Page 12 of The Healer and the Wolf: Part Two

The escapees, Jason and Miranda, weren’t the most talkative pair, but I had learned a little about them in the few days we had known each other, and I wanted to know more. Ricky was feeling more and more like a sibling or best friend that I’d known my whole life. And Leo? My heart fluttered every time I sawhim, and I often found myself daydreaming about the different futures we could have together.

I lost myself in those daydreams while we all ate, joining the conversation when I had something to say. Everything was quite chill, and it felt so completely normal.

At least, it did until Jason spoke up.

“So, are you open to taking new pack members?”

I didn’t say anything—it wasn’t really my conversation to have—but I did listen intently. I got the impression I had been accepted into Leo’s pack by default because of our relationship, but I had no idea how it would work for the two shifters he had saved, and who had saved him in return. It all seemed pretty complicated.

“Do you not wish to return to your own packs?” Leo asked.

I didn’t miss the caution in his voice. I worried he wasn’t up to having this conversation when he was still recovering, but I bit my tongue. Leo was the alpha, and I needed to trust him on whether he could handle this or not. He’d promised he would tell me if anything got to be too much, and I had to trust that he would.

“Ain’t never had one,” Miranda said.

It was only the third time I’d ever heard her speak. She wasn’t standoffish, just not very talkative. Understandable. I’d read a lot about selective mutism after trauma, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she had something akin to that. Or perhaps she was simply the quiet type. There wasn’t anything wrong with that.

“And mine’s dead,” Jason said. “We were small, only a dozen members, living up in the mountains about a four-hour drive away from here. We ran afoul of one of them brothers. He wiped all the adults out and took all the kids.”

My eyebrows shot up. While Jason did look younger than me, he certainly didn’t look like a child. “How long ago was this?”

“About four years.”

Moments ago, I had resolved not to get involved, but I couldn’t help the curiosity sizzling through me. “But you’re not...?”

“A kid? No. I ain’t. But most of the kids didn’t go to the lab. They took me and my brother because we were twins.”

“Twins?” Ricky exclaimed. “I didn’t know that. Don’t you want to be with your brother now that he’s out?”

“Aye, I would have liked that, but he never got a chance to escape with us. Died about two years back.”

“Well, shit.” A very apropos statement from Leo, because honestly, I couldn’t imagine it. Yes, I’d lost my mother, but even that couldn’t be as bad as losing a twin. That was a bond I truly would never understand. “Look, I have no problem with either of you joining our pack, but before you do, you should know what you’re getting into. This isn’t an easy road we’re on, and honestly, I can’t promise all of us will survive. Me, Ricky, and Ven here are working to recover the rest of our pack from the brothers’ clutches and break the curses holding them.”

Miranda and Jason looked at us with wide eyes.

“You really want to go up against them? Some of the most powerful warlocks the world has ever heard of, and probably the most powerful ones on this continent?”

“I do,” Leo answered firmly.

“And I do, too,” I said, surprising myself. “I know I’m only a human and a gardener, but I will do my best to break the curses on whoever I can and help on the sidelines like I did with the breakout.”

“Unsurprisingly, I’m dedicated, too,” Ricky finished. “We’re going to get our pack back, one way or another. And it’s completely fine if you don’t want to join us, but our alpha is right. If you want to be a part of our pack, you have to be a part of the fight.”

“I…” Jason took a deep breath and pushed his food around on his plate. I took no offense to it, as to me it seemed like he was taking the entire situation very seriously. “I reckon if we’re going to do something like that, we should also try to find as many allies as we can. I haven’t been out long, but I’ve heard whispers about a shifter pack that’s taken down a few brothers.”

Leo shot him a wolfish grin. “We might have had a hand in that.”

“I figured as much.” With that, Jason stood, and Miranda followed a beat later. “If that’s the case, I pledge my loyalty to you. You will be my alpha, and I will be your follower. Through war, through famine, we are stronger together than apart.”

I could practically feel the crackle of energy in the air as Miranda repeated those words. I definitely got the impression that Jason wasn’t simply saying it off the top off his head, but rather that it was an oath passed down over generations—one that held more weight and meaning than I could understand.

Leo stood. I jolted, but thankfully Ricky was beside him in an instant. “Then, you, Jason, and you, Miranda, are now our blood. I am your alpha, and you are my pack. I swear to protect you, I swear to guide you, and Iwillkeep you safe.

“So mote it be.”

“So mote it be.”

While there was no crack of lightning at the end, no boom of thunder, the air still held a heavy finality, like it had stilled itself to respect the moment. While I made no such pledge, my heart was full of happiness. Yes, there was a lot of evil in the world, but in our own way, it felt like we truly were fighting it.

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