Chapter 27

Harper’s POV

After a quick breakfast, I duck into my small office. My body aches from last night’s events and the lack of sleep. Every time I fell asleep, Lucas plagued my dreams.

Golden eyes followed me through darkness, calloused hands held me against a wall, and teeth scraped against my neck. After waking up three times from the constant replay my mind was sending through my dreams, I couldn’t take it.

So, I got ready for the day, prayed that I wouldn’t run into Lucas, and rushed down to the dining hall for breakfast. Two bagels, some sausage, and a glass or orange juice later, I finally turn the lock and fall into the chair behind my desk.

I nibble on the granola bar I snagged from the kitchen and hide. I don’t want to see Lucas. Honestly, I don’t know what will happen when I see him next, but I know it’ll be awkward. How could it be anything else after what happened last night?

The idea of confronting him isn’t ideal either.

It would be best if both of us could forget and leave it in the past.

Sighing, I finish off my granola bar and lay my head back, closing my eyes. If I could just get a moment of rest, I’ll be ready for the day. I may be a bit sluggish, but I’ll survive.

One night without sleep won’t kill me.

“Healer Harper!”

I jolt awake to someone banging on the door and shouting my name.

“Healer Harper! We need you!”

Scrambling up, I stumble to the door and unlock it to find a frantic warrior standing there covered in blood.

“What happened?”

“There was an attack. They hit our midday patrols,” he tells me, and I pause.

“Midday?” I glance at the clock on the wall and silently curse. I’d slept through half the day. “Take me to them.”

I follow the man to the main medical room where ten men lay bloodied and battered. Groans and rattled breathing sound through the room, and I scan each of them, finding three critical black bands, four declining red bands, two major injury yellow bands, and one stable blue band.

Immediately, I rush to the black bands, touching each man and sending healing magic into their bodies. My magic flares to life, flowing through me and out of my fingertips. It weaves through the men’s nerves, muscles, and organs, stitching and mending as it goes.

The man with the neck wound stops gurgling and gasps, breathing freely, while the man with the chest wound heaves a sigh of relief.

“You’ll be alright,” I murmur, wiping the sweat off my brow. They’re still too weak, so I call another doctor to finish taking care of them while I move to the next set of patients.

Two of the four with red bands are unconscious, but each of them is close to being in critical condition. After checking their pulses, I move to the two with the slower and repeat my healing process.

My body grows hotter and weaker with each man I heal, and I soon find myself swaying on my feet. I heal them only until they’re out of critical condition, leaving the rest to medicine and herbs.

The other two doctors in the room rush to aid the nurses as I fall into a chair in the corner. I don’t leave because they might need me again. I must be ready if they bring more injured in.

But, even as I think that, I have to blink away the darkness that creeps into the edges of my vision. I try to shake it awa, but it only grows to the point that my vision flickers and fades.

“Healer Harper?”

I squeeze my eyes closed.

“Are you okay, Healer Harper?”

Nodding, I lift my fingers to my eyes and press the last bit of healing power I have into my own eyes. Swirls of purple and silver fill my vision before I open my eyes and look around the room.

Several people are watching me, which makes my face heat with embarrassment. I must look weak to them.

“I’m fine,” I mutter, standing to prove myself. I barely manage not to fall over, but I don’t. After a moment, they all go back to what they were doing, and I have a moment to scurry away to my office once again.

Stupid mark. With my body growing continually weaker, my healing ability has less energy to draw on. Healing ten people shouldn’t put me out of commission so easily.

I also silently curse Lucas again. Not only am I weak but I’m running on less sleep than usual, which doesn’t help. I didn’t forget that he also distracted me from finding my mark mate. If I’d found him last night, then I might’ve been able to break this cycle.

Once in the silence of my office, I take a moment to call Mason. He answers the phone quickly, “This is Mason.”

“Mason, this is Harper,” I mutter, closing my eyes and resting my head back on my chair again. “I wanted to ask if you’ve found anything on the man in the picture I gave you.”

There’s a pause from his side before he clears his throat and speaks, “Sorry, sis.” I cringe at the nickname. “I’ve been carefully searching through our records and haven’t found anything. However, I am going to start talking to pack members to see if anyone knows him.”

I sigh. It hasn’t been long since he received the task from Lucas, but I hoped he would’ve found something by now.

“Alright, thanks, and please keep me updated.”

“Yeah, I will. I didn’t mean to leave you out of the process, Harper,” he says, sounding a bit more sincere than he’s ever sounded. It throws me off momentarily, and he adds, “You alright?”

“I’m fine. Just hungry. Thanks again.”

And I hang up.

He’s never been as awful to me as Sierra or Ruby, but he also never kept them from mistreating me. I didn’t know how to interact with him before, and I guess I still don’t.

My stomach takes that moment to roar in hunger, and I stand up. I need energy and food, so I make my way down to the dining hall. I’m late for lunch, but they’re still serving, so I jump in line and load up a large plate.

There aren’t many people in the room, but I still take my food to-go just in case Lucas decides to show up. I return to my bedroom, finding it the safest place to avoid unwanted visitors, and eat in peace.

If Mason can find the man who marked me, I can actually pursue a relationship with my real mate. Meaning, I’ll be staying here and not returning to the human quarters once I’ve broken the mark bond.

I hadn’t thought of staying long term, since I figured I wouldn’t be fully welcomed, but now…

I have a healing job within the pack, which is something I’ve always wanted. My best friend is here, and I missed her when I was away.

And now, I have a mate here.

I have a reason to stay.