Chapter 10

Mira

Dominic held the last rogue wolf under his arm. With one swift movement, he snapped the neck of my attacker, and dropped the limp body to the ground.

I stared at his blood-covered body, unsure if it was the blood of his enemies or his own. In that moment I didn’t care, and I rushed towards him.

I didn’t realize my instinct was to throw my arms around him until I felt him react in pain at my embrace.

“Oh no, I’m sorry!” I said, embarrassed that I was hugging and hurting him.

“Not exactly the best medical care for a wounded soldier, Doctor,” he said.

An awkward moment hung between us, and I didn’t know where to look. And then I remembered the dead bodies surrounding us.

Dominic notice that I was staring at the corpses, and pulled me away from them.

“Now can you see that this is no place for you?” he said, taking me roughly by the arm to guide me. “You’re lucky I picked up your scent when I did, otherwise…”

He couldn’t say it, but we both knew what would’ve happened to me.

“Go back home. Now.”

I stopped moving and stared directly at him.

“No,” I said defiantly.

“Mira, why are you doing this?” he sounded exhausted. “Do you think risking your life will win you approval from the Pack? Are you that desperate for status and power?”

“Of course not, I—“

“You cannot win the respect of the Pack, you have to earn it.”

I knew he was right, but it still hurt to hear what he thought of me. For once, I chose not to argue with him. Becoming a Luna would mean knowing when to speak and when to simply listen.

Dominic nodded approval of my acceptance, and I saw some of the tension in his body melt away. And in that moment, his guard down, he collapsed to the ground.

“Dominic!”

I crouched the ground beside him, suddenly remembering why I came in the first place. I rooted through my medical bag, pulling out the bottle of medicine.

“Here, take this,” I brought it up to his mouth.

He made a face when he saw it, but took it without argument.

Within a few minutes, his eyes cleared and his heart-rate returned to normal, and I sighed relief that I had been there to help him.

“It tastes horrible you know,” he complained.

I left out a small snort-laugh, knowing that he was going to be alright.

We stayed on the ground, relishing a quiet moment to contrast the carnage that we’d just left behind. It was in this place that the other guards from the Pack found us.

“Sir, are you alright?” it was Lucas, faithful as ever.

“Yes, I am fine,” he said stubbornly. “Of course I am fine.”

I chose not to say anything, even though he and I both knew that a few moments ago he had been anything but fine.

Another guard stepped forward, and my heart leaped in my chest.

“Wyatt!” I resisted the urge to hug him too, but placed a hand on his meaty arm. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”

“I feel the same, Mira,” he responded in kind. “I’m so sorry we got separated— I was thrown to the ground and couldn’t see where you’d gone.”

“It’s alright, Dominic…” I looked back at the Alpha, who was now glaring at both of us.

“Wyatt, you brought her here?” Dominic was so surprised he couldn’t be angry.

“Yes, sir,” Wyatt responded. “When Mira realized you’d left your medicine, she persuaded me to escort her here. It seems it was the right thing to do.”

Wyatt looked at me with admiration. Oh yeah, we had definitely become friends!

Dominic was silent. He wouldn’t even look at me, let alone acknowledge what I’d done for him. I tried to hide the disappointment on my face in front of his guards.

The reunion was cut short when we heard howling nearby, and suddenly Dominic and the guards were off again.

Wyatt stayed behind, now my ally and protector. We listened to the sounds of fighting, holding our breaths and praying that our team would be the victors.

After what seemed like a hours, we recognized Dominic and his soldiers returning. The group had grown, and I realized that with them were a few members of the medical team that had been rescued. They were limping or being held up by the soldiers, and I knew it was my time to be useful.

I ran to the group and starting examining and assessing, asking pointed questions and receiving quick answers from my fellow doctors. We had to evacuate quickly, and it seemed most would be fine to make it back to the compound and receive treatment there.

One soldier was not so lucky.

He had stepped in a trap that was hidden under leaves, and had lost a lot of blood, and his heart rate had slowed to a terrifying level.

“Dominic,” I grabbed him by the arm, “this man won’t make it back home.”

“Mira, we don’t have time to waste out here.”

“I know! Start moving the others out, and I will treat him now.”

“Can you save him?” the Alpha asked me seriously.

“Yes.”

“Then, work your magic, Doctor,” he seemed impressed. “Wyatt, you and I will stay with Mira. The rest of you, move out— now!”

I quickly got to work, tying a tourniquet around the soldiers thigh, and then ripping open the rest of his pants. The trap had broken apart and was still slightly lodged into his flesh. I grabbed a large stick nearby and put it in front of his face.

“Bite down,” I ordered.

He complied, and let out a muffled scream as I got to work removing the shards, placing pressure on the wounds. I did my best to stitch up the biggest gashes, and despite being in the middle of the woods was able to clean up most of the wounds.

Soon enough, the soldier was breathing normally again, and I didn’t see any signs of fever or infection. The worst was behind him, and I was sure he would make a full recovery.

Between Dominic and Wyatt, we were able to get the man out of the woods and met the other guards at their vans. The wounded soldier was put on a stretcher and loaded into the back of one van.

Before the doors were closed on him, he sat up slightly and called out.

“Thank you for saving my life, Luna.”

“Just doing my job, soldier,” I respond, trying to hide the pride that was swelling through me.

Healing was my purpose, and I had proven it when it mattered most.

Dominic was staring at me, and came closer to where I stood.

“Mira, I…” he was clearly not comfortable being vulnerable. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have doubted your intentions, or you skills and usefulness in the field. You’re an asset to our Pack, not a burden.”

I was stunned, and could only nod and shrug like an idiot. I’d never seen him admit fault before, and was once again reassessing what I thought I knew about this man. Maybe it would’t be so bad pretending to be his Mate after all.

“We can see now why you chose her, Alpha,” one of the solders teased Dominic. “She’s got beauty and brains!”

The other men were encouraged and called out their “oohs” and “ahs” as if we were at a high school dance.

I was stunned again when I noticed how flustered Dominic was, almost blushing in the moonlight. And he surprised me even more when he bent down and lightly kissed me on the forehead. My heart skipped a beat, and a flood of warmth swept through me. I blamed it on adrenaline, and not the fact that I had feelings for this man.

The caravan made its way back to the Pack, and we saw many members gathered, waiting for news from the battle in the woods.

Relief washed through the crowd when they saw the Alpha and his soldiers returning, and with so many medics who were out of harm’s way.

But when it was known how many were injured, and just how bad these rogue attacks were getting, that relief turned back into gloom and worry over this continued conflict.

“So many injured, and probably scarred for life” Tessa’s voice cut through the murmuring crowd. “Looks like the famous Doctor Mira was useless out there after all.”

“Excuse me?” I was too tired to deal with her right now.

“If I had to guess, I’d say she was nothing but a distraction our Alpha,” Tessa continued. “Once again, Mira’s seductive ways are ruining people’s lives. And this time, she almost got our Pack members killed.”

All eyes were on me, and they were furious.