Hope

Kade halted in his tracks and turned to give me an incredulous look.

“It’s like the butt crack of dawn on your eighteenth birthday and you already found your mate?”

“Yep.” I smiled at him and pulled him along with me.

“Ok, who is it?”

“Connor O’Leary.” I responded cheerily. Kade turned to frown at me and took a deep breath before responding.

“Connor’s a great guy, Hope. But he’s not a good mate for you. Your mate is supposed to take over for me as your protector. He can’t do that. I hate to say it because he was going to be a bad ass one day. He’s a year younger than me and could still take me in a fight. You know I’ll support you in whatever you decide, but this is a big deal. Have you thought this through?” I sighed and rolled my eyes at him.

“Yes, I have.”

“Did you tell him you’re a healer? Because I never did.” I lowered my eyes to the ground, avoiding his stare.

“No, not yet, but I will.” Kade sighed and put his arm around my shoulder.

“I’m sorry to be a downer, Dope. I just care about you and want you to be safe. I feel like an ass because what happened to Connor wasn’t his fault. It would be so much easier if he could see.” I leaned against my brother, enjoying the warmth and safety he emitted.

“I know. I have some thoughts on the situation that I would like to share with both you and him after our trip to the hospital.”

He nodded and we continued on our way. After healing the adorable six-year-old and having her mom thank me over a dozen times we went back to the pack house to Connor’s room and I knocked on his door.

“Connor? It’s Hope and Kade. Can we come in?” I heard him chuckle through the door.

“I knew it was you, sweetheart. I could smell you from the first floor. Come on in.” I mouthed ‘rude’ at Kade and he chuckled as we entered. Connor was standing by a Bluetooth stereo turning down the volume when we walked in. He looked yummy wearing a black polo shirt that showed off his massive biceps and wide shoulders with faded jeans and was barefoot.

“Ugh you got dressed?” I whined as I sauntered over to give him a hug. He wrapped his arms around me tightly and chuckled in my ear. The sound caused my heart to flutter and I couldn’t keep the silly grin off my face.

“Gross, Hope.” Kade muttered as he took a seat in the corner. I looked around his room for what was really the first time. It almost looked like a college dorm. White walls, white linoleum floor, barely enough room for his twin size bed and the desk holding his stereo. A small wardrobe and chest of drawers in the corner and that was it. I figured maybe it was easier for him, less to trip over. Or maybe this was a symptom of a deeper emotional problem related to his loss of vision. I stored the concern away for another time.

“Look, Connor,” Kade continued. “You’re a great guy and normally I would be thrilled with you being my sister’s mate, but I think we need to discuss some things. Hope, you need to tell him the truth.” I pushed Connor down on his bed and started pacing the room.

“Ok, ok. Connor. Don’t be mad at me when I tell you this.” He scoffed and pointed his face at the ceiling.

“Well that’s a great way to start this conversation, sweetheart.” I took a deep breath and blurted before I could lose my nerve.

“I’m a healer!” Different emotions flashed across Connor’s face, shock, confusion, understanding, then anger. His jaw clenched and his hands made fists on his knees.

“What the hell, Hope? Why didn’t you tell me this before? I never would have let you accept me if I had known!”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you!”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Kade waved his hands in the air to get my attention. “You guys already accepted each other?”

“Yes. And now you can’t reject me because if you do, I will likely lose my wolf and my healing powers.” Connor sighed before continuing.

“I can’t believe you tricked me, Hope. Did you even think about this? You’re putting yourself in danger by being with me. I will never be able to protect you. I am the worst possible mate for you.” He turned his face to the ground and looked incredibly sad. I took his face in my hands and kissed his forehead gently.

“I didn’t trick you Connor. I would have accepted you no matter what. Being a healer is amazing, but I refuse to be unhappy because of it. And to be happy, I need you.” It was quiet for a moment before Kade spoke up.

“That’s great and all, Hope, but what are you going to do about protection? I know Connor is great, but another mate, even a chosen one, could protect you better. No offense, man. If you rejected him instead of him rejecting you, your wolf should remain intact as well as your powers.”

“No! He is mine!” I growled at my brother and climbed onto Connor’s lap, wrapping my arms around his neck and narrowing my eyes at Kade. Connor chuckled into my chest where I had buried his face.

“Possessive little one, isn’t she?” Kade scoffed and looked at me.

“More like spoiled. You have your hands full, brother.” Connor and Kade both broke out laughing and my face heated up in a blush.

“I’m not spoiled Kade. He is mine just as I am his. As far as his vision, I have some thoughts on that. I want both of you to listen to me, understood?” They both nod and I climb off of Connor’s lap to resume pacing the small room.

“Kade, did you know how Connor lost his sight?”

“No, not really. Just that he lost it during battle.”

“He was shot with a silver bullet dipped in wolfsbane.” Kade’s eyes widened and he looked over at Connor.

“How the fuck are you still alive, man?” Connor shrugged.

“No one knows. Even the doctors said it was a miracle.” I continued.

“He was shot in the right shoulder. Six months ago.” Kade looked at me confused.

“Can you think of something that happened to me roughly six months ago?” He thought for a minute and then his eyes widened in understanding.

“That time you passed out from some random pain and every doctor said there was nothing wrong with you?” I nodded.

“Exactly. What I think happened was I was able to heal Connor. It’s very rare, but in all the research I have done on healers there were a few instances of healers performing extraordinary magic on their mates. Magic they aren’t usually capable of. You see, the Moon Goddess chooses our mates specifically to be our protectors, so she didn’t want us to lose them no matter what and gave us special powers just for them. I think, because Connor has Alpha blood, our bond is stronger so I could heal him without even knowing who he was. Obviously, I wasn’t able to save his sight, but I think now that we are together, I might be able to.” Connor faced me with a shocked expression.

“You think you can give me my sight back?” I walked over and wrapped my arms around him.

“Maybe. I’d like to try if that’s ok. The only thing is, with every instance of extraordinary mate healing in my books, the mates were marked. I can try it now, but we may have to mark each other for it to work.”

“And what if it doesn’t work?” Kade asked. I narrowed my eyes and clenched my teeth, tired of his pessimism.

“If it doesn’t work, Connor can come back to our pack where you and dad can be my protectors until we decide on another warrior that can take over. If it does work, if Connor can still be Alpha, I’ll stay here with him.”

“You really have thought this through haven’t you sis?” I smiled gently at Kade.

“After Connor told me at the bar last night what happened to him, things just clicked in my head and I thought he was my mate. I sat up all night thinking about everything. But one thing I never questioned; was I knew I would accept you. No matter what.” Connor pulled me tightly against him. I was still standing so I was slightly taller than him, so I leaned down to place a gentle kiss in his soft, wavy hair.

“So, what do you say, baby? Can I heal you?”