Chapter 7 Healing

The morning sun filtered gently through the hospital window, casting soft patterns across the white sheets. Lindsay stirred, slowly opening her eyes to the unfamiliar ceiling. For a brief second, she didn't know where she was. Then the steady beeping of the heart monitor reminded her.

London. The surgery.

Her head felt heavy, but not painful. She reached up tentatively, fingers brushing against the bandage wrapped around her skull.

"You're awake."

Maria's voice came from the corner, quiet with relief. Lindsay turned her head slightly to see her friend curled in a chair, dark circles beneath her eyes. She must've been there all night.

"How long?" Lindsay asked, her voice raspy.

"Four hours since you got out of surgery," Maria said, standing up to pour her a glass of water. "The doctors said it went well. No complications."

Lindsay managed a faint smile as Maria held the glass for her. She sipped slowly, savoring the coolness on her tongue.

"Brandon?" she asked after a beat, though she wasn't sure why. Maybe out of habit.

Maria's lips pressed into a thin line. "He hasn't called. Not even a message."

Lindsay looked away, her smile fading but her eyes calm. "I didn't really expect him to."

A silence settled between them. Maria sat on the edge of the bed, brushing a stray hair from Lindsay's forehead. "You don't have to go back, you know. Stay here. Start fresh."

"I'm not ready," Lindsay murmured. "But I will be."

Over the next few days, Lindsay slowly regained her strength. The nurses were kind, and the doctors spoke optimistically. Every morning, Maria arrived with flowers or a silly magazine. Each evening, they watched old movies on Maria's laptop, laughing softly under hospital blankets.

But late at night, when Maria had gone home and the ward was quiet, Lindsay lay awake, staring at the moon through the window.

She thought of Brandon-not the man he was now, but the boy he'd been, the way he'd made her laugh once, the way he used to brush a kiss against her temple before bed. That boy was gone. And maybe she had been holding on to a ghost.

One night, a letter arrived at her bedside. No return address. Just her name, written in Brandon's handwriting.

Maria found it first and handed it to her warily.

Lindsay unfolded it slowly.

"I heard about the surgery. I'm glad you're okay. I'm sorry for everything. I'll explain when I return, but it's not what you think. Please... take care of yourself."

No signature.

No promises.

Lindsay folded the letter neatly, setting it on the bedside table. "Nothing's changed," she said quietly.

Maria's gaze softened. "No. But you have."

Outside, rain tapped gently against the window, washing the city clean.

Lindsay lay back, closing her eyes, feeling a small flicker of peace stirring in her chest. She wasn't whole yet. But the healing had begun.

And for the first time in a long time, she wasn't waiting.

She was moving forward.

Back home, the pack was restless. The tension hung in the air like a storm that hadn't broken yet.

In the council chamber, the elders sat in a tight circle. Candles burned low, casting flickering shadows against the stone walls. At the center stood Rowan, shoulders squared, his jaw tight.

"We can't ignore this any longer," he said, voice low but firm. "Brandon has betrayed not just Lindsay, but all of us."

Murmurs rippled through the room.

"He's still our Alpha," Elder Maelen reminded, though even he sounded tired. "Until he renounces the title, or until-"

"Until what?" Rowan snapped. "Until Kylie takes his place beside him and claims the seat of Luna? She's not one of us. She's never been."

In the corner, Mara crossed her arms. "We've all seen what's happening. She's playing him. But the more we push, the more stubborn Brandon becomes. He's blind to it."

Silence followed her words.

Then a younger wolf, Jace, spoke up from the back. "We can't let him bring her into the heart of the pack. She doesn't belong in the Circle."

"She's already inside," Mara said bitterly. "Whether we like it or not."

The elders exchanged heavy glances.

"We could challenge him," Rowan said after a pause. "Call a formal trial. Make him choose-her, or us."

"That's a dangerous road," Maelen warned. "We risk dividing the pack. Some will side with him, no matter what."

"And if we do nothing?" Rowan's voice hardened. "We watch him tear down everything we've built?"

A heavy silence followed.

Outside, the howl of a lone wolf echoed across the hills, carried by the wind. It was a mournful sound, distant yet haunting.

Mara turned toward the window, her heart sinking. "He'll come back. But he won't come back alone."

No one spoke. The weight of her words settled like ash.

In the shadows beyond the firelight, something stirred-unseen, waiting.

And somewhere far away, Brandon stood at the edge of a forest, staring up at the moon, unaware of the silent gathering plotting his fate.

Unaware that Lindsay's absence had left a hole even Kylie couldn't fill.

The pack's future balanced on a knife's edge.

And as the first drops of rain began to fall, no one knew which way it would tip.

Far from the council's secret meeting, Lindsay sat by the window in a quiet clinic room, her eyes fixed on the rain streaming down the glass. Each drop traced a winding path, blurring the world outside. Her body felt lighter, weaker, but her mind hadn't slowed.

She'd thought that leaving would ease the ache. That distance would dull the sharp edges of betrayal. But now, in the silence, the ache only hollowed her deeper.

Maria sat curled in the chair beside her, dozing lightly, her phone resting on her lap. A message lit up the screen: "They're moving against him. Stay safe."

Lindsay caught the glow of the screen, but made no move to read it. She closed her eyes, exhaling slowly, feeling the weight of too many unspoken truths pressing on her chest.

Across the city, Brandon stood under the awning of an old cabin, water dripping from his hair as he scrolled through his phone. His lips pressed into a thin line as he read the latest headlines swirling around Kylie's post.

"She's winning them over," he muttered.

Kylie leaned against the doorway behind him, a faint smile playing on her lips. "I told you they'd understand. It's destiny, Brandon. You and I."

He stiffened, sliding his phone into his pocket. "It's not that simple."

"It is," she whispered, stepping closer. "Once they accept me, everything else will fall into place. You won't have to choose anymore."

But Brandon wasn't so sure. He could feel it-an undercurrent he couldn't name. Every step closer to Kylie felt like moving further away from something... or someone.

Back at the pack grounds, Mara paced the training yard, eyes scanning the shadows. Rowan approached quietly, his expression grim.

"Word's out," he said. "Some of the younger wolves want to challenge him the moment he steps back onto our land."

Mara stopped pacing, her gaze distant. "He won't come back empty-handed. And he won't come back the same."

Rowan hesitated. "You think he knows?"

"No." Mara's lips tightened. "But she does."

Lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating the treeline for a brief second. And there-standing just beyond the boundary, watching-was a figure cloaked in darkness, unmoving.

When the light faded, the figure was gone.

Rowan stepped forward, alarm flashing in his eyes. "Did you see-?"

"I saw," Mara said quietly.

Far away, in the clinic, Lindsay opened her eyes suddenly, as though something unseen had passed through her. Her fingers brushed her necklace absently, her heartbeat quickening.

And deep in the woods, under the rising moon, Kylie stood barefoot in the clearing, a strange symbol drawn into the earth at her feet.

Her eyes gleamed unnaturally as she whispered words no one should hear.

Something was coming.