Filed to story: The Alphas Contract Novel by Taylor West
“Can I tell you something?” Mallory whispers.
“Sure.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but maybe her body can’t cope with being pregnant.”
She freezes when I look at her.
“I’m just saying. She had problems when she was carrying the boys and now…” she sighs.” Now this.”
“Damien thinks it’s because she is carrying Wolves. She is a Lycan carrying Wolves. It’s likely harder on her body. Using up all her energy.”
“Wolves?” She raises an eyebrow at me.
“He isn’t a hundred percent sure. He says the scent is different, but yes. The boys are Lycans, the girls are likely Wolves.”
“Or both.” she mumbles
“What was that?” I heard exactly what she said but I wanted her to repeat it.
“It’s just a theory,”
“And?”
She blows out her cheeks and gestures to Neah. “She’s bigger this time round, almost like she is growing twice as fast. She’s sicker. More sensitive to everything. I’ve said this to her before and now that you have told me what Damien said, it makes me wonder even more,”
“Mallory?!”
“Hybrids.” She splutters and tries to hide behind her cup of coffee. “Something that is both a Wolf and a Lycan.”
Neah had mentioned it before and I had also overheard both her and Mallory discussing it. But again, it was not something that I thought was possible. We are two separate species.
Just look at the bump. For someone who is only about halfway through her pregnancy, she looks ready to pop. Like she could go into labour at any point.”
“It has grown in the last week.” I confirm
“Like doubled in size. When she wakes up, she is going to be so confused.”
“I don’t think that Hybrids are a possibility.” I mutter
“You didn’t think Lycans were either.”
Brax
White Cliffs was north, that was the extent of my knowledge. Somewhere I had never been before, but then I never had a reason for a visit, there were always enough Rogues down south.
I flip open the notebook with Silas’s directions and information. And still the castle was not at all what I was expecting.
Stretched out across a cliff and surrounded by a concrete wall that is easily twelve feet tall, maybe more. Clearly the wall was not just designed to stop people getting in, but people getting out.
I glance down at the image Silas had drawn. It was exactly the same, turrets and all. It wasn’t until he told Damien and I that a spell had been put on this place, that it began to make sense. Hiding it from plain sight. Thankfully, I wasn’t blind to it.
Heavy gates sit closed, but surprisingly no one guards them. Between us is a fast flowing river that leads to a waterfall at the cliff side. The water crashes down onto the rocks below. Even standing here, I knew the sea below was rough, stopping people from arriving on boats, just like Samara had told everyone.
A single drawbridge that is closed, stops me going any further. It wasn’t going to be easy to get inside, but like anything, there would be a weak point.
My eyes move back to the castle. Silas could have warned me that the people here lived in medieval times.
I could hear people. Happy people. Not a single sound of someone who is in trouble. Music plays and the smell of a roasting hog is strong in the air. It takes me a second to realise they are celebrating something.
Behind me, footsteps are slowly and quietly edging forward. Turning my head slightly, the footsteps stop.
*How did you know I was behind you?” A female calls out. She brings her hand up and a little ball of fire appears, hovering just above her palm. So much for her not using her ability in years.
*Put it away Thalia.”
“How do you know my name? And how did you get through the barrier?”
*Silas.” I mutter his name and the ball of fire disappears as she drops her hand.
*You have spoken to Silas?” She seems to have forgotten the other question that she asked.
“More than you.” I turn to face her properly. Tight curls hang down to her shoulders, a fringe stretches down to her lilac eyes. Though there is no scar on her face like there had been in the photo. She didn’t even look as though she had been touched by fire. But then why would she.
“You don’t know anything, Hunter.” She spits
“Ah, so you do know what I am.” I muse
*You stink.” She tells me in a sneer. “A Wolf full of arrogance. Just like the rest of them.”
I tilt my head to one side and smirk. “Do you say that to your Wolf mate?”
Her lilac eyes lock on to mine. “My relationship with my mate has nothing to do with you!”
“You are right, it doesn’t. But he has been offered a deal and I am fulfilling my end.” I stare back at her. Her soul is full of little black orbs, flying in all directions. Different from a Rogue and different from the waves I had seen within Neah. But like anything, there will be those that drift into the darkness, like it is their destiny.
“A deal?” She scowls, not believing a single word I tell her.
“Yes.” I was bored of the conversation.
*Silas doesn’t make deals.”
“Maybe being away from this place has made him a different man. He has realised Serkan is a nut job.”
*You are wrong. Something is wrong with Silas.” She mutters. “Is he erratic? Has something happened? Why didn’t he come back? Did you do something?”
“Oh dear Thalia, do you really think I’m that fucking stupid? You were ready to kill me on the spot. You only changed because I knew who you were. Now you are playing this little game of innocence. Tell me,” I tap my cheek, “Where is the scar from that awful fire that killed your son?”
The colour drains from her golden skin. “I don’t know what you are talking about, Hunter.”
*The innocent game continues.”
“It’s not a game. Why are you here?” She demands
*Fancied a walk.” I snort, making her glare at me. “To return you and your son to your mate.”
“I told him we are not leaving. This is our home. This is where Silas belongs.”
*So you want to do it the hard way?” I ask. “I’m not fussed either way.”
“What, you think you are going to get in through the gates and just take us?” She chuckles. “There is no way they are going to let in a Hunter. I just have to give the word and you will be killed on the spot.”
Definitely a follower of Serkan. Silas had been blind to so much, I almost felt sorry for him. If only he realised his own strength.
“I never said whether you would be dead or alive. I won’t kill little Quinn, but you, you have already pissed me off. All I hear and see is lies. Did Serkan put you up to it? Did he want to keep Silas under his thumb? Or was it your idea? You saw him that day, thought he was an easy target, right?”
“Piss off.”
*You saw him and thought ‘easy target.’ Right?” I ask again. Her soul tells me I’m right, but her face looks as though she is ready to kill.
“He is my mate!”
*Is he or did you just want him to be? You see, I found a lovely photo of you and your son. Only something didn’t add up. You play with fire, yet you were scarred because of fire and now, by some kind of miracle, you’re not. A little hole in your story, Thalia. Somehow he missed it, but he probably didn’t, did he, not really. I reckon he asked you questions. I think even then, things began to unravel and you had to do something right? And now, he is unaware that you have some sort of hold on him.”
I watch the irritation grow. Her lilac eyes drop to my feet and orange flames erupt around me, trapping me in a small circle. “Burn in hell.”
I smirk at her as the fire quickly warms me. “Do you want to know a little secret?”
She doesn’t answer me.
*There is no hell. The higher powers,” I gesture to the sky, “They have no need for hell when they can make you live it.”
“Higher powers?” She snorts. “You Hunters are all the same.”
“Even Witch Hunters?” I muse, I was curious of how far I could push her until she completely loses it. “You underestimate the father of your children, Thalia. He may be confused right now. But he is changing, he is starting to see everything for what it is. The longer he is away from you, the clearer his mind becomes, because you are not present to fuel the spell you cast on him.” I look down into the flames that surround me. “Is this what you did to Jarret? You killed his son because you couldn’t get him to stop being so clingy.”
*Screw you.” She strides past me.
“No thank you, I would rather fuck my mate.”
I step through the flames towards her. Her eyes widen and her jaw drops. “How… You can’t do that! You are a Wolf.”