Chapter 18: The Silence

Damien’s Pov

What have I done? I marked her! I marked a minor without her consent. I was still holding her in my arms. The moment I heard from Ben that they ran away, I was furious. I ran towards the control room to track down the car they were riding. I saw it was parked in Diamond City near that clumsy foul bar. I drove to that area in no time. Alex was also behind me. As soon as I entered, I smelt her. She was dancing with another wolf! My blood started to boil. That jackass started to touch her. MY MATE! My wolf was furious. I pulled her into my chest instantly. Her touch calmed me down a little, but her smell was mixed with those bastards. I slammed that asshole on the floor and placed my Kitten on my shoulder. I drove towards the packhouse. I tried my best to keep myself calm. The moment we reached the packhouse, I started to drag her to my room. I wanted to wash her so that the smell of another wolf would go off. But she began to struggle again. She always did that. She always tried to go away! Even though she has been ignoring me for a few days now. I hated that. My wolf was impatient. I lost my temper. I shouted at her. I was still trying to hold back my temper. But then she said that word! She said again about leaving me. My wolf took control. He was furious. So was I. She insulted us, challenged us in front of my pack, standing in my packhouse! I Marked her without a second thought in front of everyone. I saw lots of emotions in her eyes all of a sudden. I could not feel her wolf anymore.

“I hate you, Damien Black”, she whispered before falling unconscious.  She hated me! Our mate hated us, my wolf whimpered in pain. I was holding her like the most precious thing I had.

“Damien! What have you done?” a sigh left from Alex’s mouth.

I looked at Alex and shouted, “Call the pack doctor, NOW!”

I marked a minor. I knew the consequences. He did not need to remind me of that. Not at least right now. Minors were not ready to be mated. When a mate was marked, they were both supposed to share their emotions as well. Being a minor, it was already a lot for them to carry all those emotions. An alpha already connected to all the pack members. Hence an alpha’s mate would also share all the emotions of my pack. If a minor is marked without consent, especially by an alpha, there are chances that they would lose a part of their soul because of overwhelming emotions.

“You marked her! You are supposed to mark me! You have chosen that pathetic bitch over me?” Lauren yelled at me out of nowhere. I was already frustrated with that bitch who came from nowhere and started to live in my pack. She tried so hard on the bed every night to seduce me, but she failed. How could she when my mate had charmed me already? She still kept staying, holding my hand and kissing me publicly. It was good destruction for others from my Kitten, though, and that was the only reason I had tolerated her. But not anymore.

“Get out of my territory!” I said in a cold tone.

“What!” Lauren looked shocked, “You are choosing this slut? I thought you loved me!”

“The woman you are talking about is my wife. She is the only woman I will ever love. Now don’t test my patience anymore. Get out of my territory and go find some other pack to slut around.”, I said on her face.

I carried my kitten in bridal style into my room and placed her carefully on my bed. Ben and Adeline were also in the room. I paid no attention to them. I started to caress my kitten's head. The top she was wearing fit perfectly, showing all her curves and ends just above her belly, giving a narrow view of her waist. I cannot blame that bastard alone for touching her in the bar. She looked breath-taking. She looked so tempting. I could not take another chance.

I walked into my closet to get one of my t-shirts.

“Adeline, can you change her into this?” I gave the shirt to her and went outside the room with Ben.

I was standing there expressionless. My wolf was in pain. He could not feel her wolf still now. What was taking Alex so long?

“Damien! I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken her out.” I heard Ben apologising. There was guilt in his eyes. However, the main fault was mine.  He just wanted to treat her properly. He just wanted to make her feel special, which I could not do in all these months. This was my fault. It was only me who should be blamed.

I did not give him any reply. Alex came meanwhile with the pack doctor, Clara. Besides being a good medic, she was knowledgeable.

“Alpha”, she greeted me. 

“Clara, she is inside”, I said. Adeline came out of the room and said we could go in.

I walked into my room. I saw her lying on my bed wearing my t-shirt. My wolf was so happy to see her like that. But she looked so lifeless.

Clara started to check her body. After examining her, she turned towards me to ask, “How old is she?”

“Fifteen,” I said, not knowing when exactly her birthday was.

“You marked a Minor?” Clara kind of shouted at me. She was my mother’s friend, and hence she sometimes got on my nerves.

Anyway, I was ashamed this time. I did not reply to her question. Instead, I asked, “How is she?”

“She looked a little exhausted. She will wake up soon, but…” Clara stops to look towards us. “Her wolf is not responding!” she said. “This happens when a person goes through a lot of emotional changes. In her case, she went through all the emotions the pack members were sharing at that moment, and she was overwhelmed by all those emotions. Her wolf couldn’t take it anymore, probably.”

“What will happen to her?” Adeline asked in a concerned way. She was holding her hand, sitting on the bed beside her. Her eyes were teary.

“Once she gets up, things should come back to normal. But it may take some time. I remember having a similar case. That girl recovered after a month of suffering, but her mate was not an alpha.” Clara sighed. “Alpha, you need to be by her side every moment from now. Let’s just hope the heat does not hit her anytime soon.”

I was terrified this time. I never felt that way before. Heat! I totally forgot about that. A marked mate always suffered from heat unless the mating was complete. The heat was excruciating for a female unless her mate consoled her. I did not want my kitten to see in heat right now. It would be the worst thing ever! What had I done to her! I could never forgive myself. Ben was right. I did not deserve her.

Clara injected her something and gave her some medications before leaving. Ben, Adeline, and Alex followed her. I was then left alone in the room with my little kitten. I couldn’t sleep for the night. I was just looking at her innocent face. She was beautiful. It seemed like someone drew every inch of her face with great patience. I placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Wake up, kitten! Please wake up”, I whispered.

“I am sorry, Kitten. Please forgive me”, I said again. She did not react to her face. She looked paler than usual. I caressed her hair and her face softly. I still could not feel her wolf. I did not know for how long I was sitting there. Then I saw a ray of sun coming to my room from the balcony. I walked towards the patio. I was looking at the forest. The sky was getting more precise.

Suddenly I felt little movement in my room.

Kitten! I thought.  I came quickly inside my room. She was still lying on my bed. I went near her. I put my palm on her forehead.

“Kitten!” I said softly. She opened her eyes. I was beyond happy that my kitten was fine. My wolf was still a little anxious as he could not sense her wolf till now.

She looked at me. Her eyes! Her beautiful eyes that used to spark every time were vacant. Something was missing in them. My heart clenched.

“How are you feeling, Kitten?” I asked her softly, cupping her face.  My question was unanswered. She looked at me with her vacant eyes one more time before closing them again.

I sat on the bed beside her holding her hand. She was not sleeping; her eyes were just closed. She looked so pale. I placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Tell me, Kitten, how are you feeling?” I asked her again. I did not get any reply.

“I’m sorry, Kitten. Please talk to me.”, I said again softly. Her eyes still were closed. She remained silent. I heard a knock on my door.

I walked to the door and opened it. I saw Ben, Alex, and Adeline.

“How is she?” Ben asked.

“I bought some food for both of you, alpha”, Adeline said.

“She is awake.”, I said in a low voice. “But she is not talking to me.”

“Let me try”, said Adeline. I nodded.

She walked into the room, placed the food on the small dining table, and then went towards the bed. She put her hand on Lotus’ head.

“Lo!” she said softly. Lotus opened her eyes. They were the same as before. They contain no emotion.

“How are you feeling, Lo?” Adeline asked again. She did not say anything.

“Come on, seat down. See, I made you some pancakes! You like them, right?” Adeline said with a smile again and helped her to sit down.

My kitten was sitting on the bed, leaning her back on the wall. Her hands were placed on her lap. I have never seen her so lifeless before.

“Her eyes, Damien!” Alex said.

“They looked dead!” Ben said. I could not reply to them. Adeline tried to make her eat, but she did not bite a single thing.

“I am going to call Clara. Something is wrong with her.”, Ben said again. I nodded in agreement.

I went to my bed and sat beside her holding her on her waist. I pulled her closer. Her head was resting on my chest. She did not protest. She did not say anything. Even she showed no emotion. Her wolf was still missing. What had I done to her? I turned my little kitten into a dead one. My wolf was whimpering. He was getting restless. I felt heartbroken. I could not tolerate the emptiness in her eyes.

Ben came back pretty quick with Clara.

“Good morning, alpha.”, she greeted me. I nodded. I was not willing to talk right now. I needed to know why my kitten was so silent right now. I wanted to know why she was not fighting to go away.

“Lotus!” Clara called her. She didn’t get any answer as usual. She looked closely into her eyes. She examined her again. Her face frowned. I could sense something was not good.

“What is it, Clara?” I asked her.

“Her wolf is not responding. But that is not what bothers me most!” Clara said in a low voice, almost shuttering. She was still looking into her eyes.

“What is it?” My voice was harsh this time.

“Alpha… I think… she somehow… lost… her emotions…” she shuttered.

“What do you mean by that?” I kind of shouted at her. My wolf was howling in my head. She lost her emotions! How could it be?

“It looks like she cannot feel anything anymore. Happiness, sadness, anger, stress, nothing. Probably, when you marked her, she was so overwhelmed with all other emotions that she left behind hers.”, Clara said.

The room was silent. Ben, Alex, and Adeline also were scared. But Lotus was seating as usual. Like she even had not heard anything.

“As she is not feeling anything, as well as her wolf is not with her, she cannot process what to do.”, Clara said again.

“Clara, I want you to get her emotions back. I don’t care whatever it takes. I want her to talk again. I want her to fight with me again.”, I almost ordered her. I sighed, “Please, Clara! Bring her back.”

Clara was looking at me with pity.

“I have never come across this kind of situation before, alpha. But I read about this once. It kind of works like a poison. Only another overflow of emotions can get her back. She needs to feel something very strongly, something like pain or happiness or anger. Whatever it is. Anything will work. But she has to be willing to feel something.”