Don't Touch Him! He's Not An Alpha, He's My Patient novel · Chapter 17 of 24

Chapter 17: Gathering Eve

The hall emptied around us in a roar of voices.

Dad shook the white-bearded Alpha's hand for a long time.

Mom gathered Gran's book into her arms.

Tilly walked past our end of the table and trailed her fingers along the back of Wylie's chair.

"See you tomorrow," she said.

Wylie didn't turn his head.

When she was gone, he let go of my hand under the table.

I looked at my fingers.

They'd gone white where he held them.

"Well," Arlene said. "Fuck the Council."

"Arlene."

"I said it quietly."

Wylie was staring at the empty high table.

"I'm not doing it with a mark," he said.

"The mark's void. That's not a choice anymore."

"It wasn't a good one anyway."

He turned his chair to face me.

"You were right last night. I was asking you to stand in front of me."

"Your teeth on my neck, so I'd never have to say a word to her myself."

"Wylie..."

"She took my voice in that maze. I'm not letting her take it twice. When she says her words, I'm going to say mine."

Arlene sat down hard on the bench.

"The book says a refusal from a weak wolf can kill him."

"I'm not weak."

"You're nine days out of a chair."

"Ten," he said.

Arlene looked at me.

She'd raised him.

She'd sat by him every Sunday.

"Tell him," she said. "You're his healer."

"I'm not," I said. "I discharged him. In front of the whole pack."

My voice came out steadier than I felt.

"And Gran wrote one more line, the one I read to the Council."

"Tomorrow's moon is his. If he says it standing in that water, he says it at full strength."

Arlene stared at me.

"You're letting him."

"He doesn't need my permission. That's the whole point of the last two weeks."

Wylie reached over and took my hand again, gently this time.

"Thank you," he said.

"Don't thank me. If you die, I'm going to kill you."

"Fair."

Arlene wiped her eyes on her flannel sleeve and stood up.

"Then he's eating. Nobody refuses a she-wolf on an empty stomach."

She made venison steaks in Gran's iron pan, and fried potatoes, and opened the last jar of chokecherry jam for no reason.

We ate at Gran's table with the door open to the cold.

Arlene told the story of Wylie at six years old, trying to track a skunk.

She told it badly on purpose.

He threw a potato at her.

She threw it back.

I laughed until I had to put my fork down.

For a whole hour nobody said Tilly's name.

When the plates were empty, Arlene stood up and got her coat.

"I'm sleeping in the packhouse tonight," she said. "Ansel's mate offered me a bed."

"Since when are you friends with Ansel's mate?"

"Since she told me what she said to him about the hall." Arlene grinned. "Smart girl. I'm keeping her."

At the door she stopped and put her hand on Wylie's face, like she had in the yard on the first day.

"Come back to me tomorrow," she said.

"I came back once. I know the way."

She went down the hill without her lantern.

The moon was nearly full.

It came up white over the ridge, a day short of round.

Wylie stood in the doorway looking at it.

"I want to go in the water," he said. "With you. Not for a bath."

I took his hand.

The guard post was empty.

At the edge of the cedar ring sat Ansel's thermos on a stump, with a note under it in my brother's square capitals.

NOBODY COMES UP TONIGHT. I'M AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PATH.

Wylie read it over my shoulder.

"Your brother's coming around."

"Slowly."

"Slowly's still coming."

The Moonwell steamed silver.

The moonlight went all the way to the bottom of it, so I could see the pale stones and the spring breathing up through them.

Wylie pulled his shirt over his head.

← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend