RHEA’S POV “Step back, human,” the young female healer snapped, turning around with a gro as I rushed to the bedside.
“You have done enough damage.
Go sit around in the corner and let real healers work.” I completely ignored her loud voice.
My eyes scanned the room until they landed on a wooden box containing basic medical supplies, bandages, needles, and bottles of alcohol.
I grabbed the kit and stepped toward the bed, but two male healers immediately stepped into my path, physically blocking me from reaching Kael.
“Get out of the way,” I commanded, my tone leaving no room for argument.
I was a doctor and I needed to save my patient.
“We will not let a human witch touch our Alpha again,” one of the men yelled back, crossing his arms tightly.
“We don’t know what kind of dark magic you’ll use on him this time,” “Let her through.” A calm, commanding voice cut through the drama.
Garrett’s mother stepped forward, her strong, Beta female aura making the young healers flinch.
“Lady Vanya, no,” the young healer protested, her face twisting in disbelief.
“She is an outsider.
We cannot trust what she will do to him.” I pushed directly past the two guards, stepping right up to the edge of the mattress and glaring at the hesitant healers.
“Would you really rather let your Alpha die than let a human treat him?” I demanded, my voice icy and sharp.
I pointed a firm finger at Kael’s bare chest, which was barely rising or falling as his breathing grew terrifyingly shallow.
“Look at him.
He is suffocating in his own blood.
You’ve had your turn.” I snapped the wooden box open on the bedside table with a loud sound.
“Now let me have mine.” None of them dared to argue further.
I immediately tote off my ruined shirt sleeves, tied my hair back, and poured strong alcohol over my hands and a clean cloth.
The first thing I had to do was sterilize the affected area and flush out the gray paste they had applied over his skin.
The moment the alcohol made contact with the open, poisoned wound, Kael’s jaw clenched tight.
His face morphed in intense pain, a low, unconscious groan tearing from his throat.
A wound this deep and corrupted would sting especially where alcohol touched it, but I didn’t hesitate.
My hands moved over his skin as I moved with practiced medical precision, cleaning the black blood, clamping the torn blood vessels, and stitching his torn muscle tissue layer by layer.
Time passed slowly.
The tension in the room was suffocating.
Sweat ran down my forehead in large, warm drops, stinging my eyes as I finished stitching the last wound.
Soft, gentle fingers touched my face and when I looked up, it was Garrett’s mother.
She dabbed my dripping forehead with a clean handkerchief, her eyes full of quiet respect.
“Dr.
Clara, please,” Lady Vanya whispered softly, her tone deeply motherly.
“Please take a short break, even if it’s just for a couple of minutes.
At this rate, you are going to collapse from hunger and stress.” I paused, wiping my bloodied gloved hands on a towel.
Looking around the room, I noticed the young healers who had yelled at me earlier were now staring at my neat, precise stitch work in pure awe.
Two of them stepped forward sheepishly, bowing their heads.
“We…
we can finish wrapping the bandages, Doctor,” one of them offered softly, his voice trembling with shame.
“Tell us what to do, and we will do it.” I gave a tired nod, giving them strict instructions on how to dress the wound.
I turned and strode out of the heavy double doors into the quiet, dimly lit corridor.
The moment the brass doorknob twisted shut behind me, my knees turned as weak as a newborn.
I slid my back down the cool stone wall and sank onto the floor, my chest heaving as exhaustion finally caught up to me.
Automatically, I reached out to grab my phone from my back pocket to check the time and call Maya, only to find nothing there.
My eyes widened in instant, cold shock.
My stomach dropped into a bottomless pit as the realization hit me.
My phone must have slipped out of my coat pocket while I was struggling with Kael in the deep snow outside.
My phone.
The lock screen with Elias’s picture…
the only way I had to reach Maya…
gone.
“Dr.
Clara?” Garrett appeared moments later down the hallway, carrying a heavy silver tray laden with hot soup, roasted meat, and bread.
He walked over, sat down on the floor right next to me, and set the tray between us.
We talked quietly over the plate of food.
As I ate, Garrett admitted softly that he had personally prepared and brought the meal himself because he couldn’t trust the other pack members not to tamper with or poison my food, especially not with all the rumors that were surrounding me now.
He sighed, leaning his head back against the stone wall.
“I just don’t understand why it’s so hard for the pack to trust you after everything you’ve done.
But…
Can I ask about your healing powers?
Did you always know you had them?
Why didn’t it work earlier when you tried to use it on Kael?” I shook my head slowly, looking down at my bruised palms before shakingmy pale fingers right in front of his face.
“I don’t know,” I confessed, my voice barely a whisper.
“This was my very first time experiencing anything like this too.
In my entire life, I’ve never had magic.
I don’t know what any of this means.” Garrett leaned back, offering me a reassuring, gentle smile.
“We’ll find answers soon enough.
Once Kael wakes up, we’ll figure out what’s happening.” A brief, heavy silence fell between us, the only sound was the distant howling of the wind outside the windows.
I looked at Garrett, swallowing my pride.
“Garrett…
Can I ask you a favor?” Garrett raised a dark brow, turning to face me fully.
“I’ll do anything within my power to grant it.” I let out a dry chuckle.
“Nothing too much.
I just want to borrow your phone.”