Half Breed

SIX

Ramona and I were worse for wear the next morning. I instantly regretted drinking so much when the blinding morning light wracked through my brain.

"That's what you get, lightweight." Nate nudged past me when I finally extracted myself from the folds of my dark bedroom.

I stuck my tongue out at his retreating back.

"Better put that tongue away before I put it to good use." He said.

I swallowed my surprised cough.

"How did you know?" I called after him.

He turned and flashed me a quick smile, "Because I'm alpha."

I would have continued the shameless flirting but I had to find the healer that Isaac so obscurely mentioned. Like Ramona said, I wasn't a prisoner so there would be no problem if I walked right to the pack healer and demanded answers.

Which is exactly what I did. After a bit of asking around, I managed to find my way to a small bar and cafe just minutes out of the territory where this healer supposedly owned and lived in. The place was fairly busy for a mid morning but it made sense when Nate was hosting so many shifter visitors most days. They needed a place to stay overnight.

"What can I do for you?" A worker approached me.

He was short and lean, most probably in his early teens and had a mass of curly white blonde hair. It didn't take me long for me to realise that there was something different about him.

His eyes were a silver white and weren't really looking directly at me. There was no sign of scarring or previous injury that gave me any further indication but I knew for certain that he was blind.

"I'm looking for the healer, is he here?" I asked.

The shifter flared his nostrils in my direction before he led me to the back. There was a door hidden behind a curtain that separated the main part of the tavern.

"He'll be done with his patient soon, if you don't mind waiting a few minutes."

The white haired boy gestured to the general area where the seats were before he left me alone.

I decided to stand and examine the painted images that covered an entire wall. All of them framed in gold and a cluster of vibrant colours. I looked down at my rough hands and almost laughed at myself.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I whispered to myself.

I'm following the words of a shifter who enjoyed elaborate pranks, many of which I fell for. I turned on my heels and headed for the door.

"Already leaving?" A low male voice made me jump.

I turned to the source and found a lanky male leaning against the dark red wall. His inky black hair was tied away from his face and his bright blue eyes regarded me with acute awareness. I wasn't expecting the healer to be so...young.

He didn't look much older than my twenty two. But then again the lifespan of a sorcerer was a tad longer than shifters so he could be almost a century old and I wouldn't know.

"I'm- It was an accident. I'm not ill or anything."

"My name is Gabriel. Why don't we have a quick chat before you leave?" He nodded to the room behind him.

I twisted my lips to the side in contemplation. What in the world are you planning Isaac? I ran a hand through my hair and followed the healer.

"Why am I here?"

Gabriel stopped and I almost ran into his back.

"You don't know?" He quirked his head to the side.