The wolfman knocks on the door, shirt torn to reveal his bleeding ribcage. Unable to hear a response over the sound of the rain and thunder, he growls impatiently and knocks again. A moment later, a feminine figure opens the door, toothbrush in hand.

“You couldn’t wait another minute or two for me to finish brushing my teeth?” The annoyance in the woman’s voice makes the werewolf growl with irritation, but the eyebrow she lifts in appraisal of his wounds reminds him that he’s not in charge here and needs her help. “You’re an Alpha? There’s another building about ten yards to your left for your pack to take shelter in while I fix you up.” She waits for them to run off before continuing. “As for you, come sit on the couch. You’ll have to wait momentarily while I finish up, but then I’ll see to your injuries.”

He makes his way to the sofa, settling himself down. Glancing about, he notices that the floor-to-ceiling shelves hold an incredible number of jars, vials, and potted plants and wonders to himself why he feels so inferior to a mere healer. There’s just something about her… but further consideration will have to wait until his injuries have closed, he decides as the blood loss begins to affect his thoughts. He looks up drowsily as the woman re-enters the room.

“With a shirt that torn, you may as well take it off.” He does as instructed while she hustles around the room, reaching for three jars, two vials and a variety of potted plants. She pulls some leaves off of each of the plants and balls them up before handing them to him. “Here, chew these. I need them pulpy but not completely disintegrated. And whatever you do, DON’T SWALLOW THE JUICES.” He growls at her raised voice, so she adds sharply, “Unless you want a stomachache, that is.”

She begins mixing powders from various jars together before adding two drops from one vial and three from another. When he opens his mouth to show her the ball of chewed-up leaves, she gestures for him to spit it into the mortar. She uses the pestle to grind it all together, pours the resulting mixture onto a large leaf, wraps it up, and holds it out to him.

“Here, eat this. All of it, mind you, even the leaf.” She watches carefully as he gulps it down without chewing and grimaces at the taste, but then his eyes widen because he can feel its effects on his body. “What I just gave you should help kill the pain and begin knitting the bones back together. Combined with your natural healing, you should be able to leave tomorrow, after breakfast.”

He turns with a start to stare at her before speaking for the first time. “Leaving now. House smells odd.”

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“Oh no you’re not.” The woman glares at him, pointing down the hallway towards the other rooms. “I don’t like healing patients who are just going to get themselves hurt again before they’ve finished recovering from the last injury. You will be staying in one of these rooms until I deem you fit to leave. Understand? Good. You may choose any room except the three at the end of the hall. Tell your pack that they should sleep in the barn for tonight, it will shelter them from the storm.”

The next morning, he steps out of his borrowed room to stand at the entrance to the kitchen, where the woman is cooking porridge and what appear to be eggs. He takes the plate of eggs she hands him and watches as she carries the porridge down the hall to give to the little girl sleeping in the only other occupied room. Sniffing lightly, he wonders whether the squishy yellow stuff is actually edible, and hesitantly takes a few bites before settling down to eat the rest.

“Hmph.” At the sound of an unfamiliar female voice, he turns abruptly toward the noises of a closing door and stomping feet. “Another patient, eh, Mistress? Don’t forget ya promised the towns ya’d visit today. They’ll not be happy if you show up smelling like wolves.”

Before he can even start to growl, the woman known to most only as the Healer returns to the room with a laugh. “It wouldn’t be the first time. If they have a problem, they can wait until next month’s round or come in the interim. Otherwise, they’ll be getting their treatment from me while I smell, as you say, like wolves.”

He turns away with a snort that belies his annoyance and speaks for the first time since the previous night. “My pack will need food, where may we hunt?” His words come with an ease that surprises the young Apprentice and gains the Healer’s approving nod.

“You saw the stream on your way in? It marks the border of my territory on all sides. You may not kill within my Sanctuary, but I will allow you to hunt outside and bring your kill back. Mind you, make sure they’re dead before you return.” The Healer’s eyes are deadly serious as she speaks, and he nods fearfully. There are only rumors of what happens to those who bring deliberate harm to any living creature within her domain. “And I expect that you will return. You aren’t fully healed yet. In my professional opinion, you should remain with the cubs in the other building while the others go hunting. If you exacerbate that injury, I will be very upset with you.”

“I must go with them, Healer, but I will restrain myself from participating as anything more than a supervisor. Some of my pack have yet to learn these woods.” The two women watch as he gathers his hunters and leads them off the property. Then the Healer sighs and begins to collect her most frequently needed supplies.

“I’ll be off, then. Let’s see what life has in store for us today.”