Ch. 21..25: The Alpha Contract Chapter 21-25

0021

Dane

Centuries of recorded research and there was nothing to describe the beast that had tried attacking my pack. I slam the laptop shut just as Jenson makes his way into the office.

"Have you seen your mate?" He asks with a bemused expression and drops down into a chair, sticking his feet up on my desk.

"Yes." Raven had already made me aware that Neah was having some kind of meltdown about going out the front door, but I had decided to keep my distance. There were just some things she would have to figure out for herself. "Why?" "I'm just surprised that you have left her alone."

"She isn't alone," I smack his feet off my desk, "What do you want, Jenson?"

"I thought we were heading over to Moonshine."

"Plans have changed."

"Well thanks for telling me!" He rolls his eyes.

'Does he always have to make it about him?' Aero grumbles

"I've been a little preoccupied. As you should be." I snap at my brother

"The forest has been checked. There is no sign of anything else. What do you want me to do?" He shrugs, unphased. "We are well trained. We have dealt with other creatures and if more of those things come, we will deal with them too."

He was so optimistic. But that was how he had always been. Even when I caught him in bed with my first bride. He had been completely and utterly unbothered. And strangely enough, that is what made him the perfect Gamma. He was able to keep such a level head that he could see problems where others couldn't.

"If it puts you at ease, I will up the number of Wolves on duty." He mutters when I don't say anything.

"Do you think it was here for her?" It was already a growing suspicion that I had. The breaking of the blood tie, what Madame Curie had said and now something like that turns up, it couldn't just be a coincidence. Nothing in my life was ever a coincidence. "Neah? No, I mean, I don't want to sound rude, but she isn't exactly anyone special is she? She is just someone that you happened to have found and added to a contract. Just like all the others."

'She is not someone we just found!' Aero snarls in my head. 'She is our mate. Tell him if he puts another hand on her, I will be the one to bite it off.'

I smile at Aero's words.

"Is he saying something?" Jenson asks. "Is Aero talking about me?"

"He just wants to remind you of the importance of keeping your hands to yourself."

There was a flicker of grey in my brother's dark eyes, his wolf Aspen was close to the surface.

Aspen had been desperate to challenge my Wolf Aero for years, but he knew he didn't stand a chance. Yet it still doesn't stop him from pushing and it was always fun to let him try. Deep down, he knew he didn't have the strength or power to beat us. The grey fades and Jenson stares at me with his dark eyes. "If we are not going tonight, what do you want me to do?"

'Tell him to shove his head up his own arse!' Aero muses

"See if you can gain a location on Madame Curie."

"Seriously? Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier."

I roll my eyes at him, "You saw how she reacted. She knows something. Just see what you can dig up."

"Fine."

He heads out of the office as I stand at the window, watching Raven and Neah throwing snowballs at each other. Both of them laughing and smiling as they ran around. I feel my own heart skip a beat at seeing the happiness on my mates face. After a few minutes, Neah suddenly collapses on the floor and is holding her hand to her chest.

I was out the window and tearing towards them before I had a chance to think.

"Neah, Neah, what happened?!"

"You really need to chill out." Raven snorts. "She's just out of breath. She doesn't have her Wolf back yet. She can't keep going for hours and hours like we can. Talk about an overreaction!"

"She's right." Neah mutters breathlessly. "I'm fine."

"Then that's enough for today." I pull Neah up off the ground. "You need to change, you are soaked."

Neah nods and makes her way back inside.

"I was trying to get her to have some fun." Raven mutters as she folds her arms over her chest.

"I see that now."

"You are worried about her, aren't you?" My sister questions. "She's not always going to be injured or thrashing about in pain. If she wasn't allowed to do anything at Moonshine, she just isn't going to have the standard fitness levels of other Wolves. It will take time." Her dark eyes linger on my face and she sighs, "But you have something else on your mind, don't you?"

She was my only sister, but also the only one in the pack that knew when something else was bothering me. "This isn't about her being out of breath, is it?"

"No."

"Do you want to talk about it?" She offers with a small smile.

"No, not until I know more." I return her smile hoping it would reassure her, "Nothing to worry about."

"I may be a few years younger than you and you may have raised Jenson and I after our parents were killed. But it's been a long time since I was a child. Maybe I can help."

"Just keep an eye on Neah when I'm not around."

She nods her head before turning and walking in the direction of the hospital.

'Now you!' I snap at Aero. 'Don't fucking do that again!'

'I'm sorry. I panicked. You would be pissed if we hadn't done anything.' He moans, 'I had to make sure she was okay."

My control over him was usually strong, but in that moment, when we saw her collapse, he took over.

I find Neah in the bedroom. A blanket wrapped tightly around her upper body and she had changed out of the jeans and into some grey joggers. The blanket hid her top, but I assume she has changed out of that too.

"I'm okay. I swear." She mutters as soon as she sees me.

"Good."

"Are you mad?"

"No. Yes, but not with you." I tell her and she just stares at me with her big blue eyes. She was definitely growing more comfortable with looking directly at me and I didn't mind.

She sits on the bed and the blanket slips from her shoulders, revealing one of my tees. "I....I was trying to go outside by myself. I....I wasn't trying to run." she stutters.

"I know, Raven told me."

She presses her lips together and nods her head. Taking the chair, I watch her reposition the blanket on her shoulders. She shuffled herself further back on the bed so she could sit cross legged.

I wanted to rip the clothes and the blanket from her and bury myself deep inside of her. The thoughts were getting harder and harder to ignore, which I was certain that Aero had something to do with. Thankfully, the idea of it killing her was what was holding me back. 'The sooner we kill Kyle, the better.' Aero's voice rumbles through my head

Chapter 0022

Neah drops her eyes, her fingers fidget with the edge of the blanket as she waits for me to say something.

'She's like a forbidden fruit.' Aero muses. 'So close and yet so far away. Are you sure it will hurt her?'

I hear the desperation in his tone. I knew how he felt because I felt my own urges anytime her blue eyes locked with mine. It wasn't just Aero that wanted her. I wanted to feel the satisfaction of knowing she was mine.

'Until her matebond with Kyle is truly broken, we have to wait.' I tell Aero

It wasn't what Aero wanted to hear and it wasn't what I wanted to admit.

'You truly believe she is our mate? Destined to be with us and no one else?' I ask

'I feel it in my bones.' Aero mutters smugly

"You...You haven't said anything?" Neah whispers. Her eyes are still low.

Even her little stutter had me turned on.

"I have a few errands to run," I say as I stand up

She bobs her head and as usual, doesn't question me. However, I do feel her eyes on me as I walk out the door.

Moving through the house, I could hear my brother arguing with Eric.

"You can't be serious, Eric!" My brother hollers

"I am deadly serious." Eric snaps back. "You think just because you are Dane's brother, I will let you get away with crap. Well not this time. It's not happening. Regardless of who you are, I outrank you!"

"Come on, Eric, I will make it up to you."

I frown.

'What the fuck has he done now?' Aero groans

'You know Jenson, he has probably lured Eric's partner into bed.'

Pushing the door open, I glare at my brother. "What the hell have you done now?"

"Go ahead." Eric snarls, "Tell him!"

"It was ages ago." My brother pleads. "We got drunk, okay. That was it, just one night. It never happened again." His dark eyes flash to me and I knew immediately that I had been right.

"Seriously? You slept with Kelsie? What the fuck is wrong with you?" I snap

Eric and Kelsie had been together since they were thirteen, they had two kids together. Maybe it wasn't his hands that needed cutting off.

Aero laughs at the thought.

Eric was livid even though he hid it well. Eric's eyes flash at me. "Tell me you are not going to let him get away with this?!"

I loved my brother, but he was out of control.

"Jenson." I mutter coldly.

"I know, I'm temporarily grounded. Won't leave the house unless accompanied by you or Eric."

"No, not this time. You have had warning after warning and you don't change. To you it is all fun and games." I keep all of my emotions out of my tone. "So I will give you a choice."

He stares at me with his dark eyes.

"Banishment or....."

My eyes flash to Eric's, he knew what was coming next and even he was surprised by it.

"Or what?" Jenson asks.

"Death." I state clearly.

His jaw drops open. "Are you actually serious? I'm your brother. You raised me and Raven. I will change. I won't do it again."

"Clearly I did not raise you well enough!"

"All because I slept with his other half?" Jenson scowls.

"But it's not just Kelsie, is it? What about all of my brides that you slept with? What about all the women that you have bedded that belong to someone else. It's almost as if it is a challenge for you. To have the women that are already taken. Enough is enough, Jenson. As I said, you have had warning after warning and you have still tried to hit on my bride."

"Bullshit!" He is on his feet. His eyes turning grey. If Aspen wanted a fight, Aero was right here and ready for him.

"Really? What is the comment you made about Neah being family? Implying that she is to be shared! Raven tells me everything, Jenson. If you want to chase women that don't belong to you, go elsewhere and do it. Mess with the fucking humans for all I care. "Better yet, leave and take Kelsie with you." Eric snaps

"You want me to take your boys?" He asks with a cocked brow.

"No, just her." Eric growls

"Bro, you can't do this!" Jenson pleads with me

"Eric isn't the first to tell me this. I have a list as long as my arm. Now your time is up, what do you choose?"

Chapter 0023

Jenson shakes his head, his dark eyes wide in shock. "I will leave." He mutters. "I just.... I just need a few hours to pack my stuff." He mutters in shock "Supervise him!" I tell Eric.

"Not a problem."

Eric follows Jenson from the office as I link Raven.

'Are you free?' The news would be better coming from me.

'Sure, where?'

'Office.'

'On my way.' She chirps happily

'She isn't going to be happy.' Aero states what I already know.

'And that's why it is better coming from us.'

Raven is quick to appear. She's her usual happy self which means that Jenson was yet to link her.

"Is this about Neah?"

"No. Your brother has been up to his usual tricks."

"You said this isn't about Neah."

"It's not. It turns out that Jenson slept with Kelsie."

"Are you serious?" Her dark eyes are wide. "Why the hell would he do that?"

"It was some time ago, but has only come to light recently. Raven, he has chosen to be banished."

"You're banishing our brother, my twin?"

"It's gone on long enough. He has been given warning after warning and he still doesn't change. Do you know how many complaints I receive every day because of what he does? I can't fault that he is an excellent Gamma, but sadly, his abilities no longer outweigh his activities."

She folds her arms, "Crap. Where is he going to go?"

"I don't know."

"You mean you don't care!"

"Of course I care about my brother, Raven. But there are only so many warnings I can give him. If it had been anyone else, they would have been long gone and you know as well as I do, that he has taken advantage of being my brother."

She slowly nods her head and sighs, "I understand."

'She's taking it alot better than I thought she would.' Aero mumbles and I agreed, but then again, for twins, they weren't exactly the closest.

"You can stay in touch if you feel the need. You are his twin, I will not hold that against you. But from this day forward, he is no longer a member of this pack. That means not giving him information, not telling him of mine or anyone's location. No filling him in on any attacks. You tell him nothing. Understood?"

She nods.

"Raven, I need to hear you say it."

"I understand. I will not in any circumstances give him information."

"Good. I believe he is in his room packing if you want to say your goodbyes."

She doesn't say anything as she leaves.

'She will get over it.' Aero mutters, 'We have to do what's right for the pack.'

I wasn't a complete arsehole. I gave him keys to a car and handed him enough money that should see him through for a few months until he figures things out. But essentially, he was on his own because no other pack would take him.

"You made the right call." Eric tells me as we watch the black car disappear from sight.

"I know. It's been a long time coming."

"Would you have killed him if he had said death?"

"I don't know." If it had been anyone else, yes, I would have done, but could I have gone as far as ending my brother's life? Who knows. "What about Kelsie? She didn't leave with him."

"She's trying to use our sons as a reason for us to stay together. Fifteen years we have been together, and she throws it away on fucking Jenson."

He looks up at the house where we both could see Neah sat in the chair by the bedroom window. "Good job you got him out before he got to her."

And in that moment, I realise that is all it would have taken for me to kill Jenson, finding out he had fucked my mate.

"Have you told her yet?" Eric asks.

"About?"

"Her being your mate, obviously."

"It's complicated." I sigh

"It's a little unfair to not tell her, considering you made her part of the contract."

"She's still mated to someone else."

"You do want her, right? I mean surely you wouldn't have brought her here if you didn't want her."

"I want her, but I also need her to want me and not just because of some fucking matebond."

Chapter 0024

In the kitchen, I find Raven shovelling food in her mouth. Her dark eyes were tearful and her face blotchy from holding back the tears.

"Aren't you supposed to be in your room!" She snaps at me

"I was.... I'm hungry and um.... Alpha Dane said that if I ever was, I could... help myself." I stutter. Raven had never been short tempered with me. "Are you okay?" I ask quietly.

"Jenson has been banished." she splutters and the tears break free.

"Oh," I puff out my cheeks as I think of some words of reassurance, but all I could come up with was an apology.

Her dark eyes linger on my face. "It's not because of you. It's because he is an idiot. I warned him so many times that Dane would only put up with it for so long. And I'm trying not to cry, but Midnight is grieving for her twin and I can't control it." "Your wolf?" I couldn't remember if it was her or Alpha Dane who had told me the name of her Wolf.

"Yes, because not only are Jenson and I twins, the Wolves we were gifted by the Moon Goddess are twins too. Midnight knows it was his own fault but still she sobs."

Slipping into a seat opposite her, I frown. I didn't understand the separate Wolf thing. None of Moonshine had them, well not that I knew of. But then, it wasn't like they told me anything.

"Can I ask you something?"

"As long as it's not about Jenson."

"Is it normal to have another voice, your Wolf, like living inside your head?"

She tilts her head to one side as she stares at me. "We all have one. Well, not you, but we all have one. When we shift, they take over and we become a voice to them. It's a spiritual thing. Surely you know that."

I had already sort of mentioned it to Dane, but alot was going on and I hadn't brought it up again.

"It's just, all of you here talk about them. My brother never did, in fact I never heard of anyone referring to their Wolf at Moonshine. Is that weird?"

"Super fucking weird. If they have a Wolf that is anything like Midnight, who doesn't ever stop talking, you would soon know about it. Have you told Dane?"

"Sort of, I haven't discussed it because...." I look down at my stomach "and then there was an attack and now he seems to be avoiding me."

"I'm telling you, Neah. That is really weird and Midnight wants to know if you have ever seen their Wolves."

I shake my head.

"You saw us shift and take down that beast. Are you really saying you have seen nothing like that at Moonshine?"

"My brother had a rule. Shifting was to be kept in the woods."

"You need to tell Dane." She shoves a bit more food in her mouth.

Raven sees my hesitation and offers to come with me. "It's better that he knows everything you know. And I'm sorry I snapped at you." She gives me a small smile.

She links Alpha Dane for me and asks him to meet us in his office.

We were waiting almost thirty minutes before he appeared. The waiting made me panic more. It was a reminder of some of the abuse I had received from Moonshine. Sometimes, when I knew it was coming, they would make me wait, tormenting me further. "Even I can smell your panic. And I am not an Alpha." Raven mutters

"I thought my scent was weird."

"It is, which means your panic levels are stupidly high. You need to relax."

The door swings open and Alpha Dane strides in. "You wanted to talk." His voice was still cold and normally he would be watching me, instead his eyes are on Raven.

Chapter 0025

"Neah needs to tell you something." She smirks at him

"So why are you here?" He replies

"Support."

He snorts at the word.

"I....." I take a deep breath. "I told you my brother never spoke of his Wolf."

"You lied to me?" He interrupts me.

"No. Nothing like that. I didn't realise that everyone has a Wolf that is someone else."

His eyes shift to me and he cocks a brow.

"I thought, when you talked about Aero, it was an Alpha thing. I....." I glance over to Raven who gestures to keep going. "I didn't know it was everyone." "And now you do?!"

"I never saw them at Moonshine."

"You never saw them?" He asks curiously

I shake my head and tell him what I had told Raven.

"No one talked about their Wolf? No one ever shifted in front of you?"

I shake my head. I knew how stupid it sounded. I grew up in a Wolf pack but had never seen a shift, not until the attack here.

"It's weird, right?" Raven asks

"Never?" He asks me again

"I never thought about it. I didn't need to. My job was to clean and be beaten." I didn't mean to say the last bit, it just slipped out.

There is a flash of anger on his face. "Being beaten is not a job."

For a moment, the room was silent and all I could hear was my own heartbeat pulsing through my body.

"My brother had a rule. Shifting was only allowed beyond the trees." I shrug my shoulders. "I never went in the trees."

Alpha Dane closes his crimson eyes. "They never shifted even when they.....hurt you?"

"No."

His eyes flash open. "Then it looks like we will be going to Moonshine after all. Raven, go find Eric, tell him to round up the best."

"We are attacking?" She mutters

"Possibly." His eyes settle on me. "You are coming too, Neah."

Alpha Dane tells me to change into something more appropriate than joggers and a tee. I change into a pair of black jeans and pull on a pair of combat boots. He walks into the bedroom just as I pull a sweatshirt over my head.

He doesn't say anything about the clothes I have chosen as he grabs his jacket from the closet. The same one he had the day I first met him.

"Ready?"

"I....I think so?"

"Good, the cars are waiting."

"What about the snow?"

He stops to look at me. "The snow isn't that deep, but that's not what you're really worried about, is it?"

I shake my head

"I'm not taking you back. I'm taking you to piss them off." He smiles at me

I open my mouth to say something but close it again and take a deep breath, giving him a small smile.

"Do you think you will get the answers you are looking for?"

"I'm not leaving until I do!"

I follow him as we head out of the house. Several large vehicles were lined up with people already getting in them. Except the vehicle at the front which was the limo I had already ridden in. The driver stood next to the car, holding the door open. "They will follow us so far, and will hang back, but will be close enough to attack if your brother doesn't cooperate." Alpha Dane mutters. "We don't want to appear as if we are planning to attack."

I watch Beta Eric get into the limo first.

"And you won't be left alone with anyone." Alpha Dane adds

While I sit in silence, the men have an open conversation about the plan. Every so often, I could feel eyes on me but neither ask me any questions.

"Well, it's not abandoned." Beta Eric mutters as he looks out the window.

I look out of my window and see the people that had taken great joy in beating me.