To heal a Rogue

LYSANDER

I glanced back at the tube one final time as we walked away, and told myself I’d simply been seeing things. His eyes had been closed the entire time. They had to have been.

Still, the question that mattered most hadn’t been brought up to be answered by any of them.

"What if he gets out?" I asked. "What happens then? Is there a plan for that?"

"I don’t believe it will come to that," Bradley replied.

"It’s your job to plan for the worst thing that could happen," I said. "Please don’t have me believe you’re all simply hoping this stays perfectly contained forever."

"We have the magical bloodlines who assist us on call," he said. "We simply have to trust we can subdue him again, should the need ever arise."

"Fine," I said. "I guess that will do. It is clear that we are fucked and just waiting for luck."

We stepped out through the reinforced door, and Bradley shut it firmly behind us. The metal shimmered once and dissolved entirely, the wall reforming itself into ordinary wallpaper as though nothing had ever been hidden there at all.

"Your Majesty, Do ensure you say nothing of this to anyone," Bradley said. "Not even your own blood."

"I’m not exactly the chatty type," I said.

The moment we stepped out of the study, a sentinel came sprinting down the corridor toward us, breathless.

"What is it," Bradley demanded.

"The High Gamma sent me," the man said, catching his breath between words. "The girl. The rogue healer. She’s awake."

Everything else went to white noise.

I was moving before I’d finished processing the sentence, cutting straight through the hall toward my mother’s old chambers, and every sentinel and retainer I passed cleared a path without needing to be told twice. I probably looked half feral by the time I reached the door, but I found I didn’t particularly care how it appeared to anyone watching.

I typed the pin with fingers that weren’t quite steady and pushed the door open.

She sat there on the bed, whole and upright, color back in her cheeks, and the relief that swept through me was instant and entirely unguarded. I crossed the room without a second of hesitation and pulled her into my arms.

She went rigid for one brief moment before her body eased into the hold, and something in my chest finally settled, the panic that had been clawing at me since she vanished into that room finally quieting at the simple fact of her being alive and unhurt against me.

"You’re crushing me," she muttered against my shoulder.

I released her instantly, my hands falling away, though my eyes stayed fixed on her face, searching every inch of it for anything I might have missed.

The curious glances from the sentinels and the High Gamma lingering near the doorway barely registered. None of that mattered next to the certainty I needed.

"Are you hurt?" I asked, my voice low.

She shook her head. "No." Then, clearing her throat she said, "Just tired."

"Alright," I said, and turned toward the others still crowded near the door. "It’s late. The retainer stays by the door out of necessity. My Omega as well." I glanced at Delta. "The rest of you may go."

They bowed and complied without argument. Delta bowed last, saying she’d be right outside if either of us needed anything, and locked the door behind her as she left.

I turned back to Bonnie.

"Why wouldn’t you tell me?" I asked.

"I was afraid," she said. "I’ve kept this buried in me for so long. It’s the reason my own mother died in the first place." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I know exactly what power like this does to people. What it turns them into wanting from someone like me."

I reached for her hand. "And yet you saved me, revealing yourself to all of them. Why?"

She looked away, her jaw tightening slightly. "Because I can’t stand injustice or a loser dying for me, probably."

"Oh," I said. "I was expecting a rather different answer."

Her eyes snapped back to mine, and she pulled her hand free of my grip. "What a way to cheapen the moment."

"I don’t know what you were thinking I’d say," I said. "My mind happens to be quite pure."

"Sure it is," she said, crossing her arms. "What’s your move now, exactly, now that I’ve revealed my hand? I feel like a diamond under armed guard."

"I can save you from the breeder title," I said, "regardless of how the investigation into my uncle’s killer progresses from here. Once that stain is gone, I can name you my mate openly. That offers you far more protection than hiding ever will, as well as the trouble with now being revealed as a healer. Many will think twice before offending the whole werewolf world."

"I don’t want that," she said.

"Why not?"

"It isn’t just about me," she said. "I wanted a simple life. I suppose that’s never going to happen now." She scoffed, quiet and bitter. "If only I’d been ordinary."

I took her hand again, gentler this time. "There’s nothing wrong with not being ordinary." I paused. "There’s something I need to tell you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I know someone like you," I said. "A healer. Just like you."

"What," she said, her brow furrowing.

"Moments ago, actually," I said. "She was with you, while you were unconscious. Her name is Fia." I studied her face carefully. "You might already know of her. The Omega who married into Skollrend."

"Her?" Bonnie said, something shifting behind her eyes.

"Yes," I said. "She has visions, sometimes. Fragments of what’s coming." I held her gaze. "One of the reasons I’ve refused to let you go from the very start is because she told me, long before any of this happened, that I would find you. And I did. Everything she described about you turned out true, down to the smallest detail. That’s how I know this isn’t simply chance, Bonnie. This is fate."

She said nothing, her expression caught somewhere between disbelief and something softer she clearly hadn’t decided whether to trust yet.

"Now... of course," I said, "you don’t have to believe any of it. But I need you to give me a real chance."

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