Page 345 of Alpha Mates

“A dangerous one,” he mumbles as I watch all-too-familiar black eyes flutter open.

For a moment, I can’t breathe because I’m looking at an imperfect replica of my mate’s eyes, but instead of the near-golden hints found in his, the pup’s black eyes have an olive sheen that’s wonderful in its own way.

Blinking slowly, he moves in a daze before his mind seems to catch up to his body and those heavy eyes dart open. He’s on his feet a moment later, already poised to fight or run, even as his thin legs shake beneath him.

My heart crumbles in my chest as I watch him search the room frantically—looking for an exit or a weapon? We’d removed everything dangerous, and he seems to realise that, because he makes a dash for the door.

He tugs at the knob but it’s locked, something I’d only done to keep others out. But when he backs himself into a corner and looks at us with frightened eyes, shame names me a fool.

“We don’t want to hurt you,” I whisper, stooping down slowly so I’m not looming over him. “We’re not rogues.” I make my eyes glow, and the second he spots blue, he takes his first real breath. “You’re safe.”

Lips clamped shut, the boy doesn’t say a word while his eyes dart between us, but at least he’s not shaking as terribly anymore. I lick my lips, searching for what to say or ask next. I’d never been good with kids, but after all he went through, what did you even say?

“For future reference, kid,” Aiden suddenly grumbles, “when someone is saving you, don’t try to kill them.”

The kid looks up at my foolish mate, and his round eyes quickly widen with recognition before he bares his teeth and glares at Aiden.

Aiden gasps as if it wasn’t completely deserved, but before he can get into it with a child, I nudge his leg and point down. Reluctantly, he stoops down and wisely stays silent this time.

“What’s your name?” I ask as I turn back to the pup. He only stares at me. I try the little sign language I know, but that just makes him stare at my fingers instead. Okay, new game plan. “I’m Julian. This is Aiden. We are the alphas of the Dark Moon Pack.”

I doubt he knows our new pack name, but I hope speaking to him with some credibility helps him trust us. If it does, it doesn’t show because he remains silent in his claimed corner.

“Maybe he’s mute or doesn’t speak English,” Aiden mumbles, but the child frowns at him, quickly dismissing that theory. Aiden frowns back, and I resist the urge to sigh.

“What is your pack name? Do you know it?” I ask. Still nothing. “If you tell us, we can find your family and help you get home.”

Those dark olive eyes stay on me, but a gloss slips over them as tears gather. A second later, his little face crumples, and Alex whines miserably as we place grief and loss—so easy to spot now as it wells inside me.

We should get a healer to talk to him,I tell Aiden through our link as I struggle to fight against my own tears.I don’t want us to say the wrong thing and make this worse.

Aiden’s frown deepens, but he knows, as I do, that we have healers better equipped to deal with this sort of thing, and he’s clearly unresponsive to us.

Okay,he replies with obvious reluctance,but I want to stay close.

Of course,I agree before updating the head healer on the situation through our pack link.

Minutes later, the light under the door is shadowed by a waiting figure, which causes the boy to scramble away from the door. He only realises thathe’s moving towards us when he’s almost within our reach and quickly goes scrambling back for the bed.

The shadows in the room seem to darken as I stare at him with a heavy heart. He’s living in terror, and there’s nothing we can do to help.

“The person outside is a healer,” I inform as gently as I can. “That’s someone who’s really smart and knows how to make us feel better.” Aiden and I slowly straighten as I speak to him. “They’re going to talk to you and try to help you. If you speak to them, hopefully, we can help find your home.”

Panic flashes in his dark eyes as he looks between us and the door, but still, the child remains silent as his small hands clutch the sheets beneath him. Stifling my sigh, I open the door and take the time to introduce the healer.

We stay close in the room, watching as the boy remains withdrawn until the healer sits down beside him. She wears a kind smile, but it might as well be a sneer with the way the trembling pup scrambles to the other side of the bed.

He looks to us, and in our bond, I feel the same impulse rising in me as it does in Aiden—the one that says to help him. But among all the other emotions coursing through us, neither of us gives in to it. We can’t help him right now.

“We’ll be close,” Aiden promises as we step outside the door. I don’t know if he says it to the healer or the boy, but only the healer nods before we close the door behind us.

Outside, the noise we’d briefly escaped when we first arrived swallows us whole. The light is too bright, the groans too sharp, and it’s like we never had that brief respite. Despite it, Aiden and I wordlessly make our way through it, heading for the waiting room at the end of the hall. We’re almost at the green sofas when a scream pierces the air.

I turn so quickly my neck twinges, but I don’t need to take a step because the boy darts from the room before I can. He looks around from side to side before he spots us, and then he’s running towards us at full speed. His eyes are anxious and scared, but he doesn’t stop until he slams into Aiden’s leg.

My heart slams against my chest as I watch him wrap his arms around Aiden and hold on for dear life. I look up in confusion, only to spot the healer clutching a bloody hand as she rushes out of the room. A proper glance down at the boy reveals red-tinted lips.

He fell from the bed. I only tried to help him, Alpha,the healer promises as she strides over, stopping when I raise a hand.