Denied by Destiny: Trapped in the Shadows of the Mate Bond
Chapter 0393

- Josie -

I was all about today. Today was going to be the best day. Today, I was returning to work at the hospital and I couldn't wait.

I was awake even before warrior training, leaving Knox still asleep in my bed...his arms reaching for me in his sleep as I quietly slipped away.

I wouldn't be told no, I wouldn't be told to wait another day...I had it eating away at me, this inner nagging need, to heal. To help people.

Even if it meant for today I was only going to restock the medical cabinet, to me I was helping. I was contributing to the bigger picture of the hospital.

If I slipped out before breakfast, even before Knox waking...yes it was a bit underhanded, but I would already be at the hospital working, then nobody could stop me.

Just inhaling the sterile clean smell of the hospital has my body relaxing, I felt like me again...I felt at home.

I was in even before Doctor Abel. My heart sank slightly when we had no patients in the ward, but that was expected, that was the norm. After Knox outed the warriors for taking it in turns to injure one another during training, it's been pretty quiet on this ward. Doctor Abel finds me rooting around in my small storage cupboard, he must have followed the unusually early noise, not expecting to find me as he seems surprised to find me back.

"Your back?" His eyes light up with enthusiasm as he rests his shoulder against the door frame.

"I am...didn't the Alpha tell you?" I reach up to the top shelf of jars.

"No, he didn't. I wasn't expecting you back for a few days."

"I came back early."

"Why, what happened?" I'm about to ask him if he wouldn't mind getting it for me when his hand reaches up to fetch it. He takes a step closer to me, reaching up for the jar of lavender that was just out of my reach. I really need to remember to store some jars at a lower level

"Thanks." I take the jar off him, trying to think of a quick enough response as to why I am back early. But I fail miserably.

"Well?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you back early? Did you leave Knox there?"

"No, he came home with me...I just really missed this place." I weakly smile, his eyes flickering down to my lips before moving back up to my eyes. This man was intelligent, would he believe such a flaky reply.

"Josie..." He sighs out, before running his hands through his light brown hair. No, clearly not.

"Has something happened?" Not only was this man my peer, my colleague...my boss...he was also my friend.

But I don't know what to tell him, I don't even know how to put the words in place to begin how to tell him. It has been a surprise for everyone that I have a wolf but a moon-blessed wolf...no, I'm not ready to vocalise this just yet.

Like Mum and Dad said, let's not tell anyone until we know what to say. Who fully to trust.

"Nope.." I smile out as best I can to him.

"I just wanted to get back to normality." I continue, turning away from him so he can not pick up on my dishonesty through my eyes.

"Normality?" He chuckles out.

"Josie you nearly died and now have a wolf...your ideal of normal is life changing." He had a point.

"That's why I want to be here, this place doesn't change. This place I can rely on to keep me sane." "Okay, well you know where I am if you need to talk."

"I do, thanks Doctor Abel."

....

The rest of my shift doesn't go as quickly as I had hoped. Doctor Abel doesn't leave me alone once and he keeps asking discreet questions to try and catch me out. Things that if I didn't have my wits about me today, my guard up...I would have told him by now. He's just worried about me, I know he is and when the time comes, I will tell him...I'll have to especially working here.

When I hear Knox's footsteps echoing down the ward corridor at the end of my shift, I am actually glad to see his pissed off face. I expected to see him first thing this morning, but he must have known to stay away, that I obviously needed to be here.

He said it himself; this place is safe. To everyone else, nothing has changed. I am still the same person that left to visit the Clear Waters pack...so why wouldn't I be working in the hospital.

I grab my bag from the staff room before linking my arm into his, his eyebrow quirking as he exhumes a sulky frustrated demeanour towards me.

Reaching up on my tiptoes, I place a kiss on his lips before calling out behind me to Doctor Abel to tell him to have a great afternoon.

He's angry, if his silence didn't tell me so...then the aura surrounding him certainly does. But as we walk along the path towards the alpha house, I can't think on that right now because Petra has stepped out of a car with Ezra...and walking through the front door of my home.