Ch. 576..580: The Alpha Contract Chapter 576-580

Chapter 0576

Hey everyone hope you are well. You may have noticed that there is an Ivy in the last chapter. That is because I messed up. Indy was originally going to be called Ivy and I thought I caught all the changes. Clearly not.

Though it does not help when there are constant messages shouting and demanding for me to 'hurry up', 'just release it, 'get on with it', 'you take to long'. And they are some of the less harsh messages I have received. You don't need to hear the details of the others, I will leave that to your imagination. Just releasing the chapters means cracks develop and it is not something that is easily rectified. Like today. All because I gave in to the demands and not for the first time. A mistake I will not be making again.

I want to apologise to everyone else for having to read this message. It wasn't something I was going to post, however this behaviour needs to be addressed.

To those that are patient and will wait, and to the fans who send me lovely messages, you are all superstars and I cannot appreciate you enough.

Be kind

Taylor West

 

Chapter 0577

Brax

"At least Samara will be happy." I snort. All the family members were coming out of the woodwork these days. If I was asked, I would never admit that I secretly enjoyed the drama. It often means I get to kill someone and that is always pleasant. "Samara?" Indy asks curiously.

"Amelia's daughter."

"What?" Her jaw drops

"Amelia's daughter." I repeat

She narrows her eyes and tuts, "I'm not deaf. I was in shock." She looks over to Orion. "How could we have not known that she had a daughter?"

He shrugs his shoulders.

"She was given away to her father just after she was born." Klaus sighs, "With some story that Amelia was not ready for children. Samara isn't a kid, she is an adult." "Oh."

"You think Serkan would have killed Samara if he knew about her?" I ask Klaus. I knew Serkan wanted Neah dead. If Amelia was locked up and everyone thought she was dead, it would make sense that he would want Samara dead. It was a weird situation. Kitson's were effectively the top dogs of the Lycan world. They would be stronger together, a united front.

Where did it go wrong? Was it because Neah's mother ran away? Is Serkan hungry for more power? He is an old man, he would die soon enough. Then what? Thalia gets to be a leader, acting like a puppet master. We do not need someone like her in power.

"Maybe" Klaus ignores my question and carries on talking to Xavi. "What I do know is that Amelia met Samara's father here in White Cliffs. I know that Cooper knew where this place was."

"That means her father was let in." Indy interrupts, her golden eyes dance between us as she tries to keep up.

"What if he wasn't let in?" Klaus mutters from the window. "What if he was already here and Amelia helped them escape?" He spins around to face me. "Do you know how old Samara is?" "Twenty five ish. Maybe. Keeping tabs of people's ages is not really on my list of things to do. I would say something similar to Neah's age. I didn't think Thalia had been here that long?" "Not twenty five years." Indy confirms.

"Cooper was also Samara's half brother." I glance at Xavi as he curls his lip, "She is also not a Witch."

Klaus glances at Xavi. "We don't need to go down that road, but no, different mothers!"

I glare back at the white Wolf. He was starting to piss me off. Klaus normally can't keep his mouth shut, but time away from the pack had changed him. He knew when to keep things to himself. "Though now that I think about it, it appears that there is more to that story." Klaus mutters to Orion.

"What about Samara's father? Do you know him? Can you ask him?" Indy smiles hopefully. "Maybe he knows the answer."

"Dead." I tell her. "Died when she was almost a teenager." I watch her hopes of getting away fade. A tiny part of me is guilty. It was an odd feeling. Guilt. I didn't like it. It had only ever happened with Madison. I shake it off. "Oh." she mutters, her shoulders dropping. "That really sucks."

"Until we decide to do something, we are not going to find out anything else. We can't stay here forever. We all know what needs to happen." I tell them. A part of me wanted to apologise to Indy, but it's not in my nature. "If you want to make a move, we should go now." Indy mumbles. "We only have a few hours until the music stops."

"You didn't want them to go across the courtyard, but you are happy to go snooping around in the dungeons to try and find Amelia?" I ask directly to her

"The music has started." Indy

shrugs. "Thalia won't be anywhere near here. In fact everyone will be where the feast is. It's like I have already told you, they can't stop themselves. The dungeons are accessible in the opposite direction. It's just timing, that is all. When the music starts, it is when Orion and I sneak out to try and plan our escape. Every moment outside those gates is like my soul is no longer being crushed. Even if it only lasts a little while."

"Thalia has never noticed you missing?"

"You keep making comments about me listening. Do you? She is never there, she hates the music." She scowls at Orion. "Yes, I know." "What does Orion say about this?" I ask, glancing at him

"That it's suicide and he wants me to tell you that he is in." She lets out an exasperated sigh, "We both are. I know we are running out of options. It's only a matter of time before that bitch comes barging through my door and discovers all of us. She quickly shakes her head. "It seemed so much easier before."

I raise a brow at her, "You think being trapped is easier?"

"No... It's not what...I just want to see Silas again. I want this to be over. But I'm getting to the point where it feels like it is never going to happen. That I will never get a chance to be with my mate. Don't you ever feel like that?" Her golden eyes shine and she blinks quickly, trying to stop the tears from breaking free.

Chapter 0578

Madison is hundreds of miles from me, but it was not an option to stop and think about her. Not when she was being kept safe.

Indy is a confident Wolf, but even confident Wolves can get backed into a corner where they see no way out. They eventually give in to defeat. But this was not defeat, not yet. Not until that Witch is dead. Turning around, I find Klaus still looking out the window. The white Wolf stands on his hind legs, his front feet propped up on the windowsill right next to Klaus.

"Anything?" I press. The wolf gives me a condescending side glance.

Klaus shakes his head at me. "There are less and less people passing by. Indy is right. Now is the time."

"You really want to do this?" In the past he had never been one to jump head over heels into an attack.

He briefly frowns and turns to Indy "Tell me everything you know."

"There isn't much else. I told you, it was made to look like she didn't exist. I think we are the only ones who remember her. If she is anywhere, it will be the dungeons, I'm sure of it."

"Did she try to overthrow Serkan?" I ask, remembering what Silas had told us,

"I don't know. If she did, I don't know anything about that. I do know that Amelia hasn't always been crazy." Indy tuts. "Maybe, a little longer than when everyone else started acting weird. When I was little, she would always walk Silas around and play games with the other children." She looks at Orion and shrugs her shoulders. "He thinks maybe it started just before everyone else was affected, but he can't be sure."

"There is only one way to find out. Where is that potion?"

Orion passes me the small vial of blue liquid. Carefully untwisting the lid. I drop a tiny spot on my tongue and pass it to Klaus. He repeats the process and then gives Xavi an extra drop. Orion and Indy do the same.

Pulling the door open, music fills the courtyard. No one of any kind could be seen though I did wonder how the others were not being influenced by the sounds. A question for another time.

The sun had already set and stars dotted the sky. Somewhere, the laughter of many could be heard. The smell of food wafted around us and still the dead didn't smell.

I step forward as Indy starts making 'pss pss' noises behind me. She hands me a jacket. "It's obvious if you are walking around in just shorts." She tuts

The others follow her out of the house and she heads in a different direction to the smell of food. She takes us along the wall that separates us from the outside world. Indy is quick. Her feet move without making any noise. Impressive when we are sneaking across gravel. She pauses in her tracks, looking in all directions and races across the grounds and into a dark shadow.

""You're up." Klaus mutters to me.

I repeat the process and as I disappear into the shadow, hands settle around my ankles, pulling me down into a thick swamp. The smell

of

V

it lingers in the air.

"Are you seriously telling me this is the way into the dungeons?" I snap

"Do you want to find her or not?" She whispers

Klaus crashes into me before I have a chance to answer

"It's just rotting food." Indy tells

as I'm splattered with son isdyin

rancid. This time, I know she isdying,

but it's not to hide a secret. It's to keep me quiet.

The white Wolf and Orion join us as Indy leads us through the rotting sewage.

"This way." She whispers

"How do you know this?"

"Silas." She mutters. "He used to sneak out at night before he was moved out of the castle."

The spell on him is strong if he cannot remember the connection they had. From what she tells me, it sounds like their connection is similar to Neah and Danes.

"I don't know exactly where the dungeons are." She adds, "But I know they are not far. Silas used visit the prisoners when he was younger. Take them food and

water. He didn't agree with them being

locked up. Then he would sneak out to meet me."

She hops out of the sewage and offers me a hand. I roll my eyes and jump up with ease.

We stand in the doorway. A corridor built out of stone with no windows heads in either direction. We could go either way. "Split up." I suggest

Xavi, Orion and Klaus take the left while Indy and I head right. The place was a maze. Dead ends, loops and somehow twice we ended back right by the sewage.

"This shouldn't be that hard." She sighs as she leans against the wall. "Silas did it all the time."

"You are right. It shouldn't be."

Somehow with all the turns we took, we never bumped into the others.

Thalia knows we are here.

 

Chapter 0579

Chapter 0579

Klaus

'Stop Klaus. Just stop for a moment.' I could sense the concern in Xavi's tone

"I know.' I mutter through our link. 'I feel it. Something is off.

'Retrace our steps.' He suggests.

Turning around, Orion is staring at us. He gestures forward.

I shake my head, "No, we need to go back. Something is not quite right."

Orion quickly jabs his finger over my shoulder in the direction we had been walking as he makes a weird noise. His lack of tongue stops him from telling us what it is he wants. His deep blue eyes are wide and I see a hint of fear.

'He can't be in on this." Xavi mutters, 'Can he?'

'I don't think he is. Look at his eyes. That's fear.'

Orion looks behind him then tries to squeeze by, beckoning for us to follow.

*Is it Indy, is she in trouble?"

He frantically nodded at me and looked around, like he was searching for something, but there was nothing other than dimly lit, stone corridors. In the end, he bites his own finger until blood appears. He quickly writes on the wall Thalia has them both. I have to find Indy."

"Okay, we will. Brax will try his best to keep Indy safe." I offer. I hoped he would, he had made it more than clear that Xavi wasn't allowed to touch a hair on her head. I'm certain he is not going to just let her die.

What do you want to do?' Xavi asks as he gazes at me.

'I know you don't like either of them, but Orion is right, we need to find them.'

He rubs his large white head against my leg. Then we will find them. You know I will always help you.'

We quietly move through the labyrinth of corridors. There were never any doors or windows, or even steps, just solid stone walls that run in all directions with a few torches lighting the place up. Eventually we stumble upon Orion's message that he had written in his own blood. We had somehow gone full circle without realising it.

We hadn't been able to scent ourselves because of that potion we took.

This place is a minefield.' Xavi mutters. "How the hell are we supposed to find our way out of here!'

'I don't know, but we have to try. Brax asked me here to help. I can't just abandon him.'

Orion's hands are balled into fists at his side. He randomly punches the wall in frustration and a small gap appears in the wall. Pushing against it, a secret door opens up. The three of us stare at it. It was a lucky punch.

'Secret doors?' I murmured to Xavi, wondering how many others there were.

I moved through the new door and once I saw that it was clear, waved them through. I finally understood that where we entered the castle, it had been designed to throw people off. Walking around in circles, completely lost. Anyone coming down here needed to know exactly where they were going.

It wasn't a Witch's spell. It was a clever defence method.

Orion quietly pushes the door shut and leans against it. His deep blue eyes are full of worry. It must be hard when the only person he can properly communicate with is Indy.

He puffs out his cheeks as he looks around

"We will find her." I reassure him. Whether she is dead or alive, we will find her.

Looking down the newly found corridor. Lit torches lined the walls, closer together than the labyrinth we had been struck in. They removed all shadows. Halfway down, there are stone steps and even further than that, to the naked eye, the torches appear to have burned out, plunging the rest of the corridor into darkness.

'What do you see?' Xavi asks me as he stares at the darkness

'Magic.' I mutter. The darkness was not because the torches ended. They continued right the way down, yet a dark cloud filled the space. Confusing those that couldn't see past it.

I move forwards, passing the stone steps. Orion lets out a gargled groan. I look back to see him ready to climb the steps but something was hidden down here. Something that only Xavi and I could see.

'It probably looks like a wall to him.' Xavi suggests

Locking my fingers around Orion's wrist, I pull his protesting body through the thick cloud.

On the other side of the cloud are rusty bars, separating us from her. A small hole at the bottom just big enough to slide a plate of food through.

Curled up on the stone floor with a chain around her neck is a frail woman.

At a quick glance, I would have thought it was Samara, only this woman's blonde hair is waist length. Wrinkles on her forehead and the creases at the corner of her eyes give her age away.

Her eyes flicker open and she scurries back across the stone floor. Pulling her thin legs up to her chest. She trembles as she places her hands on either side of her head. She begins to rock. Whispers leave her lips, but they are nothing more than sounds.

 

 

Chapter 0580

Chapter 0580

"Amelia?"

She doesn't acknowledge us.

*Amelia Kitson?"

The rocking stops and she temporarily looks up at us.

*Amelia, we are here to help you." I tell her.

She shakes her head and pushes herself further back against the wall. Like she is trying to make herself disappear.

'Didn't you tell me that everyone got their abilities back after Cooper was killed?' Xavi asks

'Yes.' I stare in through the metal bars at the frail woman

'So if Cooper did this, the moment he died, she should have had her Lycan back?'

'Not necessarily. We don't know what else has been done to her.' I frown. They could have done anything to her.

Her skin was thin and looked as though it had been pulled tight over her thin frame. The raggy clothes she is wearing are barely staying together. Her hair is matted and her eyes look excessively big for her face, yet at the same time, they are sunken.

Amelia covers her ears. "No, no, no." She taps her chest, "Amy,"

'Maybe Amelia is a trigger to her.' Xavi suggests

I look in through the door and study her. Crazy. That had been the word Indy had used to describe her. She had gone crazy. I hadn't believed her, though not entirely. Being locked up for years in this tiny hole would probably do that to a person. Even Dane would have killed them rather than letting them suffer for this long.

On the floor of her cell are rat carcasses, a pan with a dribble of water. A bucket lingers in the corner.

"Amy. We know what Thalia is." I whisper. I point to Xavi, "She cursed him to never be able to shift." I gesture to Orion, "She cut out his tongue. I know she is helping your father. Your father wants to kill your niece. We want to help you!"

"No father." She mutters as her hair falls over her face. She rocks side to side. "No father."

'What does she mean?' Xavi asks

*Serkan. Your father....

*NO FATHER!"

'I don't understand," Xavi mutters, "You said he is."

'Neah is her niece. Serkan is Neah's grandfather. I know. I did her family tree.' I study her. Why was she saying he is not her father?

"I need you to keep watch." I had to link Dane. Maybe there was something that I didn't know.

I wait for Xavi to position himself. Orion joins him as I search for the connection between me and my Alpha. Dane?'

'Klaus!' He sounds relieved. 'It's so good to hear from you.' His familiar voice rumbles through my head. 'Are you okay? Are you in trouble?"

I'm in White Cliffs with Brax.'

There's a pause. "How the fuck did you end up there?"

"It's a long story but I'm here now and we found Amelia Kitson.

'Neah's aunt?' He scoffs. 'Silas said she was wiped from history. She's dead.'

'I'm looking at her now. She is very much alive and is being held in a dungeon. Everything is not as it seems here. The people in White Cliffs are under some sort of spell. The dead lay in the streets with no smell and the living are unable to see them. No one is allowed to leave. Thalia has more control and Amelia...Well, she is not completely with it and she keeps saying her father is not her father.'

'Klaus, you need to get out of there!' I hear his concern

'Not until the Witch is dead and the curse is broken on my mate.'

There is another pause 'Your mate?

'Yes.'

He doesn't ask any questions about Xavi. 'There's not much I can do from here. I can't leave Neah, she has just had twins. Girls. He announces proudly

'She's had them?' She wasn't due for another couple of months.

'It's a long story, but she is safe. We need to focus on you. I'm not sure what I can do to help from here. We did run into Serkan a while ago. He mistook me for my twin. Brax and Damien went after him in a car chase but he disappeared and hasn't been seen since.'

'Can Neah link him?"

'That's the problem.' He murmurs. 'She can find no connection to him in any shape or form. It's almost as though he doesn't exist. But I have seen him with my own two eyes. I killed his chauffeur. If you are with Brax, I'm sure you are aware that Serkan is a Rogue."

'I am."

*NO FATHER!"Amelia screeches from her cell as she stares at me.

'Silas was made to believe that he and Thalia are mated.' Dane continues. 'We have finally got through to him, but we don't think it will last.

Yes I know. His real mate filled me in.' I reply

'His real mate? What's her name?'

'Indy. Maybe it will help him.' I don't know how much it would help, but it was worth a try. This Thalia had done a real number on people. What has Silas told you about Thalia?'