Healer For Alpha

Don’t Go Too Far

{ Lunanci }

Was I wrong? Should I have kept that as a secret for longer? His sudden face of complete dread makes me think so, but it was my last resort. He was talking about sending me away and I don't want that.

I truly don't want to go back to a boring, excitementless life, I'd kill myself in a week anyway. I think I'm just destined for a young death, Rio has to come to terms with that sooner or later.

"Rio?" I ask when I start to worry that he's not saying anything, he's been paralyzed for a couple of seconds, not giving me even a hint of what he's feeling. So, I try to touch his arm again to feel what he feels.

"I need a second," he blurts out immediately when he feels my touch and gets up from the couch, as if he's running away from me, "Don't talk to anyone, I'll be back in a moment."

He’s gone before I can answer, nearly knocking the waitress over as he flees to the bathroom with clumsy, heavy steps.

Hell, maybe it was a bad idea, but Alpha said Rio is almost ready, didn't he? He's almost in love with me. And I’m... god, I don't know if I’m in love as well. I just know that I don't want to leave, I don't want to stop being around him all the time, I don't want him to be here on his own letting his grudge towards his cousin make him miserable and lonely.

I want to see him fulfill his dream of opening a bakery, I want to meet Alex, I want to meet his family. He always speaks so highly of everyone, I know it can't be that hard for them to accept me, not if we tell them I'm a healer. We just have to stick together and let no one stand in between us. Alpha will make sure of that. But first, I need Rio to be on the same page.

I sigh and start moving my salad around for a couple of minutes until Rio returns, looking a little more relaxed. He sits across from me again and just stares at me, in a different way than he usually does. Not as intense as Alpha looks at me, but... almost.

I shouldn't feel nervous, but I am.

"Okay, so... you're right, my wolf actually thinks that," he says, but he doesn't look excited or even that open to the possibility, "He thinks that because you can talk to him, that magically makes you his mate. But that's not possible, because you can talk to everyone in their minds, even humans, right?"

"Not really, Rio, humans don't have another entity in their mind like you," I begin, a little surprised. I wasn't expecting him to think about this so objectively. I'm almost offended. All the things I read about an Alpha discovering his mate were so romantic... he's not being romantic at all and I don't think I like that, "I've been thinking about the possibility of creating a connection with another wolf and trying to talk to them, just to try it out?"

"No," he growls, but then frowns, "Sorry... that wasn't me. He doesn't like that idea, he doesn't want you talking to another wolf. But, Luna, you're a human. There's nothing about this that's possible."

"Logically no, but that's how he feels," I explain, trying not to appear annoyed by his reluctance, "But let’s pretend he’s right… would it be so bad?"

The way he doesn't answer immediately causes a rock to form inside my stomach and suddenly my hunger disappears, but I keep eating anyway just to do something.

"Well, silence is also an answer," I mutter under my breath a few seconds later, "How about we put this topic aside for the moment? I think you need to think about it some more."

"Yeah, it’s too much information," he replies with a slight nod and grabs his plate.

We both eat in silence after that, Rio doesn't even look up at me again.

I know nothing about men and especially not the werewolf kind, but I know I can’t push too much or they’ll just run away. The only thing I can do is wait.

{ Rio }

I try to remain normal during our walk back to the building, I even try to make light conversation to break the incredible awkwardness between us, but Luna just rolls her eyes. She's clearly annoyed by the way I handled that information, but I don't have the mental capacity to think why or how to make that change.

I have so much on my mind, I can only concentrate on moving my legs one at a time until we finally reach the apartment.

"I want to be alone for a while," Lunanci states as soon as we arrive and she walks straight to our room to lock herself in there, which right now is perfect because I need space away from her to think.

Well, actually, I need someone to tell me what the f**k to do because my own brain doesn't have the answers.

"Hey! What the f**k!" Laurent growls as I open the door to his room with a bang, moving away from King. They were kissing, but fully clothed, thankfully.

"No one's naked, chill out," I roll my eyes and walk over to the bed to lie there, in between them, "I need to talk to someone. I still hate you, but I’m going to put a pause on that for a few minutes, okay? I need you. Both of you."

"What's wrong?" King asks with an amused tone and red puffy lips. Surprisingly, I don’t feel anything when I look at that, "You're upset."

"My wolf thinks Lunanci is his mate," I blurt out, expecting an explosive reaction, specifically from Laurie, but nothing happens. I look back and forth, from Kingsley to Laurie, they both look equally... unshocked, "Did you guys already know or what?"

"Yeah, Rio, we knew. Your wolf went fully 'That's my mate!' on me earlier when you blacked out, he thought I was threatening Lunanci... and I was, if we're being honest," he mutters with a grimace, I narrow my eyes at him.

"Lunanci said you were patching up your differences and you decided not to kill her."

"Mmm, not really. It was more like, we both realized at the same time that I couldn't kill her if I didn't want to get in serious trouble with your wolf, so I guess the little scammer is right. I can't kill her... or can I?" He asks, with hopeful eyes at me. I immediately shake my head, "So that's it then. Lucky girl. Why did she suddenly admit that to you, though? Was that all she said?"

"Yeah, so, she was talking about that, right, about how you won't kill her anymore," I begin, swallowing to moisten my dry throat, "So she said that and I said... well, then you can be free, right? Before anyone else finds out about my little mishap, but she kinda doesn't want that. She wants to stay here, so she told me about the mate thing."

"She’s so damn sketchy, dude. Have you ever checked her phone?" Laurie asks, getting on guard again, "She could be collecting data on it to f**k us over."

"God, shut up," I complain and I push him, "I don't need to, I trust her a hundred percent. Lunanci just loves everything about us, she wants to keep living here, that's her only motivation. She was miserable in her human life and I guess she loves how everything about us is so 'magical' or whatever. But, dude, she really is a healer, I'm not f*****g around. I watched her heal humans and I felt something when she healed me, she even felt my familiar bond with Alex... I didn't even know that was a thing. And she can have conversations with my wolf in my head, she totally isn't lying about that, so please stop calling her a scammer."

"Fine, I'm sorry," he mutters, "Still, it's a problem that your wolf thinks a human is his mate. What if he went crazy during his rut and now he just wants to f**k whatever comes his way, even her?”

"Maybe," I mumble, because it's very likely he’s just so horny he confused that with love, "She doesn't have a wolf, there's no way to prove anything. I can either believe my wolf or don’t."

"But, what about you?" Kingsley asks, drawing my attention back to him, "I've had a bond most of my life, it's an indubitable thing. Even the human side of you can’t deny it.”

"Really? Then how come both of you denied it so badly for so long?” I ask, momentarily distracted.

"Because we had issues, that's not the point right now," King silences me, "You can feel it, inside you... so, do you feel it? If it's not a yes, then it's a no."

Do I? I seriously don't know.

"I like her,” I finally admit, avoiding Laurent's gaze, "I like her a lot, but I liked you a lot back in the day too and there's no bond between us, so how do I know? I've only liked the two of you in my whole life, I have no way to compare."

"You don't need to compare, Rio. Like King said, it's undeniable, a force that draws you to her whether you want it or not. I didn't want to, for example," Laurie says, earning a growl from his mate, "Sorry, baby, I'm just sharing my knowledge."

"There are times when I feel like… like I need to touch her or I'll die," I reply, embarrassed because it’s true, "But maybe it’s just a crush. God, I don't know, it's so hard."

"Damn, then I don't know what to tell you. I think we would need to get help, but we can't. No one else can know about her. She should just leave," Laurent opines, as avoidant as ever. He loves to ignore problems instead of fixing them, "f**k her feelings, bro, just kick her out. If you trust her completely and you know she won't open her mouth, then I believe you. Let's tell her to f**k off, right now."

"Stop that," I growl, "No. I just need to read to figure out if a bond between a wolf and a human is even possible."

"If she could communicate with another wolf in their mind, would that be a good enough reason to show your wolf that she's nothing special to him and not his mate?" Kingsley asks, thoughtfully.

"Yeah, that's what convinced him... but he doesn't like the idea of her talking to someone else, just like you don't like the idea of her talking to Laurie."

"Hmm, but she doesn't have to talk to another alpha. Or even someone who already presented. We can call Diory, your wolf won't feel jealous of a little girl, right?"

"No, Diory is not a good choice, she'd blackmail us," Laurie warns, and it's true. My cute little cousin is not the most selfless person, "We can't involve anyone in the family. All the little ones would talk to each other and within minutes the adults would know too... although, maybe Phi? Phi wouldn't talk, he wants to not be a little one so bad."

"But Phi is too clumsy and big mouthed, you know we can't trust him with important stuff," I mumble. Besides, he must still be upset with me about our encounter outside the hotel the other day, "What if... what if I tell Uncle Oliver?"

"My dad?" Laurent exclaims, "No way, Rio. No. He will tell my father, they tell each other everything, we can’t trust him.”

"Nah, Uncle Oliver is the coolest one of the adults, he’ll keep my secret. And he probably knows way more about this s**t than us. Besides, he lived in the human world for a while, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I guess he could know. And he is cool sometimes…" Laurent lets out, thinking about it, "But he just gave birth, he can't come to Tallahide. We'll have to go to Fallonmore."