Bonds that bind us novel Chapter 9

Damien

I sigh as I leave the house and make my way across the grounds, preparing myself for the worst. I hadn’t been called in since the incident with Kade.

As I approach, children are already leaving the small school, but the session wasn’t over yet.

The teacher greets me at the door, her face etched in concern. She gestures for me to follow her. Before she even points her out, I see Dottie’s trainers sticking out from under a desk.

“I can’t get through to her.” The teacher tells me in a whisper. “She is inconsolable.”

I hear Dottie’s little whimpers and snuffles telling me she has a snotty nose. “How long has she been like this?”

“The tears have been on and off since her arrival. I will be outside if you need me.”

“Dottie, come out.”

Her toes twitch, but she doesn’t move.

“Dottie, I can move the desk, but I want you to come out and talk to me.” The snuffles continue, yet she doesn’t speak.

Squatting down to the floor, I see she is hugging her teddy bear tightly. Her bright green eyes laced with tears. Red, puffy cheeks shine from where she had been rubbing them.

“Dottie?”

“Daddy’s in trouble!” She croaks as the tears break free.

“Brax?”

Her eyes drift to her feet. “A fire and scary water.”

“Come here,” I pull her out and wrap my arms around her. I couldn’t tell her that Brax would be fine, not when I didn’t know what was happening.

“I think… I think Daddy is going to die.” She chokes as she hugs me.

“How do you know?”

She shrugs and scrunches her face. “He said he loved me and to be good.”

“You heard him?” I was confused; she was so young, but then again, he was her birth father, and Hunters had abilities that others didn't.

“Uh-huh.”

I couldn’t link Brax. He refused to be a part of the pack. That made him unreachable by anything other than a phone. “Have you tried talking to him?”