Filed to story: The Alphas Contract Novel by Taylor West
I frown. “I don’t know anymore.”
Her eyes widen, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“The blood tie does weird things. I can’t fully explain it. I just know I want to make sure Indy is safe and unhurt. I have a need to protect her from Xavi. I want to know more about her strange bright soul, but if you I
a are asking me if I want to fuck her, the answer is no; that has never crossed my mind. She is not mine. You are.”
“From what I understand, the blood tie didn’t work like that for Neah. So why is it doing it to you?”
“Neah came from a dark background; it wasn’t ever going to work like that for her. Mine and Indy’s tie was consensual.”
She pulls her shoulders up around her ears. “Are you going to sever the tie?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Then, will you mark me?”
When I don’t answer, she hits me in the chest and stomps off towards Blair, who is happily smirking at me.
“That looked like it went well,” Damien mutters as he walks out of the trees.
“She’s mad because I blood-tied myself to Silas’s mate.”
“Dane did tell me. Because it’s you, I assume you thought it was your only chance at survival. Though, I am curious what you would have done if you had marked Madison?”
“I guess we will never know.”
“She has a right to be angry.”
“I know that.” I tut. “I see her soul. I know she is hurt and frustrated, but she would be more upset if those walls had crushed us. Blair does not help the situation.” I see Blair hug Madison. They disappear inside the house without so much as a glance in my direction.
“As much as I agree that Blair still has her issues. She won’t change Maddie’s feelings; those were not created by Blair.”
I shake my head. I wasn’t discussing this with anyone other than Madison. “What were you doing in the forest?”
“Helping to lay traps. If you go into the forest, I suggest you go no further than a mile, or you might not be coming back.” “Shit’s getting real.”
“Shit has been real for a long time.”
Damien
“How about a drink?” I mutter as I watch Brax’s gaze drift to Ryken’s place.
“Might as well,” he tuts, “She’s not going to speak to me for a while.”
He follows me to my place and settles on the kitchen worktop.
“Dottie is changing,” I mutter as I slide a glass towards Brax. “She’s growing up. Where is she?”
“At a friend’s house, she will be home soon.” I sigh as I stare at him, “It’s more than her growing up, Brax. I know you are a Hunter, and that is what is developing in her. Yet, she always surprises me. Dottie sees things differently from the rest of us; she feels things differently. And a lot happened while you were away.”
He cocks a brow at me. “Has she talked about souls? Can she see them properly?”
“Not exactly,” I shake my head. “It seems like it is more than that. She was the one who figured Silas had another mate that wasn’t Thalia. She knew that his mind was clouded.” I pause, weighing up whether I should mention the next bit. “And?”
“She heard you! Dottie knew you were trapped by some kind of fire, and she knew you were in the ocean. She said something about turning on a light.”
“A light?”
“She said something similar to Silas. Is she talking about the darkness that lives within us?”
He slowly shakes his head, and a crease forms between his eyebrows, “Doubtful, but I did tell her I loved her and to be good for you.” He frowns, which matches what Dottie said. “Our chances of survival were limited. I wasn’t sure if she would hear me, but I had to say it anyway.”
“Did you tell her about the fire or the water?”
He shakes his head
“Then how did she know?”
“It’s who she is.”
“That’s your answer? The whole thing sent her into full-blown panic mode. I was called into the school to help while all the other kids were sent home.”
He jumps off the worktop, drags a chair out from the table and slumps down. Drumming his fingers on the wooden table, he stares into space.
“You were expecting this, weren’t you?” I ask
“I wasn’t sure what to expect. It wasn’t that long ago that I thought I would never see my daughter again, and I’m not talking about being in White Cliffs. But it was bound to happen at some point. Being around all thèse Lycans probably triggered it. Just like it triggered me when I was younger.”
“And yet she doesn’t have a problem with most of us. Is this to do with her mother? You said Dottie’s mother was a Hunter like you, but you never talk about her. Was she the same as you? A Rogue Hunter? Could she see souls like you, or was she more like Dottie? Or was there something else?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Right. And I guess you will not share that information with me either?”
He slams his lips together, making it clear that he isn’t sharing anything.
“Brax, I don’t even know the name of your first mate, and Dottie has questions I can’t answer. Answers that only you can give her.”
His hazel eyes flicker up to me. I had touched a nerve, or maybe a little more than a nerve.
“You can’t ignore it forever. She isn’t a Lycan, and she isn’t a standard Wolf. You are the only one here in this pack who can explain that side of her. You can’t ignore that forever.” “Don’t you think I know that?” he frowns.
“”You don’t act like it.”
He rolls his eyes at me. “You don’t get to lecture me.”
r
“I do when she calls me Daddy!” I snap in irritation. “I invited you here so we could clear the air and find way to help that little girl. But for some reason, when it comes to her, you bury your head in the sand.”
“I do not!”
“Oh really?”
“I know what I’m doing,” he tells me.
“Is she broken? Is that why you try to stay away from her? You are afraid to lose her.”
He glares at me with so much hate.
“She had a really shitty start to her life, Brax. She has seen things that most don’t see until their teen years. So it would make sense that her soul is cracked.”
“Our souls don’t break.”
“What?” I scoff, “What the hell are you talking about? You have made it quite clear that they do. You have said that too many cracks can tear someone apart, like what almost happened to Neah.”
“Hunters.” He sighs, “A Hunter’s soul doesn’t break.”
“How is that even possible?”
“It’s the way we are born. Maybe it is why I can see souls so well.” He shrugs, “When our own is whole, we see things differently.”
I look over at his glass. He has only had a tiny bit of brandy and slowly swills the liquid around the glass.
“You didn’t think to tell me this before?” I ask.
“Would it have changed anything? You care for my daughter, and as much as I don’t like admitting it, I am grateful. You were the Dad she needed when I wasn’t around.” He knocks back the rest of his drink.
“Even if you are grateful, what happens if Serkan or Thalia find out about her? I know Dottie is capable of something more. I feel it in my bones. She is powerful in her own right, and that means she could be useful to them. We already know Cooper got to Kade. We don’t need the same thing happening to Dottie.”
“They won’t touch her if they know what’s good for them. Besides, they want Neah.”
“What better way to go after someone than to hurt the children Neah holds close to her heart?”
“They can try.” He sneers and taps his empty glass on the table, lost in thought.
“Is it Dottie’s mother?” I try again, eager for answers. “Just give me a yes or a no. I can do my own research.”
He dips his chin.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?