He believes wolves make lycan blood impure

Vera

His two friends had returned. The younger one looked much better and flashed me a bright smile, while the older one from earlier wore an expression like he had just trodden in something unpleasant.

"What is the meaning of this? Why are you here?!" He was stomping towards us in an almost ridiculous manner, and yet I felt like a child who had been caught misbehaving.

"I'm his doctor. Why wouldn't I be here?" That was all I could manage, and it wasn't a lie, despite my hidden reasons.

"Is this a new way of checking his temperature, doc?" I glanced at what he was staring at and sure enough, my hand was still resting on his cheek.

When I tried to remove it, however, Noah placed his hand over mine, keeping it where it was. He hadn't taken his eyes off me throughout this entire exchange. He seemed completely unbothered by his friend's anger.

"So you're the one who saved me, huh?" His goofy smile made me return one of my own.

"I only operated on you. From what I hear, your friends here carried you all the way to the clinic from goodness knows where."

"Don't be so humble, doc! We might have carried him, but when we got here, he was practically dead. You brought him back to us. Literally." Said the younger one, and I winced at the memory of having to shock him to bring him back. I was glad to see that at least the young one seemed to like me.

"I think it's getting rather late, isn't there somewhere you need to be?" The old man asked me, but just as I was about to fire back something sarcastic, Sofia mind-linked me, summoning me to her office. He noticed my distant expression and smirked. I simply scowled at him. Something about this man made my blood boil. I turned to my patient.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning. For now, try to get some rest." I smiled at him again, but he was frowning.

"What? No! I'm coming with you!" He tried to unhook himself from everything, but I stopped him.

"You need to rest and I need to go to my Alpha. She's called me into her office. I'll be back tomorrow morning. I promise."

With that, I got up from his bed and made my way to the door, ignoring the awful feeling settling in my stomach from putting distance between us. As I was about to close the door behind me, I heard the old man yell.

"What the hell, Noah?!"

"What do you mean 'what the hell'? She's my mate." He told him very calmly, much to my satisfaction.

"WHAT!?" The old man yelled, making Violet look over from the nurse's station with a frown. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. I waved at Violet and headed to Sofia's office; a warmth I hadn't known before spread through my whole body.

"Tell me everything!" Sofia squealed when she saw me come in. She was sitting on the sofa reading some reports and gestured for me to come and sit beside her. The dark circles under her eyes didn't escape my notice.

"Our suspicions were right; he is my mate."

"I knew it! I freaking knew it! Did he wake up? Did you two talk? Did something else happen?" She wiggled her eyebrows at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Sof, he's on a hospital bed under heavy sedatives. I doubt we'd be able to do anything even if we had the chance. His friend isn't too happy about this."

"Who? Eli? The older one? I noticed you two didn't get on this morning. He's apparently very traditional and doesn't believe in mixing wolves and lycans."

‘Oh, because we're mortal enemies?” I rolled my eyes; how old could this man possibly be?

"He believes wolves make lycan blood impure."

She was giving me a very serious look, so I returned it, but we both cracked and burst into laughter.

"Alex had to pinch me under the table to stop me from laughing in his face. I swear he looks and talks like he came straight off a medieval film set."

Realisation dawned on me that I hadn't really thought this through. It was unlike me not to think things through; I was usually extremely calculating. But that was just how strong the mate bond was.

I had heard and seen this before, with Sofia and Alex. Alex wasn't an Alpha, and the Alen family had nearly disowned Sofia for choosing her mate over an arranged marriage. She could have lost everything: her name, her identity, and her rank within the pack. But she hadn't cared about any of that.

What did it actually mean to be mated to a lycan? What did it mean for my future at the clinic? In my pack?

"I can feel you panicking, Vera. Talk to me."

"I just... what does this even look like, Sof? Being mated to a lycan? I..."

"I wish I had answers for you, Vera. I even consulted with the Elders about this, but their knowledge of lycans is extremely limited. They had only ever heard of such mating from legends, nothing proven to be real. But I suggest you stop panicking. Knowing you, you've already planned your escape." I could feel her choosing her words carefully. "There is a lot we don't know about you, V. I... don't ask me why, but I have a feeling the Moon Goddess knows exactly what she's doing. There's a reason for this. Trust it."

"I would probably have to leave the pack, Sof. Everything I've worked for. This is the only place I have ever called home... you guys are my family."

We were both close to tears as we talked, knowing well what this would mean for me, for us, and for the pack.

"We have done everything we can for you, V. But we both know you have a journey that goes beyond this pack. You have to find yourself, and this might be your only chance."

I swallowed but nodded at her.

As nervous as I was about the prospect of leaving my home and everyone I had come to consider my family, Sofia was right.

This was probably my only chance to find out who I was, and more importantly, what I was.