Page 33 of The Healer and the Wolf: Part Two

I huffed a laugh, then did exactly that.

“Hey there,” I said, ducking into the kitchen. Ven wasn’t alone—I was pretty sure the only place any of us got any privacy was the bathroom, or the two of us in her bedroom—but the two shifters sitting at the table were both reading books and idly munching on trail mix.

“Hey!” she said, putting a bundle of greens in the sink and turning the water on. “How’s planning going?”

Ever since the gala, Ven had taken a step back from being involved in our rather ramshackle process of finding the last two brothers, but I knew better than to comment on it. She had a lot on her mind, and I knew she was still grappling with the strange plant powers that had come and gone out of nowhere.

“It’s going. No significant updates. What’s all this you’re washing here?”

Although I was glad we were one step closer to ridding the world of the awful band of brothers who had destroyed so many lives, I missed the simpler times of hanging in Ven’s garden and learning everything I could from her. I missed the days when it had been just her and me, slowly reconnecting to who I was and how we could be together.

“Some fresh herbs I wanna use for a roast tonight. I’m about to put it in so it can cook all day.”

“Wow, that’s quite a lot of them. I’m sure it’s gonna be delicious.”

“It’s not just for dinner. There’s a lot of the stuff I use for healing balms and teas in here. I’m going to hang some up to dry in the greenhouse. I swear, my herbs are growing faster than ever.”

I didn’t say anything, but Ven still stiffened. We hadn’t really talked about her spontaneous plant abilities, but I got the distinct feeling she was hoping it was a one-and-done thing. As much as I would love that for her, I didn’t think it was all that realistic. Although I’d heard of a few cases of people randomly finding out they had magical heritage, I’d never heard of anyone developing abilities for one night. No one-night stands with magic if you were a magical being.

“It’s gonna be okay,” I murmured, coming up along beside her and wrapping my arm around that lovely plush waist of hers.

“I hope so.” She let out a heavy sigh before resting her head on my shoulder. I appreciated that neither of the shifters in the room chimed in, as I knew they could hear us no matter how softly we talked. Shifter etiquette could be tricky in that way.

We were quiet for a while as Ven washed her herbs and I set them in a colander to dry. Was my help all that productive? Not really. But it was nice to spend time together. After everythingthat had happened, I cherished our limited peaceful time more than ever. Although I was hopeful about us going after the last two brothers, nothing was ever guaranteed.

Ven moved on to starting to prep the roast, and I was evenlessuseful to the point of being in the way, so I sat down and kept her company while she did her thing.

Like usual, time passed incredibly quickly, and the next thing I knew, she was sliding the prepared roast into the oven to cook for several hours. I knew from experience that the whole house would smell absolutely incredible by the time it was done, and I couldn’t wait.

At the same time, though, I could wait, because I didn’t want to waste a single second with her. And since she was free for the moment, I didn’t feel bad asking to monopolize her time.

“Hey, do you wanna go on another walk? See if we can find any mushrooms in the woods?”

She smiled softly at that, which was exactly my intention. Mushrooms tied all the way back to that very first time we’d met, when she’d found me barely clinging to life after I’d managed to escape from the pair of enthralled bear shifters hunting me down.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Fantastic. Then, let’s go.”

For the second time in a few short days, we held hands as we strolled off into the woods. I might have been wrong, but it looked like there were even more tents than before, which didn’t make sense considering how many people we’d sent home. Had more supporters shown up? Or were our more long-term guests expanding their lodgings? I should probably ask Ricky so I could stay on top of things.

“There sure are a lot of people here,” Ven commented as we made our way to the tree line. Her tone was ambiguous enough that I couldn’t quite tell how she felt about it.

“Does it bother you?”

“Sometimes it’s a little loud, and it is definitely much more crowded than I’d like. But... it’s kind of what I imagine having an actual family is like. It’s nice, all of us being together, on the same side, working toward something important, knowing we have each other’s back. It makes the world a lot less lonely.”

I couldn’t agree more, and for a moment, I was struck by the realization that Ven had never truly experiencedpack.Because pack was more than a group of people hanging out together. It was even more than family. It was a spiritual connection that went right down to our deepest instincts, binding us all with a camaraderie that could rarely ever be broken. The closest thing humans had were their direct family, but from what I understood, Ven had never had that either. No wonder she’d been so lonely. I didn’t understand how someone so kind and so incredibly wonderful had spent so much time rejected by those meant to cherish her.

“It is nice,” I agreed, letting the conversation fade.

I resolved that as long as it was in my power, I would never, ever, let Ven be alone like that again.

8

VANESSA

That energy returned. It was nothing like the overwhelming, powerful deluge that had caused such chaos at the gala, but I could feel it simmering inside me, like a battery slowly charging. As the days passed, I became more and more aware of it. There were signs all over. My garden flourished like it never had before, even with all that free compost we’d stolen from the Chadwicke’s estate.

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