Contractually Yours Alpha (Riley)

Chapter One Hundred and Tweiny Six

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Six

Kaida had been given medication to help her recover faster watched her sleep, my mind drifted back to the moment she told me she was pregnant. Very few things took me by surprise, but the news did. The first emotion I felt was... hope. For a split second, I wondered if the healers had been wrong-if the wolfsbane hadn't rendered me infertile after all. But then came the internal conflict-there was a big possibility that the child could belong to her former beta, Aric.

I should have told Kaida about my inability. I couldn't believe I had never stopped to consider how she would feel about not having children. I mean, there was a chance, but only if I stopped consuming wolfsbane and allowed my body to heal from years of damage.

For years, I had taken daily doses of wolfsbane-a habit born from the day it nearly killed me. I had sworn then that I would never let that happen again.

I was fully aware of the fact that I was risking my life every day by taking the doses, but I couldn't stop. Not now. It had become more than just a means of protection; wolfsbane had become an addiction. I couldn't go a day without it.

***NINE YEARS AGO***

I was almost fourteen, yet I looked much older than most kids my age. More than that, I felt older. Maybe it was because I had already been named Alpha of the Nightshade Pack at such a young age, or perhaps it was simply that werewolves grew faster. By then, I already looked like a seventeen-year-old.

There was one more thing I had to come to terms with-I was being watched. Everyone had their eyes on me, and I knew it. They watched to see my next move, waiting for the moment I would make a childish mistake that would lead to my downfall. It was suffocating, almost intoxicating, to stay in my own home-a place that no longer felt like home. Ever since my parents left, I had felt like a stranger in my own pack.

I was well aware of the tight-lipped smiles the commanders gave as they bowed

to me-they didn't believe I was old enough to command their respect. Everywhere I went, I had to keep up a facade, hiding my true self from a world of devourers waiting just beyond my door.

They were all hypocrites-even the one who pretended to love me the most. Yet somehow, I endured each day, and little by little, I was proving myself to be a true leader. But everything changed on the fateful day

I stepped into my room and saw the woman on my bed.

I thought she had the looks of an angel. She had beautiful long gold hair that went down to her waist; she seemed to be around the age of nineteen or twenty. I didn't know how she got into my room, but somehow, she did, and now she lay on the bed, completely naked.

I had been with three women before her, but none of them were as appealing as the woman lying naked on my bed, she was a seductress in every sense of the word.

"How did you get in here?" I asked, managing to take my eyes off her body. Her skin was the perfect tan, just like. everything about her.

"By the door, how else?" She responded with a flirtatious smile; she had an exotic voice; everything about her was simply appealing. I walked towards her.

"What do you want?" I questioned.

"I am on your bed, naked. We both know why I am here and what exactly I want." She said to me,

I wanted her; I lusted after her, and she could see it clearly in my eyes. I should have been wiser, I should have seen the trap ahead, but I was young and foolish.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Six

I remember every word she said—all the beautiful lies she whispered with those sensual lips.

For the next four days, my life felt perfect-or at least as perfect as it could be for someone like me. I had sex with her, and when I was done, she usually left. But on the fifth day, to my surprise, she stayed. The maid brought food, and the gold haired girl sat beside me. I didn't know her name and I never bothered to ask. It was never more than sex between us.

"Can I join you?" She asked; her voice sounded so angelic, no one could turn that down. I nodded, and she joined me; the smile on her face melted through me, but then I noticed the blood.

"Your nose. It's bleeding." I said to her, and she paused eating, the smile remained on her face, but it didn't look very angelic anymore.

"They were all right about you." She said with some effort, more blood gushed down her nose, "You are nothing but a weak little boy, you cannot rule us."

I watched as she gasped for air, clutching at her throat as if invisible hands were cutting off her breath. She died right before my eyes, leaving me in complete shock. It had happened too fast-too suddenly for me to react.

The door to my room burst open. Danger flooded my senses I tried to rise, but dizziness forced me back down. Clutching my head, I struggled to understand- what was happening?

I felt pain everywhere; my werewolf senses felt all weird.

When the men walked in, I recognized them; they were about five. Two of them were commanders, and the other three were high-ranking members of the pack, people who had served under my parents. Now they approached me with silver daggers in their hands, ready to end my life.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Seven

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Seven

I wanted to fight. I wanted to defend myself, but I was weak-helpless. All I could

do was watch as they drove their silver daggers into me, one after the other. Five stabs, yet none aimed at my heart. They wanted me to bleed out- slowly, painfully.

When they were done, they left me lying on the floor in a puddle of my own blood.

At that moment, I didn't feel like an Alpha. I didn't feel powerful. I felt like a child-a weak, defenseless child. But as the pieces fell into place, I realized the girl had given her life to ensure my death. And yet, I couldn't help but wonder-what price had they offered her to make such a sacrifice worth it? Or had she done this willingly? Perhaps she truly believed she was saving the pack by killing me- because in her eyes, I wasn't fit to rule.

I had never been so afraid and alone; I could literally feel the life slip out of me. "Mom.” I called out, choking on my own blood, but there was no response. This was it; they both left me to face the monsters alone, and now those very same monsters had just murdered me. I believed I was going to die, but somehow a soldier had smelt out the blood and miraculously came to my aid.

I was only half-conscious as they carried me to the healing room. My pack members' stares followed me-some filled with curiosity, others with excitement. Some looked at me as if I were a stranger, their gazes devoid of sympathy, while only a few seemed truly disturbed by what they saw.

"I told you all-he is not fit to be our Alpha," Commander Jack muttered under his breath. But if I could hear him even in my condition, I was certain everyone else could too.

I had been poisoned with wolf's bane and stabbed five times, but yet, many stared

at me with disappointment as if I had failed them. They wheeled the bed I was placed on into the healing room.

I would never let myself be so vulnerable ever again.

The first thing I did the moment I recovered and was back on my feet was execute the men who had attacked me. Watching them die filled me with this strange rush of power; I liked it. I liked how it made me feel.noveldrama

I decided then-I was done trying to impress people. I had nothing to prove. I didn't need to convince anyone that I deserved to be the Alpha; they could either accept it or walk away.

From that day on, I took wolfsbane daily. I started with small doses-just a few drops in a bottle of liquor–but as the years passed, I found myself wanting... no, needing more.

ALIYA'S POV

I didn't believe a single word he had said.

The Empresses would never have killed me. He was lying trying to make me believe I had no other choice but to stay. Maybe I wasn't 'pure' anymore-I lost that when I lost my virginity-but I knew the only place I would be safe was back in Aureonna City, the same place I had run away from.

I was living under the same roof as a monster. I couldn't stay here with him. But I was trapped. Daemon was faster and stronger than me. I would never escape this place-at least not without a plan.

I wracked my brain, trying to come up with a plan, but nothing came. My thoughts were a tangled mess-I couldn't even think straight. Inside, it felt like my heart had been torn from my chest and shredded to pieces. And he was the one who did it— the only man I had ever loved had betrayed me.

I heard a faint noise and rose from the cushion where I was seated, following the sound. I stopped in front of the room that had always been locked. I tried the handle, but just like before, it didn't budge.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Seven

Daemon came here constantly; it was the only room in this entire place that remained locked almost all the time. I didn't know what was beyond those doors, and I wasn't sure I wanted to find out.

I turned away, ready to leave, when another noise stopped the. This time, I could have sworn I heard a quiet sob.

"Anyone in there?" I asked, but there was complete silence it was like I had imagined the sounds.

"What are you doing there?" the cold voice belonging to Daemon called out, and I flinched, carefully taking a step back. I stared at the man who I had once trusted; he looked the same; everything about him was just as I remembered, and at the same time, he was a complete stranger.

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