I am trying to wrap my head around what she is telling me. I’ve been feeding myself poorly all these years and because no one cared, I’ve made myself unhealthy.
She continues, “The good news is that now that we know what it is, we can reverse the damage, so to speak. It’s treatable and reversible because you don’t have any other serious underlying condition. I think you may already be reversing this condition unknowingly. You have been here for almost a week, and you have been eating in the dining hall at least twice a day. I know the omegas are serving balanced meals for the warrior’s diets and you are benefiting from this as well.” She says and it makes sense. I haven’t been feeling as hungry since I came here.
“Additionally, with your Alpha blood, you should recover quickly.” She says.
“Wait, what?” I’m confused, “I’m a beta’s daughter. What do you mean Alpha blood?” I look over to Austin who is looking very interested as well.
“Your father may have been a beta, but I don’t think your mother was Luna.” She says thoughtfully. “I think this is why you have been able to stay strong despite the hunger. If you can find out about your mother and her family history, we could probably close some gaps in your medical record.” She says.
“Gaps?” I ask.
“Yes, there is more to discuss. I wanted to get the primary reason for your visit out of the way. I want to shift your diet a little more than the warriors to get you healthy quicker. I am going to recommend the omegas make your meals higher in protein and more complex carbs like rice and potatoes. That should help with getting your vitamins and minerals back to where they should be. As far as other results,” She begins this new topic, “Your X rays show you have broken bones before. There are one or two that didn’t set properly. Do you ever experience pain in your body from old injuries?” She asks and then follows it up with an additional question, “If you do, do you remember how you got those injuries?”
I look down. I know which injuries she is talking about. I don’t think about them though. It’s been years and I barely feel it anymore. “Yes. They are old injuries doctor.” I begin, “I didn’t realize they were not set properly. It was probably when I was learning how to set my own bones.” I say.
Austin growls. His anger is immediately palpable. I look at him and extend my hand, motioning him to come stand by me. Instead, he lifts me up and sits me on his lap. He puts his nose in my neck and inhales. I know he is doing it to calm himself, but I need to finish explaining to the doctor about the injuries. If there is a way to fix it, I’m willing to do it.
“The first injury is my right leg. I was probably 13 years old. My father started training me after I got Roxie. She’s a great wolf. Anyway, he kicked my leg during training and I felt it break. My father told me to get up and continue, because during a battle, no one will stop because you break a bone, instead they will go for the kill. I got back up and continued fighting until it was time to go in and clean up so I could start my chores at the house. By the time evening came, I was in so much pain. I struggled to climb the ladder to the attic. Once there, Roxie and I tried to set it. We did the best we could.” I say recalling that painful memory. “Afterwards, I found a book in my father’s office when he wasn’t around. It was a medical book on emergency procedures. There was information there on how to set bones and it took a couple of tries to get it right. After that, if something broke, Roxie and I were able to set the bones properly.”
When I look up, Dr. Hadley and Austin were both enraged. Austin’s arms were trembling with fury. “You mean, your father deliberately broke your bones as part of your training?” Austin whispered with rage. His eyes were flickering and I could tell Cronos was just as furious.
“How many times did he break your bones Luna?” Dr. Hadley asked, trying to keep her emotions at bay.
I looked down, full of shame. How pathetic I must be to them. “I don’t know. I lost count after the third time.” I said with my voice tiny. They are both furious and every time someone was furious with me back home, I always shrink inside myself so they wouldn’t take it out on me.
“I’m sorry, Alpha, Luna, I need to step out for a minute.” Dr. Hadley said with her eyes shining like she might cry. She walks out and leaves Austin and me by ourselves in the room.
Austin is still shaking with anger. I feel bad though. “I’m sorry.” I whisper. “I didn’t mean to make you mad.” I say with my eyes watering.
Austin POV
That bastard broke her bones on purpose and said it was to train her! If I get my hands on her father, I will break every single bone in his body. I will throw him in a cell, and when he is partially healed, I will break his bones again. I will keep doing it until he is begging for death and even then, I won’t grant it to him. He will suffer for putting my mate through that level of pain and torture.
He didn’t even get her medical treatment. She is his daughter for fuck’s sake! What kind of miserable bastard let’s his daughter suffer through that kind of pain? I will get to him, and I will subject him to the pain he inflicted on Rebel. I will do it in front of the pack and make a ritual of it until I think he is ready for death.
‘No wonder our mate is strong. She had to endure that by herself since she was a pup, human. Years of torment and torture at the hands of those bastards’ Cronos snarls.
‘I will make the rest of his miserable existence torture Cronos. We both will.’ I say to him.
Dr. Hadley, who is the most composed doctor I have ever had in this pack is also affected by the amount of abuse my mate has had to endure. Beaten, broken bones, no medical attention, malnourished, and who knows what else. I’m trying my best to keep my anger under control when I smell the saltiness of my mate’s tears as she whispers, she is sorry.
All the rage leaves me in that instant. I feel tears sting but hold them back. My bold, beautiful, strong mate is still scared that I am mad at her. I feel it through the bond. I shift her until she is straddling me.
“Don’t you dare apologize Rebel.” I say as she looks away with tears in her eyes and it guts me. “Look at me darling.” When she slowly focuses her eyes on me, I continue, “I’m angry with how you were treated. Not at you, never at you. Do you understand? I love you so fucking much, that the rage I feel knowing you were so close and being abused in such a way makes me angry that I didn’t find you sooner.”
“I’m furious with your father. What he did to you, is not how you properly train anyone. He abused you Rebel. He didn’t get you medical treatment. He was trying to make you weak. I don’t know why but he was. When I get to him, the level of torture I intend to put him through will make him regret ever hurting you and treating you way he did even when he is dead and in hell.”
I pull her in for a kiss. I’m pouring everything into that kiss and pulling her as close to me as possible. I need h to understand she will never again be treated that way. Not while I’m here. I will burn down the world to protec her from any harm coming to her ever again.
When I pull away from the kiss she is trying to catch her breath. She hugs me and I breathe in her scent, willing myself to calm down. “I love you so much Austin. I didn’t know it wasn’t part of normal training, or I would have said something sooner. Please don’t be angry. I want to fix the bones not set properly and move forward. I want our beautiful life.” She says to me.
Our beautiful life. She wants it with me. I’ll be damned if she doesn’t get every bit of a beautiful life that she deserves and more. I hold her and feel her shoulders relax. I kiss her neck where my mark sits on her pretty neck and inhale her scent again.
Just then, Dr. Hadley reappears, eyes red-rimmed, clearly, she was crying too. I don’t blame her, that was a lot to hear.
Then she mind links me, “Twenty three breaks Alpha, I hope you make that miserable bastard pay dearly for harming this sweet girl. Our Luna has been through more but I would like to talk to you about that separately.” she finishes.
‘Let’s meet privately later. I want to hear everything you found.’ I reply.
“Now Luna, we could break the incorrectly set bones and have Roxie help set them correctly. However, I don’t want to do that until your nutrition is improved. It will take a lot of effort to go through the pain. I can give you a sedative so you won’t feel it while it’s being done, but you will be hurting for at least 24 hours you wake up. We can help manage the pain, but after that, your bones will be set properly and you will not experience pain anymore.” She says to Rebel.
Rebel looks to me as if asking what I think. “What do you want to do darling?” I ask her. It’s her body and while I love to be buried in it, I will not take her autonomy away from her. She has been robbed of enough in her life.
She looks at Dr. Hadley, “Okay. How long do you think it will be before I am strong enough to go through the process?” she asks.
“How about we check how your blood work is looking after your Luna ceremony?” Dr. Hadley suggests. “I understand it will be by end of this coming week, is that still the plan?”
“Yes, and I intend to make it an intimate cookout of sorts.” Rebel says with a small smile. I can see her mind reeling about everything, but something is bothering her. “Um, Dr. Hadley, is this diet going to make me bigger?” She says.
My mate is beautiful and sexy and still doesn’t see it. I can feel through the bond that she’s worried I won’t want her. Underneath everything, she thinks if she changes, I won’t want her anymore. I’m going to put her over my knee tonight and spank the doubt out of her pretty little head, then I’m going to tie her up and take her over and over again until she realizes she is perfect and even if she gains or loses weight, I am going to want her. She is perfect and I’m going to make it my mission for her to see that tonight.
“Luna, you are malnourished but not under fed. I suspect you will maintain or lose with proper nutrition. However, I see nothing wrong with your frame even if you did gain. You are within normal weight for your height and you are a medium build. Whoever told you that you are big was clearly mentally abusing you.” I am so glad Dr. Hadley told Rebel she is perfect. Someone worked on bringing her confidence down and I’m pretty sure it was her family and maybe that bastard Cullen.
“I will stress Luna, you also have Alpha blood. Depending on your mother’s family, you may come from a strong line of Alpha’s as well and that could make you more of a medium build instead of a smaller frame, which I think is what you are referring to. Either way, based on my assessment, there is nothing wrong with your body type. I would suggest that you ignore whoever told you differently.” She said decidedly.
I see Rebel looking at Dr. Hadley like she doesn’t know whether or not to believe her. Instead of questioning her however, she just gave a small nod and said, “Okay. I will be back the day after the Luna Ceremony then. I will follow the recommended diet too Dr. Hadley.”
We say our goodbyes, and I take my mate by the hand and we walk back to the pack house. I can see her mind is reeling. I have to be honest, mine is reeling too. I still need to go back and talk to Dr. Hadley privately about what else she found. More than anything, I hate seeing my little mate insecure. I am going to work on that with her. She feels comfortable when we are alone or in a fight, but not in any social settings or her own self-image.
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