“Alpha, are you sure this young healer should treat Luna?” he asked. “She’s still a beginner, especially at her age! I’ve served this hospital longer than Healer Amanda has been practicing medicine, and I believe I’d be a much safer choice for Luna’s treatment.”
Julian looked at me. His expression was hard to read. Was it a challenge I saw in his eyes, or an invitation? I wasn’t sure.
Either way, I turned towards the head healer.
“How do you plan to treat Luna’s condition, Healer Amanda?” There was a mocking tone in the head healer’s voice as he spoke my name and title.
I explained the route I would take if I were to treat Olivia. If Olivia’s infertility is a stubborn congenital condition, such as underdeveloped uterus, I would consider other fertility methods, such as IVF or surrogacy, rather than focusing on treating the disease. However, if it’s due to acquired damage, I would try using herbal remedies to boost her hormone levels and use my healing abilities to treat her uterus. These are the methods with the least harm to her. From a healer’s perspective, I was still hesitant. Although the resources that Julian’s monetary support would give us access to would bring up the likeliness of a successful treatment, the odds were still fairly slim.
Still, I spoke my mind.
“No, no,” the head healer replied, “this is what the Luna needs…”
I listened to the head healer present his plan, noting multiple flaws. Eventually, he conceded to my point, then proposed a new path of treatment-He decided to use an aggressive surgical approach to treat her. Again, the plan was off, seemingly designed to not only pose a danger to Olivia, but also use the most funds while guaranteeing the slimmest possible chance of success.
I became so entrenched in the debate that I almost forgot about the others occupying the hallway around us, who were watching our discussion like a ping-pong match. I thought of the personal health information rights that we must be violating, but Olivia had chosen to ask for my help in front of the crowds.
The head healer had turned red, his face and neck the color of a tomato.
“Alpha, are you really going to let this outsider healer, with no known background, treat Luna?” The head healer practically spat, trying to illustrate how ridiculous he found the idea, “She could be a foreign spy.”
I scoffed.
I looked at Julian. He looked back at me. Of course, he wouldn’t defend me.
He wouldn’t choose me. When had he ever truly committed to me in any capacity?
“Alpha,” I said, using the professional tone I greeted all of my high-profile patients with, with slight sarcasm. “If you find my treatment plan unsuitable, feel free to select Head Healer to perform the treatment instead. I’ll gladly go.”
I began busying myself with the pager in my pocket. I hoped I was conveying my intended appearance of carelessness.
“Healer Amanda,” Julian said, and I looked up from my pager. “Your treatment plan is by far the most likely to effectively treat
Luna. Please, if you would reconsider, I would like you to treat her.”
Despite all of my growth, despite everything I told myself about my feelings for Julian, my heart still broke a little at his words.
Please? He’d never plead for anything on my behalf, back when we were married.
No, back when we were married, secretly, and I performed all my wifely duties as well as caring for his household, he would never have paraded me to the hospital in order to seek help. He would never have shown any weakness in relation to me, nor any helplessness.
But for Olivia, I guess, he could be the kind of man I’d always known he could be.
It didn’t matter. I had my own girl to look after. The money he offered me was substantial, enough for me to afford treatment for my daughter Alice.
I would finish this job, and then I’d take Alice and leave Thorn Pack behind. I’d leave its hospital with its salty head healer and its government with its sadistic Alpha and take my child someplace where we could live out the rest of our lives in peace.
I’d only have to interact with Julian until then.
“Okay,” I said, putting on my professional tone again. “I would be honored to treat Thon Pack’s Luna.’
Julian’s face twitched, a hint of a smile playing on his face before he returned to his usual scowl.
“First, though, I must ask that Luna receives her checkup from her regular doctor. Make sure that everything is normal and it’s safe for us to proceed, and then we can talk about the details and get started.” I hoped that my reluctance couldn’t be read by the onlookers and the head healer.
“We’ll do that immediately,” Julian agreed. He helped Olivia up from her seat. She stood gracefully, ever the elegant beauty, and set off to another part of the hospital, where primary care healers held their offices.
I turned and opened the door to my own office, ignoring Julian’s lingering glances. As far as either of us were concerned, I was Healer Amanda now. The only care and attention Healer Amanda spent on people like Alpha Julian and his Luna was in the context of work.
I was a known professional, and would never be relegated to the position of human housewife.
I was not in love with him.
Julian’s POV
I said her name before I could catch myself, and a storm of emotions swelled inside me. Looking more closely at Healer Amanda, her resemblance to my late ex-wife was less apparent than I’d first thought.
Whereas Amber’s hair had been deep, dark brown, Healer Amanda’s was like liquid gold. Healer Amanda’s face was scarred, at least the part I could see. Her mask covered her chin.
Yet these emotions, this jolt of recognition, had lit up my whole body. There was a familiar shifting inside me. Could it be? Was
Rory, my wolf, ready to come out of his dormant slumber?
Rory stirred, restless. I wanted to act, to jump up and ask Healer Amanda a million different questions. I had the strange urge to take her into my arms. With all of the publicity around Healer Amanda’s arrival to Thorn Pack Hospital, though, the action would not be wise.
I restrained myself, regretfully urging Rory to calm himself.
I couldn’t help but think of the plane crash, in which my former mate- my chosen mate – had died. It had been a bad day already, as she had sent me divorce papers, ready to leave both me and Thorn Pack altogether. I never expected the news that her plane had crashed, and as soon as I heard, I had to take action.
I left headquarters, abandoning Olivia, my fated mate, and the Elders. I hadn’t even taken the time to call a driver. Although I hadn’t driven myself in years, as it was unbecoming of someone as important as the Alpha as Thorn Pack to do such things himself, I still remembered where the keys to the company cars were kept. I grabbed a set, running to the parking garage and pushing the alarm button until I located the vehicle the keys in my hand belonged to.
I drove to the shore, where I knew the pack’s Coast Guard would be sending out rescue vehicles. As Alpha, no one blinked an eye when I demanded to be let on one of the vessels headed to the scene of the accident.
I remember sea spray whipping my face as we rode out into the ocean, not minding the numb feeling the wind and cold water caused. I wasn’t particularly interested in feeling, anyway. I remember the lead investigator informing me that the plane had sunk deep into the ocean already, leaving no survivors behind.
I remember focusing on the numbness, hoping that it would save me from the deep despair filling my bones.
“Send down your best dive team. I need Amber Wood’s remains to be located immediately, at any cost.” The investigator looked at me curiously, wondering what Alpha Julian could possibly want with some woman he’d never heard of, but he acted professionally, not questioning my orders.
I stayed on the boat as the dive was performed, pacing anxiously as the sky turned from sunny daylight to darkest midnight.
They found nothing. The plane had sunk deep into the sea, the wreckage barely visible to even Thorn Pack’s best divers.
When Beta told me that Amber had been in the hospital for prenatal check-ups, I called her doctor immediately. I didn’t think it could be possible, but the doctor’s confirmation broke my heart even further. I hadn’t just lost my wife, but our unborn child, as well.
This never would have happened if it wasn’t for you! Rory snapped at me.
I could feel him raging inside me. I wanted him to stop, so that I could try to feel nothing at all, but he persisted, furious.
You got Olivia pregnant. You chose her over your wife, Rory growled. And now Amber is dead, and your child is dead.
She never would have gotten on that plane if you hadn’t betrayed her.
“Stop!” I cried out in response. “You heard her. Amber insisted on the separation. This isn’t my fault.”
More Kickass Werewolf Reads
Dive into our collection of free werewolf romance novels—where fierce Alphas, daring heroines, and heart-stopping twists await. Every story burns with forbidden desire, loyalty, and destiny. Don’t wait—here’s a world where love bites hard and nothing is stronger than the call of the mate.
Leave a Reply