0012
Neah
It was a lot to take in. First the Blood of Wolfsbane and pack runs. Now a blood tie and still sort of being mated to Beta Kyle.
Flashing my eyes up to Alpha Dane, I lower them immediately. He was staring straight at me.
"I swear." I whisper again. "I swear I don't know what you are talking about."
"And that is the most frustrating thing, Neah. I know you don't have a clue what I'm talking about."
I wanted to ask why he was so angry, instead, I keep the question to myself.
"I don't ever want to be near Beta Kyle." I mumble and from the corner of my eye, I see his face relax, there was almost a hint of a smile on the corners of his lips.
"Good, I have no intention of giving you back." He rises from his seat. "Raven has said you can come back to the house. Are you up for walking or would you prefer I carried you?" ""I can walk." I mutter.
Slipping out of the bed, I straighten myself up, only to feel a long sharp pain rip through my stomach.
"Are you sure?" Alpha Dane asks.
I nod my head, I had been through worse. I had worked through worse. But he seemed almost disappointed that I was putting a barrier between us.
He lets me take my time.
Not saying anything even when I stop because the pain is so bad.
They had said it would take a while for it to heal completely, but how long was a while?
Stopping again, I glance back over my shoulder and realise I was barely fifteen metres from the hospital and still had a long way to go to get to the pack house.
Alpha Dane moves in front of me, "Let me help."
"It's.... I can do it."
"Neah," His rough fingers gently tip my chin up to look at him. "I can see that you are in a lot of pain. Just let me help."
He does that thing, where he changes the tone of his voice to basically tell me that it wasn't optional. Reluctantly, I nod and he wastes no time in sweeping me off my feet.
He is pleased with himself as he carries me through the house and into the bedroom. But he doesn't put me down on my feet, he puts me straight into bed.
"As I said, this is going to take some time to heal. Blood ties are not the easiest thing to dissolve. The pain you are feeling now will likely increase."
"Increase?" Surely it couldn't get much worse.
He sits next to me, his crimson eyes lock on mine and a shiver runs down my spine.
"Usually yes, but given that you were unaware of the tie and the fact you are still bound. I don't know how it will affect you."
"Why would he do it? Why would Beta Kyle do this after making me accept his rejection?"
"That is something I am still trying to figure out. As for calling him Beta, stop. He doesn't deserve that title and neither does your brother deserve to be an Alpha."
I was a nobody, it was my duty to call them by their titles. It as disrespectful to call them by their names.
"Tell me; when you found out that he was your mate. Did you hope it would change things for you?"
I shake my head, still remembering the hate that was in Beta Kyle's eyes. "It was a nightmare."
"Did your brother know?"
I shake my head. "I don't think so."
Alpha Dane just nods his head, he suddenly reaches out a hand and I flinch. I hadn't flinched in so long. I had learned to control it because flinching means a worse beating. Alpha Dane pauses, and then slowly reaches up to my hair and pulls something from it. He shows me a little feather.
"Get some rest. I will check on you in a little bit." He flicks on a screen on the wall opposite the bed and hands me the remote.
"I'm sure you will find something you like."
I didn't have the energy to tell him that I had never watched television. It just made my life sound even more depressing.
Alone, I slowly get out of bed and make my way towards one of the big windows and sit in the big comfy chair while trying to ignore the pain in my stomach.
Sitting and mulling over everything I had been told, I couldn't make any sense of it. Why would Beta Kyle continue to beat me if he knew we were still connected? Or maybe that was why, maybe he was so disgusted by it, but then why would he force a blood tie on me, what did he hope to gain from it?
I watch as Alpha Dane appears outside. He walks like he is on some kind of mission and a few moments later, Jenson and Eric come from another direction, meeting Alpha Dane almost directly in front of the window.
The three of them have a quick conversation and then disappear into the trees, out of sight. I wondered where they were going, so I just watch, waiting for them to come back.
***
"You are supposed to be in bed, not sleeping in a chair." Alpha Dane's voice is quiet as he slides his arms under me and moves me back to the bed. He pulls the blanket up over me, but I try to sit up.
"Sleeping will help you get over this quicker."
He gently pushes against my shoulders, trying to get me to lie back down.
"No." I push back against him. "Somethings wrong."
"I told you your wound will hurt for a while."
"No." I mutter sleepily. I couldn't even make sense of what I wanted to say. "It's a trick." I mumble. "I think it's a trick."
"A trick?"
I nod my head but my tired eyes remain closed as I fight the sleep demons to tell Alpha Dane my idea.
"Get some sleep, we will talk about it when you feel better." He orders
When I woke, I made myself get out of the bed, there was no way I was letting myself get all sleepy again before I had a chance to explain myself.
Splashing water on my face, I stare at my reflection in the mirror. My blue eyes were a little brighter and my skin no longer looked as dull.
"You're awake." Alpha Dane mutters, making me jump. I hadn't heard him come in.
He walks right up behind me, his eyes locked on to mine in the mirror as I feel the heat that his body produces.
"How are you feeling?" He asks as his hands move to my hips.
I feel my own temperature increase as my neck and my face turn pink. His fingers creep under my top slipping inside the waistband of my joggers, edging into my panties as his lips meet my neck and I let out a quiet moan. "Neah?"
My eyes snap open to Alpha Dane who is standing over me
"You really should be sleeping in the bed, not the chair." He mutters.
It was just a dream. Just a dream. But the dream didn't hide the fact that he could probably smell my arousal. So I clamp my thighs together.
"Do you need help?" He asks
"No!" I blurt out a little too loudly and he cocks a brow at me.
"I was only offering to help you get to the bed." I see the small smirk on his lips. He could smell me.
I lower my gaze. "I like to sit here, I like to watch." I mutter, trying to keep the topic off of my dream. "It's different."
"Different?"
"You don't expect me to do anything. You are letting me sleep for as long as I need. And the food...... It's just different." I couldn't explain it any more than that but he nodded anyway. "Not everyone is a bastard." He tells me as he changes his black tee to a red shirt.
He turns back to face me as he fastens his buttons. I was right when I first noticed no ink. Not a single tattoo could be seen, it was strange. Everyone in Moonshine was covered in them. "Yes?" He asks
"Nothing."
"Neah, I may not have known you for long, but I know when you have a question to ask. Ask!"
"You have no tattoos."
"That's not a question." "Why?"
"They're not really my style. I know others have them to show their dominance or to show they belong to a pack. But I'm sure you will agree that I don't need them." He points to his crimson eyes. "These are enough to show my position in the world." He was right, I had never seen another Wolf with eyes like his. Though I thought it was some kind of trick, contact lenses or something.
"Trick." I mutter out louder
"I can assure you that these are my eyes."
"No." I shake my head. "No, I was thinking about everything you told me before I fell asleep. The blood tie and still being partly mated."
His eyes narrow when I say 'partly mated.'
"What if it is a trick? You said blood ties allow the mate to walk around freely in the other's pack. Raven told me that Moonshine had never been heard of and you said the blood tie was recent."
He is just staring at me.
"You told me that some of your other brides had been snooping. I haven't." I add when I look up at him. "Could they get in, undetected because of the blood tie with me?"
It was probably the most I had spoken in one go since being here.
"It's a good idea, but no. You would have to be a member of my pack officially for that to work."
"Officially? You mean if you mark me?" I ask quietly. He had mentioned it but had said no more since.
"If I mark you." Alpha Dane confirms. "But I can't do that while you have a mate out there. You think the blood tie pain is bad, it's nothing in comparison to being marked by one yet mated to another. It will kill you."