Page 70 of The Healer and the Wolf: Part One

I was passive about a lot of things, and I let far too many people get away with talking to me however they wanted, but there were some things I wouldn’t compromise on. And while thinking about a medical facility possibly full of magical folks was horrifying, it was ten times worse to imagine any of them paying for our mistakes with their lives.

“This time will be completely different, I swear to you,” Leo said, taking my hand. “Without you, my pack wouldn’t have a hope of being here. And you’re right, the people there deserve to be saved, not to become casualties of our revenge. There’s no reason we can’t get justice while being wise about things.”

Relief washed through me, and I smiled. “Then, I’m all in. Let’s figure out everything we can about these bastards and see if we can hit them where it hurts.”

If there was one thing I had learned in my short experience dealing with a warlock, it was that speed was of the essence. We needed to hit themhardbefore they got a chance to counter and hit us right back.

Hopefully, we would be fast enough.

23

VANESSA

“Ican’t believe we’re about to raid a medical facility tomorrow,” I mused, staring up at the stars as they twinkled in the endless depths of the obsidian sky, little specks of glimmering gossamer tucked safely in an infinite blanket of finest velvet.

Unlike with Chadwicke, when I’d had a week of research and nearly a week of hands-on gardening, I’d only had three days to get all the information I could about the building. It wasn’t nearly enough, but there was a whole lot more information online about a paparazzi darling and career criminal than a nondescript, no-account building nobody looked twice at.

Well, except the animal rights activists who regularly protested it.

“You don’t have to come,” Leo said softly from beside me. We were sitting on the greenhouse steps, enjoying the cool night air. “In fact, it would probably be safer if you didn’t.”

“I know, but if I don’t come, who’s going to drive the getaway car? Even two wolf shifters at full speed can’t maintain eighty miles an hour for long enough to ensure no one follows us back here.”

“True. Do you have the fake license plates America gave us?”

“All twenty of them.”

Leo let out one of those small chuckles I adored so much. “She went a little overboard with that, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, but there are worse things to be burdened with. For what it’s worth, I like her.”

“I liked her, too. She seems like she has a good head on her shoulders, and I’m glad she’s back with her family. Another wrong caused by the brothers has been righted.”

“I’m with you on that.”

We sank into a companionable silence for a while. Leo was probably thinking about his pack, who, if anyone, he would find at the medical center. Perhaps it would even be Atticus. Meanwhile, I was wondering what would happen to me when he reunited with more of his pack.

I was running out of food, and it would only be a matter of time until I ran out of money, even with the incredible boon of all that free compost and the extra money from my singular week of gardening. Thank God for an early direct deposit into the prepaid card. I’d set it up because cashing a check not made out to my legal name would be a bitch, and I’d given the details to Valencia almost as soon as I’d started. A good thing since I was pretty sure there was no one left at the estate to issue a check anyway.

The sleeping arrangements were also an issue. Another smaller shifter could maybe sleep on the other end of the sofa with Ricky, and one could try sitting upright in my loveseat, but that was it. Leo and I had my bed, and there simply wasn’t room for anyone else.

So, what then? Would they all have to move on? Find a place that fit their growing family? Wait, growing family wasn’t accurate—restoredfamily. I was the interloper here. I was the one who had come in and forged a connection with their alpha.

A connection I didn’t really have a name for.

We weren’ttogether. We hadn’t uttered so much as an ‘I like you’ let alone an ‘I love you’. Yes, we had hooked up, and the sex had beenincredible, but that didn’t mean we were in a relationship. Hell, wolf shifters might all sleep together interchangeably. Kind of like the entire art department of my old college.

We were friends, I knew that much, and I cared deeply for Leo. Perhaps I was putting words into his mouth, but it seemed like he also cared deeply for me. But just because we felt that way for each other didn’t mean it was love.

It also didn’t necessarily mean itwasn’tlove.

Ugh, why did life have to be so complicated sometimes?

“What’s wrong?” Leo asked, voice low and soothing. The man would have a real knack for narrating books. I could listen to him talk about literally anything for hours and be happy about it.

“Just thinking about the future.”

“I smell a lot of anxiety. Are you afraid?”

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