A few years ago, I was once the continent’s greatest healer. But now, everyone looked at me with fear and disgust.
“Look, the monster is out again!”
The children’s voices reached me before I even stepped out of our tiny hut. They screamed and ran, afraid that I might catch them and eat them. It was an absurd claim, yet they showed up at my door every single time just to remind me how hideous I was in their eyes.
One boy stayed behind longer than the others. He bent down, picked up a stone, and threw it at me. It hit my shoulder, but I did not react. It was not because it did not hurt. Rather, I had simply learned to endure for my own sake.
Suddenly, a small hand gripped the back of my dress.
“Mommy…”
I turned slightly and placed myself in front of her. “It’s alright, Mira,” I said softly. “They are just playing around.”
She did not believe me, and I knew it. My little girl, Mirabella, had just turned five, but she understood our situation far better than any child her age should. Mira pressed her face against my back, hiding from the world that had already rejected her because of me.
A werewolf passed by suddenly, and I remembered him. He was one of those warriors I healed a few years ago. Ever since, he had been speaking in public and expressing his utmost appreciation to the one who healed him.
However…
“Thanks to the life-saving grace of the divine healer, Kael Thorne,” he said proudly. “Without his Moonlight Healing Arts, I would have died long ago.”
People around us turned and nodded in agreement. I heard admiration in their voices as they repeated his name.
Kael. Kael Thorne.
The werewolf looked at me again and frowned. He curled his lips mockingly.
I lowered my gaze and said nothing.
For Mirabella’s sake, I would endure this. I won’t say anything.
I won’t tell him that it was me who healed him and not Kael.
Well, no one's to blame but me. It was I who gave him that leverage. It was I who gave him the Moonlight Healing Arts, which is the product of my life’s work as a healer.
I still remember the night I gave that knowledge to him.
“Take this to the Alpha and take the credit for it,” I told him back then as I handed a tiny notebook containing my research. He looked surprised, then shook his head.
“But Lyra, this is life’s work. I can’t…I can’t take it.”
“You should,” I said. “They will accept it more easily if it comes from you because your rank is higher than mine. You will rise faster, and with that, our future is secured.”
Security and power…In our world where rank and power are of the utmost importance, I knew this was our only way to succeed in life.
He looked at me for a long time before he finally nodded. “Then I will make sure this research will be the key to our good life.”
We continued our journey towards the well to fetch some water. There, we encountered a few she-wolves who, like the children earlier, looked at us like we carried some deadly disease. While they didn’t harm us physically, their whispers were enough to stab my heart over and over.
“Her face is terrifying.”
“I heard she used to be a healer. Who would believe that?”
“She looks like a monster.”
“Maybe that’s the reason why her mate abandoned her. Who wouldn’t?”
I kept walking as if I heard nothing. But deep inside, each word of disdain they uttered was like a poison killing me slowly.
Once I fetched the water I needed, I hurried back home.
When we reached the edge of the camp, Mira slowly let go of me. She looked at the other children playing nearby, then lifted her gaze at me.
I smiled. My daughter didn’t have to say anything. I knew what she was trying to say.
“Go on and play with them. Just make sure to come home before dinner.”
Mira’s face lit up, nodding before walking towards the group of pups. But before she could get close, one of the she-wolves ran and warned the kids.
“Do not play with that monster’s child,” she said sharply. “If you do, your face will be cursed like hers.
Hearing that, Mira stopped. The children looked at her with fear before running in different directions.
I covered my mouth and tried to stifle a sob as I saw her bow her head slightly. I caught her wiping her eyes using her tiny arm before walking back to me without saying anything. Situations like these were the very thing that broke my heart every single time. I can endure Moonridge Pack’s disdain without a problem. But when it comes to Mira…
I crouched in front of her and gently held her shoulders. “It is alright, Mira. I can play with you.
She nodded and smiled faintly. I could only wish my presence were enough. But knowing that she was only a child? I knew that having friends or someone to play with within her age was fundamental for her to have a happy childhood.
And yet, no one wants to play with her. Because of me.
I wished I could give her a life where she was not avoided just because her mother was hideous, but I knew it was like trying to catch the moon. It was impossible.
As long as I bear this scar, I will always be the monster in everyone’s eyes.
The memory comes back all at once, clear enough that it feels like I’m there again. It was during the time our camp was caught up in the middle of a pack war plaguing our region.
Everyone was shouting. Running. Meanwhile, the warriors tried their best to defend what was left of our pack. Then, in the middle of the battle, I saw someone sneak out a silver dagger, aiming at Kael, who was too busy fighting somebody else.
There was no time to think. The next thing I knew, I blocked the attack which ended up slicing half of my face.
The pain hit instantly, burning through my skin in a way nothing else ever had. It was deep and unbearable, but even then, I didn’t regret it. I did it for my mate and would do it again in a heartbeat should the situation call for it.
For a moment, it felt like everything else faded. I almost told him then. I almost told him about the child I was carrying.
But I didn’t. Instead, he told me he had to go.
At first, I didn’t understand, not until he said the army needed him and that he couldn’t stay. I tried to stop him, but he had already made up his mind.
“I’ll come back for you. Wait for me here. Don’t leave. When this is over, I’ll find you, and we’ll live happily again.
So I wait. It had been almost six years since that night, and I still found myself waiting for him.
My thoughts went back to the present as I saw Mira’s uneven breathing while resting. It was the type of breathing as if something heavy was pressing against her chest,
Mira has Silverheart, a congenital heart disease.
Until now, I still could not understand how Mira contracted this disease. Neither Kael nor I had any history of such illness. I had spent years trying to look for a cure, but I failed.
I could not even save my own child.
What kind of healer am I?
What kind of mother am I?
So, there’s only one left to do.
Bring Mira to the Healer’s Pack to be treated.
The Redwine Pack.
The doctor had said only the Healer’s Pack main hospital could help her. They needed to find the source of her illness before it was too late.
I closed my eyes for a moment. I heard that the survivors of the pack wars went there to be treated. For sure, those with knowledge of healing like Kael, would be there too. I know he would.
I took a few of our belongings, including the other copy of the Moonlight Healing Arts, which I continued developing these past few years, and placed it in our tiny bag. As I folded our clothes for the journey ahead, two photos dropped on the floor. One was the photo taken from when Mira was born, while the other was taken during Kael and I’s mating ceremony.
“Kael,” I whispered into the air as if the message would be delivered to my mate. “Your daughter needs you. We cannot wait for you any longer so let us go to you instead.”
