Chapter 9

Mira

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” Tessa yelped. “Why is it always you?”

“Tessa, not now,” Dominic tried to quiet her.

“No, now!” she retorted. “This woman is always sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. She’s out of her lane, and more of a burden than anything!”

“Tessa!” Dominic raised his voice and she backed down. “Mira, please, this is none of your concern.”

“I am a Doctor, you could need my help.”

“No, it is too dangerous,” Dominic said. “We are strapped for soldiers as it is, and I can’t spare a guard to watch over you in the field.”

“I can take care of myself!”

“Mira, please,” he came closer to me, take my hands in his. “As Alpha, I cannot risk sending my Luna into battle. If anything were to happen to me, the Pack would need you.”

“If anything happens to you, you will need me,” I challenged. I lowered my voice, adding, “You are still healing from the other night, and could use my skills as a field medic. And you can’t lock me up in tower, or treat me like a china doll.”

I turned back to the room.

“A Luna should protect her Pack as well,” I faked confidence among all these strangers. “I have combat training, especially self-defense. And I won’t do anything stupid— if I see danger, I’ll run.”

The guards looked to one another uneasily, and then all eyes were back on Dominic.

“I cannot allow this, I am sorry,” he said, placing a hand on my cheek. “Wyatt, look after her while I’m gone."

And with that, he walked past me and out the door. The rest of the guards followed, with Tessa sending me an awful glare on her way out.

I turned to the guard, who seemed less than thrilled to be charged with babysitting me, especially since I had already run away from him once. He took me firmly by the arm and lead me back to my room.

“Wyatt, I’m sorry about earlier,” I tried to sound as sincere as I could. “I shouldn’t have tricked you, I just knew Dominic could use my help.”

“Apology accepted,” the guard responded coldly.

“Thank you,” I had to be careful here. “You do see that this is crazy, right? I was almost sent into the field anyway, that could be me out there being attacked, and yet it’s now not safe for me to go and help?”

“He was quite clear, Mira,” the guard responded coldly. “I am to keep you here and out of harm’s way. Those are my orders.”

“Right.”

Damn.

When I got back to my room, I was disappointed to see Wyatt came in with me and stood by the door. He really wasn’t going to let me out of his sight.

I decided to take a shower, and maybe the hot water would distract me from the frustration boiling inside me. At least I could enjoy a brief break from reality in the fanciest washroom I’d ever been in.

I walked into the bathroom, absentmindedly looking into my medical kit as I walked by. I stopped. Something seemed odd, like something was missing. I went back to look again, and figured it out.

It’s not that something was gone, it’s that something was still there.

Dominic’s medicine.

He’d forgotten to take it with him, or maybe deliberately left if out of pettiness. Either way, if he didn’t take it soon his injuries would flare up, and with the stress of an impending battle in the field they could become life-threatening.

I gathered up my kit, throwing in some extra towels and antiseptic I found under the sink. I called out to my guard as I prepped.

“Wyatt, you have to take me out there,” I shouted “now!”

“Mira, we’ve been over this I can’t—“

“No! Listen to me,” I came into the room and got right in his face. “Dominic is in serious danger if we don’t get to him soon.”

I held the bottle of medicine up.

“He needs this,” I explained quickly. “I prepared this medicine for him to heal his wounds the other night. If they get worse while he’s out there, he could be in serious danger. And if they are attacked, he could—“

“That foolish man!” Wyatt exclaimed. “Excuse me..”

My face must have showed my surprise at him criticizing his leader. I think Wyatt and I became friends in that moment.

“It’ll be faster if we go out the back,” he said. “Let’s move.”

He led the way to the secret door I’d come through on my first visit here, and soon enough we were outside and into a van that was kept by the exit, as if for this exact purpose. The Alpha may have been paranoid, but sometimes it paid off.

It was a quick drive to the area of the forest where the rogue wolves were believed to be hiding, and then the rest of the way we’d have to make on foot. Wyatt attempted to radio the others to let them know we were coming, but couldn’t be sure it was received.

My anxiety grew with every passing moment, the triage doctor in me having concern only for my team out there and not for the danger I might encounter myself.

Wyatt led the way, stepping carefully and swiftly as we entered the forest, pausing only to listen before moving on. It was ten minutes that felt like ten hours later when we knew we were getting close.

A howl broke through the stillness of the night. It was followed by shouting.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I said a quick prayer to any gods listening to help our team get out of here alive.

I could see flashlights moving in the distance, and could almost make out bodies through the darkness. There was no way to know which side they belonged to.

We stopped another moment to get our bearings, when suddenly Wyatt’s radio chirped loudly, followed by a panicked voice that was mostly static. He quickly tried to quiet the machine, but it was too late. Seemingly out of nowhere, three large wolves came hurdling towards us.

And so we ran.

First together, and then at some point I realized I was alone. I dared a quick look behind me, and two of the three wolves were pursuing me. I wondered what happened the third. And they were gaining on me, fast.

Right when I turned back to see where I was going, I ran headfirst into the third wolf.

I fell to the ground, my medical pack landing underneath me. I couldn’t reach anything like a weapon quickly, and knew I was screwed.

The other two wolves slowed as they saw their comrade, and soon I was surrounded. They smiled at each other, and looked at me like I was an snack.

“Another medic, eh?” the third, largest wolf said. “Guess we missed one last night, boys.”

“Please, I’m’—“

“Shhh little she-wolf, we’ll make this quick.”

I managed to get my back in front of me, as if it would help shield me from anything, and cursed myself for being so stupid as to get caught immediately. If I dies out here, Dominic would kill me!

I closed my eyes, bracing for pain.

I heard a shout, fast movement, and yelping wolves.

When I opened my eyes, he was there.

Dominic had found me.