Ch. 56..60: The Alpha Contract Chapter 56-60

Chapter 0056

Dane

Neah's needs.

Four days. Four long, sex fueled days before it started to ease. I had to put Eric in charge of the pack, I had to tell Klaus that Neah's tutoring would have to wait. Four days where I had no idea what was happening in my pack because all I could think about was fulfilling Sprawled out on her stomach, she is fast asleep in bed. It was the first morning since her heat began where her arousal levels had dropped and her usual lavender scent filled the room. Pressing my hand to her bare back, I could feel that her temperature had lowered too. Another sign that this heat was over. She could finally get a decent sleep.

'Finally.' Aero mutters

'You were the one looking forward to it.' I mutter back

'Not all the tears.'

'She was overwhelmed.' I mutter in annoyance. 'She is sore, her body aches. You try being in heat for four days straight after you've only had sex once.'

He doesn't answer me.

Neah doesn't wake while I shower. She shuffles about in the bed a little, but her eyes remain closed, soft snores escape her.

Kissing her on the cheek, I leave her to sleep and make my way down to my office. I didn't like being out of the loop when it came to my pack but I knew they were in good hands with Eric.

He is already sitting in the office. His head in his hands. As his jiggling knee repeatedly taps the desk.

"Everything alright?"

"It's over?" He asks, "Please tell me you are done!"

"Yes, four days and she is finally out of heat. Is everything alright?"

"Four days is a long time." He was purposely skirting the question.

"Devon did say it lasts longer. She's asleep and probably will be for some time. So what is the problem?"

He won't look directly at me. "We have a guest."

"Who?"

"Madame Curie."

"The last time I saw her, she wanted nothing to do with my situation. Now you are telling me she is here and wants to help." I mutter, marching across the grounds. "She says she has valuable information."

"Well it's a bit late, Neah is no longer bound."

"That's what I told her."

"You told her and she still thinks she has valuable information? I'm guessing she has a price, she normally does."

"She didn't say, but she has been stressing me out since her arrival." Eric mutters. "Though my boys love her."

"Why did you think she should stay at yours?"

"Would you rather I let her stay in the pack house? It wasn't like you just stayed in the bedroom." His lips curve up at the corners.

"If I remember correctly, you got caught fucking Kelsie in the janitors cupboard at school and privacy doesn't bother me."

"Anyway," He mutters, "I told Madame Curie that we already know about Neah, that the truth has already come out. But she said there's more."

We stop in front of his house where we could hear his boys laughing on the other side of the door.

"Alpha Dane." Madame Curie pulls the door open to us. "I'm glad you could make it, I know you have been a little...." she looks back at the boys and then at me. "Busy. Maybe this conversation isn't suitable for the boys." "Boys." Eric mutters, "Go to your grandparents."

They protest, but eventually leave. Eric doesn't move until he seems them enter their grandparents house.

"The last time I saw you, you were hurrying away." I groan, taking one of the chairs at the small kitchen table. "Yes, And I'm very sorry I left that way, Alpha Dane. I was not prepared to discuss Moonshine with you." "And you are now? I know about Neah, I found a way to unbound her."

"I have been told. But what you don't understand is that Neah has been bound more than twice

Chapter 0057

You didn't tell me that." Eric scowls at her.

"There is much more to Neah's past that has long been buried."

"And let me guess, a million?"

"Not this time, this time, you need to know."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I sano, growing impatient.

"Neah has been bound a minimum of four times. Perhaps many more. It was not until I heard the name of her pack, that I suddenly realised who you were talking about. The newborn baby that I bound." 'Four times?' Aero mutters alarmed

"What? You bound her as a baby?" I was disgusted.

"You said you are aware she is a Lycan." Madame Curie taps her long fingernails on the table

"Yes, though I don't know much about them."

"They shift at thirteen." she smiles like its a great bit of information.

"I was made aware. But what does that have to do with you binding her?"

"She shifted the day she was born."

Eric and I look at each other, and speak in unison. "That can't be possible."

"I saw it with my own eyes, Alpha Dane and until a few weeks ago, you didn't know her kind existed."

"Bullshit." I snap, rising from my chair.

"She was different. Is different." Madame Curie sighs

"You said four times. Her eighteenth, when she was six, as a newborn and when?"

"Just after the age of one."

""One? What the hell can a one year old do?"

"She started shifting again. Her father was beside himself. He didn't know what to do, so he called me again. But this time, when I met her, she was strong, powerful. I watched her shift in and out of her beast as though it was some kind of game. Like she knew that was why I was there."

"How could a one year old know what you were planning?" Eric asks

"You tell me. To seal the bind, she needed to be in human form, otherwise she would be bound and trapped in Lycan form. We had to wait days as she forced herself to stay awake, fighting sleep like she knew what was coming."

It didn't sound anything like my shy, stuttering mate. But then she had been beaten so much over the years that maybe they had made her a shell of what she used to be.

"You bound her twice, who bound her when she was six and then again when she was eighteen?"

"I do not know. But I did try to tell you, Alpha Dane. I told you she had strong Alpha blood and I was right. I am right."

"Why are you here now? Why did you wait so long to tell me? What do you hope to gain from it?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Eric quizzes. "So you have been bugging me for days, just to tell us this."

"She isn't just your bride, is she Alpha Dane? She is your mate, the one destined to be by your side."

I don't respond

"Hmm, the Moon Goddess does work in strange ways."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" I snap

"You are a powerful man, Alpha Dane. You are either being tested or you have met your match. She will either break you or make you." Madame Curie gets to her feet. "Now I must go."

"Is that it? You are going to swan in here with that kind of information and then disappear again."

"There is only so much I can tell you, Alpha Dane. I don't know what that girl is capable of. I just know that she is. I felt it when I was around her as a baby. I felt it the moment I set foot in your pack." "Felt what?"

"Her power." she looks me dead in the eye. "And that is what drew you to her, long before you scented the mate bond."

Chapter 0058

When I wake, I'm alone. My body ached. My vagina throbbed. The sex had been amazing. And now, I was thankful that my intense urges and desires had calmed. I could finally think clearly. But now I was paying the price.

Tiptoeing across the room, I wince at the pain between my thighs. Turning on the water for the bath, I don't even wait for it to be full when I step in. Easing my aching body into the hot water.

The door opens and I catch Alpha Danes' woody scent before he steps into the room. His crimson eyes move to the bed before searching the room for me.

"Sore?" He smirks, making his way over to me.

I nod and sink further down into the water, until it is lapping at my chin.

"It won't always be like this." He smiles at me as he leans over the bath, kissing my forehead.

He moves away and sits in the big chair by the window. "You don't remember much from your childhood, do you?"

I shook my head, knowing that he had turned the chair around and was watching me.

"Has Devon.... Has he said something?" I ask quietly

"No." He mutters, but he sounded different, as though his thoughts were elsewhere. "I haven't seen him."

"Did I do it wrong?" He was the only guy I had ever been with. I couldn't be certain that I had done my part properly

He laughs and shakes his head. "No, you were perfect."

I soak in silence, waiting for him to tell me what's on his mind. But he doesn't. He just quietly watches me, the same way he did back in Trey's office. A look of curiosity. When I get out of the bath and start drying myself, he crosses over to the closet, fishing me out some clothes to wear. Something that I was slowly getting used to.

"Are we going somewhere?" I ask as he gets out a pair of trainers for me. I was hoping just to stay here and relax.

"We need to speak to your brother. I have some questions and I would prefer it if you were there to hear his answers."

He said he hadn't spoken to him. What had happened while I was asleep?

Traipsing in the snow to the dungeons made me feel a little uneasy. Something had definitely happened and I wasn't sure if I even wanted to know.

Alpha Dane pulls the door open, stepping into the darkness first. He flicks the lights on as he makes his way down the steps.

"Devon?" Alpha Dane calls out. "Are you awake?"

"You've brought me a guest, how can I not be awake for my sister." He mutters with a yawn as I step in front of his cell. He looked well, someone had given him a small bed to sleep on, some water and a change of clothes. He had been given more than what I had when Trey and Kyle were punishing me.

"You look comfortable." Alpha Dane speaks quietly

"Your gorgeous Beta was kind enough to bring me a few things. He thought it might make me more conversational with him. He seemed a little annoyed that I would only speak to you." He grins. "Tell me, is he seeing anyone?"

"He isn't into men and I'm pretty sure he has made that quite clear." Alpha Danes tone is low

"Such a pity. Anyway, how can I help you?" He pushes himself to his feet, stretching out his limbs.

"Witches." Alpha Dane mutters,

"Witches? Any witch in particular? Not that I've met any."

"You said you had inside information. Was there talk of Witches visiting, particularly surrounding Neah."

My head snaps in Alpha Dane's direction, but he was solely focussed on Devon.

Chapter 0059

"I don't know their names, but I assume it was Witches or a Witch that bound her. No one else has that kind of power."

"That is why I am asking you."

Devon shakes his head. "I don't know what you want me to say, Alpha Dane. But there was no talk of a Witch or Witches. Trey worked hard to keep that pack concealed from other kinds. He wouldn't let just anyone in." "What do you mean by that?" Alpha Dane demands

"Whoever bound her when she was a child would be the same one who bound her as an adult."

"Do...do you know who he is talking about?" I ask Alpha Dane quietly. Maybe it was why he was so off with me.

"Not yet." Alpha Dane mutters, He turns to the stairs, holding his hand out. "Come, it's time for your lesson with Klaus."

"Lesson? Ooh, what are you practising, fighting?" Devon asks as his hands curl around the bars. "Is this Klaus a handsome man too. It gets a bit boring seeing the same faces down here."

"Reading lesson." I mutter, not really thinking about it.

"It's about time someone taught you to read and write."

"What....what did you say?" I had kept it a secret for so long. Raven figured it out. I blurted it out to Alpha Dane, but I had never told anyone else.

Devon doesn't say anything, retreating back against the wall.

"Answer her?" Alpha Dane growls

"It's nothing."

"How... how did you know that?"

"My person on the inside told me."

Alpha Dane knew I didn't like talking about it. He knew there was no way on Earth I would easily tell another person. Even Trey thought I could read, when the truth was I just learned to figure out what things were without reading the label. "Your story is starting to slip, Devon." Alpha Dane paces back and forth in front of his cell. "I knew there was something off with you."

"Honestly, it's what he told me."

"His name?"

"He never gave me a name." He looks at me. "He was blonde, easily six foot. Almost black eyes. Always happy"

"You trusted someone in the pack who wouldn't even give you their name."

"They didn't want to be caught."

"Bull fucking shit!" Alpha Dane snaps. "I've heard some lies, but this takes the fucking piss."

"He's....telling....the truth." I mutter, vaguely remembering someone that looked like Devon's description

"This guy wouldn't know the truth if it bit him in the ass." Alpha Dane snaps

"He didn't come to the house much... I dropped a list that Kyle had given me." It was like an old memory, scratching to gain entrance in the back of my mind. Little pieces flickered through "He made a joke about me not reading it and then read it out to me." Alpha Dane is staring at me. "Are you sure?"

"My memory is bad.... It's like, most of the good stuff is gone from when I was little and I can only remember the worst parts." My parents blood soaked faces instantly appear in front of me.

"That's what Trey wanted, Neah. If you remembered all the good things, you would have been a threat. He had to make you weak." Devon mutters

"Again, you know a lot for someone who was never in the house." Alpha Dane growl as he grabs my hand, tugging me back up the stairs and out into the cool air.

"I don't like him!" He states. "Just something about him rubs me up the wrong way." He grabs my shoulders, turning me around. "Partial truths do not mean he is telling the whole truth." "You mean like you are not telling me why you are being so weird?"

Chapter 0060

Dane

It was rare, but now and again, snap little comments would come through taking us both by surprise.

"I'm not being weird. There is just a lot going on at the moment."

'You are being an idiot again!' Aero mumbles

'What am I supposed to say? 'Hey, by the way, you were actually bound more than twice because they were scared of you.' Or maybe, 'You don't need to worry about shifting, you've already done it!' Do you think she wants to hear that, Aero? She is petrified of shifting!' 'Fine,' He sulks, 'Do it your way.'

"You...you still haven't said anything." Neah mutters. "Is Aero....is he saying something to you, is he talking about me?"

"Aero cares for you as much as I do, we just have different opinions when it comes to certain situations."

Her brow dips a little. "He wants you to...tell.....me something?" Her frown grows

"Not here!" I mumble, looking around at my people moving around. Grabbing her hand, I tug her back toward the house, shutting us in my office.

Plonking herself down in a chair, she immediately pulls her legs up to her chest. It took me a while to realise it was her way of defending herself, trying to prevent Trey and his crew hitting her ribs and stomach. Though now it was becoming a habit when she felt unprepared.

"It's bad, isn't it?" she whispers "Veronica is back and now you and Aero have decided....."

"It's nothing to do with Veronica."

"I don't..... I don't understand."

"The last few days, we have spent a lot of time in the bedroom. During this time, there was a visitor."

"Trey?" she asks alarmed

"No, a Witch."

"Oh,"

"The same Witch that bound your abilities." It was like tearing off a band aid slowly. "When you were a newborn pup."

Her forehead wrinkles as her eyes widen. "No....when I was six."

I don't give her the other information just yet and explain that this is the same Witch that I met with to discuss unbinding her. The same Witch that had bailed when I mentioned the name of Neah's pack and now I knew why. "She helped Trey?"

"No, Neah." I sigh, "She helped your father."

Her eyes drop from my gaze. Her hands grab the arm rests of her chair and her knuckles are momentarily whiter than white as she squeezes the wood. I feel her sudden rise in anger. ""My...my father?"

"Yes."

"My....my father. He...he wanted me bound?" she spits out the words.

Her anger quickly fades and her eyes become filled with tears.

"I know this isn't what you want to hear, Neah, but from what she told me. I don't think it was just Trey and Cassandra that were responsible. I believe it goes back further than that."

She sits there, staring at me with her blue eyes. I felt so bad for her. I had never known a pack like it. Secrets that ran thicker than blood, but they were all centred around her. "W...why?"

"They feared you."

She lets out a small nervous laugh. "Me?"

I was just going to have to break the news.

"You were able to shift at birth, Neah. They had you bound and then when you were one, you started shifting again, like your Lycan side was fighting it. You, at the age of one, knew why the Witch was there. You purposely kept shifting to a Lycan in the hopes that she wouldn't be able to bind you. Neah, that's unheard of."

'It is for Wolves.' Aero mutters

Neah stares at me as if I'm nuts. Pure disbelief that I was even suggesting that she had already shifted. Her mind just wouldn't accept what I was saying.

"You're...you are wrong. I would know. I....."

"You wouldn't remember. No pup would or could remember that."

"I..... That.... That can't.... You are wrong."

"I'm only telling you what the Witch told me."

"You believe her."

"Madame Curie may be elusive at times, but she has always eventually told me the truth. Even if it is like drawing blood from a stone. Sometimes cash tends to make her more forthcoming. However, this time, she didn't even want cash." 'She's not listening.' Aero mutters

I glance back at Neah who has her eyes closed and her nose wrinkled up as she frowns

"Are you okay?"

"I think I've heard that name."

"Madame Curie?" I ask curiously

Her jaw clenches as she nods her head.

"From someone here?"

"No, it's just....it's something up here." She taps her head. "Familiar."

"Like I said, they feared you Neah. That's why the Witch was involved. They fear a female Alpha."

"I'm not."

"You are a rare female Alpha of a dying breed."

She gets to her feet and moves around the desk to my window. "I'm not powerful, Alpha Dane. I'm just me....I'm just the girl that was made a slave. I'm not.... I'm not anything powerful. And I wish.... Please stop saying it." I feel her sadness. She just wouldn't believe that it was a possibility.

"If they are dying, let them die out." She mutters, as she continues to look out the window.

"Let them die out?" Her comment takes me by surprise, that I have to confirm what I just heard.

She slowly turns to me and a tear is edging its way down over her cheek but she is so angry. "They did horrible things to me. They don't deserve to live."