Page 34 of Ethan
Fine. Then maybe Griffin. If I knew where Griffin was assigned, I’d know where Dean would be.
But Griffin’s name showed as “off-duty,” which was a lie, because I’d seen him driving into the pack house parking lot this morning.
I muttered a curse at whoever was responsible for updating the calendar in Cooper’s office. It was about as useful as a blank page.
With a sigh, I closed the tab and pulled up the login screen for Devon’s account. Head healer meant more access to the system. I didn’t know his password but after a few tries, I finally got in.
There it was. Griffin and Dean were listed as returning from patrol by lunch, then heading straight into hand-to-hand combat training at the gym that afternoon.
I checked my own schedule and couldn’t help the small flicker of satisfaction. It lined up perfectly. I was free to make my healer rounds at the training grounds and gyms during that window.
Convenient. Perfectly professional. It wasn’t like I was purposefully carving out time to corner Dean and give him a piece of my mind.
…Though maybe I should.
Not about the fact that my mornings had turned into a mess without him, or that I couldn’t focus even with my favourite coffee from Vanilla Bean.
It tasted fine. Great, even. But lately, it seemed different. Almost too sharp, too bitter. Strange, because now I found myself missing the cafeteria mocha Dean used to bring.
Had my taste buds actually changed? Or had I just gotten used to him?
I shook my head. No. Absolutely not. I wasn’t about to tell Dean any of that.
Besides, the last time I saw him, he’d been injured. He needed a checkup, whether he admitted it or not. That was reason enough to “happen” to be there.
Feeling oddly vindicated, I set the reminder on my schedule for later and pulled the journal article back up on my computer.
I told myself I’d finally finish reading it before my first patient arrived, but once again, my eyes skimmed the same paragraph without absorbing a single word.
My mind kept drifting back to the afternoon, counting down until I could make rounds. Slowly, the hours crawled by.
Finally, it was time. I made my way out of the clinic, choosing to start at the indoor gym first. The training square outside or the obstacle course by the woods could wait.
The gym was where Dean would be.
Sure enough, I found Dean and Griffin in their usual corner sparring on the mats. Dean looked different. His stance was sharper, his movements more controlled.
The wild recklessness I remembered had been carved into something more deliberate. His strikes landed with precision, and there was a determined glint in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
Griffin even smiled when Dean delivered a particularly solid kick, though the expression vanished quickly as he barked a correction. “Straighten your shoulders more.”
I braced myself for Dean’s usual comeback, some smart remark or stubborn pushback. But instead, Dean only nodded, adjusted his shoulders, and tried the kick again.
This time, Griffin let out a sharp “oof,” the sound echoing across the gym as he staggered back a step, rubbing his forearm where he’d blocked the hit.
I had to bite back a laugh.
Griffin muttered something about taking a break, but I caught the way his hand flexed like it actually stung.
Dean finally noticed me. His voice sounded calm, but his eyes couldn’t hide his excitement. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
I frowned. For some reason, it annoyed me more than it should—his eyes clearly said one thing, his voice another. Why bother hiding it?
Before I could stop myself, the words slipped out. “Surprised I didn’t see you at the clinic the past few days. No paper cuts, scraped knuckles… not even a stubbed toe?”
Dean’s reply came quick. “Why? Did you miss me?”
I blinked, thrown again. “I’m the healer. The only one in the pack right now. It’s my job to keep track of injuries, especially for the enforcers and trainees. And since you haven’t come in for a follow-up, I can’t exactly check how your ribs and leg are healing, can I? I can’t be running all over the place looking for you.”
