Eileen reached the camp site with her bravado having crashed to the ground and splintered into pieces. The same fate was incurred on her dignity when she had pulled that stool stunt earlier and agin when she took too long to remove her hands from Nathaniel’s bare chest when he steadied her.
Sighing she placed her hand over the handle of the half opened gate but retreated back just as fast. The barbaric sounds coming from inside were physically pushing her back, as well as the smell of sweat, blood and male bodies. After a few moments of berating herself and forcing her courage to show up for a change, she walked inside. And suddenly wished that she hadn’t.
There was a wall of muscle standing in front of the gate, looking down at her like she was nothing more than the dirt beneath his shoe. Or probably even lower than that. His hand was curled around a pitcher of beer and he stepped forward- more like wobbled forward, getting too much closer than what she was comfortable with. His foul breath lingered in the air and she resisted the urge to cover her nose with her hand.
‘What’s a little kitty like you doing in a place like this?’ He blenched, his words slurry and almost indecipherable.
She squared her soldiers and tried to keep her voice as steady as possible,
‘I’m the healer. I was sent here by the request of your alpha to treat some wounded soldiers.’
She looked around him to see young men loitering around the camp, all of them built as massively as he was, and…shirtless. Wonderful. Some of them had noticed her at the gate and were starting to mill around, watching her with rampant curiosity. Once they heard her call herself the healer, some of them burst out laughing while the rest shamelessly stared at her.
The drunken guard in particular thought this the funniest joke in the whole and after laughing for a solid minute, he turned around and bellowed, ‘This here’s the healer. Isn’t she a cute little kitten?’
After a brief moment of stunned silence, pandemonium ensued. The sensory overdrive to her ears felt insane; catcalls, whistles and jabs came from all around her and it felt like the arena again. Only it was about a million times worse because they kept coming around her, giving her to space to even attempt to escape. Some of the soldiers started barking out questions about their injuries, overriding each others’ complaints until they bang fighting each other to get her attention. The most insulting was the ones at the far end of the camp who had turned their heads in apparent amusement, dismissing her completely.
She stood there for a few moments, almost frozen in time, unable to process anything around her or respond in any form. But she suddenly got really really angry. Disrespect and harassment due to her inferior status were something she was used to but her capabilities as a healer had never come into question.
She was, in ever way, an expert in what she did and anyone else who believed otherwise could just shove it. Her anger manifested in the form of a throb in her temple and she clenched her fists.
Her hands moved of their own accord, grabbing a metallic bell which the alpha had given her and she slammed it over the table so hard, it let out a piercing roar. Which was followed by another moment of stunned silence.
She stood straighter and her eyes roamed the campsite, meeting everyone’s stares head on until they realized she meant business. She then reintroduced herself, her voice brimming with authority,
‘My name is Eileen and I am the future Luna of the Cerallio pack. I’m here to volunteer as a healer on the request of your alpha.’ She paused for effect before continuing,
‘I don’t tolerate disrespect. You want my services and want to get better, then get your asses to the tables and form a line.’
She pointed her finger towards the drunken guard and snapped, ‘get to work and make it quick. I don’t have all day.’
She rolled up her sleeves and mentally began her work, when a laugh sounded from behind her and the drunken guard said,
‘Damn! I like this little kitten.’
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