The Alpha’s Broken Healer (The Alpha and The Princess 1)

The gang

Just over an hour later, Ash got a text that her friends were here, she asked them to give her a minute and packed up quickly. Taking her headphones off she lead Zander into his room “my friends are here now, you need a top on and then you go to your office or give Micah back control” she handed him a a casual, button down, grey acid washed shirt. Leaving Zander to make a choice she went out into the lounge and let her friends in, leading them through to her room. 

They left the door open, in the hope that it would keep Zander calmer, it was a mixed group of both boys and girls. No one but Lynne had seen the apartment or Ash’s room before. They all admired various things, her books, her art work, her bedding, her closet, while Ash herself washed her brushes and put the pictures for Xavier and Emery away safely, she didn’t want anyone to ruin the surprise.

As she was working, she bumped into Jake, one of the boys, he was a bit quieter than the others. He had been stood examining a sketch of Zander on the wall. She squealed slightly, her back on fire. She looked up at him, compassion in her eyes. She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. She got flashes of his wolf too, she was sure she had drawn him ‘if you need help, tell me, i’ll make sure you get it… you don’t need to be hurt’ Ash told Jake through a private mind link. Verbally though, she made sure to say nothing, instead she said “come look at this Jake, I think I’ve drawn you… well your wolf” leading him over to her desk, where her sketch pad, she flipped through to the page where the sketch was. Turns out it was Jake, he was thrilled with it. “Thats amazing Ash! Guys, come see! It’s me!” He said excitedly, he looked like he wanted to hug Ash, but changed his mind.

Ash chuckled a little, grinning at Jake. “I’ll make you a copy if you like?” She offered, taking her Sketch pad to her printer and carefully photocopying it. She wrote Jakes name next to the date on the back of the sketch. “Uh, just be careful about actually touching the sketch pad guys, I caught someone looking through and told them off and I think my magic was playing up, then when i handed it to Micah, he got thrown on his ass and i got the sketch pad back.” She warned the group in general. They all laughed and nodded their agreement. She showed them some of her other sketches that she hadn’t identified, it turns out she had drawn Becky’s brother while he was resting during training, and Lucy while she was getting ready to play tag with the others. They all took copies of the pictures. 

Zander hung on the edges of the group all afternoon, touching Ash whenever he could get away with. He didn't say much, though he wasn't trying to make things uncomfortable. The others seemed to understand, they let him get next to Ash when they watched a movie or played cards. They sent Zander off to find snacks and drinks at regular intervals, he always came back with big bags of sweets that were meant for people to take one or two from, and share bags of crisps, blocks of chocolate and big bottles of fizzy drinks. Who would stop the Alpha? The group loved it. 

It was an amazing afternoon, Ash loved being around people her own age that didn't need nursing supervision, who accepted her as she was and seemed to enjoy her company too. They were a great group of young people. Ash had friends again in Lynne, Jake, Becky, Jennie, Lucy, and Frank, she also had Micah and Zander, and Loki, Mark, Jay and even Jessy and Xavier. For the first time in a long time, Ash felt truly honestly hopeful. She believed she could belong here with these people, she could settle down and be Micah and Zander’s mate. She felt like she could be happy. Half of her was semi convinced it was all an elaborate coma dream or delusion and one day she was going to wake up back in some psychiatric facility. Which she would be mightily pissed about, she would hate having to ask permission to do everything again and being told when and what to eat and sleep, having her nights interrupted by staff checking that she was still alive.

As her new friends started to leave, Ash turned to Zander and gave a sigh “I’m tired Zander, can I have Micah back?” Zander c****d his head, he looked like he was trying to puzzle out what Ash meant. He must have had difficulty because a moment later Micah was back in control. He smiled at Ash, reaching out and laying a hand on her face. Ash leant into his touch, her own hand laying over his. “Im still annoyed with you. But I need food that isn't cereal and Zander doesn’t know what else to get… can you get me dinner from the kitchen?” She asked him quietly. 

“Sure baby. You gunna wait here for me yeh?” He confirmed. At Ash’s nod, he turned and headed out of the door. When he returned 10 minutes later, he had a tin foil wrapped plate. “It’s only some pasta but it should be good” Micah called out as he set the plate down on the kitchen side and pulled out cutlery. 

Ash had pulled on her nightshirt once more and padded out of Micahs bedroom, having just had a quick wash. “It’s all good, thank you Micah” she said softly. Heading into the kitchen and eating at the counter. After a quick meal, Ash headed into her room. Micah had been quiet, she knew he was worried about what she was mad at him for and how he was going to explain it to her. Ash was too tired, it had been a long day and Zander was difficult to begin with. She said good night to Micah, gave him a hug and went to bed. Only to be woken up just over an hour later by Micah trying and failing to sneak into her bed. “You’re worried about tomorrow… let me help you”. Ash realised then that she was actually worried about meeting the mage tomorrow.