THE HEALER THEY FORGOT
1560 Words
y a thread.
“What did you do?” Adrian knelt next to me.
I jerked back. “Don’t touch me.”
“Elara, you’re on fire.”
“Stay away.” I could barely see him through the tears.
My mark throbbed under my fingers: once. Twice. A third time. Each pulse sent another shockwave through my body, worse than the last.
My wolf had always been gentle, always quiet. She had never fought Adrian—never doubted him, never pulled away. From the moment our bond formed, she clung to him. Now she was scraping at that bond, desperate to get away.
None of this made sense.
Adrian tried again to reach for me. This time, I couldn’t even fight him off. He caught my shoulder.
“Elara, look at me.”
I did. He looked like he’d seen a ghost—except this ghost scared him. Not for himself. For me. That flicker of concern almost shattered the wall I’d built up around my heart.
“Adrian.” My voice broke. “I don’t get it.”
He swallowed. “I know.”
“You said the Moon Goddess screwed up.”
“I know what I said.”
“So why does it hurt so much?”
He just stared at my mark. “I don’t know.”
And that was worse than the pain. Because Adrian was supposed to know. Mates were supposed to know. He’d always sworn he’d protect me, swore nothing could tear us apart.
I grabbed his hand. He looked shocked. Honestly, I hated myself for doing it. But five years of loving someone doesn’t just vanish because you stumble on him with your sister. Not in one night. Not in one breath. I just needed one last answer.
“Adrian.” He met my eyes. “If I let you go…”
I stopped, throat tight. I forced myself on. “If I let you go, will you ever regret it?”
He changed. His mouth opened. No sound. I waited—one second, two, three. He looked away.
That was all I needed.
I let go of his hand. “All right.”
“Elara—”
“No.” I wiped my tears. “You don’t have to say anything.”
I tried to stand. My legs wouldn’t hold me. Adrian caught me again.
“Let me help you.”
I pushed against his chest. “I said no.”
“Elara, you can’t even stand.”
“I’ll stand,” I said. My voice shook. “But I won’t let you carry me.”
He just stared at me. “You’re hurt.”
“I know.”
“You need help.”
“I know.”
“Then stop fighting me.”
My eyes stung. “I’m not fighting you.” My voice was almost a whisper. “I’m trying to survive you.”
Silence.
Behind him, Lena was crying. I wouldn’t look at her. If I did, I’d break.
Adrian let me go. I pressed one hand to the wall, then another. My legs shook so much I barely managed to stand. It took everything I had. Honestly, I thought I’d collapse again, but I didn’t.
I stayed on my feet. Barely. Still counted.
Adrian just watched, expression all mixed up—guilt, pity, maybe both. I didn’t want either.
I straightened up as much as I could. “I’m leaving.”
He said, “Where will you go?”
I tried to smile—half-broken, but still a smile. “Anywhere you aren’t.”
One step, pain screaming through every bone. Another. Then another. The door was finally in reach.
My fingers closed around the handle.
“Elara.”
I closed my eyes. Didn’t turn. “I’m sorry,” he said.
I almost laughed. That word didn’t mean much now.
“Keep it.”
And I walked away.
—
The hallway felt colder. Or maybe I was. My body felt empty. The bond that used to fill my chest with heat—it was gone. Or almost. Something was left, just a tiny thread, a piece of pain that clung to me.
Why? Adrian rejected me. Wasn’t it supposed to snap completely?
My wolf barely answered. She’d curled in deep, whimpering.
I’m here, I told her. But she didn’t answer.
With one hand on the wall, I kept moving.
Halfway down the hall, footsteps echoed behind me. I didn’t need to turn.
“Please, Elara.”
Of course. Lena’s voice. My sister—the girl who always made me feel safe. Now, just hearing her made me sick.
“Go away.”
She stopped. “I just want to talk.”
“I don’t.”
She kept trying. “I know you’re angry.”
That was it. I turned, eyes full of tears. “Angry? Is that what you think this is?”
She drew back. “I never—never wanted to hurt you.”
I stared at her. “So why did you?”
She looked down. “I—tried to stay away from him.”
“For how long?”
She just stayed quiet.
I let out a thin laugh, sharp with pain. “Exactly.”
“Elara, I swear—”
“Don’t,” I cut her off. “You don’t get to promise me anything.”
She moved toward me. I stepped away.
“Please.”
“No.”
We just stood there for a minute. And I remembered being kids—Lena hiding behind me, Lena sleeping in my bed after nightmares, Lena calling me her favorite person in the world.
I thought nothing could break that.
I was wrong.
She whispered, “I love him.”
There it was. Truth, neat and brutal.
I stared at her. Nodded. “I know.”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“You keep saying that.”
She cried harder. “I can’t stop loving him.”
My chest felt hollow. I wanted to scream, but all I said was, “Then don’t.”
She blinked, confused. “What?”
“Love him,” I said softly. “Pick him.”
Tears streamed down her face. “I didn’t choose—”
“You already did.”
I turned away. She grabbed my wrist. I froze.
“Please don’t hate me.”
I looked at her hand, then her eyes. “I don’t know what I feel.”
She let me go. I walked away. I didn’t hate her. At least, not yet. And that almost made it worse—because hate, at least, would be simple.
—
By the time I reached the stairs, my vision kept sliding in and out of focus. I held onto the railing and took it step by step. My whole body felt heavier with every breath.
I never realized how much the mating bond gave me. Until it drained away.
My wolf was quiet. My muscles barely kept me upright. Even breathing felt like a chore.
But I wasn’t going to fall apart in front of anyone.
At the bottom, a few servants turned away. One whispered something. Another stared at my neck. News traveled fast here. Too fast.
I didn’t have to hear the gossip. I could see it in their faces.
Adrian rejected her. Adrian picked Lena. The healer’s no longer going to be Luna.
I kept my head down and moved on. I wanted to vanish—kind of wished I could.
But the pack hall loomed ahead. That was where we were supposed to have the Moon Ceremony. Where Adrian and I should’ve stood together tonight. Where everyone was waiting.
I stopped just outside, heart hammering. I heard hundreds of voices on the other side, the whole pack crammed into that room.
For a moment, I pictured turning and running into the woods, just disappearing. But I had nowhere else. Everything I’d ever built was here—my patients, my work, even my dreams.
Adrian didn’t get to take all that from me. Not tonight.
The doors were cracked open. Voices drifted out—laughter, whispers.
Then I heard my name.
“Elara has already been rejected.”
My stomach dropped.
“Everyone knows.”
“How humiliating.”
“Her own sister took her mate.”
Someone snickered.
I clung to the edge of the door. They already knew. It hadn’t even been ten minutes. Someone must’ve run and told them.
I pressed a hand against my mark. It still hurt—but under the pain, there was something else. Like a tiny whisper inside my skin.
The doors swung wider. Silence rolled in. One by one, heads turned. Dozens of eyes—no, hundreds—all staring.
At my face. My torn dress. The blood under my mark.
At the girl who walked in thinking she’d become Luna, and walked out alone.
“She came.”
“Look at her.”
My legs nearly buckled, but I stayed up. I wouldn’t fall here. Not for them.
I lifted my chin and walked inside.
The whispers followed me, curling around my steps. Someone near the front smiled. It wasn’t kind. It was smug.
And suddenly, I understood something harsh—they hadn’t gathered to cheer for my future.
They were here to see me lose it.
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