The Alpha’s Contract (Taylor West) novel Chapter 70

Neah

Focussing on my hand, I run my thumb over the palm. There wasn’t even a tiny mark. It had been so long since I had healed this quickly.

Over the years, Trey and the pack had great fun in trying to make the bruises last longer than a few seconds. Hitting me harder and harder, sometimes, breaking my bones, only to hit me again once they had healed.

After I was bound the final time, the beatings continued, just not to the same extent. They got their satisfaction by seeing me permanently wounded.

“It’s the Alpha in you.” Alpha Dane mutters. “The only reason it took so long before is because of the binding.”

Curling my hand into a ball, I dig my own nails into my skin, watching tiny beads of blood appear. The moment I release, the small wounds are gone and I’m just left with a few droplets of red, staining my hand.

“This is what Trey wanted, Neah. To beat you down, to take away your power, to make you little more than nothing. And you,” he tips my chin up with a single finger. “You are not nothing. I need you to see that.”

His hands move to my hips as he continues to stare at me. “And we are telling the pack today.”

“No.” I shake my head at him. I just wasn’t ready. I didn’t even want to see what I looked like as a monster.

“Neah, it’s time. I’ve held off for as long as possible. They need to know.”

“I...I don’t have a choice, do I?” I whisper, lowering my eyes.

“Not this time, no.”

Maybe it was better that they knew. If they decide they don’t want me here, it would be better to find out now.

“They will want you here.”

I look back at Alpha Dane to see his crimson eyes watching me. He didn’t seem in the least bit worried.

Closing my eyes, I nod my head, Still not quite believing that I was agreeing to it.