Healer For Alpha

Almost There

Rio let Alpha stay for the rest of the day yesterday and this morning when we woke up, he avoided me completely. He only woke up to take a shower and get dressed next to me pretending I don't exist.

If I didn't know it was because he's embarrassed about yesterday, I'd feel insecure again, but I know that's all it is. And I know it will have to pass at some point, so I just get dressed too and once we’re done, we head out to have a silent breakfast with Laurie. Takeout breakfast of course.

"Rio, ride shutgun," Laurent orders once we reach his fancy black car, but Rio completely ignores him and gets in the back, leaving me to sit in the passenger seat, which is incredibly uncool, "What the hell is wrong with him? He's been weird all morning."

"I have no idea," I lie and get in the car. Rio plops down in the back seats to make his unwillingness to talk more evident. Laurent turns to him with a frown, "I think he has diarrhea or something."

"God, Lunanci, that's not true," Rio growls from behind. Surprisingly, Laurent lets out a loud laugh because of my comment and shakes his head, starting his car to begin driving, "Wake me up when we get there."

Damn Rio. Because of him I have to spend a long, long time in awkward silence with Laurent, my least favorite werewolf in existence.

"So, Lunanci... we're going to meet my omega dad, you know? Uhm," he swallows nervously and even though I know what he's going to ask me, I look at him and just wait for him to continue. It's the first time he's not sounding completely high handed while talking to me so I'm going to enjoy it, "Now that we’ve cleared that I'm not going to kill you... and that you might be my cousin’s mate... well, maybe we should really put our differences aside, don't you think? Be friends."

Just because he needs me. Just because he doesn't want me to acuse him to his daddy.

"Really? You've stopped thinking I'm a scammer?" I press, rather enjoying how he stops himself from rolling his eyes and forces a nod, "I'd like a sincere apology before I even think about being your friend. You've been very rude to me. Do you think your dad would like to hear about that?"

Laurent immediately turns to give me a killing look that now doesn't make me s**t my pants because I know he won't do anything about it. He really is just a big, grumpy toddler.

"What, Laurie? Are you going to threaten my life again?"

"See?!" He exclaims, looking back for a second to see if Rio is being a part of this, but apparently not, "How can I trust you if you always act like this? Like you know everything, like you have everything under control, like you have a plan. That makes it impossible for me to trust you.”

"I can't help it, you're too predictable," I laugh, "I know you don't want me to tell your daddy how mean you are, I know you're not going to do anything to me because you love Rio. I'm not a master mind, I just got used to dealing with people like you when I met Rio."

"People like us? How is that?”

"Spoiled rich kids. Sheltered. Evil but... sweet. I stopped fearing Rio when I realized he just wanted to kill me to protect his people, which is noble, so I realized how good he was. And I stopped fearing you when I realized your love for your cousin was bigger than your need to protect your people, which is lovely. So I just can't fear you or Rio anymore because I know no matter how mean you can be… you're the best people I've ever been around," I explain, opening my heart sincerely. He has no idea how truly evil humans are and they’re nothing like them. Laurent takes a deep breath and doesn't blurt out something rude immediately so I know he's thinking deeply about my words, "I won't say anything to your dad, nothing bad. I'm going to be on my best behavior, I just want him to like me. And I want to get to know him. I want to know what he has to say about me… it's all very exciting, I won’t mess it up. We’re all in the same team here.”

"Huh," he blurts out, giving me a sideways glance and is silent for a long time, "I'm sorry."

"What? I didn't hear you," I lie, trying to hide my smile.

"I'm sorry," he repeats, "I'll try to trust you for real this time, you smell sincere. So, if you're not Rio's mate, I'll let you go... but if you are his mate, I'll treat you like my own family."

Surprisingly, I think that's the nicest thing I'll ever hear from Laurie, so I smile and reach out my fist to him. He looks at it for a second before raising his free hand to bump it lightly.

We stay silent for the rest of the way, but it doesn't feel as unbearable as before.

Fallonmore is a bigger and better version of Tallahide. I can immediately tell that things here run much better than in Tallahide and millions of times better than in Vaughton or any human city. All the streets are spotless, there are lots of green open spaces, the houses are gigantic, all the cars I see are expensive, there are lots of businesses and just the vibe is impeccable. I can't imagine what it's like to grow up in a clean, green, wealthy place like this, but it must be amazing.

Laurie drives until we reach a street full of impressive houses and stops in front of a white, modern, giant one with big plants outside the door. This is where Laurent's family lives. This is where he grew up. No wonder he feels he owns the world, damn rich kid.

"I'll go first and prepare my dad for the news, I'll also make sure Diory isn't around," Laurie blurts out after letting out a very heavy breath, "Are you listening, Rio?"

"Yes," he says from behind, "Go ahead."

He gets out and leaves us alone, so I finally turn to Rio. He's still lying down with his legs bent so his long body can fit and one arm over his eyes.

"What's wrong with you?”

"I needed some time to get over yesterday," he mumbles and I roll my eyes, but reach out a hand to touch his bare arm. I close my eyes and let an immediate connection build between us. Rio's shame and embarrassment is real, but more than that, he's afraid of what might happen here once his family finds out about his mistake, how he let a human know their secret. I try to undo those horrible feelings until he can breathe better, "Sometimes I feel like you're violating my mind when you do that... but thank you."

"I'll make it clear to Laurent's mother how much she can trust me and how it was your wolf who came up to me first, without taking a no from you. I promise I won't let anyone think you made a mistake," I promise him and push his arm until I can look at his eyes, "We're a team, aren't we? I'll help you."

"You’re always the one helping me, I feel incompetent," he complains, but sits in the seat anyway, "Was it horrible? Yesterday, the s*x?"

"Nope, it was good," I answer, trying not to let my love be too noticeable in my eyes, "Besides, once you left, Alpha made me come until I begged him to stop, so I wasn't unsatisfied. Don't worry about it."

"Oh," he murmurs and looks down, "You think things will be weird now between us?"

"Maybe for you, but I've been having s*x with you for a long time," I reply with a smile that makes him let out one too, more relaxed now, "Unless I was horrible? You hated having s*x with me?"

"Of course not, Luna," he replies, his cheeks red again, "Although I can't compare it to anything, it was... amazing. Honestly, I've wanted you for a long time, but I always thought we were strictly friends, so..."

"Hmm, and now?"

"I don't know yet, but could we stay strictly friends for a little longer?" he asks. I have no choice so I just nod, "Thanks. You're the best."

I can see how two people come out of the house then. Laurent... and a tall man with brown hair wearing casual clothes, he looks too young to be Laurie’s dad, but that must be some omega trait. As excited as I was, I start to fill with nerves at that moment, even though the man starts signing at us to get out of the car with something resembling enthusiasm.

"Mother, help me," Rio blurts out before opening the door, "Come on."

"Rio, you silly pup, come here!" the man exclaims with a giant grin. Rio approaches him slowly, but his uncle grabs him and pulls his body until he can hug him like a teddy bear. I walk very, very slowly too, "I missed you so much. But right now there's something more important... hello, lady.”

When his green eyes land on me, I stop breathing. Today I'm wearing my best clothes, a long skirt and a flowery top, my hair is perfectly styled and I'm wearing makeup to look as pretty as possible, but I still feel inadequate. That man doesn’t look as feminine as King, but he’s still gorgeous.

"Hi, nice to meet you," my voice sounds horribly shaky and I give a respectful nod that gets a laugh out of him, but as soon as I'm near him the man pulls me in for a hug as well. A hug that almost pushes my breakfast out of me, "My name is Lunanci Hale."

"It’s great to meet you, darling. I'm Oliver Taffy," he replies, sounding so nice and welcoming that it's very hard to think that this guy raised someone as rude as Laurent.

"Can we come in? I'm going to explain everything," Rio says, just as nervous as I am. And Laurent is just watching us with panic in his eyes, expecting the worst.

"Okay, okay, I want to know everything," Oliver replies and walks back into his house, so I follow him. The house is huge but it doesn't feel perfectly designed like Laurent's apartment, it feels like a real home with lots of plants, several pieces that don't make much sense together but that someone probably picked out personally so I immediately like it. As we walk to one of the green couches in the living room, I can see pictures of a little boy who is obviously Laurent, an older man who looks just like him now and a little girl, there are also completely artsy and beautiful pictures of wolves that I try not to look at too much, "How did this happen? I’m so happy for both of you.”

"First of all, I don't know if Laurent told you everything because you're acting normal, but... Lunanci is a human," Rio warns, looking worried.

"Oh," Oliver pauses for a second and my heart explodes with fear, I knew he was being way too nice, "Laurie said you found your mate?"

"Yeah, so here's the thing," Rio takes a big breath, "While I was in that human city looking for Alex... my wolf went crazy. The moment I saw Lunanci, he decided with complete certainty that he was in front of his mate. So he came out and went straight to her to claim her. I tried to warn him: you can't do this! But he didn't care. He walked over to Lunanci and let it all out. You're my mate, I'm a wolf, you're mine, etc."

Olver’s mouth has been hanging open since Rio started with his extremely false tale, but his eyes move to me again. Since we're so close, he leans in a little to smell me, I force myself to stay still like a good little girl.

"She doesn't smell human," he lets out and watches me very carefully, "She can't be a human if she’s your mate..."

"That's the thing, uncle, I know it's impossible too, but my wolf is stubborn that she's his," Rio insists with a whiny tone, "So I did what any smart person would do and brought her here to find out if it's true or not. By the way, Lunanci is a good human. She won't say anything about us, she promised to keep the secret. I know it's kind of dangerous and all, but I swear she would never do anything to endanger us. She would nev…”

"Okay, stop," Oliver says, raising a hand towards him to stop his nervous chatter, "Lunanci doesn't smell like a human and your wolf thinks she is his mate. Instead of thinking about whether he's wrong or not... haven't you started thinking about the possibility that she's not a human?"

For the first time in my life I feel... special. As these three werewolves look at me considering the possibility that I'm not just a damn boring human. I try not to get too excited because I know one hundred percent that I'm not a wolf like them, but it still feels nice.

"Well, there's something else, dad. Lunanci is kinda like a healer," Laurent says, acting as if he hasn't accused me of lying about it, "She can do something weird and talk to Rio's wolf in his mind. Rio says he's seen her heal humans. So she could be something like a human witch with special abilities?"

"You two are way too stupid to explain this in any coherent way. Please, both of you just go away for a second. Give me a moment alone with Lunanci," he orders.