Chapter 17

Flora’s P.O.V

“How did you get hurt?” I asked as I sat him down on my bed and stepped back to inspect his wound.

The cut on his leg was deep and long, starting from right below his knee to halfway down his leg. The blood flow had stopped and the wound appeared to have started healing, which wasn't surprising at all considering the power Clay carried inside him. “You should’ve gone to a healer; I think you might need stitches.” I told him.

“I’m the future Alpha, Flora. I don’t need stitches.” Clay said instantly. “I fell off my bike, it was a little accident. All I need is a little help.”

I wondered what it cost his pride to admit that he needed help. “And I still think you need to go to Jessica.” I repeated. Why was he here anyways? His leg must be hurting like hell!

“What a cruel woman!” Clay shook his head in amusement. “Can’t you help a man who’s injured and seeks your healing touch? Any other woman would have done anything to have me in their house in the middle of the night.”

I sighed, trying not to let myself rage in jealousy. He was pushing my buttons on purpose. “Exactly my point.” I told him instead. “Why are you here instead of going to a healer?”

“Your house was the nearest place from where my bike skidded. I didn’t have the strength to walk all the way back to my house. And besides, you’re a healer too.” I would’ve almost believed him, if he wasn't batting his lashes at me with a shit eating grin on his face.

Clay moved his torn jeans away from the injured area and I got a nagging feeling in my gut that he was lying about his bike skidding. Although I didn’t quite understand what he was lying about, the whole incident or if the incident was an accident at all. That wound looked more like something sharp had cut through his skin. And since the skin had already started healing, I couldn’t tell if it was from a sharp object or a claw. Which would be very strange considering that Clay was a very level-headed person who didn’t get into fights often. Not to mention that everyone in the pack respected him since he had Alpha blood.

Clay tried to fold the jeans away from the wound, I stopped him. “Wait, I think we need to cut it off,” I told him and reached for the pair of scissors in my dresser.

“What? My leg?” Clay asked looking frightened, his eyes huge as a saucer. God, he was such a faker and all the more charming for it.

“No! Idiot!” I snapped. “I meant the jeans. I can’t heal it until the jeans are off.”

“Well, I can always strip.” His hands went to his belt buckle even as he spoke and my eyes widened in shock. I’d locked my bedroom door the instant he’d come into my room but my parents were wolves too, they just might scent him! And now the damn heinous wolf was talking about stripping...with my father somewhere in the house. Damn my hormones!

“Oh, stop it!” I was pretty sure my cheeks were flaming red by now. “I’ll just cut out the bottom part. It’s only a pair of jeans; you probably have a thousand of these.”

“That I do,” he sighed and moved his injured leg forward a little. “Tear away, Doctor Flora, I have nothing to lose.”

Shaking my head at his antics, and a delighted to see this whole new side to him, I knelt down in front of him and started working on cutting off the jeans from around his knee. It was done easily and then I was dabbing at the already healing wound to clear the cut and disinfect it.

“Why don’t you come up on the bed beside me and I’ll place my leg up for you.”

Surprised at the raw edge to his voice, I looked up into his eyes to see that there was a luminous circle around the green. Something was bothering him and he didn’t seem too pleased about it and neither was his wolf.

“Why?” I frowned a bit. “I don’t mind sitting on the floor.”

“But I do.” His answer was instant and he never broke eye contact. “I don’t like you kneeling at my feet.”

I gave a small smile. “But you’re the future Alpha. Once you officially become the Alpha, everyone will have to bow down to you, it’s mandatory.”

Clay leaned forward and placed his hand under my chin to lift my face up to his. His eyes, when he spoke, held an emotion even I couldn’t decipher. “Not you. Never you. I’ll make sure of that.”

With that, he removed his hand from my chin and held it out for me to take. Hesitantly, I took his hand and rose to take a seat on the bed next to him. Despite the depth of the wound, Clay didn’t show any signs of being in pain; at least it wasn't on his face. But I knew that he had to be hurting inside.

“Place your leg on my lap,” I told him as I moved to face him properly.

Clay followed my order silently and then, I moved my fingers over his wound with feather light hands, making sure not to make direct contact with the flesh. The tips of my fingers began to glow a faint golden as the power inside me took shape. I heard Clay sigh as the pain eased, as the healing power worked its way through his bones. I’ve also heard other healers say that it had a calming feeling to it. Like being healed by a healer also gave the patient a sense of inner peace.

Soon the wound closed up right in front of my eyes; muscles and tendons stitching themselves back together to leave behind only a thin, angry red line. I placed my hands back on the bed and blinked my eyes a few times as my vision became hazy for a few minutes and then reverted back to normal. It’ll take its toll on me, I was sure of it, but that time hasn’t come yet and I’ll make sure to get some extra hours of sleep just in case.

“Flora?” Clay’s concerned voice snapped me out of the haze as I felt him removing his legs from my lap. “Why does healing drain you so much? Healers aren’t this weak.”

“No, they aren’t.” I shook my head. “But I’m not connected to our Alpha as a healer. Healers are able to draw the energy of their pack through their Alphas.”

“You should’ve been connected to Alpha Nicolas.” Clay said angrily. “Even if it’s not your time yet, you are still a healer. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

“You will do no such thing!” I snapped before reigning in my temper. I don’t get angry very often but I also don’t like the fact that Clay was fighting my battles for me. There was a time and place for everything. “I’m not twenty one yet, Clay,” I told him instead. “Which means that I can’t start my training yet and be under the Alpha’s protection. If people get a whiff of what I can do, they’ll come to me directly instead of going to Jessica and that will tip the power balance of the pack.”

Jessica was the official healer of the pack. A beautiful and intelligent woman in her early forties, she was the kindest person I have ever known, but then again, healers were always kind but also strict when need be. If people found out I could heal too, then every one of my friends will come directly to me instead of going to Jessica as they should and that’ll be very dangerous for me. Without the Alpha’s energy to fall back on, I’d just end up losing energy and might even end up dying.

Clay didn’t say anything for the longest time, simply stared at me like he was trying to figure me out. But I don’t think there was anything that he needed to figure out about me anyway. My life was an open book and I couldn’t keep a secret to save my life. The fact that I had to keep our little moments together a secret from everyone was killing me from the inside, but some thing you just did not tell. Not even to your best friend.

“Thank you.” Clay nodded towards his leg before he got off my bed and headed towards the window, going out the same way he had come in. “I’ll see you at college tomorrow.” He said after he stood on the other side of the window, his legs firmly on the ground.

“Okay.”

I went to shut the window but before I could comprehend what was going on, Clay had his hands at my nape and was hauling me forwards to crash our lips together. It was the sweetest of agonies as our lips connected, my heart drumming against my ribcage. Instinctively, I wrapped my hands around his neck and leaned forward so I could kiss him better. I felt Clay’s lips curve against mine, felt his satisfied growl rumble deep inside his chest...and then he used his free hand to cup one of my breasts in a possessive hold and give my nipple a light squeeze.

Gasping from the shock of pleasure as heat shot through my entire body, I broke the kiss and took a hasty step back from the window. I could already feel my lips start swelling and my body hunger for his even though my mind kept telling me to run the other way. Clay was looking at me through his wolf’s eyes, the colour more golden than green and the hunger was clear in them.

Clay made a move as to climb back inside the room but I shook my head. “Please don’t.” My voice was hoarse and the desperation in them must have startled Clay because his eyes widened slightly before they reverted back to their original colour.

“What’s wrong?” He asked softly, almost coaxing. “Did I hurt you?” And I instantly knew he was talking about this afternoon.

“No.” I shook my head vigorously, making some of my hair fall onto my face. “But we can’t do this anymore, Clay. I’m not your mate and your twenty eighth birthday is in nine month. You might be comfortable sleeping with someone who’s not your mate, but I can’t do that.”

Something dark crossed over his features. “How can you be so sure that we’re not mates?”

“The connection, Clay!” I willed for him to understand. “If we were mates then we would’ve know it by now. You’re almost twenty eight, your wolf should’ve recognized it by now but it doesn’t! My wolf doesn’t recognize you as its mate.” I shook my head, trying to calm myself down, to stop myself from screaming. “Please go, Clay, before someone sees you. Please.” Before I crumble to pieces, before I start hoping against hope.

Clay took a step back, his expression still dark, but when I would’ve expected him to simply leave, he said something I never thought I’d hear him say. “I don’t care who the Gods have chosen for me, but I’ll defy them all to be with you. Remember that, Flora.”

And with that, he walked out into the night and I collapsed on the floor with trembling limbs.