Filed to story: The Alphas Contract Novel by Taylor West
“Thalia took their eyesight?” Some of my methods were questionable but to blind people for the sake of power. That was different.
She shakes her head, her white hair fanning out. “Not quite as dramatic as that. From what I understand, no one out there sees White Cliffs for what it is. They all have this image in their heads. I’m guessing maybe an image from the past. Like you, you said there are white roofs on the castle. They never used to be white. They used to be gold, catching the sunlight. People loved them and that is probably what they still see. It used to be the place everyone wanted to be, but it hasn’t been that way in a long time.”
Orion elbows her.
“I was getting to it.” She tuts and a crease appears on her brow. “The others out that door, don’t even see the dead. They see what they are told to see. Acting like their precious life is perfect when it couldn’t be any further from the truth.”
*The dead?”
She nods her head.
“I need more than a little nod. I need you to tell me everything if you want me to help you get back to Silas.” *The ones Serkan fed on. Serkan is a…
“I know he is a Rogue.” I point to myself. “Rogue Hunter. He is one of those fancy ones that can shift, but still hunts like a fucking beast.”
“Okay, did not see the Hunter thing coming.” She looks away but her eyebrows are practically up in her white hair, *Anyway the bodies are just out in the streets, rotting away. The people walk around them like there are no decaying corpses.”
*Surely they smell. If they are decaying, the smell must be rancid.”
“Did you smell them from outside the walls?” she stares at me expectantly. “Because you should have done if you think that’s bad.”
She had a point. I had scented the delicious food they were cooking, but now, I question what it really was that they were doing.
*Are there other Rogues here?”
She shakes her head, “I don’t think so. I don’t think Serkan would let them live here.” She sits on a nearby stall,” Everything about this place is cursed. The people in it. How it’s hidden. The smell. The truth. Even Thalia’s guards are oblivious to the truth. But if she wants them to kill you. She will put your image in their minds. She is crazy powerful. More powerful than Serkan.”
*I hear you. But something isn’t adding up.”
“What?”
*Silas told me that there was uproar when Serkans granddaughter linked the Lycans.”
“There was.”
*Serkan wouldn’t let anyone leave?” I quiz
*He freaked out. There were a lot who died that day. Because for some reason Thalia’s spell glitched.”
*So for some, they saw what White Cliffs was really like, they didn’t die during the riots?”
Indy and Orion shake their heads at me. “Serkan shifted and killed a whole bunch of them so word wouldn’t spread. Thalia convinced all the remaining people that it was in their imaginations. Then they went back to acting like everything was normal. Well, if you can consider what she is doing as normal.”
“No one has that much power.” I mutter
*She gets stronger all the time. We know that if we don’t get out of here, that we are going to die. We both know that if we stay, it is our fate. She’s buying time, making me suffer because she knows I want Silas back. She cut out Orion’s tongue to stop him talking to anyone. The next step for us both is death.”
“Do you have a phone I could use?” Mine was still with my discarded clothes on the other side of the river. I expect if they have been spotted, Thalia will think the river took me
*You need to call someone?” She tilts her head to one side.
“I do.”
*Silas?” She asks hopefully as Orion places a phone in my hand. “I would love to hear his voice.”
“No, this is someone that might be able to help me deal with your Witch problem.” I had sworn I would only call him in an emergency while he was off finding himself. But this was something he needed to handle, after all, it was what he was born to do even if he hadn’t figured it all out and thankfully, I had the number memorised.
Serkan is a secondary problem. We need to deal with Thalia first and then all the people might just go to the true leader. Neah.
Three rings and he answers. “Abraxas.” His voice echoes through the phone.
“Ah, so you do answer when people contact you.” I knew Dane had been trying to get hold of Klaus.
“If you are calling me, you must have a reason. Dane just wants to check in.” Klaus mutters. He sounded different to the guy that had been living in Black Shadow. “How can I help?”
“I will get straight to the point. I am in White Cliffs, and there is a little bit of a problem with a Witch here.”
Indy has wide eyes as she watches me whereas Orion has wandered off to another room.
*You are in White Cliffs?” Klaus mutters in surprise
“It’s a long story, I don’t want to bore you much. But yes, I am here and I have a problem that I don’t think I can deal with on my own. The Witch is powerful. She controls more than what I expected.” I may be on the ball, but even I knew when I was in over my head.
*Can you not handle it?” He almost sounded cold
“I will give you a quick run down.” I mutter. “She is in some ways like Cooper and has managed to convince Danes ‘twin that they are mates. It’s a lie,” I add when Indy stares at me, “In fact his true mate is here with me now. The Witch seems to have a lot more power than Cooper and is able to contorl more than I originally thought. I’m hoping you have learned something while you are off gallivanting.”
There’s a pause. “By any chance is the Witch called Thalia?” Her name rolls from his tongue with a lot of spite. What had happened to make him change so much in such a short space of time.
“Yes.” It was my turn to be surprised. “You know her?”
“Yes.” He growls through the phone. I don’t think I have ever heard Klaus growl at anything other than me calling him surfer boy.
“What did she do to you?”
“I will tell you when I see you!”
Klaus
Brax stays on the phone for a few more minutes, giving me directions to White Cliffs. He warns me that the place is invisible to the eye. When I question him about how he can see it, he tells me he paid a Witch for a potion. The comment surprises me, but then again, I knew Brax would do what he wanted.
I hear a female in the background, telling Brax to warn me about the river.
“I assume you heard that.” He mutters through the phone.
“Yes. I will be there as soon as I can.”
Whistling, a white Wolf named Xavi comes running out of the nearby trees. He jumps into the back of the van. His amber eyes fixate on me as he sits.
“It looks like we are going to find the Witch that did this to you.” I murmur
‘Are you sure?’ He links me
*More than sure. It seems like our fates were intertwined long ago. The Witch that did this to you is causing problems back home with my family and I have just learned of her location. It’s time to break the curse she put on you.”
I glance down at my wrist, if it wasn’t for Xavi marking me, he wouldn’t be able to talk to me. He was cursed to spend his life in Wolf form, to never have interaction with anyone ever again, until I came along. His fated mate. He was the last thing I was expecting to find.
Leaving Black Shadow had been incredibly hard, though I refused to admit it to anyone so I just drove until I was almost out of fuel.
Stopping at a hotel one night, I was distracted by a scent of rich oak. Instead of heading into the hotel, I followed the scent in the opposite direction. Entering the woods and weaving my way through the trees until I saw Xavi.
A white Wolf tied down by ropes. Human children throwing stones at him. Xavi had given up, he wasn’t even trying to fight. He remained perfectly still as stone after stone bounced off of him. Blood dripped from his nose as the children laughed.
I knew he was a Wolf like me yet I didn’t understand why he wasn’t trying to get away. His attackers were just children, he could have easily broken free.
His amber eyes had flown open as my scent invaded his senses, they quickly found me. But he still didn’t fight. It was only after he marked me that I learned how weak he had become. We needed both sides of ourselves to remain in peak condition.
I scared the children and freed him, but he could barely lift his head, let alone walk to my car. Picking him up. I carried him back to my vehicle, settling him on my makeshift bed on the back seats.
At some point in the night, he woke me by sinking his teeth into my wrist. I could have fought him off, but I didn’t. I just accepted it as his teeth sank deeper and deeper until blood seeped out of me.
As the connection between us snapped into place. His gentle deep tone runs through my head, apologising to me over and over. Telling me it was the only thing he could do so that he could speak to me.
‘Mate,’ was his last word before his eyelids closed and he sank deeper into my bed. It was where he remained for two solid days. Now and again, I would see slivers of his stunning amber eyes, but never for long.
We had been together ever since. He even helped me pick out this van.
I wasn’t sure if it was because we were now bonded, but he seemed to be growing a little stronger as each day passed. I did consider that maybe the bond between us was stronger than the curse the Witch put on him. Though no matter what he tried, he couldn’t shift back.
Climbing in the van, I pull the door shut and settle on the bed. Xavi jumps up next to me, resting his large head on my chest, his amber eyes settling on mine.
‘How did they find her?” He asks through mindlink. “I’ve been looking for years.’
*From what it sounds like, Danes’ twin found Dane. Thalia has somehow got the twin under a spell and Brax, remember how I told you about him? He happens to be in White Cliffs where Thalia is hiding. We will find out more when we see them. It’s only a day’s drive.” I didn’t know what had happened or what I had missed, though it seems like the drama never stopped after Cooper.
I sense Xavi is nervous. I knew his story, he had told me exactly what happened to him. How he was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was exactly like me. A Witch Hunter. Though at the time of his curse, he had been drunk and unable to focus, celebrating the killing of another Witch. Before he had a chance to do anything, she cursed him to live forever as a Wolf.
“Are you worried?” I ask him
‘I’ve been a Wolf for six years. A part of me has forgotten what it’s like to live in Human form. To walk on two feet. To not have to hunt for every gram of food. To be accepted for what I am, who I am. I am worried, but not for me. I don’t want her to do the same to you. You have a family waiting for you.”