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“I’m not sure if Alpha Tanner told you, but I’d rather not use my gift. I don’t think it would be much appreciated.”
“Unfortunately, I have to agree with that. Nevertheless, I’m sure you’ll learn fast and honestly, you don’t have another choice. I’m sensing that we’ll have a busy time ahead of us.”
Ayla, Luna, Lelou, Waya, or Silver
Unfortunately, Christa had been right.
The Skadu Pack had become impatient. Over the next two days they started attacking the patrolling wolves and tried to cross the borders. Niev had been shadowing Christa, trying to be as best of help as she possibly could. Although the men didn’t trust her and preferred Christa to take care of their injuries. Niev hadn’t expected anything else, not after how Tristan’s mother had acted toward her. Nevertheless, Niev did her best to make sure to learn and assist Christa to the best of her knowledge. Niev was a sponge trying to soak up as much information about all the healing processes and techniques she could.
Christa preferred to treat the men while human and let their injuries heal before allowing them to shift back to their wolf form. Normally, that didn’t pose an obstacle because they healed pretty fast, and the men preferred being around their families while healing anyway. Unfortunately, now Christa had to treat the smaller and non-life-threatening injuries while the men were in wolf form so they could return to their posts as soon as possible. It was more difficult, but necessary to keep everyone safe. The fewer wolves protecting the border, the higher the risk of invasion was.
Niev hadn’t seen Blake since they’d spent the night under the moon together. She missed him and worried about him, but it also comforted her that he hadn’t yet come to see Christa. It meant he wasn’t injured, at least not severely. She tried to soothe her worries with the thought that she would be able to save him. She knew that she would be able to heal him and trusted that the other wolves would bring him to her fast enough if necessary. It was also one of the reasons she hadn’t left Christa’s cabin and was sleeping in her guest room.
Niev was outside hanging up cloth bandages to dry when Seth made his first appearance on the second evening after the fighting had started. Christa didn’t have enough supplies, even after Tanner had sent out men to buy out every pharmacy nearby. So, they had to reuse what they could and tried to keep everything as sanitary as possible. Seth’s wolf came stumbling through the trees and looked around.
“If you’re looking for Christa, I can go wake her up for you. She went inside to rest after the last wolf left.”
He shook his head, and she could see a gash over his shoulder and another on his hip. He nodded his head toward her and laid down in front of her for easy access to his wounds.
“Do you want me to stitch you up?”
He nodded and laid his head on the ground, closing his eyes. Niev quickly walked inside and grabbed a suture kit, disinfectant, and a bowl of raw meat. Before pulling a chair next to him, she placed the meat in front of Seth’s enormous head. He opened his eyes and emptied the bowl with one gulp.
“The wound is deep, and I have to clean it out first. Would you like me to ease the pain with a local sedative?”
Seth shook his head.
“Then I would recommend you grab one of those logs over there to bite on.”
He got up, grabbed a log, and came back. Niev started to clean the wound above his shoulder. Seth didn’t flinch, but he bit down on the log so hard it was starting to splinter.
Wanting to take his mind off the pain, she started talking about the first thing that came to mind. “Did you know that your sister’s name, Layla, means night in Arabic?”
He turned his head so she could see his puzzled look.
“I stumbled across it when I was looking for a baby name. I liked the idea of naming the baby after the moon or the night. Do you think that’s cheesy?”
He grinned and shook his head.
“Good. Please don’t tell Blake. I haven’t seen him yet, so he doesn’t know.”
He smiled and gave her a gentle nudge with his nose.
“Is he doing okay?”
He nodded and she sighed. It lifted the weight off her shoulders knowing he was doing okay, even if just a little. After cleaning Seth’s wound, she started stitching the flesh back together. This seemed less painful for him, as he dropped the log.
“Thank you.”
He gave her another puzzled look.
“For letting me stitch you back together. The other wolves won’t let me near them. I think they are afraid. I don’t think it’s my lack of experience, rather the rumors that go around.”
He slightly tilted his head as if to ask, “What rumors?”
“They think I’m a witch or something of that kind and that I’ll spoil their souls. At least that’s what I heard a woman say.” She didn’t mention that that woman was Tristan’s mother, afraid she would get in trouble.
He gave her another gentle nudge. She was surprised at his kind reaction. She hadn’t seen him since the celebration dinner at which he’d asked her for a new beginning. He seemed to really mean what he’d said, like a new person. She silently finished the first wound before moving to the one on his hip. She repeated the process of cleaning and stitching it up before inspecting Seth further for other wounds. She kneeled down by his back right paw. She’d only noticed something wrong about it because he was trying to hide it from her.
