Ch. 371..375: The Alpha Contract Chapter 371-375

Chapter 0371

"You said the nurse was upstairs." Damien presses, "Checking on your mate."

"Sienna is upstairs, she is Kira's best friend. She is seeing if she can find any clues as to where Kira might have gone. Sienna was here with him when I was working on the gate." He nods at the pup in his arms. "So you lied about her labour in the hopes that what?" I demand. "I wouldn't notice when your mate doesn't appear."

"I don't know. I didn't think that far ahead. I'm going to look for her."

"Tracking her down? That's not going to be ideal with a pup in tow. In fact it's fucking stupid." Damien shakes his head "Um," Mako's brow knits together and creases appear across the top of his nose.

"You haven't thought about that either?" Damien asks

"I could manage. I could look after him while looking for Kira."

"No you couldn't, though it was a good thing to bring him here. He's going to need it when he is older." Damien tells him.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" I ask. Though I'm annoyed that he hadn't mentioned it before.

'Well Brax could have warned us.' Aero sneers.

'So could Damien!' I mutter

Damien nods, "That pup is a Lycan."

"WHAT?!" Mako lets go of the pup, like he was dropping a grenade. Damien flings himself forward, catching the pup before he has a chance to bounce his tiny head off the floor.

Footsteps move upstairs and Sienna appears, leaning over the bannister. She freezes. She would have already known we were in the house so why was she acting like she had just been caught red handed?

Damien straightens up, the newborn cradled against his chest as he glares at Mako. "You shouldn't have done that."

"GET DOWN HERE! I growl at Sienna.

She keeps her eyes on me, but fiddles with her pink hair as she slowly moves down the steps. I point to the spot next to Mako. She side steps around us, her heart racing as I throw the scrunched up paper down at their feet. "Which one of you wrote this?" I demand. They glance at each other. "Kira" They both speak in unison.

"Bullshit."

"It's Kira's!" Mako mutters

Damien steps back as I squat in front of Mako and grip his face. My nails create crescent moons in his skin. "Kira has done work for me. I would recognise her handwriting anywhere. So I will ask you again, who wrote this?"

"He did." Sienna squeaks, keeping her eyes down.

I watch him elbow her. "Shut up!"

"Go check upstairs." I tell Damien, straightening up. I watch the crescents on Mako's face heal like they were never there.

Pacing in front of Mako and Sienna as Damien disappears from sight, Sienna holds back the tears, while Mako stares straight ahead. "How long did you think you could play this game, Mako?" "It's not a game."

"By the way you reacted to the news about that pup, I would say that you have been playing a game for a while. You are the one who has problems with Lycans. So tell me, what was your plan?" He clenches his jaw.

"How about we start with something simple, where is Kira?"

"She really did leave." Sienna blurts out. "She left a few days ago."

"Let me guess, Mako, you were on duty at the gate? What did you do, trick the other person into turning away so Kira could pass through?"

He turns his head away, seething

"Where did she go, Sienna?" I press

"With some guy, I think his name was Coop or Cooper maybe. We were supposed to be joining her. He promised us a better life. A life away from the Lycans."

I laugh. "You both have a problem with Lycans, yet you are willing to run off and join one."

They stare at me, both with their jaws hanging open.

""He's a Wolf?" Sienna protests.

"No, no he is not. But it's great to see where your loyalty lies."

"She was packing!" Damien comes back down the stairs with the pup still cradled with one arm and two backpacks dangling from his free hand.

"I figured as much."

"What are you going to do to us?" Sienna pleads.

"I think you already know the answer to that."

Chapter 0372

Mallory

"Something weird is going on?" I frown. I was supposed to be resting, but I was finding it harder and harder to stay still. Like the longer I was still, the more I thought about what I no longer have. I needed to keep busy.

From this window, I could see Dane, Damien and Brax pushing a man and a woman forward. I recognise the guy, he quite often works on the gates. But what I didn't understand is why Damien was carrying what looked like a doll. A toy for Dorothy maybe? Neah steps up to the window, though she keeps herself partly hidden behind the curtain. "No one is supposed to see me, remember."

"Please just tell me that I am imagining things. Maybe I have fallen ill again and this is a dream."

She pinches my arm.

"OW."

"Not dreaming." She cautiously peers around the curtain. "Why is Damien carrying a pup?"

"It's not a doll?"

"Doll's don't move like that."

I look again and watch a tiny arm stretch out. But that's all I can make out as they move further and further away.

"Maybe those Wolves had a pup?"

"I think Mako and Kira are due any day now, so it could be." She shrugs her shoulders, "but actually, that's not Kira... that's...one of Raven's nurses from the hospital. I think her name is Sienna."

She turns back, pressing herself against the wall and closes her eyes. "I know what's happening."

"What?"

"They are going to be hunted!"

"Brax is going to kill them?"

"Not Brax, maybe Brax." She sighs, "Some of the pack will shift and hunt them, chase them down like they are prey. Dane has done this before. Before you came here, there was a woman, jealous of Dane and I. She drugged me with Blood of Wolfsbane, almost killing me. Dane took her to the forest and had his Wolves hunt her and then rip her apart while she was still alive."

"Seriously?"

She nods as I watch more of the pack approach. They are already shifting into Wolves as they move. The woman, Sienna, clings to the other guy as though he was somehow going to save her. I could just make out her lips moving, most likely pleading for her life. I'm guessing they knew what was coming if this was Dane's choice of punishment.

"It's a punishment for those who he feels truly betrayed by." Neah mutters, "If Brax hadn't shot those ones who crashed into us. Dane probably would have done the same to them."

"But he never did that to Jenson?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "Jenson was his brother, even after the stuff with Blair, even when he did what he did to Raven. He couldn't have done it even if he wanted to, but I know he had threatened Jenson with it many times over the years."

I bob my head. I couldn't even say it was cruel. I had seen Rogues do worse things. I had done worse things. A long time ago, I almost bashed Neah to death.

"But the pup, surely Dane won't have that ripped apart?" I mutter, disgusted by the idea. I see Damien turn away from the Wolves, he starts making his way back this way. The tiny thing cradled against his chest and I breathed a sigh of relief. "No, he won't hurt a pup." Neah confirms

I take my eyes off of Damien and watch Mako and Sienna dive towards the forest. Mako pushes her down just before the trees to give himself an advantage and dives into the greenery as she scrambles back to her feet. I watch Dane keep his hand up in the air. A signal for the Wolves to wait. Even Brax had shifted and was ready to join in.

 

Chapter 0373

Dane is giving them a head start, but we all knew they were not getting out alive.

As Dane drops his hand, the Wolves charge off at a speed far greater than I can imagine. Almost like they are hyped up by the hunt. Dane shifts too, taking his time to move into the forest, like he was enjoying every second of this. Those wolves were going to suffer. I assume they deserved it. And a tiny part of me wanted to see it happen.

"Mallory?" Damien calls out interrupting my thoughts

"Up here." I call back

He makes his way into the room, still cradling the tiny little pup who is somehow fast asleep.

"Why do you have a Lycan pup?" Neah asks.

"It's a long story." his dark eyes move to me at the window. "I assume you have seen what is happening?"

I nod "And Neah has explained the rest."

"They were planning on leaving to join Cooper." He shakes his head in disbelief

"Why?" Neah asks

"It sounds like he made them an offer and they were too stupid to go along with it."

"And the pup, where does he fit into all of it?"

"Mako tried telling Dane the pup was his and Kira's. It quickly became clear that he wasn't. Turns out Kira has already left with Cooper while still preganant and Mako picked up this guy from the city. Practically threw him out of his arms when he learned the boy is a Lycan." "So they didn't know that Cooper is a Lycan?" I ask

"No."

"And decided to kidnap him?" I ask in disgust pointing to the tightly wrapped pup.

"Mako claimed he found him dumped and abandoned. Whether that's the truth, I don't know."

"What's going to happen to him?" I ask, surely Dane wouldn't just choose to dump him again.

"I was sort of hoping that you would take him until we figured out where he came from and if anyone is looking for him."

I stare at him, lost for words.

"He is maybe a day old, maybe two at most according to Brax. He doesn't even have a name. I thought you might like to name him."

I feel like I'm frozen, still trying to process how and why Damien had asked me.

"I still have loads of the twins' tiny baby stuff." Neah declares. "I will go dig it out."

"You want to give me a pup?" I mutter as Neah disappears with a smile plastered to her face.

"I can't think of anyone better."

"I can't...." He steps towards me and holds the tiny pup out to me. "He's not mine."

"And Dottie isn't mine." He presses the pup against me and I have no choice but to hold him as he pulls his hands away.

"Damien, don't." I don't think I have ever felt panic like this. My heart thuds heavily, I hear my own blood whooshing between my ears as my lungs grow tight. "I'm not ready." But he is already stepping away from me. "Then it's a good job you have a whole pack supporting you."

"And a mate." Eric announces as he enters the bedroom.

"Give him to Neah. She's had practice." I move to Damien who refuses to take him back and folds his arms across his chest.

"Look at him." He mutters instead.

I glance at Eric who is calmly watching me. He was leaving it up to me to decide.

The pup starts to move in my arms and was probably about to start crying at any second. Taking a breath, I shift my gaze to the pup. Deep brown eyes stare back at me and I feel my heart explode in the best way possible.

 

Chapter 0374

Blair

"We warned her, now we should leave." I sigh as I pull a sweatshirt over my head. It was so fucking cold. I have never felt the cold, not like this. My nipples could cut glass with how cold I am. Did Humans always feel like this? Sammie brings me a blanket, tucking it around my legs. "I don't think we should go, not just yet."

"We have been here longer than we need to be." I persist. "You only wanted to come here to tell Neah about Cooper. We have done that and somehow, I am still alive and I would very much like to keep it that way, even if it means spending the rest of my life freezing my fucking ass off!" She rolls her eyes at me and tells me I'm being dramatic. "What about your mother? she confirmed your mother was in the pack, just like you expected."

"And?"

"Don't you want to see her?"

"It doesn't matter what I want. They want nothing to do with me. I've already told you why."

"I never pegged you as the type that would give up so easily."

"I am not who I was, Sammie. He took it all away from me. There are too many people in that pack that hate me and that's just the Wolves. Staying here is just too risky for me. Someone will kill me and there won't be a damn thing that you can do about it." "Is that what you want?"

"I don't know."

She sighs and sits next to me, pulling the blanket over her legs too. "Are you scared?"

I mull over her question. It wasn't sarcasm and it wasn't her mocking me. It was genuine and I guess on some level I am. I would be stupid not to be. I used to say that to all the assholes I hunted.

Lycans probably took up most of Black Shadow by now and if they have, that means they would have submitted to Neah. Maybe even Alpha Dane. Who knows how many are living there now, and who knows how many of those I have pissed off and I wasn't sure I was ready to find out.

When I saw Abraxas, I honestly thought he would be the one to kill me on the spot, but he had just watched me. He had been impossible to read and that made it worse. I know what I did. He knows what I did. But he just watched as he asked questions.

It's much easier when people tell you they are going to kill you. At least then, everyone's cards are laid out on the table and I didn't have to feel this impending doom that sits in the pit of my stomach.

Not being able to read people was hard.

"Neither of us can defend ourselves." I mutter. "It's just... We are nothing compared to them, they can snap us like twigs if they wanted too."

She frowns and takes a sip of her coffee, she is addicted to the stuff. "Maybe she will help us."

I laugh. "Please tell me you are not talking about Neah?!"

"I just think that she had a clear opportunity to kill us, yet she didn't. They turned up here, they found us. They could have forced their way in and slit our throats and left like they were never here. But they didn't. Maybe there is a chance for us here." I laugh, "Or maybe she just wasn't in the mood. Or maybe she was too focussed on what she was asking us. She wanted answers."

Sammie bobs her head. "Maybe you are right." She leans her head on my shoulder. "I've been thinking about the questions she was asking. I think someone has gone missing."

"That means he is already here." My heart races. I couldn't stand the idea of being his prisoner again. What would he do to me as punishment for escaping? He had already shaved my head. My hand runs through the dark fluff that is my hair.

I hadn't even looked in a mirror since Sammie made me, I probably looked like I had been electrocuted by how it felt.

"It will grow back." Sammie mutters glancing up to my hand. "It won't be this short forever." Her arm loops over my waist. Her reflection in the blank television screen showed her smiling. How she was so positive all the time was something I could just not grasp. But I guess it's because she has been living this way for quite some time. She had gotten used to it.

And as much as I didn't want to die, the thought of living like this forever was scary. I hated Humans as a Lycan and that wasn't going to change. Though I liked Sammie, but I think that was because we had something in common.

"Do you think it's true?" I mutter as I watch a candle burnout.

"What?" Sammie asks quietly

"That Neah was right, that I was purposely let out?"

She sighs and sits up, "I had wondered that myself. Five years I was waiting for someone else to make it out of that place. I always wondered if there were others and they had just taken a different route. You know, stuck to the roads and lanes instead of the woods and the fields and that's why they never stumbled upon my farmhouse. But you did say your door was opened along with everyone else's. So I do believe Neah was right."

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Chapter 0375

"What do you think his plan is?"

"He could be coming for you and it will be a bonus for him because he will find me too. Or he could want the female Alpha. I don't think Cooper ever really has a plan. He just rolls with the situation and takes advantage when he can." "Do you think he will attack Black Shadow?"

She puffs out her cheeks. "Without a doubt."

More Wolves and Lycans are going to lose their abilities because of me. Especially if he was already here. I would be the reason our kind falls.

I tell Sammie that I'm turning in for the night and she asks me if I'm okay.

"Just tired." I lie. Guilt was weighing so heavily on me that I thought my lungs were going to be crushed.

I wait for hours after Sammie has gone to bed, just to make sure that she is asleep. Quietly I pull on a jacket and slip out of the house, being extremely careful to not make any noise.

Standing at the end of the drive. I weigh up my options. To go left to Black Shadow and hope for an easy and quick death, or go right and disappear for good and live the rest of my life as a Human. Neither options were ones I wanted.

Checking my pockets, I feel for the rectangle that is my credit card. I had found it stashed in my vanity table. Planted there when I first moved in as a just in case card. There was more than enough money on it to set me up with a new life, far away from any of this shit and somewhere where no one could find me. I had grabbed it just in case I turned right.

"Where are you going?" Sammie steps up next to me.

I close my eyes, I hadn't heard her. I hadn't even heard the door of the house. "You weren't supposed to know." I murmur

"I knew something was up when you went to bed at seven. You never go to sleep that early. Even when you were recovering from what that asshole did to you."

"It's too dangerous to be here." I whisper back, her face is lit up by a single street light. It gives her grey eyes an eerie look. "If Neah found us, I'm certain Cooper can. Cooper could be watching us right now and neither one of us would know. Black shadow is a few miles that way or....."

She places her hands on my shoulders and spins me around to look at her. "Who gives a shit if he is watching! He can't do anything else to us. So I will ask you again, where are we going?" Sammie slips her hand into mine. "I will go wherever you want to go." "This is not who I am." I mutter. "I don't go to someone asking for help. I am the help. People have paid me to do their dirty work."

"Okay."

"Okay?" I whisper back.

She nods. "I thought I knew how I could help you. But this has to be your choice, Blair. If you want to leave, we leave. If you want to speak to Neah, we go to Black Shadow."

"Why have you changed your mind?"

"Because I see you. I am not a Lycan anymore but I see the guilt you carry. The sadness that is evident in your eyes."

I start walking, tugging Sammie with me.

"Are you sure?" She questions

"Yes. And if I am killed, don't fight back because it will be everything I deserve and more."

Her hand squeezes mine.

As we walk, she asks me a few questions about the inside of Black Shadow's pack. I tell her that I never made it further than just inside the gates. Jenson had given me some information but not much, though I was never really interested. We come across two burnt out cars. The one at the back looks like it had crashed into the one in front and the one in front looks just like the one Abraxas had hurried Neah into when they left us.

"Is that?" Sammie asks

"I think so." I mutter, hurrying forward.

There are tyre marks on the ground. A trail of blood leads from the windscreen of the car Neah had been in, to the grass verge. Another pool of dried red sits just outside the passenger door of the same car.

"What do you think happened?" Sammie whispers as though someone might be watching.

"I don't know, but they burnt the cars to cover any trace of DNA." I whisper back. "I would have done the same. I have done the same."

"Do you think they're dead?"

"No, because Dane would be knocking down my door. I'm certain of that."

I look around and grab Sammie's hand, "Come on, I would rather not stick around here."