Page 7 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

Edith’s eyes narrow into dangerously small slits as she turns to face the receptionist. “Say that again.”

Sarah snaps her mouth shut.

Edith steps toward her. “I let you work here because you begged me to. You wanted to be part of the healing center even when you didn’t qualify to be a healer. I could have refused you. But I hired you because you seemed sincere. What gives you the right to reject patients?”

Sarah’s face is bright red, but she’s always been stubborn to a fault. Instead of holding her tongue, she grimaces. “She’s nota patient. She’s not one of us. She’s just a waste of space. She doesn’t contribute anything to this pack—”

“And you do?” Edith crosses her arms over her chest, her tone harsh.

Sarah’s eyes widen. “I-I have my wolf spirit! I’m a shifter! I—”

“You contribute nothing to the pack, Sarah,” Edith cuts her off coldly. “Yet, you’re here. Next time you turn a patient away, you’ll be out of a job. Leave your personal feelings at home when you come to work. Am I clear?”

I have to hide my grin.

Edith has always had a no-nonsense attitude. Unlike the other healers who turn up their noses when it comes to healing me, she does the job quickly and efficiently. After Mary, she is my preferred healer. However, she’s a senior healer who usually deals with serious cases. That hasn’t stopped her from taking over if she spots a healer mishandling me, though.

“Come along, Alice,” Edith orders. “I don’t have all day.”

Sarah shoots me a look filled with hatred and tears as I walk past her.

I sneer at her.

Edith’s back is to me, but she snaps, “Stop smirking.”

I immediately put a somber expression on my face.

Each building in the healing center is divided into several rooms where healers treat shifters with a combination of both healing magic and human medication and equipment. Edith takes medown the corridor to the last room and closes the door behind her before asking grimly, “What happened?”

I shrug, and she gives me a stern look.

“That’s not an answer, Alice.”

“What are you going to do if I tell you?” I sit on the edge of the examination table, my voice dry. “Can you make sure it doesn’t happen again? Because I guarantee it will.”

She studies me for a few long moments, and I see the heaviness in her gaze. “Did you piss off Willow?”

It doesn’t surprise me that she has come to that conclusion. Edith is well aware of Willow’s hatred of me. While I have been knocked around by other shifters, these sorts of injuries only come to pass when Willow’s father decides to step in. The last time Thomas brought me into line, I was unconscious for a week. He was actually quite gentle this time, I must say.

I give the healer a humorless smile. “All I have to do is breathe, and it pisses off Willow. Along with half the pack. Do you have any medication for that?”

Edith picks up a tray of cotton swabs and disinfectants and comes to stand in front of me. In an uncharacteristic move, she smooths her hand over my head. “I wish I could tell you that it will get better, but it won’t.”

I lower my gaze, my throat feeling thick with despair that I try my best to keep at bay. “I know.” I try to shrug nonchalantly, but my body doesn’t comply.

“Here.” She reaches into her pocket and hands me a small box. “I know it’s your birthday tomorrow. I got you this.”

My birthday?

I give her a puzzled look before realizing she’s right. I never keep track of my birthdays. I don’t celebrate them. There’s nothing to celebrate about my existence.

As Edith snaps on her gloves, she glances at me. “Well? Aren’t you going to open it?”

I look at her cautiously. “You’ve never given me a gift before.”

“It’s not every day a wolf comes of age.” Edith offers me a small smile. “It’s not much, though, so don’t have any high expectations. My mother gave it to me when I came of age. Tomorrow, you turn twenty-two. This is the most meaningful gift I could give you. I don’t have children of my own, so I thought you might appreciate it.”

I open the box, touched by the fact that she is giving me something that a mother would pass on to her daughter. It’s a silver ring. A plain-looking band. There’s nothing remarkable about it, but as of right now, it is the most precious thing I own. When a female wolf comes of age, she is gifted a piece of jewelry by her mother or some other female elder of the family to signify her entering adulthood.

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