Chapter Two

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"Fi! Fi, I heard what happened, where is she? Where's my little sister?" Ocie had darted over to Fionn the second he had emerged from the woods surrounding his pack's residence.

"Eloise is with Reign, she's perfectly fine, Ocie. Stop worrying," Fionn placed a hand on Ocie's shoulder, squeezing lightly as he forced a small smile onto his mouth.

"I'm gonna kill him, I'm serious, Fi," Ocie seethed, her golden eyes glowing as they glared up at Fionn.

"No, you're not, Ocie. He didn't hurt her, he saved her."

"How the hell do you know that? You're taking his word for it? We have no idea what he did to her," Fionn sighed, he knew Ocie held a valid point but, for some reason, he had grown to trust Dante Isamar.

"What would he gain from taking her, Ocie? You and I both know he was the one to first talk of peace between us, breaking the treaty isn't in his best interests," Ocie's shoulders sagged and her gaze dropped to the floor as Fionn wrapped his arms around her petite frame. He pressed a soft kiss to her honey blonde hair, rubbing her back gently.

"Was she hurt?" Ocie spoke in a delicate whisper that shook with emotion.

"There wasn't a scratch on her, Dante said he had cared for her for a few days after he found her. She's OK, Reign is just checking her now then you can go see her," Ocie tilted her head so her chin was resting on Fionn's chest and she was back to staring into his eyes.

"Why did he do it? What does he get by saving her? He could have just left her there to... to die, why didn't he?" Fionn had been wondering the same thing for the entire walk back to his house.

"I honestly don't know, Ocie, we've all heard the rumours," Ocie rolled her eyes, her frown deepening slightly, "you may not believe them but a lot of people do."

"Do you?" now, that was the question. Did Fionn believe that Dante Isamar, one of the oldest vampires to walk the earth, spent his time tracking down hunters and slaughtering them in an effort to save anyone, wolf or vampire alike? He had spent many a night wondering.

"I don't know. I think they're exaggerated. I don't believe he goes out of his way to find and murder hunters but I think if he does stumble across them he can't leave them alive. I think it's a compulsion, I think he's trying to make up for something he did in the past, or something he caused, that doesn't sit well with him. Or maybe Dante's just a really nice guy."

"You're probably the only person to have used 'nice' and 'Dante' in the same sentence," Ocie said with a laugh. The two walked hand in hand further into the clearing that was bordered by a dozen houses. Fionn's house was at the end closest to the border and, naturally, was the most grand, due his alpha status. The other houses was a little smaller, though they had no less amount of work spent on them than on Fionn's. He wanted his pack to live in the lap of luxury.

"I know why he did it," Ocie said, stopping suddenly, "he wanted a favour. You owe him now, Fi, and he can use that favour for whatever he wants that you're not willing to do," Fionn sighed, it sounded like a very realistic reason for Dante to have saved Eloise, "but he's given us an advantage," Ocie continued, a more cheerful tone in her voice, "El has been in his house, no other wolf has, we can find out more about how he acts when he's not negotiating terms with you and other wolves."

"Surely he would have thought of that and-" Fionn paused when his ringing phone was brought to him by another pack member. He thanked the female wolf, who blushed as she scurried away, before glancing toward the caller ID and letting out a soft chuckle.

"Speak of the devil," he muttered, answering the call, "Mr. Isamar, we just spoke, surely you're not the type to provide personal calls."

"I can be if you so desire, Fionn," so Dante had chosen to be rid of the more professional terms they had been used to, Fionn wondered why, "but that isn't why I called. I had forgotten to mention that I had emailed you a document regarding everything Eloise experienced whilst at my estate. How I found her, her injuries, treatments, etcetera. I didn't want you traumatising the poor girl by dredging up all those foul memories."

"Well..." Fionn was a little speechless, it actually seemed like Dante cared for one of his cubs, "thank you, that was very thoughtful. Maybe now I owe you two favours rather than one."

"Consider it void," Fionn frowned, only detecting sincerity in Dante's voice.

"Void? Dante, you saved one of my cubs, I owe you a favour."

"You owe me nothing, Fionn, I didn't do it for a favour," Fionn shifted his gaze from Ocie's inquiring expression to the trees behind her.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, why did you do it?" Dante was quiet for a few moments, with Fionn only able to hear the soft crackling of the line and what seemed like rustling papers.

"Children don't deserve to die," Dante's voice sounded different, not the same powerful tone that Fionn had heard just a few seconds before, maybe a little sad? "They deserve to have happy childhoods, free from the awful things that hunters do to us. I don't like to see children die, Fionn, I couldn't care less if they were wolf, vampire or human. Children should be off limits to hunters," Fionn wasn't entirely sure how to respond. He had never heard Dante speak with such emotion, nor about anything remotely personal to him, it was alien to the both of them.

"Anyway," Dante said, clearing his throat, "check your emails and leave the child alone, should you have any more questions you have my number," Dante hung up without a goodbye, though Fionn expected that of him. Vampires weren't the type for pleasantries.

"What did he want?" Ocie asked, having observed the change in emotions that flickered over Fionn's face.

"He emailed me a document about everything regarding Eloise and her time with him. A little odd, then again, it seems perfectly Dante-like."

"Don't you think this all seems very clean cut? It's like he's making everything too easy for us. Fi, I really think he has some sort of ulterior motive for this, he's being way too nice," Fionn shook his head with a hefty sigh, the entire situation was bringing on a God awful headache.

"I honestly don't know anymore, Ocie. He doesn't want a favour, he says he saved her because he doesn't like to see children die, I think for the time being we just have to trust him on this. What else can we do? El is safe and healthy, that's all that matters right now."

"OK," Ocie agreed reluctantly after a few seconds of silent staring into the forest, "I still want you to talk to her about her time with him, just how he treated her and stuff, nothing about the hunters."

"Let's go then, Reign should have finished checking her by now," Fionn matched ocie's rapid pace as the two walked to one of the furthest houses away from Fionn's.

"Reign?" Ocie called out as the two entered, "you still here?"

"Upstairs," Ocie and Fionn walked up the stairs and into the first room on the left, seeing Eloise sat on the window sill straining to look over the trees. Fionn knew what she was attempting to see, from the attic of his house he could just about catch a glimpse of the roof of the Isamar estate.

"Hey, El," Fionn greeted Eloise with a gentle tone, unsure whether she was going to react the way she had earlier, or even hold it against him. Instead she turned to the alpha, holding out her arms, a frown on her face. As Fionn lifted Eloise into his arms, he heard Reign and Ocie begin to speak in hushed tones, no doubt discussing the little girl.

"You trying to see Dante's house?" Eloise merely nodded in reply, "did you like staying with him then? He was nice to you?"

"He said I can go back whenever I want, I just have to tell him before. Will you let me go back, Fi?" Fionn's smile was lopsided and not all together there, letting Eloise wander into Dante's territory unsupervised might not be the best idea.

"I might be able to arrange something but I think I would have to go with you, El," Eloise nodded, a smile erupting across her face, "what was it like staying at his house? Did you see many other vampires?"

"No, just Dante and Kastor. I heard Dante talking to some other people once but he sent them away. He said he didn't want other vampires knowing I was there, that it would cause unwanted hassle," Eloise said the last two words carefully, clearly she had picked them up directly from what Dante had said to her but didn't understand their meaning. She was only 7 after all.

"That was very nice of him, what's his house like?"

"Big. I got lost when we were playing hide and seek," Eloise giggled at the memory, Fionn couldn't fathom Dante Isamar playing any sort of game with a child, "there's lots of paintings, Kastor told me he and Dante like to paint a lot, he's painting one of me," Eloise was positively beaming at that revelation, Fionn smiled solely at the fact that the child was happy and healthy, though maybe the residing thought of Dante running around long hallways after Eloise could have been adding to his good mood.

"That sounds lovely, El," Fionn placed Eloise back on the window sill, kissing her forehead softly, "I have to go now but I'm glad you're back safe and sound, honey," Fionn left Ocie to be alone with her little sister, wanting to hear if Reign had discovered anything during his check of Eloise.

"She's in perfect health," Reign explained as the two left Ocie's home, "there isn't a scratch, or bite mark, on her. I don't know what injuries she had before but there's no evidence of anything now, whatever Dante did to heal her did its job well."

"I understand, thanks, Reign. Give Velvet my love," Fionn patted Reign's shoulder before he set off back to his house. He had a very pressing email to check. 

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