Chapter 7：The Man In Blood

Corie POV：

I had been staying at Maeve's cabin for a few days now.

Thanks to the medicinal broth she made for me every day, my body had recovered significantly.

Even Mia was able to stay active twice as long as she usually could.

I didn't sit around idling, either.

Every day, I helped Meave tidy up the cabin and take care of her herbs—

Washing, drying, and prepping whatever she brought back from the woods.

Following her precise instructions, I boiled them into bitter brews or mashed them into healing pastes.

As it turned out, Maeve was an exceptionally renowned Healer.

Every morning at dawn, a line of patients would already be forming outside the log cabin.

Some waited in silent agony; others screamed from unbearable pain.

To help out, I started asking each person where it hurt, jotting down their symptoms on little slips of paper beforehand.

With just one quick glance at my notes, Maeve knew exactly how to treat them.

That afternoon, after sending off the last patient, Maeve rubbed her aching shoulders with a tired sigh.

"I didn't expect you to be such a lifesaver, Corie. Before you got here, they used to form a chaotic mob, and I could barely keep up."

"That's because they were overwhelming you the second they walked in," I smiled.

"How on earth did you come up with writing everything down on paper slips?"

"I used to stay at the Healer’s Center all the time," I admitted quietly.

"I know how hard it is for patients to describe what they're feeling. But over there, they had a horde of assistants. Unlike you, running this all by yourself."

Maeve let out a raspy chuckle.

"Ain't that the truth? Running around solo gets exhausting. It’d be nice to have a real hand around here."

My heart gave a sudden, hopeful leap.

"Maeve... what do you think of me? Could I be your assistant?"

She paused, looking me up and down before her brows knit together.

"Are you planning on staying here for good, then?"

"If you don't find me too slow, I'd like nothing more than to stay."

The words tumbled out of my mouth without a second of hesitation.

I wasn't the fragile, pathetic Corie of the past anymore.

I wanted to build a new life right here, in a place filled with actual warmth and purpose.

Maeve's sharp gaze turned deadly serious.

"Child, becoming a Healer is no walk in the park. It's not something you mess around with for a few days and magically master."

"I was sick and weak for so many years," I looked her straight in the eye. "I've always wanted to become a Healer. I just... never had the chance."

She gave a slow, contemplative nod.

"In all my years as a Healer, I've never taken on a single apprentice."

"Why not?"

"Because I refuse to let anyone ruin my hard-earned reputation."

My heart sank straight into my stomach.

So... she wasn't going to accept me that easily.

I had already sensed that Maeve was far from an ordinary village Healer.

While most of her daily patients were simple locals from nearby, every now and then, people dressed in exquisite, lavish clothes would travel from great distances just to beg for a house call.

Yet, if it was just some minor ailment, she would flatly refuse them—no matter how much they were willing to pay.

"What a massive waste of my bloody time. I'd rather stay right here and save five real lives," she had grumbled to me once.

"Maeve," I stepped closer, my voice soft but unyielding. "I know I'm not naturally brilliant, but I hope you'll give me a chance to show you how hard I can work."

She stared at me in heavy silence for a long moment, the icy edge in her eyes slowly softening.

"You're going to see some stomach-churning things, girl," she warned.

"Warriors with their flesh ripped shreds by feral rogue claws, bodies rotting and stench-ridden from Wolfsbane poison, mad lycans losing their minds during a failed shift and trying to rip your throat out...

“Can you really handle that?"

A wave of nausea rolled through my stomach, but I held her gaze with fierce determination.

"I will force myself to adapt. Nobody is born a master Healer."

A rare, approving smile cracked across her face.

"Fair enough. I'll give you one shot.

"But until I officially stamp you as ready, you are not allowed to tell a single soul that you're my student. Got it?"

"Thank you, Maeve!"

I threw my arms around her in an impulsive hug.

Maeve let out a soft huff, gently patting my back with her calloused hand.

"Three months, Corie. If you can't pass my trial when the time comes, we say our goodbyes."

~~~

Late into the night, my blood was still buzzing with too much excitement to sleep.

I desperately wanted to send a message to Linda, just to let her know I was safe so she wouldn't worry herself sick.

But this place was deep in the wild, far from any human city, with zero cell signal.

All I could do was hold this precious secret close to my chest and celebrate in silence.

"Go to sleep," Mia grumbled in the dark of my mind. "Your racing heart keeps me awake, too."

"Mia, just wait," I whispered into the quiet room. "Once I master medicine, I'm going to heal your wolf core. I'll make you just as strong and fierce as any wolf out there."

Mia let out a bitter, self-deprecating scoff.

"That day is never coming, Corie."

"It will," I declared with quiet, unshakeable certainty.

"I promise you, it will."

~~~

My days became intensely packed and exhausting, with almost every waking second devoted to studying.

Herbs, diagnoses, treatment methods... the mountains of knowledge felt endless.

Every now and then, flashes of the times I shared with Kent would drift back into my mind.

And I could never truly erase the memory of that devastating night—

The night I lost everything.

But slowly, degree by degree, those painful stabs grew dull.

Perhaps Maeve was right; time really was the ultimate healer.

Two months flew by in the blink of an eye.

One morning, Maeve handed me a woven basket.

"I've dragged you into the deep woods to gather herbs plenty of times," she said, "Head out on your own today. Let's see what kind of prime medicinal stash you bring back for me."

"I won't let you down, Maeve," I smiled, slinging the basket over my shoulder.

My final evaluation was just one month away. I had to try my best.

~~~

The eerie silence of the mountain woods brought back vivid memories of the night I first stumbled through these trees.

"Mia, remember the day we first got here?" I whispered. "We went through absolute hell and got totally lost."

Mia let out a low, rough huff in my head. "That's all in the past now."

She clearly hated reminiscing about our lowest point.

I chuckled softly. "Your spirit is so much stronger than it used to be. Pretty soon, you'll be able to shift into a huge, powerful wolf."

I wove through the dense forest at a measured pace, carefully picking and digging up the herbs I needed, tossing them into the basket on my back.

Before I knew it, the basket was already half full.

Suddenly, Mia let out a sharp, tense snarl of warning.

I instantly froze in my tracks, my body going rigid.

"Mia... what do you feel?"

"Danger..." she rasped, her senses flared high.

"It's close. Very close."

My heart sank into a cold pit.

"What kind of danger?"

"Blood."

"And fresh, open wounds."

I gripped the strap of my basket, my fingertips turning icy cold.

Following Mia's sensory directions, I parted the thick foliage and crept forward step by step.

Lying in the high grass ahead was the figure of a man.

He was pinned face-down against the dirt.

Even from a distance, I could tell he was intimidatingly tall and built like a fortress, but he lay deathly still.

I edged closer, every instinct screaming at me to keep my distance.

"Hey—are you okay?" My voice trembled against the quiet woods, unsure if I was addressing a living man or a corpse.

There was no answer.

His breathing was terrifyingly shallow, his heavy back barely rising or falling.

The dark shirt he wore was completely drenched in a staggering pool of fresh blood.

"Hey... can you hear me?"

A instinctual urge to turn around and run surged through my blood...

But I knew he was still breathing.

As a Healer in training, I couldn't just leave him to bleed out in the dirt.

Just as panic threatened to push me back, a long, low groan tore from his chest as he forced his entire body to roll over onto his back.

I gasped, jumping back several feet.

Then my eyes caught his face—

Dirty, blood-smeared, yet carved like a breathtaking, sculpted masterpiece.

The raw perfection of his features instantly cut through my fear.

That single turn had drained every drop of his remaining strength.

He panted heavily, his long, thick eyelashes fluttering helplessly against his pale skin.

My breath hitched violently as my eyes drifted down to his shoulder—

A brutal blade wound had sliced deep into his muscle, rendering the flesh raw and wide open, blood pouring out in relentless streams.

That gorgeous face was deathly white beneath the crimson stains.

Pure chaos panicked inside my chest.

I couldn't force my legs to take another step forward.

"Mia... should we save him?"

Mia's voice rang through my mind, far cooler and more composed than I expected.

"What did Maeve teach you?"

"A Healer never abandons a life," I recited, my jaw tight. "Not even an enemy's."

"So?" she pressed softly.

I bit my lower lip hard, pausing for two heavy seconds.

"We save him!"

I slipped the heavy basket off my shoulders and approached his towering frame with extreme caution.

Suddenly, Mia let out a strange, low whine deep within my soul.

"What is it, Mia?"

I felt her sniffing forcefully.

"His scent..." she whispered, her voice laced with intense confusion. "His scent is... strange."