Chapter 7

Katherine

I was still in disbelief. I was shocked by this turn of events in my life. Me? A healer? How is that possible? I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even know how I got home and was already showering. I turned off the shower, grabbed the towel, and dried my body while looking at myself in the mirror.

Then a thought came into my mind, for someone to be a healer, that person has to have at least one gene in the family. I had never heard anyone in my family say they had it. How strange.

I wore a T-shirt with shorts and went to the kitchen. Jake was already preparing a bad but healthy meal for dinner. I sat on the barstool and placed my arms on the counter.

“Spit it out. Why are you looking like a zombie?” He said as he tasted whatever he was cooking, then added more spices.

“Well, you won’t believe what happened today…” And so he didn’t believe me, I told him everything that happened from the beginning, and he was just as perplexed as I was.

“And don’t you have any information about this old man that you can check it out?” He asked as he placed food on our plates.

“He was admitted to the hospital unconscious and alone. No one got any information from him, and as soon as he got better, he just evaporated. You have as much information as I do,” I replied while tasting the food. The strangest thing is that it was delicious, but I kept that thought to myself.

“That’s weird… It doesn’t make sense for him to tell you to ask the Alpha for help. Everyone knows his reputation… For now, let’s keep it a secret. I’ll look into whether there are any healers here in the pack or nearby.” He suggested it while he finished eating. Jake always eats twice as fast as me.

“I know it’s hereditary, there’s no way you can learn to be a healer, but I’ll look for more information in the library tomorrow.”

“It’s not that simple, and the gene isn’t always activated. It could be that an ancestor of yours was a healer, it doesn’t necessarily have to be your mother or father, it could be your grandma or great-great grandma. Your parents are Alpha and Luna. If they had that kind of gift, they would use it to help anyone who needed it. We’ll gather more information, and when we get back to our pack, we’ll talk to them. What do you think?” he asked me as he put more food on his plate.

“It’s a good idea. I was scared, but now I’m so excited, I can’t even stand it. Jake, I’m not just a human. Can you believe it?” I celebrated.

“You were never just a human, Katie, but it all makes so much more sense now. You always enjoyed taking care of others and diagnosing others’ health problems. Do you remember when we were kids how happy you were when I hurt myself just so you could bandage it?” we laughed, and yes, I remember those memories. “I thought you just wanted to see me hurt. What kind of friend is happy with my pain?” he still looked resentful. “However, I liked it when you ‘healed’ me because you always looked so happy. So every time I got hurt, I would run to you for you to heal me,” he confessed.

“I will always heal you, Jake. You will always be my priority,” I said while drinking the water that was next to me. “Even more now that I can really heal you if something happens to you… Finally, I can take care of you like you take care of me,” I confessed with my head down, I didn’t want to look at him while I said this.

Jake didn’t say anything, he understood how much this meant to me, and he just smiled and was happy for me.

“Oh my Goddess, you won’t believe another thing I have to tell you,” I finally remembered.

“One more?” He finished eating but didn’t get up from the barstool, waiting for me to continue talking.

“Chad wants to mark me! Can you believe it? It’s not even two months into our relationship, and he already wants to mark me. Help me, Jake! I don’t know what to do! I told him I can’t do it, and I need time, and he said I could have the time I needed, but now I’m feeling pressured because he’s already prepared to take such a big step, and I don’t even look at him the same way he looks at me!” I said all of this in one go, without even breathing.

“Katie, calm down! Don’t freak out! Take a deep breath.” He turned to me and put his hands on my shoulder. I did as he asked and took a few deep breaths before continuing, “You know that mates are usually marked on the same day they know each other. Chad knows you are his chosen mate, and he is taking it easy and at your pace. It may be a short time for you, but for him, he must be counting the seconds. Keep at your pace, you are the priority here, don’t do anything you’ll regret later. Don’t worry about Chad, he really likes you, and he will wait for you as long as it takes,” he said, trying to console me. “Besides, if you give up on Chad, you’ll always have me in your old age. Remember that we agreed to stay together if you and I didn’t replace anyone?” he hugged me, and I calmed down.

“Yeah, let’s be an old couple who gossip all day!” I chuckled and tightened the hug.

“But, a couple of elderly people who are healthy because we’re still going to continue training.” He grinned cheekily, and I pushed him away.

“I like Chad, Jake… He’s wonderful, but I don’t know… There’s something that tells me not to do that, and there’s something that impedes me from accepting Chad. Every time I’m with him, I have to block those thoughts.” I said, getting up to get the dishes and start cleaning.

“Have you guys ever had any physical contact?” he asked me with a sly smile.

“Of course not!” I yelled, “Besides, if we had, you would know.” I smiled at him. “We haven’t even kissed yet. We’re just in the texting phase. I’m not in a hurry…”

“You know that for him to be able to mark you, it won’t be just a kiss, right?” he smirked. I know where this subject is going to end.

“Oh, shut up, Jake,” I threw the dish towel in his face. “And go dry those dishes.” I’m glad I was facing away from him, and he didn’t see me blushing.

🐺 🐺 🐺

I was still out of breath from training with Jake when I arrived at the hospital. Today was one of those days he had no mercy; it felt like I was paying for some sin! I took the patient documents from Chloe and headed to my hallway. This week, I took the letter A rooms. I took a deep breath, took a sip of water to catch my breath, and entered the first room.

“Hi, my name is Katie. I’m going to take care of you today. How are you feeling?” It was a pretty stupid question, I could see how much that man was in pain.

In his medical report, it said that a witch cast a spell on him which opened several wounds, as they are not common wounds, these wounds are not healing. He was someone else’s patient yesterday, and he has been in the hospital for 3 days now and none of his injuries got better, they keep getting worse and bleeding.

“I’m feeling miserable! I want to get back to pack patrol soon. A witch was among the rogues that attacked the pack a few days ago, and she did this to me,” he snarled as he clenched his jaw.

“Don’t worry, I’ll try my best! The last person who took care of you did an excellent job on the bandage.” I saw that Mark had been the last person to take care of him. Indeed, the bandages were fine, even though he was bleeding nonstop.

“Bullshit!” he snapped. I removed all the bandages and started cleaning and disinfecting. We have a medicine in the pack that intercepts spells, Mark used it on him, but apparently, it didn’t have much effect.

He looked up at the ceiling to avoid looking at what I was doing because I was hurting him. I took the opportunity and tried to use a different method. With all the wounds exposed and the blood spurting lightly, I passed my left hand between one of the most severe wounds, one on one side and the other. I tried to concentrate on healing him and how much he needed to get better soon because he would save many lives patrolling the pack. Suddenly, I felt a heat in my hand, and I kept running my hand over all his wounds, and out of nowhere, the wounds stopped bleeding, as if by magic. I quickly grabbed the bandages and placed them over the wounds. I know now it will heal quickly, but then I need to be quick so he doesn’t replace out what I did.

“Wow, I’m not feeling that much pain anymore,” He said, relieved, looking at me.

“I told you, don’t worry, everything will be fine,” I smiled at him.

“What did you do? I’m feeling great! I don’t feel any more pain,” he asked as he sat up.

“Nothing that wasn’t done yesterday, I just increased the amount of antidote against magic that was applied to you yesterday. I think your body reacted better with more amount…” I lied, I felt terrible for saying that. However, that was the only way to keep my secret and be able to help him.

“Thanks, Katie! If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me!” he said and was about to leave the room, but I stopped him. He can’t go like that, or people will get suspicious.

“Hey, wait a minute! I’ll call someone to finish your discharge, and then you can go, ok?” I said to waste some time. He didn’t like it very much, but he obeyed, nodding and sitting back on the bed.

🐺🐺🐺

The rest of the day was pretty tiring; I felt much more drained after healing a spell wound than the old man’s wound the other day. Although, I discovered something very important: I can heal someone even with a spell wound.

At lunchtime, Chad told me he had a surprise for me later. He said he would take me somewhere special after work. I was smiling like an idiot, imagining what it would be like.

When there was half an hour left for him to arrive, I had already finished everything I needed to do at the hospital, so I took the opportunity to take a shower and change clothes. I put on the clean clothes I had brought, nothing too fancy, because I didn’t know I was going out with him. I put on my coat and went to the entrance after he let me know he had arrived.

“Hi, baby!” He smiled at me with open arms. I smiled back directly, went to him, and hugged him. “You look beautiful today,” he said close to my ear and sniffed my hair. “I love your smell.” I blushed then and let go of the hug. He opened the car door for me, and I got in.

“I think you’re going to like this place a lot.” He started the car and headed towards the city’s west.

“I’m getting anxious. Aren’t you going to tell me where we’re going? Not a clue? A small, tiny clue?” I begged.

“It has to do with trees. As I know you’re from Three Trees, I know you’ll like it,” he said, trying to retain more information.

We continued talking during the journey, and after some time, I saw a giant restaurant called Moon Wok. As he drove up to the restaurant, our breath fogged up the windows of the car. The trees that surrounded the restaurant were blanketed in snow. The frosty air filled my nose with a chilly sensation.

“Oh my god, Chad, what a beautiful place!” I couldn’t believe how perfect this place was.

We stepped out of the car and were greeted by the sound of crunching snow beneath our feet. The restaurant was nestled in the heart of the woods. We made our way to the entrance, which was adorned with twinkling lights and garlands of pine cones. The restaurant’s interior was cozy and warm, with a crackling fireplace and a rustic decor that perfectly complemented the winter scenery outside.

Chad chose a table near the window, and as I gazed out at the snowy landscape, I was filled with a sense of tranquility and peace. He was right, just looking at the view made me feel better.

“Thanks for bringing me here. I loved the surprise,” I confessed, smiling at him.

“All for your smile, baby.” He kissed my hand and took the menu to choose what we were going to eat. A waiter came and took our orders, and I admired the landscape nonstop. The trees reminded me of my pack, the Three Trees has so many trees, and it’s so special. I miss home.

When the food arrived, it was even tastier than it looked. I felt grateful to be able to enjoy such a beautiful view while enjoying a delicious meal.

As we sipped on our hot drinks and savored the taste of our food, we continued talking about his work. I just kept thinking about what a great guy he is and how much he thought about making my day special. I think today will be a memory that I will treasure for years to come.

We finished dinner and went to the restaurant balcony to enjoy it one last time before leaving. Chad was by my side, holding my hand, and then he turned me to face him, and I could tell he was a little nervous. I knew what he wanted. He wants to kiss me; he wants our first kiss to be in a special place.

As he leaned in towards me, our eyes closed, our lips almost touching, I know how hard he worked for this to happen and how much I enjoyed it. I also want to kiss him, and I tried hard to block out any thoughts that would stop me from not doing that today. I know that he had been waiting for this moment for what felt like an eternity, and finally, we were about to share our first kiss.

However, just as our lips were about to meet, we were interrupted by a message. I opened my eyes and saw that Chad was talking to someone via mindlink. He didn’t seem to like the interruption right now, but from his scared face, it seemed urgent. I quickly pulled away from him, his eyes wide with surprise and disappointment.

“I’m so sorry, Katie, but I need to go now. I got an urgent message from Alpha. I’ll drop you off at your house on the way. I need to go to the packhouse,” he said sadly.

“Don’t worry about it, today was perfect… we’ll have time, maybe another day?” I asked, and he smiled.

We got back in the car, and he drove as fast as possible towards my house. Part of me was so upset that his Alpha interrupted our first kiss. I wanted to slap him! Everything was so perfect, Chad was so handsome, and I wanted to kiss him, too.

However, the other part of me was glad we didn’t kiss.

And that part scared me because it almost told me it wasn’t right.