Ch. 451..455: The Alpha Contract Chapter 451-455

Chapter 0451

That was a harsh thing to call a child. Though Dorothy had said he was bad.

She scratches at the wood of the chair, "Last night, I felt this need to protect the family. I checked everyone and set up camp outside Kades room just in case. Ryken found me this morning. The kid is nuts. He tried telling Ryken that I hit him to get me into trouble." "Did you?"

"No! I know I have a bad reputation, but no. Besides, Ryken saw."

"You understand why I asked?"

She nods at me. "You are one of many that hates me. Once upon a time, I wouldn't have cared, but I'm learning to accept it. Because I know that's how it will always be. I made a lot of enemies."

"You did. But right now, you are not the problem we need to deal with."

She jumps up from the chair. "What... the fuck.... is that?"

I turn around to see a small black Lycan creeping towards me and laugh. "So someone can escape too." I mutter as I pick Evrin up.

"Are you telling me that's your kid?"

"No."

"One of Neah's?"

"Yes."

""He can shift?"

"Is there something wrong with your eyesight? Obviously he can shift!" I retort

"But he is a kid. A baby."

"And you had your abilities taken away from you. There is a lot of weird stuff happening in the world."

"Does anyone else know?" She presses

"No, and it needs to stay that way." I stare her down until she agrees.

"Are they going to bind him?" She follows me inside my home.

"Why would they do that?"

"It could be dangerous for him. I mean, shifting at this age, it could be doing all sorts to his little body."

"It's not something you need to worry about." I glare at her, making it clear that she needs to shut her mouth before I do it for her.

"And you should be asleep." I mutter to Evrin. His blue eyes find mine and he shifts back into his Human form.

"This is nuts." Blair mutters. "And amazing. Why are they keeping this a secret?"

"Are you fucking stupid? Did you lose all common sense when Cooper stripped you?"

Evrin laughs as Blair just stares at us until someone knocks on the door. Ryken frowns as he steps in but it is a frown full of concern, "You let her in."

"I had no choice, one of the twins woke up. All sorted?"

"Yes. Thank you. Dane is on his way home, we will be moving forward with the next step then."

What did that mean?

"Let's go." He tells Blair before thanking me again.

I keep Evrin occupied until he eventually goes back to sleep and Eric appears. He has a frown that almost matches Rykens.

"Are you okay?" He asks quietly. "I heard you got roped into babysitting Blair."

I nod, "And she knows about Evrin. He climbed out of the cot and found me sitting outside talking to her."

He shrugs his shoulders, "It's going to have to come out eventually. But I guess if it comes from her, no one will believe her. Did she tell you what happened last night?" "Yes. It has to be Cooper, right?"

He sits next to me on the sofa. "It seems likely. It might explain why he has such an issue with Dorothy."

"Blair spoke as if she thinks Kade is already Rogue. Is that something we need to consider? He's not thirteen, but then this one has his Lycan already. What are you planning to do with him?" "Ryken wants to bind him."

"How is that going to help him? If he doesn't even have his Lycan, it's going to make no difference. How he is acting right now, it isn't going to change that either. Can't we get Brax to figure out what his issue is and put a stop to it that way?" He goes silent.

"What is it?"

"Brax left. He left and Maddie went with him."

 

Chapter 0452

Brax

Madison's chestnut eyes find mine. "Are you sure? What about the other's? What about Neah and Dane? We are doing this without even telling them." "They will understand."

""But I don't."

"Then why are you coming with me?"

She sighs. "Probably because I'm an idiot. I mean, it's not like I can help you in any way, is it?"

"We can go back." I offer, "I can take you back to the safety of the pack, but I need to know what's happening to me."

Madison looks back over her shoulder in the direction of the pack. We were completely out of sight now. The Wolf on the gate had probably already told Eric unless he didn't bother reading the note.

"If I don't find out what is happening to me, I am more than useless to them."

She frowns at me.

"That is not what I meant and you know it." I scowl back. "They brought me here for a reason and I am no longer holding up my end of the deal with Dane."

"I'm sure if you explain...."

"I can't explain it, Madison. I don't know what's happening to me. Even as I stand here, looking at you, your soul is getting harder and harder to see. It's like my Hunter abilities are slowly being sucked from me. Tomorrow I could wake up and I will be a bog standard Wolf." "You really think there is something at your old house?"

"I don't know, it's worth a try."

She pouts and slowly nods her head. "I will come with you."

"Then let's go. I have a car parked up the road."

As Madison climbs into the passenger seat, I see how she is rubbing her neck again. "Still sore?"

"It comes and goes." She shrugs like it had just become a part of her daily life, but it bothered me. I had even felt her neck to make sure nothing had been injected under her skin.

"Blair said that once she lost her abilities, she noticed changes." Madison tells me. Blair seemed to talk more freely to her just like I expected. They shared something in common. "What kind of changes?"

"Like you feel aches and pains more because you don't have the ability to heal. Sometimes, even lying funny makes me ache now. I guess we just healed before, even little things like achy muscles weren't even a thing. My scar still itches like a bitch." She points to the long thick scar that runs over her eye to her chin. Luckily she hadn't been blinded.

"It is where he injected me... I think. Maybe it's more in the head than it actually hurting." She shrugs her shoulders.

"Why haven't you said anything?"

"Because it annoys you when you can't fix something. And this is one of those things."

I glance over to her. She has an elbow propped up on the door, staring out the window. I could fix it if she was willing to be bitten. But I don't bring up the topic. It upsets her every single time.

****

"This is your home?" She mutters as I pull up next to it.

"Yes." I reply, glancing up and down the street. Something felt off. It was the middle of the afternoon and there was no one. No one walking their dog. No one is running or cycling. As much as Humans annoy me. They were predictable with their habits. Madison moves to get out of the car. "Don't," I mutter, grabbing her arm

"What is it?" she whispers back.

"I haven't been back here for a while and it looks like Rogues might have moved in. I'm pretty certain that we are being watched."

"What do we do?"

"You don't do anything." I reach in the backseat for my shotgun. "You stay here. You lock the doors behind me. You do not open them until I come back." "What if....?"

"No what if's. You do exactly what I say. Understand?"

She nods as I quietly exit the car. I watch her press the locks down and something slams into me, sending me to the ground. My gun slides across the road away from me, just in time to see another Rogue moving towards me.

Blood from a recent kill coated its face. It drops down on to all fours, picking up speed as I reach for the gun in my belt. A bang makes my ears ring and I watch the Rogue drop to the ground.

I turn to see a wide eyed Madison, poking one of my guns through the small gap in the window, both hands clasped around it

The first Rogue attacks me from the side. Claws sinking into my shoulder before hurling me through the air.

As I land on my stomach, the air is knocked from my lungs. Screams come from the direction of my car. Rolling over, I see the Rogue desperately trying to get to my mate as he forces the window down.

 

Chapter 0453

Madison fires the gun over and over until she is out of bullets. Each and every one somehow misses the bastard. Creeping towards my shotgun, I point at him and blow his fucking head off.

Blood sprays my car, splattering Madison as the Rogue's headless body slides down the side of the vehicle.

She flings the door open and runs to me, jumping up and wrapping her arms tightly around my neck.

"Let's get inside."

I lead her in through the back door of my house. "I need you to stay here while I get rid of the bodies. I don't need any more turning up on my doorstep, not until I know what's happened here." "Okay." she whispers and I reload the gun for her.

"Just in case." I mutter

I don't see anyone else when disposing of the Rogues. I also don't sense anyone else watching us, but that doesn't mean that they aren't, especially if I'm losing my ability to sense them. I should have scented the one that knocked me to the ground. I should have seen it coming.

It didn't matter now. They were both dead.

Lighting a match, I toss it on to their bodies, watching them go up in flames before walking away.

"Madison?" I call out as I enter my kitchen.

She doesn't answer immediately. And then I hear a very weak and scared "Here!"

Slowly pushing open the door to the dining room. Cooper has Madison with her back pressed to his chest. An arm locked around her as he holds one of my fucking kitchen knives to her throat.

"You're not here." I growl

He pushes the tip of the knife into Madison's throat. She lets out a squeal as a bead of blood appears.

"You are still not here."

"You are a smart Hunter, but a stupid one."

"Maybe, but you are still not here in this house. You project yourself, right? Make it seem like you are present. You are clearly strong to be able to carry a weapon. Strong enough that you seem real. So how did you get here?"

"Does it matter? I will be able to find all of you, won't I Maddie?" He drags her back a few steps. She squeezes her eyes shut, trying not to cry.

"You put something in her?" I demand

"No." He smiles at me

"It's in you." Madison cries. "It is in you."

"Me?"

"And everyday, you grow a little weaker." He smiles at me.

"You haven't laid a hand on me!" I snap.

"No, I haven't." He agrees "It's funny what a little spell can do. How easy it is to control someone, right Maddie?"

"I didn't know." she whispers.

"That's the beauty of it. They don't even know they are doing it." Cooper laughs. "Amazing abilities us Witches have!"

"Do you know many other Witches?" I mutter sarcastically

The smile disappears from his face as he glares at me.

"So what's the purpose of tracking me, huh? Taking away my abilities? What do you get out of it?"

"Pick you off, one by one, Cooper and Sam get to have lots of fun." He sings.

"Samara? Samara is locked in a fucking dungeon. The last I heard, she wanted nothing to do with you, you cunt!"

He pushes Madison to one side and points the knife at me. "What did you say?"

"Which bit? Calling you a cunt or telling you that Samara wants nothing to do with you. Lets see, when I threatened to cut her finger off a few hours ago. She told me she never wanted to see you again. That you lied to her, her whole life and if she does see you again, she will rip your throat out."

"LIES!"

"Nah. I don't have a reason to lie to you when I know the truth will piss you off more."

"I could slice your throat open."

"Yes, you could. But I can see from your legs that you are getting weaker." They were slowly fading. "Anger makes you weak, not strong. You are barely holding on. So get the fuck out of my house, because when I do see you. I'm going to string you up and let the crows feed on your decaying flesh. That's if the Witch Hunter doesn't get to you first."

The knife clatters on the wooden floor as he disappears. I glance over to Madison who is curled up under the side table. "You didn't know you did that to me, did you?"

She shakes her head but refuses to meet my eyes. "He told me just before you came in."

"Injection or a drug?"

"I don't know. I don't even know when, where or how. I don't even know if he is telling the truth or if I have done it to others.."

"I have a machine downstairs that scans bodies. So we will soon find out."

 

Chapter 0454

Neah

"Brax is gone? Is he coming back?" I ask

'What an idiot.' Nyx mutters

'Oh, decided to stop ignoring me now?' I mutter back, but she doesn't answer

Eric hands me a folded up piece of paper. "It's unclear. All it says is that he needs to figure out what is happening to him."

"So he does know something is wrong with him." Dane mutters as he swings Logan up onto his shoulders.

"I'm guessing so, but Maddie has gone with him."

"He made her?" I ask. I knew they were mates but Maddie said the pack was the only place she felt safe.

"No." Mallory replies. "Well at least it doesn't look like it. I went and looked around her room for clues, a few basic things are missing, but it doesn't look like either of them left in a hurry. It looked like they had planned it." "After Cooper?" Dane frowns as I pass him the note.

"I know Brax wants Cooper dead, but I don't think he would put Maddie back in harm's way." Mallory mutters

"The problem is, we can't link either one of them if they are in trouble." I groan

Fucking Brax and his need to get things done.

"You better tell them the other thing." Eric tells Mallory.

"Is this about Kade? I'm about to go over there now." Dane replies

"No. There was a little bit of a situation earlier." Mallory drops her gaze

"He shifted, didn't he?" I look down at Evrin who is pulling at Danes shoe laces

"Yes. I don't want you to get mad. They were asleep. Ryken asked me to keep an eye on Blair when he went to speak to Eric about Kade. She sat right there." Mallory points at the chair on her porch.

"Evrin had already shifted. You didn't warn me he could climb out his cot and well, he made his way out here."

"Blair knows?" Dane asks with a cocked brow

"Yes."

"Did she touch them?"

"No, she freaked out and then asked why no one else knew. Actually, it was weird to see her scared. Nothing like the person that turned up here to announce herself. And definitely not like the woman that held me to a chair and stabbed me in the leg. I'm sorry, Neah. He was asleep. I swear else I would never have agreed to watching her."

"Okay." I mutter

She looks up at me, shocked. "Okay? I thought you were going to hit the roof."

I shrug my shoulders. "Everyone is going to find out eventually. Logan will be next. Blair was not the ideal person to find out first." I glance up to Dane. "But it might scare her enough to not be stupid." Mallory presses a hand to her chest and lets out a puff of air.

"She's been stressing out." Eric tells Dane and they both roll their eyes. "Are you really going to bind the kid?" Eric asks. "I get it. From what Ryken told me, he is a little brat but binding him." He glances at me. "Preferably, no. It is what Ryken wants though, unless I can convince him otherwise. But I'm hoping Neah can talk some sense into him."

"Me?" I ask, surprised.

"He may be a kid, but he is a Lycan kid which means he bows to you."

"You want me to scare him?" I wasn't sure how comfortable I was about that.

"Only if you need to. Sometimes it will work."

Mallory and Eric agree to watch the twins while we visit Rykens. Blair opens the door and as soon as she sees me, she lowers her gaze. "Do you need me for something?" "No. Where's Ryken?" Dane asks

"In the kitchen, this way."

She leads us through the house when a small boy pulls on my sleeve. "Hi." He beams at me with blue eyes that are brighter than my own. "My name is Calihan."

"Hi." I smile back at him and he blushes, quickly running off somewhere.

'I think someone has a bit of a crush.' Dane links me

'Don't be stupid.'

'I think I'm going to have to keep an eye on that one.' He jokes with a smile

Ryken appears and Blair makes her excuses, disappearing through a door and down some steps.

"Eric has told you everything?"

"Yes." Dane replies. "But before we get to that. I want to try something else."

"You don't want to bind him?"

"At the end of the day, you are his father. But from experience, it's one of the worst things you can do. If anything, that might make him hate everything more."

 

Chapter 0455

"I thought about that." Ryken mutters, "Yet talking to him doesn't seem to be making a difference."

"But you haven't tried having the Alpha speak to him." Dane gestures to me.

"Okay." Ryken nods his head at me. "He is in his room after a rough day. Do you want me to call him down?"

"No need." I mutter.

"But you have to let her handle this. Don't intervene in any shape or form." Dane tells Ryken

He takes a deep breath, "Do it."

I move to the bottom of the stairs "KADE EVERWOOD!"

Kade appears at the top of the stairs. There is a flicker of annoyance at his delayed reaction in recognising me. I watch as his brown eyes soften. His bottom lip trembles. "Alpha Neah," He whispers, lowering his eyes

"We need to talk." I sigh. He was just a kid. A kid a little older than I was when I was accused of killing my parents. Scaring him was not what I wanted to do. I will find another way. "Let's go for a walk."

He silently moves down the stairs and looks to Ryken for help. Ryken keeps his mouth shut, just as requested.

Kade follows me out of the house, neither one of us speaking. He shoves his hands in his pockets and scuffs his feet as he walks. But he walks quickly, as though he was in a hurry to get away from the house. "Tell me something." I mutter

"Like what?" He asks, confused.

"Anything. School, friends, home."

"I don't have any friends." He grumbles. "They are all stupid."

"Stupid? That's a bit harsh."

"They just....you won't understand." A frown appears on his tanned face.

"Try me."

"They won't get to live so what's the point in being friends."

'That was unexpected.' Nyx frowns

"What does that mean? Why won't they get to live?" I ask

He rolls his eyes.

"Do you know that I have this way of getting information out of people even when they don't want to share it!"

"That's a lie."

'He is one little cocky kid.' Nyx snorts

"How do you think I made you come out of your bedroom?"

He shrugs his shoulders at me and we keep walking. He didn't want to be here, that much was clear.

"Are you not happy here?" I ask

He looks up at me and shakes his head.

"Why?"

Kade presses his lips together and keeps walking.

"Are you talking to someone who is not in the pack?" I changed my tone enough to force him to answer me.

"Yes." He squeaks. Though he looks confused about why he had to answer.

"Who?"

"Cooper." His voice couldn't get much higher.

"What does he say?"

"He wants to punish everyone." His tears fall faster. I hated that I had made a kid cry, but it was crucial to confirm that it was Cooper.

"Kade. He is a liar. Whatever he is telling you is not true."

He shakes his head at me. "You are wrong. He said we could be free. He said I could help him because I am a strong Lycan. He said that you will ruin us. He said he would help me. I'm not scared. He picked me. Not stupid Dorothy or my brother or anyone else in school. He picked me. I just have too....."

"Have to what?" I press

His brown eyes lock on mine. He really didn't want to tell me. "I have too..." He lifts his wrist to me and points to what looks like a watch, but instead of a clock face, it has a small button. "Press this."

"What does it do?"

"I don't know."

"He said to press it but you don't know what it is?" I grab his wrist. He tries to pull away and at the same time, press the button which panics me even more. I had no idea what it did.

"Let me go!" He bites my hand and slams his finger onto the button.

An explosion knocks me off my feet. Kade takes off running as I look over to the pack house. All the windows have blown out, half the roof is missing as the side of the house crumbles. Flames fill the open space, sending black smoke into the sky. Kade had blown up my home. Kade is a fucking kid who had blown up my home.

There are screams and shouts as people move around me. But all I could do was sit and stare.

'Fucking little bastard!' Nyx growls