0015
Dane
Centuries of recorded research and there was nothing to describe the beast that had tried attacking my pack. I slam the laptop shut just as Jenson makes his way into the office.
"Have you seen your mate?" He asks with a bemused expression and drops down into a chair, sticking his feet up on my desk.
"Yes." Raven had already made me aware that Neah was having some kind of meltdown about going out the front door, but I had decided to keep my distance.
There were just some things she would have to figure out for herself. "Why?" "I'm just surprised that you have left her alone."
"She isn't alone," I smack his feet off my desk, "What do you want, Jenson?"
"I thought we were heading over to Moonshine."
"Plans have changed."
"Well thanks for telling me!" He rolls his eyes.
'Does he always have to make it about him?' Aero grumbles
"I've been a little preoccupied. As you should be." I snap at my brother
"The forest has been checked. There is no sign of anything else. What do you want me to do?" He shrugs, unphased. "We are well trained. We have dealt with other creatures and if more of those things come, we will deal with them too."
He was so optimistic.
But that was how he had always been.
Even when I caught him in bed with my first bride.
He had been completely and utterly unbothered.
And strangely enough, that is what made him the perfect Gamma.
He was able to keep such a level head that he could see problems where others couldn't.
"If it puts you at ease, I will up the number of Wolves on duty." He mutters when I don't say anything.
"Do you think it was here for her?" It was already a growing suspicion that I had. The breaking of the blood tie, what Madame Curie had said and now something like that turns up, it couldn't just be a coincidence. Nothing in my life was ever a coincidence.
"Neah? No, I mean, I don't want to sound rude, but she isn't exactly anyone special is she? She is just someone that you happened to have found and added to a contract. Just like all the others."
'She is not someone we just found!' Aero snarls in my head. 'She is our mate. Tell him if he puts another hand on her, I will be the one to bite it off.'
I smile at Aero's words.
"Is he saying something?" Jenson asks. "Is Aero talking about me?"
"He just wants to remind you of the importance of keeping your hands to yourself."
There was a flicker of grey in my brother's dark eyes, his wolf Aspen was close to the surface.
Aspen had been desperate to challenge my Wolf Aero for years, but he knew he didn't stand a chance. Yet it still doesn't stop him from pushing and it was always fun to let him try.
Deep down, he knew he didn't have the strength or power to beat us. The grey fades and Jenson stares at me with his dark eyes. "If we are not going tonight, what do you want me to do?"
'Tell him to shove his head up his own arse!' Aero muses
"See if you can gain a location on Madame Curie."
"Seriously? Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier."
I roll my eyes at him, "You saw how she reacted. She knows something. Just see what you can dig up."
"Fine."
He heads out of the office as I stand at the window, watching Raven and Neah throwing snowballs at each other.
Both of them laughing and smiling as they ran around.
I feel my own heart skip a beat at seeing the happiness on my mates face.
After a few minutes, Neah suddenly collapses on the floor and is holding her hand to her chest.
I was out the window and tearing towards them before I had a chance to think.
"Neah, Neah, what happened?!"
"You really need to chill out." Raven snorts. "She's just out of breath. She doesn't have her Wolf back yet. She can't keep going for hours and hours like we can. Talk about an overreaction!"
"She's right." Neah mutters breathlessly.
"I'm fine."
"Then that's enough for today." I pull Neah up off the ground. "You need to change, you are soaked."
Neah nods and makes her way back inside.
"I was trying to get her to have some fun." Raven mutters as she folds her arms over her chest.
"I see that now."
"You are worried about her, aren't you?" My sister questions. "She's not always going to be injured or thrashing about in pain. If she wasn't allowed to do anything at Moonshine, she just isn't going to have the standard fitness levels of other Wolves. It will take time." Her dark eyes linger on my face and she sighs, "But you have something else on your mind, don't you?"
She was my only sister, but also the only one in the pack that knew when something else was bothering me. "This isn't about her being out of breath, is it?"
"No."
"Do you want to talk about it?" She offers with a small smile.
"No, not until I know more." I return her smile hoping it would reassure her, "Nothing to worry about."
"I may be a few years younger than you and you may have raised Jenson and I after our parents were killed. But it's been a long time since I was a child. Maybe I can help."
"Just keep an eye on Neah when I'm not around."
She nods her head before turning and walking in the direction of the hospital.
'Now you!' I snap at Aero. 'Don't fucking do that again!'
'I'm sorry. I panicked. You would be pissed if we hadn't done anything.' He moans, 'I had to make sure she was okay."
My control over him was usually strong, but in that moment, when we saw her collapse, he took over.
I find Neah in the bedroom. A blanket wrapped tightly around her upper body and she had changed out of the jeans and into some grey joggers. The blanket hid her top, but I assume she has changed out of that too.
"I'm okay. I swear." She mutters as soon as she sees me.
"Good."
"Are you mad?"
"No. Yes, but not with you." I tell her and she just stares at me with her big blue eyes.
She was definitely growing more comfortable with looking directly at me and I didn't mind.
She sits on the bed and the blanket slips from her shoulders, revealing one of my tees. "I....I was trying to go outside by myself. I....I wasn't trying to run." she stutters.
"I know, Raven told me."
She presses her lips together and nods her
head. Taking the chair, I watch her reposition the blanket on her shoulders. She shuffled herself further back on the bed so she could sit cross legged.
I wanted to rip the clothes and the blanket from her and bury myself deep inside of her.
The thoughts were getting harder and harder to ignore, which I was certain that Aero had something to do with.
Thankfully, the idea of it killing her was what was holding me back.
'The sooner we kill Kyle, the better.' Aero's voice rumbles through my head
Neah drops her eyes, her fingers fidget with the edge of the blanket as she waits for me to say something.
'She's like a forbidden fruit.' Aero muses. 'So close and yet so far away. Are you sure it will hurt her?'
I hear the desperation in his tone. I knew how he felt because I felt my own urges anytime her blue eyes locked with mine. It wasn't just Aero that wanted her. I wanted to feel the satisfaction of knowing she was mine.
'Until her matebond with Kyle is truly broken, we have to wait.' I tell Aero
It wasn't what Aero wanted to hear and it wasn't what I wanted to admit.
'You truly believe she is our mate? Destined to be with us and no one else?' I ask
'I feel it in my bones.' Aero mutters smugly
"You...You haven't said anything?" Neah whispers. Her eyes are still low.
Even her little stutter had me turned on.
"I have a few errands to run," I say as I stand up
She bobs her head and as usual, doesn't question me. However, I do feel her eyes on me as I walk out the door.
Moving through the house, I could hear my brother arguing with Eric
"You can't be serious, Eric!" My brother hollers
"I am deadly serious." Eric snaps back. "You think just because you are Dane's brother, I will let you get away with crap. Well not this time. It's not happening. Regardless of who you are, I outrank you!"
"Come on, Eric, I will make it up to you."
I frown.
'What the fuck has he done now?' Aero groans.
'You know Jenson, he has probably lured Eric's partner into bed.'
Pushing the door open, I glare at my brother. "What the hell have you done now?"
"Go ahead." Eric snarls, "Tell him!"
"It was ages ago." My brother pleads. "We got drunk, okay. That was it, just one night. It never happened again." His dark eyes flash to me and I knew immediately that I had been right.
"Seriously? You slept with Kelsie? What the fuck is wrong with you?" I snap
Eric and Kelsie had been together since they were thirteen, they had two kids together. Maybe it wasn't his hands that needed cutting off.
Aero laughs at the thought.
Eric was livid even though he hid it well.
Eric's eyes flash at me. "Tell me you are not going to let him get away with this?!"
I loved my brother, but he was out of control.
"Jenson." I mutter coldly.
"I know, I'm temporarily grounded. Won't leave the house unless accompanied by you or Eric."
"No, not this time. You have had warning after warning and you don't change. To you it is all fun and games." I keep all of my emotions out of my tone. "So I will give you a choice."
He stares at me with his dark eyes.
"Banishment or....."
My eyes flash to Eric's, he knew what was coming next and even he was surprised by it.
"Or what?" Jenson asks.
"Death." I state clearly.
His jaw drops open. "Are you actually serious? I'm your brother. You raised me and Raven. I will change. I won't do it again."
"Clearly I did not raise you well enough!"
"All because I slept with his other half?" Jenson scowls.
"But it's not just Kelsie, is it? What about all of my brides that you slept with? What about all the women that you have bedded that belong to someone else. It's almost as if it is a challenge for you. To have the women that are already taken. Enough is enough, Jenson. As I said, you have had warning after warning and you have still tried to hit on my bride."
"Bullshit!" He is on his feet. His eyes turning grey. If Aspen wanted a fight, Aero was right here and ready for him.
"Really? What is the comment you made about Neah being family? Implying that she is to be shared! Raven tells me everything, Jenson. If you want to chase women that don't belong to you, go elsewhere and do it. Mess with the fucking humans for all I care.
"Better yet, leave and take Kelsie with you." Eric snaps
"You want me to take your boys?" He asks with a cocked brow.
"No, just her." Eric growls
"Bro, you can't do this!" Jenson pleads with me
"Eric isn't the first to tell me this. I have a list as long as my arm. Now your time is up, what do you choose?"