Chapter 7 - Injuries & White Lies

Celia’s POV As an intern who has yet to be promoted, I am, quite unfortunately, under Bianca’s direct supervision and command. My position as one of her subordinates means that I am required to attend every single one of the lectures she hosts at the hospital. Today is no different. Bianca’s event was given a time slot in the afternoon. Today she plans on sharing Lycan medical techniques and how the Healers at the hospital can integrate these methods into their own work. Many of the she-wolf Healers praised her for the help and innovative techniques. While the mass of Healers praise Bianca, I move off to the side and find comfort in the shadows of the room, the forgotten sections that nobody looks to. I watch the door closely, arms crossed over my chest, and watch as my best friend, Lily enters the medium sized room. Lily is my best friend. We met at the hospital as interns starting out together. She’s just come back from a business trip abroad and I am so relieved to see her. I wave her over and smile. She takes the spot beside me and we watch the room in a comfortable silence. “Have I missed anything yet?” Lily asks. I shake my head no. The she-wolf Healers circle around Bianca, laughing with her. “You’re right on time,” I push the words out, huffing to myself. I haven’t been feeling right since I caught Soren’s scent a few days ago. “Are you okay?” Lily inquires, quickly taking notice of my sour mood. She rests her hand on my back, rubbing it around in soothing circles. I sigh and look at her, a big frown forming on my face. “Oh, Celia, it’s going to be okay.” “Is it?” I huff back, turning my attention to the front of the room. “Yeah, it will be. Everyone knows it should have been you instead of her. A lot of people have been suffering under her command so far,” Lily sighs and leans into me. We make our way to empty seats towards the back of the room and sit down. It’s true. Bianca’s first few days here were warm and welcoming. After a week, though, it began to break down as her incompetence to lead began to shine through her actions and way she spoke to people. A handful of injured warriors stagger into the room. They line up at the front and against the wall behind Bianca. I barely pay attention to what she says and instead look at the warriors’ wounds. Many of them are in arm slings with bandages covering their exposed skin. One of them sits in a wheelchair, his injuries much more severe than the others who stand. How could Bianca do this to them? They’re in pain! They need to be resting instead of being used as her own personal lab rats. “Alright!” Bianca claps her hands together and my gaze shoots back to her. “I need an assistant for my demonstration of Lycan medical techniques! Any volunteers?” The room falls into an uncomfortable silence. Healers and nurses look around the room but avoid eye contact with Bianca. Lily and I look at each other, matching the actions of others in the room. I look to my left and see Soren standing to the side. Our eyes meet and I freeze. He points at me then moves his hand to face the front of the room. “Celia. Go help.” Soren commands. Chills run down my spine. I look at Lily for help but all she can do is offer me a sympathetic look. Lily takes my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. My head slightly shakes back and forth. I slowly stand to my feet and make my way to the front of the room. I avoid Bianca’s gaze as well as the warrior soldiers’ eyes. Her smile turns sinister as I approach. She faces the room and began her demonstration with the first warrior soldier. The demonstrations move at an agonizing pace. I try my best to fulfill whatever it is that Bianca requests of me, but she hinders my movements every chance she gets. She asks me to grab a tool for her but reaches for it before I can even grab it, claiming that I am too slow. When she asks me to hold gauze against a warrior’s open chest wound, she chastises me for not soaking up the pouring blood, inhibiting her sight. No matter what I do, I am doing something incorrectly. Bianca takes every opportunity she can to throw veiled insults in my direction, disgusting them as harmless jokes so the Healers laugh along with her. “Scalpel,” Bianca demands behind a pearly white smile. I nod and grab the instrument from the silver tray. I hand it to her, the sharp blade facing my direction. Our eyes meet and I swear I can see a flash of deviousness in her eyes. Bianca feigns a gasp and the scalpel goes flying. The blade skips across the palm of her hand. She let out a sharp, pained gasp. "Ouch — !" Barely any blood leaves her hand, a thin slice of her hand is merely a deep red color instead of her profusely bleeding. Soren rushes to the front of the room. He takes Bianca’s hands in his and glares at me. She cries fake tears and wipes them away with her free hand. “...It’s okay, Celia, I forgive you. We all make mistakes,” Bianca dramatically sighs. I stumble away from the front of the room but am immediately met by other Healers. They look down at me with fury written across their faces. “How can you do this！” “How dare you! You fool! All you do is mimic Bianca!"” "Did you do this on purpose? Have you been jealous of Bianca all along?" “I didn’t…” my sentence is cut short by Soren’s icy glare. “...You will apologize to her when she is better,” Soren’s words are as cold as his glare. If he isn’t already angry with me from before, I can only imagine the amount of rage he feels towards me now. I watch as he guides Bianca out of the room. My feet carry me back over to Lily, who stands in the back of the room. She pulls me into a quick embrace. Her hug comforts me and I sigh into her shoulder. We stand there for a couple of uninterrupted seconds. “Do you…know the Alpha King by chance?” Lily’s question shocks me back to life. I pull away and stare at her. Lily says, “Back when he deliberately made you Bianca’s assistant…It feels like he’s targeting you…I’ve heard that when a man targets a woman, it’s because he likes her.” “Don’t talk nonsense, Lily!” I nervously chuckle, smacking her arm. “How could that be?” “True…my family is just a minor noble house, and I’ve barely seen him…Celia, you’re just an ordinary commoner. How could you know someone as important as the Alpha King?”Lily sigh. I force a smile onto my face despite my heart aching. I turn and dip out of the room, Lily following close behind, and bump into Ethan just outside of the door. “Hi, Ethan.” I politely say. My sadness made it impossible for me to say anything more. “Hi, Celia,” Ethan breathes out, looking down at me, “you look really pretty today.” “…Uh, thanks?” I murmured, feeling confused. After what had just happened, I could only imagine how terrible I must look right now. “You here to give me some new tasks?” “What? Oh! Yes!” Ethan chuckles and pulls out a stack of papers. Soren‘s POV I turn my head to the side when faint voices fill my ears. Celia stands next to Ethan yet again and my stomach twists in on itself. A sour taste forms on my tongue. My inner wolf howls inside my mind, his anger flowing my own emotions. I hold my head, wincing from pain. ...It’s probably my condition worsening since I haven’t found my fated mate. Celia knows how to ease the pain with her scalp massages. “I’ve rapidly climbed the ranks in no time! They all love me!” Bianca boasts from my side. But I know, It’s all because of her noble Lycan blood. I take a deep breathe. My eyes remain on Celia and Ethan. She laughs and touches his arm. He blushes and turns his face away from her. “Soren?” Bianca calls my name. “Are you looking at that substitute?!” “...What?” My head turns back to face her. “Of course I’m not.” How could I...? She’s just a substitute, after all. She means nothing to me. I scoff. I was just curious about her new sugar daddy — — that’s all.