“Oh, yes, dear. I forget that this isn’t common knowledge to younger wolves since it only happens every 20 to 30 years. When royals mark each other, it’s done publicly during a beautiful ceremony as opposed to in private as most wolves do.” she says excitedly, placing her napkin on the table. It’s obvious that she’s not thought the entire situation through with me.
Thankfully though, my mom speaks up to rescue me after seeing the look on my face. “Audrey, Molly doesn’t have a wolf like most others. She won’t be able to actually mark Seth.” I knew this. I’ve known this since I was a little girl and the others would talk about marking their mates, but it hurts so bad to see the realization on Audrey’s face knowing her son, the future king, won’t wear his mates mark.
“I’m sorry.” I whisper, feeling completely inadequate again.
Audrey reaches over and grabs my hand. “Molly, there’s nothing to apologize for. You’re Seth’s mate, and the goddess doesn’t make mistakes.” she tells me and squeezes my hand. “Perhaps this is her way of telling us that our ceremonies are unnecessary.”
“I feel like I’m ruining your traditions.” I tell her honestly, feeling terrible.
“They’re just that though, traditions. They’re not laws. Every marking ceremony is made different by each couple. If your way of doing it is to not have a ceremony, then that’s the new tradition, and some day your son will make it his own for him and his mate.” She says to me and it’s comforting to know that she’s so understanding of the situation. It’s also so odd to think about the possibility of giving birth to the heir to the throne. “It will be fine Molly. I’m sure we can work out something to make both of you happy.” she finishes with a genuine smile that puts me at ease.
I look at my watch and realize it’s time to have my hand checked. “I hate to do this, but I must go.”
“You’re right, we should be headed that way.” my mom says, standing to come with me. “It was a lovely lunch. Thank you for joining us, Audrey. Will we see you at dinner?”
“Absolutely!” She says with a smile. “We will all be there to celebrate your good update that is to come.” she says and mom and I turn to leave.
Mom takes my right hand and we walk to the Medical Center, hand in hand. Once we arrive, Claire takes us right back to the same room from yesterday and lets us know Sofie will be with us in a moment.
Shortly after, there’s a knock at the door and Sofie opens the door and walks in. “Hello, Molly. It’s nice to see you, Luna.” She says with a smile and looks around the room. “The prince isn’t joining us today?” she asks with a frown.
“No, he had some work to get done, so it’s just me and mom.” I tell her.
“Well, damn.” she says, disappointment evident in her voice. “Did you actually let him take care of you last night?”
“Yes, he took care of me.” I say and leave it at that.
“Sofia, Prince Seth discovered last night that Molly has been taking human medicine for a few years to help with pain.” My mom says, tattling to my doctor.
“Molly! How did you get them?!” She exclaims. “Why would you do that?”
I look at my feet, not willing to meet anyones eyes. “The medicine you always give me makes me really sick. I decided to try it one time when I got hurt. It works.” I say sheepishly, ending with a shrug.
“You should have told me. You should have been here when you took it the first time. You’re a wolf Molly, some of the human medicine could have killed you.” She says and I know everything she’s saying is true.
Trying to hold back tears, I whisper to her “I know, but I’m not a wolf. Not really.”
“Can I see the bottle so I know what does work for you?” she asks and my mom hands her the bottle. Sofia reads it and copies the information into my chart. “And is it helping you?”
“It does. It doesn’t completely take away the pain, but it helps a lot.” I tell her with a nod.
“Ok. I’ve added it to the file for the future. Let’s take a look at your finger, now.” she says, walking to wash her hands and turns back to me. She gently takes my hand and removes the splint and starts to unwrap the gauze on it. “The Prince did a really good job wrapping this up.” She says and I can’t help but smile.
“Yeah, he did.” I agree. “I accidentally tried to bend it last night and it started hurting really badly. He helped me get ice on it and kept it on most of the night.” I tell her and she nods.
She takes a good look at my finger and frowns. “It’s still pretty swollen. Can you try to bend it?” she asks and I’m absolutely terrified to try now. I nod and slowly attempt to bend it.
My finger moves the slightest and it starts shooting an excruciating pain. “It hurts really bad” I tell her through gritted teeth. “I can’t move it more than that.” I say sadly, looking to my mother. She reaches my right hand and squeezes it for comfort while reaching her other arm around my shoulders.
“Ok, Molly. I’m going to touch it. Let me know where it hurts.” she instructs and begins to touch various places on my finger, listening to my response and sighs.
“Molly, Luna, I think we may have to find a human doctor to take a look at this one. I think there’s a real possibility that you’ve damaged a ligament.” she says to my mom and I, her eyes full of sympathy.
I turn to my mom and see her eyes glass over. “Dad?” I ask her, assuming that’s who she’s linked.
“No dear, it was Seth. He and the king will be here in just a moment to make arrangements to find a human doctor.” she tells me with a sad smile and a squeeze of my undamaged hand.
We wait just a few moments before Seth comes barrelling through the door. He must have been able to feel my emotions through the bond because he heads straight to me, ignoring mom and Sofia, and pulls me into his embrace, resting his chin on top of my head.
“It’s going to be OK.” he murmurs into the top of my head and I can’t hold back the tears any longer.
“I can’t believe I did this.” I whisper between sobs into his chest.
“It was an accident, Molly.” Seth says quietly to me. “We will find the best doctor and have it fixed up as soon as we can.” he continues, as he rubs my back gently as I nod against his chest.
I look up towards my mom and realize that she and Sofia have left us alone in the room and I suddenly feel thankful that it’s just two of us alone, now. “What if they can’t fix it?” I whisper to him, terrified that it could be my reality.
“I’m sure we’ll find someone who can. Sofia is going to give my dad some names and we’ll look into them,” he says to me. “We will have to explain to them about werewolves though, so it may take a while to find someone adequate but also safe for you.” he says with a look of concern on his face.
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