Page 74 of Alpha's Impostor Bride

I accept the call and press the phone to my ear. “Are you a healer?” I demand.

It’s a woman on the other end, and she splutters, “What? Who is this?”

“You’re wasting my time,” I bark. I decide I’ll have to take Leanna to my hotel, but it’s on the other side of the city.

The woman on the phone interrupts my thoughts, saying quickly, “Wait. Is something wrong with Leanna?!”

“Yes.”

“I am a”—she hesitates on the word—“a healer. Bring her to the house. What happened to her?”

“She has a fatal injury to her stomach! And I don’t know where the house is,” I growl.

“Just track my phone. Use the GPS.”

“The what?” This whole conversation is confusing me. “What’s the GPS?”

She hisses. “Okay, just stay there. Stay where you are. I’m coming to you.”

She’s coming to us? She must be a wolf.

“And keep the phone on you, doofus!” she snaps.

The line goes dead, and I stare at the device in my hand. Doofus? Is that supposed to be an insult? Did this healer just insult the King of the Northern Wolf Kingdom?

Choosing to ignore the slight, I consider the situation before me. I’m not going to leave Leanna here in the middle of the forest. Picking her up carefully so as not to aggravate her injury, I head out of the trees and move closer to the side of the street. It’ll be easier for the healer to find us here.

Leanna is bleeding heavily. I take off my shirt and press it against the wound. If I were in the North, I would howl and one of my healers would be able to locate me. But I have a feeling if I howl here, the city noise will drown it out. Maybe I should get one of these cell phones. They are confusing contraptions but useful for communication.

A bright red car pulls up on the other side of the road ten minutes later, and a woman hops out. She stares at her phone and begins running in my direction. Then, she suddenly comes to a halt and looks around.

“You are Maya?” I growl from the shadows. She nearly jumps out of her skin and squints into the darkness until she finally sees me.

“What are you doing skulking there? Bring her to the car!”

She opens the back door, and when I lay Leanna across the seat, she examines her. This woman doesn’t smell like a shifter. She’s a human. But her name was in Leanna’s phone, so she must be someone my mate trusts.

“We need to go to a healer,” I say harshly.

“I am a veterinarian,” she says. “That’s as good as a healer.”

“Is that what the wolves call healers in the human realm?” I’ll have to learn more about this world that Leanna lives in.

Maya hops into the seat in the front and then stares at me through the opening. “Well, are you getting in or not?”

When I move to follow her into the car, she looks angry. “Unless you’re going to sit on my lap, get in the passenger seat.”

“The what?”

“Over there, you idiot!”

She leans away from me and opens the door on the other side of the car. I don’t like her insults, but Leanna doesn’t have the time for us to argue. I quickly run around the car and get in. It’s an uncomfortable fit for my long legs.

As Maya starts the car, she demands, “What happened? She was just out on a routine surveillance. How did things go this wrong?”

“She was attacked,” I say shortly. “We don’t have time to waste. Why are you taking her to another location when you can just heal her here?”

Maya gives me a sharp look. “All my equipment is in my bag, which is at her house. I’m going to have to stitch her up.”

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