Chapter 2

Chapter

Two

E very move Ariana made mesmerized Colt’s wolf, and Colt himself had a difficult time not staring. She was stunning. Smelled good enough to nuzzle and carried an air of power and confidence about her he had to respect. Still, he wasn’t a fan of bloodsuckers. The only reason he even reached out to Aidyn was because he had nowhere else to turn. The pack’s witch, Maya, hadn’t been able to force Vilkas to heal. She tried every spell at her disposal to both heal and uncover what was causing the problems. After a few days, she surrendered in despair and informed Colt that he no longer had a choice. If he wished Vilkas to have any chance at all, then as pack leader, Colt had to step up and ask for a healer. It wasn’t the fact he didn’t want his pack mate to get better. He would do anything for his people. The knowledge of Mikel’s death and the helplessness Colt felt in not being able to save him tormented him. His pack was his to protect. Ultimately, Colt was the one who had confronted his uncle for the alpha role. He’d won too, and the pack had lived in harmony for years until now.

So, he set aside his pride and requested an immediate audience with Aidyn. The king had proven to be a kind man and, as much as Colt hated to admit it, he liked him. Except for now. He expected Aidyn to send Marcus, who had been a healer for longer than Colt himself had been alive. Even Cassie, Marcus’s mate, would have been a welcomed sight, but to see their baby girl? Well, he was not about to have this female digging around in pack business. She could heal Vilkas, then leave.

“Millie.” Ariana moved next to the shifter and touched her shoulder. It was the first time since Vilkas had been in this bed that he had seen the female relax. Tension left her eyes, and she even offered the vampire a small smile.

Okay, Ariana’s actions clearly reassured Millie, and he felt grateful for that.

“I promise you I will do everything in my power to help your mate,” Ariana said.

Millie looked up. “Thank you. I need to ask, though, why did the king not send your father?”

Ariana squatted down, so she was eye level with the shifter. Her hand traveling down Millie’s arm to rest on the top of hers.

“I understand your concern. My father is a powerful healer and very good at what he does. My mother—even though she was born human—became a healer when she mated with my father. Her abilities are equal to his, and fate has blessed me with my parents’ skills. I promise, there is nothing they can do that I cannot do as well. Now, with your permission, I need to touch your mate in order to see inside him.”

Millie nodded and rose. “Please, take my seat.”

Despite the intention to heal, Colt understood Millie faced difficulty in allowing another female to touch her mate. He moved closer to the shifter to not only lend comfort but remind her wolf to behave itself or face the alpha, who would not hesitate to pin her to the floor if she dared make a move on the healer.

Ariana understood the difficulty Millie faced by allowing another female to touch her mate. She recognized the tension from the wolf within and had sent a calming power over Millie to help her cope. The poor female was so distraught, she was in a weakened state. Hopefully, once Ariana healed the man in bed, Millie could concentrate on allowing herself some time to regain her strength.

Ariana moved to sit in the chair and held her hands over the patient’s chest. “I’m going to place my hands on the area where the wound is.” She felt the need to explain every move she made. After all, there were three wolves staring her down. She looked to Colt for confirmation, and he offered a nod.

Taking in a deep breath, she forced herself into a state of calm. She didn’t doubt her ability, but constantly proving herself was exhausting. She pulled at the threads of her magic and formed it into a ball, then touched Vilkas. The moment her hands connected to him, nausea swept over her and threatened to spill the contents of her stomach all over the bed. Closing her eyes, she swallowed bile. Never had she had this kind of reaction before. Whatever was inside the shifter, it didn’t want her anywhere near it. Another deep breath and a slow exhale. She pressed on. The fog cleared around her mind and allowed her to finally see inside the patient. She did not expect what she encountered. The area around the knife wound emitted a brilliant white glow, but it wasn’t the light that caused a shiver to run down her spine. It was the dark energy that pulsed within the light. It felt ancient and not from this world. A curse, perhaps?

She opened her eyes and looked at Dylan. “Did you see the glow around his wound when you examined him?”

The doctor’s brows drew together. “No. It looked like any normal wound except it refuses to heal.”

“Maya, our witch, mentioned nothing about a glowing when she tried to heal him either,” Colt said.

“What does this mean?” Millie wrung her hands as her forehead creased.

“I’m not sure, but I’ve seen nothing like it.” She closed her eyes again and searched past the wound and into his bloodstream. Although the light diminished as she continued her search, there was undeniably a peculiar magic at work, unlike any supernatural force she had witnessed previously.

After determining her focus needed to be at the wound’s site, she shifted her powers back to the long gash that had become filled with yellow pus. The first step was to flood his body with healing cells and send his little army to clear the infection. She pushed all her power into him. Forcing his white blood cells to obey her command. At first, they refused. Seemed confused about where to go. They seemed to have lost their ability to fight, which she believed resulted from whatever had poisoned him. To assist, Ariana created a super cell and sent it to work. Soon after, Vilkas’s own blood cells followed and battled the infection. Several intense minutes later, she leaned back and pulled her hands away.

“I have forced his body into healing, but the infection has spread.” She still didn’t like that white light and wanted to speak to her parents to inquire if they had ever seen anything like it before. Standing, she moved away from the chair so Millie could return to her mate.

“We will need to watch for his fever to spike now that I’ve kick-started his cells by creating a super cell.” She shook her head. “His own body seemed confused about what to do, so he wasn’t trying to fight the infection at all.”

Colt nodded. “So, how long do you think before he comes around?”

“Hard to say, but I wouldn’t expect anything for at least forty-eight hours. I’ll want to check on his progress in a few hours just to make certain his body hasn’t shut down again.”

The alpha sighed, and she knew it was because he now had no choice but to let her stay. Oh sure, she could leave then just flash back in, but from what Aidyn had told her of Colt, the shifter would not want to chance Vilkas taking a turn for the worse then having to wait for Ariana to show up.

“I will show you to a room.” His dark brows scrunched down. “If you were planning to stay, you didn’t bring any bags.”

She smiled. “I can grab them once I am in a room.” She already packed a bag and had it sitting by her front door. She only had to flash in, grab it, and hop back into the compound. “That’s if you allow me back in.”

When she was assigned to this task, they sent her special coordinates and the exact time she was supposed to arrive, so the shifter could create an opening in the compound’s magical barrier for her to enter. It had been quite the production for her to make certain she didn’t arrive too early or late.

“I or one of my pack will have to accompany you, for you to reenter our territory.”

Colt had already turned his broad back to her and was heading down the same hall they had walked earlier. She hurried to follow and felt her cheeks heat as her gaze fell to the most perfect ass she had ever laid eyes on. Damn, but she bet a quarter would bounce into next week if she tossed one at his left cheek right about now. Letting out a deep sigh, she followed him back to the truck and climbed in, not missing the fact he hadn’t bothered to open the door for her. So, this was how he was going to play? Well, she could play the game just as well.