Ch. 26..30: The Alpha Contract Chapter 26-30

Chapter 0026

The car comes to a stop directly in front of the pack house. It really was tiny in comparison to Alpha Dane's home.

As the door is opened, Alpha Dane gets out and holds a hand out to me. I didn't hesitate to take it this time because he had already told me that we needed to annoy Kyle.

The warmth from his touch was comforting and strangely unexpected.

Luna Cassandra is standing on the steps in a long white gown. Her blonde hair circles into tight ringlets that bounced around her face.

"Alpha Dane." Her shrill voice made me wince and I knew my hand had automatically tightened around Alpha Danes. "We were not expecting you yet. I believe the contract stated that you would return after thirty days." So they had read it.

"It also states that I will return within fourteen if I'm not satisfied." Alpha dane mutters as he give my hand a little squeeze back.

"You got what you want!" Luna Cassandra glares at me. "And we have not done anything wrong."

"There are questions that remain unanswered." There is a darkness to Alpha Danes' tone that instantly fills me with dread. If I had been on the receiving end, I wouldn't want to be in Luna Cassandra's place right now. "You are more than welcome to come in. My husband and our Beta are out hunting right now. I can try and answer your questions while we wait for their return." She hadn't even flinched at Alpha Danes tone. As we enter the house, my heart races. Alpha Dane had reassured me over and over that he wasn't going to let anything happen to me, yet it didn't stop the memories flooding my mind.

We follow Luna Cassandra into the office. Her green eyes lock on mine as she closes the door. "Please, take a seat." She mutters through gritted teeth. It must have been so hard for her to say that to me. "How can I help you, Alpha Dane?" She speaks so calmly

"Who bound Neah?"

It wasn't what I thought he was going to say.

"Unfortunately, that is information I do not know, Alpha Dane."

"But she was bound twice, correct?"

Her green eyes flicker to me. "Correct."

""Because she is mated to your Beta."

She sucks in her cheeks. "Was. He rejected her. Who wants a rat like that as a mate?!" She chuckles. "Have you decided she is worthless, Alpha Dane? Are you trying to return her?" "No. As I said, I am just looking for answers."

"I don't know what you want me to say, Alpha Dane. She was bound as punishment the first time and then again when she turned eighteen. The first witch didn't do a good enough job." "You used a witch? I thought you didn't know who it was."

There's a tinge of red to her cheeks. "I don't know who it was. And we both know only a witch would be capable of doing something like that."

It was a good save, but it also sounded rehearsed.

"Then I will wait for Trey to give me the answers that I require."

"Very well, can I offer you something to drink while you are waiting?"

"Water will be fine." Alpha Dane mutters

She leaves the office and returns a few minutes with a jug of water and glasses, placing it on a small table in the middle of the room.

Alpha Dane is fast as he pins Luna Cassandra to the wall, holding her inches off the ground as his hands coil around her neck.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" He growls, "I could smell it before you even finished filling the jug."

"You.... you shouldn't be able to....." Luna Cassandra croaks as she tries to peel his fingers from her throat.

"Blood of Wolfsbane." Beta Eric mutters, dumping the contents on the floor.

Chapter 0027

Cassandra coughs as my fingers tighten against her throat. Her own fingers desperately clawed at my hands, hoping that I would free her.

"Are you growing it?" I demand, releasing my grip, just enough to allow her to speak.

""No." She croaks.

"Then how did you get your hands on some? Is it Trey or the other fucking idiot that's growing it?"

"I found it!" she mutters hoarsely

"Bullshit!"

"It's not.....It's not bullshit!" She splutters, "It's...it's true!"

"Who were you trying to kill? Me or her?" I demand

There is movement behind me and from the corner of my eye, I see Neah step forward.

"Was it you?" Neah whispers

"Don't speak to me, RAT!"

"Answer her!" I slam her body into the wall again. Feeling some of her bones crack as she yelps in pain

"I don't....know what she is talking about." she gasps

"Let me clear things up for you. Her parents were killed with Blood of Wolfsbane. The murder was pinned on her. A six year old. Your husband claimed she should have known the difference between plants. But you already know all this. So again, did you kill her parents?" "GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY MATE!" Trey comes charging in, sending me crashing into Neah.

Her blue eyes lock with mine as I land on top of her small frame. She lets out a gasp as my chest hits hers and in that moment, I knew that what Aero is saying is true. There was no doubt about it, she was my mate. 'Told you!' Aero mutters smugly

But it still didn't explain how she could be mated to two people at once.

I get to my feet and round on Trey. He was raging about me pinning his mate and was checking the marks on her neck.

Slowly, he straightens up. "How fucking dare you come in to my home and attack my mate!"

"Can you not smell the blood of wolfsbane?" I snap at him

He clenches his teeth together. "She was alone, she was protecting herself!"

"I came here for answers. Not a war. But if a war is what you want, then I am only too happy to provide."

Suddenly, he holds his hands up, realising that I meant exactly what I was saying "It was a mistake, she shouldn't have done it. But even you, Alpha Dane, must see that my mate felt the need to protect herself."

"Now the problem we have is that, the contract stated if you were to hurt Neah again, this pack would become mine."

"She didn't hurt her though. I assume because you have tipped it on the floor that you figured it out before any damage was done." His eyes shift to Cassandra who was still sitting on the floor, rubbing her neck. "She didn't break any rules, thankfully." 'He has found his own fucking loophole.' Aero growls.

He had. For the first time since I had started creating contracts, Trey was the first to find his own loophole.

"I'm sure we can talk about this... misunderstanding." Trey mutters. He turns to his mate. "Leave us."

"I'm not leaving."

"Let her stay." I mutter. "Let her stay and give away all of your secrets."

I sit back down, watching them both. My eyes flicker to Neah and I hold a finger to my lips. She nods her head, acknowledging that I didn't want her to speak, but to listen. To listen to all the lies she had been fed over the years.

"Where's the other one?" I ask. Cassandra said Kyle and Trey were hunting together, but Trey had arrived alone.

"He's coming." Trey mutters with a clenched jaw.

"Good, while we are waiting. I want you to tell me who really killed your parents, Trey."

His eyes flicker to my mate. "I already told you."

"But it's not the truth, is it? The fact your mate tried to poison us with the same shit, makes me think that it was her, or at least both of you?"

"It was Neah! And what does it matter? You have taken her as a bride, you clearly don't care about the things she has done in the past."

"Because it is not true. Now you can keep denying it as much as you want, but I know it was one of you." My eyes flash to Cassandra, "Or maybe both of you were involved."

Cassandra drops her eyes at the mention of both of them.

"Did you both plan it together?" I ask directly. "Were you so desperate to become an Alpha that you killed your own parents?"

I see how his cheeks pulsate as he clenches his jaw.

"If you did, then that is your own issue, but to pin it on a child and punish her the way you have is unfair. But I'm guessing if the rest of the pack found out the truth about it, they wouldn't think of you as a leader, but as a traitor. There would be no place for you in this pack." "What do you want?" He snarls

"Tell me the truth."

"Don't!" Cassandra cries

"Shut up!" I growl at her

Trey turns to look at Neah. "You did kill them. But it wasn't supposed to be them. You were too young to remember, you were supposed to have taken the poisoned lemonade to Cassandra's parents. But you took the jug and served our parents first."

I watch Neah, blink back the tears. Her hands ball into fists as she slides them under her legs until she is sat on them.

"So you punished her for your actions?"

"I had too. She served them and there were too many witnesses." He sinks into a chair. "I couldn't let her go unpunished."

"And yet, you still let everyone beat her, including yourself. Was binding her not enough?"

"Then the stupid cow should have followed instructions!" Cassandra snaps.

Everything Neah had told me about Cassandra's attitude changing made sense. She had tried to befriend Neah and get her to do her dirty work. It was all a ploy.

"So let me get this straight, if she had killed your parents, you would never have tormented my bride?"

Neither one of them answer me.

"I thought as much."

I was waiting for Aero to say something, but all he does is pace in my mind. I think he was just trying to hold it together until he got more information.

"You may be angry with me, Alpha Dane, but it's in the past. We want to move forward and have a strong alliance with your pack. I know there is bad history between us and my sister, but we can move on from that. Can't we?" "Bad history?" I snort. "You made her life hell."

I look over to my mate, who is staring down at her lap. And I had a demanding need to get revenge for her. For everything that had ever happened to her, I wanted them all to pay. Every last Wolf of Moonshine would feel my wrath.

Chapter 0028

I was having some sort of flashback. The memory wasn't quite clear but I could hear Luna Cassandra's voice.

'It's so hot today, isn't it, Neah?" There was a cheery tone to her voice as she helped me make the lemonade. She had let me stand on a chair at the kitchen counter, helping her. A second jug sat on the counter with some leaves sitting in the bottom. "What's that, Cassie?"

"I thought we could make some extra. Everyone loves lemonade on a day like this."

The memory jumps forward to me offering the jug to my parents. I had stood and watched as they poured themselves a drink and toasted to something. Then there was chaos.

People were shouting and screaming as someone grabbed my arms and dragged me away. Before I was out of sight, I saw the blood pour from my parents eyes, nose and mouth. They had desperately clawed at their faces. "Neah, what did you do?!"

"I don't know." I could hear my own fear in my young voice

"Cassie, I didn't mean to. I'm sorry, will they be okay?"

Her face hardened as her green eyes became slits. "My name is Cassandra and you, you stupid girl, just killed your parents."

I blink a few times, coming back to reality. Just as I look up, Kyle is walking through the door.

"Sorry. I had to deal with some things." His dark eyes find me. "Decided to bring her back then? To much of a pain?" He muses ""Just sit down!" My brother snaps.

It was just so unlike Trey. He never got snarky with his mate or his Beta.

"We have told them the truth about my parents." Trey continues. "It was time for the truth to come out."

"If it even is the truth." Alpha Dane snaps

I follow his instructions and don't say anything. I will tell him about my flashback later, hopefully he won't be too angry.

"I'm also here to make sure you reject her correctly." Alpha Dane tells Kyle

Everyone looks at him. There was even surprise on Luna Cassandra's face, but not on my brothers. My brother still knew we were connected.

"You told me you rejected her." Luna Cassandra shrieks and I cover my ears. Her voice always made my ears hurt.

"I did and she accepted it."

"Lies." Alpha Dane snaps. "All fucking lies. Because if you had truly rejected her, how could you force a blood tie on her."

"You what?" My brother's chocolate eyes are wide with shock

Either my brother was a good liar, or he truly didn't know about the blood tie. It was impossible for me to tell. I could probably sense it if I had my Wolf.

Alpha Danes crimson eyes search my face. "Say it."

What did he want me to say?

"Fucking speak the words and reject her." Alpha Dane roars and I feel myself tense up.

"Kyle, reject her. Reject her right now." Trey utters

"No." Kyle's lips are curved up in a smirk.

Alpha Dane turns away from me, squaring up to Kyle. Alpha Dane is easily taller than him, yet Kyle holds his place, refusing to back down. Unafraid. If I was in the same position, I would probably be preparing myself to die. "Kyle, do as you're told." My brother shouts

"Fine." He moves around Alpha Dane and stands directly in front of me. I drop my gaze not wanting to look directly at him.

"Look at me, whore!"

I could feel my body trembling, and slowly forced myself to look at him. There was so much hatred in his eyes.

"I, Kyle Souls, Beta of the Moonshine pack, reject you, Neah Kitson." He pauses, "as my mate, now and forever."

"I accept!" I mutter quickly, wanting to get this over with. "I accept your rejection, Kyle Souls."

While I feel nothing, his face screws up like he is in some kind of pain.

"And now," Alpha Dane smiles. "I can kill you!"

He pulls a dagger out of his jeans and shoves it straight through Kyle's back and into his heart.

Chapter 0029

Kyle stumbles forward clutching his chest and Beta Eric quickly pulls me from my seat before Kyle falls forward. He lets out some low guttural sounds before he stills. Both Luna Cassandra and my brother were on their feet.

"You...you killed him!" Luna Cassandra cries

"He deserved everything he got. I just needed to make sure that he had rejected Neah properly."

"You killed my brother!" Luna Cassandra shrieks, rushing to Kyle's side.

I hadn't known that and for a split second, I felt sorry for her, until I remembered the hell she had caused me.

"You better watch your back, Alpha Dane." She growls at him

""You don't scare me!" He muses

"Maybe I don't, but when you see what's coming, you will wish that I was the least of your problems."

"What are you talking about?" Alpha Dane demands. "Is that some kind of threat?"

"You will see." She mutters as my brother pulls her arm and helps her get up from the floor. They both run from the room and Alpha Dane sends Beta Eric after them.

I stare at Kyle's dead body, half hunched over the chair that I had been sitting in. I had wished for so long to see him die and now it had actually happened, I felt.....relieved. "Are you okay? Did it hurt when he rejected you?" Alpha Dane speaks softly to me. Using his fingers to turn my face to his.

"No. But it hurt him, I saw the pain on his face." I whisper. "He... he said it differently this time."

"I thought that might have been the case."

"I...I didn't know they were brother and sister."

"Does it matter? You are Trey's sister and they treated you horrendously."

"But it was me, I did kill my parents." I mutter quietly. "I saw myself giving them the jug."

"What did you remember?"

I tell him about the flashback, he doesn't interrupt me once as I try to recall smaller details. It's only when I finish that he tells me that he still believes that I was set up. The same thing he had been saying all along. "Cassandra said she wanted you to kill her parents, I think that was an excuse. I think the plan was always for you to give the poison to your parents. She wanted to be Luna and your brother wanted to be Alpha." "They will never know though. They died believing their daughter killed them." I groan

He sighs at my words and before he has a chance to speak, Beta Eric returns.

"They're gone. Everyone has gone. The pack has cleared out."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I followed Trey and Cassandra into the trees and quickly lost their scent. It's like they vanished into thin air."

"That can't be possible, Wolves don't just vanish. Where the fuck do they go?"

"I'm assuming they have some kind of safe space." Beta Eric shrugs his shoulders.

"Set up a search party and hunt them down. I'm taking Neah home."

Back in the car, I feel his eyes on me, yet keep mine low. I knew he had questions, but I couldn't answer them. I knew nothing when it came to my own pack. And it turned out, I didn't actually know much about Wolves at all.

"You don't have to see them ever again, if you don't want to." His voice is low. "As far as I'm concerned the contract is void. The one thing that was tying you to the pack, is dead."

Lying down on the seat, I turn away, facing the back. I could still feel his gaze like it was burning into the back of my head. He wanted me to talk, but there was nothing I could say. I was too busy, remembering the last time I saw my parents and how they had looked at me.

Chapter 0030

Dane

Neah had fallen asleep by the time we got back. I had watched her shoulders judder as she silently cried, while keeping her back facing me. I had chosen to keep silent, not knowing what to say or do to make her feel better. Even Aero was at a loss. Picking her up, I carry her inside. She doesn't stir, she doesn't make a sound as I observe her blotchy red face.

'Do you think she is crying over him?' Aero asks

'I don't know. She said she had felt nothing. A delayed reaction maybe, you know, because of the binding?'

'We could tell her she is our mate, we can claim her now. She is free of that areshole.'

'No, I think that is the last thing she will want to hear.'

Putting her on the bed, I take her boots off and she instinctively pulls her knees to her chest, letting out a little snuffly sound as she always deos when sleeping.

I watch her for a little while until I get a link from Eric. 'We need to talk!'

He sounded urgent. Maybe the hunting party had found something.

'Office.' I link him.

'You are going to want to meet me outside for this. We will be arriving in about ten minutes.'

'What the hell is that about?' Aero asks when Eric cuts the link.

'I guess we will find out!' I snap back at him.

With one final check of Neah, I make my way down the stairs and through to the front of the house. Within a few minutes, a line of vehicles started to arrive, all creating a blockade in front of the house as though Eric didn't want the rest of the pack to see. He jumps out of the vehicle that comes to a stop right in front of me.

"Did you find them?" I ask and he shakes his head

"Not exactly." Eric looks around. "Where is Neah?" "Asleep."

He nods his head and pulls open the back door of his large car and drags a naked man out by his feet, tossing him to the snow covered ground. His wrists and legs were tied together, a thick metal chain had been looped around his neck and he was only half conscious. Blood and mud covered him, making it impossible to tell his age.

"You brought me a naked man?" I muse, "He's not really my cup of tea."

Eric shakes his head and grabs the end of the chain. He kicks the man on the ground. "Show him!"

Some of the others that had been with Eric, come forward, all carrying chains. Was the naked man a powerful Wolf? Someone that I didn't know, because that would be impossible!

The man just lies there, staring up at the star filled sky, dazed. After a few seconds, we hear his bones crack and watch his legs and arms lengthen, snapping the ropes that hold him. Tufts of fur sprouted from him, but he didn't turn into a Wolf, he turned into a beast, like the creature that had tried attacking my men.

Eric calls someone forward and they quickly throw chains around the beast's legs.

"Where did you find it?" I demand, studying the beast with my crimson eyes. It looked exactly like the one that had attacked us.

"During the hunt for Trey and Cassandra. This one was high in a tree."

The beast was still sprawled out in the snow, slightly dazed.

'In a tree?' Aero murmurs.

I had to agree with his surprise, you wouldn't find Wolves in a tree.

"Have you not noticed the other thing?" Eric asks

I look at the beast and realise it had no scent. Nothing at all, not even a whiff of body odour.

"How is that possible?"

Eric gives the beast a kick. "This one either fell out of the tree, or the branch could no longer carry his weight. Either way, he landed right in front of us. But if he hadn't, we would never have known he was there, Dane. When shifted, they can literally hide in plain sight."

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