Healer For Alpha

Honorifics

"Wait," Rio says, raising a hand to stop me as I move to leave, "Of course you can't just leave by yourself like that. We still have to find a place for you to stay. We have to travel to Toronto."

Does he seriously think we can travel more than ten hours in these conditions? He's crazy. And wrong.

"No," I say, "I can leave by myself, don't worry about it."

"How? Luna, you're being irrational again," he shakes his head, "There are no buses to take you out of the clan. I have to take you."

No way. Because I'm not leaving.

"I'll find my own way," I insist, ignoring his 'what the f**k’ face, "Listen, friend, you've been a great support to me, always willing to help me and I really appreciate it, but I'm not really helpless. I'm pretty good at surviving on my own."

"I don't believe that for a damn second, Lunanci. You've been downright suicidal many, many times," he spits as if that's a bad thing. I actually consider it an advantage in life. Being ready to die means I’m not really that scared of living, "You don't have a good sense of survival."

"That's because I have priorities, if my priority is better than living then that's what I decide," I explain, Rio closes his eyes in stress, "But I can survive on my own, I've done it most of my life. I don't need you."

I just want you. But I'm not going to say that right now.

"But..." he gets all tense again, shoulders up to his ears. He’s so ridiculous, I'm going to miss him so much, "Please. If you don't want me to travel with you, at least take my car."

"Of course not," I refuse, "That would only make Laurie more sure that all I want is to get money out of you."

"Lunanci!" he growls, annoyed, "How the f**k do you think you're going to leave the clan without a car?!"

Real answer: I'm not leaving, dumbass.

"Hitch hicking.”

"No f*****g way," he groans, raising his hands to his head in stress. I think Oliver is right and stressing him out is the way to make him love me.

"Men are very attentive to a woman in distress, I'm sure many will help me and I'll be arriving in Toronto in no time," I continue, loving how he looks more and more frustrated with every word.

"Luna, you're going to make me pop a vessel," he warns, "Don't do that, ever. You are going to get to Toronto… in pieces. All chopped up. Don't get into strangers' cars, especially not with humans, they’re sick."

"Rio, relax," I laugh, unable to help myself now, "I still have my teaser, remember? It may not work on werewolves, but it does work on human men. I'll stop them before they try to chop me up."

"You have no survival instinct at all, you're an insect begging to be squashed," he complains and paces in front of me, "No, you're going to take my car and I don't care what you say."

"I can't take your car!" I exclaim, "It's too much. I already owe you a lot and a car is not something I..."

"You don't owe me s**t," he interrupts me, "Listen, this is what's going to happen: you're going to take my car and take my money because I say so and Laurie can go suck a d**k. I only have three thousand dollars I can cash out, but I think that will be enough for a while. Then, you're going to get in the car and drive straight to Toronto without talking to anyone and you're going to call me as soon as you get there, okay?"

He looks so serious that I have no choice but to nod.

"But more importantly, you have to leave the apartment without me noticing," he adds, swallowing, "Because I don't think I can let you go."

My sweet, silly boy. He’s known me for so long and he still thinks I'm actually going away? After I've said repeatedly that I'd rather die?

"Okay, Alpha. I will,” I reply. Rio looks pained for a second but nods and walks to the door to put on some shoes, grab his keys and leave the apartment, still shirtless.

I guess this is it. I sigh and walk back to the room to gather all my things, my chest tight and my stomach all twisted. I don't want to live without him, but I'm also not going to curl into a ball on the floor and beg him not to make me leave. Maybe that's what I want to do, but I have my pride.

Still, I won’t go back to any human place unless someone takes me out of here by force. And then I will proceed to kill myself.

Once I have everything ready I sit on the bed and just stare at the wall for a good while, considering my future steps and trying not to cry again.

I consider myself a resilient person, so I know I will survive, even if Rio is not by my side, even if I can't sleep next to him or see his pretty face every day.

Really, I will survive. Because at least I will continue to live in this beautiful, magical place.

That should be enough. I should be grateful.

When the door to the room opens I don't know how long has been, but Rio walks in.

"Everything you need is on the table beside the door. I'll go take a shower while you... you know," he mumbles without looking at me and walks past me, to the bathroom.

"Wait... you're not going to say goodbye?" I ask in a small voice. I need one last hug, at least. I was expecting it. But Rio just shakes his head.

"I don't think I can. Just... please go," he begs.

I know I just said I have pride, but my body betrays me and I let out an ugly cry in front of him because he’s refusing to even say goodbye. That is so rude. And he hasn't even let me have one last conversation with my Alpha.

Rio leaves then, completely ignoring me and closes the door as I continue to cry.

I can't believe that this is the last interaction I'll have with him.

And that this is how it ends after all.

I growl and hit my own cheek lightly to force myself to stop crying. This is not the time and place for that, not after he’s made it clear how much he wants me gone.

I wipe my tears with my shirt, I grab my stuff and walk out of the room, running head-on into Laurent and King right outside our room, as if they’ve been here waiting for someone to come out.

"Hey... you're leaving leaving right now?" King asks, looking down at my luggage, "Really?"

"Yeah," I answer and try to keep walking, but Laurent stops in front of me to stop me. If he tries to intimidate me... I'll cry again. Even harder. I don't think I can deal with him right now.

"Wait," he blurts out, looking at me like he doesn't know how to deal with an emotional woman, "I have something to say. Uh... I know I've been a jerk to you, but I'm really not that bad."

"Not always," King adds.

"Uh-huh. So, I thought about it and I'm honestly sorry about the way I treated you since you got here," he apologizes and he sounds quite sincere. Regretful even, "I don't like how sad Rio has been since he found out your bond isn't fated. I talked to him this morning and I... I feel bad, okay? I've been failing him, Alex too, and now you're leaving. He explained a bit and I understand his reasons but I think he's making a mistake."

"Oh?" I blink, “What are you trying to say?"

"Well, that I don't think you should leave the clan," he blurts out quickly, I can only look at him in surprise, "I know what it's like to have a bond, I know how hard... impossible it is to fight it. I'm pretty sure that sooner or later he's going to regret sending you away. I know he won't be able to fight his wolf for long. I don't want him to go back out into the human world once he realizes he f****d up. So, maybe if you stay here, I'll be able to give you to him once he comes to tell me that he loves you and wants to have you after all."

"He's saying this completely wrong," King complains and shakes his head, elbowing his mate, "He just told me his plan and it sounded much more romantic. He thinks you two should be together and he wants to facilitate that by having you stay here."

"Really?" I ask, looking up at Laurent with a small smile.

"Well, yes. There is a bond between you. Even if it's just one sided, I think he should go for it," he blurts out, shrugging as if it's a no-brainer, looking like a nice guy for the first time ever, "Besides, now I know you have wolf blood in you, that means you're not a human. From now on I'm declaring myself your in-law cousin and that’s why I'm apologizing. So, Lunanci, by the power I have as Alpha of Tallahide, I hearby declare you a welcomed citizen of my clan."

My mouth drops open and I forget how sad I am for a moment.

"Holy s**t!" I exclaim, getting goosebumps, "Thank you, Laurie! Thank you, I can't..."

"Hey, that's too much," King warns as I try to hug Laurie in the midst of my happiness, King stops me before I can even touch him, "No hugs allowed."

"Yeah, we're not that close yet, chill out," Laurie jokes with a grin, "So, we have a deal? I can help you get a place to stay, but we have to move fast before Rio comes out."

"Rio is avoiding my leave, so he won’t come out for a while. But yes, we have a deal. And I'm really grateful you decided to be nice, because that helps my plan.”

"What plan?" he asks, narrowing his eyes and sounding suspicious of me again.

"Well, I am a healer, or am I not?" I ask, he rolls his eyes and nods, "I'm planning to heal something that's broken. I'll go see Alex to try and find a solution.”

"Thank god," Laurie blurts out in an extremely dramatic way, so much so that both me and King just watch him with concern as he steps back with a hand on his chest, "I'll pay you. I'll give you a medal. Please fix that broken motherfucker. Release me from him. I'm begging you. I can't deal with it anymore."

"I will try," I promise with a laugh, "Give me your phone numbers, I'll keep in touch. I never planned on actually leaving, by the way. Isabelle told me I'm her apprentice now. After I help Alex, I’ll go to Fallonmore to learn more of this healer thing."

"Oh, well, that's... quite useful for me," he murmurs, looking off into the distance, "Yes, I endorse that. Go study to become a real healer. And once Rio gets his s**t together, I'll have a healer on my clan. My people will love that.”

"Of course, everything I do is to please the Alpha of Tallahide," I say sarcastically and then I extend my arms to King, "Can I hug you?"

"Of course," he replies and responds to my hug. He feels tiny, all bones, but his grip is very strong, "Now, go. You go fix Alex and we'll take care of Rio for the meantime."