Page 94 of Forgotten Arcane

Fire lights her eyes, and I breathe a sigh of relief. She’s going to be okay. She’s probably the strongest woman I have ever fucking met. She’s pulled herself back from the brink of nothingness.

“I won’t let go,” she vows.

“Good,” I reply. “Do you want to move?”

She nods, and then grins, “Not that I’m not enjoying the hug, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt a gentle touch.”

“It’s strange, isn’t it? And then it’s strange that it’s strange,” I reply. I know too well how she feels.

She studies me closely and then squeezes my hand, “I’m so sorry.”

Swallowing thickly, I nod and, squeezing her hand back, reply, “Me too.”

Apparently, she’s as comfortable with emotion as I am because she changes the subject, “Erm, as much as I would like to move, I don’t think I can. It would appear that when I buried the real me and made myself numb, I also buried the pain.”

Doc moves forward, his troubled gaze meeting mine before he looks at Morana and smiles. He crouches down so he’s not towering over her and stays at quite a distance away, but still Morana tenses.

“It’s okay, he’s a healer and he’s mine. He won’t hurt you,” I say quietly.

Morana takes a deep breath and sits up straighter, pulling on some inner strength that I am certain the majority of people wouldn’t have after everything that she’s been through.

Doc smiles encouragingly, “In case you hadn’t guessed from my nickname, I’m a healer, and if you allow me to, I can heal you.” He adds, “All I have to do is hold your hand.”

Amari steps forward, concern and pride in her eyes as she looks over Morana, “It’s true, he healed me that way.”

Morana holds her hand out to Doc, and since she’s still sitting in my lap, I gently squeeze her, not wanting to hurt her, but unable to do anything else because she only has one good hand, and she gave that one to Doc.

“It’s not going to hurt, but if at any point you want me to stop, just say the word and I will, okay?” Doc tells her.

She nods.

Doc gently takes her hand, and she tenses again, but relaxes as his healing magic gently washes over her.

When he pulls back, she stands up, and then she looks at him with pure wonder, “I can feel her!”

She pulls me up from the ground and into a big hug that I’m more than happy to return.

“Who can you feel?” I ask her curiously as she pulls back, her expression pain-free and her eyes sparkling.

“My wolf,” she says. She looks at Doc, “I don’t know how to thank you.”

Doc smiles, “Don’t let go of her again.”

Morana nods and then turns to look at the rest of us and explains, “When I became the shell in order to protect myself, I somehow severed the connection to my wolf. I haven’t been able to shift for a decade.”

“Go on then,” River grins.

“Really? I can shift?” she asks excitedly, and I can’t help but smile with her.

River nods, “Of course you can. I think it’s been far too long, don’t you?”

Morana grins. “Absolutely.”

Her magic grows and becomes stronger than I would have ever guessed. My eyes widen. She’s stronger than Derek by a lot.

“Wow,” Asher mutters. “She’s incredibly strong. We had no idea. Derek disappeared for a week about five years ago, and came back with a mate, and she was already incredibly submissive.”

I frown. I would be willing to bet that he got her from one of these traveling sales that Derek told us about. That would also mean that she is considerably younger than he is. Mate pairings, true ones, are usually between wolves of a similar age, and I would be very surprised if Derek and Morana’s mate pairing was a true one.

---