Neah

“You still haven’t said anything,” Samara whispers as she eyeballs me.

“She’s talking to Nyx,” Damien tells her.

The longer Samara waits for me to talk, the more jittery she becomes. Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, slurping on her coffee or glancing over my shoulder at Damien.

“Dakota,” I mutter. “She told you that you are my Beta.”

*Yep. Look… I only know what she has told me. Honestly, it’s not the end of the world to me, maybe her, but not me. I’m just grateful to be alive. You are still allowing me to settle in. Letting me live here. Just because she said it’s true, I don’t expect it to ever be something you acknowledge. You have Damien, and he is good at his job. And you have Eric.” She gives him a big smile.

“That’s why you are here, isn’t it?” Damien asks. “Because of this Beta business.”

“I’m trying to figure out some things,” I sigh. I wasn’t quite ready to discuss my entire thoughts.

“You are not planning on running off to help the others, are you?”

I frown. “You sound just like Dane, but no, I can’t, and I won’t. I’ve just had the girls. And I’m not Cooper. I can’t just project myself into White Cliffs. Though that would be a useful gift to have right now.”

*Then, at least try and explain your thought process because you are not making any sense.*

“I think I know what she is trying to figure out,” Samara mutters. Her grey eyes hover on me. “I don’t have the answer. I only know what I am told by Dakota. She thinks our fates have always been tied. That even though we never grew up together we were supposed to find one another. A renewed bond for Kitsons, a future for Lycans.”

*Go on,” Damien encourages her.

*Dakota thinks with Neah being Alpha and me being her Beta, our bloodline is stronger and thicker than it has been in centuries.” Her eyes shift back to me. “And right now, I wish she would stop talking because it makes me sound like I’m trying to make a decision for you. Which I am not.”

Damien snorts but keeps his mouth closed.

‘Exactly what we are thinking.’ Nyx mutters

‘A bond stronger than a mate bond?’ I ask Nyx. ‘Is that even possible?”

Weirder things have happened. Kitson blood is the backbone of Lycans.”

I could feel Damien and Samara staring at me, waiting for me to respond. Instead, I leave and head in the direction of the newly built packhouse.

It’s larger than our old house. A house that gave me my first real taste of freedom. There had been so many deaths inside of it that maybe a new house was what we needed.

A porch wraps around the entire bottom floor, and there are still as many massive windows as there were before, maybe even more. The woodwork is painted in the darkest shade of black, giving it an almost gothic feel.

“There you are!” Mallory mutters as she comes to a stop next to me.

“Dane sent you?” I keep my eyes on the packhouse, taking in all the small details.

“He said you went to get some air, but he knows it is code for you needing time to think. I was just going to link you, but figured you were deep in thought somewhere.”

*He used to get so angry when I kept things to myself. Now, I think it helps that he can get into my head and see what’s on my mind without asking what I’m thinking about. As long as Nyx doesn’t block him.”

‘I’m behaving myself.’ Nyx huffs

*Does it bother you that he does that?” Mallory asks

“No.” A smile creeps across my lips. “I think it has helped to make us stronger. Sometimes, he knows me better than I know myself.”

*And you came to the packhouse because? You are moving back over here later anyway.”

“I didn’t come straight here. I went to see Damien first.”

“Ah, that was why I couldn’t find you.”

I turn to face her. “Mallory, this thing you have going on with Damien.” I shake my head, “It has to stop. He has marked her. She isn’t going anywhere. We shouldn’t be falling out with each other when there are outside threats.”

Her brow creases,” She isn’t right for him!”

“Why isn’t she?”

*She did so many bad things.”

*Did she? At the end of the day, she played Blair. Everything she said to us was twisted because of Cooper, but she never actually hurt anyone other than Blair and herself. She believed in a different life. He made her believe that. Just how Cassandra made you believe that I was in the wrong. Just as Trey convinced everyone that I killed my parents.

*Samara’s younger years are almost as messed up as mine, Mallory. Ironic when we carry a bloodline that is supposed to be unlike anything else. Damien is happy with her, and I know he misses you. And not just him, what about Dorothy? You haven’t had her over since you and Damien fell out.”