Filed to story: The Alphas Contract Novel by Taylor West
He works quickly, cleaning the wound as I check her hands. Blood and bits of skin and hair are trapped under her nails. I have seen it so many times in my human life. She had fought the bastard. Tried leaving a mark. Had she gotten away from him? Had she made it back here alone?
“WHERE IS SHE?!” Brax yells.
“She’s with Klaus.” Dane tells him. “Just give him a chance to assess her.”
“Are you sure it’s her? All I can smell is Human.”
I step out of the room. “It’s her. He has done the same thing to her as what he did to Blair and the other woman.”
He pushes past me and steps into the room, only to turn around and walk back out.
“Brax.” Dane blocks him. “You need to keep it together.”
“I’m not part of your pack.” He growls back at Dane.
“Going out there when we have no idea how she made it back, is not going to help you or her.”
“I think she made it back here alone.” I tell them what I saw under her fingernails. “I don’t think she was dumped.”
Brax narrows his eyes at me. “Did you find her?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Outside the gates.”
“And who was guarding the gates?” He demands
“None of your business.”
He looks at Dane for answers.
“I’m with Damien on this one. I can’t have you shooting my pack when we don’t have any information. Now sit ast and hope that your mate is
Brax glares at both of us but sits in the chair outside of Maddie’s room.
Klaus comes out after a little while.
“She’s a little dehydrated. I’ve stitched her up. Her body isn’t even healing a little so she will scar and it’s not the only scar she will have. I found deep scratches on her back too. Most likely from a Lycan. I would say from the cuts on her feet, she was running and then passed out.”
And neither one of the men at the gates saw her.
Abraxas
My eyes trail over the wound on Madisons face. Klaus had done a good job stitching her up, Making it as neat as possible but it was like he said, she would have a scar, a permanent reminder of what happened.
She couldn’t heal anymore, everything could hurt her.
Her breaths are slow and steady. Ugly purple bruises litter her pale skin and her soul develops cracks as I watch.
I couldn’t feel a connection to her anymore. I couldn’t scent her as my mate and yet I find myself unable to leave her.
Though I should go and shoot those bastards at the gate. Neither of them had seen her. Had she called out for help? Had they seen her and just ignored her? Did they watch her drop to the ground and turn a blind eye?
Stepping out of the room, I find Damien waiting. “How is she?”
“What do you think?”
He studies me. “Is she awake?”
“No. Where’s Dane?”
“Gone to do some investigating.”
“Then I should go too.” I glance back at the room and start moving forward. Damien’s hand hits me square in the chest.
“No, you should stay here with her. I expect she will want to see you when she wakes up.”
“I never claimed her.” I tell him. “I can’t scent her anymore.”
“So you are going to walk away?” He challenges me, “Just like that?”
Madison and I should never have been paired. I’m a Hunter, she’s a Lycan. Was a Lycan. It should never have worked and yet I could not get her out of my head. I had met up with her every single day since she started the fire. At first, it was just to keep an eye on her and to make sure she didn’t do anything else. Then the more I got to know her, the harder it was to stay away and I couldn’t keep my hands off of her.
It was wrong, yet I couldn’t stop.
“Well?” Damien asks
“This is new for me.” I mutter. Making decisions had always been easy for me until it came to her. I had wanted to protect her even though our bond was wrong. I still want to protect her, but I could also just as easily walk away.
“We will find a way to get her Lycan back.” Damien tells me confidently.
“You don’t even know what we are dealing with. That Samara girl said she has been without her Lycan for five years. What if there is no way? What if this is her for the rest of her life?”
“She can stay in the pack. She will be safe here.”
I snort. “You’re actually being serious! Look around you. She was taken from the pack.”
He stares at me but doesn’t speak.
“Go on, say it asshole.” I demand
“Why didn’t you trust your instincts?”
“Are you trying to put this on me?!” I snarl
“You said it yourself, you didn’t like the guy. But you let him go because of one of Dottie’s stickers. You put your trust in a seven year old. A kid that can’t even remember what she had for breakfast.”
“Trust me, I won’t be making that mistake again.”
Groans come from Madison’s room and Damien continues to glare at me as I back up and slip inside to check on Madison
She moans in pain as she stretches out. With her eyes closed, her hand moves to her face. Her fingertips run across the freshly stitched wound. “Ow.”
“Leave it.” I tell her.
“Brax.” She whispers, peering at me through slits
“I’m here.” I pull her hand into mine
“I made it back.” She winces, “Everything hurts.”
“I know. Just close your eyes and sleep. We can talk when you have rested.”
“His name wasn’t Ash.” She murmurs closing her eyes. “His name is Cooper.” Her grip on my hand loosens and her heartbeat slows but stays steady as she drifts back into unconsciousness.
“It was just as we suspected.” I mutter to Damien, knowing he was standing in the doorway behind me.
“How did she get away?” Damien mutters.
“She didn’t say and I’m not waking her until she is ready. Samara escaped. Neah thinks Blair was purposely released. It’s possible Cooper wanted her to come back here so she could show us what he is capable of.” I look over my shoulder at him. “I will make him suffer. I will rip him to shreds.” “I don’t doubt it.”
Silence settles between us.
“You don’t have to blame me.” I mutter after several minutes, “I already blame myself. She is my mate and I didn’t protect her. I failed because I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to mark her. I couldn’t decide if I should just accept her. She is the first person to truly make me question my thoughts. Do you know what that’s like?”
“Not the questioning, but I failed Raven.” He takes the seat by the door. “I couldn’t keep her safe from her own mind or her twin. I didn’t see what was right in front of me.”
“You haven’t spoken about her since the incident.”
“Because I haven’t been able to.” He sighs and leans back while shaking his head. “Every single person in that packhouse loved her. Her brother was there, her friend, her nephews, Dottie.”
“Exactly! People who loved her. People that are waiting for you to talk about her.”
“None of them understand losing a mate. None of them understand how close I came to killing my own mate, not really.”
I nod and look at Madison. I had considered putting a bullet in her brain when she first arrived, but I never could bring myself to do it. Just like Damien only managed to shoot her in the collarbone rather than her head.
“That’s why Neah shot her right, so you wouldn’t have to kill your own mate.”
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?