Chapter 1

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, but nervous 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 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.”

“I wish it was as simple as you make it sound. And our house is pretty manic at the moment.”

I roll my eyes, she knew exactly what I was saying.

"Even if I wanted to try. I don't even know where to start."

“You tried and tried with me. Refusing to accept that I would hate you forever after what you did to me, and now look at us. Don’t throw a strong friendship away just because you don’t see eye to eye with his mate. Talk to her. Just like how you wanted to talk to me. Sit down with no one else to interrupt.”

“You don’t have an issue with her anymore, do you?” She asks quietly

I shake my head and fold my arms across my aching breasts. I needed to get back to the girls before I started leaking. “I trust Damien.”

Her brow softens. “I do miss him. I miss our talks. I miss his presence.”

“Then go and talk to him. He is still at home.”

She turns around, facing the direction of his house, but doesn’t move. “Are you sure you are okay?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?”

‘It’s starting to get really irritating!’ Nyx grumbles

“You were in the hospital for ages, unconscious. The birth of the girls was accelerated. And going into labour was the thing that woke you up. We have a right to be concerned.”

“I promise I’m okay.”

“In that case, can I ask you a favour?”

I nod.

“Can you just push me towards Damien’s? I don’t seem to be able to move.”

I give her a good shove, and she stomps in the direction of his house, watching her to make sure she doesn't stop.

‘What does it mean to have a female Beta?’ I ask Nyx as I sit on the porch. The few that I had met had always been male. Even the ones from Dane's past contracts. Every single one of them was male. Not a female in sight.

‘I don’t know.’ she murmurs.

‘Maybe it is something we need to discuss.’ Dane's voice rumbles through my head.

He’s waiting for me at the small kitchen table. The boys chase each other in and out of the rooms, screaming and giggling. They don’t even stop to acknowledge me.

“Have you been in my head the whole time?”

He dips his chin, “You think Samara can help?” He asks while gazing at me.

“I’m not sure. I think there is something. That's what my gut tells me.” I press my lips together and sigh. “I want to help them. I don’t want to sit around waiting for news that Brax and Klaus are dead. But, as you said, they are hundreds of miles away. I just…. I just wondered if there is something in what Dakota told Samara, how she is a preselected Beta for me. There must be a reason.

“Dakota told her it seemed like it was our fate to find one another. That we are stronger together. But I always thought the mate bond was the strongest thing anyone could have. Am I wrong?” I ask

Dane scratches the stubble on his chin. “I have to admit that I have wondered the same.” He glances over to the boys, “Some would say that it was fate that led me to you. Brax would say that the higher powers had already laid out the path that would lead me to you. That I was always destined to find you.

“I’ve told you countless times that you were the last person I expected to find in Moonshine. Yet our paths still collided. The situation you were in still churns my stomach and floods my system with rage, but I will always be grateful for that first phone call.”

My heart skips a beat. I never saw myself getting out of Moonshine. I thought I was going to die there.

“If our paths are already laid out, that means you believe Samara and I were always supposed to meet. Do you think that about everyone?”

He nods. “Some are put here to test us, others to join us.” His crimson eyes lock on mine. “And I think, deep down, there is a reason why you didn’t kill her. You had a chance. You had multiple chances. Something was holding you back. You have always killed easily.”

“I’ve let Blair live.” She had been trying, though I knew there was still drama between her and Samara and it was always Blair that started it. But she always tried to keep her mouth shut when I was around.

“For now.” He smirks at me. “Maybe, this is like you accepting your Alpha position. You need to accept Samara for who she is supposed to be.”

“Even if I did, how is that supposed to change the things that are happening in White Cliffs?”

A crease appears between his brows “You belong here, yet ultimately, White Cliffs is yours.”