C7

The annoying, persistent door buzzer woke me up.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

"Ugh, go away," I mumbled under my breath.

There was no point in getting up. Ever since the terrible incident with Callum a week ago, my phone had been blowing up, and so had my door buzzer. The pack gossips and reporters had been harassing me so badly that on my third day at work, after pictures of Callum mating with that female went viral, the head of the Crescent Fang Healing Hall asked me not to come back. I needed that job, not only for the resources but also to finish my training so I could be a fully qualified Moon Healer of the Crescent Pack. Besides, throwing myself into helping sick wolves helped me get through the days, this heartbreak, and the deep humiliation.

She told me to stay away until things calmed down. I could understand her request; those nosey pack reporters were getting out of hand. They were entering the sanctuary, faking scratches, and even getting real injuries just to get close to me and snap a picture with their recording crystals.

I thought as time went on, the interest would ease up. It didn't. If anything, it became an even bigger topic among the packs.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

I put the pillow on top of my head, ignoring the persistent noise.

"I know you are in there," a familiar female voice yelled through the wood. "You can't ignore me anymore."

Could it be—

Shifting off my mat, I headed towards the entrance and peeked through the viewing slit.

"Oh my God," I said, swinging the door open. "Zuri!"

"Yes, it's me," she announced, strolling into my small room.

I quickly shut the door and locked it tight. I wouldn't put it past those damn reporters to come in if they found an unlocked door.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

She usually lived between Silvermoon Hollow and the other distant pack lands. We barely saw each other anymore.

"I saw what happened," she replied, like that explained it all. When I continued staring at her blankly, she let out a deep sigh. "You needed saving. I sent you like twenty mind-links and messages, and you didn't reply to a single one."

I stared at those pale blue eyes that looked so much like her brother's. I really, really tried not to remember those eyes and that night, but it was hard not to when looking at my moonbound sister. It was probably why I avoided her and her brother, Kellan, so much. I loved them both, but the risk of running into Kairo and their strong family resemblance had me running and hiding.

A lot of good did that do me. I still ran into him at the lodge.

I headed to my little kitchen area, Zuri right on my trail.

"I'm sorry. My phone has been blowing up. There are thousands of messages from wolves. I just—" I tried to justify myself, but what could I say? I was just too sad after losing my boyfriend and my healing work in the same week. "I didn't feel like going through them all."

"You are just hiding," she announced without beating around the bush. "But you should have at least read the words from me."

I took a deep breath. She was right; there was no point in denying it. I was hiding and not in a good frame of mind. I had been publicly humiliated, my entire life ripped to pieces, and to top it all off, I couldn't even throw myself into my work. Because I lost that, too.

"I lost my place at the sanctuary," I muttered.

The expression on her face turned to pure shock.

"What?" Her voice was super screechy when she got upset. "Why? How?"

"The reporters were swarming the healing hall." Wrapping my arms around myself, I felt like such a failure. "Faking injuries, making real injuries, and it just wasn't safe. For any patient."

"That's garbage," she spat. "And you just let them fire you?"

"Zuri, I wouldn't have, but other healers were having to work double shifts because of those idiots. It wasn't fair, and the head healer was just trying to look out for everyone."

"She sure as hell wasn't looking out for you."

I shrugged my shoulders. There was nothing she could do, really. I just knew I had to find another pack territory to finish my healer apprentice training. It was the last step required, and I was almost at the finish line.

"I'd offer you something to drink," I muttered, "but my supplies are empty, and I'm all out of morning tea."

"Do you have any berry wine?" I shook my head in response. "Any kind of drink?"

"Maybe some old sweet liquor," I muttered.

I hadn't been to the pack market in weeks. Initially, it was because I was too busy, and now, because I didn't want to show my face anywhere. Between my job and Callum, I barely ever ate at home, so I kept the bare minimum in my space. My drink supply was pretty much nonexistent. I definitely regretted that this past week.

Zuri strode to me and took my face between her hands. God, when she did that, she reminded me of a mother wolf protecting her pup. And Zuri was just a few months older than me.

The memory of my mom always hurts. I missed her. She never got to see me finish the Lunar Healers Academy. It was another blow after Kairo squashed my heart like a bug. And all my ideas about my mother changed, too. There were so many secrets that lurked in the past, and sometimes I wished I had remained ignorant of them all. But thanks to Kairo, they all came out in the open. A few months later, Mother was diagnosed with a terrible sickness and passed away two short weeks later.