The Alpha forbidden cure

It was pushing four in the morning by the time I handed the final doses of the antidote serum over to the lab assistants. I hadn't slept in days, but it was worth it; the suffocating sounds of coughing coming from the rooms down the hall had completely stopped, and a peaceful silence had finally settled over the pack hospital. I threw myself onto the old leather sofa in the hospital break room and closed my eyes.

A few minutes later, there was a soft knock on the door. "Dr. Ava? Can I come in?"

I cracked my eyes open. Nina, one of the pack's young nurses, walked in carrying a tray. "Come on in, Nina. I was just about to pass out."

"I know we've worked you to the bone," Nina said, a huge, grateful smile spreading across her face as she set the tray on the table. "But it was worth it. I brought you some cluster tea, it'll help with the exhaustion."

I took the hot mug in my hands and breathed in deeply. "God, even the smell is enough. How are the kids doing right now?"

"They're doing so much better," Nina said, perching on the chair across from me. "Their fevers have completely broken. Even Daniel ate by himself today for the first time. The elderly healers are whispering in the lab, praising your methods."

I smiled and took a sip of my tea. "Right diagnosis, right treatment, Nina."

"They grumble about everything anyway," Nina said, dropping her voice and leaning in closer to the table. "But you didn't just save lives, Doc. You got on our Head Alpha Cole's good side. He doesn't just hand his lab over to any doctor."

"He's a little too distant and harsh," I said, swirling my mug. "His aura literally sucks the oxygen out of the room."

Nina shot a quick glance at the door before turning back to me. "Cole wasn't always a block of ice, Ava."

I raised my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Let's just say a female wolf taught him that trusting the wrong person can cost a lot of lives," Nina murmured, standing up quickly as if she'd already said too much. "Anyway, I should get back to my shift. Try to get some sleep, you've got rounds in the morning."

Half an hour after Nina left the room, a huge crash echoed down the hallway. The sound of a metal cart tipping over was followed by a sharp groan of pain. I bolted up from the sofa and threw myself out the door. At the end of the hall, the heavy supply cart used for meds was overturned, its wheels spinning in the air. One of the assistants must have panicked and crashed it into the wall; glass bottles of chemical solutions were shattered all over the floor.

"Stay back.Watch out." a voice yelled from down the hall.

I realized the acidic chemical solution on the floor was flowing rapidly right toward me, so I took a huge step back. But my exhaustion had messed with my coordination; my foot caught on a chunk of broken glass.

I completely lost my balance. My feet went out from under me.

I shut my eyes on reflex, bracing for the hard tile.

But I didn't hit the ground.

With terrifying speed, a pair of strong hands gripped my waist, catching me mid-air. My back slammed into a solid wall of muscle.

A sharp gasp escaped my lips.

That intense, woodsy scent of pine and oncoming storm swallowed me whole.

Cole.

My eyes flew open. He was staring down at me, his face mere inches from mine. I could feel the heat radiating off his chest, burning through the thin fabric of my scrubs.

For a second, neither of us moved. My heart hammered against my ribs.

His breath hitched. The muscles in his jaw ticked.

As he held me suspended, his right hand slid just a fraction lower on my waist. His rough thumb brushed the sliver of bare skin where my shirt had ridden up.

A jolt of pure, crackling electricity shot straight up my spine.

He felt it, too. I saw his pupils dilate, the stark gray in his eyes darkening into a chaotic storm cloud.

"Doctor," he rasped. His voice was rough. Barely a whisper. "Be careful."

For a heartbeat, his grip tightened. As if his inner wolf was screaming at him to pull me closer. Then, exactly as fast, he ripped his hands away. As if the contact had literally burned his skin.

He stepped back. The air rushed back into 

the space between us.

The impenetrable ice wall slammed back down over his features.

"Thanks," I managed, my voice coming out thin and breathless.

Cole stared at me. The vulnerability from a second ago was completely gone, replaced by a rigid, chilling distance.

"This will never happen again," he said. His tone was absolute.

He turned and walked away down the hall, leaving me shivering in the cold air he left behind.

The next afternoon, I was sitting at my desk in the hospital room organizing files when my phone buzzed.

"Sarah? You finally managed to call."

"Ava! Oh my god, it's so good to hear your voice," Sarah said, talking over the familiar, chaotic background noise of our New York clinic. "I haven't really heard from you in days. How is it over there, when are you coming back?"

"Calm down," I said with a laugh, leaning back in my chair. "Everything is fine. We've completely stopped the outbreak. The kids' fevers are gone."

"You really are a genius," Sarah sighed in relief. "So, are you heading back tonight?"

I turned my gaze out the window to the endless, lush green territory of the Midnight Pack. "Not right away, Sarah. I'm going to be here a little while longer. I have to monitor their dosages."

"Alright, whatever you say, boss," Sarah said with a grin. "But watch out for that iceman, Cole. You can practically smell the guy all the way from New York."

"I'm hanging up now, Sarah," I said with fake annoyance and ended the call.

Once the kids were better, the pack organized a little celebration. Before heading out to the yard, I swung by the infirmary. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Cole quietly tucking a blanket around one of the kids. A guy who punched walls, stroking a child's hair with those exact same hands... it was the last thing I ever expected.

By the time I made it out to the courtyard, the tables were surrounded by laughter.

"So, Dr. Ava," Lily, one of the pack's young females, said as she held her drink out toward me. "Did you manage to get used to our big, crazy pack?"

I laughed, clinking my glass against hers. "Let's just say your healers bowed down to science once they saw the lab results."

"Nobody in the pack cares that you're a beta right now," Nina chimed in, sitting next to us. "If you do your job well here, you're valued."

As I watched the other wolves in the yard, I had this weird moment of clarity. This place really isn't so bad. The Midnight Pack was so much fairer than the Crescent Pack. It was a place where people were treated as equals based on their skills. For the first time ever, I didn't feel like an outcast on pack lands.

Around midnight, as the celebration wound down, I started walking down the quiet, shaded path next to the hospital. The air was cool, the full moon illuminating the forest.

"It's late," said that raspy voice coming from behind me.

I turned and saw Cole stepping out of the shadows. He was jacketless, the top two buttons of his shirt undone. That overwhelming aura was still there, but it wasn't suffocating me; it felt like it was wrapping around me.

"I just wanted some fresh air," I said, leaning against the wooden fence.

"You earned it," Cole said, stopping right next to me. There were only a few inches between us, the faint memory of that electricity in the hallway still lingering in the air. "You saved my pack's children, Ava. I'm grateful to you."

"I just did my job, Head Alpha," I said. "But honestly... your pack surprised me. It's very different from my old pack. People here are more equal. In my old pack, if you were a weak beta, you were just a pawn."

Cole's features softened. "Everyone has value here, Doctor. I don't let anyone throw anyone away. Especially someone like you."

"Goodnight," I said, and started walking toward my room.

Just as I was about to open the door, Cole's voice called out. "Doctor."

I turned around. Cole was standing a few steps away, the harshness back in his eyes.

"Did something happen?" I asked.

He stared at me. "Don't go letting your guard down just because the outbreak is over."

I frowned. "What do you mean? The serum worked."

Cole let out a deep breath. "My instincts are telling me this wasn't natural."

My heart pounded against my ribs. "What do you mean, not natural..."

"I can't prove it," his voice was low. "Yet. But someone might have started this outbreak on purpose."

Right at that moment, a long, ominous howl rose from the northern border. Followed by a second howl.

Cole turned his head sharply toward the sound. His jaw clenched tight.

Footsteps crunched heavily on the gravel path. A border guard emerged from the shadows, panting.

"Head Alpha," the guard said, bowing quickly. "A delegation just arrived at the northern border. They're demanding entry."

Cole's eyes narrowed, a deadly calm washing over his face. "Who is it?"

"The Crescent Pack, sir. Alpha Ethan and his men."

A heavy silence fell over the path. The Crescent Pack. My old pack. Ethan.

Cole slowly turned his gaze back to me. A dark realization flickered in his gray eyes. The mysterious, unnatural outbreak... and the sudden, unannounced arrival of a delegation from the exact pack that had cast me out.

"And for some reason," Cole muttered, his voice freezing over, "I don't think their timing is a coincidence."

I couldn't say a single word.

Because looking at the sharp calculation behind Cole's eyes, I had the exact same feeling. Whatever Ethan claimed he'd come for, it wasn't trade.

It was an excuse.