A Dream Comes True

JAMES

I’m pleased that Allie now accepts me as her mate.

These last few days have been amazing, having her with me and spending time together. I feel like I’m getting to know her, and that the moon goddess has chosen the perfect mate for me.

I just wish she weren’t so sad about her fight with Jason. I don’t want to be the cause of her losing friends, but there isn’t much I can do to repair that friendship.

I’ll do anything that I can to make her feel better though.

For that reason, I’ve arranged a special surprise for her, and I just hope that it will be enough to take her mind off Jason.

I find her sitting in the kitchen chatting to Clara. They have become friends over the last few days, and I must remember to thank Lucy for choosing the perfect wolf to be Allie’s bodyguard.

I pull Allie into my arms. “Hi, darling. I have someone I want you to meet. Will you come to my office?”

“Of course.” Allie says goodbye to Clara and turns to me. “Who do you want to introduce me to?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“A surprise? Why is it a surprise?”

I know that my mate hates surprises, but I don’t take pity on her. “Wait and see.”

When we enter my office, I’m pleased to see that Tara has already arrived.

“Allie, I would like you to meet Tara.”

“Hi,” Allie says.

“Luna,” Tara returns.

“Oh, I’m not a luna,” my mate begins. “Please, just call me Allie.”

“Not ~yet~,” I remind her. She needs to accept that as my mate, she will be luna to this pack.

“Tara is one of the pack healers. I’ve asked her to provide you with the formal training that every pack healer receives.”

“Really? Oh wow.” Allie jumps up and down excitedly. “Thank you! This is a dream come true.”

“You can still study at the university and complete your degree, but Tara is willing to supplement your studies with training in werewolf healing.”

“I thought we could study a couple of nights a week. Say Tuesdays and Thursdays?”

“Tuesdays would be great, but I work at a bar in town on Thursdays.”

“You shouldn’t go back to that bar,” I protest. “It isn’t safe. You would be better spending your time training to be a healer.”

“Not this again. It’s as safe as anywhere else in Linton.”

Archie has let her have a couple of weeks off while she settles in here, but we had agreed—reluctantly, on my part—that she would go back to work on Thursday night.

“You don’t need to work,” I remind her. “We have no need of the money. I can provide you with anything you need.”

“That isn’t the point. I want to continue working. It gives me my independence.”

I growl in frustration. “But in a bar? Where all those wolves and humans can ogle you?”

“Jeez, is this the real reason for you wanting to stop me working there? Jealousy? It isn’t like it’s a strip club! Stop being so unreasonable.”

We glare at each other, neither one of us wanting to back down.

“I ah… I, I’ll just leave you to it. Alpha, Lu… Allie. Once you have decided on a suitable night to begin training, let me know.” Tara hurries out of the room, desperate to get away from us.

I sigh. I don’t want to argue with Allie in front of members of my pack. They shouldn’t have to see us fighting.

“I’m not backing down on this James,” Allie tells me determinedly. “When I moved in here, you promised that you wouldn’t stop me from working.”

“And I don’t want to, but at that dive bar… I could find you something better.”

“I don’t want anything better,” she huffs.

I know that I won’t be able to change her mind. “Fine. But Clara has to accompany you.”

She nods in agreement, and I decide I’ll speak to my beta tomorrow. If she’s going to insist on working there, I want a couple of my warriors to be there as well.

She doesn’t need to know what they’re doing, but it will make me feel more comfortable.

ALLIE

I’ve agreed with Tara that my healer training will be on Wednesdays rather than Thursdays. James still isn’t happy about me working at the bar, but he has accepted it.

I’m excited when I turn up at the pack hospital for my first lesson. I’ve dreamed of doing this for so long.

Tara is waiting for me, and wastes no time.

“First of all, I’m going to show you around the hospital and explain what treatments we provide here. It will be a good opportunity for you to familiarize yourself with the equipment we use.

“Then I’ll introduce you to a few of the patients, and you can observe me while I administer treatment to one of the patients. I think that will be enough for our first session!”

“That sounds great,” I reply gratefully.

She turns and walks past the reception desk and through a small waiting area. I fall in step beside her.

“Our hospital is fairly large for a pack our size, and Alpha James has recently upgraded all of our equipment.” Her pride is evident.

“Really? That was quick. He hasn’t been alpha here for very long.”

“No, he hasn’t, but from his first day here he has been making improvements. Don’t get me wrong—the old alpha didn’t neglect the pack, but he didn’t see the point in modernization.

“Alpha James, on the other hand, sees the value of upgrading the hospital and the pack school.

“He’s also revamped the warrior training program and insisted all wolves learn self-defense. We all have to be able to protect ourselves, not just rely on the warriors to be there to save us.”

“Makes sense, with the rogues causing trouble.”

She directs me into a room to her left. “You can see from our operating theater that we have the same standard of equipment they have in the human hospital in the city.

“We don’t use it as often as they use theirs, obviously. We don’t have cancers and ailments that require that kind of treatment. But sometimes battle injuries have to be operated upon.

“You’ll meet a patient who was injured during a rogue attack last week. He required an operation to reattach his arm to his shoulder. The rogue who attacked him almost severed the limb from his body.”

“Was that the Savage Wolves’ doing?”

“Yes.”

I haven’t heard anything about Ryan carrying out further attacks. Stupidly, I had thought James would tell me if there had been any. I feel let down.

Surely he realizes that this affects me and that I have a right to know?

“Let me show you the wards,” Tara continues, unaware of my frustration. “You can meet some of the patients and talk to them about the treatment they’re receiving here.

“Sometimes the hospital is very quiet, but we have had a few different cases recently that you might be interested in.”

We leave the operating theater and walk to the end of the corridor to a ward with six beds.

“This is the ward for male wolves. We also have a ward for she-wolves, but it’s unoccupied at the moment. We have three patients on the male ward. All three were injured in last week’s rogue attack.”

“Three? How many rogues attacked?” I’m shocked that three pack wolves were injured so badly that they needed hospital treatment.

“I’m not sure exactly, but the alpha would be able to give you more details.”

I nod in agreement. She had that right. I want answers, and James better be prepared to give them to me.

If Ryan is launching major attacks against the pack, James shouldn’t keep me in the dark.

Tara points to a young wolf sitting on the bed nearest the door. “This is Graham.”

“Hi,” he says with a big smile. “It’s great to meet the alpha’s mate.”

I return his smile. “It’s lovely to meet you too.”

“Graham is the wolf whose arm was almost severed. I spent two hours in surgery reattaching it. As you can see, it’s almost as good as new, and he’ll be able to leave in a couple of days.”

“I can’t wait to get out of here and back on patrol.”

“Out of here yes, back on patrol, no. You won’t be going back to warrior training for at least the next two weeks. You need to give your injury time to heal,” Tara tells him sternly.

“But, doc…” Graham protests.

“No buts. I’ve already agreed with the alpha that you’re on light duties for the foreseeable future.”

Graham stops arguing. The mention of the alpha is enough to shut him up.

“Let me introduce you to my other two patients, Andrew and Craig. Andrew had some nasty claw and bite injuries, but they have healed nicely, and he will be discharged tomorrow.”

Craig had not been so lucky, Tara tells me. The wolf that attacked him had silver embedded into his claws, which had caused a serious infection to the wounds he inflicted.

“The dressings had to be changed daily with a special ointment,” she explains. “He has slowly been improving but will have to stay in the hospital for at least another week.”

“Silver? Do rogues normally use silver to attack their enemies?”

I’ve never heard of something like that before. I know how damaging silver can be to wolves, but I never realized that rogues would be prepared to use it when fighting.

“No, it seems to be a recent thing that the Savage Wolves Pack have adopted. Craig is the first wolf to sustain such an injury.

“It’s rare that a wolf would take such a risk. The wolf with the silver in his claws is as likely to die as the wolves he attacks. In this case, the wolf who attacked Craig also died during the attack.

“We don’t expect that many others will risk it, but just in case, the alpha is investigating protective gear that the warriors could use to shield them from its use.

“Let me show you how we dress and treat this type of injury.”

I’m eager to learn all I can about treating wounds caused by silver, but it’s difficult to keep my mind on what Tara is showing me.

What I really want to do is go back to the pack house and confront my mate. He needs to explain to me why, if Ryan is increasing his attacks, he hasn’t bothered to share that information with me.

JAMES

I’ve been waiting patiently for Allie to finish her first training session with Tara at the pack hospital.

It’s her dream to be a healer, something she thought would never come true, and I want to hear how her first training session went.

I know she will make a brilliant healer. Her intelligence, her dedication, and the way she desperately wants to help people make her an ideal healer. They are also the qualities that make a good luna.

I can see she’s struggling to come to terms with the thought of stepping into that role and ruling the pack by my side. She hasn’t been brought up to it, but she’s gradually coming around to the idea.

When I hear her arrive, I hurry to meet her in the hall.

“Hey, how was your first training session with Tara? Did you enjoy it?”

She scowls at me.

“Is everything okay? Did something go wrong during your training at the hospital? You seem upset.” I’m surprised that she doesn’t seem happy.

“Oh, the training was great. It was finding out that you have been keeping secrets from me that has made me angry.

“Why didn’t you tell me that Ryan was attacking the pack and injuring our warriors, and using silver to cause the maximum damage?”

“I’m sorry, but I wanted to protect you. Ryan is after you, and you had to move in here so I could keep you safe. I didn’t want you to worry any more than you already are.

“I didn’t think it would be helpful to tell you how often he has been launching attacks against us, how brutal he’s being.”

I take her hands. “Anyway, each raid he has sent has failed. They can’t get past our warriors. His rogues have suffered three times as many casualties as our wolves have.”

She doesn’t return the squeeze I give her hands, but she doesn’t pull away either. “You should have told me about it, though. As your mate, you should confide in me, share what is going on.”

Since she had brought it up, I press her a bit. “As my mate, my luna, yes. Are you ready to make that commitment officially now, or are you still just here so I can protect you from Ryan?”

She sighs, and I wait what feels like hours for her answer, holding my breath.

“Yes. I think I am.”

Her hand reaches up to caress my cheek. She looks into my eyes and for the first time, I see no conflict, no expression of doubt on her face. I take this as the sign I’ve been waiting for.

Knowing finally that she will be mine, I pull her into my arms. My mouth descends on hers. My tongue demands entrance, and as her lips open, I’m ecstatic, knowing that I’ve won over my mate.