Page 37 of The Healer and the Wolf: Part Two

Leo and I exchanged a look, and I wondered if he was thinking exactly what I was. Probably not. Part of me couldn’t help but wonder if he had anything to do with what happened at the gala. Was there any way that this Frederick could have caused all the plant nonsense, and I was just the scapegoat?

No. As easy as that would make things, I knew without a doubt that I had been connected to the plants I had summoned.That one of the brothers was also connected to them had to be a coincidence. But still, how uncanny. I had to admit, it did kind of appeal to the part of me that thought everything that happened so far was fate—an inevitable path I’d been chosen to walk upon. But the greater majority of my mind didn’t believe in frivolous things like fate, so I tucked those thoughts away and kept listening.

At least I tried to listen. Once the general information dump was over, multiple people started suggesting different strategies, and my frustration amped up. Alicia hadn’t even finished telling us about the location or anything else she’d found out. It was definitely rapidly growing to be too many cooks in the kitchen, even with Leo cutting in regularly to shut people up and get us back on track.

Given that I wasn’t very military-minded, and my anxiety was rising with every interruption, after an hour or so I dismissed myself with the excuse of a headache. Leo gave me a concerned look, but I squeezed his arm in assurance. I wasn’t going to have a breakdown or anything, but I needed a bit of a break. Yeah, I had planned out our whole Chadwicke escapade, as well as the first raid on the medical facility, but now we were way past my pay grade. We had people better suited for the job, and I was happy to focus on making sure our healing reserves were stocked.

I got myself a glass of ice water and made sure my cats were fed, then headed up to my room for a nap. I hadn’t been napping outside of my cycle, but a quick thirty-minute refresh would do me well.

I set my alarm and changed into some house clothes before crawling into bed. Not a moment later, Mudpie sprawled against my side, purring up a storm as I petted her until we both slipped into sleep.

I wished I could say it was restful, but I was shoved into a nightmare the minute sleep took me. It was nothing solid, like me showing up naked to work or having somehow enrolled in college again, but it was still awful. Slipshod and full of horrific, disjointed images and scenes, ranging from being stuck in an inescapable fire, to being at the gala and watching all the plants I’d summoned shred apart my friends instead of Alric.

After watching Leo be drawn and quartered for the umpteenth time, I finally managed to rip free from the nightmare. I jolted awake, soaked in sweat from head to toe, my throat aching as if I’d been screaming.

Holy fuck on a stick, that was terrifying. Hadn’t I experienced enough trauma in life without my mind needing to make up fantasy situations to make it worse? Sleep was supposed to be my escape, not another way to torment me.

“Hey there.” Leo stuck his head around the door. “Are you okay? I thought I heard you crying.”

“Crying? No, I—” I touched my face and found that there were indeed tear streaks on my cheeks mixing with the sweat from my nightmare. “Huh, would you look at that.”

Leo stepped in fully, gently closing the door behind him. I thought about insisting I was fine and sending him on his way, but then he leveled me with one of those concerned looks, and all my resolve crumbled.

“Can I help you, baby? I know things are a bit crazy right now, but you don’t have to go through this alone. I’ll always make time for you.”

Wasn’t that the truth? Despite everything on his plate, Leo had been quite attentive ever since the gala. Even before that. He seemed so in tune with my emotions in a way no one in my life ever had been. Strangely, it had taken a shifter to make me feel more human.

Although, whether I wasactuallyhuman was up for debate at the moment.

Once more, the instinct to pretend I was strong and nothing was wrong flared up, but it withered and died almost instantly. If there was anyone I could be vulnerable with, it was my cats and my boyfriend.

“I’d really like to be held right now.”

The gentle smile that spread across his handsome face was exactly what I needed. “I can do that.”

He got into bed with me, pulling the covers over us. The man awed me. He basically had a war to plan, but he still acted like it was no problem to help me with my nightmares. Realistically, I should probably take the noble path and tell him I was fine so he could go back to working on saving his pack. But for once, I wanted to be selfish. I wanted to admit that I was scared, weak, and wanted a really nice hug from the man I was in love with.

“Do you want to spoon? Or do you want to sit between my legs and lean back against my chest? I could brush your hair?”

Something so simple shouldn’t have had a fresh wave of tears coming to my eyes, but it did. No one had ever taken care of me like this, and the thought of having my head petted while surrounded by his scent was highly appealing.

“I’d really like the second one. I think I’ve had my hair up in a ponytail for two days.”

“I think so, too. Your scalp has to be pretty tired, so let’s give it a break, shall we?”

I nodded, and Leo reached over to open one of the drawers of my nightstand and pulled out my wet/dry brush. It took him a moment to arrange himself, but once he was comfortable with the appropriate amount of pillows behind his back, I crawled between his legs and settled myself.

Leaning back against his chest was so simple, yet it was so incredibly comforting. The warmth of his body combined withthe firmness of his muscles was an assurance that he would always be there for me. I didn’t know what I had done to deserve a man like him, but I would be forever grateful.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, brush forgotten, and held me while his chin rested on my shoulder. Once more, I was struck by how incredibly simple it was, and yet it meant so much to me. It was like the kiss of domesticity I’d always thought would be denied to me forever. But no. Despite losing my mother. Despite what my aunt had said. Despite the evil warlocks so eager to spread harm. Despite all of them, I was loved, and I had a future to look forward to.

Eventually, Leo shifted so he could brush my hair and, goodness, he was right about my scalp needing a break. It felt like heaven as he moved the brush through my hair, working out knots, starting from the bottom and then going up. Clearly, he had some experience with this, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he’d done this for an ex-girlfriend, or if it was a pack thing. Either way, I was quite grateful for it.

Tears welled in my eyes, but I kept them from falling. While I had no problem expressing emotions, I didn’t want to deal with the runny nose and itchy eyes that usually came after tears. That meant I would have to get up to get a tissue, and I was pretty sure all the money in the world couldn’t convince me to move my ass.

“Your hair is getting longer,” Leo remarked as he ran the brush through one more time, then set it to the side. He’d probably gotten the last knot out half an hour earlier, but had continued to gently run the brush through my hair. It was pure bliss.

“Is it?” I murmured. I really didn’t pay much attention to my hair. I cut it short in the summer, then let it grow the rest of the year, but with everything going on, I hadn’t given it the usual trim.

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