(Zayden)
The healer arrived at dawn.
I was already awake. I hadn’t slept. The bond had been quiet all night, but the silence was worse. It was like waiting for a blade to drop.
Dax met her at the gate. I watched from the balcony off my office.
She didn’t look like the kind of healer who smiled and hummed while she worked. This woman was tall. Broad shoulders under a heavy coat. Dark skin, hair cut close to her scalp. A pack on her back and a staff in her hand, the top carved with wolves. Not ornamental. Used.
She walked like she owned the ground.
Dax said something to her. She answered without stopping. She didn’t bow. Didn’t even look up at the packhouse. Just kept walking toward the clinic like she’d been here before.
Good. I didn’t need another Serena. I needed someon
