The Alpha’s Contract (Taylor West) novel Chapter 194

Damien

Every day I got a little closer and he would do something to completely throw me off my tracks.

He shifted regularly, swapping between Lycan and human, leading me further away from Black Shadow and my mate. But I won’t stop, not until he is dead, even if it means going to the ends of the Earth.

A handful of times we had come face to face. Not up close, but we could see each other across fields, a train station, and bridges.

As each day passed, the angrier I became. I just wanted to be with my mate, yet if I didn't stop Salem. He would find a way to torment that pack and my mate forever.

Tracking his scent into a bar, my eyes quickly adjust to the dimly lit space. The smell of dried booze, piss and blood filling the air. It had been a few hours since he was here. Before I even entered, I knew why he had chosen this place.

He had always liked a challenge, long before he turned into a Lycan. Teasing and tormenting people. There was so much Raven didn’t know about the man she was once mated too. She had a lucky escape there.

Bodies littered the floor as the jukebox played. Half a dozen had their throats ripped out before they even had a chance to acknowledge what was happening. The other dozen had tried to put up a fight, losing against the beast that had attacked them.

Since being on the run, he had eaten every few days. Though this time, I was certain he hadn’t eaten in a week. He knew there was a risk I would catch him. He must have been starving to target a place like this.

I make my way through the bodies, just to check that all of them are dead.

“Fucker!”

I turn to leave and hear a whimper that stops me in my tracks. There is a kid somewhere in here. Between the stench of booze, piss and blood, I had missed the scent of a child.

“It’s okay, you can come out. I won’t hurt you.”

I wait for a few moments but nothing moves and the kid is quiet. Why had Salem left a kid alive? He had killed Eric’s kids without a second thought.

“Pinky swear.” The small voice calls out.

It had been a long time since I had heard that. A smile creeps across my lips. “Pinky swear.”

A small girl crawls out from behind a curtain. Blood smeared across her face. Remnants of bruises littered her chubby cheeks along with trails of dried tears. A floral dress that was once yellow or even white had seen better days. It barely fitted her, a sign that she had been here for a long time.

She steps towards me, her body trembling. Tears in her bright green eyes as she tries not to look at the carnage surrounding us. She stops a few metres from me. A chain attached at her ankle, preventing her from moving any further.

Not only was she locked up, she was a Wolf pup. Either Salem had been too busy to notice there was a child here, or he had left her for me, knowing it would buy him some time.

She freezes as my hand touches her leg and it sickens me to think what the bastards here might have done to her. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea for Salem to have chosen this bar.

The cuff around her ankle was easy enough to break through. It was clearly designed with Dorothy’s strength in mind as it snapped in my hands.

“Are you after the bad man?” She asks as she lets me pick her up to step over the dead bodies.

“I am.”

“He smelled funny too.” She coils her arms around my neck, understanding that I was someone safe. Kids this age were resilient compared to adults. They only see things in black and white and it's also why it is so easy to lure them away.

There are a set of keys on the bar. Grabbing them, I carried Dorothy out and hit the key fob, waiting for a set of lights to alert me of which car they belonged to.

Settling her into the blue BMW, I notice a blanket on the back seat and drape it over her. She’s quiet as I strap her in and when I tell her I’m taking her somewhere safe, she smiles and relaxes into the seat.

Dorothy was asleep by the time I pulled up outside the police station. Her head dropped to one side and rested on the belt as her long eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks.

I look out at the busy police station. She would be safer here than at Black Shadow. They could find her a good home, granted it would probably be with humans but she would still be safe. If I take her to Black Shadow, Salem could still come back, but she would be with her own kind.