Ch. 341..345: The Alpha Contract Chapter 341-345

Chapter 0341

She stares at me with complete confusion. They all did when I mentioned higher powers. Like it had never crossed their mind that there might be more than a Moon Goddess that rules the population.

"Think about it, Madison. Rogue Lycans are there to keep the human population under control. I'm a Wolf that kills Lycans. Lycans were kept a secret from the average Wolf until Neah came along. This is all higher power shit. A way to test us. A way to see who is on top." "So why do you think they are pairing Wolves and Lycans together?"

"It wouldn't be the first fucked up thing they did."

A mixture of emotions crosses her face. She wasn't sure how to process what I had said. "Have you.... Have you told the Alpha?"

"No. And before you ask, I'm not going to either. She has other things on her plate. She doesn't need to listen to my theories too."

Madison sighs and drops her arms, picking at the bark on the tree. "The others don't trust me."

"Who?" Something annoys me about her comment. And for a second I feel that same fucking thing as I did when she tried to throw herself in the fire. I cared.

I shudder, but she doesn't see it.

"The Lycans. I can't shift and that makes me weak."

"Have you ever shifted?"

She shakes her head at me and the light of the sunset breaks through the trees, bouncing off of her deep red waves. "It's true what I told you before. I can do everything but shift. You saw the burns, I still healed. I can link Neah. I just can't....shift." I was expecting her to sound disappointed but she sounds more defeated.

"Why are you telling me?"

"I thought because of the...." she trails off when she realises I'm frowning at her. "I just thought, maybe you could be the one to help me?"

Multiple footsteps come running in our direction. Many were still going ahead with the pack run tonight. Some would find it beneficial to burn off their worries and frustrations. Others just wanted the freedom and power they felt under the full moon.

I was supposed to be going too.

I grab Madison by the bicep and pull her away from the incoming crowd. "Go home Madison."

"If you are not going to reject me, you won't be able to hide this forever. Neah already knows and Mallory does too!!" She half shouts at me and I slam her into the tree, pressing my hand to her mouth. I count to thirty to see if anyone had heard her, but howls and running feet fill the air, they weren't even slightly interested in us, they were already caught up in the haze.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed? Is that what this is?" I growl. "You have some insane death wish because you can't fucking shift?"

She shakes her head as I keep my hand over her mouth. She stares deep into my eyes. There was only one other person who had looked at me like that. Like she could see more than what was just on the outside.

Lowering my hand, Madison pushes herself off the tree, forcing a closeness between us. On her breath, I could smell the dinner she had not too long ago. She shakes her head again, "You don't have to help me, I just thought I would ask because...."

"Because you need a man to save the day?" I sneer as her jasmine scent makes my head pound. I so badly wanted to push her away, but I could also quite easily fuck her right here.

It had been a long time since I have felt like this about anyone and the close proximity was making it a hundred times harder to walk away.

"No!" She's frustrated with my response. "Because you know alot and I guess... I thought maybe you had come across this before. That's all." She glances away. "You tried to help Neah."

She looks over my shoulder and presses her rosy lips into a thin line. There was no one behind me. I would sense it long before she did.

Her chestnut eyes shift back to me. "I should just go."

She wasn't talking about going back to the house she has been staying in since the fire.

"No, you need to be where I can keep an eye on you." Until I decide what I want to do. I needed her to at least be kept safe.

"Why? You can't stand me!"

"When did I say that?" I counteract. Her heart skips a beat. "I have told you twice that you need to be where I can keep an eye on you. If you are out there, alone, I won't be able to save you from yourself. Again!"

"I have spent years having people play mind games on me. I won't live like that anymore. I refuse to continue living like that. Just because I am less of a Lycan than the others, it does not give you the right to mess me around. Do you hear me?!" I press my lips against hers. She doesn't move. Thrown by my reaction. As I back off, her eyes are like saucers. "Loud and clear."

 

Chapter 0342

Blair

"He won't find you here. I'm not sure why you won't believe me. I've been here five years and he hasn't even come close."

"How would you even know?" I frown as I scan the open fields and Sammie continues to collect eggs from her chickens. Unphased as I keep my guard up.

I had been here nearly a week and I still couldn't settle. It didn't matter how many times I said it, I still expected to see Cooper and his weird glazy eyed nurses coming for me.

Sammie had shared some of her story from the prison, but other than what I had told her, I couldn't bring myself to say anymore. It was a memory I wanted to forget, yet at the same time, I couldn't let it go because I was still waiting, preparing myself for a fight I knew I would lose.

A part of me wanted to go back. To drive a knife right through his heart. To help the others escape. But I didn't stand a chance. Not anymore.

"Can I ask you something?" I say as she closes the chicken coop. "Do you feel like you deserved this?"

"The farm?" She asks, confused.

"No, losing your Lycan."

She slowly walks back to the house with her wicker basket full of eggs. A heavy set frown. She stops just outside the kitchen door and turns to face me. "I didn't at first. After a while, I understood why Cooper did what he did. Sometimes I still battle with myself about wishing I had certain capabilities, like smelling when the storms come, being able to heal, being able to run without getting out of breath. Stitches are bitches!" She winks at me. "You think you deserved it?" I ask, surprised by her response.

"No, but I have learned alot about myself in the last five years and to be honest, I wasn't a good Lycan. Maybe it did teach me a lesson. Maybe it was already written in my story so that I could help you." She gives me one of her wide smiles "You believe that?"

She shrugs her shoulders at me and drops the basket of eggs on the counter. I watch as she expertly pulls up her long blonde hair into a bun. My hair now made me look like a toilet brush with how short and spikey it is.

"It doesn't matter what I believe, Blair. But we do know I'm right about some things, you survived without that stupid drip bag. You didn't want to believe that either."

I look at my arm where the connection tube had been, a lovely giant purple bruise still lingered on my arm, though it was shrinking day by day and part of it had turned a putrid green colour. Humans were so feeble and I was one now. I couldn't be reckless anymore. "That was the worst night of my life." I mutter

"But you survived, just like I said you would."

"I thought I was going to die!"

Sammie gives me a lopsided grin. "So dramatic. Though I'm still waiting to hear more about this half sister of yours."

Apparently I had muttered something about Neah when I was in excruciating pain and blacking out. Sammie had asked me a couple of times since but I always shut down. It might be a different story if I met her under different circumstances.

She pours me a glass of juice and sets it in front of me. "Blair, I'm going to ask you something and I don't need you losing your shit over it, but I do want the truth." She takes a deep breath, "Was Cooper holding you because you did something to your half sister?" "No."

"Blair, don't lie to me. I'm trying to help you out."

"It wasn't because of her. In fact he didn't even know she was my sister, not at first. He would have if he had met her."

"That's all I need to know."

"Seriously? Why don't you want to know more?"

"It's not about what I want to know, it's about you telling me the truth."

"Would you have even known if I lied?" I ask curiously

"You're human now, of course I would have."

****

As the sun sets, Sammie lights the fire. It gives a warm glow to the small sitting room and I decide to bite the bullet and tell her.

 

Chapter 0343

"My half sister's name is Neah Kitson. She is the female Lycan Alpha." I mumble, staring into the orange flames.

"What?"

"It's true. We share the same father. In fact, if you looked at us, you would think we were twins. We are not, we have different mothers."

"Why have you waited until now to tell me this?"

Would it have changed anything?"

She smiles at me, "Yes, I could have helped you get to her. She can put a stop to Cooper."

I shake my head, going to her wasn't an option. She would kill me and I couldn't even defend myself.

"I tried to screw her over." I blurt out

In the prison that Cooper was holding me in, I had nothing but time to think over every little movement I had made. At first I blamed Jenson, then myself for getting involved with him. And instead of cutting him loose, I had made him suffer every time he failed at something. Hoping that he would improve to my levels. I had fallen for him, yet anytime we argued, he would bring her up, comparing us. I had wondered if he told them that before he died. But ironically, none of that was what got me into trouble.

So many had tried to warn me that I was making the wrong move, trying to take something that isn't mine. Even my own mother. But I had been hellbent on getting what I wanted, what I thought I deserved. Maybe this was what I deserved.

"I tried to take what was hers." I mutter, keeping my gaze on the orange and yellow flames "But Cooper didn't know about any of that. He punished me because I almost revealed our kind to the human eye. Apparently he has been cleaning up my mess for years." "I could go to her. I could tell her all of that. I can explain what happened."

"And if she doesn't believe you, or chooses not to believe you, she will kill you. Then who will look after your chickens?"

She rolls her grey eyes at me. "I don't think she will kill me. She doesn't know me. Maybe she will at least be reasonable and listen."

"And what are we going to achieve by you doing that? We won't be Lycans again. We will be stuck this way until the day we die."

She creeps over to where I'm sitting. "At least your conscience will be clear."

"How are you so optimistic?" I ask. Somehow, she saw the good side of everything.

She gently cups my face with her warm hand. "I'm free and you could be too. And we could be together."

We stayed up until late into the night, talking. I tell her as much as I can. I answer every single question she throws at me, no matter how difficult it was to share. Sammie fills a glass of wine and hands it to me and I shake my head, something that I wouldn't have done before Cooper, but it turns out I now can't stand the taste of alcohol, no matter the quality. Sammie did have to keep reminding me that things are completely different now that I have lost my Lycan.

It's almost seven in the morning when I think we are done. I'm tired. My brain hurts. I feel more exposed than when I was being watched in the showers. Sammie had hugged me multiple times, and I had cried more often than I liked.

I wouldn't have done that before. I would have taken myself off, or forced the tears back.

"I have to go to her before Cooper gets a chance too." She mutters

"You said he would go to these places. Places where he thinks he can find me. For all we know, he might already be there. He might be whispering things to Neah. He could get his hands on you."

"She needs to know about him, Blair. She is his Alpha."

"You can't go alone. I've been there. They have guards. Let me come, I can show you where to go."

"You can't come with me. You are still weak and malnourished. I can't risk you collapsing on me."

"I won't let you go alone."

 

Chapter 0344

Mallory

I got shot. I got fucking shot. The bastard shot me in the stomach.

My head is fuzzy, yet being shot is the only thing that is clear.

"She's waking up." I hear Eric and I hear the relief in his tone.

Warm fingers lock around my wrist and another set presses against my neck. "Pulse is strong."

I squint one eye and see Klaus smiling at me.

"I was shot." I mutter, opening my eyes fully. I'm met with silence. My fingers move to my stomach. Bandages cover my entire torso. I start to pick at them. I needed to know how bad it was. I was pregnant.

"Mal stop." Eric's hands grab mine, pulling them back as I let out a whimper

"But I'm pregnant!" It wasn't how I wanted to tell him. It was supposed to be a surprise. I wanted to tell him tonight, when everyone is on the pack run.

It's funny how silence can be deafening. It takes me seconds to connect the dots. I had been shot in the stomach. The bandages that wrapped around me suggested that my wounds were extensive. Which could only mean one thing, I had lost our pup. "Mallory...." Klaus starts

"No. I already know. I was just...." I turn my head towards Eric. "I'm sorry." I'm trying to hold it together but my chest is tight and my lungs burn with the need to scream.

I could see it on his face, there was something else he needed to tell me.

Eric squeezes my hand. "The shot did too much damage, Mal. It, um... it...." I had never seen him lost for words. The news was worse than me just losing a pup.

"It's like Raven's leg." I whisper, knowing what he couldn't say. "It can't heal." Not only had I lost the pup. I had lost the ability to have them.

"Mal, I'm sor...."

"It's fine." My body was trembling. It wasn't fine, but I had to focus on something else. "Is Brax dead?" He was the fucker that shot me.

"No." Eric replies calmly. I was expecting him of Damient to have ripped Brax's guts out for what he did to me.

"Why fucking not? He is why I'm here. He is why I lost the pup. He fucking shot me and he knew I was pregnant!"

"Mal, it wasn't him!" Eric stops me

"What are you talking about? He is the only one with guns."

"A Lycan was fighting him over it. The guy was going to shoot Neah. Brax tried to get it off of him, but when it went off, it hit you. Neah killed the guy." Klaus tells me

I should feel better. The idiot that shot me was dead. But I don't, I just feel sore and empty. How something so tiny could leave you feeling so empty was something I didn't understand.

"You should go on the pack run." I mutter to Eric. "I will be okay here. I will just..." I look around the room. "I guess I will just rest."

"Mal, the pack run was two nights ago. Because of the damage, your body has been slow to heal."

"Oh."

"There is something else I need to tell you."

How much worse could it get?

Eric runs his hands through his blonde hair. "Raven's dead."

I stare at him with my mouth hanging open as Eric and Klaus fill me in. I still didn't fully understand what had happened and I almost felt like I was in some kind of dream or maybe an hallucination from all the drugs. What he was telling me didn't seem real. A soul taking over another soul. "How's Damien?" This could be the very thing that tips him back into Rogue habits. He told me Raven was his light, that she kept him grounded. With her gone, it was a matter of time. "That's the thing everyone is worried about." Klaus mutters

"Please tell me he hasn't turned Rogue?!"

"That's just it. He hasn't. He is quiet but getting on with his Beta duties. He isn't acting like someone who lost a mate. Brax is watching him constantly."

"That's going to make things worse." I sigh while shuffling in the bed. It would be so much easier if they just stood on the same side rather than making me turn my head back and forth.

 

Chapter 0345

"He's also started carrying a gun." Eric tells me.

"What?" I was certain I had misheard him.

"You don't need to worry about what is going on out there. The rest of us have it handled. I just need you to rest." Eric stares at me, waiting for me to agree.

"I need to speak to him."

"Mal, you need to rest."

"Please. I just... I know him better than anyone."

"I will get him." Klaus gives me a small smile and hurries out the room.

"We need to talk about this, Mal. I feel your pain and the ache in your heart."

I shake my head at him, the tears already blurring my eyes. I can't talk about it, not yet.

"I knew."

"Huh?"

"I knew. I did a sweep of your house after the fire. I saw the tests."

I drop my gaze. "It was supposed to be a surprise and I was nervous, after what happened to the boys. I knew you wanted it and now.... Now, I can't ever give you a pup."

It's odd, because it's only now that I'm realising how much I wanted it. I've always known that I wanted to be a mother, to have my own little crew. I also never saw it happening, not until I saw those two lines. "I'm sorry." I mutter again and he grabs both my hands.

"Stop apologising, this wasn't your doing. You didn't know this was going to happen. No one could have predicted it. This is not your fault."

It didn't stop feeling like it was my fault.

I plaster on a smile as Damien makes his way in.

"I will give you guys a minute." Eric mutters, then makes a point of looking at me. "Stay in bed."

"I was going to come and see you." Damien speaks quietly, and peers through the blinds of the window.

"Are you okay?" I ask

"I should be the one asking you that question. I guess they told you."

I nod, though he isn't looking at me. "I don't really understand. I thought Jenson was dead."

"It doesn't matter. They are both dead now."

"She was your mate."

"Was! She gave up, Mallory. I didn't see it. I couldn't see it, or maybe I didn't want to. But she gave up. I wasn't even worth holding onto. She loved him more than she loved anything else. Twins in life, twins in death." "So you are good?" I ask with a head tilt

"Yes."

I stare at him. "I don't believe you."

He makes his way to the chair next to my bed. "Everyone is watching me. Waiting for me to break down. Brax has his beady little eyes on me at every opportunity. He's probably pissed that I am in here and he can't see me. I don't need you watching me too, Mallory. You need to focus on your own health."

"I've seen people lose their mates. This is not how they react."

"Maybe, maybe not. Or maybe I've just been preparing myself to lose her since I first met her." He groans. "I knew a time would come where I would lose her or she would lose me. Though I never imagined losing her to her own fucking brother."

I wanted to gag, I really hoped he didn't mean what I thought he meant.

"Like I said. Twins in life. Twins in death."

I had seen Damien do a lot of stuff, including the shit he did as a Rogue, but this, this had me feeling the most unsettled. He was too calm, too understanding. Or maybe he was right, he was too used to death.

"I swear Mallory, you don't need to worry about me."

I dip my head in acknowledgement, though his comment just left me more unsettled.

"Oh, I'm taking the oath tomorrow evening. Being Beta is hard without being able to link Dane and with this many Lycans, there needs to be someone who can link both."

"Right." I was so weirded out by our conversation. Eric had said he was acting odd, but he wasn't, he was acting like his usual self and that's what was odd. Maybe he was having some kind of delayed reaction?