RHEA’S POV The small guest room was freezing, but my body felt like it was burning from the inside out.
I sat on the edge of the narrow mattress, staring down at my hands.
They were trembling so hard I had to fold my fingers together to stop them.
My palms were still hot, buzzing with a strange hum that made my skin feel sensitive and raw.
What happened in that room?
I tried to think like a doctor, running through every logical medical explanation I knew.
High adrenaline?
Extreme physical fatigue causing hallucinations?
A strange chemical reaction between the silver tools in my medical kit and the Alpha’s blood?
None of it made sense.
I had watched his torn skin stitch itself together under my bare hands.
I had seen glowing white light spill from my skin and burn away black, corrupted poisonous veins.
“I’m a wolfless human,” I whispered to the empty, quiet room, my voice shaking as I used the lie I had told myself for five years.
“I’m just a doctor.
I don’t have magic.” Saying it out loud didn’t make it true.
The terror in my chest only grew tighter.
I had been born a wolfless disgrace in the Voss Pack, with no shift, no spirit, and no wolf power.
If the wolves in this fortress realized what I had done, if they realized I possessed some strange, uncontrollable power that could heal the sick, they would never let me leave.
And I had to leave.
I had a five-year-old boy waiting for me in the city.
A heavy knock at the door made me jump.
Before I could answer, Garrett stepped into the room.
His expression was serious, his eyes searching my pale face carefully.
“Dr.
Lin,” Garrett said, using the fake name I had given him when we left the city.
“Alpha Kael is awake.
He wants to see you.” Hearing his name spoken out loud sent a sharp, cold jolt straight down my spine.
Kael.
So that was his name.
My heart did a violent flip in my chest.
“He’s awake already?
Garrett, his body went through severe trauma.
He should be resting.” “He’s Alpha Kael Thorne,” Garrett replied, offering a faint, tired smile.
“And right now, he’s demanding answers.
Follow me, please.” I swallowed hard, stood up, and smoothed down my wrinkled shirt.
I grabbed my leather medical bag, holding it tightly in front of me like a shield, and followed Garrett down the dim corridor.
Two guards stood at the end of the hallway.
They didn’t speak, but their sharp eyes tracked my every step until we reached the large oak doors of the master suite.
Garrett pushed the doors open and stepped aside.
“Go on in.” I took a deep breath, braced myself, and stepped inside the room.
The room was warm, lit by a fire in the stone fireplace.
Standing near the edge of the massive bed was the Alpha.
He was bare-chested, wearing only dark pants.
His broad shoulders and muscular back seemed to take up the entire room.
Dark hair fell loosely around his strong jaw, and as he turned to face me, his gray eyes locked onto mine.
The breath was completely knocked out of my lungs.
Up close and fully conscious, his presence was overwhelming.
The raw, heavy aura of a powerful Alpha hit me like a physical wall.
But it wasn’t just his power that made my knees feel weak.
It was those eyes.
Stormy, intense gray eyes that I had seen in my dreams for five long years.
Kael Thorne.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a few seconds, forcing the panic back into the darkest corner of my mind.
“He doesn’t know who you are,” I reminded myself fiercely.
“He was drugged five years ago.
He was half-dead ten minutes ago.
Act like you don’t know him.
Get this over with.” “You shouldn’t be standing,” I said, keeping my voice as flat and professional as I could.
I walked over to the side table and set my medical bag down, refusing to look directly at the crescent birthmark tucked behind his left ear.
“Your body just underwent massive tissue repair.
You need to lie down.” Kael didn’t move.
He stood his ground, his gray eyes tracking my every movement with a sharp, dangerous focus.
“They tell me you’re a human doctor from the city,” Kael said.
His voice was deep and rough, like gravel, sending a strange shiver straight down my spine.
“Dr.
Clara Lin.” “That’s right,” I lied smoothly, keeping my back to him as I unzipped my bag to pull out a small stethoscope.
“And as your doctor, I am telling you to sit back on the bed so I can check your pulse and lungs.” A low, quiet rumble vibrated in his chest—not quite a growl, but close to it.
He didn’t sit down, but he took two slow steps toward me.
“Look at me, Dr.
Lin,” he commanded softly.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, turned around, and looked up at him.
Because he was standing so close, I had to tilt my head back.
The scent of rain and wild pine rolled off his warm skin, filling my lungs and making my head spin.
“I need to check your vitals,” I said, raising my hand toward his wrist.
The second my fingertips brushed against the skin of his inner wrist, a sharp spark of heat erupted between us.
It was like touching an electric wire.
I flinched, gasping as I yanked my hand back.
Kael stiffened too, his gray eyes widening slightly in shock as he stared down at his own wrist where my fingers had been.
His gaze snapped back to my face, darker and far more intense than before.
“What was that?” he asked slowly.
“Static electricity,” I lied quickly, wrapping my cold fingers around my own wrist to hide their shaking.
“The air in this mountain room is dry.” “Static electricity doesn’t make my wolf snap to attention,” Kael said, stepping even closer until there were only inches between us.
He towered over me, his broad frame casting a heavy shadow over my body.
“Who are you?” “I told you.
I’m Dr.
Clara Lin.” “A human doctor,” he repeated, his tone dripping with quiet disbelief.
“Garrett believes you.
He thinks an ordinary human woman walked out of a city hospital and used medical tools to remove ancient corruption from my blood.” He leaned down slightly, his stormy gray eyes searching my face so intensely I felt as if he were trying to read my very soul.
“I don’t believe him,” Kael whispered sharply.
“Human medicine heals flesh wounds, yes.
But I know that it does not erase dark magic in forty-eight hours, and it does not make white light pour from human hands.
You are hiding something, ‘Dr.
Lin.'” My heart hammered frantically against my ribs, but I forced my expression to remain ice-cold.
I looked him dead in the eye, raising my chin.
“You were dying, Alpha Thorne,” I said, keeping my tone cold and stern.
“Your Beta begged me to help you.
I used everything I had to save your life.
If you want to repay me by interrogating me and calling me a liar, fine.
But do not question my work.
Now sit on the bed and let me check your lungs, or I will pack my bag and leave right now.” For a long, tense moment, neither of us moved.
The silence in the room was deafening, the only sound was the faint crackle of the wood turning to ash.
Kael stared down at me, his jaw tight.
I could see the battle going on behind his gray eyes, the deep, dangerous suspicion of an Alpha who knew he was being lied to, warring against something else.
Something older and deeper that seemed to pull him toward me despite his better judgment.
Finally, Kael let out a rough breath and stepped back.
He turned around and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Check my lungs,” he said quietly, his voice low and dangerous.
“But don’t think for a second that this conversation is over.” I let out a slow, quiet breath through my nose, stepping forward with my stethoscope in hand.
My hands were still shaking, but as I pressed the cold metal to his warm back, one thought kept repeating in my head like a warning bell.
“He doesn’t believe I’m human.
And if he keeps digging, he’s going to find Elias.”