The Alpha’s Contract

Dane

"Girls?"

Damien nods his head at me. "You had a fifty-fifty chance."

"Two of each is good enough for me." I smile

"And no more." Neah adds. "Four will be plenty." She stares at me until I reluctantly agree. I love being a Dad, and she knows that if I had it my way, she would have more. But she also knows I will respect her decision.

"At least they will already have older brothers to protect them." I grin and watch as Neah presses a hand to her mouth. It was definitely time for us to go.

I sweep her off her feet and she presses a hand against my chest. "I can walk."

"And I can carry you. Just let me enjoy carrying all my girls at the same time."

As soon as we are back at Eric's house, Neah races past Mallory and dives into the bathroom.

"She's suffering a lot this time, isn't she?" Mallory murmurs.

"It's just one of those things." I mutter

Mallory slowly nods her head. "Are you on board with it?"

"The pregnancy stuff?"

She shakes her head at me, folding up her arms.

'She's talking about Samara.' Aero mutters

"You can't always help who you fall for." I reply to Mallory.

"It's like he has completely forgotten what happened. I mean, I told him to go for it, but I never would have if I had known it was her."

"We have seen a different side to her since she has been able to shift."

"And that is probably put on as well."

I couldn't be certain if she was jealous or annoyed.

'Maybe both.' Aero mutters

"If it were put on, I'm sure Brax would have said something. It's not like he keeps that kind of thing to himself. Especially now the whole situation of him losing his abilities has been sorted."

"I still don't buy it."

"She ripped her brother's head off." I remind her. Mallory hadn't been on the Hunt, but she had learned how Cooper died.

"Could be part of her plan?"

"Have you spoken to Eric about this?" I ask.  NovélDráma. Org

"He says I'm reading too much into it." She mutters as she frowns.

"Or maybe you are upset that your best friend has found happiness in an unlikely source." I sigh. "Neah is right. Samara is the most watched person in our pack at the moment. The moment she puts a foot out of place, Damien is likely going to be the first to know. Do you think he will just sit by and let it happen?"

"No, he has too much respect for Neah."

"Exactly. Things didn't go to plan with my sister. She... When she should have lent on him for help, she didn't. She shut him out, she also concealed everything from everyone. Her twin, that she always had issues with became the apple of her eye. It's actually a little concerning when I think about it."Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

I shake my head. "Damien should have been able to settle down with her, there was even talk of them starting a family, but that was taken away from him. And then Eris was fucking crazy. Surely you can see why it has become his choice. He is not interested in what has been set up for him. And I get that. Before Neah, I was considering settling down with someone who wasn't my mate."

"They have nothing in common." She murmurs

"Did you and Eric?" I ask

She frowns and shakes her head.

"If I were you, I would let Damien carry on. He can still be your friend and have Samara as his mate, but if you keep having a shouting match with him, who do you think he will choose? Who do you think he will walk away from? Don't ruin your friendship over this."

Upstairs, Luca starts crying and Mallory leaves before another disagreement leaves her lips.

I hear the bathroom door open and a sweaty Neah makes her way towards me. She leans in against my chest and slips her arms around me. "Do you think she will give Damien space?" she whispers

"I don't think she will have a choice."

A few weeks pass with no real dramas, thankfully. Neah had hit the stage where the pregnancy fatigue was kicking in and is currently crashed out on the sofa while the twins follow me around.

Mallory hadn't said anything more about Damien. Any meetings Eric, Damien and I needed to have, we held at Damien's place. Purely so it didn't start an argument.

Though Mallory hadn't said anything, I had seen her face when she came in from her walk an hour ago. It seemed like she was trying, but the irritation was stronger. I had hoped the space from Damien would give her time to reconsider, but so far, it wasn't working.

Picking up the boys, I head out to check on the packhouse.