0037
Dane
It was rare, but now and again, snap little comments would come through taking us both by surprise.
"I'm not being weird. There is just a lot going on at the moment."
'You are being an idiot again!' Aero mumbles
'What am I supposed to say? 'Hey, by the way, you were actually bound more than twice because they were scared of you.
' Or maybe, 'You don't need to worry about shifting, you've already done it!
' Do you think she wants to hear that, Aero? She is petrified of shifting!' 'Fine,' He sulks, 'Do it your way.'
"You...you still haven't said anything." Neah mutters. "Is Aero....is he saying something to you, is he talking about me?"
"Aero cares for you as much as I do, we just have different opinions when it comes to certain situations."
Her brow dips a little. "He wants you to...tell.....me something?" Her frown grows
"Not here!" I mumble, looking around at my people moving around. Grabbing her hand, I tug her back toward the house, shutting us in my office.
Plonking herself down in a chair, she immediately pulls her legs up to her chest. It took me a while to realise it was her way of defending herself, trying to prevent Trey and his crew hitting her ribs and stomach. Though now it was becoming a habit when she felt unprepared.
"It's bad, isn't it?" she whispers "Veronica is back and now you and Aero have decided....."
"It's nothing to do with Veronica."
"I don't..... I don't understand."
"The last few days, we have spent a lot of time in the bedroom. During this time, there was a visitor."
"Trey?" she asks alarmed
"No, a Witch."
"Oh,"
"The same Witch that bound your abilities." It was like tearing off a band aid slowly. "When you were a newborn pup."
Her forehead wrinkles as her eyes widen. "No....when I was six."
I don't give her the other information just yet and explain that this is the same Witch that I met with to discuss unbinding her. The same Witch that had bailed when I mentioned the name of Neah's pack and now I knew why. "She helped Trey?"
"No, Neah." I sigh, "She helped your father."
Her eyes drop from my gaze. Her hands grab the arm rests of her chair and her knuckles are momentarily whiter than white as she squeezes the wood. I feel her sudden rise in anger. ""My...my father?"
"Yes."
"My....my father. He...he wanted me bound?" she spits out the words.
Her anger quickly fades and her eyes become filled with tears.
"I know this isn't what you want to hear, Neah, but from what she told me. I don't think it was just Trey and Cassandra that were responsible. I believe it goes back further than that."
She sits there, staring at me with her blue eyes. I felt so bad for her. I had never known a pack like it. Secrets that ran thicker than blood, but they were all centred around her. "W...why?"
"They feared you."
She lets out a small nervous laugh. "Me?"
I was just going to have to break the news.
"You were able to shift at birth, Neah. They had you bound and then when you were one, you started shifting again, like your Lycan side was fighting it. You, at the age of one, knew why the Witch was there. You purposely kept shifting to a Lycan in the hopes that she wouldn't be able to bind you. Neah, that's unheard of."
'It is for Wolves.' Aero mutters
Neah stares at me as if I'm nuts. Pure disbelief that I was even suggesting that she had already shifted. Her mind just wouldn't accept what I was saying.
"You're...you are wrong. I would know. I....."
"You wouldn't remember. No pup would or could remember that."
"I..... That.... That can't.... You are wrong."
"I'm only telling you what the Witch told me."
"You believe her."
"Madame Curie may be elusive at times, but she has always eventually told me the truth. Even if it is like drawing blood from a stone. Sometimes cash tends to make her more forthcoming. However, this time, she didn't even want cash." 'She's not listening.' Aero mutters
I glance back at Neah who has her eyes closed and her nose wrinkled up as she frowns
"Are you okay?"
"I think I've heard that name."
"Madame Curie?" I ask curiously
Her jaw clenches as she nods her head.
"From someone here?"
"No, it's just....it's something up here." She taps her head. "Familiar."
"Like I said, they feared you Neah. That's why the Witch was involved. They fear a female Alpha."
"I'm not."
"You are a rare female Alpha of a dying breed."
She gets to her feet and moves around the desk to my window. "I'm not powerful, Alpha Dane. I'm just me....I'm just the girl that was made a slave. I'm not.... I'm not anything powerful. And I wish.... Please stop saying it." I feel her sadness. She just wouldn't believe that it was a possibility.
"If they are dying, let them die out." She mutters, as she continues to look out the window.
"Let them die out?" Her comment takes me by surprise, that I have to confirm what I just heard.
She slowly turns to me and a tear is edging its way down over her cheek but she is so angry. "They did horrible things to me. They don't deserve to live."
There was that rare spike in her thoughts.
Almost a dark side that was trapped by who she had become over the years.
Most people would find it unsettling, but it turned me on.
It was enticing and I wanted to bring it to the surface.
There's a brisk knock on the door that's accompanied with Raven's scent. Stopping our conversation, and from Neah's thoughts, I could tell she was grateful for the break.
""Come in." I call to my sister
"Hey," Her eyes move between me and Neah, trying to read the situation. "Can I take Neah shopping?"
"Shopping?"
"There's a couple of us going into the city. I thought maybe Neah would like to join us. Or am I interrupting something serious again?"
"It's up to Neah." I look at my mate, still listening to her thoughts.
She shakes her head. "I'm not....I'm not ready for that." her eyes flicker to me,. "It might not be safe."
"Nothing can go wrong. It's neutral territory. No one is allowed to fight there. And I will be there." Raven pleads. "We will keep you safe."
"Who is we?" I ask curiously
"Me, Klaus..." She names a couple of others
"Klaus is going?" Shopping was definitely not his thing.
"He wants to pick up some more books. You know what he's like, he won't have them delivered in case someone has creased the pages." She mocks, "And I assumed you would prefer us to have a chaperone." "So you roped him in?"
"Yep!"
I turn to Neah. "She isn't wrong. The city is neutral. I trust Klaus."
"What about Trey?" She whispers.
"I'm assuming the city is somewhere he wouldn't go." I fix my eyes on Raven. "If there's a problem...."
"We will get her out of there."
Moving to Neah, I pull her around to face me properly, "Raven has been to the city at least once a week since she was a kid. She knows it better than anyone. f you don't want to go, then that is also fine." "You don't....you don't want me to go." She keeps her eyes low. "I can feel it."
"I would prefer you to be somewhere that I can easily reach you at any point of the day. But that is not going to help you get over your fears. I trust my sister, I trust Klaus, they are not going to put you in danger. And if anyone tries anything, they would be fucking stupid." "All the Wolves know who my brother is." Raven adds.
"Salem made sure of that."
She claimed she didn't blame me for Salem rejecting her, but certain phrases had me thinking differently. Choosing not to respond to her comment, I keep my attention on my mate. "It's your choice Neah." ""What if I...."
"We will have to trust that you won't."
I could feel Raven's eyes burning into the back of my head. I still hadn't told her that Neah was a Lycan.
"I'm sorry, what??" Raven's eyes immediately go to Neah when I break the news. "Are you seriously telling me that she looks like that thing you killed?" "Yes."
"So she isn't a Wolf?" Raven is glaring at me as she demands answers.
"Technically, from my understanding, they are part Wolf."
"Technically?" She splutters
"Yes."
'Well this is going well.' Aero groans
"Okay, so the guy in the dungeon, claiming to be her brother. He is one too?" Raven asks
"Yes."
"And you are letting him live?"
"For now. Are you challenging my decision?" It was a rhetorical question. A warning to drop the attitude.
She turns to Neah, quickly softening her tone and dropping her attitude. Most likely realising that what she is asking, would apply to Neah. "Are you okay?" Neah shakes her head.
"Then you definitely need to come into the city. Get away from this crap for a few hours. Clear your head and spend a shit load of my brother's money." Neah's blue eyes flash to me.
"It's your choice."
Reluctantly, she agrees to go, though she spends the next hour checking that I was okay with her decision.
She asks me a final time before getting in the car with the others.
"Just try to enjoy yourself." I tell her
Raven pulls her into the car. "I will keep an eye on her. If it's too much, we will come back."
"You don't normally like the clingy ones." Eric mutters as we watch the car drive away.
"This is different."
"Because she is your mate and you marked her?" He cocks an eyebrow at me
"She's clingy based on fear, not because she wants me all to herself. She just needs time."
"How did Raven take the news?"
"She mostly focussed on the news I was letting Devon live. Took her a moment to realise that if she wanted Devon dead for what he is, she would be a hypocrite for not wanting Neah dead." "Raven doesn't usually make new friends so easily. She must like Neah. Especially to invite her shopping. She's never done that with any of the others."
I nod my head in agreement. My sister had never been the greatest at social engagements, it's why she preferred the hospital.
"There's something I need you to do for me." I mutter as the car rounds the bend and it quickly leaves my sight.
"You want me to keep an eye on her?"
"Just as a precaution."