~Chapter Eight ~

At some point between me leaving my office and Connor running up there for the stab kit, the new prisoner had woken up.

I walked into my office and found her tugging at her restraints relentlessly, her growls spreading through the room as she tried and failed to make even the slightest bit of progress. I knew she was still going to be drowsy from the sedative, but I was still careful to stand at the door rather than entering.

When she noticed me, she stopped her movements, snarled, and started trying to lunge at me instead of just break out. I almost shrieked as I jumped backward. But she wasn't escaping any time soon.

"Hey," I tried to say.

She ignored me.

"Stop fighting, there's no way you're getting out of those. They've held much stronger than you."

She stopped for just a second and said, "We'll see about that when I-"

"You're bleeding," I blurted as I stared at the blood slowly oozing around her restraints at her wrists. She'd tugged so hard that she was starting to hurt herself. "Please, stop tugging. You're hurting yourself."

"Why do you care?!" she roared.

"Because I'm a doctor!" I walked recklessly into the room and slammed the door shut behind me. The prisoner quit moving altogether, partly in surprise by the look on her face. "If you stop and behave, nothing has to happen to you. *I* won't do anything, but I can't say the same for my alpha."

"You're the doctor," she replied slowly, glancing me up and down.

"Yes, Doctor Keller. We can be friendly if you just-"

"So you're Dimitri's mate."

"Huh?" I blinked as I stared at the woman in surprise. How had she known that? And how did she know Dimitri's first name when he went by Stone or Alpha Stone for strangers?

"You're Dimitri's mate," she said again, laughing this time. "I guess I should've known you'd be *exactly* his type. The Moon Goddess has chosen to be nice just this once."

"How do you know Dimitri?" I questioned.

The prisoner didn't answer, she just slumped back into the doctor's chair to stare at the ceiling. I wanted to pry, but it was clear this girl didn't take kindly to orders - or people she didn't know. If I wanted to get anything out of her, I'd have to choose my words and actions carefully, and I couldn't mess up even once, because she seemed like the type to shut down immediately.

I waited patiently for the woman to look at me again. "You want me to asnwer your questions?" she asked and I nodded. "Take off these restraints."

"I can't do that," I replied swiftly.

"Then I won't give you answers."

"What sane person would release a prisoner they know nothing about?" I questioned her with a "seriously" expression on my face.

"You have a point," she admitted, "but I won't just give you anything for free."

"Then tell me something that'll make me trust you."

She didn't... for a moment.

"You wear clothes that cover you up so you don't tempt Dimitri when you go to see him," she said without looking at me. "Dimitri just told me that himself, because we share a mind-link."

"You're a part of his pack," I realised aloud. To answer, she just looked at me, which was enough. "Okay, so if I let you go, what else could you tell me?"

"Why I'm here."

"If you're really one of Dimitri's pack members, you'd never hurt me," I said, unsure if what I was saying was right. I didn't know what life was like in other packs, just this one with a terrible alpha who was seemingly incapable of doing anything normally except for killing.

"I shouldn't," the prisoner agreed.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'll let you out, but only if I have a little piece of insurance with me in case you try anything." As the woman frowned, I opened my mind-link up to Nola, who I knew would be perfectly capable of helping me kick this woman's ass. ***I need your help in my office. Don't ask questions, just get up here.***

When Nola walked in, no questions asked, and saw the prisoner sat up, she glanced at me in alarm. I shut the door behind her and said, "We need to remove her restraints. You're here in case she tries anything."

"And we're letting her go because?"

"We aren't letting her go," I said as I gave the prisoner a look, "we're just giving her wrists some room to breathe."

Nola sighed but helped me untie the woman anyway, and when she was freed, we stood back to let her rub at the raw flesh of her wrists. It wasn't going to heal until the sedative completely wore off, which I knew would take a while from now. So the woman, who realised this, too, gave up and muttered, "Should've killed those warriors when I had the chance."

I ignored her. "Tell me why you're here."

The woman glanced at Nola but that didn't stop her from telling what I guessed was the truth. "I'm Jessica Francis, a warrior in Alpha Stone's pack. He's been communicating with us ever since he got captured, and we've finally been able to find the place in which he's being kept. I was sent to scope it out, but your damn alpha's warriors caught me thinking I was a rogue and dragged me here."

"Why did you have to scope the place out?" I questioned.

"Because we're working on bringing him back to the pack. He can't stay here forever and we sure as hell aren't letting him die here." She motioned up and down my body. "He told us he'd found you, but not much else."

"But you knew about the clothes thing."

"I asked him to tell me something about you and your situation that I shouldn't know, so I could prove to you that I have a mind-link with him."

I nodded; it mostly made sense. "Is your pack coming?"

"I don't know," Jessica admitted, "but if they are, they won't know who you are to Dimitri. You'll probably get killed in the crossfire." I startled, causing an amused smile to come over her face. "All I have to say to them is that you're exactly Dimitri's type, then you'll be recognised on sight, don't worry."

"Not all of us are bad," I said quietly. "Nola here isn't, there are kids here, a teenager, too. You can't come in paws-first and expect to walk away with a clean conscience."

"We need our alpha back," Jessica snapped at me. "How else do you suggest we get him? Roger isn't exactly going to make a deal with us. I heard what was going on out there - him stabbing Gina?"

"Gina," I repeated. "How the hell did you know her name?"

"She's well-known. Given what she was arguing with him about, I figured it had to be her." Jessica nodded at the closet. "I saw some warrior run through here with a stab kit, was that for her?"

"Yes," I confessed. "I had to save her."

"Actually," Nola countered, "I remember Roger telling you to let her bleed out in the middle of the hallway."

I glared at my friend. "Well, I couldn't just let her die, could I? I'm a *doctor*."

"You seem to be a good person," Jessica interrupted.

"I was raised to care for people, even if my parents weren't so caring themselves."

No one said anything for a moment after that as we just looked at each other. I thought about questioning why Jessica hadn't made a run for it yet, or why the pack warriors weren't already on their way if they knew for sure where their alpha was. But Jessica probably wouldn't give me any real details or answers if I asked either of those questions. She was too loyal.

"You can restrain me again," Jessica eventually said - much to my and Nola's surprise. "Pretend we never talked, I'll put up a fight with whoever else comes through that door. I won't tell you much, but I will say that you ought to be ready, because our alpha isn't going to be in that dungeon for much longer."

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