Ch. 366..370: The Alpha Contract Chapter 366-370
Chapter 0366
Abraxas
My eyes trail over the wound on Madisons face. Klaus had done a good job stitching her up, Making it as neat as possible but it was like he said, she would have a scar, a permanent reminder of what happened. She couldn't heal anymore, everything could hurt her.
Her breaths are slow and steady. Ugly purple bruises litter her pale skin and her soul develops cracks as I watch.
I couldn't feel a connection to her anymore. I couldn't scent her as my mate and yet I find myself unable to leave her.
Though I should go and shoot those bastards at the gate. Neither of them had seen her. Had she called out for help? Had they seen her and just ignored her? Did they watch her drop to the ground and turn a blind eye?
Stepping out of the room, I find Damien waiting. "How is she?"
"What do you think?"
He studies me. "Is she awake?"
"No. Where's Dane?"
"Gone to do some investigating."
"Then I should go too." I glance back at the room and start moving forward. Damien's hand hits me square in the chest.
"No, you should stay here with her. I expect she will want to see you when she wakes up."
"I never claimed her." I tell him. "I can't scent her anymore."
"So you are going to walk away?" He challenges me, "Just like that?"
Madison and I should never have been paired. I'm a Hunter, she's a Lycan. Was a Lycan. It should never have worked and yet I could not get her out of my head. I had met up with her every single day since she started the fire. At first, it was just to keep an eye on her and to make sure she didn't do anything else. Then the more I got to know her, the harder it was to stay away and I couldn't keep my hands off of her.
It was wrong, yet I couldn't stop.
"Well?" Damien asks
"This is new for me." I mutter. Making decisions had always been easy for me until it came to her. I had wanted to protect her even though our bond was wrong. I still want to protect her, but I could also just as easily walk away. "We will find a way to get her Lycan back." Damien tells me confidently.
"You don't even know what we are dealing with. That Samara girl said she has been without her Lycan for five years. What if there is no way? What if this is her for the rest of her life?"
"She can stay in the pack. She will be safe here."
I snort. "You're actually being serious! Look around you. She was taken from the pack."
He stares at me but doesn't speak.
"Go on, say it asshole." I demand
"Why didn't you trust your instincts?"
"Are you trying to put this on me?!" I snarl
"You said it yourself, you didn't like the guy. But you let him go because of one of Dottie's stickers. You put your trust in a seven year old. A kid that can't even remember what she had for breakfast." "Trust me, I won't be making that mistake again."
Groans come from Madison's room and Damien continues to glare at me as I back up and slip inside to check on Madison
She moans in pain as she stretches out. With her eyes closed, her hand moves to her face. Her fingertips run across the freshly stitched wound. "Ow."
""Leave it." I tell her.
"Brax." She whispers, peering at me through slits
"I'm here." I pull her hand into mine
"I made it back." She winces, "Everything hurts."
"I know. Just close your eyes and sleep. We can talk when you have rested."
"His name wasn't Ash." She murmurs, closing her eyes. "His name is Cooper." Her grip on my hand loosens and her heartbeat slows but stays steady as she drifts back into unconsciousness. "It was just as we suspected." I mutter to Damien, knowing he was standing in the doorway behind me.
"How did she get away?" Damien mutters. \
Chapter 0367
"She didn't say and I'm not waking her until she is ready. Samara escaped. Neah thinks Blair was purposely released. It's possible Cooper wanted her to come back here so she could show us what he is capable of." I look over my shoulder at him. "I will make him suffer. I
will rip him to shreds."
"I don't doubt it." Silence settles between us.
"You don't have to blame me." I mutter after several minutes, "I already blame myself. She is my mate and I didn't protect her. I failed because I couldn't decide whether I wanted to mark her. I couldn't decide if I should just accept her. She is the first person to truly make me question my thoughts. Do you know what that's like?"
"Not the questioning, but I failed Raven." He takes the seat by the door. "I couldn't keep her safe from her own mind or her twin. I didn't see what was right in front of me."
"You haven't spoken about her since the incident."
"Because I haven't been able to." He sighs and leans back while shaking his head. "Every single person in that packhouse loved her. Her brother was there, her friend, her nephews, Dottie."
"Exactly! People who loved her. People that are waiting for you to talk about her."
"None of them understand losing a mate. None of them understand how close I came to killing my own mate, not really."
I nod and look at Madison. I had considered putting a bullet in her brain when she first arrived, but I never could bring myself to do it. Just like Damien only managed to shoot her in the collarbone rather than her head. "That's why Neah shot her right, so you wouldn't have to kill your own mate."
"Yes."
"And it wasn't Raven in the end."
"It still looked like her." He frowns, "I've killed a lot of people. When I was Human and when I turned. But watching her die has been the hardest thing I have dealt with."
"Losing a mate isn't the same as losing others to death. And you know, Damien. You know deep down that it wasn't her."
"Why didn't I see that she had given up?" He asks me
"You told me her mind was in chaos. That wasn't because of her, that was because of him. But take it from someone who has lost a mate and a child. Let yourself accept it. Don't block it out. It will kill you otherwise."
He scowls at me. "Do you see something, is that what you are trying to tell me?"
"You don't strike me as the type that would actually want to know."
"You are right. I don't." He rises to his feet. "Dane is linking me. Let us know when she wakes."
"You took the oath?" I ask, surprised. I was fully expecting him to back out. Maybe he was stronger than I thought.
"And I became a Black."
Maybe that would be the very thing he needed. Time will tell.
I pace the corridor. Klaus is with Madison, checking her vitals and I had to leave. I couldn't stand seeing another man's hands on her, even if he was only helping her and if I hadn't left the room, Madison wouldn't be getting the help she needs. The door to her room opens and Klaus cautiously steps out. "Are you going to hit me?"
"No."
"Good. Because I will fight back."
I stare at him. I had never seen him at training, yet somehow he keeps a very muscled and toned physique. He had to be doing something. ""How is she?"
"Still out. I've changed her IV, and did some x-rays. Nothing is broken. Whatever happened to her, it looks like she had a lucky escape."
"Does she need anything? Anything that you might not have here, you know, because she is ultimately Human now? I can go and pick up some things."
"I have everything. Raven kept the place fully stocked because of Neah and she has done since, just in case."
"She was always prepared."
Chapter 0368
"More than any of us." Klaus confirms
Maybe if I had spent more time around Raven, I could have seen what was coming before it was too late. Or maybe, this was how it was always meant to be. The higher powers worked in fucked up ways. That was becoming more and more obvious. "How long will she sleep for?" I ask
"Possibly a few hours. As you are probably aware, it will be different for her now."
"Good, I have somewhere I need to be."
"I think you should stay." Klaus blocks my way
"You said she isn't going to be awake for a while and I need to make some fucker pay for this!"
"Who?" He challenges.
"I don't know yet. But I will find out soon enough."
"Let Damien and Dane get answers. I'm sure someone saw something." Klaus tells me, his words full of optimism. He really wouldn't have survived as a Hunter.
"I can't just sit by her bedside. That's not how I operate."
"And what do I say to her if she wakes up?"
"Tell her that I'm going to kill the person who did this to her."
I push past him and fling open the hospital doors. Everything is dark and the pack is quieter than usual. There are still some Wolves and Lycans plodding around, but not much else was happening.
Jogging down to the gates, I wanted to see who was on guard duty, but I also wanted to go out and check where Damien had found her. Maybe there were some tracks that had been missed. Maybe I could see something they couldn't. Ryken is standing at the gates. His attention focussed on the area outside the pack while the Wolf faced inwards. It was better than what I usually saw. Normally Wolves would stand chatting to each other.
"Ryken?!" I call out, but he doesn't move from his spot.
"Hunter!" He growls back. "Is the girl okay?"
"Yes, seen anything?"
"No."
"You didn't see Madison either, did you?"
"I thought it was a fallen tree." He mutters back. "There was no movement, no sound and no scent."
"You have to be a little closer to smell Humans." I mutter and the Wolf eyeballs me.
"Dane has informed me. I guess I have spent too long around Lycans rather than Humans. It won't happen again, trust me."
I had no reason to trust him yet. I probably never would.
"You took over from Mako, correct?" I press
"Yes."
The Wolf had stopped looking at me. In fact, he was now trying everything in his power to stop our eyes from locking on one another. Even when I step closer to him. He focuses on something over my shoulder. "You are very quiet." I smile at him "What's your name?" I was quite tempted to just call him pussy, because that is how he is acting.
"Emerson!" He spits out
"Friends with Mako?" I query
"I have nothing to add." He glares at me with his green eyes
"No? Because I would say by the level of avoidance that you are trying to master, you actually have a lot to say."
"I didn't see anything." He grumbles
"Not a very good guard are you?" I muse. He was trying to hold his ground, but was also preparing to get himself out of here and away from me. "I will have to let Dane know. He wouldn't want someone as weak as you on the gates." "I just mean...."
"What the prick is trying to say is that he has an issue with me being on the gates." Ryken remarks. "That's what we were discussing when Dane and Damien came down here and saw the girl. I have told them both." "Lycans shouldn't work the gate." Emerson snarls at me
"Is that your decision?" I muse "Or maybe you are just saying that because you know a little more about what happened to Madison."
"I don't know what happened to her."
The annoying thing was, he was telling the truth about Madison, but he was definitely hiding something.
Chapter 0369
Hey everyone. Hope you are all well.
To all my new readers; welcome. I hope you are all enjoying the story.
As always. Thank you for the gems, comments and reviews. I have to say, it's more than I ever expected for this story. I could thank you all a thousand times and still wouldn't be enough. Your feedback and predictions is also brilliant. There is no update 30th June, but be prepared for July, alot of chapters are coming your way.
For those asking, this story has a lot more to come.
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Taylor West
Chapter 0370
Dane
Mako hands me his newborn son. It was customary in the pack for the Alpha to meet newborns and welcome them into the pack.
Swiping my thumb across his forehead with a tiny drop of my own blood, I officially welcome him as a member of Black Shadow. Mako beams at me, his blue eyes shining in delight.
"Sorry, I had to leave the gate." He murmurs. "I couldn't let my mate do this on her own. Though he was already here by the time I arrived." His mate was allegedly still in the bedroom being checked over by one of the nurses that my sister helped train. Yet I couldn't scent
her presence.
'We should go and check.' Aero declares.
'We will,' I tell him. 'We just need to choose the right time.'
"It's no problem." I tell Mako, handing his son back.
"Ryken is a good guy." Mako tells me. "I was so grateful he was passing by."
"Emerson wasn't happy though, was he?" Damien asks
"Emerson is never happy." Mako mutters as he coos over his pup. "The guy wouldn't be happy if he had a million pounds and women dangling from his arms every second of the day. But things are changing here in the pack. He can't live in the past forever." "Is that right?" Damien questions
"Well it is, isn't it! We have a Lycan Luna. You are mated to a Wolf. Mallory is mated to a Wolf. Rumour has it that the Hunter is mated to a Lycan too. Everything is changing. Maybe that is what the Moon Goddess has always wanted."
"The Moon Goddess." Damien muses. Maybe he was actually starting to side with Brax a bit more. Brax was always talking about higher powers. Whether that was true or not, no one could be certain.
Mako nods, not really getting Damien's sarcasm. "She has a plan for all of us."
Damien keeps his mouth shut and turns to the window. "Looks like you have another visitor."
Brax always knocks in the same way, almost as if it was his own secret code to tell us it was him. I open the door to him and his frown. "Is Maddie okay?"
"She's sleeping. Klaus said she should be good, though she will have scars." His hazel eyes flicker to Mako and the pup in his arms and then move back to me. "I have some things I need to discuss with you." 'Stay here.' I link Damien, 'Do some digging. Tactfully.' It was so useful being able to link him.
He bobs his head at me as I follow Brax. "Are you sure Maddie is okay?"
"What I said about Madison is true, something weird is going on down at the gate."
"I'm well aware that Emerson is pissed off with Ryken being there. He made that very clear to Damien and I."
"It's more than that. I got the impression Emerson was hiding something but he was also telling the truth about not seeing Madison."
"But you still think he is involved?"
"I need to do some more digging." He turns away, but quickly turns back. "The pup is not Makos, nor was it born today. Maybe yesterday or possibly even the day before. Remember they are born with tiny souls." "It's not his?"
"And it's not his mates either." He walks away. "You should question that."
'Why does he have to be so cryptic?' Aero frowns
'It's just the way he is.'
I make my way back into Mako's home just as Damien was asking "So you just took him?"
Both sets of eyes move to me.
"You are not going to believe this." Damien shakes his head.
I sigh, "Where did you find him?"
"In the city, yesterday." He lowers himself onto the edge of the sofa, cradling the pup.
"But you said your mate went into labour?" I ask, glancing to the stairs and Damien shakes his head at me.
Mako reaches into his pocket and pulls out a scrunched up piece of paper. He holds it out to me. "I should have come to you with this when I found it two days ago."
I glance down at the note, 'I can't be here with all those beasts. They are taking over. They are ruining our pack. They will kill us all. I can't raise my pup here.' It wasn't Kira's writing.
"She took my unborn pup and left." He takes a deep breath. "When I went into the city, I found this guy, wrapped up and dumped down an alleyway. I thought it was meant to be."