Ch. 456..460: The Alpha Contract Chapter 456-460

Chapter 0456

Hey everyone. I hope you are all well and enjoying the year. For me, I can't quite believe we are in August already.

As usual, I want to thank eveyrone for the reviews, comments and gems you are sharing with me. I can never say it enough, but it really does mean a lot to me. Especially when I didn't expect my book to do as well as it has. A little bit of imposter syndrome happening here.

Anyway. There will be no updates this weekend 3rd and 4th August. Need to spend some much needed time with the family and reset my brain for the month.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

Taylor West

Chapter 0457

Dane

"What the fuck was that?" Looking through Ryken's kitchen window, I see thick smoke seeping up into the sky. I almost knock Calihan over trying to get out of the door. Ryken sweeps him up just as Blair appears asking what the noise was. I don't answer her and

disappear out the door in the direction of the explosion.

The packhouse was in bits. Half the building was crumbling as my pack worked quickly to put out the flames. The remainder of the roof barely hangs on as more bricks tumble down.

Then I see my mate, sitting on the grass, staring up at what was left of our home.

Dropping down by her side, she doesn't say a word.

"Were you inside?" I didn't know where she was planning on taking Kade. She shakes her head

'Where is Kade?' Aero asks. I scan the grounds and don't see him.

"Neah, where is Kade?" I mutter as people continue to run around us

"He did this." She whispers.

"What are you talking about?"

"He blew up our home." She pats her wrist. "He was wearing something. Like a watch, but it had a button. Cooper got to him."

"Neah...."

"He blew up our house!"

"Let's get you out of here." I lift her into my arms. She doesn't fight it. It seems like she is in some kind of shock.

I take one last look at the packhouse and head for Eric's home. Thankful that the twins were with them and not in the house. I link everyone that is normally in the house and I am grateful when I get everyones check in. The house had been empty. Eric is on his way out when we arrive. "What the hell was that? Is she okay?"

"I need to use your house."

"Of course."

I put Neah on the sofa and listened to her mind working overtime. She is so angry. The tips of her claws poke out of her finger tips. I didn't understand how a kid could have the ability to blow up a house that big. But her mind insists it's Kade. That Kade had been promised something from Cooper.

"What happened out there?" Mallory asks quietly.

"The packhouse has been blown up."

"What?"

"Kade blew the house up." I repeat Neah's words, still partly in disbelief

"Seriously?"

I nod as I watch my mates eyes slowly darken. Nyx was close to the surface again.

"Where is the little shit?" Mallory demands

"I don't know."

"He ran off." Neah mutters. "He ran off after we were knocked to the ground."

She swings her legs around and sits up. The darkness of her eyes fading until they were their usual soft blue.

"He was talking about Cooper and promises. The guy told Kade they could be free and that I would ruin them. He said Cooper picked him, not Dorothy and not his brother."

"Dorothy?" I ask. "Was Dorothy a target of Coopers?"

"I don't know." Neah shakes her head at me. "I should have ordered him to take it off." She rubs her hands over her eyes and when she takes them away, I see how they are full of tears. "I got him to tell me. He said that Cooper told him when the time was right, to push the button. Because I didn't know what the watch was, I tried to stop him and he pressed it anyway. I should have ordered him to stop.... I don't even know if anyone was in the house... I could have stopped him."

Guilt was radiating off of her and Mallory sits down next to her, putting an arm around Neah's shoulders. "He is a kid, none of us would have expected him to do that."

"I should have. Ordering adults is so much easier. I could have stopped him and this wouldn't be happening."

"It would have happened anyway." I mutter

"He's right." Eric confirms. "Whatever was used to blow up the house, has probably been in the house for some time. But clearly it's something scentless or we would have sniffed it out. When the fire is out. I will gather a team and we will do a sweep, see what we can find." "At least you and the boys weren't in it." Mallory sighs.

"And no one else was in the house either." I confirm to Neah. "They were all out. Everything we lost can be replaced and rebuilt. No one was hurt."

"The boys." Neah mutters, looking at Mallory. "Are they okay?"

"Asleep. They slept through the explosion." Eric smiles reassuringly.

Neah nods. "Ryken keeps linking me, asking where his son is. How Am I supposed to tell him that Cooper got to Kade? That Kade blew up the packhouse?"

"I will handle it. Tell him I'm on my way back." I press my lips to hers and wipe away the lingering tear on her cheek.

Passing the packhouse, I see that the flames are almost out. But there was nothing salvageable. The whole thing would need tearing down and rebuilding.

Chapter 0458

Damien steps out of the house with a scarf partially covering his face, the remnants of smoke littered the remainder of his face.

"I thought you might be with Dorothy?"

He pulls the scarf from the bottom half of his face. "Athena picked her up seeing as her biological father has walked away." His annoyance, evident. I understood why he was pissed. I couldn't imagine walking away from my boys. Damien looks back to the house. "I'm sorry." He mutters

"Everyone is alive, that's what counts."

"Do you know who did this?"

"Yes, and I still can't quite believe it."

He raises a brow at me.

"Kade."

"As in the kid who attacked Dottie? That little shit?"

"Yes and I'm about to go and tell his father."

"I don't agree on many things with Brax, but that kid needed his ass whooping a long time ago."

"The problem is, he has now done a runner."

****

Ryken looks around me when he opens the door. Clearly expecting to see his little bastard of a son. "You're alone?"

"We need to have a conversation about Kade?"

"Was he hurt in the explosion? I would know if he was, right?"

"It's more serious than that. Maybe it's a good idea if I come in."

He stands back to let me in the house. I see Blair sitting at the table playing a game with Ryken's youngest son. Her brown eyes momentarily pause on me before continuing the game. "Calihan, Blair, can you go to your rooms please." Ryken requests

"Actually, Blair can stay. She might be useful."

There's a brief flicker of fear, and she does her best to hide it. Which isn't very well at all.

"Is Tara about?" I ask. Kade's mother needed to know what her son was capable of.

"She's gone into the city with a couple of others and taken the baby with her." Ryken tells me

I wait until I hear Calihan ascend the stairs. "Then there is no easy way to say this. Kade was responsible for the explosion you heard."

He stares back at me, his mouth opening and closing a few times. Disbelief, or shock, I wasn't sure. No one wants to hear that their kid is a little terror.

"You've put him in the dungeon? He is just a kid."

"No. He blew up the packhouse and then took off. I have Damien and a few others looking for him."

"He blew up the packhouse?" Blair asks. "Is everyone okay?"

I was almost surprised that she was showing any interest in the welfare of others. "Yes, no one was hurt. Cooper gave him the ability to do it." "Cooper got to him?"

"He told Neah that Cooper offered him a better life than living here. Made him a promise."

"No." Ryken mutters. "No, you are wrong. He wouldn't do this and he wouldn't fall for that."

"Ryken, you found me sleeping outside his room because I thought he was going to hurt someone while you all slept. You know something has been bothering him." Blair mutters. "He is a kid." Ryken frowns

"And so was I, but what he is doing, that's a whole step further than I have ever achieved. I never blew up someone's home."

Ryken sits on one of the wooden chairs at the table. His hands curl into fists. He slams one down on the wooden table, making Blair jump.

"Where would he go?" I ask

"He is eight." Ryken protests

"He doesn't have friends." Blair mutters. "He doesn't go anywhere but school or somewhere with Mum and Ryken."

"He must have done at some point else how would he have met Cooper?"

"I have to find him." Ryken frowns. "I have to bring him back and make him understand." He gets to his feet. "Tara will lose herself if another child goes off the rails." I see the way he looks at Blair as he speaks.

"You won't find him." Blair murmurs, staring down at her hands on the table. "If Cooper promised to help Kade. He would be waiting for him. One of Cooper's big things, he doesn't break promises. He drummed that into me over and over."

"You think Cooper would have been waiting for him?"

Blair bobs her head. "Kade did the dirty work for him. Cooper will offer him a reward. A prize, something that Kade wants. It will make Kade feel like he did the right thing even though he knew it was wrong."

Her eyes flicker up to me. "Think about it. Contracts give you a sense of satisfaction, Dane and you offer something in return. Protection. Alliance. Whatever it is to suit you. It's probably the same for Kade. A contract of sorts, only it doesn't truly favour my brother, but Cooper."

 

Chapter 0459

Brax

"You need to take it out." I hand Madison a scalpel, but her hand is already shaking and I close my other hand around hers. "It's making me weaker. I don't know how weak it will make me and I need it out." "...."

"You have to do this Madison, I can't reach, well not to do a clean job." I tip her face up to mine. Her chestnut eyes are filled with panic. "The scan shows you exactly where it is located. It's a quick and easy job."

"I can't... we can take you back. Get Klaus to do it." She pleads

"There isn't any time for that. I need it out before it takes everything from me. I have you to take care of. My baby girl is back in Black Shadow, probably wondering where I am again."

I watch her close her eyes and take a few deep breaths. Her hand steadies and she nods. "Okay."

I lay face down on the table and feel the cool metal of the scalpel as she holds it over the spot between my shoulder blades.

As she presses down, my warm blood spills down my spine. The pain from the cut is minimal, but still, she repeatedly tells me that she is sorry.

Madison uses something else to dig into my wound. She pauses when I let out a small grunt, eventually pulling a tiny ball out of me. She drops it into a bowl and it makes a sound like metal, yet it doesn't look anything like metal. I will take it back to Black Shadow, maybe Klaus can tell me what it is.

"I got it." She whispers, looking for somewhere to clean the blood off of her hands.

Instantly I felt better. I look at Madison and smile when I realise I could see her entire soul once again. How could one tiny thing cause so many problems?

"Now your turn." I mutter.

"Me?"

"I need to check first. In the scanner."

"He took away my abilities."

"You said he injected you with something. If it is the same what was in me. I can get it out and you can have your Lycan abilities back."

I scan her multiple times. Nothing shows up. Not a single thing out of the ordinary. So why had something different been used on me?

For a brief second, Madison seemed frustrated that we couldn't find anything. It gave me a little hope that deep down, she did want her abilities back.

"I hate him." She mutters quietly as she gently cleans the blood from my back.

"Understandable."

She moves around the table to face me and stands between my spread legs. "How can someone be this cruel? Why would he feel the need to do this to people they don't even know?" ""He thinks he's a God."

"Pfft. It just doesn't make sense."

"Alot of the time it doesn't." I wipe a speck of blood from her cheek. "Deep down, everyone has a dark element. Some it never shows, others, it takes over completely." "You are talking about Rogues?"

"Yep. The problem is, we have a man that is half Witch. If that part of him is stronger, he can channel the dark side that would otherwise have turned him Rogue."

She tilts her head down, a wrinkle appears between her brows as she frowns. "So how do we beat him?"

"Neah and Klaus."

"Just Neah and Klaus?"

"I believe so. I told you Klaus is a Witch Hunter."

"Neah can't link him, can she?"

"She can when he is vulnerable. That will be the key."

"You have a plan, don't you?"

"I'm working on something. I will talk to Neah tomorrow. Tonight, we stay here and get a decent nights sleep."

"Do you think he will come back?"

"If he does, it will just be a projection of him. He won't actually be here."

****

Madison sleeps tightly curled up into me. All evening, her eyes had been darting around the house, looking for him. She was even sleeping in one of my tshirts because she didn't want him to see her naked. Anytime, I made a hint of a move to pleasure her, she would tell me no. Something about Cooper projecting himself made her nervous and vulnerable.

I don't sleep. Not a single wink. I was aware there were more Rogues out there than just the two that tried to kill me. I could smell them near my house, but was it worth leaving my already scared mate, by herself?

I lay awake, listening to their sounds. There were at least eight. Eight that prowled around below my bedroom window. But not a single one tried to enter the house. They could smell that we were here. I was expecting one to try a door handle. Or one to climb the side of my building and try a window, but they don't.

 

Chapter 0460

They circle the house, taking it in turns. I couldn't stand it any longer. Slipping out of bed, I silently grab the rifle that I stored in my wardrobe and creep up towards the window.

Aiming at one, I don't fire immediately. I watch as they talk to each other in hushed, gravelly voices. They spoke in code too and just like that, they leave. Disappearing behind the empty house opposite mine. Unusual behaviour for Rogues, they didn't usually care about a

locked door or window.

I watch until the sun rises, but they don't come back.

"What are you doing?" Madison asks with a yawn.

"There were Rogues here last night." I'm not going to lie to her.

"You didn't wake me?"

"They didn't do anything. It was more like they were looking for someone."

"That's not normal, is it?"

"No."

"Were they looking for you?" she asks

""I'm not sure."

Her eyes cast a glance over the rest of the room. Almost like she expected to see Cooper here. She shivers and quickly gets dressed. "Can we go back to Black Shadow now?" "Sure."

*****

Madison is quiet in the car. Brining her with me had been a mistake, but without her. I never would have got that shit out of my back.

"I will keep you safe." I mutter and place my hand on her thigh but she pulls it away.

"You don't know that."

"I know that I want to protect you. I know that I can now I'm back to full strength."

"He made me inject something into you without my knowledge. How can you keep me safe from that? How do I know that this isn't a dream created by Cooper?"

I pull the gun from my hip and hand it to her. "If you think this is a dream, point it at me and pull the trigger."

She takes it and slowly lifts the gun. I don't slow the car. I don't stop either. If she really believed it was a dream, then I was about to die.

I take my eyes off the road to look at her. She can barely keep the gun straight. Tears flood her chestnut eyes. "I don't know what to do?"

"Yes you do."

Her breathing is heavy as she continues to point it at me. A little gasp escapes her parted lips. "He wouldn't know would he? He wouldn't know that you would voluntarily let me shoot you?"

I shoot her a wink and she drops the gun into her lap. "Besides, you would need to take the safety off." My fingers drum on the steering wheel. "He's really got to you, hasn't he?"

From the corner of my eye, I see her bob her head. "It's like nothing is mine. He took away my abilities. He somehow convinced me to do something to you. What else could he have done? Did he make me do that to other people? Did he touch me when I was with him? How long has he been watching me?

I didn't have an answer for her. But I understood why she was so reluctant to want to do more than be kissed. He had put more cracks in her soul and I couldn't let anymore appear.

"He wouldn't have touched you, he has a thing for men, not women."

I watch her relax and then lean forward, "Is that Blair's brother?" Madison asks

I slow the car to see a boy with blonde ringlets running in our direction. His feet pound the pavement, sweat drips off of him as he eagerly looks around. Ignoring the cars passing him. "Why would he be out here, alone?" Madison asks.

I pull the car over and the moment I step out. He tries to pick up speed, running away from me.

It takes two seconds to grab him. "Where do you think you are going?"

The little shit tries to kick me in the balls.

"I don't think so, get in the fucking car."

"You can't tell me what to do. I hate you."

I glare at him and he drops into silence. The kid certainly did have a darkness about him.

"Get in the car." We were only a couple of miles out from the pack, so he had made it quite far, but who was he running from?