The Alpha forbidden cure

Three years later

"Scalpel," I said, my eyes locked on the open chest cavity.

"Here, pulse is dropping," Sarah said, slapping the cold metal into my palm.

"Got it... bleed stopped. He's stable," I exhaled, ripping off my surgical gloves and tossing them into the trash.

"Three straight years of all nighters finally paying off," Sarah groaned, stripping off her lab coat. "Dive bar. Ice cold beer, giant plate of fries. Now."

Half an hour later, I was tucked into a corner booth, an ice cold mug of beer in hand. As the alcohol hit my throat, I felt my inner wolf finally unwind. My clinic with Sarah was up and running, my life in New York was exactly what I wanted, and the endless pack drama was three years behind me. I took a bite of a fry, finally feeling at peace.

Suddenly, the screech of tires tore through the air, followed immediately by a hail of gunshots.

"Get down!" I yelled, shoving Sarah under the table.

"Ava, what's going on?!" Sarah screamed.

"Stay here!" I shouted back and bolted out the door.

Over by the dumpsters in the alley, two massive guys were dragging another man across the asphalt. The guy on the ground was rasping in agonizing pain, and then a sour, metallic scent hit my nose, making me freeze in my tracks. Werewolf and silver.

"Leave him alone." I yelled, sprinting toward them. "I'm a doctor"

"Stay back, lady." one of the men growled, baring his claws. "Mind your own business!"

"Shut up." I barked, stepping right up to his face. "Do you not see the black blood pooling from his chest? He's been shot with silver.He won't make it back to pack territory he's dead in two minutes."

The other guy swallowed hard. "She's right... He's dying. What do we do?"

"My clinic is right around the corner. Get him onto an operating table! Move."

The men burst through the clinic's back door carrying the giant man. By the time we got him onto the surgical table, his veins were bulging black like a spiderweb under his skin. I knew from their scent immediately these guys were Midnight 

Pack. The most ruthless clan in the city.

"Get out," I commanded, grabbing a scalpel.

"If anything happens to him, we'll tear this clinic to the ground, Doc." the huge guy threatened.

"Listen here, pal," I said, stepping right up into his space. "If you don't shut your fucking mouth and step outside, your buddy is leaving here in a body bag in two minutes flat. Make a choice: keep threatening me, or let him live."

"Fine..." the guy muttered, taking a step 

back. "We'll be outside."

"Sarah, get me the silver binding serum and two milligrams of epinephrine right now!" I shouted.

For the next three hours, I painstakingly extracted every single grain of silver poison from his body. As the first light of dawn broke, I stepped into the waiting room. The men jumped to their feet instantly.

"How is he? Is he alive?"

"He's alive," I said, pulling a cigarette out of my pocket and lighting up. "I flushed the silver. But he needs rest, asap."

"We can't leave him here, hunters might track him," the big guy said, slinging his buddy's arm over his shoulder to haul him off the bed. "We have to get him back to the pack."

"So you're not even gonna ask me?" I said, rolling my eyes. "Fine, do whatever you want. At least he didn't die on my table."

The next afternoon, after wrapping up at the clinic, Sarah, the interns, and I went out for a quick grocery run. Walking down the avenue with a large brown paper bag tucked under my arm, my steps gradually slowed down.

"Ava, look at that dress," Sarah said, pointing at a boutique window. "Isn't that so your style?"

"Sarah," I said, my eyes locked on a sleek black luxury SUV with fully blacked-out windows across the street. "You see that car?"

Sarah glanced away from the storefront. "Which car? That SUV? So what? It's New York, Ava, those are on every block."

"No, that's not it," I said, shifting the heavy paper bag to my other arm. "I saw that exact same car outside the clinic yesterday morning. And when I left my apartment last night, it was parked at the end of the street. I keep telling myself it's a coincidence, but... my gut says otherwise."

One of the interns laughed. "Maybe it's a rich secret admirer, Dr. Ava. Stalking you from afar."

"I hope I'm just being paranoid," I muttered, casting one last glance over my shoulder at the SUV as we kept walking. "Because I am not liking the scent coming off it."

By the time I locked up the clinic that evening, a storm was brewing outside. As I took off my lab coat and draped it over the back of a chair, a soft tap on the glass startled me. The front door chime chimed softly.

The moment I saw who walked in, the air in the room turned ice cold, instantly draining the oxygen from my lungs. He wore a tailored black suit that fit him like a glove. Pitch-black hair, tanned skin, and cold, razor-sharp gray eyes. But it was the faint, jagged scar cutting through his left eyebrow that caught my attention a brutal imperfection on an otherwise flawless face. A sharp, woodsy scent of pine and an oncoming storm filled the small space. The crushing, dominant aura radiating off him felt heavy enough to crack the surrounding walls.

This wasn't just any leader. This was Cole the legendary Head Alpha of the Midnight Pack.

"Doctor Ava?" Cole said. His voice was as cold and smooth as a sheet of ice.

"That's me," I said, shoving my hands into my pants pockets and taking a confident step toward him. "And you are? Are you the guy who's been creeping around in that SUV following me for days?"

The bodyguard behind Cole stepped forward aggressively. "Doctor.Do you have any idea who you're speaking to."

"Stand down," Cole said, holding up a hand to silence his man. His gray eyes locked straight onto my hazel ones. "I'm Cole. Head Alpha of the Midnight Pack. My men told me what happened the other night. They said there's a healer who neutralized silver poisoning without magic just science."

"It's called medicine, Head Alpha," I replied with a sarcastic smirk. "And if your guy is breathing right now, it's thanks to that science you look down on. If you came to say thank you, you can drop the payment off with my receptionist on your way out."

Cole took two heavy steps toward me. As the distance closed, waves of his suffocating wolf energy rolled over me, but I didn't budge an inch. He stared into the depths of my eyes, and for a split second, something flickered across his expression.

"I didn't come to thank you, Doctor. I came to offer you a job," Cole said, his voice dropping into a raspy, deep rumble.

"I don't want to hear or see anything about packs, clans, or status, Alpha," I said firmly. "I have zero intention of going back to your primitive world. Keep your money and your pack."

He stared at me for a few seconds, completely unreadable. "You'll change your mind," he said.

"Where is all this confidence coming from?"

"Because everyone has a weak spot."

"I don't!"

"You're wrong... Children are dying in my pack."

Cole kept his voice completely steady. "We have plenty of traditional healers and shamans on pack land. But we need a doctor who understands werewolf anatomy and has modern medical training."

"Why?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "Are all your pack's healers not enough?"

"It's not about that," Cole said, keeping his eyes locked on mine. "There's an epidemic in our pack, Doctor. A mysterious biological toxin left behind by hunters is making the kids in our territory fall sick one by one. I won't force you if you refuse..."

Cole was silent for a long moment.

"When the first child got sick, everyone believed it was just a fever."

His voice remained calm, but the exhaustion behind it was impossible to miss.

"Then another child collapsed... and another."

He held my gaze.

"My healers tried every ritual they knew. Every herb. Every antidote."

"They failed."

A bitter silence settled between us.

"I've already buried two children."

The words hit me harder than I expected.

Cole's jaw tightened.

"I won't bury a third."

For the first time since he'd walked into my clinic, I wasn't looking at an untouchable Head Alpha.

I was looking at a leader who hadn't slept in days.

"If modern medicine can save even one child..."

His gray eyes never left mine.

"...I'll put my pride aside."

Right then, the clinic door burst open violently.

"Head Alpha"

A guard rushed inside, gasping for air, his face pale as a sheet.

Cole turned his head slowly. "What happened?"

"Daniel..." the man stammered, his voice trembling. "His fever spiked past 105 again. The healers say his heart rate is dropping."

The room plunged into dead silence.

The stoic mask on Cole's face cracked for the very first time. His jaw clenched hard.

"How much time does he have?"

The guard lowered his gaze to the floor.

"...They don't think he'll last until dawn, Head Alpha."

A sharp ache squeezed my chest. They were talking about an eight-year-old kid.

Cole didn't speak for a few agonizing seconds. Then he turned those piercing gray eyes back onto me.

"Now do you see why I need you, Doctor Ava?"

I dropped my gaze, staring at the floor. I hated wolves, packs, and their never-ending power struggles. But I couldn't just stand by and let an innocent child pay for adult battles with his life.

I let out a heavy breath.

"I only treat patients," I said, keeping my voice as cold as possible. "I stay out of your pack politics. And the second those kids are healed, I'm coming back to New York."

Cole uttered a single word.

"Deal."

There was no victory in his voice. Just a heavy, exhausted sense of relief, as if tons of weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Also, do you really have to be so intense all the time? Furrow your brows any harder and you're gonna give yourself wrinkles," I added, trying to cut through the heavy tension.

Without so much as cracking a smile, he said, "Be ready at seven."

He turned to leave, and that's when the puzzle pieces finally clicked together in my head.

"It was you," I blurted out. "The black SUV. You weren't just creeping around... you were vetting me."

Cole paused at the door, glancing back over his shoulder.

"I don't trust the lives of my pack to just anyone, Doctor."

Then he walked out.