Chapter Three: Five Years Later
1200 Words
“Doctor Vale, the child isn’t breathing!”
The scream shattered the quiet tension inside the operating room.
Every nurse in the royal medical center froze as panic spread through the chamber. Blood stained the white sheets beneath the young boy lying unconscious on the table while his mother sobbed hysterically near the door.
“Please save him!”
I pulled my gloves tighter without lifting my gaze.
“How long has his heart been unstable?”
“One hour,” a nurse answered shakily.
Too long.
The boy’s pulse was already fading beneath my fingertips.
Around me, healers whispered nervously.
“He won’t survive.”
“There’s too much damage.”
I ignored them all.
“Scalpel.”
The tool was placed instantly into my waiting hand.
Five years ago, I had left the kingdom as a broken girl carrying a secret child.
Now?
People crossed entire realms for a chance to be treated by me.
Dr. Selene Vale.
The miracle healer.
The woman who brought dying wolves back from the edge of death.
Some called me gifted.
Others whispered I was unnatural.
Neither mattered.
All that mattered was saving the little boy before me.
“Clear the room except my assistants,” I ordered calmly.
The healers exchanged uneasy glances.
One hesitated. “Doctor… his injuries are beyond—”
“Leave.”
My voice sliced through the room like ice.
They obeyed immediately.
The doors shut behind them with a heavy thud.
Silence followed.
I inhaled slowly, centering myself.
Then I placed both hands over the child’s chest.
Deep beneath my skin, my wolf stirred awake.
Warm silver light slowly spread through my fingers.
My assistants sucked in sharp breaths.
Even after years, people still reacted to my power with fear.
Healing abilities among wolves were rare.
But mine was different.
Ancient.
The glowing light slipped carefully beneath the boy’s skin, weaving through damaged veins and shattered tissue like threads of moonlight.
Pain hit me instantly.
Healing always hurt.
I clenched my jaw harder as the child’s injuries became my own for brief terrifying moments.
Cracked ribs.
Internal bleeding.
Collapsed lungs.
The room spun slightly.
“Doctor…” one assistant whispered nervously. “You’re bleeding.”
I ignored the blood now trickling from my nose.
Focus.
Slowly, the boy’s pulse strengthened beneath my palms.
Weak.
Then stronger.
And stronger.
Finally—
The child gasped violently for air.
Relief flooded the room.
“He’s breathing!”
The mother collapsed into tears outside the doors as nurses rushed back inside.
I stepped away from the table quietly while exhaustion crashed through me like a wave.
Another life saved.
Another scar added to my soul.
One of the younger nurses stared at me with open admiration.
“How do you do it?”
I removed my gloves carefully.
“Pain teaches survival.”
Before she could respond, the hospital doors suddenly burst open downstairs.
Shouting erupted through the building.
Heavy footsteps followed.
The atmosphere instantly changed.
Every wolf in the medical center stiffened.
Fear spread like wildfire.
I frowned.
Then I sensed it.
Alpha power.
Violent.
Overwhelming.
Terrifyingly familiar.
My heart stopped.
No.
Impossible.
A nurse rushed into the operating room pale-faced.
“Doctor Vale…” She swallowed nervously. “The Alpha King is here.”
The world tilted beneath me.
For five years, I had avoided him.
Five years of hiding.
Running.
Rebuilding myself far from the kingdom that destroyed me.
And now Kael stood downstairs in my hospital.
My pulse spiraled dangerously.
“He brought wounded soldiers,” the nurse continued quickly. “They were attacked near the northern border.”
The Lycan territories.
I forced my face into a calm mask even while panic clawed through my chest.
“Prepare treatment rooms,” I said evenly.
The nurse hesitated. “The Alpha King specifically requested you.”
Of course he did.
The famous healer.
The miracle doctor.
He had no idea who I truly was beneath this new life.
Or perhaps he did.
My fingers curled slightly at my sides.
No.
If Kael had recognized me already, he would’ve torn this entire city apart searching for answers.
I had changed too much.
The frightened girl he rejected no longer existed.
A cold knock echoed suddenly against the operating room door.
Then his voice came.
Deep.
Rough.
Dangerously familiar.
“Doctor Vale.”
My breath caught instantly.
Five years disappeared in a heartbeat.
Moonlit kisses.
Promises whispered against my skin.
The agony of rejection.
I closed my eyes briefly before turning toward the door.
“Enter.”
The moment Kael stepped inside, the entire room seemed too small.
He looked even more powerful than before.
Broader.
Harder.
Dark shadows sharpened his face while silver streaks threaded through his black hair near the temples. His black coat hung open slightly, revealing blood staining the fabric beneath.
But it was his eyes that shattered me.
Golden.
Intense.
Locked completely onto mine.
The mate bond roared awake inside my chest so violently I nearly staggered.
Mine.
My wolf whimpered painfully.
Kael froze too.
For one endless second, neither of us spoke.
Something dangerous flickered across his face.
Confusion.
Recognition.
Need.
Then his wolf surfaced suddenly beneath his skin.
The room trembled under the force of his Alpha aura.
Every nurse immediately lowered their gaze.
But Kael kept staring at me like he couldn’t breathe.
My pulse thundered wildly.
No.
No no no.
He couldn’t recognize me.
I forced my voice steady.
“You’re injured, Your Majesty.”
His eyes darkened slightly at the sound of my voice.
“I’ve had worse.”
Gods.
Even hearing him speak again hurt.
Kael stepped closer slowly.
Too close.
His scent surrounded me instantly—cedarwood, smoke, and rain.
Memories slammed into me without warning.
His hands in my hair.
His lips against my throat.
The way he once whispered my name like prayer.
I shoved the memories down brutally.
“I was told you’re the best healer in the realm,” he said quietly.
I reached for professionalism like armor.
“And I was told Alpha Kings don’t waste time on small injuries.”
A faint shadow of amusement touched his face.
The expression almost destroyed my composure because it used to belong only to me.
His gaze drifted lower briefly.
Toward the silver pendant hidden beneath my collar.
The pendant the Lycan King gave me five years ago.
Kael’s expression instantly darkened.
Dangerously.
“Where did you get that necklace?”
Ice flooded my veins.
I stepped back instinctively.
“A patient gift.”
His jaw tightened.
For a terrifying moment, his wolf nearly surfaced completely.
Why was he reacting like this?
Before I could think further, hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Then a small voice shouted excitedly.
“Mother!”
My blood turned cold.
A little boy burst into the room carrying a stack of papers nearly bigger than himself.
Dark curls framed his face while bright golden eyes searched for me instantly.
Kael went completely still beside me.
The papers slipped from Cassian’s tiny hands and scattered across the floor.
Silence consumed the room.
Because my son had just looked directly at the Alpha King…
With the exact same eyes.
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