Chapter 9
Shelly’s POV
After the “plane crash,” I woke up in the Winterstone Pack’s medical center, so weak I could barely lift my hand.
Faking my own death had nearly cost me my real one.
“You nearly died for real.” Billy sat by my bed, his face tight, his eyes a war of fury and fear. “Shelly, was he worth it? Risking your life for that bastard?”
I turned my head toward the window as the wail of sirens pierced the night.
“What’s happening?” I asked, my voice thin.
“Rogues,” Billy growled, his fists clenched at his sides. “They hit the border. We have a dozen warriors down, some critical.”
Just then, the doors to the medical center burst open.
“Hurry! This one’s critical!”
“Massive blood loss, pulse is fading!”
“This kid’s leg is torn to shreds!”
The air turned thick with the stench of blood and fear, a cacophony of screams, cries, and the frantic orders of the healers.
I pushed myself to sit up.
“I have to help.”
“Are you insane?” Billy pressed me back down by my shoulders. “You can’t even stand!”
“I’m a healer,” I said, shoving his hand away. “They need me.”
I staggered out of the room, and the scene in the hallway stole my breath.
The floors were slick with blood.
Bodies lay on stretchers, mangled beyond recognition-seasoned warriors and young pups alike.
“Luna!” a young healer cried, her eyes wide with a mixture of awe and desperation. “Moon Goddess, you’re awake! We need a
Life Weaver. Now!”
I walked to the most critical patient: a young mother, her stomach ripped open by claws, her life force flickering like a dying
candle.
“Prep an OR,” I commanded, my voice snapping back to its professional, clinical calm.
“But your condition-”
“Now!”
The surgery lasted six hours.
I pressed my hands to her wounds, and my power, the gift of a Life Weaver, answered.
A golden light poured from my palms as I knitted shredded organs back together and commanded new blood to fill her veins.
“A miracle,” the other healers in the room whispered in awe. “This is nothing short of a miracle.”
One by one, I pulled thirteen werewolves back from the brink of death.
1/3
When the last child opened his eyes and gave me a weak smile, something inside me shifted.
The thought hit me with the force of a revelation.
Before Ford, before the mate bond, what was my dream?
It wasn’t to be a Luna.
It was this. To stand on the edge of death and pull my people back.
To be the best healer in the territories.
“Shelly.” Billy’s voice was soft. He found me in an empty break room, slumped in a chair and covered in drying blood that
wasn’t my own.
“Billy.” I looked up, a light I hadn’t seen in months returning to my eyes. “I know what I have to do.”
“What do you mean?”
I gently laid a hand on my belly, feeling the sleeping life within.
“I’m going to wake him up,” I said, my voice clear and strong. “Not for Ford. For us. It’s time for our new beginning.”
Billy’s brow furrowed. “Shelly, are you sure? Waking him now, in your state-”
“I’m sure,” I said, pushing myself to my feet. “I won’t let his father’s sins keep my son in the dark. He’s innocent.”
“But Ford-”
“Ford is a ghost,” I cut him off, my voice like ice. “He died on that bridge. The man wearing his face is a stranger, and he has no claim on my son.”
I walked toward the medical center’s private altar.
“I’m giving my son a new beginning. And myself, too.”
Billy followed, silent for a long moment before asking, “What do you need?”
I looked back at the man who had always been my shield, my eyes filling with gratitude.
“Protect us,” I said softly. “When I’m at my weakest, be our guardian.”
“Always,” Billy vowed, his voice unbreakable.
I pushed open the door to the altar room.
Moonlight streamed from a skylight, bathing the sacred space in a soft glow.
Just as I was about to begin the ritual, my phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
ཟ་འ་རྩྡོད་
“Is this Healer Shelly?” an anxious voice crackled through the phone. “This is the Suncrest Pack. We heard… we heard you saved thirteen of your pack members today?”
“Yes,” I said, confused.
“Please, you have to help us!” the voice was desperate. “The rogues… they hit us right after you. They used silver-laced blades on our pups. Our healers can’t stop the poison, it’s killing them!”
I looked at Billy. He gave a single, firm nod.
“Send me the location,” I said, my voice steady. “I’m on my way.”
2/3
After hanging up, Billy frowned. “Shelly, your body-”
“Is exactly why I have to go,” I said, pressing a hand to my belly.
I laid a hand over my belly, a silent promise to the life within.
Just a little longer, my sweet boy.
Mommy has to go save some other pups.
Then, I promise, it’s just you and me against the world.
