0028
Dane
"Who?" Raven splutters.
"Our prisoner." I had told her some information but not all. I may have neglected to tell her who he was.
"Right. And why does Neah need to meet him?"
"Because he claims to be Neah's brother." My mate is standing completely still, almost like she is frozen in time. She hadn't wanted to meet him and I didn't blame her, but now, he might be the only one who could answer questions about herself. "Neah?"
"No" she shakes her head at me. "No I....I don't want to. You said... you said it was up to me."
"I did, but now I think it will be beneficial. I can't prepare you."
"Prepare me for what?"
"For your first shift."
Her mouth drops open
'She has somehow forgotten that bit of being unbound.' Aero mumbles
"It will happen Neah, and you won't be able to stop it. The least I can do is make sure you are prepared."
She looks pained. Instead of lowering her eyes, they go up to the ceiling as she shakes her head.
Her thoughts were just words that made no sense. She couldn't even think in sentences. Except for one glaring statement. 'He did this!'
She blamed me.
"Raven, leave!" I order
When she hears my tone, she doesn't even question me and hurries out the door, slamming it shut behind her. Leaving me and my mate alone. Taking a seat, I stare at my newly marked mate as she fights with her own thoughts.
'She blames us?' Aero sighs. 'We only claimed her.'
'And that's the problem. Claiming her, unbound her after she had just told me she wanted to stay bound.'
"You blame me?" I ask after a few moments.
Her blue eyes leave the ceiling, settling on me and her fingers go directly to the mark on her neck. Tears prick at the corner of her eyes. "You think that I made you a 'monster'?"
She still doesn't speak to me
"Have you ever considered there might be more to why you were bound? I believe that Trey did it because he feared what you would be capable of."
"I'm....I'm not an Alpha." she shakes her head again.
"You keep trying to make out that this is a good thing. But if it is true, and....and you really believe that's why Trey had me bound, then tell me how bad of a monster could I be?" Walking around the desk, I cup her face, letting her feel our connection and hoping it would be enough to calm her overthinking mind. She leans into me, closing her eyes and I feel her fear. A fear of the unknown.
Linking Eric, I ask him to bring Devon to my office. If I couldn't get Neah to go to him, then I would have to bring him to her.
After a few minutes of watching Neah internally beat herself up, Eric shoves Devon through the door.
"Ah, Alpha Dane." Devon looks back over his shoulder at Eric, "You could have at least told me this was where we were going. There was no need to be all mysterious about it." He turns to look at Neah. "It's been so long."
Neah doesn't answer. She sits in the chair in the corner of the room in complete silence. She may not be physically saying anything horrible, but she was definitely thinking it. "You don't know who I am, do you?" Devon asks her
Neah silently shakes her head.
"Can you sense her?" I demand.
"Yes." Devon mutters without taking his eyes off of her. "And I see you have claimed her. Finally caved to your feelings?"
I see how Neah pulls her knees to her chest, and yanks her shirt collar up around her neck, hiding my mark. She felt exposed.
"I assume you haven't brought me here so your Beta can have his way with me." He shoots Eric a suggestive wink.
'Does this guy ever stop talking?' Aero mutters. 'He is just like Jenson!'
Eric smacks Devon across the back of the head, telling him to sit.
"Okay, okay." Devon mutters, holding his hands up and sitting in the empty seat.
"Here's the deal. You tell us everything you know about Trey and his little gang. You tell me and Neah everything about being a Lycan and if you comply, I might just let you live."
"Now that seems a little unfair. You 'might' let me live." Devon replies "After I've given you all my secrets. I've only been too happy to share information." He grins at me "Surely you can at the very least guarantee my life?"
"It won't be my decision." I mutter.
He turns to look at Neah. "You are letting my sister decide my fate?"
My eyes move to my mate who hasn't moved. She was busy watching Devon.
"You won't know who will be making the decision." I tell Devon, "That way you can't try and butter them up or bribe them into making a decision."
"Well played, Alpha Dane. It seems like you already know my style. So what would you like to know?" "Everything. You say that Moonshine is the only pack of Lycans left. Where did they come from?"
"The same as Wolves I'm guessing. Packs develop over time, created of multiple different......"
"No... Where did the Lycan originally come from? We are children of the Moon Goddess."
"We are too. There's a story, maybe it's true, maybe it's a myth. The story goes a little something along the lines of a Wolf claimed a human, but when they marked the human during a full moon, the human began to change. Shifting into what I know to be a Lycan, part human, part Wolf. As more were created, they began to procreate and more were born. Neither a Wolf, nor a human, but something in between."
'A Wolf claimed a human?' Aero mutters
But that wasn't my concern.
"We have many of the same characteristics as you, Alpha Dane." Devon continues, "We can shift at will, females go into heat exactly the same as Wolves, though I believe our females tend to stay in heat a lot longer than yours. I can't be certain about that one, females are not my preferred choice. We hunt. We feed. We mate, we mark our claimed ones. We are strong, we can heal. The only real difference is that our bloodlines started differently."
He shrugs his shoulders at me, like it was standard knowledge. 'It's impossible to tell if he is lying.' Aero tells me
"You know a lot for someone who grew up adopted." I mutter
"I told you, I had someone on the inside, but you killed him." He looks over to Neah, "I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you."
"Were you there?" Neah asks quietly. "Were you there the day I killed my parents?"
Devon shakes his head. "Though I was informed about it, when I was much older. Cassandra should never have put you through that."
"Cassandra?" I ask
'Remember what they said about the poison was supposed to be for Cassandras parents?!' Aero mutters
"It's no secret she wanted to become Luna. Apparently all the Lycans knew and really wanted her to take over. She couldn't do that while our parents were still around and she couldn't do that with Neah in the picture and set to become the next Alpha." "They knew? They all knew what Cassandra wanted?" Neah asks
Devon goes quiet. "I can't say for certain."
"They...they all knew I was set up and they still......." She trails off and her blue eyes fill with tears.
"I'm sorry....I thought...." Devon looks back at me. "I thought you had worked it out?"
"There were still some gaps." I mutter. I could hear my mates heart racing.
"Claim it back." Devon mutters to Neah
"I'm not an Alpha." Neah mumbles.
"You may feel like that now, but I promise you, the blood running through your veins says otherwise!" Devon gives her a small smile but Neah keeps her face unreadable. Only I knew all the comments that were running through her mind.