5 Puppies For The Alpha
Chapter 11

Edgar, the head doctor of the Silver Pack, checked on his patient with a painfully frown on his face as he uttered mute curses from time to time.

-How is he?” Dante stood in the distance, anxious, no news for some time.

-Not now alpha, let me finish my work,” he blurted out more sharply than he had intended, discarding his pent up anger, “Please leave,” he asked more calmly, after all he was addressing his alpha.

Dante just nodded and walked out of the room to meet Fallen and Ryan’s bitter face, who despite the bandages on his body, had insisted on being there.

He wasn’t bothered by Edgar’s tone. The wolf was almost 300 years his senior, he had even helped bring him into this world and he knew that reacting in such a way was an indication that the situation was beyond his understanding. He growled inwardly, feeling the rage slowly creep through his being.

He still remembered the feel of the shape of the bones on the omega’s skin as he carried him in his arms, his ragged breathing, barely having seen his face under the matted, dirty hair. Seeing the sheet stain, in patches, red almost unnerved him. Not even in his most violent outbursts could he, or anyone in his pack, lay a finger on an innocent person like that. The last wolf who had tried lost his right claw.

-How is he?” Fallen snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked uneasy, ready to enter the room at any moment.

-We have to wait for Edgar to finish tending to him, he never gives a prognosis until he’s sure,” he reassured him without showing his own anxiety.

The younger boy trembled with helplessness. The image of his mother would not leave his mind.

-You’ll have to wait, puppy, I trust him with my life. In your hands, his mother will be fine,” the alpha continued, seeing the youngster’s reaction.

Fallen did not seem to be reassured by his words, when he had heard of the deal his brothers had made with the leader he had almost exploded with indignation. He didn’t remember what he had said, but Ryan had had to go in and get them out, while Matthias had unexpectedly stayed with them. Now he regretted his outburst and wanted to apologise. First he had to know his mother’s condition to think with a blank mind. The terrified look on his brothers’ faces was a heavy burden of conscience.

The sound of two people running reached them and they looked up to see Axel and Sasha coming towards them. They stopped some distance away at the sight of Fallen and lowered their heads. Dmitri followed closely behind them watching their backs, after all they were still the children of the alpha of another pack, specifically, the enemy pack, and though things had changed and the merger was near, some wolves might not agree with their presence in the main manor.

Dante stepped away from the door and approached them, seeing the familiar atmosphere so tense.

-Our mother? Axel asked impatiently.

-He’s fine, the doctor is checking him,” he returned.

-Can we see him? Sasha looked on the verge of tears.

-He didn’t want them to be there when the doctor spoke, he knew that the results of his treatment would not be pleasant and those boys were not prepared.

-But…” they protested until Dante raised a hand, silencing them.

-Fallen,” he called in an authoritative voice, “Go with them and while you’re at it, do what you have to do,” he noticed the wolf grow uncomfortable, “I don’t like unnecessary conflict in my pack,” he said.

The youngest assisted and passed by his brothers who followed him at a distance, they understood their brother’s reaction; they only hoped he wouldn’t shout at them again, it was the first time he had done it and they didn’t want that episode to be repeated in the future. After all, he was the mother figure they both knew, the only one who always cared about them.

An hour later Edgar opened the door and let the alpha in, followed by his twin brother and Ryan.

All three stifled an exclamation at the sight of the wolf on the bed. The grime on his body had been wiped away, exposing his discoloured skin where pale veins were even visible. Bones marked in the cheekbones of an emaciated face, the collarbone, in the hands and the rest of the body uncovered. Lips were dry, chapped to the point of pain and the once dark hair was streaked with multiple platinum strands.

The doctor had bandaged part of his arms where previously infested wounds decorated the skin, just as a white cloth rested over his eyes.

-I’m afraid to say that this wolf is on the verge of death,” he said.