0172
Neah
"There are three Ash's here, but none by the name of Ash Thomas." Damien tells me as he tosses the clipboard onto the desk in front of me. He turns to Brax "Whoever gave you that name is lying!" "Or the name he gave you and Neah was a lie." Brax retorts, "And that is his real name."
I look at the names highlighted on the clipboard and search my mind for the connections to them, while trying to ignore Damien and Brax as they argue. They were worse than kids.
Finding the link to each one, I summon them and request that they come to the office immediately. Maybe one of them had given us a different surname out of fear.
Three men appear within minutes and Brax shakes his head. "It's not any of them."
The men look at one another, confused by why they had been called here.
"Do you know Ash Thomas?" I ask
Two of them shake their heads and tell me no. The third one nods. "He came yesterday. He asks a lot of questions too."
"About what?" Brax demands
"Anything and everything. I just put it down to him being new here."
'Samara said that Cooper guy would come here. What if she was right? What if he is already here, using a different name?'
'Brax would know.' I murmur. 'The guy wouldn't get past us. Could he?'
'It's just what that woman said. That this guy comes to places where he thinks his prisoners may be hiding. All the questions he is asking, it sounds like he is looking for someone but trying to be tactical.'
'If he was trying to find Blair, why would he take Maddie? What if this is Blair's idea? What if this is another scheme of hers?' I challenge
She doesn't answer, because she knew as well as I did, there were too many 'what ifs' surrounding the situation.
"What does he look like?" I ask Brax, so many people had arrived recently, I couldn't remember everyone's names, but I could remember faces.
He gives me a description as soon as he mentions the green eyes with flecks of blue, I know who he is speaking of.
"You let him live." I frown.
The guy he was talking about had been in the office with me and Dorothy.
Dorothy had stopped drawing the moment he walked through the office door and just spent the entire time staring at him without saying a word as I asked him questions.
When he left, she wouldn't even tell me what she saw or what she felt and had asked to leave moments later.
Brax frowns, "He had one of my daughters stickers on. I didn't like the guy, his soul is more than questionable but I have to trust my daughter's awareness."
Damien shakes his head and folds his arms across his chest. "She is seven years old. Seven, Brax. She shouldn't even be doing this shit anyway. Kids make mistakes."
"She didn't give him one." I declare
"What?" Brax mutters
"She didn't give him a sticker." I confirm. "He must have seen someone else with one and taken it, knowing that it would keep him alive."
"Fucking idiot!" Damien mutters at Brax. "Of all the ones you have killed because you've seen something bad, you let this one live. And in less than twenty four hours of being here, he has kidnapped a Lycan."
"Why Maddie though? She can't even shift, why bother taking her?" I ask
Brax looks away. "He saw us together."
If I wasn't so concerned about Maddie, I would be happy for Brax. It's about time he owned up to being mated to her.
"You were with a Lycan?" Damien asks and a smirk appears on his lips. All signs of his previous anger, gone.
"Yes, and you can keep your opinions to yourself!" Brax snaps, his hand moves to the gun in his belt.
"So Maddie is...." Damien leans against the wall, practically grinning from ear to ear as he waits for an answer. "None of your business!"
"You were the one who came in here, demanding that we need to find her, so as Beta of the pack, it makes it my business. I will ask you again. Why were you with Maddie?" Damien teases.
He already knew what the answer is.
"I haven't got time for this!" I snap, getting out of my seat. "I need to know what is happening and who this guy thinks he is."
"Can't you just link the guy?" Damien asks
"There is no link to anyone called Cooper or Ash Thomas. The other option is to order all Lycans to come here into my office so you cn single him out."
"No." Brax mutters. "I need to find Samara, she gave me the impression she knows exactly where this Cooper guy takes them."
"I'm coming with you." Damien snarls.
"No, Damien. You need to stay here." I tell him. "I will go with Brax."
Both sets of eyes are on me. "You don't know what's out there or if something is waiting for you." Damien protests. "And I'm pretty sure Dane won't agree.'
"I can handle myself. I am the Lycan Alpha, Maddie is a Lycan. She is my responsibility."
****
Dane isn't impressed with the idea of me going. His crimson eyes hover on me, his brow creases into a deep frown. Anyone would think I had asked him the worst possible question.
"I have Brax with me and we will be back before the ceremony tonight." I try reasoning with him.
"You don't know that. You don't know what you are walking in too. You don't know if it's a trap."
"You don't always know what you are walking in too. You didn't expect to find me or all the shit that came with finding me."
"That's different."
"Because I'm female?" I scoff and I feel Nyx eagerly waiting for the answer.
"No. Because I have more experience of being in situations where I have no idea what's about to happen. You don't go out of the pack grounds, Neah and as much as that usually means I know you are safe. I am also minutes away from you at any time. I won't be if you go out there without me. And I am not okay with that."
'He's worrying too much.' Nyx mutters
'He's allowed too. He said it himself, he won't be with me.'
I sigh and pull my bottom lip between my teeth. "If it was one of your Wolves that you were missing, what would you do?"
"You already know the answer to that."
"Then I have to do this too." I knew he could feel how important this was to me and maybe that was why he wasn't arguing with me, but making it a point for me to know how he feels about it.
"You keep your eyes on her at all times." Dane snaps at Brax. I had half forgotten he was in the office with us.
"The deal was always to protect her." He is busy checking the bullets in his guns. "I don't break my deals, Dane. You should know that, you're a man of contracts."
"If anything happens to her."
"I know," And Brax shrugs his shoulders, "but if it were to come to that, you will have to find me first."
Dane and Damien accompany Brax and I down to the gates. Dane pulls me in against his large chest. "Don't block me at any point."
'I won't' Nyx mutters and I repeat her words.
Danes' lips mould against mine. He kisses me like he needs all of me, or maybe it's because he thinks this is the last time he will get to kiss me.
When he pulls away, my lips feel bruised and tender as his crimson eyes focus on mine. "I'm coming back." I whisper.
"I expect you too."
"Let's go!" Brax mutters. He gets in the driver's side of the car that's waiting for us. I slide into the passenger seat and look back over my shoulder at my mate. He hated this.
"You good?" Brax asks as he starts the car.
I nod, keeping my thoughts to myself.
He doesn't say anything else, but stops the car periodically to get out and check the ground. It probably would have been easier if we just went on foot.
"You haven't asked." He cocks a brow at me as he gets back in the car.
"Asked what?"
"Why we didn't just walk?"
"You say you can't read minds but you have this terrible habit of knowing exactly what we are thinking."
He laughs. "You haven't spoken since we left, but yet I see your face everytime I stop and get out of the car. You know walking would be just as effective, if not more, especially while tracking yet you continue to keep your mouth shut. It's the most likely thing that you are thinking about."
'He is so annoying.' Nyx mutters with a yawn. She was bored and wanted to see some action.
"Is that how you know things?" I ask
He shrugs his shoulders "Nine times out of ten. So are you going to ask me?"
"I'm guessing it has something to do with me?"
He claps his hands and starts the car again. "Dane's idea. He thought it would be too risky if any Lycans came across you in the wild."
"They will be able to scent me either way."
"That's what I told him. You wouldn't have got a chance to leave the pack at all if I hadn't agreed to the car. Not that a car would slow anyone down if they wanted to get to you."
"Then why didn't you stop me from coming?"
"I knew there was no point."