The Alpha’s Contract (Taylor West) novel Chapter 446

Neah

‘It’s just like Damien said. They are all dead. We killed them. They can’t hurt you anymore.’ Nyx whispers as we follow Dane through the house.

We stop outside the office door. My heart hammers in my chest and Dane squeezes my hand as he leads me inside. “Not all memories are bad. I met you here.”

My eyes flicker around the room, settling on the bloodstain on the carpet. It was where Kyle had fallen. In typical Cassandra style, it was never cleaned up. That would have been my job.

“Why did you lie?” I whisper

“Lie?”

“You told them that I put you in the office. You lied.”

“I had a suspicion that they were hurting you. Trey proved my point when he went to hit you and then again when they tried putting you in the basement.”

“It seems so long ago and yet…..” I had spent ages in this office, scrubbing it from top to bottom with a toothbrush while Cassandra stood over me, barking orders or yelling at how I had missed a spot. There were so many times that I wished I had the courage to shove the toothbrush through her eye.

‘Well, you went a step further than that.’ Nyx muses

I smile to myself and Dane presses his lips to my cheek.

“You have come a long way since then.” He drops my hand and begins rummaging in the desk. I move to the bookcase. Several dozen large books lined the shelves. Books that I had always longed to read but never could.

Pulling out the one closest to me. I run my fingers over the gold lettering. Just one simple word ‘KITSON’

I shift my eyes to Dane, but he was now busy rummaging through a cabinet, pulling out large amounts of paperwork.

As I sit on one of the chairs, a cloud of dust is thrown up around me. Spluttering, Dane asks me if I’m okay. Nodding, I open the book.

Pages and pages of fancy handwriting in a language that I didn’t understand. ‘What is this?’ I ask Nyx.

‘Looks like Latin.’ She mutters back

‘Latin?’

‘I can’t be certain, can I? I’ve only been with you for a few years!’

Continuing to turn the pages, I stumble on to a family tree. Just like the one Klaus had done for me, only this one had more names and spread over several pages. Next to my mother’s name is the name ‘Amelia Kitson’, with a birth and a death date. Stemming from her is another line that just reads ‘Female, unknown.’ Was that Samara? Because that would make her my cousin.

“How?”

“By telling her where she comes from.” He hands me the closed book. “Maybe start with that.”

I glance up at the shelves. There are other identical books to the one I’m holding. Pulling each one out, I see that they all have the same gold lettering, but the pages are blank, like they are waiting to be filled.

“Any luck?” Damien asks as he and Klaus make their way into the office.

“We have something, it’s not much, but we know who Samara is.” Dane tells him. “Neah’s cousin. You were right Klaus. Neah’s mother did have a sister.”

“Is she alive?” Damien asks

I shake my head. “According to this, she died fifteen years ago. But I never met her, at least, I don’t remember meeting her. I don’t even remember my mum talking about her. The only thing I really remember is watching my parents die.”

“Do another sweep.” Dane instructs. “Make sure we haven’t missed anything. Hidden rooms. Trap doors, anything.”

Klaus and Damien bob their heads and head in different directions