Chapter 2

**Neah**

*Don''t make a sound. Don''t make a sound.*

I could feel Alpha Dane studying me. They all did it—no one could ever quite believe someone could do something as disgusting as poisoning their own parents. I stood there with my head hanging low, wishing the ground would just open up and swallow me whole.

I heard movement around me. He was standing right in front of me now. With a rough finger, he tilted my face up toward his, forcing me to look at him. Slowly, his hand moved to my throat, but he didn''t squeeze. "You poisoned your parents?"

"I was six," I stammered. "I just made them lemonade." My voice came out all squeaky as I tried to defend myself. I could barely remember my parents, but I remembered every bit of guilt I''d been made to feel since that day.

His crimson eyes flashed to my brothers. "Hardly seems fair to blame a six-year-old."

"A six-year-old should know the difference between plants," Alpha Trey snapped.

"Sounds to me like she was set up." Alpha Dane shrugged, letting go of my throat. "We all know that standard wolfsbane doesn''t affect us anymore. We evolved past that shit centuries ago."

What? What did he mean? Wolfsbane wasn''t lethal. That had been drilled into me since I could walk.

"Which only leaves Blood of Wolfsbane," Alpha Dane muttered.

"You weren''t there, Alpha Dane," my brother said through gritted teeth, his eyes narrowing to slits. "It was wolfsbane."

He nodded. "You''re right, I wasn''t there."

Great. Now there was someone else who could remind me of something I''d done by accident years ago.

"But tell me this—where would a six-year-old get Blood of Wolfsbane?"

"I didn''t ask you here to talk about my slave!" Alpha Trey spat. "Or what happened to my parents."

Alpha Dane grabbed his leather jacket from the chair. Unlike other Alphas, he seemed to dress more casually—a simple black tee and jeans covering his huge frame. And unlike other Alphas, his arms were bare of tattoos. Not a single bit of ink showed anywhere.

"You''re right, and now I have a few things to think over."

"I thought we had an agreement," my brother said.

"Nothing''s been signed. I''ll show myself out."

The moment he left the office, both my brother and Beta Kyle turned on me. "What the fuck did you say to him?" my brother demanded, slamming his hand into my stomach.

"N-nothing. Well, he just asked me why I smelled funny."

"Did you tell him?" Beta Kyle demanded, practically spitting in my face. I hated him. I hated him so much that I''d vowed to one day get my revenge and rip his stomach out through his mouth.

"WELL?" my brother yelled when I didn''t respond immediately, smacking me across the side of the head.

My head moved up and down involuntarily. "But I didn''t say it was you," I tried to sound strong and confident, but it just came out as a whisper. If they weren''t wolves, they probably wouldn''t have heard me.

My brother''s hand locked into my black hair as he yanked my head back, sending shooting pain through my skull. "If you''ve ruined this, you won''t see daylight again."

He dragged me by my hair from the office and down the hallway toward the basement door.

"Please..." I begged. "He was an Alpha... I had to answer him." My cheeks burned with tears as he flung the door open.

On the other side of the door was Alpha Dane. He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded, staring right at us. My brother''s hand fell from my hair, relieving the pressure on my skull.

"Alpha Dane, I thought you''d left," Alpha Trey said angrily.

"I said I''d show myself out. I thought I''d found the door, but instead I found a basement reeking of your sister''s strange scent. Is this how you treat your family?"

"As I said," my brother held his ground, "she''s responsible for my parents'' deaths, so yes, this is what she deserves."

"You should keep your nose out of other packs'' business!" Beta Kyle added.

Alpha Dane laughed. "If I agree to this deal, everything about your business becomes my business. So tell me, what would your punishment be for her? No food? Locked away for a week? Beatings?"

"We don''t..."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "You really expect me to believe you would have just let her sleep? I''ve already stopped you from hitting her once." His eyes roamed over me. "She''s underfed, bags under her tired blue eyes. For an Alpha''s sister, she''s certainly not treated like one—regardless of what she allegedly did when she was a pup."

"She did do it!" Alpha Trey seethed. "And she has nothing to do with our deal."

"That''s for me to decide." His crimson eyes flickered around the hallway. "Where''s your mate? I''d be interested to know how she feels about this."

I closed my eyes, silently begging my brother not to call his Luna. Luna Cassandra was worse than Beta Kyle and Alpha Trey combined.

"On second thought, why bother her. I''m sure she''s just as vile as you," he sneered.

I peeked through slits to see his crimson eyes on me. There was no reason for him to defend me, and yet he was. I was nobody, nothing special. Just someone everyone called a traitor. Only instead of getting a death sentence, my brother had decided to make me spend my life suffering.

"I have a proposition for you, Alpha Trey." Alpha Dane was smirking at my brother.

"We''ve already agreed on terms."

"Well, I''m adding one. And if you don''t agree, you won''t get my help. Instead, you''ll become my enemy. And we both know you don''t want that."

"I take it your new terms have something to do with her?" Alpha Trey said through clenched teeth.

"You''d be correct. Let me take her to my pack, and then you, Trey, will have a deal."

Me? Why would he want me?

As my brother and his Beta discussed me, Alpha Dane kept studying me. His look made me nervous. What could someone like him possibly want with me?

"Deal." Alpha Trey stuck out his hand for Alpha Dane to shake. He didn''t take it. Instead, his crimson eyes shifted from me to my brother.

"I''ll have paperwork drawn up and return tomorrow." He reached out and cupped my face. "Make sure you have everything packed." He dragged his thumb across my bottom lip and strode to the opposite end of the hallway, straight to the front door. He knew exactly where the front door was, so what had he been up to?

He paused at the door. "If I find out any of you have laid a hand on her, the contract will be the last thing you need to worry about." He walked out, slamming the door behind him.

"Get out of my sight!" my brother snapped at me.

I hurried away, making my way upstairs to my tiny bedroom. It was practically empty—the only things I had were a few changes of clothes. It would take me less than a minute to pack.

By morning, I hadn''t slept. Alpha Dane''s questions were on repeat, and I kept wondering why I was so interesting to a wolf like him. There was a reason he had the biggest pack. They were known for their fighting abilities—that''s why my brother wanted to link Moonshine with Alpha Dane''s pack. But where did I fit into all this? And what the hell was Blood of Wolfsbane?