Elizabeth tried to finish cleaning and sorting out the healer's rooms as best as she could. But even she knew she was distracted.He was the Alpha. The one person with the immediate authority to have her removed from the pack. And she had treated him like her own personal assistant for the day. If she was honest, though, he had been an exceptional assistant.If James hadn't come along, she would be nowhere near done with the amount of work they'd accomplished today.She glanced at the medicine shelves, and all the other equipment. Everything had been neatly labelled and stored; the shelves had been cleaned immaculately.Her work had gotten considerably easier, and tomorrow would not be as daunting or tiring as these past two days had been.Still, Elizabeth thought as she locked up, she really wished it hadn't been the Alpha.Seeing that everything was secure for the night, she began the long walk home. It wasn't such a long distance, if she was honest with herself. She ran it in
Elizabeth watched over the wolf, Firian, the entire night. Or the rest of it, at least. It had been two in the morning when they'd brought him in. She'd gone to bed before seven last night, so she'd had plenty of rest to see her through the rest of the night.James had sent the other wolves out. The one that had brought the wolf in had to be ordered out, though. But the Alpha himself had stayed till the sun rose, helping her when he could. They hadn't spoken. Elizabeth was aware that he was the Alpha, now, so she had to be more careful around him.Besides, they had a wolf to care for. A dying one, by the look of it. Elizabeth had tried to care for him as best as she could, but before James left she had to tell him the truth of what she felt. He wouldn't survive.James had simply asked her to do her best and make Firian as comfortable as she could.Elizabeth had applied willow tree bark over his wounds. They would take away almost all of the pain, and it would stop his body from goi
James hadn't set foot in the Healer Rooms again. He'd also not been following Elizabeth. Bass had been right, he was the Alpha, and those duties had to come first.So he'd stayed away, and trusted Elizabeth could heal Firian.And he told himself that he simply had to ignore the attraction he felt to her, however impossible it might seem. However painful it would be. He had a fiancé, he had a future and a duty to his pack.James shook his head, even if he had to keep himself away from Elizabeth, he still wanted to help her somehow. This was an insane task set to her, on only her third day at the Pack, and so far, she'd done admirably.So James called for Kenneth, and gave him a list of instructions.____________________________________After Bass's treatment of her the day before, Elizabeth hadn't left Firian's side. She'd begun sleeping in one of the other patient's rooms in the Healer Rooms, just so she could be close by should anything happen.She found one of the little pack
James kissed her, his lips pressed against hers roughly. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him. He wanted to feel every curve of her body, every part of her pressed against him that he could get. And everything flooded back to him all at once. His dreams, her scent, her taste. Their memories. Their life together.He had been in the woods, bleeding and broken. He'd fought another Alpha, and he'd won. But his injuries were terrible. Without a healer, he wouldn't survive. He'd blacked out, sure he was going to die. Alone and away from everyone. No one would even know what happened to him. He wouldn't even be buried like a wolf.And then by some miracle, an Angel was sent to him. She carried him with a wolf's strength to her home. She cared for him. She loved him.And he'd loved her. Loved her so much he'd asked her to marry him, sure he'd found his soul's mate.Her scent had intoxicated him, her voice had both calmed him and excited him. Her words were wisdom itsel
(Flashback)Elizabeth scrapped some of the willow bark and placed it into her basket. She absolutely loved harvest days. Which was probably why she had them twice a week, though her flowers and herbs didn't grow nearly that quickly. She liked checking in on them, too.She plucked some chamomile and lavender, walking through the forest that she often considered her own private, rather large, garden. She kept plenty of herbs and flowers growing for their medicinal benefits. Not that she was a healer, not even close. But she thought she could start learning, even if she had no one to teach her. She could learn from her books, as she tested them on her own little cuts and bruises.She always wore her white dress for harvest picking; she liked wearing the color of the snowdrops she gathered. Even if her dress stained every color afterwards, changing all the shades of the herbs and flowers she gathered.Elizabeth gasped as she came upon the snowdrops, covered with blood. The beautiful st
Elizabeth needed to speak to James. He had left before she could say anything else, and she hadn't seen him for three days at all. She needed to speak to him, to clear things up, to understand what was happening.Her heart pounded every time she heard a knock on her door, every time she left her house, every time she had a patient at the clinic.Each time, thinking it was him. Or hoping.She couldn't stop thinking about the kiss, no matter what she did. Bass's treatment of her had been long forgotten, completely overshadowed by his Alpha. And no matter how much she had cleaned her room, all she could smell was the Alpha.Elizabeth thought she was going insane, since she could smell him at the clinic too. And the last time he had been there had been with her, when she still hadn't known who he was. Yet she could smell him as clearly as if he had just been there.And through all of what she felt, was an intense, overarching guilt. She was supposed to be waiting for Phillip, she was
James walked through Bass's rooms. The Beta, like the Alpha, had both private rooms and a Hall. The Hall was where the Alpha, or Beta, met with whoever of the pack needed to see them.By Law, James could go wherever he liked, even into the private rooms. But he tried his best to respect his pack's privacy, even his Beta's, and only visited him in his Hall.Seeing the distressed look on James' face, Bass sent everyone out, and James had the room to himself."It's her, Bass," James collapsed on one of the benches. "It's Elizabeth."Bass pursed his lips, but didn't respond."But she doesn't remember me," James continued, looking at his friend. "I don't know how, but she doesn't remember me at all. I was so sure she was my mate, but how is that possible if she remembers nothing about me? And now," James continues, "She's been avoiding me for days. I swear it's almost like she doesn't even sense my presence."Bass sighed, walking around restlessly."I know you've been searching for h
Elizabeth moved around her apartment, gathering what belonged to her in the cases she could place them in. She'd been here so little, she still had only the things she'd brought with.She had to go back home. Leaving it at all had been a mistake. She should have waited there, like Phillip had asked her. It was a betrayal enough that she had left to become a Healer, but then she should have gone straight home and waited for him.But she'd wanted to help, and to belong to a pack.Elizabeth shook her head, but she knew the right thing to do now was to go home. Nothing else mattered other than that.She heard a knock on her door, went to answer, and found James standing there.The Alpha strode into her room without concern."Elizabeth, I need your help," James said, then glanced at the state of her house, at the things packed haphazardly. Clothes and her med bag already stashed at the door. He looked at her confused. "What are you doing?""I have to go home, I have a fiancé," Elizab