The Healer’s Mate

Friends

Ben POV.

I couldn’t believe she was here. My whole life we had been taught that mates were a weakness that we were not to indulge in. We found spouses, sure, but never mates. I took a seat at the long dinner table next to my father. He simply nodded at my presence before turning to Theo and whispering something. He was always in quiet conversation with my older brother who would soon be alpha. He didn’t seem to think that I would need to be included in these talks. Instead, I sat stone faced thinking of the girl I had just met in the hallway. He brown hair was long, past her shoulders and it curled slightly at the end. Her brown eyes were huge and framed by dark lashes. She was shorter than me, but only by a few inches. She held her head tall, even when I had been cruel to her, she was strong. I wanted nothing more than to run my hands through her hair and kiss her full lips. Instead, I would have to try to hold on to the smell of vanilla in the air because we didn’t honor the mate bond here and there was no way father would make an exception. 

No sooner had I vowed to forget the girl from the hall was she sitting down on the opposite side of the table. 

“Alpha Ethan, this is my younger son, Ben” the man sitting next to my mate nodded in my direction. I nodded back but was more focused on the redness of her eyes that told me she had been crying and I was the reason. 

“Ben, this is Alpha Ethan and his sister, Jane who is here to study some of our medical techniques for the next three days,” my father continued. Jane didn’t look up from her plate, instead she became very focused on a single piece of lettuce she was pushing around with her fork. 

“Ben, what do you do here?” Ethan asked, snapping me out of my trance. 

“I’m responsible for the warriors training,” I kept my voice even even when I saw Jane flinch ever so slightly. 

“Oh I see, and what does that look like on a daily basis?” 

I tried my hardest to give him a run through of our routine but having my mate so close made it hard to focus. I could feel my father’s disapproval from beside me as I finished my explanation. 

“In fact, we’ve got some warriors coming home in two days from an extended mission. We’ll be having a party when they do and you are more than welcome to stay for those festivities,” my father added while hinting to me I had forgotten my manners. 

“I think that would be excellent, don’t you Jane?” Alpha Ethan asked his sister who simply nodded. 

“It’s settled then!” Father feigned enthusiasm. All I could do was panic because I didn’t know how I would handle being this close to my mate for two more days. 

Jane POV. 

Dinner the first night was torture. Afterwards, I was determined to keep my mind off of Ben so I threw myself into work. I had done several stitches, 2 MRIs, reset a broken arm and assisted on a c section with Dr Reynolds. After break, I came back and handed Maria the coffee I had grabbed for her. 

“Patient in room 4 for you,” she called over her shoulder as she left for break. 

I washed my hands and headed to the room. I was shocked to see my mate sitting on the exam table scrolling through his phone. He looked up when I walked in and I could see the muscle in his jaw tick in what I assumed was irritation. I walked around him carefully to lay his chart down.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Training in wolf form with new recruits today, one got too excited,” he said grimacing at his arm. There was a gash around 5 inches long. I looked it over before putting on medical gloves. I cleaned the wound and decided the best way would be to add an antibacterial salve before bandaging it.  I had an idea before I started. I’d only heard of the strength of mate bonds from my friends at home but I decided to give it a shot. I pulled off one of my gloves so that my bare hand could touch the inside of Ben’s wrist. The electric sparks of the mate bond went through my arm but I held it steady. I watched as the laceration that was on his arm healed itself. Tilting my head to the side to get a better look I could tell he was in shock. I tested it for pain and when he didn’t move I decided it was healed. 

“Looks like you’re good to go,” I said simply and turned to leave the room. Ben was quick to grab ahold of my arm. He spun me back to face him and my breath caught in my throat. He studied me very intently before placing a soft kiss on my forehead. We stood there for a minute and I let his warmth wash over me, and then he was gone. 

The rest of the day was uneventful, so Maria and I took an extra long lunch out on the patio of the pack house. 

“We have so much inventory to do when we get back,” Maria said with an exasperated groan putting one hand on her head and leaning into it.

“It won’t be that bad, maybe we can convince Dr Reynolds to help us,” I said giving her my best serious look. We both ended up in fits of historic giggles. 

“Oh it feels good to have a friend at work,” Maria said. 

I got lost in whatever she said afterwards as the smell of cinnamon wafted towards me. A group of shirtless men ran out of the woods into the open field about a hundred yards away. I saw my mate immediately and I could tell he sensed me nearby too. Sweat was pouring down his exposed skin and I wondered what it would be like to reach out and touch him. 

“Hellllooo? Earth to Jane!” Maria pulled me from my day dream. “Girl I know they’re attractive, especially the alpha’s son, but he’s bad news,” She said picking up her glass of water. 

“Why do you say that?” I kept my tone light. 

“He’s just got that player attitude,” she said casually. 

“Oh.” 

“Speaking of alphas, what’s the situation on that drool worthy brother of yours?” She wiggled her eyebrows at me and I laughed out loud. 

“Yeah he’s more of a one mate kinda guy. I feel bad for him, he still hasn’t found her.” 

“Ughhhh that mate bond is such a c**k block,” she rolled her eyes. 

“Yeah... it’s something,” I said with one more glance back at Ben. “Let’s go get started on inventory.”