The healer’s chamber was quieter than the rest of the pack house.
Selena noticed that imdiately.
The noise that usually lived in the halls — servants moving, guards talking, doors opening and closing — seed distant here, as though the room had been built far enough away from everything to keep the outside world from entering.
A small fire burned in the corner hearth, its warmth pushing back the chill that always seed to linger in the stone walls of the pack house. The air slled faintly of dried herbs and crushed leaves, the scent strong enough to sting slightly at the back of her nose.
Selena sat on the edge of the narrow bed while the healer moved slowly around the wooden table beside her.
Bundles of plants hung from thin ropes tied to the ceiling beams. Jars filled with powders and liquids lined the shelves along the wall. So were clear, others cloudy or dark. None of them looked particularly comforting.
The healer herself was a quiet woman, older than Selena had first thought when they t earlier that morning.
Her hair was threaded with gray and pulled back into a loose knot behind her head. Fine lines marked the corners of her eyes and mouth, the kind that usually ca from years of smiling.
But she wasn’t smiling now.
She had been examining Selena for the past several minutes in silence.
First she had checked her pulse.
Then her eyes.
Then asked her to breathe slowly while she pressed careful fingers against Selena’s stomach and ribs.
Selena had tried to remain patient through it all, though the growing tension in the room made that harder with every passing mont.
The healer stepped back slightly and studied her again.
Too carefully.
Selena noticed it imdiately.
The woman’s brows had drawn together just slightly, and though her face remained composed, sothing in her expression had changed.
Concern.
Selena knew that look.
She had seen it on people’s faces before when they tried to hide bad news.
"Is sothing wrong?" Selena asked.
Her voice sounded calm enough, though she felt a small knot of unease tightening slowly in her stomach.
The healer blinked once, as if realizing she had been staring.
Then she shook her head.
"Nothing you should worry about."
The answer ca too quickly.
Selena watched her closely.
The healer turned away and began sorting through the jars on the nearby table, her hands moving faster than they had earlier.
That alone told Selena sothing was wrong.
People moved like that when they were trying not to answer questions.
A shiver ran down Selena’s spine. Her instincts scread that the healer’s silence ant more than exhaustion—it ant danger.
"You hesitated," Selena said quietly.
The healer froze for a brief mont before continuing to move the jars.
"It was nothing," she repeated.
Selena slid off the edge of the bed and stood slowly.
The room tilted slightly when her feet touched the floor, but she steadied herself against the bed fra before the healer could notice.
"Please," Selena said gently.
The healer looked at her again.
Selena could see the conflict in the woman’s eyes now.
Sothing was bothering her.
Sothing she clearly did not want to say.
"What did you find?" Selena asked.
The healer opened her mouth slightly, as if about to speak.
Then she stopped.
Her gaze shifted past Selena toward the doorway.
The change in her expression was imdiate.
The concern that had been there monts ago vanished beneath sothing else entirely.
Fear.
Selena felt it before she even turned.
A presence had entered the room.
Selena felt her pulse quicken, her muscles tensing without permission. She forced herself to remain still, though her hands itched to curl into fists.
Heavy footsteps echoed softly against the stone floor behind her.
She already knew who it was.
Silas.
Selena turned slowly.
He stood in the doorway with the easy confidence he always carried, one hand resting casually against the fra as his sharp eyes moved between her and the healer.
"I hope I’m not interrupting anything important," he said.
His voice sounded light, but there was a quiet edge beneath it.
The healer lowered her head imdiately.
"Alpha Silas."
Selena noticed the way the woman’s shoulders had tightened.
The way she had taken a small step backward without even realizing it.
Silas stepped further into the room. Each step he took made the stone floor vibrate lightly under her feet, echoing in her chest like a warning she could not ignore.
"I ca to see how our princess is feeling."
His gaze settled on Selena.
She forced herself to remain still under the weight of it.
"I’m fine," she said.
His gaze lingered just a second too long, as if asuring the truth in her eyes against the story he wanted her to believe.
Then his attention shifted to the healer.
"Well?" he asked.
The healer hesitated only a mont.
"She only needs rest," she said carefully.
Selena felt the lie imdiately.
The healer’s voice had changed.
It sounded smaller now.
Quieter.
Silas seed satisfied with the answer.
"Good," he said.
The healer lowered her head again.
"If you will excuse , alpha Silas, I have other preparations to attend to."
Silas gave a brief nod.
She moved quickly after that, gathering a few small jars from the table before slipping past him toward the door.
The way her shoulders huddled and her steps quickened made Selena’s stomach twist. Whatever truth she carried had been swallowed whole the mont Silas appeared.
Selena watched her go.
Just before the healer stepped out of the room, their eyes t briefly. The healer’s eyes flicked to Silas once more before darting away, a silent plea Selena understood without words.
The ssage in that look was impossible to miss.
Sothing was wrong.
Sothing bad.
The door closed softly behind her.
Silence settled over the room again.
Selena turned back toward Silas.
He was watching her now with quiet focus.
"What did she tell you?" he asked.
The question ca imdiately.
Selena folded her arms loosely.
"Nothing."
Silas’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"Nothing?"
"She said I need rest."
Silas stepped closer.
"That’s all?"
Selena held his gaze.
"That’s all."
For a mont he studied her carefully, as if searching for any sign she might be hiding sothing.
Then he relaxed slightly.
"She told the sa thing," he said.
Selena said nothing.
Silas walked slowly around the room, his gaze drifting over the shelves of herbs and jars before returning to her.
"The healer assured you will recover quickly," he continued.
His voice sounded calm.
Too calm.
Selena rembered the look on the healer’s face.
The fear.
The hesitation.
The way she had almost spoken before Silas entered.
It didn’t match the certainty in his voice now.
"Did she?" Selena asked.
Silas stopped walking.
"Yes."
He gave her a small smile.
"You have nothing to worry about."
Selena studied him quietly.
There was a smoothness to his words, too polished, too precise. It didn’t reassure her—it weighed on her like a shadow she couldn’t see fully.
The healer’s silence.
Her fear.
Silas’s sudden arrival.
All of it sat heavily in her chest like a puzzle piece that didn’t belong.
But she said nothing more.
Silas stepped closer until he stood only a few feet away.
"You should rest," he said.
Rest. The word felt hollow. Her mind raced, trying to piece together the puzzle of the healer’s fear and Silas’s perfect composure. Sothing didn’t fit, and she couldn’t ignore it.
"I will."
His gaze lingered on her face for another mont before he nodded slightly.
"Good."
Selena watched him carefully.
But the uneasy feeling in her chest did not fade.
If anything, it only grew stronger. Her chest tightened, the uneasy weight of doubt settling there like a stone. She would need act soon—and fast—if she hoped to stay one step ahead of him.
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