Page 29 of Amaris Rejected

I pause for a moment, letting the silence stretch, forcing Sheila to meet my eyes.

“Do you have a mate, Sheila?"

"No," she answers, and to her credit she looks away with remorse.

"I hope, when you do, no one interferes to the point where you lose a child," I snap cruelly, past feeling mercy and struggling to control my vitriol.

Horrified, Sheila gasps, tears now flowing. She drops her head and offers her wrists for the enforcer to cuff her. He looks to Devon, who nods.

After they leave the room, I point to my bag on the counter. “I have some remedies that I need from my kit,” I explain. “There is a tincture in a green vial, stamped“Healonix Elixir”and an ointment in a small red jar labeled“Hemaceas Cream.”Please bring them here.”

Devon carefully sorts through the bag, taking out the required remedies and sits them on the tray beside me. I pick up the vial containing the Healonix and squeeze the dropper to pull the serum up in the dropper, however, I’m too weak to administer it and drop it all on the tray.

“Here, let me help you,” Devon insists and takes the vial and dropper in hand. “What do I need to do?”

“Place three drops under my tongue,” I reply. That will accelerate my healing.”

I open my mouth like a little bird and Devon administers the medication.

“Thank you.”

He nods and hums, “Uh-hm. What’s next?” He picks up the jar of“Hemaceas”and removes the lid. The cream is viscous and dark red, almost like a living thing as it pulses with energy. Once applied, it feels warm to the touch and begins to shimmer as the magic takes effect, stopping the bleeding and easing the pain.

Sniffing the container, he recoils, grimacing in disgust.

“It doesn’t have a very pleasant smell,” I agree with a weak laugh, “but it stops bleeding on contact.”

He assesses the bandages on my upper body, now soaked through with blood. After slipping on a pair of gloves, he cuts away the gauze and looks at me, questioning.

“Just use your fingers to apply it. It’s a balm that magically binds to the tissue, stopping blood loss immediately. You have gloves, so it won’t seep into your skin, but it will mine, forming a protective barrier until my wolf can finish the job. It gives a head start on healing.”

He begins tenderly rubbing the cream into the wounds. It’s a miracle to watch how the damage immediately begins to repair itself, right there in front of you.

“It’s warm and tickles,” he laughs.

“Yeah, it does, but it won’t get uncomfortable,” I reassure him. “That’s just the magic working with the herbals and medicinals.”

As his hands care for me, and the wounds start to bind, memories of our wedding night three years ago rush over me. He’d been such a tender lover, making me feel like I was the most important person in his world. As my mind drifts, I begin to writhe in pleasure at his soothing touch.

…And I look into his eyes to see desire, a hunger that makes my heart skip and hits me like a punch in the gut.

In a panic, I scramble to sit up.

No, I don’t want this. Do I? No!

The room spins, and I nearly collapse in my haste. Devon reaches to steady me, but I jolt away, instinctively covering myself with my hands.

“Help me wrap these,” I quickly blurt. “Get me a lab coat from my office.”

Now that my blood loss isn’t clouding my mind, clarity prevails, and I realize how dangerously close we were. I need distance. I need to get back to my job.

The next few minutes are a blur. Devon rushes to find more bandages, but by the time he gathers them, I no longer need them. I slip into the lab coat he brought me from my office and button it up securely to the neck.

Having regained my equilibrium, I retrieve the copy of Jeni’s medical records that had been deleted, from the print tray and hand them to Devon.

He reads:

"The patient claims to be pregnant, but there are no signs of pregnancy, no fetus, and no evidence of a prior pregnancy or miscarriage. Additionally, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormones, which indicate pregnancy, are not detected in the patient’s blood. These hormones take at least two weeks to filter out of the body."

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