The nurse came back in a few seconds after I finished dressing and led us out. We followed her through the familiar hallway of the healer’s quarters, the same one we’d walked down the last time we were here. The walls were plain, the floor scuffed from years of footsteps, and the air carried that faint medicinal smell that clung to everything. Then we crossed into what I could only describe as the alpha’s wing. I’d never really been in this part before, at least not that I could remember clearly, but something about it felt different— heavier, like the space itself knew it belonged to someone important. My gut told me this was the alpha’s domain, even if I couldn’t point to why.
The nurse stopped at a door to the side and gave a quick knock, her knuckles rapping softly against the wood. A
