." Eric replies. "Surely if Neah was mated, she wouldn't have left Moonshine so easily."

"But she didn't though, did she?! She practically collapsed at the door."

"I thought you said that was because she had never left? You said a combination of fear and illness."

I turn around to see him leaning against the wall, studying me. He was the only one I had confided in, telling him what Aero had said about Neah being our mate.

"Maybe he was nearby." He shrugs his shoulders at me as my eyes shift to my sister.

She was staring into her coffee, trying to not draw attention to herself, but the silence told me she knew something. The girl barely stay silent for more than a few minutes "Spit it out!" I snap at her.

'Why the fuck is it always Raven?' Aero prowls around the back of my mind. I already knew he wanted to have it out with Raven's Wolf, Midnight

"I don't know anything." Raven keeps her eyes low

"Raven! I nearly killed her by kissing her because of this stupid fucking blood tie! A blood tie can only exist if she has a mate that is still alive."

"Okay, okay. You don't need to go all Alpha on me. She had a mate. All I know is that he rejected her."

"Are you certain?"

She nods her head.

"Did she accept?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry, talking about it made me think of Salem okay. I kind of went off talking about why he rejected me, okay! If I had known that was the reason for this, then I would have questioned her more." "Come on Dane, you know she is telling the truth." Eric mutters. He moves next to me and peers in through the window at Neah. "I'm more interested to know how she knew she was mated." "What?"

"You said she was bound, right?" Eric frowns

I hadn't even thought about it. I had been too wrapped up in the blood tie news. "She shouldn't have been able to scent him." I mutter, "How could she have known?"

Sitting by Neah's bedside, I watch her in silence, trying to choose the words I wanted to say. There was a lot of information to unpack, though I already knew it would be too much for her to handle at once.

In the bright lights of the hospital, she looked a little better, her skin wasn't as dull and her eyes no longer appeared so sunken.

Raven appears regularly to check her and to check the newly stitched wound. Each check up, she would apologise to me, telling me that she never meant to keep it a secret and that she hadn't thought much of it. Because in her words, who creates a blood tie when they have rejected their mate. Which just adds to the list of questions I have for Neah.

It's almost one in the morning before her eyes open.

She groans and tries to sit up, freezing when she sees me. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

Her blue eyes flash around the room. "I've caused problems. I didn't.... Ow." She holds a hand to her stomach and lies back down.

"Raven stitched you up. It's probably going to be uncomfortable for a little while."

She blinks back tears, "Am I in trouble?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"The pain came on so quickly."

"No Neah, I'm talking about your mate. Why didn't you tell me that you were already mated?"

She drags her teeth over her bottom lip as she closes her eyes. "He rejected me. He forced me to accept his rejection. He...." she hesitates as she peers though slits at me.

Chapter 0012"He beat you?" I finish her sentence

She only moves her head slightly, but she confirms my question. "Who?"

"Beta Kyle." She whispers

'But she's ours now, right?' Aero grumbles in a panic

'Let me finish!" I snap at him.

"How did you know that prick was your mate?" I study her face.

"I don't know. I could smell him." she screws her face up. "He was the first person I scented since I was a kid. I don't know how or why. But he was so angry. So disgusted." Neah hugs herself as she looks up at the lights in the ceiling. "He hated me and I paid for it." 'She could scent him?' Aero mutters. 'How if she was bound?'

'I'm getting to that if you will just be quiet for five minutes.'

"How old were you?"

"It was my eighteenth." She keeps her voice quiet and sighs.

"And he was the one who did that to you?"

She looks at her stomach and shakes her head. "Luna Cassandra......I think" She pauses, pressing her pink lips into a thin line. "Was it badly infected?"

"You don't need to worry about it anymore. The problem has been dealt with. It will heal properly this time."

Rising to my feet, I was about to tell her to get some rest. But I couldn't help myself. "Why could you scent him?"

"I don't know. I swear." She shakes her head. "They bound me for a second time after that. I haven't been able to heal since."

I wanted to push for more answers, but I could see she was exhausted even after all the rest she has had.

"Get some sleep. I will be back in the morning."

Leaving the hospital, I find Eric hovering outside, just as I had asked.

""She awake?"

Nodding, "She answered some of my questions. But I'm letting her get some rest until the morning. Eric, she has been bound not once but twice."

"Twice? Are you sure?" He looks puzzled

"I heard it from her own mouth."

"She must carry some fucking powerful Alpha blood if she needed binding twice."

"She is possibly more powerful than Trey. What other reason could there be that would make them treat her like this other than fear? Why else would they set her up for the death of her parents?

I don't sleep. Neah had only slept in the bed for one night and it already felt odd to not have her here. By six in the morning, I was back sitting beside her bed in the hospital. Watching and waiting for her to open her eyes.

She groans first, stretching a little before opening her eyes. I see how she panics before quickly remembering where she is too.

""Hospital?" she whispers, looking for confirmation.

"Yes." I watch her as she pushes herself up on the bed, ignoring her pain and I wondered how many times she had to do that while living in Moonshine. I wondered if she had ever gotten a break. If Trey and the others just let her be for a single night. Neah pulls her top up, studying her own stitches with a frown. "She made the wound bigger." She mumbles.

"Raven had too. At some point between Cassandra injuring you and me bringing you here. Kyle, blood tied himself to you."

"He what?" She ask confused. She really didn't know much about our kind at all.

"Blood tie. It can be a mate thing. It doesn't have to be."

"I.... I accepted. H...h....he wanted me to accept the rejection. I did." She stutters

"I think because you were still bound to a certain degree, that the rejection didn't work properly. Or at least not how it should."

'She's our mate!' Aero roars inside of my head. 'He's not having her. I won't let him. I will kill the entire Moonshine pack if it means that she gets to stay with us!'

'Trust me, there is no way she is going back to them.'

Chapter 0013

Neah

It was a lot to take in. First the Blood of Wolfsbane and pack runs. Now a blood tie and still sort of being mated to Beta Kyle.

Flashing my eyes up to Alpha Dane, I lower them immediately. He was staring straight at me.

"I swear." I whisper again. "I swear I don't know what you are talking about."

"And that is the most frustrating thing, Neah. I know you don't have a clue what I'm talking about."

I wanted to ask why he was so angry, instead, I keep the question to myself.

"I don't ever want to be near Beta Kyle." I mumble and from the corner of my eye, I see his face relax, there was almost a hint of a smile on the corners of his lips.

"Good, I have no intention of giving you back." He rises from his seat. "Raven has said you can come back to the house. Are you up for walking or would you prefer I carried you?" ""I can walk." I mutter

Slipping out of the bed, I straighten myself up, only to feel a long sharp pain rip through my stomach.

"Are you sure?" Alpha Dane asks.

I nod my head, I had been through worse. I had worked through worse. But he seemed almost disappointed that I was putting a barrier between us.

He lets me take my time. Not saying anything even when I stop because the pain is so bad. They had said it would take a while for it to heal completely, but how long was a while? Stopping again, I glance back over my shoulder and realise I was barely fifteen metres from the hospital and still had a long way to go to get to the pack house.

Alpha Dane moves in front of me, "Let me help."

"It's.... I can do it."

"Neah," His rough fingers gently tip my chin up to look at him. "I can see that you are in a lot of pain. Just let me help."

He does that thing, where he changes the tone of his voice to basically tell me that it wasn't optional. Reluctantly, I nod and he wastes no time in sweeping me off my feet.

He is pleased with himself as he carries me through the house and into the bedroom. But he doesn't put me down on my feet, he puts me straight into bed.

"As I said, this is going to take some time to heal. Blood ties are not the easiest thing to dissolve. The pain you are feeling now will likely increase."

"Increase?" Surely it couldn't get much worse.

He sits next to me, his crimson eyes lock on mine and a shiver runs down my spine. "Usually yes, but given that you were unaware of the tie and the fact you are still bound. I don't know how it will affect you." "Why would he do it? Why would Beta Kyle do this after making me accept his rejection?"

"That is something I am still trying to figure out. As for calling him Beta, stop. He doesn't deserve that title and neither does your brother deserve to be an Alpha."

I was a nobody, it was my duty to call them by their titles. It as disrespectful to call them by their names.

"Tell me; when you found out that he was your mate. Did you hope it would change things for you?"

I shake my head, still remembering the hate that was in Beta Kyle's eyes. "It was a nightmare."

"Did your brother know?"

I shake my head. "I don't think so."

Alpha Dane just nods his head, he suddenly reaches out a hand and I flinch. I hadn't flinched in so long. I had learned to control it because flinching means a worse beating. Alpha Dane pauses, and then slowly reaches up to my hair and pulls something from it. He shows me a little feather.

"Get some rest. I will check on you in a little bit." He flicks on a screen on the wall opposite the bed and hands me the remote. "I'm sure you will find something you like."

I didn't have the energy to tell him that I had never watched television. It just made my life sound even more depressing.

Alone, I slowly get out of bed and make my way towards one of the big windows and sit in the big comfy chair while trying to ignore the pain in my stomach.

Sitting and mulling over everything I had been told, I couldn't make any sense of it. Why would Beta Kyle continue to beat me if he knew we were still connected? Or maybe that was why, maybe he was so disgusted by it, but then why would he force a blood tie on me, what did he hope to gain from it?

I watch as Alpha Dane appears outside. He walks like he is on some kind of mission and a few moments later, Jenson and Eric come from another direction, meeting Alpha Dane almost directly in front of the window.

The three of them have a quick conversation and then disappear into the trees, out of sight. I wondered where they were going, so I just watch, waiting for them to come back.

Chapter 0014

"You are supposed to be in bed, not sleeping in a chair." Alpha Dane's voice is quiet as he slides his arms under me and moves me back to the bed. He pulls the blanket up over me, but I try to sit up.

"Sleeping will help you get over this quicker." He gently pushes against my shoulders, trying to get me to lie back down.

"No." I push back against him. "Somethings wrong."

"I told you your wound will hurt for a while."

"No." I mutter sleepily. I couldn't even make sense of what I wanted to say. "It's a trick." I mumble. "I think it's a trick."

"A trick?"

I nod my head but my tired eyes remain closed as I fight the sleep demons to tell Alpha Dane my idea.

"Get some sleep, we will talk about it when you feel better." He orders

When I woke, I made myself get out of the bed, there was no way I was letting myself get all sleepy again before I had a chance to explain myself.

Splashing water on my face, I stare at my reflection in the mirror. My blue eyes were a little brighter and my skin no longer looked as dull.

"You're awake." Alpha Dane mutters, making me jump. I hadn't heard him come in.

He walks right up behind me, his eyes locked on to mine in the mirror as I feel the heat that his body produces.

"How are you feeling?" He asks as his hands move to my hips.

I feel my own temperature increase as my neck and my face turn pink. His fingers creep under my top slipping inside the waistband of my joggers, edging into my panties as his lips meet my neck and I let out a quiet moan. "Neah?"

My eyes snap open to Alpha Dane who is standing over me

"You really should be sleeping in the bed, not the chair." He mutters.

It was just a dream. Just a dream. But the dream didn't hide the fact that he could probably smell my arousal. So I clamp my thighs together.

"Do you need help?" He asks

"No!" I blurt out a little too loudly and he cocks a brow at me.

"I was only offering to help you get to the bed." I see the small smirk on his lips. He could smell me.

I lower my gaze. "I like to sit here, I like to watch." I mutter, trying to keep the topic off of my dream. "It's different."

"Different?"

"You don't expect me to do anything. You are letting me sleep for as long as I need. And the food...... It's just different." I couldn't explain it any more than that but he nodded anyway. "Not everyone is a bastard." He tells me as he changes his black tee to a red shirt.

He turns back to face me as he fastens his buttons. I was right when I first noticed no ink. Not a single tattoo could be seen, it was strange. Everyone in Moonshine was covered in them. "Yes?" He asks

"Nothing."

"Neah, I may not have known you for long, but I know when you have a question to ask. Ask!"

"You have no tattoos."

"That's not a question." "Why?"

"They're not really my style. I know others have them to show their dominance or to show they belong to a pack. But I'm sure you will agree that I don't need them." He points to his crimson eyes. "These are enough to show my position in the world." He was right, I had never seen another Wolf with eyes like his. Though I thought it was some kind of trick, contact lenses or something.

"Trick." I mutter out louder

"I can assure you that these are my eyes."

"No." I shake my head. "No, I was thinking about everything you told me before I fell asleep. The blood tie and still being partly mated."

His eyes narrow when I say 'partly mated.'

"What if it is a trick? You said blood ties allow the mate to walk around freely in the other's pack. Raven told me that Moonshine had never been heard of and you said the blood tie was recent."

He is just staring at me.

"You told me that some of your other brides had been snooping. I haven't." I add when I look up at him. "Could they get in, undetected because of the blood tie with me?"

It was probably the most I had spoken in one go since being here.

"It's a good idea, but no. You would have to be a member of my pack officially for that to work."

"Officially? You mean if you mark me?" I ask quietly. He had mentioned it but had said no more since.

"If I mark you." Alpha Dane confirms. "But I can't do that while you have a mate out there. You think the blood tie pain is bad, it's nothing in comparison to being marked by one yet mated to another. It will kill you."

Chapter 0015

It was a surprise that she had said so much. More than a sentence and she would usually clam up. Maybe she was finally relaxing enough to feel she could talk more freely.

'You still haven't told her we could smell her arousal.' Aero mutters

'I don't need to. I'm pretty certain she has already put two and two together. The rosy skin was a give away.' I know he is desperate to have her, to claim her. Just as I was, but we had a new problem. Kyle.

If I marked her, I would watch her die and there would be nothing I could do about it. Neah would be in so much pain as her body burned from the inside out. I'm cruel, but the Moon Goddess's rules were on another level.

Her eyes hover on my face, slightly off focus. I knew she was fighting back tears again as she replayed my words in her head.

Out of all my brides, she was the only one who surprised me.

'Because she isn't brain washed like the others.' Aero muses.

'No, but her awareness of our world is limited.' I mutter back as Neah wipes away a stray tear.

"Are you going to take me back?" She asks in a whisper

"Why would I do that?"

"Y... You said that you couldn't mark me."

"Yet. I can't mark you yet." I rise to my feet and turn away from her. "Get some more sleep, Neah. I promise you it will help with the healing process."

"Are you leaving?"

"I'm just going to see someone about unbinding you. You won't be alone. Eric and Raven will be in the house if you need anything."

Meeting my brother in the foyer, he cocks an eyebrow at me. "Bit smart for a meeting with a witch."

"She wants us to meet her in a high profile place." I look up and down at his jeans and hoodie, "I don't want to bring more attention to myself than needed. I suggest you go and change."

He returns ten minutes later in a grey shirt and deep blue jeans. "Better." I mutter

The driver is standing next to the limo with the door wide open. I give him the name of the restaurant and he bobs his head.

"Do you actually think she can help us?" Jenson asks as the door is closed on us.

"It's a long shot. Even if she can't, maybe she knows someone who can help Neah."

"You really like this one, don't you?"

My eyes flicker up to him. He had been warned one too many times about bringing up the women I was interested in.

He zips his lips shut, pretending to throw away the key.

The restaurant is buzzing and we are shown to a table where an older woman is already sitting, drinking a martini. Her gold bangles rattled as she moved her arms. A purple scarf covered her hair and matched her long dress. "Alpha Dane." She greets me with a smile. "It has been a long time."

"Madame Curie. Thank you for agreeing to meet us." I watch how she drowns her drink so I offer to get another.

"No need, but tell your brother to sit down. He is drawing an awful lot of attention to himself."

'JENSON!' I link him and he silently slides into the booth.

"Now tell me more about this girl." Madame Curie asks

"She's my bride, as I mentioned on the phone."

"Yes, but why are you coming to see me? Have you chosen a human, is that the problem?"

"No, no, she is definitely a Wolf, it's just her abilities have been bound."

"Twice." Jenson mutters

"Twice?" Madame Curie asks. She leans back in the seat. "Is this why you want to meet me, you believe I have something to do with it?"

"No, not at all. I was hoping you would know of a way to unbind her."

"There is a way, yes. It won't be easy, but tell me. Why was she bound?"

I look around, dropping my voice. "She was accused of killing her parents. But she was just six. Then she was bound again when they realised she could scent her mate."

She taps her long nails on the table. And smiles "Strong Alpha blood must run through her veins. So I assume you want her to have her wolf to break the bond with her mate?"

"It's a little more complicated than that, but yes."

She purses her lips as she studies me. "It can be done, but it will cost."

"Give me a number."

She puts her elbows on the table and rubs her knuckles. "One million."

Jenson spits his drink out all over the table. "Bro, you can't be serious. Not just for some girl. You can go out and choose another mate."

"Shut up!" I snap at him.

Locking eyes with Madame Curie. I nod, "Done, you unbind her. You will get your money."

She bobs her head and rises from her seat. "Just one thing, Alpha Dane, as it will help. Which pack is the girl from?"

""Moonshine."

She freezes and the colour drains from her tanned skin. "The deal is off Alpha Dane. I wish you luck, but I cannot help you." She backs away into the crowd of people and disappears from sight.