Chapter 2
Leah
Only when the Moonlight patrol brought me back to my cabin did the guard release his iron grip. I knew I’d have finger-shaped bruises, but considering how hopeless I’d felt when I was dragged into the council, I counted myself lucky to escape with that injury alone.
“Be quick about it,” the soldier instructed tersely.
I didn’t need to be told twice; I hurried into the rickety cabin.
Despite having witnessed Kyle order treatment for Mary, the drumbeat of my heart echoed through me. I refused to believe it until I saw such a miracle with my own eyes.
As I crossed the threshold, my gaze locked onto the neat figure of Healer Maria in the flickering lantern light.
The minty scent wafting through the air told me she was administering the same remedy I’d intended to give Mary earlier.
The healer’s movements were poised and practiced, and her hands were steady as she worked.
The fresh pomenta was mixed with a hint of citrus.
My herbalist knowledge kicked in. I recognized the citrus as Lemonwood, known for its anti-microbial properties and often used to bolster the immune system.
The tart aroma banished the odors of sweat and sickness.
A breath rushed out of me. I pressed my back against the rough wall, feeling as if my lungs were working at half their capacity. Mary was getting medicine. It seemed like such a momentous victory, and I allowed myself a moment of stillness.
But that silence erupted as my other two packmates, who shared our cabin, spotted me. “Leah!” they cried in unison.
Despite everything that had happened tonight, the corners of my lips lifted as both Lucy and Phoebe made a beeline for me.
“We were so worried,” Phoebe exclaimed. Her soft brown eyes drank me in, and her chestnut curls tumbled over her shoulders. Lucy beamed at me, nearly squealing. She was the youngest of us, only seventeen—the baby of our cabin. Her delicate frame and porcelain skin accentuated her youth.
Before they could reach me, Healer Maria snapped, “Silence! I’m trying to work.”
Lucy halted as if she’d run into a brick wall. Phoebe’s eyes widened, and she settled for patting my arm—the sore one. I fought back a grimace, but she noticed it all the same. Her gaze narrowed as she inspected me for other signs of mistreatment.
My friends retreated to their respective beds, taking the healer’s rebuke to heart. Like me, they were on edge, worried that if we so much as breathed too loudly, the healer would withdraw her precious care.
My bed was beside Mary’s. I stole a glance at my friend as I removed the few belongings from under my bed. I knew both Phoebe and Lucy’s attention was on me, but I walked on eggshells with the healer present. Thankfully, my friends took their cue from me and remained silent.
I had nothing to transport my belongings, so I used the bed sheet to bundle my clothes and meager possessions.
The healer’s footsteps sounded behind me, and my heart hammered as I realized she was leaving. I blurted out, “Healer Maria, will Mary be all right?”
She stopped and turned to look at me. Her hazel eyes swept over the bundle of my belongings in my arms. “Only Igaluk can know such things,” she said, and with that, she was out the door.
Her statement, devoid of warmth, had my throat tightening.
I understood that she was a Moonlight—and her icy detachment was due to the bitter past between our packs—but surely the heart of a healer should be more compassionate?
A pang of longing shot through me as I thought of my mother, who’d healed our pack with such love and care.
She’d been so passionate about herbalism that she’d studied it at the Silver Moon Pack’s University here in northern Alaska.
While our lands were some of the most southern packlands, the Silver Moons lived in a mountainous region far to the north.
The cold and snow made living conditions there some of the harshest, but some of the rarest herbs and minerals only existed within the ice.
My mom had loved nothing better than to reminisce about her days spent there and the unique flora of the Silver Moon lands.
“What’s going on, Leah?” Lucy’s worried voice brought me back from my reverie. Her hazel eyes were wide with concern, and her youthful face was pale.
I knew the soldiers outside were unlikely to grant me much more time. If they knew how little I had to pack, they would have already marched me away.
“The patrol caught me harvesting the pomenta,” I explained.
“We figured,” Phoebe said seriously. “When the healer showed up, we knew you must have been caught.” There was a question in her tone. Why had my capture resulted in Mary getting treatment? After all, the Moonlights didn’t give a damn about us.
Except for Kyle.
My pulse spiked as I thought of the tall, muscular shifter: jet-black hair framing a face that was both handsome and fierce.
But it was the feeling I’d experienced when our eyes met that sparked through me.
Remembering the frisson of energy made me feel light-headed.
A small, ridiculous part of me wondered whether he’d issued the order for Blood Moons to be treated because of how he felt about me.
I pushed the thought away.
Instead, I grasped onto the one thing he’d said in the council that explained his decision.
“The council has decreed that from now on, Blood Moons will be given treatment when they are ill. They talked about how it was a more cost-effective strategy for a healthy workforce.”
Phoebe’s forehead wrinkled. “Still sounds too bloody enlightened for the Moonlight Council.”
“There was a new member on the council,” I explained. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “The Alpha heir.”
Phoebe’s face lengthened in shock. “Leah,” she gasped, her hands covering her mouth. “You mean Kyle?”
Hearing his name squeaked with such dread made my head swim.
“But Kyle hates Blood Moons,” Phoebe said, distress creasing her olive skin as she tried to make sense of the situation.
Like me, they’d heard the whispers about how the Alpha heir hated us. My stomach twisted as I wondered why he’d ordered me to serve him.
My wolf rose within me. Because he wants us close.
I wrestled her down, quashing such a ridiculous interpretation of his actions.
“He’s overseeing my punishment for stealing,” I explained. “I’m to serve as his personal maid.”
“Oh, Leah, I’m sorry.” Lucy grimaced.
“Be careful, Leah,” Phoebe cautioned. “He’s got more reason to hate us than the rest of these Moonlights put together.”
I nodded, knowing she was talking about the death of Kyle’s mother on our lands during peace negotiations—the catalyst for the war between our packs.
Yet, Phoebe’s worried gaze lingered on me. “Did he do that to you?” She stared at my arm.
I realized she’d noticed my flinch earlier when she’d touched the area the guard had gripped. I shook my head. “One of the guards.”
Something deep within me rose up, wanting to defend Kyle. I wanted to say that he wouldn’t hurt me. But my cheeks flushed as I buried the truth from my friends; I couldn’t tell them that Kyle was my fated mate.
After all, I didn’t understand why he’d decided to make me his personal maid.
The memory of his voice from the council echoed in my mind.
“If she’s a threat, it’s better that I keep an eye on her, isn’t it?
” His expression had been taut and serious, and his gaze was heavy with mistrust. Yet I had sensed something deeper beneath the surface—an undeniable heat of attraction that had coursed between us.
The forceful pull tethering us had almost washed away all thought of how I had been on trial before the council.
My throat tightened. I’d heard stories about the moon goddess surfacing within us shifters when we found our mate.
But nothing had prepared me for the overwhelming sensation flooding me.
Had what Kyle felt been as intense? Trepidation churned within me.
How would we survive being under the same roof while grappling with these emotions?
For a moment, I wavered on whether to share more with my friends, but the guards barged in. “Time’s up.”
I managed to hug Phoebe and Lucy goodbye before the guards thought it prudent to manhandle me again. My friends promised to find a way to send word about Mary’s condition, and then I was once again escorted through the night.
When I arrived at Kyle’s house—a neat, two-story concrete cabin—my heart zipped with a mixture of panic and unwelcome excitement.
I couldn’t discern if I was more worried about seeing that strained expression on Kyle’s face again or feeling the fire simmering in his eyes.
My chest deflated when Mark opened the front door.
Mark was serious but civil as he instructed me on my duties. “Kyle expects you to be up at 6 a.m. every morning to cook breakfast. You’ll have a list of chores left for you on the counter.”
His cool, professional tone was a welcome change to the usual barked orders I’d received from the Moonlights in the kitchens.
Mark led me up to the attic. I was surprised by the warmth of the small bedroom he left me in. It had a bed, a chest of drawers, and a washbasin. Gone was the damp, drafty shack I was accustomed to. He left me to unpack and rest for what little remained of the night.
I unpacked my meager possessions—clothes, a worn-out book, and a dog-eared photograph of my parents and me.
Fragments of a life that seemed so distant now.
My fingers grazed the worn spine of my book on herbal remedies and ancient pack lore passed down to me from my mother.
Despite the warmth and cleanliness of the space, I folded my arms around myself, yearning to be back in our cabin, watching over Mary.