I shot Ramsay a sharp look, but he returned my gaze calmly and evenly. He wasn’t speaking from a place of flared emotions any longer, but from the political mindset of a pack leaders’ son.
But the Madame let out a thin sigh through her nose and glanced back to me. “Then my offer is the same. I don’t wish for a war with the wolves. The pregnant wolf is doing me a service either way by trying to lift the curse on my body. I will not sacrifice his life, or the life of his unborn child.”
Ramsay uncrossed his arms and nodded, looking satisfied with her response. I felt similarly relieved, even though I really did hope to heal her properly.
“This might take a while,” I admitted to the Madame. “Maybe you should lay down.”
“I’ll wait outside,” Ramsay suggested.
He left us alone and went to guard the door in case anyone tried to interrupt. The Madame took up laying on her bed and I hovered over her with my hands out, feeling a bit awkward. Healing my mates and friends was one thing, but healing a stranger with a very deep and very old wound felt entirely different.
She had shifted her clothes to give me access to the injury site. The scars stared back at me almost defiantly, daring me to try and heal them. I frowned as I remembered how Ramsay’s wounds had taken me a few days to fully heal. How long would this take, if it took at all?
I shut my eyes and shifted into a realm of focus. When I laid my fingertips gently on her scarred flesh, I let out a slight whimper. The magic swirling in my hands seemed to pull back in pain, though nothing was physically wrong.
It took me a moment to realize that it was my own mind poisoning me. It was fear.
Fear of failure. Fear of becoming barren, like the Madame. Fear of losing my baby.
I pushed through the feeling like it was a physical barrier, straining to overcome that mental hurdle of absolute panic.
I needed to focus on something else--something besides fear.
So I focused on my baby.
Almost immediately a wave of cool calm came over me, soothing down the anxiety like water. I let it consume me until the last shred of panic dissolved. In its place was the warm, pulsing energy of life and love--of knowing there was a baby growing inside me.
And knowing the Madame wanted one, too.
I pushed my fingertips in a little deeper, transferring the soothing energy inside her. I willed intensely for the magic to weave into her body and soul, repairing what had been broken. In my mind’s eye I pictured the Madame with a rounded belly, with a child in her arms, smiling like I’d never seen her do…
I didn’t know how long I was lost inside the trance. When I eventually opened my eyes, it was under the weight of exhaustion. I staggered back, clutching the wall for support as my knees began to buckle. But this time, I didn’t pass out. I caught my breath and steadied my limbs until the moment of weakness passed.
I sighed. “How do you feel?”
The Madame opened her eyes and glanced down.
The wound remained. I couldn’t tell if it looked the same or not, but the Madame traced it with great interest and shaking fingers.
“It’s smaller,” she said in awe, her voice barely above a whisper.
My heart raced. “Really?”
“Yes. I have no doubt about it.”
She smiled at me, and I knew all the exhaustion was worth it. If it could give the Madame a chance to conceive a child, like I had, it was worth all the fatigue in the world. I smiled back at her.
“It might take a few more days,” I said. “And even then, I don’t know if it’s just healing the scar, or the tissue inside…”
She stood, putting a hand on my shoulder. “It’s all right, wolf. Thank you. Now rest. You and your mate are welcome here as long as you wish. I’ll see to it that the rest of my people have your respect, and care for your needs.”
“So we’re not prisoners anymore?”
She raised a brow, but it was more in amusement than scorn. “Are you planning on leaving?”
“No,” I said. “Not until I do all I can to heal you.”
“Then you’re as free as the wind.”
