Marked Twice by the Alpha King Chapter 141

**Ava's POV**

Consciousness crept back slowly, like morning fog lifting over a lake. Voices filtered through the haze, low and familiar.

"Your healing touch is still the best in the territory, Maya," Tyler's deep voice rumbled nearby. "Silver-powder wounds without a trace. Seriously impressive."

"Don't give me too much credit," a woman answered with a laugh. "Her wolf's tough as nails, and she's built like a warrior. I just nudged the healing along with some moonlight herbs."

"Blake's gonna breathe easier when he sees her like this," Tyler said, relief evident in his tone. "When d'you think she'll be up and around?"

"It's not just the physical stuff," the woman's voice shifted to a more serious tone. "Kid's completely wiped out. Barely ate or drank during her Hayes stay. Pure stubbornness kept her going. Gotta let her wolf recharge properly."

I tried wiggling my fingers, gradually regaining feeling. Their conversation stopped abruptly. I attempted to open my eyes but slammed them shut against the brightness. The soft fur bedding beneath me felt like heaven compared to that rock-hard cot at Hayes territory. The air smelled of moonflower and silver pine smoke—leftover healing vibes. Definitely Silverpeak's medical center.

Foggy memories flashed of Tyler hauling me out of Hayes territory before everything went black. He must've brought me straight here to Silverpeak's amazing healers.

"Look who's joining the land of the living," the woman said, sounding pleased.

"See? Moon Goddess's favorite, told ya," Tyler's voice carried the warmth of someone talking about their crush.

She giggled softly—a surprisingly intimate sound that made me scrunch my eyebrows together. I mentally checked my body for damage. Weirdly, nothing hurt. I could move my arms freely—silver poison completely gone.

"Cool it, big guy," she whispered with playful warning.

I heard a smooch sound, followed by her delighted laughter.

On my second try, my eyes gradually adjusted to the light. I caught Tyler planting a kiss on a blonde woman's cheek while she playfully shoved at his chest.

"Seriously? In the treatment room?" she murmured, not looking particularly upset.

"Two weeks apart and you expect me to keep my hands to myself?" he challenged, eyes practically puppy-dogging. "Felt like forever without you."

"Well, someone had to fix that moonlight sickness outbreak up north. Not exactly a vacation, you know." She tapped his chest with her finger. "I'm home now, not going anywhere soon. Plenty of time to... catch up later." The way she said it made it clear what kind of "catching up" she meant.

He pouted dramatically but kept her close. "Yeah, yeah... but it's just wrong keeping mates apart like that."

*Wait—mates?* This woman was Tyler Reed's fated mate? Never really crossed my mind that the warrior chief had someone waiting at home, let alone Silverpeak's head healer who apparently moonlighted as a traveling doctor.

"Just two lousy weeks," she said, her eyes carrying deeper shadows. "Nothing compared to those years before. That was real hell."

My ears perked up at that. Definite story there.

They were so wrapped up in each other they hadn't clocked me watching them. I took my chance to really look at the female healer.

Golden hair braided in that complicated healer style, with Silverpeak's silver crescent marked on her forehead. Deep green healer's robe with silver herb patterns woven along the edges. Tall and graceful, but still way shorter than mountain-sized Tyler. The easy way they touched screamed years of intimacy.

Weird seeing the usually scary-as-hell warrior chief going all soft, but something about it warmed my insides.

Tyler finally spotted me watching, surprise flashing across his face. "Oh—sorry," he said quickly, stepping back from his mate. "Didn't see you were awake. How're you feeling?"

The healer whipped around, cheeks flushing. "Oh! My apologies," she stammered, straightening her rumpled robe. "Are you in pain? Can you talk?"

I tried wetting my sandpaper lips. "Kinda," I croaked, sounding like I'd gargled with gravel. "Water would be... awesome."

"Coming right up," she grabbed a wolf-carved wooden cup from a nearby table, gently supporting my neck while I drank.

The ice-cold mountain water hit my throat like the best thing ever. Couldn't remember when I last had a proper drink, but wow if it wasn't exactly what I needed.

"How long was I out?" I asked, glancing around as my voice started working again.

"Just overnight," Tyler shrugged. "Been crashed since yesterday. It's barely past lunch now."

I nodded, taking in the space. Definitely the medical center—those ancient silver Silverpeak wolf symbols carved everywhere were a dead giveaway.

"You were dry as a bone," the healer explained, dropping the formal act. "Totally exhausted too. But your body's in crazy good shape otherwise. All those nasty wounds? Gone."

"My face?" I touched my cheek automatically, remembering that burning slice from Vanessa's silver-dusted claws. Nothing there—just normal skin.

"Good as new," the healer winked. "Not even a baby scar."

"And that's why I keep saying she's the pack's miracle worker," Tyler grinned, pride written all over his face.

I shot him a "seriously?" look before turning to the healer. "Guess we haven't officially met," I said, gulping more water, my voice sounding less like death.

She smiled warmly. "Maya Reed, head healer around here. Just Maya works fine, considering you know both my mate and our grumpy Alpha King pretty well."

I glanced questioningly at Tyler.

"She knows you work for Blake," he explained casually. "And about you moving up to the northern place."

"And how exactly does she know all that?" I asked, though I'd already figured it out, I wanted to hear him say it.

"Because Maya's my fated mate," he said, looking like a kid showing off his favorite toy.

I studied her, catching the way her eyes softened when she looked at Tyler. She seemed early thirties, maybe even younger.

"She's also basically the werewolf world's rock star healer," he continued proudly. "Runs our medical center but gets loaned out to other packs when trouble breaks out. Just got back from a two-week emergency gig."

"Wasn't exactly smooth sailing for us," Maya chimed in, obviously reading my curiosity. "I used to belong to Eastern Woods pack as their head healer. Six years back, during some boring medical exchange thing, BAM—ran straight into this guy."