The Contract Ch. 02

Chapter Two

The Loss of an Alpha

It was a quiet time of year, the time when the line between the seasons was blurred; the line between winter and spring. The plants were getting ready to erupt and show the world their new leaves and the beauty they hid for most of the year.

The trees, although they were for the most part desolate of any signs of life, they were gems that hinted at a hidden life, one unseen as of yet. There had been a light wind blowing throughout the day and into the evening. It dropped off as dusk rose on the eastern horizon. The rolling clouds seen on the western horizon were black and thunderous, bringing a cold snap with them.

The late time in the year left an air of confusion around. It was a mostly deciduous woodland, with the occasional thorny outline visible in the horizon.

There were no leaves on the trees, only buds, which were visible as only spikes in on the horizon. There was a distinct lack of light, so the already darkened night seemed foreboding, when combined with the moonless sky.

There was a sense of sorrow and pain to come. The trees had a silver sheen to them, illuminated by the small sliver of moonlight that occasionally peaked through the dark and foreboding clouds that were rolling about like a restless sea at the beginning of a terrible storm.

The woodland had an otherworldly feel to it; both foreboding and inviting. The silver sheen caused by the moonlight combined with the large amount of shadows, these shadows came into their own, dancing in a light breeze.

They came to life as one's eyes adjusted to the darkened woodland. Each movement, brought on by a light breeze moving the branches and buds around and what little undergrowth there was, seemed to belong to that of an ethereal being.

The clouds seen on the horizon that evening had finally rolled in. They were the type of clouds one would find just before a rare, and yet eerily beautiful snow storm, a once in a lifetime experience. Only a few nocturnal creatures were out at play, or on the hunt for food to keep them going. The woods were quiet. Rosalie stretched out on her bed, delighting in the feel of one hundred percent Egyptian cotton against her bare skin, something she rarely got to enjoy as her work forced her to constantly leave her house.

She sighed, rolling her eyes; tonight was her first and only night off in about 2 years, as she was either out working or gathering information. She smiled, ready to spend a day relaxing, well, attempting to anyway, after non-stop work she was unsure as to what she should do.

She rose, smiling, and looked out her bedroom window. The curtains were left open as usual so she could still see the outside, she wanted to be as close to the outside as she could, as much as she enjoyed the luxuries of modern life, there was nothing better than slumming it with nature; something she was used to, especially considering her line of work.

She grinned, and giggled as a fox chased a rabbit out of the forest. The forest was part of her property. She rubbed her head and padded into her bathroom groaning, grabbing shorts and a t-shirt on the way in. "I got way too drunk last night", she mumbled to herself, not that upset, it was getting drunk that was a luxury, something she had not been able to do.

She cursed as she jumped into the shower, having forgotten to turn on the heat; an icy downpour met her already aching body. She twisted the dial, and purred in appreciation as the heat soothes her aching body. "Ah", she murmured to herself.

She finished her shower in record time and jumped out, wrapping herself in a huge fluffy towel. She looked at herself in the mirror, making sure all the dirt was gone and froze as a loud bang emanated throughout her house.

She sighed, "Idiot burglars!" She rolled her eyes up to the heavens, drying herself and she grabbed her clothing. She pulled her shorts up and shoved her head through the t-shirt; it was her favourite black t-shirt. It had a unique logo on it, one she designed herself; it was of a cat roaring at a blood moon, she adored it.

It was extremely comfortable; she designed it shortly after her recovery, as a kind of get-well present to herself. She slunk out of her room, ears primed to hear the smallest movement. She sighed, it was coming from the kitchen, and based on the amount of voices there were at least three men.

"But we can't...Too risky..."

"She needs to be told..."

"..The boss..."

"Doesn't matter...kill her...?"

She treaded down the carpeted stairs as softly as she could. She crept down the hall cautiously and froze as the floorboards let out a huge creak. The voices stopped.

"I think she is awake", the owner of the voice could be heard chuckling softly. The kitchen was silent as Rosalie stalked towards it. She flung the door open, fangs extended, claws ready to fight. She skidded to a stop as she saw her ex-best friend Jacob and two unknown men.

He was also one of her main contacts with the outside world. Rosalie had used his knowledge about different were cultures on many occasions to help her with her mission.

Jacob was an impressive man with his 6 ft. plus frame, wide set shoulders and cerulean blue eyes that look like they are peering into your very soul. His hair had been cut since she last saw him; it was now up to his shoulders. Rosalie gave a roar of rage at the two unknown men, the Jacob was the only man who knew where she lived, and he had brought the other two men with him. She had needed him to know all her information on the off chance that she died. Jacob's cerulean blue eyes regarded her with a large degree of fear.

"Rosalie, hear me out" he said as she ran at him, he dodged her outstretched arm as it attempted to remove his head from his shoulders.

He ran around the island that Rosalie had built into the middle of the kitchen, so she could prepare food in an uncluttered area. "Rosalie, you need to hear this", he wheezed, trying to reason with her as she vaulted over the 4 foot high island and landed on top of him, wrapping her hands around his neck.

She hissed at the other men when they tried to intervene. They held their hands up as a sign of surrender as she tightened her grip on Jacobs's neck. She paused, her eyes filled with mistrust, as they looked down at him. She removed her hands from his neck and rolled off him and onto her feet.

"Explain, why you have brought two Council men into my home?" Rosalie roared at Jacob, this had been the last of her safe houses. All others had been compromised. She only had one other place, but it was nowhere near being ready to be used.

Jacob coughed as he rolled onto his back. "I rang your phone, and could not get through to you, you need to know this. I had no choice but to tell the Council about you, we need your help", he pleaded with her. He stood up, rubbing his neck. He sighed as she growled at him, her talons ready to separate his head from his body.

Cain, one of the Council men smirked, he looked at his brother. She is feisty" he chuckled lightly as he spoke telepathically to his brother, the other man from the Council. His brother Damien grinned, Wait until she learns that she now works for us, then... he paused she will be really pissed off with Jacob. Both men started to snicker as they zoned back into the one-sided conversation Jacob was having with Rosalie.

"I don't think I have ever seen someone take Jacob down" Cain commented aloud, as the onlookers watched Rosalie tackle Jacob again, she shrieked at him, having forgotten the onlookers momentarily.

"Twelve months, no word from you", Rosalie punched Jacob in the face, there was an audible crunch as she broke his nose. He winced and a muffled shout could be heard from behind his hand as it covered his mouth. Rosalie paused and stood in front of him. The other two men sniggered at Rosalie and Jacob. They rarely saw Jacob being beaten by someone.

Rosalie turned around and glared at the two Council men. She stalked up to the larger of the two brothers and kneed him in the guts, as the other brother started to attack her she flicked her hand and he flew across the room.

"Jacob, I want an explanation now", the venom in her voice reached Jacob's ears as he wiped tears from his eyes; her groin shot was the worst that had ever happened to him, even worse than when he played soccer and some eejit kicked him in his balls rather than the freestanding soccer ball that was beside his left foot.

"I... We need your help" He panted, trying to regulate his breathing, certain in the knowledge that she had damaged his manhood. Rosalie rolled her eyes, something she frequently did when annoyed, which was often.

"Expand", she snapped at him, what little patience she had had was gone. Jacob rose up to his full height.

"Recently some of the Council elders have been communicating with the moon goddess, Luna, she needs us to help find her son, he is the only child she has, and the only one she will be able to have. He went missing around the time of the last Great War with the vampires. The European Council of Wolves has been tasked with finding him and returning him to her". He paused, the pain in his body finally gone and his wolf hearing was finally kicking in. "Last time she contacted our people directly she was warning us about the war, and how to survive as best we can as a species, as you know our American brethren were not so lucky, with many humans also taking them out, they were under the spell of the vampires".

"Stupid hypnosis" Cain muttered darkly, having lost one of his favourite human lovers to a vampire, her death forever on his mind, as was revenge for her senseless killing.

"Stop", Rosalie interjected, "I don't know any of this, remember?"

"Ah, you should, if you were educated in our wolf schooling system" Damien grinned savagely, as he attempted to get her to reveal her upbringing, and the reason she was not in their system. No one, none of the other supernatural species had heard of her, she was unknown up until two years ago.

Rosalie looked at him, a cruel and sickly smile appeared on her face. "You obviously know something is up with me, I will tell you my story when I hear the rest of yours!"

Jacob snarled "This is not a joke anymore Rosalie", he was livid, "Our species is in trouble; families, children who have done nothing, we are all in danger. There is a war on the horizon and we were sent to get you to help, you are being enlisted by the Council, all able wolves are, they are being given any and all necessary training and then prepared for the oncoming battle".

Rosalie batted her eyes at him. "Honey", she cooed, "I don't give a damn, I have a job and I will be completing a prior engagement before I even think about helping all of you, especially the Council".

Cain shuddered, that voice brought back memories that were unwanted, it held promises of pain he didn't want to experience.

"You", he breathed out shakily, "It was you who kidnapped me and had me give up the names of the packs who held parts of the Le Mons body!" he roared at her, his anger and fear getting the best of him, his eyes went black as Rosalie just giggled at him.

"Yup," she replied simply, holding her hand up to get his attention. Cain attempted to move, going in for the kill; he had had over a year of scrutiny and was almost killed only for the fact that he was the only way to trace her and he knew what she smelled like, he would have been killed long ago. He snarled at her, rage etched on his face.

"Shut up", Rosalie snarled at him, "I have heard enough of your story to believe it is time others, more specifically you three, will learn my secret". She sighed dramatically,

"I was eighteen, my name was Rachel and I had been in a major accident. When I was a child, up until the time of the crash, I was in and out of hospital. I had intestinal problems so I was always sickly and unable to keep food down. I was in a car with my best friends and the boy I was dating, it went over a cliff on a bad bend in the Wicklow Mountains; the roads were icy, but we had been told they had laid down chippings. Daniel was driving, he drove like a grandmother who still wanted to live; slowly and carefully. The tyres slipped somehow and we went over the edge it took four hours for help to arrive, my friends were either dead or near death, I still don't know the fully facts. I was barely alive myself, just hanging on by a thread. There was a bar in my leg that was pining me to the seat and I was taken out first. I was the easiest to get out, I was in the front passenger seat and the driver's seat was on the bottom, with the door held in place by the earth."

Rosalie paused, standing up; she started to pace back and forth across the room. "When I was taken to hospital I was placed on ventilation, I was removed, unconscious and I never regained consciousness. They said I was brain dead and would probably never return; my body was failing me. The problem was I was not yet dead, my living body kept me pined to the earth and my family thought that I would pull through, since I was a fighter",

Rosalie grinned sadly. She stopped pacing and rubbed her face with both her hands, weary of the world and everything she had been through. "They should have let me go, instead I suffered, and they did not bother to give me painkillers since I was medically brain dead, they felt they would be wasted. I was in agony, and that was when Selene contacted me. I am in fact under contract to her to bring all the body parts and the soul of Le Mon together so he can regain life, he is important and instrumental in the safety of us when this war hits, it will come from both the vampires and the witches and warlocks, you were all warned about treating spell users badly", she snarled at the three men who flinched.

Rosalie sighed and resumed pacing. "I spent the first three years training, tracking and researching. I had to do it in a very specific order, as if the other parts came together in the wrong way it would destroy Le Mon before he was fully back together". She stopped in front of the fridge and ran her left hand through her hair, with her right hand she opened the fridge and grabbed out a packet of strawberries.

She opened the pack and started eating them. "I am so close to having fulfilled my part of the bargain, all Selene has to do is help me, and then I am released by the contract I signed. I am dead to the human world, I died four years ago, I will always be a shifter, but she is giving me control over my final shape and I get extras for helping her out as well" Rosalie smirked at the last bit as she turned to face the unmoving men.

Cain was still snarling, anger etched on his beautiful face, his narrow shoulders hid the strength they contained, the muscles in them flexed and relaxed as he struggled to get free.

Rosalie looked at the final strawberry in the packet, and then glanced at Cain. She sat down on one of the seats at the island. "I didn't know what else to do!" She smiled sadly, "no one would help me, I went to your stupid Council" She spat out bitterly. "They all laughed at me and kicked me out the door and told me to 'get real'"

Rosalie mocked the last guy who had thrown her out of his office, a burly French guy. "It was either complete her demands and then be free, or forever be at her whim, her slave." She closed her eyes as tears started to fall. "I am dead to my family, I have never had a chance to adapt to this life. I was either training, gathering information or putting that information to use". She giggled, Jacob looked into her eyes, the pity in his, what she had been through, and then subjected to by the Council, the Council set up to help and protect its people.

Rosalie waved her hand, the men fell to the ground. "You were just a man I needed information from, you are still that to a degree, only this time its information I don't want to hear", She sighed, "leave, I have work to do!"

Damien froze, he had been searching for this woman for nearly a year, one who could shift to any animal, and had the powers of a witch/warlock. "I need you to listen to me".

Rosalie glared at him. "Why?"

Damien looked straight into her eyes "We need your help, the Council is going to contract you, and you will have no choice, either face exile or comply. But it is not that of normal weres, you will be given all necessary equipment and information to continue your current job; collecting the different aspects of Le Mon, necessary to give him his life back".

Rosalie looked at him, suspicious. Last time she went to the Council for help she was thrown out on her ass "Why, why is it now? Why help me?" She questioned his motives, suspicious, especially after admitting she had tortured his brother.

"We are all in trouble, you will be prosecuted after everything has been sorted, you will be placed under trial for what you have done, not only to my brother, but to others as well", Damien answered her unspoken question.

"You will be given all necessary equipment, within reason, and there will always be questions, and you will probably never be fully trusted for what you have done". He was angry, unable to hurt her not only because she had him pined in place, but they needed her to survive, she was the key to their species survival; the survival of the humans/ humanoids of the planet.

Rosalie looked at him and started to laugh hysterically, unable to contain her disgust any longer. "You really think I am going to help you all, I have gotten this far without anyone's help, I have spent the last four years trying to prevent this war, singlehandedly trying to prevent this war after being thrown out of your precious Council headquarters. Even local Council areas, all while trying to seek the help I needed", she looked him in the eye, "and I was denied any and all help, I had to get to this level on my own, do you really think I will help people who do not trust me enough to realise I had no choice? No choice!" She roared, standing up she finally voiced the despair and agony at what she had done to families.

"I had to slaughter entire families, trying desperately to do the job that has been given to me, I tried, each time I found a new part I tried to reason with the packs, the people trying to get it through to them that I will get the body part I needed from them either the easy way or the hard way. I didn't want to do any of it", she whispered to herself, falling to the ground.

"Get out" Her voice was devoid of emotion, she released the spell holding them in place. The three men all dropped to the ground "I will finish what was started by others without any of your precious Council's help". She spit the final words out,

"I will NEVER agree to another contract. I want to see the fine print. Yours however," she laughed, "I don't want to read anything to do with the Council".

Jacob looked at her, unsure of what to do. "Rosie, please we need your help, we are sorry." He looked at Cain and then Damien. He stood up, sure of his decision, positive that she would listen to reason; his reasoning. "You will not be prosecuted; you just simply need to explain your story in detail and the choices you made".

Damien growled, he tried to reason with her. They could not let it be known that a criminal was being helped, one who had hurt several packs. Cain simply stared at the ground.

He had not said a word since she pinned him against the wall, unsure of how to react at this new information regarding his torture by her, it did explain why in the weeks coming up to his kidnapping, and the subsequent attack of his pack, why his Alpha had been acting so weird and out of sorts, increasing patrols against an invisible attack; one no-one knew about until it was too late.