Ch. 361..365: The Alpha Contract Chapter 361-365

Chapter 0361

"Come on." He gets up and holds a hand out. "As much as I would prefer laying with you, Klaus is on his way."

"And you ripped all of my clothes." I mutter, letting him pull me to my feet.

He walks over to the shirt he had hung on a branch and hands it to me. "Why do you think I took this off?" He presses his lips to my cheek then heads to the stream to clean himself up.

I fasten the blue shirt around me, grateful that Dane is much bigger than I am. The shirt swamps me and easily covers my ass and thighs. As Dane is fastening his jeans, he walks back to me, locking his eyes on mine as he rolls each sleeve back to my elbows. "I should bring you out into the forest more often."

The snapping of twigs alerts our attention to Klaus heading our way. He's carrying a rucksack and hands it to Dane. "Eric and Brax were wondering where you have got too."

"We will be home shortly. Did they say anything?"

"Brax said car troubles. Eric said you two probably took a detour." He winks at me and turns away. "So I brought another car and I will be waiting in it."

I wait for him to go and started pulling out the clothes. As soon as I saw underwear, I knew that Mallory would have packed it. Men don't tend to think about those things.

"How did Brax know to say that?" I mutter, pulling on the matching white underwear.

"It's like you said, it isn't a lie. Maybe it was the best option he could think of until he spoke to us."

He leads me back to the road where Klaus is sitting in the driver seat of a jeep, book in hand as he munches on an apple. He chucks the book in the back seat as he spots us. "Ready?"

Dane opens the door for me and wipes something from my cheek as I sit down. I see the red on his thumb and he quickly rubs it away and jumps into the front as Klaus starts the car. Did he not trust Klaus anymore?

'He's being cautious.' Nyx mutters

'Finally.' It was so good to hear her.

'Please don't go getting hit by a car again.' She mutters. 'It messes with me.'

'It wasn't intentional.'

I feel her roll her eyes. 'Something so stupid, but does so much damage.'

'i don't intend on letting it happen again! Were you aware of the other things that happened?'

'Yes.' She groans

'Three members of Black Shadow.' I sigh. 'Three of Dane's own Wolves.'

'You are doing the right thing. It's what I would have suggested.'

"You're very quiet back there." Klaus murmurs. "Are you okay?"

"Just tired." I reply but I watch Dane stare at him.

'It's not him.' I link Dane. 'He is just asking why I'm quiet, he didn't ask anything about the accident. You know Klaus, he wouldn't do it.'

Dane doesn't answer me, but I do see him relax, but not completely.

'I think Brax would know in a heartbeat if it was Klaus.' Nyx tells me.

I had to agree and I really hoped it was just the three dead Wolves involved.

Klaus stops the car just outside of the gate. Ryken and another Wolf are on duty. I was a little surprised that Dane would have agreed to it. He had said multiple times that he wanted the Wolves to have most of the control here. "Where's Mako?" Klaus asks

"His mate has gone into labour. I was nearest, said I would keep watch so he could go be with her." He shouts as he opens the gates.

"I will send someone down." Dane tells him.

"No need, I've got this covered." Ryken bobs his head.

"Wolves man the gate."

'We don't know who else is involved.' I link Dane again. Having a Wolf that is plotting against the pack is not someone we needed guarding the pack. "Scrap that. You can do a shift." Dane tells Ryken

Ryken looks happy to be doing something useful. I guess he must be finding it hard, going from a position of leadership to suddenly doing nothing.

"Any problems, you will need to link Neah." Dane orders as Klaus drives us through.

Klaus takes us to the front of the packhouse and tells us he will be heading off to the hospital to do a check on everything.

"I thought you wanted him to check me over." I murmur to Dane as I watch him drive away.

"Did I not check you thoroughly enough?" He muses.

Even now after several years together, he still somehow made me blush

Chapter 0363

"If it's self defence, there won't be time for me to bring their problems to you." Brax slams the door behind him.

"You know it wasn't just me that was attacked, he was too." Neah mutters "And you are treating him like the enemy." ""My priority isn't to protect him."

'But she has a point.' Aero tries to reason with me, 'He did exactly what you asked him to do. He protected our mate. The moment he killed them, he could have just got up and walked away, but he didn't.'

"He doesn't have to help. He could leave at any time, but he is still here." Neah sighs

"Yeah, because his mate is here." Damien retorts

"You found your mate here too, Damien." Mallory smiles sadly.

Damien frowns at her. He just didn't speak of my sister. He acted like it was nothing more than a blip in his timeline.

"I did too. It happens." Mallory continues

"This is different." Damien shakes his head

"How? You lost it when Salem took Raven. Just like Brax is pissed that someone has taken his mate. You two have more in common than you realise. Or maybe you do know it, you just won't accept it. I mean, you have even started carrying a gun again, just like when you were human."

"Mal," Eric starts

"No." Mallory stands up and holds Logan out to Eric. "I just need a minute."

Neah passes Evrin to me and follows Mallory out of the office.

"I should go after...." Eric mutters, trying to give Logan to Damien.

"Let Neah talk to her." I tell him I don't think any of this is about what happened out there this afternoon." I glance at Logan in Eric's arms. Mallory had been holding him, and bouncing him up and down, but not once did she look at him. It was more like she was just going through the motions.

"Shit." Damien mutters. "I didn't think. She didn't say anything."

"She wanted to be here." Eric adds. "She would have said if it was too much. She loves the twins. Maybe for a brief moment, she.... forgot." He sits in the empty chair and leans forward while resting his elbows on his knees. "I wasn't paying attention." "You can't be in her head twenty four/ seven." I offer. "She needs to let herself grieve."

"You're right." He sits up straight. "So what are we going to do about this Cooper?"

"We stick to Neah's plan, for at least a few days. Everyone of us needs to pay attention to the pack and people's movements. Especially those that come and go from the pack."

"And then?" Damien asks

"Then we can make a plan. But first of all, you need to take this Blood Oath and become an official part of Black Shadow. I need you to be able to link everyone and I cannot expect the Lycans to make an oath yet.

"I thought you had planned a fancy ceremony?" He cocks an eyebrow at me, a smirk lingers on his face.

"There was supposed to be one, but something tells me you would rather just get it over and done with."

"Good."

"There is something else."

Eric nods his head at me. I had already told him my plan, but whether Damien would agree or not would be a different matter.

"What is it?" Damien asks, his gaze shifting between Eric and I.

"I want you to be a representative of Black Shadow."

"Doesn't my role as Beta already signify that?"

"Yes, but I want you to become a Black. Whether you like it or not, you are one of us."

He laughs, "You're joking right?"

"You do realise that as you were mated to Raven, you are family. I know Neah see's it like that. I see you as more of a brother than what Jenson ever was. I don't give a shit what your genetic makeup is, you are one of us." He looks over to Eric. "He's serious?"

"About as serious as it comes." Eric muses

"Then why didn't you...."

"I took the Beta oath. Becoming a Black was not something I could do even if I wanted to. I have parents and they would hang me if I tried to ditch the family name."

I clear my throat. "The question is, Damien, how important is your surname? And do you see yourself being a complete part of this pack?"

 

Chapter 0364

Damien

My eyes move to Eric. Dane couldn't be serious. Especially not now, not with all that is happening.

"Well?" Dane mutters as he puts Evrin down on the floor. I watch him crawl over to his brother, completely oblivious to what's happening. It must be wonderful to only care about food, sleep, a clean nappy and feeling happy. "Why?"

"I thought I had already made myself clear." Dane muses. "I honestly don't care that you are different." He points to his boys. "They are different from me, yet they are still mine."

"Neah?"

"Neah knows."

"Is she okay with it?"

"She thinks it's a great idea."

"Damien Black." I mutter to myself

"Suits you perfectly." Eric smiles

Mallory had always been my family. No one else, just me and her until.... And then it was just me and her again, surrounded by those I had become good friends with.

"You don't have to decide right....."

"I will do it. I want to do it."

Dane holds his hand out to me and shakes mine. "Welcome to the family."

He sends Eric to go and get Neah and Mallory, so they can be here to witness both the oath and my acceptance into the family.

Mallory loops her arms around me and apologises for snapping at me earlier while Neah makes a joke about putting me on uncle duties.

"First, I need you to formally accept the name." Dane tells me. "Give me your hand."

"You know what you are doing?"

"Yes. I had to do it when my stepmother accepted me as her own." He tells me.

I hold my hand back out and he takes it in his like he was going to shake it again. Eric steps forward with a rope, tying it around both of our wrists but leaves the back of our hands uncovered. He takes out a knife and positions the tip against the back of Dane's hand. He pushes the tip into Dane's flesh and starts dragging it towards my hand, splitting his skin open.

"Do you, Damien, relinquish all past ties and accept the Black family name as your own?"

""I do."

"Do you, Damien Black, accept me, Alpha Dane Black as your brother?"

"I do." Eric's knife pierces my flesh, splitting the skin across the back of my hand, mixing Danes blood with mine.

"Do you, Damien Black, understand that you will forever carry the Black surname and that you will represent Black Shadow for as long as you shall live?"

I couldn't help but smile. I could already feel a connection building with Dane that wasn't there previously.

His hand squeezes mine and his crimson eyes are wide as he waits for my answer.

"Yes, I do."

"And finally, do you, Damien Black, accept the position of Black Shadows Beta?"

"Get ready." Eric warns me with a smirk

"I do."

Eric rips the blade back up to Dane's hand, spilling even more of my blood. As it slices through Dane's skin, I feel more connections to people than I had ever felt before. Dane's hand heals quicker than mine and Eric slowly unbinds the ropes. His eyes meet mine. 'And now you can hear all of us when needed.' His voice rattles through my head.

It was an odd feeling to hear a Wolf. But what's even stranger is the strength that I feel. Is that how Dane feels all the time?

The back of my hand begins to heal until a thin pink line remains, but even that fades more quickly than usual.

"How do you feel?" Dane asks.

"Different. How is that possible?"

"My blood." He murmurs

""But it's not a Blood Tie?" Neah asks with concern

"No. It's nothing like what Kyle did to you." Dane tells her.

""Why now?" I ask

"Shouldn't you have asked that before agreeing?" Eric laughs and Mallory elbows him.

"You made it sound like it's something you have been considering for a while," I say to Dane. "So why now?"

"You are right. It is something I have been thinking about for several months. But there has never been what I would consider the right time to ask. And right now, it doesn't seem like there is ever going to be a right time, except for right in the moment. You were going to take the Beta Oath anyway, so why not offer you what I was hoping you would say yes too!"

"Now you will know if I'm in trouble, and I can link you if needed." He adds

I glance over to Mallory who winks at me. Neither of us had expected anything to come out of living here. My goal was simply to get her somewhere where she could actually live the life she wanted. I just had a simple goal of protecting the Alpha. Never did I think anything like this would happen.

"So now I'm officially a part of the pack, what are we doing next? I assume you want us to carry on as normal?"

"Exactly that. We will stick with Neah's plan unless something changes. We will re-evaluate when and if something happens. But everyone needs to be vigilant. I'm not letting some fucker destroy what I have spent years building." Dane scowls but his eyes are on his twins.

 

Chapter 0365

And even I had this strange need to protect them more than I ever did before.

The twins start getting grumpy and Neah tells us she is taking them to get some food. Eric and Mallory head off home leaving Dane and I alone.

""There's more isn't there?" I ask

"I'm putting precautions in place."

"In case something happens to you, right?"

He sighs. "There has always been a plan. I had siblings. But if something happens to me and Neah now, the boys are not anywhere near old enough to step up. I need a Black that can hold the position until they come of age. And you are more than capable of running a pack." "It's not going to come to that."

"Still, precautions." He mutters.

I nod. If I had known about his precautions beforehand, it wouldn't have made a difference. I still would have accepted.

"I also need to go through our history with you." He adds, "Just in case. But first, I want to check on Ryken."

We head down to the gates. The last place I expected to find Ryken. Dane informs me that the other guard had to leave because his wife went into labour.

Ryken is busy chatting to the second guard, but puts a hand up to acknowledge us heading towards him.

"What's that?" I could see something further up the road towards the main road. A dark object sprawled across the ground, almost hidden by the shadows of the trees.

I couldn't smell anything.

"Open the gates." I yell as I get closer.

Ryken gives me an obscure look but pulls the gate back just enough to let me through.

I tell Dane to stay back. If it was a trap, it was better for just one of us to get caught in it. I move forward until I catch the subtle scent of a Human.

Slowing my steps, I scan the nearby trees, sniffing the air. But there's nothing other than familiar scents from the pack and the Human.

"Shit." Red waves peak out under the hood over her head.

"What is it?" Dane calls out.

"Get Brax." I yell back and roll the person on their back.

Maddie's eyes are closed. A large gash runs from her temple, over her right eye and down to her chin. She needed stitches and probably antibiotics.

I lift her off the ground, and hurry her back inside the gates. "Don't just fucking stand there!" I snap at Ryken and the other guard. "Close the gates!" How had they not seen her? How had they not seen whoever was responsible for this? "Klaus is at the hospital." Dane tells me. I don't hesitate and charge across the grounds.

"Maddie?" Klaus mutters as I burst through the doors. "You found her?"

"She was outside the gates, like this. Dane is finding Brax. She doesn't smell like a Lycan anymore."

He ignores me and investigates the wound on her face. "She's not healing either."

He works quickly, cleaning the wound as I check her hands. Blood and bits of skin and hair are trapped under her nails. I have seen it so many times in my human life. She had fought the bastard. Tried leaving a mark. Had she gotten away from him? Had she made it back here alone?

"WHERE IS SHE?!" Brax yells.

"She's with Klaus." Dane tells him. "Just give him a chance to assess her."

"Are you sure it's her? All I can smell is Human."

I step out of the room. "It's her. He has done the same thing to her as what he did to Blair and the other woman."

He pushes past me and steps into the room, only to turn around and walk back out.

"Brax." Dane blocks him. "You need to keep it together."

"I'm not part of your pack." He growls back at Dane.

"Going out there when we have no idea how she made it back, is not going to help you or her."

"I think she made it back here alone." I tell them what I saw under her fingernails. "I don't think she was dumped."

Brax narrows his eyes at me. "Did you find her?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Outside the gates."

"And who was guarding the gates?" He demands

"None of your business."

He looks at Dane for answers.

"I'm with Damien on this one. I can't have you shooting my pack when we don't have any information. Now sit tight and hope that your mate is okay."

Brax glares at both of us but sits in the chair outside of Maddie's room.

Klaus comes out after a little while. "She's a little dehydrated. I've stitched her up. Her body isn't even healing a little so she will scar and it's not the only scar she will have. I found deep scratches on her back too. Most likely from a Lycan. I would say from the cuts on her feet, she was running and then passed out."

And neither one of the men at the gates saw her.