The Healer

[6 years later]

[Hyacinth]

“I found a woman on the side of the road,” Out of breath, Drew opens the door with a slam, using his foot to kick it open, his hands too full to turn the knob properly. “Lying inside of a broken down car.”

“Set her down on the table,” I instruct him. As soon as she is flat on her back, I begin to check her vitals. “Thank the goddess it wasn’t a sunny day, or she might have been a corpse instead of a patient.”

I was on my way back from a nearby pack, so thankfully I have my usual medical kit with me. Carefully I examine her. She is very thin, and frail. Her dress is expensive, so I can tell she comes from a wealthy family, but for some reason, she was traveling alone. That’s when I noticed something.

She’s pregnant. Her belly is just starting to show.

This poor girl. Maybe she is escaping a similar shame. 

And she looks sick. Thankfully, I know just how to help her.  

As a pack less rogue, I treat wolves from everywhere, sometimes traveling far to treat the very sick. They say there is “magic” in my touch, as even the most injured and sick wolves seem to thrive under my care. Most packs in the area call me “The Healer,” a code name that feels more honorable than the truth. 

After getting kicked out of my pack, I wandered helplessly. There was no pack willing to take me in, so I worked for scraps when I could, often eating out of dumpsters or begging on the side of the road. I only discovered I was pregnant when I collapsed on the highway and a kind old woman picked me up and brought me to her home. Her name was Linda. She was a rogue herself, but also an experienced doctor who had been wronged by her previous pack. 

When she told me I was pregnant, I cried for three days. How was I going to take care of a child when I couldn’t even take care of myself?

Linda brought me out of my depression. She trained me, got me what I needed to attend a human medical school, where the stigma of being a rogue wouldn’t matter, and helped to take care of my son, Sebastian, after he was born. Soon I was joining her on the road, my child strapped to my back, helping her cure the sick as a roving medicine woman. When she passed away last year, I continued her work as a way to honor her memory. 

Drew joined our crew about two years ago. He wants to learn my methods so that he can someday be a better pack doctor himself. I met him at the Sun Valley Pack, and as soon as he saw what Linda and I could do, he pledged himself to our service. I’m not sure he needs to learn from me, however, because he seems like a natural even though he says he’s still learning. 

As I place a pillow behind her head, the young woman on the table begins to stir. As she blinks awake, her cornflower blue eyes are startlingly beautiful and kind. 

“Where am I?” she looks around confused. “I think I fell asleep behind the wheel of my car and…” 

“Shh,” I place a calm hand on her shoulder. She lays back down, her curly blond hair sticking to the sides of her face. She looks dehydrated and undernourished. Taking a jar of greenish fluid from my bag, I mix it with a glass of water and help her take a few sips. She drinks it gratefully, sitting up a bit so that she can swallow. 

“Hey Drew,” I call over my shoulder. “Could you check on Bash? I think he is building a fort in the backyard.”

He nods, and leaves the room silently, giving us one last look before slipping away.

I wait until he’s completely out of the room before I ask. “Did you know that you are pregnant?”

She nods and then spends the next twenty minutes confessing that her baby’s father had not been her mate, but a friend from school that she thought loved her. He left her when she became pregnant. 

Remembering the pain of my similar shame I ask, “Are you going to be safe there, with your brother?”

“Of course,” she smiles wanly. “My brother is the Alpha.”

“Even with,” I look down at her stomach.

She laughs, “Oh, he won’t care.” She shakes her head. “He’s not like some wolves. He’s a very modern thinker.”

Interesting. I’d like to meet an Alpha like that. A modern thinker, someone who realizes that the rules of the previous generation are outdated and absurd. My pack was one of the last to cling to these “traditions.”

“I need to get back home,” she insists as she tries to stand. Rising to her feet, her knees give way. I manage to catch her but it is clear that she cannot make the journey alone. 

“I think you are going to need a ride,” a quick look at my associate confirms that he agrees with my judgment. We help her stand. As Drew and I help her get settled into the truck, we introduce ourselves and learn that her name is Blake. 

“Where are we headed?” I ask as I take my place behind the wheel of the truck. 

“Do you know the way to Gold River?”

My body freezes.“Gold River?”

“Yes,” she confirms. “My brother is the Alpha of the Gold River Pack.” Seeing my expression she adds, “Is that going to be a problem?”

I gulp, as my heart starts beating and my hands begin to sweat. I’m about to tell her I can’t do it, that I won’t do it, but then I take another look at her. 

She needs me. She needs my help.

“No,” I say, swallowing down my anxiety and fear. “Not at all.”

It is a tense three hours as we make our way north. As we arrive and I pass into pack territory, my hands are trembling. I have just crossed the threshold of the only place I swore I’d never return.

Home.