The Alpha's Broken Mate

Chapter 6

Soft knocking broke through my sleep. Groaning I slowly padded towards the door, my eyes squinting in the dark. Opening the door I found a dishevelled looking Damien standing there.

"Damien?" I said rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Why was he waking me up? He just stared at me before asking.

"Is that what you wear to bed?" Why did he seem annoyed? I looked down at my t-shirt nighty. What was wrong with it?

"Did you seriously wake me up just to criticise my choice of nightwear?" I grumbled. I looked back at my alarm clock. 2am. "I've been asleep for two f*****g hours. What do you want?" He didn't say a word. He just kept staring at me. Seriously. If I didn't go back to sleep soon I was going to be in more pain tomorrow. What was his problem? "Okay, I'm going back to bed. Wake me up when you remember why you knocked on my door." With that I shut my door and stumbled back to bed. Infuriating man.

Damien's P.O.V.

"Alpha, you look tired." Cora spoke over her desk.

"Of course I do. I've barely slept the last two nights because I can feel Roe's pain. How does she cope with it? It's worse for her but she manages to function and even sleep like there's nothing wrong." Honestly if I didn't feel it myself I wouldn't believe it. Cora just sighed at me.

"She disassociates herself from her body. It's common for people with chronic pain to stop reacting to it. It's a survival technique. I could perform a procedure on Roe, that I know from experience will make grown wolves cry, and she'll talk or even joke through it as though it's not excruciating for her. It's a coping mechanism." A coping mechanism. My precious Mate was so strong. She gave me a small smile. "There are two things you can do to stop feeling it. The first is to tell Roe everything, so that she can block you from feeling her pain or you can learn to block it yourself." I sat back in the chair sighing. I can't tell her about us yet. Maybe when she feel the bond more.

"Is there a way I can block just this pain?" Cora shook her head. Just as I thought. If I block her pain out, it will be any pain she feels and I won't know if she's in danger.

"We must always know if Mate is hurt!" Demon growled in my head. Stupid mutt. As if I was even going to consider that option. "Is there anyway to stop her being in pain?"

"I'm not sure. We've tried so many drugs and they either didn't work or the side effects were not worth it. I'm still researching other options and Roe isn't exactly excited about taking pills everyday." That I had no trouble believing. She was incredibly stubborn. Even today, Dad had to remind her of her promise to rest for two days as she tried to sneak out to look after the pups. She only relented once he reminded her that the next three days were going to be hectic as we prepared the club for the annual mating ball. For once, I wouldn't be attending and I found myself smiling. I had found my Mate and she was more then I could have wished for. "Even if you could get her to stop using her hand, it won't stop the pain and she needs to keep using it to stop muscle wastage."

"I'll fund any research related to Roe. I can't stand the thought of her always being in pain."

"Or you could just try getting close to her. The bond will help." She suggests as I stand. As if I'm not already trying to get close to her.

Sitting in my office I tried to focus on the growing pile of paperwork but my mind kept wondering to my precious Mate. The door between my office and the library was open and I could see her sat in the window seat. Curled up reading, you'd think she was happy. Content in her own little world. But watching her, I could see the moments when she wasn't lost in the pages of the book anymore. Something was bothering her and I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to do. I'd already tried to ask and she insisted that she was fine. When I pushed her because I knew she wasn't, she bit my head off and now I'm getting the silent treatment. f**k. I really didn't like seeing her like this. I just want her to talk to me, to tell me whats wrong. But she won't. Maybe she can't.

"I told you not to ask her." Demon growled at me. "She doesn't trust us yet. Now fix it!"

"And exactly how do I do that when she won't speak to me?" I shot back at him. He's not a talkative wolf but when he does speak to me he acts like it's stuff I should already know. He's a d**k.

"With actions you moron! Go make her a coffee and apologise!" He was a d**k, but maybe he had a point.

Roe's P.O.V.

Some days everything just got to me. It was usually on the days I had to rest. It left me feeling useless. Watching everyone else carrying on with their day, while I had to stop. I knew that if I didn't rest today then I wouldn't be able to make it through next few days and I hate it. I hate not being able to carry on like everyone else does. Constantly having to think about how much I can do so that I don't have to spend the next day paying for it. I want to be normal.

"Hey, coffee?" Damien's voice started me out of my thoughts. He spoke softly as he held a mug out to me, which I gratefully took.

"Uhm, thank you." I muttered. Those gorgeous eyes of his stared intently into mine and held me there. They held an emotion I couldn't place but it caused my heart to pick up it's pace. Gently he ran his knuckles across my cheek and suddenly I desperately wanted to be held in his arms and let out everything I was feeling. Something told me he wouldn't judge me or think me weak. But of course he'd think I'm weak if he knew how tired I was of being in pain. How tired I was of feeling useless and lost. He smiled softly before he headed back to his office and I wished I didn't miss his touch so much. As soon as I had finished the coffee I decided to head to the baths. The heated pool was always empty and I could just relax in the warmth and pull myself back together. 

The next three days were so busy that we barely stopped. Preparing the club for over 200 important guests for a ball was no easy task. But we did it. The place was unrecognisable. Walking into the main room felt like walking into the Big Top at the circus. The walls were covered in red and white striped fabric, Trapeze artists were swinging overhead and the smell popcorn and candyfloss filled the room. It was some sort of matchmaking event and it was definitely working for at least half of the attendees. Though honestly I was a little freaked out with all the growling and guys shouting 'MINE'. What the hell was going on? Was it all just part of the event? A way to make this one different from others. Didn't Damien shout the same thing when he first saw me? I shook that thought straight out of my head. No I wasn't going to think like that. Despite all the hard work, we had gotten to know each other a bit better and he was just perfect. It wasn't fair. He worked just as hard as the rest of, if not more and he didn't break a sweat. Though honestly none of the boys did. Meanwhile I'm pretty sure I looked like the back end of a donkey each day. Totally unfair.

My head snapped to the left as I heard a whistle. A blonde haired man in a grey suit sneered at me. Did he seriously just whistle at me? Self entitled t**t. I stormed over to where he waited at my bar.

"I am not a f*****g dog. You'll wait your turn like everyone else." My voice came out calmer then I expected because I seriously hated being whistled at. The guy was intimidating with huge broad shoulders attached to muscular arms that looked ready to pommel anyone at the slightest provocation, but I knew the boys and Rob were watching me. Mostly I knew that Damien was watching me as I had felt his eyes on me the whole night so far, much to the disappointment of the women that vied for his attention. The mans jaw clenched and I swear he growled at me. What a wierdo.

"Don't you know who I am?" He snarled out. Was he serious? What difference did that make?

"No, and frankly I don't care. You can wait like everyone else or I won't serve you at all." I smiled sweetly at him and went back to girl I was serving. Of course I was alone on the bar as all the girls wanted to attend as guests. Though there were bottles of champagne dotted about for people to help themselves to.

It wasn't long before someone else was testing my patience. It seemed that the place was full self entitled pricks who didn't like hearing the word no. Or maybe it was that Jasmine had made me wear this ridiculous dress. Skin tight with thin straps, red sequins and it barely reached my knees. She had curled my hair as well but I had managed to stop her from doing my makeup. At least my face still looked like me.

"Oh, come on love. Why won't you give me your number?" This guy looked young and everything about him screamed danger. He grabbed my wrist as I placed his drink down. My heartbeat quickened.

"Because I have a boyfriend." I spat shakily. I couldn't shake off his grip. "Let go of me." I couldn't even pry his fingers from my wrist his grip was so tight. I didn't like this.

"Not until you give me a real reason." I was still struggling when panic gripped me. This had happened before. It felt too familiar. Like deja vu.

"If you don't let go of my girlfriend I'll rip your arm off." Damien's threatening voice came from behind me as his strong arms wrapped around my waist. I leaned to him, for once grateful for the intervention, as the guy quickly let go and mumbled an apology. 

Damien's P.O.V.

"Alec watch the bar." He nodded and I quickly took Roe's hand and pulled her down to the staff room. It was hard enough for me to let her fight her own battles, but I wasn't going to let anyone touch her. Especially when she didn't want it. The more time I spent with her, the more I realised just how independent she was and Goddess I loved and hated that about her. I sat down on the couch and pulled her onto my lap while I tried to calm her down. She was remembering something again. This was the same reaction she had last time. Cupping her face in my hand I turned her to look at me. Her eyes were glazed over. "Roe, your okay. Your not there. Your here with me." Just like last time, my words brought her back. Her wet eyes looked up and focused on mine.

"I said no. I said no so many times." Her lip trembled with her words. No, she was remembering that. I swear I'll kill whoever touched her when we find them.

"We'll turn them to ashes!" Demon echoed. "No one hurts our Mate!"

"Why didn't they listen?" She whispered as she buried her face in my neck, clinging to me. They? f**k! I wanted to kill something. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tightly to me. I will never let anyone hurt her again. 

We stayed like that for a while, both of us trying to calm down, until Roe pulled away from me. She was looking at her lap as a blush crept up her cheeks.

"How do you keep pulling me in?" She mumbled the question so quietly I'm not sure she meant to say it out loud. So she did feel the bond. I had to bite down on my lip to stop myself from smiling. Tucking her hair behind her ear she climbed off my lap and turned to me. "Thank you. But we really should get back out there." She smiled shyly, grabbing my hand and leading me back up to the party. I left her at the bar and headed to the cotton candy stand. I just knew that something sweet was what she needed right now.

I was making my way back to her when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning I saw Alpha Shaun smiling.

"I hear you've found your Mate." He chirped. Sighing I looked over to her, watching her working as if nothing happened. She was so strong. "Hey, what's got you so rattled?" Of course he picked up on my worry. Shaun always had this uncanny way of knowing what I was thinking. It was one of the reason I had made an alliance with his pack. The only pack I had done that with. We were the biggest pack and my reputation kept the others from trying to attack. I shook my head.

"She doesn't need anyone. She doesn't need me." It was true. Roe had this way of pulling herself back together and carrying on. She was so strong and so resilient.

"You're such an idiot." Shaun chuckled. I glared at him. " You're right that she doesn't need anyone. I saw the way she handled Alpha Tyson. She's fierce for a human and she's got bigger balls then some of these Alpha's. But I bet she didn't bite your head off for stepping in when that i***t grabbed her." He gave me a knowing look. He was right she didn't. She even thanked me. "She might not need you for anything, but she'll keep finding herself needing you. Good luck with that minefield." He grinned before walking off. As usual he was right. Even now her eyes kept finding mine across the room. Shaking my head I headed back towards Roe. She really was going to be hard work.