Ch. 81..85: The Alpha Contract Chapter 81-85

Chapter 0081

I link her to meet me.

She was hesitant at first, which is unlike her. But moments later, she appears. Seemlingly happy about the blood splatters on my shirt.

"You wanted to see me?"

"I've been thinking about what you have said."

"Oh?" She flutters her eyelashes at me. "Have you realised she is not the one for you?"

"I have thought about a lot of things since your return."

Her fingers immediately go to her hair, twirling a strand of it as she focuses on me. "I knew it, Dane. I knew she wouldn't be enough for you. I knew you just felt sorry for her."

"But that's the issue, isn't it. I'm mated to her. I can't do anything with you while I'm mated to her. I can't kiss you. I can't run my tongue over your sweet skin. I can't claim you and I definitely cannot fuck you." Her brow dips a little in confusion, "Is she not dead?"

"Now how would you know about that, Veronica?"

"I.....I..."

"So it's okay for you to stutter but not Neah?" I had heard Neah's thoughts on the interaction.

Her eyes widen as she tries to back away.

"Oh no. Not this time." I grab her shoulders, holding her firmly in place. "I told you, desperation doesn't look good on you. I warned you to stay away from Neah."

"You owe me!"

"No, not anymore."

Lifting her off the ground she kicks and screams. Fighting to get out of my grip. "Dane please, I did this for us."

"There is no us. If you had just left things alone, I wouldn't be taking you to fight for your life."

"Please, no. We protect our own, she isn't one of us!" She screams out

"It's like you said, Veronica. You needed a pack, but we didn't need you."

I drop her at the edge of the forest where many of my people had already shifted into Wolves and are eagerly waiting. "No, please Dane."

"You made Neah suffer, I think it's only fair you get to suffer too."

Tears are running down her face. "I'm sorry. I won't do this again. I won't. I will leave. Please!"

""Run!"

I take a step back, removing my shirt, watching her slowly turn to the forest. "Thirty second head start."

"I'm sorry."

The others are growling at her, digging their paws into the soil as they hunched down, ready to pounce.

She backs away into the forest, running as fast as she can. I could hear her sobbing as she moved, she doesn't shift and sticks to running on two feet. She most likely knew there was not a single hope of her getting out of this.

Shifting into my Wolf. I walk back and forth in front of the others. They had all been chosen to hunt now because they would be on duty during the pack run, keeping an eye on Neah.

As soon as I give the go ahead, they charge ahead of me, quickly picking up Veronica's scent. Their legs power over the uneven ground, quickly turning when her scent moves in a different direction. I could still hear her and already knew that she wouldn't make it far. I'm quickly linked to say that she is surrounded.

I could hear her begging them as I slowly made my way towards them.

'Piece by piece.' Aero growls

Veronica's face is stained with tears. The mud in her blonde hair suggested that she had tripped over at some point. Her eyes move between all of us as she begs for her life. It wouldn't make a difference, her death is certain.

I give the Wolves the go ahead.

They lunge at her like they would a deer or a stag. Her screams filled the forest as they began tearing flesh from her bones. It doesn't take long for her screams to become silent as her heart stops beating. Her eyes are frozen wide as they continue ripping her apart. I hoped that in her final moments, she felt the pain that she put Neah in.

Chapter 0082

I sit at her bedside, watching every little muscle twitch, willing Neah to open her eyes. She wasn't dead. I would have felt it if her soul had crossed over. Which meant the antidote had worked on some level, but what irreparable damage had the Blood of Wolfsand done?

We wouldn't know until she woke.

Eric still hadn't linked me either and my patience was waning. It wasn't like him to go so long without checking in and when I tried speaking to him through mindlink, he cut me off without a single word

"You should get some rest." Raven mutters from the doorway. "It's almost midnight and you have the pack run."

"I'm not leaving her side."

"I can sit with her."

"Like I said, I am not leaving her side."

She steps in and passes me a folded shirt, "At least change your top, you still have her blood on you."

I glance down at my blood splattered shirt and agree that it is probably not what Neah would want to see when she wakes up.

"You haven't said anything since you have been back, about Veronica." Raven mumbles

"She's dead. That is all you need to know."

"You hunted her, didn't you?"

"Did you expect me to let her final breath be easy?"

She gives me one final glance and backs out of the room

'I hate this.' Aero mutters

'You and me both.'

'We have been in control of everything for so long, but things keep slipping through, Dane. Important shit.'

'Are you trying to tell me you saw this coming?' I snap at my Wolf

'No, of course not.'

'Then you should have seen it. We both should have. Veronica has done some dark things in her past. I should have known that she would find a way to hurt Neah, especially after I told her she had no chance.' 'Blood of Wolfsbane?' He mutters, 'That is something we couldn't prepare for.'

'Raven did! She knew there was a chance it could happen.'

Aero drops into silence, he knew I was internally punishing myself and that wasn't going to change any time soon.

Changing into the black shirt, I see Neah's fingers twitch a little. Immediately grabbing her hand, I talk to her, hoping that my voice would somehow help her wake up.

Raven is soon replaced with Klaus, he lightly knocks on the door and frowns as he scans Neah.

"Did you find it?" I ask without looking up.

"Yes, and there was plenty of it."

"What do you mean?"

"She had a room full of them. Easily forty or fifty individual plants. She knew what she was doing. Not only were there plants, she had waders, a thick jacket and gloves, one of those beekeeper hats. The girl knew what she was doing. And she was planning something big. She had enough to do some serious damage to the pack."

"And?"

"We burned the entire room. Nothing remains, including Veronica's bones." He takes a step towards Neah and sighs.

"What?"

"Neah has more enemies than you, Dane. For someone who knew nothing about her own life, how could she have made so many enemies?"

"Her enemies are my enemies." I mutter.

Klaus takes a seat in the only empty chair. "I assume the brother doesn't know."

"He and Eric are yet to return."

"I'm sure they are fine. Maybe they have a lead and are tracking them."

""You sound confident."

"I have to be hopeful." Klaus gives me a small smile

"Hopeful?"

"Think about it, she is some kind of miracle. Who else can say they have been bound this many times and live to tell the tale. And now poisoned by something so deadly to our kind" He frowns as he stares at my mate. "Has she made any progress?" "No. Her heart rhythm is steady. Raven says that everything is spot on."

"Maybe her brain just needs time to process. Maybe the shock of what has happened has made her body shut down."

"Her mind is a mess." I sigh. "None of it makes any sense. I can't tell if she is reliving memories, or whether she's dreaming. I just know she is confused."

"So talk to her. Use your voice to guide her."

"You believe in that?"

"I've heard of stranger things happening. Or if you feel uncomfortable doing that, I can read to her." He pulls a small book out from the inside of his jacket.

Chapter 0083

"Go ahead," I mutter, "It can't hurt."

As Klaus reads to her. I watch for any signs that she could hear him, but there is little more than a finger twitch here and there. But it did seem to be bringing her peace. Her mnd wasn't so hectic. Footsteps echo in the hallway as feet come running towards us. Klaus and I quickly move to the end of Neah's bed, blocking her from view just as Devon crashes in through the door. "Is she okay? Please tell me she is okay!"

I take a step to the side so that he could see her.

"Who the fuck did this? Was it that fucking blonde bitch?"

"Yes." Klaus answers when I find myself unable to answer. Devon's reactins are strong, similar to how I would protect my sister

"I will kill her!"

"You are a little behind. Dane already had her killed." Klaus tells him

He moves around me to get closer to Neah, taking her hand in his. "Why won't she wake up?"

"We don't know." Klaus mutters while watching me. "She has had an antidote, all her vitals are good. I think that after years of abuse, her brain has shut down, just temporarily, to recover." "Where's Eric?" I mutter,

"He went to check on his boys. Today, made him realise alot of things."

My eyes narrow, "Why didn't he answer me when I linked him?"

"We ran into a spot of trouble."

"In the city?"

"It looks like you were right. He is creating more Lycans. They were waiting for us."

As the light catches his skin, I notice old stains of blood that hadn't been wiped away properly.

No one from my businesses had informed me that they were having problems.

"Where too in the city?"

"Eric called it the Southbank, you know, down by the river that passes through. We were attacked, we killed as many as we could. There was no sign of Trey or Cassandra anywhere." "You couldn't sense them?" Klaus asks

"Yes and No."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that Trey is doing the biting, connecting more to him. It means that he knows what he is doing. He is making it difficult for me to single him out in a place that is packed. I never thought of the idiot as smart, which makes me think this is Cassandra's idea too." He bends down close to Neah. "Wake up, you are safe. You are protected. You are loved."

Still, there is nothing. If it wasn't for her heartbeat, she would be presumed dead.

When Klaus leaves, Devon takes the empty seat opposite me. He holds her left hand as I hold her right. Unlike the others, he doesn't tell me to leave or to get some rest. He sits in silence, which is unlike him. He was really playing the doting brother but Aero still didn't trust him. A few hours after the sun has come up, Raven returns, checking all Neah's vitals again. "I don't understand." She murmurs.

"What's wrong?" Devon demands.

"That's just it. There is nothing wrong. She should be awake."

"Are you sure you haven't missed anything?"

She frowns at him and turns a monitor around, pointing to the different lines. "Heartbeat, good, oxygen levels, brilliant, blood pressure, perfect."

Raven leans over Neah, shining a torch light into her eyes, "Pupils, reactive."

""Raven?"

"There's nothing more I can do Dane. She just needs time."

"That wasn't what I was going to ask. Who was the Witch you saw?"

"For the antidote? The one that you get information from. Madame Curie."

"Madame Curie?"

"Yep, she was very helpful." Raven smiles, "Told me that it wouldn't be an easy antidote to make, but that it was possible."

"Madame Curie is the one who got Neah in this mess in the first place. She was the one that bound her originally. Why would she help?"

"I never said it was for Neah. I asked her if there was a way. I told her it was for the well being of the pack and she agreed."

"She agreed?"

"Yes. As simple as that."

Chapter 0084

I could hear them. Their voices sliced through the thick fog in my brain. Raven and Alpha Dane are arguing about the Witch who bound me.

I could hear Raven defending the Witch, not for what had happened in the past but for what she had done now.

"She knew exactly who I was, Dane!" She snaps "She knows you are my brother. I don't think she needed a degree to figure out why I was asking for it." "Guys, guys." Devon calls out.

"I still can't believe you went to her." Alpha Dane snaps

"If I hadn't, Neah would be dead!" Raven snaps back

Death. Maybe that was why I was here. Maybe death was what I was made for.

"Will you guys shut up!" Devon snaps. "Take it outside, she doesn't need to hear this."

"I'm sorry, Dane. I did what I thought was the best thing for this pack. I did this to protect us. Why can't you see it?" Raven stops shouting. "I did this for Black Shadow." "How much?"

"It was nothing."

"She always has a price. How much?"

"I will pay you back."

"Raven!"

I don't hear what she says and I prefer it that way. But from the collective gasps, I assume it was a lot more than what anyone would pay.

"I have it now. She gave me a list of ingredients and the directions to make it myself."

There's silence and I feel myself slipping away into my own fog. Wrapping itself around me like a blanket as it cocoons me.

"She moved!" Devon's voice drags me back out of the fog.

"She's been twitching since yesterday." Alpha Dane mutters

"No, she moved. Her hand opened and closed."

Alpha Dane grabs my hand, short little spikes of electricity fly up my arm, jolting my heart.

"Did you see that?" Raven asks. "There was a spike in her heart rate."

"Neah? Neah?" Alpha Dane calls my name

Had he felt it too?

I try to speak, but nothing comes out.

"Take your time, I'm right here." Alpha Dane murmurs. He squeezes my hand and I feel the sparks again.

My eyes creep open to the bright lights of the hospital, which forces them closed again.

"Turn the lights off," Alpha Dane orders as he reads my mind As my eyes open again, I don't recoil from the dimly lit room.

"Hey," Alpha Dane cradles my head. "How are you feeling?"

A raspy sound comes from my throat as I gaze at him.

"It's okay, take your time." Raven mutters

"You scared the crap out of all of us." Devon mumbles

I don't turn to look at him, instead choosing to keep my focus on Alpha Dane and his strange crimson eyes. It was a relief to see him. For just a second, I had thought it had all been a dream. Who? I wanted to ask. Who did this? The last thing I remember is listening to Alpha Dane send Eric and Devon into the city.

"Veronica." Alpha Dane mutters, reading my mind. "She injected you with Blood of Wolfsbane. Raven had an antidote."

I knew the bitch was going to try and kill me.

I see Alpha Dane smile. For just a second, I forgot how easy it was for him to read my mind

"She's dead, you don't need to worry about her anymore." He confirms.

"And a good thing too, Otherwise I would have had to kill her." Devon mutters.

Now there was just Trey and Cassandra to deal with.

Alpha Dane doesn't say anything, I knew he was listening to me. What was he not telling me?

"Can we have a minute alone?" Alpha Dane mutters to the others.

They leave, though they are not happy about it.

He shuts the door behind them and rolls the blind down. It was serious.

"Eric and Devon did go into the city." He tells me, "And just as we predicted, he is creating more Lycans. He may be doing it just so he can attack us, but at the same time, it will piss off other Wolf packs." My voice sounds like a knife being scraped on a plate as I ask why.

He frowns, "Talk to me through your thoughts."

I nod and he continues to tell me how packs will feel threatened by Trey's ability to turn humans.

"It's the same as Vampires turning a lot of humans in one go. They do it to invade an area and then kill the ones they turned"

'Vampires?'

"Sorry," he mumbles, "There are a lot of other species in the world. Though you will never see them here."

'I don't know what a Vampire is'.

Chapter 0085

He narrows his eyes at me and I shrug my aching shoulders at him

"Blood feeders. That's all you need to know."

The way he barely speaks of them, made me pretty sure I didn't want to meet them anyway.

Shifting a little on the bed, Alpha Dane presses a button and the whole bed begins to move, pushing my back up until I was sat up, looking at him. He had a serious expression, his lips pursed a little as a small crease appears on his forehead. "You need to tell me when something doesn't feel right."

'I..... I thought I was just really, really tired. My head felt a little fuzzy, it still does.'

He leans over me, placing his fists on the bed, inches from both sides of my hips. His face is close, his scent is wildly intoxicating.

"I can't lose you." He mutters in a low voice. "I won't lose you."

His crimson eyes bore into mine. My thighs involuntarily clamp themselves together as I gaze back at him. He had this ability of making you want to obey him.

My head bobs up and down and he grabs my face, kissing me. His tongue briefly skims mine, and he quickly pulls away

"I have to let you rest."

He sounds annoyed and disappointed. I spot his swollen bulge and I wondered how difficult it was, having to restrain himself right now.

"If you were here for anything else, I would fuck you, right here, in this bed." He murmurs

He moves away, sitting in the chair and watches me. He doesn't speak, but his gaze tells me everything. When I'm given the all clear, I won't be leaving the bedroom.

It's hours before Raven lets me go. She puts me through loads of tests. Asking my full name, where I was, if I could tell her what day it was and then there were the physical challenges. The more tests and questions she asked, the more impatient Alpha Dane grew. "Raven, surely you have all your answers by now?" He snaps. He still hadn't left other than to use the bathroom.

"I'm just being thorough. I don't need you biting my head off because I missed something.

He frustratedly waves at her to carry on.

I do everything she asks, but she still insists that when I go back to the packhouse, I rest.

"I'm okay." I whisper

"I'm not taking any chances." She turns to her brother, folding her arms across her chest. "Nothing physical for a couple of days."

His crimson eyes find mine. His lips curve up a little, he was going to find a way around her instructions which scared me a little. Especially when I think of our last time together.

We walk slowly back towards the house, just like the first time I had been in the pack hospital, I refused to let him carry me, insisting that I needed to stretch my legs.

Devon hovers closely behind too, like they were both expecting me to drop at any moment or maybe they thought that I was going to be drugged again. Alpha Dane glances at me. He was still listening to my thoughts.

"Just take your time." He murmurs. "I'm not going anywhere. I know you are aching."

Trey and the others would never have cared about something like that. They would have forced me to work through the pain, ensuring I suffered more. "And I will make them suffer too." He adds

"You will have to beat me to it." Devon mutters from behind me. "Even that Veronica I would have made her suffer more than just feeding her to the Wolves."

I freeze at his comment. Fed her to the Wolves? Did he mean actual wolves or the pack?

"You don't need to worry about it." Alpha Dane mutters to me and I see him glare at Devon

"Sorry, I will keep my mouth shut." Devon sucks in his cheeks, avoiding making eye contact with me.

I should have expected it to turn out badly for her. And I knew there was a dangerous side to Alpha Dane. I should have put two and two together to realise that when he kills someone, it's never simple and straightforward. Kyle's death was probably the easiest kill he has ever had. Though, it did make me wonder about the other women's deaths. Alpha Dane doesn't say anything and I decide not to question him. He was listening to my thoughts anyway, but by the look he gives me, it would suggest that the others died in the same way.