Alpha Nocurne's Contracted Mate

The specialist raised an eyebrow at Lord Brarthroroz and barely suppressed the scoff of disbelief. “You’re telling me that your
hellhounds can sniff out the sites faster than our dire wolves?”
“We could always make a wager on it, if you like?” Lord Brarthroroz answered casually as a sly smirk played at the edges of his
m*outh.
“I’m not betting my soul...” The shifter replied before he was interrupted by Lord Brarthroroz’s laughter, “I don’t know what’s
funny about that.” He continued, scowling at both Lexi and her father.
“Listen buster, I think you and your little friends have us confused with the demons of the human religions,” Lexi snorted, “We’re
daemons, not demons. There’s a huge difference.”
“I don’t see how. You both deal in souls and dark magic, and live in the depths of hell.”
“I’ll have you know my home is quite comfortable and welcoming actually. If you can get past the succubi that is... although I’m
sure some of your unmated would love spending time with them...” Lord Brarthroroz replied, a little offended.
“And this is exactly why I need to begin these lectures as soon as possible.” Lexi muttered and sighed. “Look, we daemons are
far older than anything contained in these modern, humanized religions, okay? We have been here since the beginning of time,
along with the gods. We predate people for crying out loud.”
“I don’t hear you denying any of what I said though.” The specialist sneered.
“Okay.” Lexi answered calmly, “Let me spell it out for you. Daemons live in their own realms forthe safety of your kind. Your petty
squabbles and the way you all thrive on killing each other over pathetic issues that could be dealt with by a single conversation is
quite frankly, tiresome for beings that have lived through millenia. It gets boring. Sure, we use magic, and so do you with your
ability to shift into your little fleabags. You’re no different to a human schizophrenic hearing voices in your head that the Goddess
Selene gave form to.”
The specialist blinked in surprise, a little lost for words as Lexi paced slowly towards him and stopped in front of him, scrutinizing
his coat and reaching forward to pluck a stray direwolf hair from, discarding it casually.
“And as for your souls,” She continued with a sinister smile, “We don’t need to bargain for them. If we wanted them, we would
take them.”
“Okay! That’s enough of that!”

Allen announced hastily as he took hold of her shoulders and steered her away from the gob smacked specialist.
“Lexi, don’t scare our team members, okay?” Allen said quickly with a pleading look in his eyes as he turned to face the
specialist and frowned, “And you guys, please don’t poke the daemons for a reaction that you aren’t going to enjoy when you get
it. Okay? We’re all on the same team here.”
“Perhaps they are the ones that need to understand that then.” Lord Brarthroroz rumbled nonchalantly, “I am only here to find
these sites quickly and destroy them. Purely because of the friendship shared between my daughter and your Alpha Queen. The
faster this is done, the faster I can return to brooding in my own realm and sampling the various whiskies that I have stashed
away to alleviate my boredom.”
Lord Brarthroroz turned to the hellhounds and gave them instructions as Lexi glowered at the specialists who begrudgingly
moved away and gave their own orders to their direwolves, and together, the beasts raced off into the darkness of the forest.
Allen glanced across at the men tracking the direwolves’ progress on their equipment and then turned to Lexi.
“How will you know when they have found the sites?”
“They’ll let Papa know, don’t worry. We don’t need all those gadgets, they speak to us like your wolves speak to you,” Lexi
replied, tapping her head with a smile, “In here.”
“Well, we won’t have to wait too long for the first site,” Lord Brarthroroz said with a smirk, “They already have the scent.”
“What?! Impossible!” The specialists protested as Lord Brarthroroz chuckled.
“For you, maybe, but not for my hounds. If you are still wanting to be part of this operation then I suggest you follow me. It’s this
way.” Lord Brarthroroz answered calmly as he began making his way into the forest beyond.
Allen didn’t miss the look of triumph on Lexi’s face as she followed behind her father without so much as a second glance at the
men standing to their right.
If they were going to pick up the trails this quickly then perhaps they wouldn’t be at this for too long before communications were
restored.
They traipsed through the undergrowth as silently as they could with Lord Brarthroroz at their front, leading them through the
shadows of the forest and beneath the canopy of leaves that didn’t seem to let any sunlight filter through at all.

As they pushed further in, the darkness seemed to be almost unnatural, cloaking everything with an oppressive blanket so heavy
that not even the sounds of the wildlife that should usually inhabit the forest could be heard here.
Then, in the murky light, the ethereal luminescence of the hellhound’s eyes could be seen in the distance, the faint light
illuminating a set of moss covered, cracked stones arranged in a rough circle.
“And here we have the first one.” Lexi murmured with a grimace.
Allen and the specialists could feel the sinister prick of the magic that swirled around them. It wasn’t visible, but the sensation of
it made every hair on their body stand on end, and the infectious unease that it brought with it made their wolves on edge.
“Feels pretty slimy doesn’t it?” Lexi commented as she turned to them, her eyes blazing a terrifying red as they nodded
wordlessly.
“This one should be quite simple to teardown,” Lord Brarthroroz observed as he ran his hands over the stones, as if inspecting
them for any weakness, “This is not a live specimen that powers this site ...we just need to find the corpse.”
“Corpse?” One of the specialists exclaimed in disgust.
“Trust me, it’s better than taking the life of a living battery. We will only need to burn the remains once they are uncovered.” Lord
Brarthrroz said as he began rolling his sleeves up, “Now, you can either help me with lifting these central stones, or you can
stand in the background mithering about the task itself.”
Wordlessly, the men set to work, lifting the stones as Lexi watched anxiously from the sides. She knew that she was going to
have to use her abilities and they swirled excitedly inside of her, pulsating eagerly to be made use of.
What none of them knew except her father was that each time she used her abilities, the more powerful they became, absorbing
whatever it consumed to grow in strength inside of her.
Her magical side was sated and controlled easily by Allen, but her Daemon abilities...right now she only had her father to rely
on, and the more she used them, the less likely it would be that her father could control them. She needed Greyson at her side
and if he wasn’t alive by the time she got to him, she was terrified at the prospect of being consumed by her power.
“It’s time Lexi,” Her father said gently as they stared down at the half rotten corpse in the pit below, and she took a deep breath
as she held her hands out in front of her.

“It’s okay, we’re here.” Allen said as he stood at her side, with her father on the other.
Lexi wanted to laugh as she let loose the terrifying column of flame from her hands, her daemonic soul singing with happiness as
it consumed the withered flesh and the magic tethered to its remains.
She could feel the surge in power, and the desire to destroy everything around her and claim it for her own, the judgmental gaze
of the specialists like daggers as they watched her flame wreathed form in horror, the watchful eyes of her father and her mate
desperate to stop her from becoming out of control, and above it all the little voice that whispered to destroy them all and take
everything for herself.
It took everything in her to resist its seductive whispering and as she allowed her power to recede, lowering her arms, a wave of
nausea swept over her.
Not from the exertion of it all, but at the sheer effort of resisting the ancient call of her daemonic soul.
As the blanket of darkness slowly began to lift from around them the specialists celebrated quietly as Allen and her father
watched her uneasy expression with concern.
She knew that with this site, the barrier had been lifted without incident, but deep down she knew that the more they had to
break, the higher the risk of her soul consuming everything she had fought hard to become.