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Chapter 1
Harlow
The scents wrapped around her—rosemary, lavender, and calendula combined with antiseptic and the cotton of the bandages. Harlow inhaled them all, noticing how each changed and died off and in what order, how they mixed together, and how precisely she could pick them out.
“You should be getting used to it by now,” said Julia, the pack healer, obviously noticing how she was taking in all this information. “These things will become second nature to you, but I can already tell you’re meant for this work. I’ve been doing this a long time, got a nose for it.”
“Yes,” said Harlow. “It’s changing all the time. Growing, I mean.” She raked her eyes over the counter and cabinet that housed all the usual things—the bandages, wraps, and antiseptics as well as the pack’s medicine. She’d already begun learning about the herbal bruise balms and the pain-reducing tinctures, including their components and how to make them. Administering them had become the next step.
As the second healer, she still had so much to learn, but Julia was the best teacher, highly proficient in the medicines specific to shifters that worked well with their abilities. Now, however, she had to deal with the patients who’d tumbled into Julia’s practice a short while ago.
In front of her was Jackson, one of the three young boys who’d come in after getting scuffed up during some play fighting. This was far from unusual, especially among boys of this age. The two others had already been seen to and now it was Jackson’s turn.
“Good,” replied Julia. “Work with it. Don’t let anything go to waste.” She tied off a bandage and wiped her brow. “Follow those instincts and make sure they come before anything else—eventually. But you’ve got eyes as well as a nose, and that’s just as important at this stage.”
“I will,” agreed Harlow. “And thanks for everything you’re doing to instruct me.”
Julia sniffed. “Not a problem, it’s my job. When you’re my age and you’ve fixed up as many people as I have, it’ll be your job, too. God knows the Hollow Grove pack will always need a healer.”
Harlow smiled, wondering if she’d ever be as competent as Julia when it came to healing. There seemed to be nothing the woman didn’t know, sometimes not even having to raise her eyes to figure out what was wrong.
“Can we go soon?” asked the small boy on the couch. “This bandage is tight.”
“When you’re done,” Julia countered, firmly yet with warmth. “If you lot are gonna get yourself into these scrapes, you’ll come in useful somehow. Harlow here needs to learn how to be a healer, so we are going a bit slower to help her.”
“It’s true.” Harlow nodded. “You’re my guinea pigs for today.”
“I ain’t no guinea pig,” said Jackson. “I’m a wolf.”
Harlow laughed and reached for the balm. “That’s for sure.” She applied it to the scrapes on his head. “A wolf with more energy than he knows what to do with.”
“You sound like my mom,” he said, wincing.
“Bro, your mom doesn’t sound like that. She’s more like—”
“That’s enough of that, Finn!” warned Julia as Jackson’s head snapped around, ready to pounce again. “This isn’t the forest. It’s my practice, and I won’t have arguing in here.”
“Sorry.” Finn lowered his head, obviously knowing when he was acting out of turn.
“I think we could all do with forgetting about this, shaking hands, and remembering that you’re friends. Jackson, turn to me, please. I still need to fix this up,” said Harlow. He did as asked, looking back at her as if her words alone brought down the temperature. “I know it’s easy for things to get a bit rough during play fighting, but it’s more important that we learn how to control these feelings when they come up. Otherwise, things can get out of hand like they have today,” she continued.
Jackson huffed. “Okay,” he said. “Thanks, Harlow. Thanks, Julia.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” said Julia, ruffling his hair. “Now make sure you do as Harlow here says. Make up and try not to get into any more fights today. Plenty of jobs around here need doing if you’re bored.”
“It’s okay,” said Jackson, already halfway out the door. “We’re not bored anymore.”
Julia smirked at Harlow as the children left and she closed the door behind them. “Kids,” she said. “Good practice material, bad for the nerves sometimes.”
Harlow laughed. “I remember being that age. Always needing to be fixed up.”
“Yeah, comes with the territory. Anyway, good job there.”
“Thanks, I feel like I need to do a bit more studying up on the healing balm components, especially the temperatures and the—”
“I don’t just mean about that. I was talking about the way you are with people. That’s the real sign of a healer. Everything else can be taught, but not the other stuff—empathy, interacting with patients, especially children. That can’t be taught. It’s innate, and you have it.”
Harlow swallowed hard, almost feeling as though she might spill a tear or two. It was one thing to know she was becoming more competent with the medicines, but what Julia said to her meant the world. At times she believed she wasn’t suited to being a wolf and a pack member, as if she were wrong somehow.
