Chapter 5: His Personal Healer

The square still felt unreal.

One second, I had been standing on the edge of death, hand pressed to my stomach, Xena’s blue eyes locked on mine like she could will me back from the blade. The next, Alpha Dimitri’s voice had cut through everything.

And now the guards had let me go.

My arms felt strangely light without their grip. My knees wanted to buckle, but I locked them. I was still breathing and still standing. The crowd murmured around me, shifting, uncertain what to do with the woman who should have died but hadn’t.

Then Xena was running.

She pushed past the guards who had held her moments ago, shoving bodies out of her way without apology. She reached me in seconds and crashed into me, arms wrapping so tight I felt the air leave my lungs. Her heart hammered against mine. Her hands moved frantically — over my shoulders, my arms, my face — checking for damage like a warrior assessing a battlefield.

“Are you hurt?” The words tumbled out fast, overlapping each other. “Did they touch you? Are you okay? Rav— Scarlett— fuck, are you okay?”

I laughed, and even the sound surprised me. It came out broken and shaky. “I’m here,” I whispered against her shoulder. “I’m still here.”

She pulled back just enough to look at me, hands cupping my face. Her blue eyes were glossed over with tears, and her jaw was tight. For one precious moment, we just stared at each other. Everything since the gate passed between us without words — the acid, the separation, the dungeon, the square. All of it. She was the only constant I had left in this world, and she was still here.

We didn’t get more than that.

The sound of someone clearing their throat made us come to a halt. I turned slowly, and that was when I saw him.

Alpha Dimitri stood before us, his face still pale, and yet his body commanded power like any other werewolf with Alpha blood.

Xena’s body reacted instantly. Her spine straightened, shoulders squared, hands dropping from my face. The frantic energy vanished, replaced by the rigid posture of a warrior facing her Alpha. I felt my own head dip before I could stop it. Years of living with a man like Lucan would do that to anyone. The realization burned. Even here, even now, some part of me still feared that every Alpha would treat me the way Lucan did.

Alpha Dimitri stood a few paces away, his height towering above everyone else. His green eyes moved over the scene with Xena at attention, me with my head slightly lowered, and then the lingering crowd. He didn’t comment on the reunion. He simply looked toward Ms. Darkmoon, who was already hurrying forward.

“Yes, Alpha?” she said, bowing her head low.

“Prepare a room for her,” he ordered, as if every time he opened his mouth to speak, he was wasting something precious. “Adjacent to mine. She starts as my personal healer today.”

My stomach dropped.

Ms. Darkmoon turned to me. Her eyes narrowed sharply with something colder than professional suspicion. “Follow me, Scarlett Bane.”

The way she said my fake name made my stomach twist.

Xena reached for me one last time with a quick, hard squeeze of my hand. Her fingers trembled slightly before she let go. Her eyes said everything she couldn’t speak out loud in front of the Alpha: Stay alive. I’m watching. I’m still here.

I squeezed back once. Then I turned and followed Ms. Darkmoon.

The walk through the castle felt longer than before. Guards flanked us and people stared openly now. They were staring at a woman with short ginger-red hair who had almost died in the square and was suddenly elevated. I kept my gaze low but my head up. Scarlett Bane. I repeated it with every step.

We stopped at the healers’ wing first. Ms. Darkmoon watched me gather my few belongings in silence. When I was done, she spoke in a tone more venomous than snake poison.

“I don’t know what sorcery you used on him,” she said, eyes boring into me. “But I do not trust you. Your day of reckoning will come, girl. Mark my words.”

I said nothing. What was there to say? She believed I had manipulated the Alpha. The pack would believe it too. Healing him had only made me more dangerous in their eyes.

She led me to the new room without another word.

The room was larger than the small one I'd had before, but still modest. A proper bed. Curtains pulled over what I guessed was a reinforced window. A small sitting area with a cracked leather armchair that looked older than the building itself. I waited until Ms. Darkmoon and the guards left before I moved.

I went to the main door first, then locked it. I tested the handle, locked it again, and tested it once more. My hands wouldn’t stop until the click felt real. Even then, it wasn’t enough.

Exhaustion wore me down, making my legs tremble.

When was the last time I had any actual rest?

I barely made it to the bed before my legs gave out. I pulled the covers over myself, still fully clothed, scarf still wrapped high around my scarred neck, and then my hand found its way to my stomach, resting there protectively.

Sleep took me fast, and when I closed my eyes, no dreams came. Even in my unconscious state, I knew I was screwed.

A door clicked.

My eyes snapped open, body already bolting upright before my mind caught up. Adrenaline flooded my veins. With my heart slamming and breath shallow, I scanned the dark room, with every nerve in my body screaming danger.

There was a second door.

I hadn’t seen it before. Or maybe I had been too exhausted to notice. It stood open now, connecting directly to what had to be Alpha Dimitri’s room.

A tall figure stood in the doorway, silhouetted by faint moonlight from the window behind him.

Alpha Dimitri.

He didn’t speak. He simply stood there, green eyes fixed on me in the darkness.

And I realized with cold, sinking horror that all my careful locks had never mattered.

There had always been another way in.