Chapter 38 The Healer's Apprentice
Lira's POV
"No, not like that." Aria caught my wrist before I could crush the moonbell flowers. "You have to bruise them gently. Too much force releases the toxins instead of the healing oils."
I adjusted my grip, rolling the delicate petals between my fingers more carefully. After three days of training, my hands finally understood the difference between healing pressure and destructive force.
"Better." She nodded approvingly. "You're a quick learner."
The sanctuary had become my refuge. Here, surrounded by herbs and healing magic, I could forget about Kael's cold dismissal. Could focus on something that actually mattered—helping pack members suffering from the spreading curse-sickness.
"How many new cases today?" I asked, adding the crushed moonbell to the boiling pot.
Aria's expression darkened. "Four. All from the eastern patrol. Whatever this curse is, it's moving through the territory systematically."
"Have you noticed a pattern?" I stirred the mixture, watching steam rise from the herbs.
"They're all warriors. All from patrols near the old Silvermoon border." She handed me dried wolfsbane root. "Add this—just a pinch. And yes, I've noticed. It's like something is testing our defenses, looking for weaknesses."
The hair on my neck stood up. Through the bond, I felt Kael in the training yards, working himself to exhaustion. He'd been avoiding me since our confrontation, throwing himself into alpha duties like a man running from his own thoughts.
Good. Let him run because I had work to do.
"The healing you did on Joren," Aria said carefully. "That wasn't something I could teach you. That came from your Moonblood heritage."
I nodded, focusing on the potion. "Selwyn guides me when I touch someone sick. She shows me where the darkness is, how to burn it out."
"Can you feel them? The pack members, I mean." She watched me with curious eyes. "Their locations, their emotional states?"
"Sometimes." I tested the potion's temperature with my finger. "It's like... threads connecting me to each of them. Strongest with those who've accepted me as Luna."
"That's the Luna bond forming." Aria smiled. "It means the pack is starting to trust you, even if your stubborn mate won't admit it."
A knock interrupted us. Ryn entered carrying an armful of fresh herbs, his face flushed from the cold.
"Brought the wintergreen you requested." He set the bundle on the worktable. "And some news."
"What kind of news?" I looked up from my stirring.
"The kind that involves Mira spreading rumors about you practicing dark magic." His expression turned apologetic. "She's telling anyone who'll listen that you're using curse-sickness to make yourself seem important."
Anger flared hot in my chest. "That's ridiculous. I'm trying to help"
"We know that." Aria squeezed my shoulder. "But fear makes people believe stupid things. Some of the pack members are starting to question whether your healing is actually... healing."
"Or if you're the one making them sick in the first place," Ryn finished quietly.
I set down the stirring rod carefully, fighting the urge to throw it. "Why would I heal Joren just to make others sick? What possible sense does that make?"
"None. But Mira's clever." Ryn leaned against the worktable. "She's planting seeds of doubt. Making them wonder if the curse-sickness started spreading faster after you arrived."
"It did though," I said bitterly. "The timing is suspicious, even I can see that."
"Correlation isn't causation." Aria's voice was firm. "The curse has been building for twenty years, since your mother died. It's reaching a critical point now because that's how curses work—they grow until something breaks them."
"Or until they consume everything." I turned back to the potion, adding the final ingredient. "Which is exactly what will happen if we don't figure out how to stop it."
Ryn moved closer, his gentle presence soothing some of my anger. "You're doing good work here, Lira. Don't let Mira's poison get to you."
"She's not wrong though." I poured the finished potion into vials. "I am connected to this curse somehow. The prophecy, my bloodline, the timing—it's all too convenient."
"Then we figure out the connection and break it." Aria corked the vials with practiced efficiency. "Together because that is what packs do."
A thread in my mind suddenly pulled taut. One of the eastern patrol warriors—the Luna bond showing me his distress. He was collapsing, curse-sickness taking hold fast.
"We have another one." I grabbed my healing kit. "Eastern barracks."
Aria and Ryn followed as I ran through the packhold. Pack members scattered from my path, some calling encouragement, others watching with suspicious eyes. I felt their doubt through the Luna bond—a sour taste at the back of my throat.
The warrior was convulsing when we arrived. I dropped to my knees beside him, pressing my hands to his chest as Silver light sparked immediately, but this time the curse fought harder.
Moonblood, it hissed through the warrior's mouth. You cannot save them all. The debt must be paid.
"What debt?" I pushed more power into the healing. "What are you talking about?"
Blood for blood. Life for life. Your mother's sacrifice was incomplete.
The warrior screamed. I felt the curse trying to use him as a conduit to reach me, to infect me with whatever darkness had destroyed Silvermoon.
"Lira, pull back!" Aria grabbed my shoulder. "It's too strong"
"No." I gritted my teeth, drawing deeper on Selwyn's power. "I won't lose him."
The silver light intensified, burning so bright that wolves had to look away. I felt my mother's magic flowing through me—twenty years of dormant power finally awakening. The curse couldn't withstand true Moonblood fire.
It retreated with a shriek that only I could hear. The warrior's convulsions stopped as his breathing steadied.
But I felt something else. A presence watching from beyond, ancient and patient, waiting for me to make a mistake.
I pulled my hands back, swaying with exhaustion. Ryn caught me before I could fall.
"I'm okay." But I wasn't, it seems each healing took more out of me.
The warrior blinked up at me, confused. "Luna? What happened?"
"You're safe now." I forced a smile. "Just rest."
But as we left, I heard him whisper to his companion: "Did you see her eyes? They glowed like the old stories, like something dangerous."