Ch. 211..215: The Alpha Contract Chapter 211-215

Chapter 0211

I grab the changing bag and launch it at Damien. Charging past him, I race out of the bedroom and down the stairs, coming to a complete stop on the bottom step. There in the doorway was someone who looked exactly like me, except the eyes. Her eyes are brown.

She smiles and shoves her hand out as Dane steps back. "You are Neah, right. I'm Blair."

I keep my mouth closed. Six months it had taken her to get here, but she doesn't sound anything like what Damien had described. He had said she was all in leather. Heals like a stripper. I had to look that up because I hadn't known what he meant.

But now she stood in front of me, in trainers and loose fitting jeans. A sweatshirt that was far too big for her. Almost like she was trying to look like me.

"I don't know you." I mutter, refusing to take her hand.

"Father never spoke of me? How rude." Her brows knit together in frustration. "I'm your half sister. We share the same father."

I couldn't sense her. Yet it was the one thing Dane and Damien had suggested that seemed to be coming true. Though one of the good things I remember is how much my parents loved each other. "No." I state confidently. "I'm an only child."

Her shoulders drop. "Mother did warn me that he probably kept me a secret. I never actually thought he did." She rolls her eyes and takes a step forward. Yet she hadn't actually been invited in yet. She opens her mouth to speak.

"How did you get past security anyway? And where is Jenson?" I demand before she follows up with some other crap.

She shrugs her shoulders. "I'm guessing they thought I was you." She flaps her finger between us, "and I haven't seen Jenson for a few months now."

"Liar."

"I'm just here to talk. Can you at least hear me out?" Mallory had used that same exact line.

I look at Dane, hoping that he would decide no, but all I hear are his words telling me that it was my choice.

"Outside." I snap

"Afraid I will hurt those twins of yours?" She smirks at me

Rage screams through me. How dare she think she has the right to mention my sons. Every fibre of my being was drenched in the need to rip her heart from her chest.

Danes hand slips into mine. I knew what he was doing. His warmth spreads through me, trying to soften the tension that revealed itself.

She grins at me, but the grin doesn't meet her eyes. They may be the only thing that separated us, but at least mine didn't look dead.

Taking a deep breath, I stare at her. "Jenson told you about them." He had learned that they were Lycans just before he left. "What else did he tell you about?" 'She's luring you in.' Nyx mutters softly

Blair laughs and turns away. "Are you coming?" she calls out. Dane and I follow her out the house, keeping a small distance from her.

"Daddy dearest was with my mother first." She spins around, looking up at the night sky. "It really is beautiful here. It would make a fine home."

"He fell in love but on the day mother found out she was pregnant with me, he found his mate. You see he never bothered to claim my mother. And no matter how much she begged him. And no matter how many promises he made to come back to her. He never did." "And how is that my fault?!" I snap, desperate to get back to my boys

"I'm just telling you the truth. He led her on. Telling her that he just needed to find the right moment. That was until he put you in your mother's belly..

"That's when the promises began, but the only way he could be with my mother was by rejecting his mate. because, well, I'm sure you already know what happens. in the end, he chose you."

I snort.

"That's funny to you." She scoffs

"It's hilarious." I growl. I could feel that darkness seeping further and further into my bloodstream.

"Neah." Dane whispers. I knew he could feel it too.

"So what, you're jealous? Is that it? You missed out on being raised by a father?"

"You have no idea how I watched my mother suffer."

"Have you ever been bound?" I snap. I knew my eyes were black by the way Dane was gripping my hand.

Blair's eyes narrow at me.

"Let's see. My parents bound me when I was a newborn." I somehow always became more sarcastic when I was about to shift. "Oh, and then again a couple of years later."

"You've been bound....twice?" I see how her spine straightens. So Jenson hadn't told her everything.

"No." I feel the pain in the tips of my fingers. My claws getting ready to break through the soft skin at any moment

"More... but you are...."

"I think the word you are looking for is 'alive'."

"Neah!" Dane is more demanding this time. I look at him and follow his gaze down to our interlocked hands. Claws were slowly creeping out of my fingertips. I had spent months afraid of shifting again, but I will do it for them. I will do anything to protect those boys. Dane flashes his crimson eyes at Blair. "I suggest you leave and don't come back."

Chapter 0212

He was a fucking asshole. Not once did he mention that she had the ability to control her shift. Nor did he tell me that she had been bound, more than once. I was furious as I watched thick claws grow from the tips of her fingers. Her eyes change from the soft blue Jenson

had described to pure black. I had never seen anything like it.

I can't control the fucking situation if I don't have all the information and it was bad enough that I was having to wear these shitty cheap clothes that are irritating the crap out of my skin.

Innocent. I needed to be innocent in my role. And I had screwed that up by mentioning her pups.

Too eager, I needed to reset.

I take a step back and raise my hands. "I'm sorry." I mutter. The word is like acid burning my tongue. I don't do apologies.

"Talking about what he did, riles me up." It wasn't a lie. What our father did pissed me off more than anything in the world and I desperately wanted to correct what was wrong.

"Leave!" Dane tells me. He still had a tight hold on my darling half sister.

"I'm going....I'm going." I reach into the ghastly denim jeans and pull out a small card. Tossing it on the ground between us. "If you want to know more, meet me at the time and location on the card."

I turn away. This was not part of my plan, but somehow, seeing her, had the resentment bubbling close to the surface, ready to boil over at any second. It had taken every ounce of self control to keep it under the surface. To keep my emotions buried.

Dane has someone follow me to the exit. He keeps his distance and doesn't speak. His long dark hair billowing around him in the night breeze. Ugh! I hate men with long hair.

I don't turn back when I'm outside the gates either. That would look confrontational and at the moment, I need to make them look like the bad ones.

Walking another mile, I find Jenson leaning against my Porsche, he looked so much better in a black suit. It made him look far more superior and in control than the day he walked into my life.

"That was quick." He straightens his spine

"And there is a lot of shit you didn't tell me." I stop in front of him but he keeps his beautiful dark eyes averted. Eyes that I had come to love. "We can't do this if you don't tell me everything!"

"You were supposed to get to know her. That was the plan."

"You should have told me."

"Would it have changed anything?"

I press my lips into a thin line. "How is she alive after being bound?" I snap

"I don't know." He mutters. "She has been bound four times that we know of."

"Four? You are telling me she has really been bound four times and still lives. No one should be able to survive twice."

Fucking bitch is more powerful than I realised.

"And she can control her shift?"

"She shifted?" He asks in surprise

"She started too."

He bobs his head and sucks in his cheeks. My hand launches forward, grabbing his cheeks, squeezing and forcing him to look at me. I may let him have all the control when it comes to sex. But when it comes to my life, I get exactly what I want. "I have Aspen." He murmurs through a fish pout.

"Wolf Alpha blood." I mutter, letting go of his face

He rubs his cheeks, "It's the same for her. She has a Lycan spirit inside her. Nyx."

"Are you fucking serious? Why the hell haven't you mentioned this to me?"

"I don't know. Is it important?"

"Everything is important! Does a part of you want this to fail?" I demand. He had said over and over that this is what he wants, but in my experience, if they don't tell you everything, it's because they are not ready. "Yes."

"Then you need to tell me everything. Every damn little detail. Get in the car!"

I drove back to the new apartment, it's a few miles out from the city. But closer to Black shadow.

"You got in alright." He mutters as we pull on to the main road

"You were right about one thing." I keep my eyes in front. "The guards thought I was her, but I have no intention of wearing clothes like this again." I shudder. Neah really needed to pull herself together and look the part. "What did you think?" He asks quietly

"Of Neah? I think dearest Daddy's genetics are strong." That's all I share right now as my mind works, running through possible next steps.

"Inside." I snap as I pull the car under the porch.

He rolls his eyes at me before slipping out of the car.

I sit alone for a few minutes. Why hadn't Dane let her shift? He had held onto her, sweet talking in her ear as she had stared at me.

Chapter 0213

By the time I get inside, Jenson had already poured me a glass of wine. I kick off the damn trainers. The arches of my feet are killing me from the flat footwear. Give me heels any day. I settle on the sofa as he pours himself a whisky.

"Everything. I don't care if we are up all night. I need to hear everything. She has killed, right, that's true?"

He nods. "She likes to go for the heart. She shifts to kill. She never shifts just to run or anything else. At least she never used to."

"So her plan was to kill me." I smile.

He frowns at me. "She doesn't trust people."

"Well, that's something else we have in common." I smile and take a big gulp of my wine and begin to unfasten the jeans.

He cocks an eyebrow at me.

"Oh no, honey, you're not getting any of this until you tell me everything. They are coming off because I can't stand them a moment longer!"

I sit on the sofa, letting the cool air lick my irritated thighs. Yes I would prefer to see his head between my thighs, but not until I hear every little detail about my darling half sister.

I spend hours drawing out every single thing that he knows, even asking questions that he might not know the answer too.

"She had a shitty life too. If Dane hadn't found her, she probably would have been dead months ago. She was barely hanging on to life when he brought her home."

I should feel sorry for her. Any normal person would. Maybe it was what she deserved after living my life. The funny thing is, I didn't want her dead. I just wanted her to see that everything is rightfully mine.

"I always thought that the Alpha blood came from her father, your father." He mutters, taking a swig of his own drink.

I shake my head. "He wasn't a true Alpha. Mother said he was a Beta by birth right. That he took over as Alpha when he marked Neah's mother. She was the one who carried the pure Alpha blood. It wasn't until after I was born that mother discovered the truth." He tilts his head at me.

"She thought I had Alpha blood. She tried to remind him that I was his heir first. The true heir. Turns out, I am his heir, but I'm not an Alpha."

"You want to be Alpha?" He asks quietly.

I shake my head. That was his goal, not mine. "I want her to lose everything."

"Daddy dearest didn't help mother at all. No money, no clothes for me, no help with food, nothing. He knew about me and let us suffer, all so he could raise his precious Alpha daughter. The last one of her kind."

I knew I had Daddy issues. It's what happens when you spend years watching your mother desperately pine for a man that doesn't give a shit about you or his daughter. I watched her sink into oblivion for a man that wasn't even hers because she was dumb enough to let him get her pregnant.

Then the blame shifted to me. I was the reason he never claimed her. I was the reason why he never came back to her. I was the inconvenience. I was the bastard child that trapped her. I was the one that ruined her life. Not him and his precious fucking daughter. Tears creep along my waterline and I'm mortified.

"I need a shower!" I snap, getting to my feet. "Can I join you?"

"No."

He watches me walk away. One thing he was, was always respectful of is me saying 'No'. It was rare that I said it to him, but still, it was one of the good things going for him.

The hot water hisses against my skin and those tears sneak out, tracking lines down my cheeks. Why the fuck was I crying?

Today hadn't been a complete failure. I now had all the information to help me move forward. Yet the tears keep coming.

I hear the bathroom door open and turn my face into the tiles so he couldn't see me.

"Jenson, I said no!"

"I'm staying here." He mutters, "Could you sense her?"

"No." I don't think she could sense me either. As siblings, looking alike and sharing the same father was where it ended. Maybe it was better that I couldn't sense her.

"I want to take down Dane. I want the pack to be mine. I deserve it. But Neah....." He hesitates, unsure of how to finish his statement.

"Her history makes you feel sorry for her."

"And you don't, now you know everything?" He asks

"No."

"Not even a little?"

"No." She had been beaten and abused. Blood tied and poisoned. Bound multiple times and yet she still survives. It made me despise her more because no one should have that kind of power.

Chapter 0214

Neah

"Breathe." Raven mutters

"I'm not dead am I" I snap "So I'm obviously breathing!" I stop in my tracks, realising how much of an ass I sounded.

Looking over my shoulder, I see the hurt in her eyes. She was just trying to help.

The darkness had a grip so tight on my heart that it was making it hard to think about those around me, unless it was my sons.

"I'm sorry." I mutter. Hoping she knew that I did truly mean my apology

"It's happening isn't it? You are slipping."

"I... I'm trying not to."

My eyes drift down to my fingers as I carefully feel over the tips. The growing claws had felt so bad and so good at the same time. Like a release of built up pressure. Is that how Salem felt?

"You need to talk about it. Remember what Mallory said, you need to look at the bigger picture to see that there is more than what is happening in the moment. To make it all make sense."

I roll my eyes. Mallory and her theories. Though I have to admit, they were helping a little, even if I still didn't trust her.

"So tell me again what miss lookalike said."

"Raven...."

She cocks a brow and folds her arms. "She told me we share the same father." I repeat again.

"But you don't believe that?"

"I believed Devon more than her. And look how that ended."

"Bigger picture." She mutters

"No, I don't believe it. I couldn't feel her, I couldn't sense her other than knowing what she is. It's hard to explain."

"Try." She smiles at me

"With Jess, I could feel her presence. The same with Damien and.... Mallory. With the other bitten ones. I could feel their fear when they realised they couldn't fight me and my orders. There was even a tiny bit of recognition from Salem, but her, there is nothing. She looked at me with those big brown puppy eyes but do you know what she reminded me of?"

Raven shakes her head. "The way Trey used to look at me. It wasn't even hate, it was more than that. It was like I was something he stood in and scraped off on the grass. And that's exactly what I felt when she looked at me." "What about your parents, what did she say?"

"She said something about our father choosing my mother over hers when he discovered he was mated. But it makes no sense as the one thing I do remember from my early years is that they loved each other so much." "Like how Dane loves you?"

"More." I mutter. I couldn't describe it. I just remember the feeling. Or maybe it was because I was a kid and I was seeing what I wanted to see

"So she's older than you, but you are the Alpha?"

I nod, "I don't think she is much older. Dane thinks the Alpha blood comes through on my mothers side. But they didn't care enough to tell me that before they died. Before I was set up." I hear the spite in my words and close my eyes, taking in a deep breath. 'We were set up.' Nyx adds quietly. She still wasn't sure what to think of this Blair woman either and I was glad she was keeping her thoughts to herself.

"Why did you start shifting?" Raven presses as she pulls her hair up into a bun. She was trying to make the conversation as casual as if we were talking about movies. But I was starting to see that she was testing me. Trying to find a trigger point. "I didn't know, not straight away. Dane was aware of it before I was."

The claws had retracted the moment she walked away. Dane had made Klaus follow her. And then informed everyone that if I turn up at the gates or anywhere along the boundary line, to check the eyes. If they were anything other than blue, they had to call him in. "Raven, what if I'm supposed to let this darkness take over me?"

Her dark eyes are wide as she thinks of an answer, but all she could come up with is 'I don't believe that.'

"Damien came back from that place." She adds with a small smile. I knew she secretly worried about him slipping back, every single day. Even when she didn't talk about it, I knew because Damien would appear a few minutes later. Enveloping her in his arms without saying a single word.

"But the others didn't." I wasn't trying to find a reason to turn, but to understand that it could be my future. I would rather be prepared.

She puffs out her cheeks, she doesn't have an answer and I turn the conversation back to what happened with Blair.

"I think it's because she mentioned the twins. I think that's what prompted the shifting."

"Nyx?"

'Not me.' Nyx murmurs. 'It was all you.'

I shake my head and slump into the large armchair.

"Ah, so you went mama Lycan on her."

That is a horrible term. "I probably would have killed her if Dane hadn't stopped me."

Chapter 0215

"And he stopped you because he is trying to protect you. I still don't understand the purpose of her visit." Raven scrunches up her face. "She came alone. She told you she hasn't seen my brother in months." "Dane doesn't believe that?"

She cocks her brow. "He doesn't?"

Shaking my head, I sigh, I wasn't supposed to tell her that. "He is certain he could smell him on her." Again, I had been too caught up in the ever seeping darkness to take notice of anything but my apparent half sister. The world could have been imploding around me and I would have been oblivious.

She pauses to let my words sink in and then carries on as though I never mentioned him. "Just turning up to tell you your father allegedly had an affair, I call bullshit. Damien saw her like six months ago. She was in the city. It wouldn't have been hard to find our location, even if my dipshit brother is helping her. So why has she waited all this time?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

*****

Dorothy is playing peek-a-boo with the boys. Their giggles turn into hysterical laughter as she pops up from under their high chairs. She had this amazing way with them and loved to make them laugh. Damien said she had a need to feel wanted. Something I understood too well.

She never talked about what happened to her to anyone other than Damien. If someone walked in when she was mid chatting, she would stop immediately. I was happy that she had a safe person.

There were times where I wondered if I would have turned out like her if I had been saved after my parents death rather than being forced into hell until I met Dane.

"Dottie." Damien mutters. "Please eat your breakfast."

"I'm just playing Daddy."

"You can play as much as you want when you have eaten."

She continues to pull faces at the twins as she settles on a chair at the table.

"How are you?" Damien asks while putting pancakes on Dorothy's plate.

I nod, because if I let out how I really feel, I was scared that there would be no coming back.

When breakfast is done, Raven takes the kids to go get cleaned up and dressed for the day.

I sit there, watching Damien move around the kitchen clearing up. "How did it feel?"

He pauses and slowly turns back to me. "I'm assuming you are asking me what it felt like to become Rogue."

My shoulders drop as I nod my head. He puts down his plates and sits back at the table opposite me. A crease forms between his brows.

"At first it felt right."

I snort. That was the last thing I thought he would say.

"I'm going to tell you how it is, Neah. There is no point in lying. You talk about the darkness and that's exactly what happens. It creeps in, sticking to your insides like a cancer without you knowing. There will be little flashes of it and it's always there, tightly coiling around your insides until there is no goodness left."

He leans forward to grab the juice and pours himself another glass. I'm sure right now, with this conversation, he would prefer something much stronger.

"Decisions will become darker and you won't realise until it's too late. When it finally happens, you feel free. Everything becomes easier. Life makes more sense."

"But eventually, you end up trapped. A vicious cycle, destined to achieve one goal. That life that was once freeing becomes the very bane of your existence. You have to fight it, Neah. You have to be the Alpha you are supposed to be and you can't do that if you become a Rogue." "Do you think my past has led to this?"

"Likely, yes. There is something inside of you that looks for freedom and you feel as though you are yet to find it. You need to look around you Neah. Everyone here cares about you. No one here wants to harm you. You are not beaten, you are not starved. You have a mate that adores you. You have everything going for you. Do not let one scorned woman tear you down from who you are supposed to be."

"It doesn't stop."

"It will never stop." He frowns "The darkness will always be there. It will never fade. You need to learn to channel it. But don't let it become you."

"You still fight it, even now?"

"I will for the rest of my life." He smiles, his eyes lighting up. "Raven helps, but she doesn't know how much. She's a beacon of light in the darkness and when I feel the darkness slipping. I seek her out. Mallory and I can help you as much as we can, but until you find your own light, it will be a battle."

The question burns and I should force it down, but it tumbles from my mouth as though it needed to be heard. "What if I can't? What if... What if this is too deeply embedded inside of me?" ""Do you really believe that?"