[Hyacinth]
Ash starts screaming. She is angry to see me. Not just angry, livid. She yanks my hat and sunglasses from my face, pointing and shouting. I expected her to be surprised if we were to come across one another, but our relationship had always been jovial. Before the incident, we were the best of friends. Why would she be so angry to see me?
“Cindy! What are you doing here?! You need to leave, NOW!”
I don’t get a chance to respond before the Alpha grabs her arm and begins to drag her out of the clinic grumbling under his breath something about “behaving like a proper Luna.”
I stand there, stunned for a moment as I take a few deep breaths to even out my breathing. My hands shaking, I reach down to pick up the hat and glasses, useless now that I’ve been exposed. I expected some negativity when I was finally uncovered, but that reaction from my sister hurt me deeply. She was angry to see me, but why? What have I ever done to make her hate me?
Something else is going on here. Something deeper. Something that I think might be connected to what happened that night that led to my banishment.
Maybe, if I stick around, I’ll have a chance to find out. There has to be more to the story, some element that I missed. 6 years is a long time to pass to look for clues and expect to find the answers I am looking for: Who set me up? Why? And what does it have to do with my sister? With a position like “pack doctor,” I could be in a position to investigate discreetly without raising any alarms.
Returning to my patient, I am pleasantly surprised to find she is awake. She even has a bit of energy back, which is comforting to see.
“Your brother was just here,” I divulge. “I’m afraid I didn’t make a very good impression.”
“I know, I heard,” she scowls. “I could hear everything. I’m so sorry, Cindy.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I shrug trying to act like it didn’t affect me, even though I really want to go somewhere private and cry. “How are you feeling?”
She tells me about her aches and pains as I do another quick examination. While I emphasize her need to get additional care as soon as she is able, I also confirm that she’ll be ready to go rest at home in a couple of hours.
“Are you sure you can’t stay and be my doctor?” she bats her eyes at me hopefully. “Please say you’ll stay. I trust you. I feel safe in your care. I don’t want another doctor.”
Should I stay?
I think of my son, who has never been able to stay in one place for longer than a month at a time. A boy with no friends except for his mother and her assistant. A boy with so many questions about who he is and where he comes from, answers that I cannot give him. I think of my own heartbreak and loneliness at being forced to leave my pack all those years ago.
Something stirs deep within me. It's almost as if I can hear a voice saying “Stay.”
And at that moment I made a decision.
“I’ll stay,” I promise. “But only while you are pregnant and in recovery. Once the baby is born, I cannot make any guarantees.”
“Thank you!,” she beams, her eyes bright. “I am forever in your debt.”
“As am I.”
I turn to see Alpha Danvers standing behind me. Smiling, he holds out a key and an address. “I was hoping you’d agree. Here is the key to the pack doctor's house. You’ll find it is conveniently close to the clinic,” I take the key from him cautiously. “Use it freely for as long as you are with us. Consider it your home.”
“Thank you…I…”
“I’ll stay with my sister until she’s ready to be released. You can go ahead and get settled into your new place. I’m sure you’ll have a lot to do before you report to work tomorrow morning.”
I graciously take the key and assure Blake that I will stop by her house later to check on her. I give her my cell number and ask her to text me her address as soon as she knows where she’ll be staying.
Drew, Bash, and I meet up at the new house and begin unloading our truck. Bash begins running through the house in excitement, lying down on the floor and doing “carpet angels” as he basks in the size of the living room. “
“Why don’t you go pick out your room?” I suggest, laughing along with him as he expresses his joy through jubilant giggles. “My own room! Really?”
I nod, letting him explore on his own.
Drew is humming as he opens cupboards and drawers in the kitchen. His long blond hair is swept back in his usual braid he sways a bit on his feet, dancing to a song in his head. When he hears me coming, he grins showing all of his straight white teeth, his brown eyes glowing in pleasure. “You did good for us this time, Cindy. This place is a real gem!”
His praise makes me blush and turn away. Drew and I have never been a thing, although I know he wishes differently. “It comes with the job,” I explain, “A job that I start tomorrow, by the way. Do you think you can stay with Bash the first couple of days, at least until I get him enrolled in school?”
“Not a problem, Cindy,” he looks down as he takes a step towards me. “Anything you need.”
I gulp. Thankfully my phone dings. It’s my newest patient, Blake, texting me her address. She isn’t too far from here, just a few streets over. The weather is nice, and we haven’t eaten dinner yet, so I asked the boys if they’d like to accompany me. They both agree, Sebastian is especially excited when I mention there is a burger shop just around the corner from Blake’s place that serves the best strawberry milkshake I have ever tasted.
We find Blake’s house easily and she is in good spirits. She invites us to come by any time we’re free, and Bash becomes excited when he learns she loves chess. He had been looking for a new partner to play with.
“I can pick you up after school sometimes while your mom’s at work,” Blake offers. “We can eat cookies and play chess. That is,” she looks up at me for confirmation, “ if your mom is okay with it”
“Are you sure?” I ask, hesitantly.
“I like Bash,” she grins at both of us. “And I could use the company of a few good friends.”
Friends. She wants to be my friend.
We are all in a good mood, as we leave. Drew, Bash, and I look like any other family in the neighborhood, enjoying the nice crisp autumn air as we appreciate the large moon overhead. Nobody seems to pay me any more attention than anyone else as they pass. Maybe I can return home? Maybe it won’t be as bad as I thought.
As I pull open her gate, I run right into someone I was hoping not to see.
Ashlynd is standing on the other side, her hand ready to push the heavy wooden fence door just as I pull it open. It takes her a minute to recognize me, but when she does, her face grows red.
“YOU! Again!” she growls. Her eyes flash as she looks down and sees my son. “I can’t believe you brought your little bastard with you to see the Alpha’s sister. And who is he,” she looks Drew up and down, pointing in his direction. “Is he the father? Your new boyfriend?” she sneers. “Do you have no shame?”
“Keep your voice down,” I hiss. “And watch your mouth!”
“I don’t know what you are up to,” Ash ignores my words as she puts her finger in my chest, pushing hard. “But I will find out, and when I do you’ll take your lying whore mouth and…”
Ash’s next words turn into gurgles as she falls to the ground, convulsing and holding her head. Foam begins to form at her mouth as drops of blood splatter the sidewalk below her.
Bending down, I block Sebastian’s view of Ash while looking him in the eyes.
“Sebastian, stop,” I beg as I squeeze his shoulders gently. “Please.”
[Hyacinth]“She called you a bad name,” his face is hard with anger. “She’s a bad guy. She needs to pay.”Ash continues to twitch.“We’ve talked about this,” I keep my tone steady and calm. “You need to let her go.”He takes a deep breath, gives Ash one more contemptuous gaze, and then releases her mind. Ash goes very still. A little too still.“Drew,” I try to keep my tone light, but inside I’m worried that Bash has finally taken things too far. “Can you take Bash to pick up burgers and then head home? I need to make sure she is okay.”Drew leads my son away, his face concerned as he looks back to make sure I’m okay. I’m not, but I give a little wave, reassuring him that I have the situation under control. I wish I could say that this is an unusual occurrence, that it has never happened before but I can’t. My son developed this “ability” around the time he started talking about his wolf, a wolf he is FAR too young to have. Over the last two years, Drew and I have had to learn how
[Slate] [Flashback–At the Clinic] The sound of Ashlynd’s voice when she whines sounds like nails raking across a chalkboard–scratchy and painful and slightly vomit-inducing. “Ash, I told you I’d meet you at the packhouse. Why are you here?” “Darling, you know I hate waiting,” she coos as she moves in closer, completely ignoring the fact that I was in the middle of a conversation. “How does it look to the others when you make your Luna wait an hour for you to arrive?” she huffs. I want to tell her I’m busy, but I don’t get a chance. She takes one sniff of the doctor and reaches forward to pull off her hat. “I knew it!” she shouts, pointing at the doctor and snatching off her glasses, “Cindy! What are you doing here?! You need to leave, NOW!” The doctor, Cindy, just stands there, taking the verbal abuse spewing from the mouth of my fiance. Feeling oddly protective of this woman I just met, I grab Ashlynd’s hand and growl softly, “Let’s go.” I pull Ash aside, the nurses and othe
[Hyacinth]“Yes,” I look the alpha straight in the eye as I lie. “I did hurt Ashlynd. She was saying some very unkind things in front of my son. I had a moment of weakness.”The alpha is sitting across from me at my kitchen table drinking a warm cup of instant apple cider. I wish I had something better to offer him, but Bash likes apple juice and we haven’t really gone shopping for food yet. He doesn’t seem to mind as he takes another sip from my “World’s Greatest Mom” cup. “And do you have these moments of weakness often,” he looks down at his beverage. “You don’t seem to me to be the type of person who loses her temper frequently.”“I try not to be,” I admit. Hopefully, the alpha won’t pry too much into the reason behind it all. I don’t want to draw any attention to my son. He takes another big drink of his cider, wincing as the hot fluid makes its way down his throat. “I hate to ask this, but since you are admitting to having…hurt Ashlynd in a fit of anger, I need to ask about so
[Hyacinth] When Lisa showed me to my new office, I wanted to cry. There are papers piled everywhere. Boxes and boxes of them. It looks like in addition to an absent pack doctor, they also have a shortage of support staff. Before I could even make my first rounds, I found myself spending an hour clearing off enough paperwork to reclaim my desk and then another thirty minutes disinfecting it, scraping the grime of old coffee rings and melted candy bars. Part of me is tempted to just burn it all and start over, but I know that each one of those pieces of paper represents an important moment in somebody’s life. As I sift through the paperwork, I find a file with my name on it right next to one with my mother’s name on it. Interesting. Setting them in the newly cleaned-out top drawer of my desk, I promise myself that I will read those later. I have so many questions about myself and my mother. Maybe those files will give me some answers. Around 10 o'clock, I take a break from cleani
[Hyacinth] “The Alpha," Ashlynd repeats. "I need to talk to you right now about my fiance." I take a step back, giving her more space as she crowds herself into my office. There are so many boxes of paperwork piled around there is very little room for me to maneuver as I try to avoid standing in her space. The last thing I need is for her to trip over a box and accuse me of pushing her. I'm already on notice with the Alpha. If we had another incident so soon it would look really bad. I’m too tired and too hungry to engage with her right now. She looks ready for a fight and all I can think about is finding a nice shady corner outside and eating my apple and leftover fries. But instead I'm stuck here dealing with Ash's big feelings over some perceived slight. “I don’t know what I could tell you about him that would do any good,” I sigh, just wanting to be done with this conversation. “I don’t even know your Alpha. I've only met him twice.” “That's right, you don't know him," she
[EARLIER that same day--before Ash and Cindy's argument] [Slate] It’s been a long week. I am trying to pay attention to what Ash is saying, but my mind keeps wandering back to the Doctor. She is an enigma, a mystery that intrigues me and makes me want to learn everything about her. Despite being so strong and brave she also seems to be vulnerable sometimes. “You know what, Slate,” Ash huffs as she picks up the pack finances and puts them into her little pink purse. “I think lunch is over. You don’t seem to have your heart into it.” I can tell that she is irritated with me for not giving her the attention she needs and deserves. She’s right. We’ve been at the packhouse for the last 45 minutes and while she went over finances, I didn’t hear a single word she was saying. I sat there, watching the leaves blowing on the autumn breeze, thinking about a certain doctor whose eyes flashed a bright green, like the color of grass. I was also thinking of the strange changes I’ve been seeing
[Hyacinth] My body feels warm all over as I nod my acceptance while at the same time I feel a cold chill as if a cloud were sitting over my head. Regardless of what he says, Ashlynd will have a problem with this. It doesn’t matter that he says we are “just friends,” she will see this as a date. “Forget about that,” a voice in my head says, “follow your heart.” “Follow my heart,” I whisper. He looks up confused. “What? Were you saying something?” “No,” I lie, grinning. Part of me knows that if I wanted to be smart, I’d stay far far away from him, just like she warned me. Instead I let him guide me out of the office and out into the sunshine. I don’t know what I was expecting from lunch with the Alpha. Maybe someplace fancy with too many forks. It was refreshing when he took me to his favorite deli instead. The wolf behind the counter was a connoisseur of fine lunch meats and I soon found myself rejecting my sad peanut butter sandwich for a beautiful double-fisted sub sandwich
[Hyacinth] The card is hand drawn in crayon with a drawing of a wolf next to a child on the front that looks a bit more like a dog than a canine. Inside it reads "From your secret admire-were" signed in a childish hand "You know who." Bash and Drew must have stopped by to cheer me up. Smiling, I set the flowers towards the front of the desk and open up my top desk drawer pulling out the two files I had placed there earlier today. The one on top is my file, the other one is my mother’s. Both are considerably thick, which feels strange to me because I do not remember visiting the doctor often enough to warrant that many visits. Which one do I open? My mother’s or my own? I decide to learn more about my mother first. I know so little about her. Opening the file the first thing I notice is a smiling color photo of her, clipped to the inner flap of the folder. It is a portrait, most likely from her days working in the clinic, as she is wearing a lab coat with a stethoscope around h