The Pack Doctor Is My Mate

Meeting Raven, my wolf

Riley POV

I don’t know how much sleep I managed to get last night if I got any at all. My mind kept circling around the damn party Waylen forced on me, replaying every detail of his threats.

Even when I tried to convince myself I could resist him, the truth was obvious: I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. Waylen Hector, the Alpha’s son, uses his position like a weapon. Whatever he wants, he gets. Whatever he commands, I’m expected to obey… or bleed.

I lie in my shabby excuse for a bed, fighting to let sleep drag me under. Every inch of my body throbs from yesterday’s beating. My skin burns where the wounds reopened, my muscles ache so much I can hardly turn over. I keep wondering how long I can survive like this. Because right now, I’m exhausted physically, mentally, even emotionally. I feel like a worn-out cloth that’s been dragged across thorns for years.

Just when I think I might drift off, a soft whisper echoes at the back of my mind.

“I’m with you always.”

I jolt upright, heart hammering. That voice gentle, soothing doesn't’t belong to anyone in this pack. No one here talks to me like that.

“You’re frightened,” the voice says again, even softer this time.

I sit up straight in my bed, my breath caught in my throat. Fear and confusion swirl inside me, but the voice continues, calm and warm:

“Don't be afraid. I’m your friend.”

A moment later—

“I am Raven. I’m your wolf.”

My breath leaves me in one shocked gasp.

“My wolf?” I whisper out loud, eyes widening at the darkness around me.

“Yes,” she answers, her tone gentle. “I’m sorry I took so long to speak to you. But I’m here now.”

I’ve imagined this moment for years. I’ve cried myself to sleep wondering why she never spoke, wondering if I was broken… if even my wolf hated me. But here she is, soft as moonlight, comforting me in a way no one ever has.

“I can’t believe this,” I whisper, tears stinging my eyes. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting. I thought maybe you’d never talk to me.”

“I’m here,” Raven says. “And we’re together now.”

Her voice wraps around me like warmth I’ve never known. For the first time in my miserable life, I feel something like hope. I fall asleep after hours of talking with her—asking questions, telling her everything I’ve survived, listening to the soothing hum of her presence. Raven is sweet, warm, protective… everything I’ve ever needed.

I wake up the next morning feeling lighter than I’ve felt in years. Still sore, still weak, but emotionally different. I shower quickly, put on the only clothes I have that aren’t stained with blood, and hurry out of my room before someone bursts in to drag me out.

As soon as I push open the clinic door, a deep masculine voice greets me.

“Good morning.”

I turn around, surprised, and come face to face with Nolan.

You know Nolan the Beta’s son, Waylen’s best friend, and the second-worst tormentor in this pack. When he’s with Waylen, he’s brutal. Cruel. Cold. But when he’s alone… he’s less sharp. Still not kind, but not as deliberately evil. I’ve always wondered why he switches personalities like that, but honestly, his business isn’t mine.

“Good morning,” I reply flatly as I walk inside.

“I need you to dress a wound I have,” he says, but I catch something strange in his voice tiredness, maybe pain, or maybe just annoyance.

“After me,” I answer, stepping into the clinic. He follows behind me, closing the door quietly. There are no patients yet no surprise, since the pack didn’t go raiding last night. When there are no attacks, there are no broken bones for me to mend. Rare blessings.

“He looks handsome,” Raven whispers in my head, her tone amused.

I roll my eyes internally.

I have never, not even once, taken a moment to admire a man’s looks. Not here. Not in this hell. My mind, my heart, and my entire body belong to only one person my mate, whoever he is. I don’t have space for anyone else.

“You saw it,” Raven teases, her voice sing-song and light.

I accidentally bump my hand against the wall, hissing from the sting.

Great. That’s what I get for reacting to my own wolf.

I turn back quickly, relieved to see Nolan distracted with something on his phone. Thank the Goddess.

I gather what I need to treat him and gesture for him to sit on the examination bed.

“The wound?” I ask.

He unzips his shirt and pulls it open, revealing a toned, muscular chest. There's only a small cut—barely a scratch.

Seriously?

This tiny thing? I’ve seen newborn pups with bigger wounds.

This boy definitely didn’t come here because he needed treatment. Something else brought him here, and I don’t want to think about what that might be.

I treat the cut quickly and efficiently, keeping my eyes anywhere but his chest. By the time I’m done, a few patients have already arrived, and Nolan slips out without another word.

The rest of my day is long. Painfully long. I treat one wolf after another, using medicines I made but am not allowed to use on myself. Every time I look at the herbs and salves, a bitter feeling burns in my chest. I heal them, but I’m left bleeding.

By midday, I’m done at the clinic and officially forced to start organizing Waylen’s shitty excuse for a party.

His mate ceremony.

Just thinking about it makes my stomach twist.

Tonight, he finds his mate.

The next Luna.

The future ruler of this hellhole.

I actually wonder pathetically if he’ll stop f*****g every girl he comes across once he meets her. He was literally balls-deep in some girl yesterday morning, and now he’s talking about having a “girlfriend.”

Please.

I drag myself into the party hall a big, open space that always smells like sweat, alcohol, and broken condoms after gatherings. My wolf whimpers at the scent.

“This place has bad energy,” Raven mutters.

She’s right.

I begin cleaning, arranging tables, preparing drinks, setting up decorations that Jasmine insisted on. Hours pass. My body aches, my vision blurs, and my fever creeps back. But I keep going, because if I don’t, I’ll be punished again.

By late evening, I return to my room barely able to walk. My limbs feel heavy, my skin burns, and my breath comes out shaky. I finally collapse on my bed, wrapping myself in my thin, ragged covers and hoping the Goddess will let me sleep for just one night without someone barging in.

But no.

Not even five minutes pass before the banging starts.

Loud. Violent. Unnecessary.

The door swings open with a crash, and there they are Waylen and Jasmine. Just seeing them together makes my stomach twist in disgust.

“As far as I know, he wants nothing to do with that b***h,” I think bitterly.

But who knows with them? Their relationship is like their personalities—unstable, confusing, and impossible to understand.

“Get out of that ragged bed, b***h!” Waylen barks, yanking the covers off me.

I grab the blanket instinctively, trying to cover my half-naked body.

My clothes were sticking painfully to my wounds, so I removed them earlier to treat myself. But I’ll be damned if I let Waylen of all people see me like this.

“Leave me alone, please,” I whisper, hating the weakness in my voice.

He scoffs, disgust written all over his face.

“What the f**k are you even trying to hide? Those wounds? Those scars?” His eyes roam my battered body with a wrinkle of distaste. “There’s nothing there worth hiding.”

Something inside me snaps, and for the first time in a long time, I ask:

“What do you two want?”

Jasmine gasps dramatically, like she’s shocked I even dared to speak.

Waylen’s eyes darken.

“Do you know who you’re talking to?”

His foot slams into my ribs.

Once. Then again.

I curl in on myself, refusing to cry even as pain explodes through my body.

“You’ll learn your place,” he snarls.

“You treat the wounds of every wolf in this pack. That is your job.”

His hand cracks across my face.

Tears blur my vision, but I don’t let them fall.

“What did I even do?” I whisper.

Waylen steps closer, towering over me.

“You hit my girlfriend.”

Girlfriend?

Is he talking about Jasmine?

The same girl he treated like trash yesterday?

The same girl he cheated on literally twelve hours ago?

Jasmine beams at the title like a delusional i***t.

“Why are you smiling?” she snaps suddenly, glaring at me with hatred burning in her eyes.

She leans into Waylen’s side like she belongs there.

“Punish her,” she whispers. “Make it hurt.”

Waylen smirks down at me, enjoying every second of this.

“Oh, I have the perfect punishment,” he says.

“She’s going to be the sole organizer of my party tomorrow.”

My heart drops.

The one party I never want to be near.

The one where Waylen finds his mate.

The one where I’ll have to walk among drunken wolves grabbing at me like toys.

“But that’s not my work,” I blurt out. “I only work in the clinic!”

His eyes darken into something dangerous.

Too late.