Her words hung in the air, heavy with implications.
I’d always known it wasn’t just a wound.
It was a message, a reminder that I’d never truly be free of the pack.
But hearing her say it out loud made it real in a way I hadn’t let myself acknowledge.
The old anger simmered just beneath the surface.
But her fingers were still on my skin, warm and steady, and for the first time, I didn’t feel like I was drowning in it.
My laugh was bitter, the sound hollow in the clinic’s sterile air. “Of course they did.”
I started to pull my shirt down, but her hand stopped me. “Not yet. Juniper’s poultice needs to sit for twenty minutes.”
She reached for a clay jar, the earthy scent of comfrey and yarrow filling the room. The warm paste stung as she spread it over the scar, but the pain quickly dulled to a soothing warmth. Her fingers worked in slow circles, her touch unexpectedly careful.
“Why’d you really hire me?” she asked quietly.
Her hands were small but strong, her movements deliberate.
I’d spent so long avoiding touch, avoiding connection, that the intimacy caught me off guard.
My wolf came to life again, and I let out a low rumble in my chest, but it wasn’t a warning.
It was something else. Something I hadn’t felt in years.
I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to pull away.
Because as much as I hated to admit it, I didn’t want her to stop.
Her gentle touch was doing something to me, something I wasn’t prepared for.
Every brush of her fingertips against my skin sent warmth spreading through my chest, thawing something I’d thought permanently frozen.
The scent of her, clean soap, antiseptic, and underneath it all, something sweet and distinctly her, filled my lungs with each breath.
My wolf practically purred, the sensation so foreign I almost didn’t recognize it as pleasure.
It had been so long since I’d allowed myself to feel anything but anger and pain that this, whatever this was, terrified me more than any physical threat ever could.
I hesitated, the question catching me off guard.
The truth was, I hadn’t expected her to be like this.
I’d expected another jaded city doctor, someone who would take my money and keep their distance.
But Sabrina wasn’t like that. She was relentless, compassionate, and unapologetically herself.
And that scared me more than I cared to admit.
“You’re persistent,” I muttered, words rough but honest. “And the town needed someone who wouldn’t scare easily. ”
She snorted, the sound amused but not unkind. “Mission accomplished.”
Her touch lingered, and for a moment, neither of us moved. The air between us charged, heavy with something I couldn’t name. Neither of us pulled away, the silence stretching between us like a quiet acknowledgment of something unspoken.
After a moment, I broke the silence. “It flares when the wind shifts from the east.”
Her fingers stilled against my ribs. “The mine’s that way, isn’t it?”
The mine wasn’t just a scar on the land.
It was a wound in the town’s soul, festering and poisoning everything it touched.
And now, it was spreading. I clenched my jaw, the wound throbbing back to life like a second pulse.
The last time it burned this badly, Victoria had proposed an alliance with the Roberts pack.
Coincidence didn’t exist in our world. Just consequences wearing different masks.
I nodded stiffly. “Like my body realizes before my brain does.”
Her fingers resumed their work, voice softer now, almost gentle. “I get that. After my parents died, I’d wake up reaching for my phone to call them. Muscle memory doesn’t forget.”
Her words jolted me. I’d spent so long burying my pain, my grief, that I’d forgotten what it felt like to share it with someone. And here she was, offering me a piece of herself without asking for anything in return. It was too much. Not enough. I didn’t know what to do with it.
What was her angle? Everyone had one. Victoria taught me that lesson with blood and pain.
Trust was a luxury I couldn’t afford. And yet, something about Sabrina’s straightforward compassion made me want to believe she was different.
She didn’t seem to want anything from me except for me to heal.
The concept was so foreign that it was almost laughable.
People didn’t just help each other without expecting something in return.
That wasn’t how the world worked. At least, not my world.
I found myself wanting to tell her more. About my aunt’s betrayal. About the pack I’d left behind. About the nightmares that still woke me every night in a cold sweat. The urge to unburden myself was so strong it frightened me.
I studied her. Really studied her for the first time.
Dark circles rimmed her eyes, and strands of hair escaped from her ponytail.
The signs of her fatigue made me bristle.
An instinct older than reason urged me to drag her to the nearest flat surface, wrap her in furs, and stand guard while she slept until the shadows under her eyes faded.
My fingers curled into a fist, my nails biting into my palms. Mine to protect.
The thought hit like a sucker punch. I shoved it down.
“You patch everyone but yourself,” I realized aloud, words slipping out before I could stop them.
She froze, fingers stilling on my skin. Her smile was forced, the kind that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Occupational hazard.” But I saw the flicker of pain in her gaze, the way her fingers tightened around the jar of poultice.
We were the same, she and I. Two broken people trying to fix everyone but ourselves.
And maybe that was why I couldn’t stay away.
I flexed my side experimentally. The pain was dulled but not gone. “It’s better,” I admitted, words costing me more than I cared to admit.
She smiled, the warmth reaching her eyes this time. “Good. Now let’s talk about those water samples.”
Her focus shifted, hands moving with purpose as she pulled out a map from the cabinets and unrolled it.
But I couldn’t stop staring at her, at the way her brow furrowed in concentration, the way her lips pressed together when she was thinking.
She was a force of nature, relentless and unyielding, and I was caught in her orbit whether I liked it or not.
The familiar markings of Roberts Mining’s property lines stood out against the faded paper. “If the same chemical is in the runoff, we’ll have proof it’s deliberate. But we need to find a way to get access.”
My fingers brushed hers as I pointed to a creek on the map, the touch sending a spark up my arm. “The mine’s security crew patrols the main sites. We’ll need samples from here, at the edge of the property.”
She nodded with a determined expression.
I started to leave, then hesitated at the door, the words sticking in my throat. “Wu?” She looked up, brow furrowing slightly. “Thanks. For not making it, you know.” My hand gestured awkwardly at the exam table.
Her grin was quick and sharp, the kind that could cut through tension like a knife. “An alpha wolf moment? Please. I treat toddlers with more attitude.”
As I made my way through the waiting room, Juniper shot me a knowing look. With a nod, I pocketed the vial of tincture still on the reception desk.
Outside, I paused, taking a deep breath of crisp mountain air. For the first time in years, the pain in my side was just an ache.
The sound of violent coughing cut through the quiet.
I turned to see Marshall bent over near his truck, one hand braced against the tailgate as he sucked in a ragged breath.
Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the chill, and his skin was an unhealthy red.
The feed sacks he’d been loading sat half-dumped in the truck bed, one split open, grain spilling across the rusted metal.
I crossed the distance in three strides. “You look like shit.”
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His skin was clammy, and his breath came in shallow gasps that rattled in his chest. “Feel like it too.” His fingers trembled as he reached for another sack, but his grip faltered, the burlap sack falling to the ground.
I caught it and hefted it into the truck with more force than necessary. “When did this start?”
“Few days ago.” He leaned against the truck as he took in labored breaths. “Thought it was just a cold.”
I grabbed the next sack. The veins in his arms stood out too prominently, dark and snaking under his skin. Not a cold. Not allergies. Fuck. “You’re seeing Wu.”
Marshall’s laugh turned into another spasm. His shoulders shuddered violently as he braved another wretched coughing attack. “She’s got enough on her plate without—”
“Now.” I slammed the last sack into place and gripped his shoulder, steering him toward the clinic. His muscles burned under my palm, fever-hot.
He shook me off but didn’t resist, swaying slightly as he walked. “Since when do you play nursemaid?”
“Since you started sputtering like a busted tailpipe.” I kept pace beside him, close enough to catch him if he stumbled. “And if you collapse in front of the feed store, Boone, I’m not dragging your ass home.”
He chuckled, though it ended in a wheeze. “Wouldn’t dream of inconveniencing you, Your Highness.”
The scar burned hotter with every step. East wind. Poisoned water.
Sabrina’s silhouette appeared in the clinic doorway. She took one look at Marshall and held the door open wider. “Get him inside.”
Marshall tipped his hat at her with false cheer. “Evening, Doc. Hate to intrude.”
She cut him off with a pointed look at the sweat soaking his shirt. “Save the charm for when you’re not about to pass out.”
I lingered in the doorway as Sabrina began her examination. Her fingers were already on Marshall’s wrist, brow furrowed as she counted his pulse. Her gaze flicked to me, unreadable. “You staying?”
Marshall groaned, sinking onto the exam table. “He’s allergic to concern.”
“Someone’s gotta make sure you don’t scare the doc with your whining.”
Sabrina’s lips quirked as she reached for her stethoscope. “Too late for that.”
I stepped back, but didn’t leave, just leaned against the wall, arms crossed, while she worked. My truck keys dug into my palm. Marshall’s rasping breaths filled the room, too loud, too wrong.
This wasn’t just one man. It was a warning.
And I’d be damned if I’d let this town burn on my watch.
Marshall’s labored breathing filled the small exam room, each inhale a battle against whatever was ravaging him from the inside. I’d known this man for a decade. Watched him wrestle bulls and survive a winter blizzard trapped in his truck. Nothing took Marshall Boone down.
Until now.
I studied Sabrina’s face as she worked, catching the way her lips pressed together in concentration. She knew. Without saying a word, she knew this wasn’t just a sick friend. This was the beginning of something worse.
The east wind carried more than just the scent of the mine tonight. It carried a threat of what was coming for all of us.
My wolf paced restlessly beneath my skin. We had stumbled onto something dangerous, something that powerful people wanted kept secret. And in my experience, those kinds of secrets got people killed.
The phantom weight of responsibility settled across my shoulders. I’d chosen Angel Spring to escape my past. Now I would have to fight to protect its future.
Starting with the doctor who didn’t seem to understand she was walking into a war.