Page 17 of A True Mate Bond

“I’ll help you even if you decide not to accept Alpha Tanner’s request. What pack you belong to or will belong to doesn’t impact my decision whether or not I’m going to help you.”

Julius looked at her as if he was trying to figure out what Niev was up to. “What is your price in return?”

“I don’t have one.” She’d never wanted anything in return when healing someone.

“Nothing comes without a price.”

“Kindness does.”

Niev turned her attention back to his wound and cleaned it out while she could feel the tension rise in the air. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Julius glare in anger at his mother while she was still silently pleading with him.

“Is this how you managed to attack us? You healed your warriors before they came for us?”

Niev decided that honesty was the right way to go. “Yes I did. All men with injuries came to me before the fight, and I healed them.”

“Everyone?”

She nodded.

“I don’t believe you.” His tone was spiteful and in return, he got a threatening growl from Blake.

“Let me show you then.”

He didn’t answer so Niev continued in silence, while his mother kept pleading with him. When she finished, she reached inside her bag and pulled out a scalpel.

“How about I heal the upper part of your wound and let you see it for yourself?”

“Please, Julius.” His mother fell on her knees and grabbed his hand. “Let her heal you.”

He ignored his mother, pulling his hand out of her grip. Then, he looked at Niev and nodded.

Holding her hand over his wound, she cut her palm. She waited until a few drops of blood had fallen on his wound before she pulled the blade out of her hand. All eyes in the room were on Niev and a gasp escaped Katharina when she saw Niev’s hand heal within a blink of an eye.

Julius slowly sat up which seemed to increase his pain even more and looked down at his now rapidly healing hip. “And you don’t want anything in return?”

“No.”

“Heal me!” he demanded. Niev assumed that that was his normal way of talking to a woman, someone who was beneath him.

He earned himself another threatening growl from Blake who now stepped closer, his alpha radiating from him. “You will treat her with respect, lowlife. You are nothing compared to her and if you don’t change your attitude, I’ll personally rip you apart.”

Julius’s face turned even paler than before, his eyes fearfully resting on Blake for a moment before they flickered to Niev. “Please heal me,” he whispered his plea.

She nodded and let her blood drip over the rest of the wound, letting it heal completely. She turned her attention to Katharina who was watching Julius’s wound heal in awe.

“Katharina, is there anyone else here who needs help?”

She took her eyes off Julius and looked at Niev with a sad expression on her face. “Yes, there is one more.”

Niev packed up her things and followed Katharina out into the hallway and to a door at the very end of the corridor.

Gently knocking on the door, Katharina called with a soft voice. “Olivia? There are two people who would like to see you. They can help you with your injuries. May we come in?”

The door was opened from the inside and a skinny, scared woman with dark blonde hair appeared. With one look, Niev knew Olivia was malnourished. Her skin was laying directly on her bones, and it seemed as if her skull was pointing through it. Her eyes had sunken deep within her eye sockets and looked milky as if she had lost her will to live.

Olivia looked from Niev to Blake, who was standing behind her. She seemed terrified of him, her skin paling even more.

Niev turned to Blake. “Would you mind staying out here while I go in and see how I can help Olivia?”

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