0110
Neah
"My Daddy said that you are not like me." Dorothy mutters with her face scrunched up as she doodles.
Damien was back and was currently in the office with Dane. Raven had come to find us but was now moving back and forth, chewing on a hang nail.
I eye her suspiciously, while Dorothy keeps asking me questions
"No Dorothy, I'm not like you. I'm like Damien."
"Daddy?"
I nod as she wrinkles her face up. As far as I was aware Damien hadn't told her he was a Lycan.
"Raven."
She freezes and looks at me. "I can't talk about it," she murmurs
"Did you.... Did you see Salem?" It was still worrying that no one had seen him. Maybe someone had killed him and I wouldn't have to deal with that anymore. That would be a miracle. "No." She answers at lightning speed
"Who's Salem?" Dorothy asks from the kitchen table.
She was still busy doodling but was obviously listening.
"You don't need to worry about that." I smile
Raven glares at me, but what did she want me to do? Tell the six year old that the monster that killed all the people holding her hostage was Salem?
"Grown up stuff." I add. She shrugs her shoulders and scribbles harder.
"Okay....okay... I can't take this anymore." She runs her hands through her dark hair, chewing on her bottom lip as she stares at me. "I saw Jenson." "Oh, is... is he okay?"
"I don't know. I didn't speak to him."
I was about to hug her. I knew she had struggled with the loss of her twin and was still struggling. Even if she would never admit it.
"Damien followed him. He was with another woman."
I snort, "Well that took less time than I thought." He hadn't been able to do anything with Jess because of her age and the mate bond. Yet we all know he can't keep his dick in his pants. "Who? Do I know them?" "I'm not supposed to tell you."
"Raven, you are starting to freak me out. I don't like secrets, you know that."
"Damien said she looked like you." The words tumble from her mouth as though they were burning through her lips. They come out hushed and fast.
"I mean, it's not hard. Lots of people have hair like mine."
She shakes her head at me. "Maybe it's better if Damien explains it to you."
"Raven, please." I murmur. I hated being kept in the dark
'Maybe....' Nyx starts
'Not you.' I shut her down. Me and my Lycan were still not on proper speaking terms and I actually felt better for it.
Raven's dark eyes lock with mine. "He said she was practically identical to you."
"What are you saying? That I have another family member out there? Another Lycan?"
"You really should speak to Dane and Damien. I will stay here with Dorothy."
I pause with my hand on the door and look back over my shoulder at her. She mouths 'I'm sorry.'
I was too. I had been dragged through enough lies and secrets and hated every bit of it. Yet Dane still insisted on keeping things from me.
Waddling down the hallway to the office. I can hear both Dane and Damiens heated discussion. Deciding when the best time would be to tell me.
"It's not fair to keep it from her." Damien snaps
"She is my mate. I'm just trying to keep her safe." Dane retorts.
"Isn't it easier to be safe if she knows what she is dealing with?" Damien asks "She is the only female Alpha and now there is someone roaming the streets that looks just like her. Do you know how many scenarios have gone through my head?"
"Look. We still don't know who she is." I could imagine Dane was on his feet, glaring at Damien. He was so caught up in the argument that he hadn't even picked up on my scent, hovering outside the door.
"Jenson probably went to her because she looks like Neah." Dane sighs.
"He is like a child, always wanting what he can't have. He has tried fighting me for the Alpha spot several times He has tried fighting Eric for the Beta position. But instead he lost and he chose to fuck Erics wife. Did he even seem sorry that the kids, his kids, are dead?"
There's silence and my guess is that Damien is shaking his head.
There are only a few things that Jenson actually cares about. One, his position in the pack. Two, getting laid. Three, stirring up crap when he doesn't need to. And finally four, his sister. How they were so different was beyond me.
My hand pauses on the door, seconds from knocking when the door is opened. Dane stares at me with his beautiful crimson eyes, concerned etched in his face.
"Is it true?" I whisper as the dull ache grows in the pit of my stomach
Damien frowns, "We don't know who she is. We don't know if it means anything that she is with Jenson. We don't know if she is aware of you."
I nod my head as the pain spreads to my lower spine.
I grit my teeth, trying to ignore it.
I knew Dane could feel it this time.
He pulls me around, pressing his warmth into my back.
Cupping the underside of my bump with his large hands, he lifts a little.
The relief is beyond amazing, especially when your back constantly aches.
I feel the gush, soaking my underwear and trickling down my leg.
"Dane." I murmur. "They're coming."
There's panic and excitement as Dane helps me into his office. He was the excited one, I couldn't get excited. Raven had said I had more than a month left.
"It's too early." I'm almost crying
"Rumour has it, Lycan babies grow quicker." Damien mutters in between calling for Raven.
She appears with Dorothy and Damien swoops her up into his arms. "You are not old enough to see this."
"She's having a baby?" Dorothy asks
"She's having two." He tells her as he hurries her out of sight
****
I stare in amazement at both of my sons. Wrapped up tightly in their blankets and propped up on a pillow on my lap.
The first born was a miniature Dane, crimson eyes and all.
The second born had blue eyes like me.
But what I'm hit with is overwhelming love. My heart literally feels like it's going to explode.
Why hadn't my own parents felt that? Instead they had felt the need to bind me. Dane was still sat behind me. His legs either side of mine from helping me give birth. He kisses my cheek, not caring that I was a sweaty mess. "You did brilliantly."
"Are you happy?" I whisper. I knew how much he wanted an heir and now he had two.
He runs a finger softly over each of the boys faces, marvelling at his own sons. "Perfect."
I could feel his grin without looking at him. His happiness was exploding from him too.
Raven checks each of the boys over, giving them the all clear. "Damien was right. They do appear to be fully developed pups." She hands the eldest back to me. He stirs but stays asleep.
"Do you have names?"
My eyes widen as I stare at Dane, names were not even something I had thought about. Why hadn't I thought about our pups needing names?
Dane kisses me again, "There's plenty of time."
****
Everyone wanted to meet them. The first few days passed in a blur as the pack came one by one to pay their respects and honestly, it was exhausting. Dane assured me that it is common practice. There are new heirs. Heirs that have been long awaited and everyone wanted to see the pack's future.
I look over at Dane as Damien escorts another pack member out of the office. He was cradling our eldest, Logan. "Please tell me that's everyone." I was more than exhausted, twins weren't easy.
Dane kept offering to bring a nanny in, but I refused. I wasn't having kids and then letting someone else raise them.
My eyes drift down to a wriggly Evrin. He was already trying to get himself in position for a feed.
Dane loves watching me feed the twins, telling me that he finds it mesmerising. I knew what it really was. He was desperate to have me after I had refused him for so long.
I smile at him, enjoying the happiness that I hadn't felt in so long. Correction. I don't think I have ever felt this happy, ever. It was a world away from where I came from.
****
Six months later Neah
My eyes flicker to the clock as cries echo through the bedroom. Nudging Dane, he doesn't budge. He is out cold on the bed and doesn't stir even when the twins' cries grow.
Dragging myself from the bed, I creep towards their cribs. I don't even know why I'm creeping at this point, they are already awake, it was just Dane that was sleeping.
The moment I pull them into my arms, the tears stop. I settle into the large armchair in front of the window as both boys snuggle into me. The cuddles made the sleepless nights worth it. But I still watched.
Every night I was awake and alone with the boys, I found myself watching the grounds. Waiting.
It had been almost nine months since we had seen Salem and six months since the news broke that there was someone else that looked like me.
Damien and Raven returned to the city often to look for Jenson and the woman, though they never saw them again.
I should be grateful, but it just put me more on edge. What were they planning? Would they turn up here with an army? Would they come for my sons?
'I will protect us.' Nyx mutters quietly
'I know.' I murmur
It had taken my Lycan a long time to give in. To let me figure things out for myself instead of constantly putting ideas into my head. To keep me away from that ever shadowing darkness. Now we were more like when she first appeared. Talking to me and accepting my decisions.
I don't bother to look when I hear Dane get up. He always felt guilty when he sleeps through their cries, but I let him off tonight. He had been on a pack run.
"Sorry." He murmurs, close to my ear and lifts Evrin from my chest with a yawn. "You are watching again?"
I nod, "Gut feeling."
"There has been nothing in months. Everything is as it should be." I know he is trying to reassure me, but that gut feeling never fades. The same around Mallory. She still makes me feel.... Off. "I like to watch." I mutter
"And I would like it if my mate spent the entire night in bed with me." He mutters with a smile because he knew that wasn't going to happen even if I wasn't watching over the grounds. The longest the twins slept for was a few hours. "How was the pack run?" I ask, changing the subject.
Every full moon in the last few months, I fought between wanting to go and wanting to stay here with the twins.
My need to be with the twins outweighed it everytime, but that was mostly because I had become afraid to shift.
He knew that, but he never pushed.
Though he thought it would help me gain more control.
Maybe I would when I feel like the darkness isn't going to suck me right under.
He smiles at me. "No change."
It was his way of telling me everything is normal in the forest, but his words just seem to make my gut feeling grow. I clutch Logan a little tighter and he lets out a little moan of content.
Dane moves over to the crib, carefully lowering in a sleeping Evrin. He then takes Logan from me, repeating the process.
"Come back to bed." He whispers, pulling me from the armchair
"Something is off." I mutter
"Your mind is doing that thing again." He speaks softly, leading me to the bed and sliding in after me. His arm loops my waist, pulling me in against him as he leaves a lingering kiss on my lips. "You need to sleep." "The twins...."
"Are asleep."
"But what if...."
"We have it covered." He runs his fingers through my hair when he suddenly stops. Looking at him, I see his eyes are glazed.
"Now?" He snaps in annoyance
'What's going on?' Nyx asks
'I don't know.'
Dane gets out of bed, pulling on a pair of shorts. "Stay with the twins. I will wake Damien to come and stay with you."
"What's happening?"
"I am not a hundred percent sure."
He hurries out of the room and minutes later a sleepy Damien appears. "Do you know why I'm being asked to guard you?"
"He got a link and then left."
"That's all he said?"
"Yep." I pop the p in frustration. After everything, we agreed that sharing information was vital, especially as it helped to keep my mind from spiralling.
Raven appears and immediately leans over the cribs to eye up the boys. She was more than in love with her nephews and made sure that everyone knew it. "Aren't they so cute when they sleep?!" she whispers happily. I think I had heard that exact phrase, every single day since they had been here.
"Raven, let them sleep." Damien mutters, sensing my frustration and pulls Raven away from them.
He turns his head towards the open door, frowning.
"What is it?" Raven demands
"Lycan I think." He frowns
I make a break for the door, but he grabs hold of me, pulling me back, farther into the room.
"It's not Salem." He mutters to me as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. "But it is a familiar scent."
"If it's not Salem, how did they get through?" Dane has guards everywhere.
I look over to my sleeping children. The need to protect them was on another level. I would die for them, I would kill for them.
I grab the changing bag and launch it at Damien. Charging past him, I race out of the bedroom and down the stairs, coming to a complete stop on the bottom step. There in the doorway was someone who looked exactly like me, except the eyes. Her eyes are brown.
She smiles and shoves her hand out as Dane steps back. "You are Neah, right. I'm Blair."
I keep my mouth closed. Six months it had taken her to get here, but she doesn't sound anything like what Damien had described. He had said she was all in leather. Heals like a stripper. I had to look that up because I hadn't known what he meant.
But now she stood in front of me, in trainers and loose fitting jeans. A sweatshirt that was far too big for her. Almost like she was trying to look like me.
"I don't know you." I mutter, refusing to take her hand.
"Father never spoke of me? How rude." Her brows knit together in frustration. "I'm your half sister. We share the same father."
I couldn't sense her. Yet it was the one thing Dane and Damien had suggested that seemed to be coming true. Though one of the good things I remember is how much my parents loved each other. "No." I state confidently. "I'm an only child."
Her shoulders drop. "Mother did warn me that he probably kept me a secret. I never actually thought he did." She rolls her eyes and takes a step forward. Yet she hadn't actually been invited in yet. She opens her mouth to speak.
"How did you get past security anyway? And where is Jenson?" I demand before she follows up with some other crap.
She shrugs her shoulders. "I'm guessing they thought I was you." She flaps her finger between us, "and I haven't seen Jenson for a few months now."
"Liar."
"I'm just here to talk. Can you at least hear me out?" Mallory had used that same exact line.
I look at Dane, hoping that he would decide no, but all I hear are his words telling me that it was my choice.
"Outside." I snap
"Afraid I will hurt those twins of yours?" She smirks at me
Rage screams through me. How dare she think she has the right to mention my sons. Every fibre of my being was drenched in the need to rip her heart from her chest.
Danes hand slips into mine. I knew what he was doing. His warmth spreads through me, trying to soften the tension that revealed itself.
She grins at me, but the grin doesn't meet her eyes. They may be the only thing that separated us, but at least mine didn't look dead.
Taking a deep breath, I stare at her. "Jenson told you about them." He had learned that they were Lycans just before he left. "What else did he tell you about?" 'She's luring you in.' Nyx mutters softly
Blair laughs and turns away. "Are you coming?" she calls out. Dane and I follow her out the house, keeping a small distance from her.
"Daddy dearest was with my mother first." She spins around, looking up at the night sky. "It really is beautiful here. It would make a fine home."
"He fell in love but on the day mother found out she was pregnant with me, he found his mate. You see he never bothered to claim my mother. And no matter how much she begged him. And no matter how many promises he made to come back to her. He never did." "And how is that my fault?!" I snap, desperate to get back to my boys
"I'm just telling you the truth. He led her on. Telling her that he just needed to find the right moment. That was until he put you in your mother's belly..
"That's when the promises began, but the only way he could be with my mother was by rejecting his mate. because, well, I'm sure you already know what happens. in the end, he chose you."
I snort.
"That's funny to you." She scoffs
"It's hilarious." I growl. I could feel that darkness seeping further and further into my bloodstream.
"Neah." Dane whispers. I knew he could feel it too.
"So what, you're jealous? Is that it? You missed out on being raised by a father?"
"You have no idea how I watched my mother suffer."
"Have you ever been bound?" I snap. I knew my eyes were black by the way Dane was gripping my hand.
Blair's eyes narrow at me.
"Let's see. My parents bound me when I was a newborn." I somehow always became more sarcastic when I was about to shift. "Oh, and then again a couple of years later."
"You've been bound....twice?" I see how her spine straightens. So Jenson hadn't told her everything.
"No." I feel the pain in the tips of my fingers. My claws getting ready to break through the soft skin at any moment
"More... but you are...."
"I think the word you are looking for is 'alive'."
"Neah!" Dane is more demanding this time.
I look at him and follow his gaze down to our interlocked hands.
Claws were slowly creeping out of my fingertips.
I had spent months afraid of shifting again, but I will do it for them.
I will do anything to protect those boys.
Dane flashes his crimson eyes at Blair.
"I suggest you leave and don't come back."