Filed to story: The Alphas Contract Novel by Taylor West
‘You don’t think….’ It didn’t feel like it was Raven. I could smell her scent. It looked like her, but the words coming out of her mouth sounded nothing like her.
‘I don’t know if that’s even possible.’ Nyx mutters back
‘There’s only one way to find out.’
I move closer to Raven. “You couldn’t help Mallory because you didn’t know how, did you?”
“What are you talking about?” Dane frowns.
I don’t look at him but press a finger against my head. Hoping he understood that I wanted him inside my head to listen to my thought process. If I was right…. I didn’t want to be right.
Raven smiles at me. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Yes you do.”
Dane is staring at me now, like I have lost the plot. But stranger things had happened. And it was common knowledge that Raven and Jenson shared more than just a birthday. Abraxas had said they shared a piece of each other’s souls.
Abraxas also talked about how the darkness seeps in. It finds a spot and grows. What if that is possible between twins who share twin wolves? They did have a piece of each other in them.
“You moved them all in when I wasn’t paying attention.” Raven mutters. She stops struggling against Dane and Abraxas. “You moved more Lycans in when I wasn’t able to do anything to stop them.”
“What’s happening?” Damien asks. “Someone tell me what is happening!”
I watch Dane hold a hand up to him as I carry on questioning the person in front of me.
“Where’s Raven?” I demand and Damien stares at me in utter confusion.
“I knew you were smart Neah, the very first day that I laid eyes on you. You were peering out from around the corner at Moonshine. Barely” “Raven wasn’t at Moonshine.” Dane mutters.
“No, but Jenson was.” I stare at Raven’s face. She had made me feel at home here before Dane had. Her advice at the time was brutal, but I loved the honesty from her. Now, I didn’t even recognise the person standing in front of me.
How could someone’s soul be taken over by anothers?
My eyes burn as I try to hold back the tears. Was Raven even in there? She must be. Damien is still connected to her.
“How long?” I demand
Her lips curve up but she doesn’t answer. I grab her face. Claws inching out the tip of my fingers. She lets out a growl as they begin to pierce her cheek. “How fucking long?”
“Neah!”
I ignore Dane. I wanted answers and I wanted answers before anyone thinks of leaving this room.
Her dark eyes hover on mine. There is an emptiness to them like never before.
“It started in the hospital.” Her dark eyes move to Abraxas. “You told us about our souls. How a part of us lives within the other. I heard you and wondered if becoming my sister would work and look, it did.”
Blood spills from her cheeks, but I keep my claws steady. No more could come out or I will kill her… him…them, I don’t even know what to call it. “Where is Raven?” I demand
“Almost gone.”
“This is impossible.” Damien mutters. “You can’t take over someone else’s soul! Raven, come on, this is just because you are upset about Jenson. We know you are grieving.”
“You’re right, am grieving. I am grieving over how pathetic this pack has become. Full of fucking Lycans in every direction I turn. One as the Luna, one as the Beta. What’s Next, oh that’s right, the heirs of the pack are Lycans too.”
My claws grow a little more, settling deep into the skin. “You were sleeping with one.”
“I wanted to see what it was like to fuck you. To see what it was like with you underneath me, moaning my name. I didn’t see Blair, all I saw is you Neah Kitson.”
My stomach ties itself up in knots, disgusted by Jenson. I knew he had gone to her because she looked like me. I knew he was trying to get something that wasn’t his, just like he had done with others.
‘I’m going to kill him!’ Nyx growls.
‘No. Not yet.’
I keep my claws locked in place, more blood leaks out as I bring my face in really close. That was the thing about Raven and Jenson, they looked so similar that when you are close enough, you can forget everything but the face right in front of you. I wanted to see him as I say my next line.
“But you will never have the real thing.”
Letting go, I watch the blood spurt from the wounds. They healed quickly as my claws retreated
“Bitch!”
A gun goes off, almost deafening me. As Raven’s body hits the floor, I turn expecting to see Abraxas pointing it at her, but it’s Damien.
Damien
Her body falls back against the wall. Blood spurts from my mate’s collarbone. I had purposely shot her there rather than her heart. Her body could heal from that. Her body couldn’t heal if I killed her.
I wanted to know if Raven was really gone.
Abraxas stares at me as he checks for the gun that he carries in his belt. He frowns when he realises the gun I am holding is not his and that his is firmly stored away in its resting place. He frowns at me but keeps his mouth shut.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew how to use a gun correctly. I used them when I was human and with a Hunter in the pack, I figured it would be better to carry one again. Though sometimes, I’m a little impressed with myself that I hadn’t pulled it on him yet.
“You shot me!” Roars Raven or maybe it was Jenson. I didn’t know anymore.
I could see my mate, but at the same time the words coming from her mouth sounded nothing like her.
It didn’t seem possible that Neah could be right. That a soul could take the place of someone else, but then again, there was a time in my life when I didn’t believe Wolves existed and definitely not Lycans.
And now I was prepared to kill the person who looked like my mate.
I honestly thought I would never use a gun again.
I keep the gun steady as Raven clutches her collarbone and slips down the wall, leaving a smear of blood. I wasn’t sure if I could go through with killing my mate, even if it wasn’t her anymore, but I could slow her down.
“Damien.” Dane glares at me. “What the fuck do you think you are doing?” His hand rests on the gun, but I refuse to let go.
I stare back at him. “She’s become a threat whether you like it or not.”
A laugh erupts from Raven. A laugh that didn’t sound like her as her body straightened up. “You will have to do better than that, Lycan!” “Give me the gun, Damien.”
“No.” My finger moves on the trigger and Dane let’s go and steps in front of his sibling. “You can’t kill her Damien. She is your mate.” Why hadn’t he said she was his sister first?
“She is, but he isn’t. I can kill him.”
I feel a dull ache start in my heart. It beats quickly and erratically as it grows heavier and heavier by the second. Sparks of pain shoot out in all directions of my body. I was losing Raven and fast.
“Why are you doing this?” Neah demands as she stares at my mate. I notice the small trail of blood coming from her left ear. She had been right next to Raven when the gun went off.
“Second chance.” The voice replies
“You’ve had more than a second chance.” Dane snaps. “It’s like your a fucking cat with nine lives.”
“Big brother, you know me so well.” My mate smirks at him and lets go of the wound in their shoulder. It had almost healed. The bullet had gone straight through.
Dane pulls Abraxas aside and asks if there is any way to get Raven back. I see the tiny head shake while Raven watches me.
“Maybe if we had a Witch, but by then, it would be too late.” Abraxas whispers back
“I can put her in the dungeon.” Dane tells him
“You will still be too late.”
I stare at my mate as Dane continues to come up with possible ideas. Why had Raven let this happen? Why had she given up? Why hadn’t she fought for her place in this life?
‘Please come back to me Raven.’ I try linking her, hoping to hear her voice. Her face stares at me and a slow smile creeps across her lips.
“She can’t hear you anymore. She’s resting now!” I wanted to slam my hand into his face. But I wouldn’t be hitting him, I would be hitting her body.
I look over at Abraxas as it feels like my heart stops. “She isn’t in there anymore, is she?”
He turns to face Raven’s body and looks her up and down. “No.”
“Can she come back?”
“When a soul has completely left, no.”
I raise the gun, my finger on the trigger. I couldn’t see anything but her. The voices around me were echoes.
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?