Chapter 22
Finally, it was my chance. I was so excited I could barely contain it.
My work was done. I wasn’t expected to spend the night with Leo. No one would be looking for me until morning.
I could sneak out and find my mother.
I had to hide my identity. I was just a half–blood, but people would recognize Alpha Arthur’s daughter. They would report my actions to my pack.
So, I dressed in simple, dark clothing that wouldn’t look out of place in a hospital. A servant’s clothing and the scrubs a nurse in a hospital might wear weren’t so different. I found a face mask to further obscure my identity.
Then, all I had to do was slip out of the manor. Luckily I had cleaned every inch of the structure in my years as a servant. I knew all the ways in and out. I used an old delivery entrance that led out of a storage are no one used.
The hospital owned by Alpha Ethan was several miles away. If I could shift, I could have run the distance in under an hour. Because I couldn’t meet my wolf until the pup arrived, I had to find another way.
That was fine, though. I’d spent a lot of time planning my escape for when I finally found my mother. I knew where the supply truck ran between the packs, and it was easy enough to hide in one that was heading in the right direction.
I found a truck that was almost full of supplies and ready to go. I tucked myself in among bags of wheat and corn that was meant to be fed to the patients in Ethan’s hospital. I only had to wait a few minutes before the engine rumbled to life.
I took a short nap during the trip. Carrying a pup was more exhausting than I thought it would be.
The rattle of a gate woke me.
notice.
had arrived at the hospital. I waited until it slowed down and hopped out the back. The driver never
I straightened my clothing and walked up to the front door of the hospital as though it was perfectly normal to arrive demanding to see a comatose patient in the middle of the
had to my name was false confidence but I was willing to push it as far as it would go. ght. All I
I found the reception desk and asked for a patient named Melinda. The receptionist was kind, but adamant that there was no such patient. I described my mother and her condition. Still, the receptionist insisted that she wasn’t there.
The disappointment hit me hard. I had been so certain. My first lead in years turned out to be a false start. I slumped over the desk and had to fight hard not to burst into tears.
At that moment while I was trying to pull myself together, there was a commotion at the entrance. I turned to see several strange wolves carrying one of their packmates between them. The wolf was badly injured, bleeding
consciousness.
Tultiple wounds and barely holding onto
The medical staff immediately focused on the injured wolf, as was only right. My tiny issue of a missing patient was utterly forgotten. No one paid even a bit of attention to me as I wandered closer to the crisis.
The wolf was in real trouble. I gathered from the frantic reports of his packmates that he’d been caught alone by a Rogue wolf. He was barely clinging to life.
The doctors and nurses swarmed the area, fighting hard to keep the wolf alive. I could tell it was futile, although I couldn’t have said how I knew. They were helpless in the face of the wolf’s injuries.
I wasn’t, though. My abilities were new and untried, but they were strong. My wolf had promised.
“Excuse me,” I tugged at the sleeve of the nearest nurse. “I can help.”
In my faded, threadbare clothing and mask, I must have looked like a Rogue myself. The nurse shrugged me off with a sharp admonition not to waste everyone’s time.
One of the doctor’s noticed me, though, or the commotion I’d accidentally caused. He stepped out of the whirlwind of activity to question me.
“You think you can help?” he asked.
I nodded. I had to believe it. I had to be certain or it wouldn’t work. The books all agreed on that one fact,
Chapter 21
+25 Bonus
Chapter 23
“Doctor, we don’t have any idea who this person is,” the nurse protested.
I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin. This wasn’t the time to be submissive or hesitant.
“I can heal him,” I said, “and if you don’t let me try he will die.”
“She’s right,” the doctor said. “We’re out of time and options.” He waved to the patient. “Do your best.”
I stood over the bleeding wolf. The books told me what to do. I just had to do it.
A stranger’s life was in my hands. I rested my hands on his chest and focused. I wasn’t going to fail. Not the first chance I’d ever had to do something that really mattered.
I remembered the way it felt when I looked into my wolf’s eyes in the mirror. I held onto that feeling as tightly as I could. I recalled the sensation of calming my pup and the warmth of my healed scars. I held those feelings in my mind, and pressed them into the wolf under my
hands.
For a terrible moment, nothing happened.
And then the wolf gasped. His back arched and his head fell back. It was a struggle to keep my hands in place but I held on.
The bleeding slowed as his wounds closed. Ripped flesh and torn muscle writhed and flowed. He fell still on the table.
His wounds were still terrible, but
still shattered.
of
MW M + Hem were bleeding anymore. Twisted limbs lay straight even though I suspected the bones were
The surrounding hospital staff were silent for a long moment as they took in the wolf’s condition. Then they all tried to talk at once. The head doctor gently tugged me aside as the rest hooked the wolf up to monitors and an IV.
“That was good work,” the doctors “I didn’t know we had a true healer in this region.”
“I… I’m newly trained,” I said, tugging my mask to make certain it hid my features.
“Well, it’s lucky for us you were here,” the doctor announced. He looked around. “Let’s get you to a seat, that’ll have taken it out of you. Someone get this woman some water, and something to eat.”
Another strange wolf approached. He was one of the ones who’d brought in the injured wolf.
“I’ll take care of her,” he said. “Thank you, doctor.”
The doctor bowed and left me with the stranger.
The wolf knelt in front of me, holding my hand in both of his.
“I’m Alpha Ethan,” he introduced himself. “I’m not sure if you know, but that’s my beta you just saved. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without him. Thank you.”
“It was my duty,” I said. “As a healer.”
Ethan nodded and smiled. “You have to let me pay you back, though. At least let me get you dinner. Oh, wait, it’s almost morning. Breakfast. Let me find you a good, hearty breakfast.”
That sounded really good. I was starving. Healing Ethan’s beta had drained me dry. But I didn’t dare linger.
“I can’t stay,” I said. “I have to get back to my own pack.”
“At least give me some way to contact you later,” Ethan begged.
I probably shouldn’t have, but he was so earnest I couldn’t refuse him. I didn’t have anything to write on except my old headband. I found an alcohol marker and scribbled a number on it. It would connect him with the archivists in my pack. They’d bring me a message if he ever did try
to contact me.
Ethan was kind enough to order one of his pack to give me a ride back to my pack’s manor. I slipped inside as the sun peeked over the horizon. Tomorrow would be miserable since I’d gotten no sleep, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret any of it.
I was a healer. I had saved another wolf’s life. That was worth any consequences.
Just before I reached my bedroom, a hand caught my arm in a vice–like grip. I shrieked and turned to see Leo was holding me.
Something was wrong, though. His eyes were glazed and his skin was burning hot to the touch. He tugged me into a nearby room and I went
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