The Alpha’s Contract
Chapter 0325

Damien

I listen to them talk. Neah tries to keep herself calm as Eric tells her that Klaus has already restarted Mallory's heart twice.

Twice.

It wasn't a good sign.

We could heal to a certain extent, but if the heart decides to give up. It is rare anyone can come back from that.

Raven should be helping. She is the pack's main doctor. Not Klaus and not the others that she had trained. I had seen her work. She was precise, never missed a step, but she had point blank refused to come when I had linked her and now she is ignoring me. I rise to my feet and Neah's blue eyes flash in my direction.

"Please tell me what happens as soon as you hear it." I almost choke on my own words. Mallory is my best friend, we had been through a lot together. I couldn't lose her because some fucking prick shot her by accident.

Neah nods at me.

I come to a stop outside the hospital. Trying to decide if I wanted to speak to Dane about his sister, or speak to my mate directly. She should be helping. I had to replace a way to make her help.

Making my way across the grounds, I pause outside the packhouse, preparing myself for the argument that is already brewing.

Pulling open the door, Dorothy come's hurtling towards me from the stairs. Fear written all over her chubby little face as she throws herself into my arms.

"Hey, hey. What's wrong?"

"There's something bad in the house Daddy."

"What do you mean?"

"It's dark upstairs."

I look up the stairs where sunlight is flooding in through the large windows.

"Don't go up there Daddy." Her bright green eyes are filled with tears as she glances up the stairs.

"Who is upstairs, Dottie?"

Her eyes replace mine and quickly drop. She squeezes herself against my chest and whispers, "Raven." "Anyone else?"

Dottie shakes her head and shudders. "Daddy, can we leave?"

I back out of the house. I couldn't feel anything but the pain Raven was still feeling.

"Logan and Evrin are with Athena and Sebastian, would you like to go there?" I was trying to keep her calm, but whether she believed it or not was a different matter. "Yes please." She nods her head frantically.

On some level, I hoped that she had just been napping and had woken from a bad dream. But the silent treatment from Raven and the lack of interest in helping Mallory had me concerned. Sebastian opens the door, he looks surprised to see us, but beams at Dottie.

"Well, I wasn't expecting to see you today." The comment makes Dottie laugh and for a moment her fear is gone.

"I'm really sorry Sebastian, is there any chance you can watch her for a little while?"

He looks at my face. "No problem, she will be perfectly fine here and I do believe the twins are due to wake up. Why don't you come in, Athena is going to make some cakes."

She runs in without a second thought to me.

"How bad is it?" Sebastian asks

"Mallory is in critical condition. Eric and Neah are waiting with her."

"He can't lose anything else." He sighs, "But that's not what I'm talking about." He glances down his hallway to make sure Dorothy was out of sight. "Dorothy mentioned something about Raven when she was here yesterday. She was half asleep so it didn't make much sense."

"She came running down the stairs, with more fear in her than what I saw when I rescued her from that bar. The only other person upstairs apart from her was Raven."

"If she needs to, she can stay here the night." Sebastian replies, "Besides, Athena and I love having kids in the house again."

I didn't have it in me to tell him that there would be no chance of grandkids.

"I will let you know if I need her to stay the night."

I look around. Normally, I would quite happily handle this myself. Raven was my mate, but the fact that Dorothy had called her dark, has pushed me out of my comfort zone. Wolves didn't go dark. That was a Lycan trait. "Is my daughter okay?"

I look over my shoulder to see Abraxas coming my way.

"Did you shoot Mallory?" I had to hear it from him

"I may be sadistic at times, and I love to kill Lycans, but I don't kill pups. They are still pure. And if you hadn't noticed, I could have taken any of you out at any time and I haven't. So I will ask you again, how is my daughter?" "Scared."

"I know that, dumbass. What is she scared of?"

"My mate."

His brows knit together. "She's helping Mallory, right?"

Did I just see a hint of concern? Did he actually like Mallory

""No, Klaus is."

As much as I despised him, maybe he was the one who could help me. After all, he claimed to see this darkness in people and I couldn't lose my best friend and my mate in one day.

I tell him what happened with Dottie. The fear, the panic and the need to get out of the house like she knew she was in danger.

"You think Ravens lost it?" He asks me carefully.

"I don't know what to think. I know she is not the same woman I fell for. I know she has shut down. I know she is still in pain, which she refuses to talk about. I can barely get inside her head and when I do....."