Destined for Vengeance ✔️

Chapter 8

"Wow. I didn't think it'd be this big." Paige stared around her with wide eyes. She was a born and bred Shadow Walker, so she had never seen much of other packs, especially ones this large.

"Save the sightseeing for later. Ryleigh doesn't have much time. Infirmary's this way."

Paige followed her towards a large building. She whistled through her teeth. "That's the infirmary? You could fit our entire pack in there."

Jade held the door open for her and Paige walked in, glancing around. The room was spacious, with beds lining the walls – enough beds for all Shadow Walkers to sleep in. Only one bed was occupied at the moment. Paige's face lost every hint of curiosity. "Goddess." She walked to the bed, her bare feet slapping against the floor. Jade trailed after her.

"Austin, meet Paige," she said.

Paige raised her gaze from Ryleigh, to the young man sitting on a chair beside her bed. He never took his eyes off Ryleigh for more than a few seconds at the time.

"You must be the mate," she said.

He rose from his seat. "Yes. And you must be the healer. Can you help her?" He inched closer towards the bed.

"Well, let's see." Paige extended a hand, holding it above Ryleigh's chest. She closed her eyes, her hand trembling. She sucked in a sharp breath and shot Jade a glance. "You should've contacted me sooner. She's on the brink of death."

"You can fix it, right?" Jade was standing at the foot of the bed, her fingers clamped around her pendant.

"I'll do what I can." She leant forward, brushing Ryleigh's hair off her shoulder. Her eyes met Austin's, who was watching her every move with intense focus. "I heard you marked her. It's probably the only thing keeping her alive right now."

Behind her, someone cleared his throat. Paige twirled around. A middle-aged man was standing in front of her, holding out a dress to her. She and Jade were both naked again after running back from town.

Ridge swallowed. "Uh, I figured you might want to get dressed." He scratched the back of his neck and avoided looking at her.

Paige suppressed a smile and took the dress from him, slipping it over her head. "Thank you. I'm guessing you're the pack doctor?" She offered him her hand and he stared at it as though he had no clue how to respond to that gesture. Slowly, he took her hand in his and shook it, wrenching his eyes up to hers. His mouth opened to speak, but no words came out.

"His name's Ridge," Jade said.

Ridge blinked, then nodded. "Yes. Yes – that's me. Ridge. Hi."

Paige's eyes flitted down to her hand still stuck in his, and he quickly pulled back. He cleared his throat again and turned to Jade, handing her another dress.

"It's nice to meet you," Paige said. "I hope you've taken good care of my little girl." She averted her attention back to Ryleigh. "This one gets in trouble a lot. How often has she been silvered since I've last seen her?"

"Six times, I think," Austin said. "Maybe seven."

Paige's brows shot up and she looked at Jade with her lips parted as if to speak, but she slammed her jaw shut without uttering a sound.

"Only Ryleigh," Jade said.

"One of these days she's going to get herself into such trouble even I can't save her," Paige said. "But that day is not today." She smiled at Austin. "Don't worry, sweetheart. She's been defying expectations for over twenty years."

The door opened to admit three more people. Paige hadn't seen this many strangers together in a long time.

"You must be Paige," one of them said.