The Healer’s Mate

Red

Jane POV

I pulled nervously at the end of my shirt. Ethan would be home soon with Ben and the other warriors. I wasn’t ready to se him yet but I knew it was inevitable. Instead I busied myself with organizing the rooms in the infirmary. I jumped when I heard loud noises coming from the hall. Ben came crashing through the doors holding Ethan up. Three more came in doing the same for two of Ben’s men. 

“What happened?” I asked springing into action. 

“He swerved not to hit a deer and rolled his jeep. We stopped to help him but the car behind us rammed into us from the back,” Ben began explaining while he laid Ethan out on a bed. The other two men were laid next to him on beds. 

“Go back to the main entrance, find Emily and Jacob and ask them to come here,” I said as calmly as I could. I needed him out of the way as much as I needed them to help. I assessed Ethan’s gash above his head and what I assumed was a broken wrist. Moving on to the first of the two men I realized his injuries were more severe. 

“Triage, triage, triage...” I repeated the words Dr. Reynolds had taught me about emergencies. Taking a deep breath I assessed the wound on the man’s abdomen. He groaned in pain. 

“Hey what’s your name?” I asked gently.

“Gabe” he managed through the pain.

“Hi Gabe, I’m Jane. I’m going to have to look at this injury you have, okay? It’s going to hurt for a minute but I’m going to give you some medicine.” Gabe nodded at my words. I inserted a needle into his arm to start an IV and gave him pain medicine. Moving back around to the bed I moved to pull a large shard of glass from the mans side. He flinched but stayed still and I could tell the pain meds were doing their job. I cleaned his wound and started stitching it up. 

“Jane!” Jacob and Emily came running into the room. “What happened?” 

“Ask him,” I said nodding in Ben’s direction. 

Jacob’s jaw twitched and Emily’s arms crossed in front of her. I listened passively as Jacob retold the days events. Leaving the man to rest I checked out the other one. He was only scraped up so I gave him some pain relief and water. By the time I was done, Ethan was up and discussing what they needed to do next. His alpha bloodline helped him heal faster than the others. 

“Emily, you stay here and help Jane with these guys. Let them know we’ll be in my office,” he walked out with Jacob behind him. 

“Hey... do you need anything?” Ben asked me under his breath. His closeness was intoxicating. 

“I need you to leave me alone,” I said coldly. 

He turned and left without another word. I couldn’t help but think if we had met here if things would be different. Without his father, he might be kinder and more willing to be a mate. His long legs fit into his jeans like they were made for him and his slender but toned body was defined by every shirt he wore. I could still feel the knot in my stomach from his very public rejection. 

“Woah” Emily looked at me with wide eyes. 

“Yeah, a lot happened while we were gone,” I told her. 

. . . 

“So wait, he just said ‘thanks but no thanks’?” Emily asked sipping from her glass of Merlot. 

“Yeah, but without the courtesy of a thanks,” I replied taking a long gulp. 

“I just don’t get it. I didn’t think anyone was able to resist the mate bond,” she said with her mouth open. I knew what she was thinking. Emily and Jacob were high school sweethearts turned mates at 18. Everyone knew they would be and not much changed for them. I could remember Ethan’s enthusiasm for him turned jealousy. He’d never shown it to Jacob but I had seen it and comforted my brother through it. 

“So what do you think you’ll do?” She asked.

“I don’t think I have much of a choice. He doesn’t want me around, I can’t make him.” I heard my voice falter at the end. “But for now, I’m going to get more wine,” I grabbed a bottle and walked out of Emily’s living room into the pack house kitchen. We had spent most of the evening into night catching up while Jacob and Ethan were still in a meeting so the house was mostly empty. The only lights on were under the cabinets and they cast dim shadows on the floor. I padded to the wine fridge and looked through what was left. Squinting to read the labels I found a sweet blackberry wine and pulled it from the wrack.

“Red or white?” A voice asked from behind me startling me as I stood up abruptly. Ben stood by the fridge with his hands in his pockets. His eyes were dark as he eyed the empty bottle in one hand and the new one in my other. He wore a simple black T-shirt with grey sweatpants which must have been because he’d just gotten out of the shower as droplets we’re still glistening off his dark hair. 

“Why do you care?” I half scoffed half laughed turning back to Emily’s room. “Actually... red. I like red wine,” I slurred. “I want you to remember that. When you go home to your pack, I want you to remember everything about me. And I hope it haunts you,” I turned to make a grand exit. Instead my hip caught the edge of the island and I flinched, dropping both the full bottle and the empty one. They crashed to the floor and red went everywhere. 

“f**k,” I groaned as I tip toed around the broken glass. 

“Here let me help you,” Ben reached to grab my arm but I jerked it away. The momentum caused me to fall back and step on a shard of glass. 

“Ow!” 

“Just let me help you!” He stepped towards me over the minefield. 

“Don’t touch me!” I jerked away from his grasp

“What the hell is going on?” Ethan’s voice boomed from the back door with Jacob at his side.

“Trying to get away from him,” I said spitefully.

“Jane?” Emily gasped from the other side. 

“Can you help me out of here?” I asked her. She quickly moved to support my injured foot and I laid an arm over her shoulder. We hobbled to the hospital without another look behind us.