The Healer

Chapter 5

Darius frowned at Lila. 

"What happened?" he asked as Lila rushed in. 

"Well it appears that a large ferry boat was hired to take the Cannomad Rogues off the island they've been sequestered on. They've been released! I have no idea by who but..."Lila said in confusion as Darius held up a hand. 

"I think I know. I was just explaining it to Emma. I think our enemies are going to try and use the Cannomad as pawns," he said. 

"But how can you use a Cannomad?" Emma couldn't help asking. "I thought they were practically feral?" 

"There's a rumor that there are were-witches who can use magic to control their bodies. They're mindless, like zombies, but they'll obey a master," Darius answered. "I need to do a scouting mission. Lila, call Orin. Marcus is in no shape to come with me." 

"I'm coming with you too," the words flying out of Emma's mouth before she could stop them. 

Lila made a strangled sound as Darius looked at his mate in horror and a little bit of pride. 

"I won't be able to concentrate if you're around," he began but Emma was shaking her head. 

"You'll have to get used to it. Do you think I'm going to let you go prancing after Cannomad Rogues by yourself?" she asked coolly. 

"P..prance? I assure you sweetheart, I've never pranced a day in my life," he said, clearly affronted which made Lila let out a chuckle. 

"Now Alpha," Lila joined in, "I have to admit it's a pretty good idea to take a healer along. Look at what happened to Marcus and the others. Their mission was just supposed to be a scouting one too and Marcus almost died if not for Emma." 

Emma nodded a silent thank you at Lila for her support and turned to watch Darius who seemed lost in thought. 

"You follow my orders. If I tell you to stay put somewhere you do that," he said. 

"Of course," Emma replied, but silently amended that to, 'as long as you're not in trouble'. 

"And I want to see your fighting skills before we go," he said. 

"Fair enough. When do we leave?" she asked. 

"Tomorrow. Lila, up for a practice match?" he asked the red head. 

"You want me to fight her? Are you sure about that?" Lila responded. Not in a cocky way, more in a concerned manner. 

Emma understood his thinking. If she allowed him to claim her she would be Alpha female of the pack. She had to be able to defend herself from pack challenges. But she couldn't help but worry. Lila was the current Alpha female. A title she probably didn't come by lightly. 

"I can handle it. But...I probably won't win," Emma admitted honestly. 

Darius squeezed her hand. 

"That's fine. I just want to see how far along you are in your training. I know you probably spent your time studying to be a healer. Healers are sacred and should never be put in harm's way. All the same, you never know what can happen."

An hour later Emma and Lila were in t-shirts and shorts, standing in the middle of the training yard. To Emma's relief there wasn't an audience, although Marcus had limped downstairs and was standing with Darius. 

"Fighters ready?" Marcus called, and when the girls nodded, "Fight!" 

Instead of attacking her right away, Lila fixed Emma with a steely gaze as if daring her to make the first move. Emma didn't take the bait. Lila raised an eyebrow and quickly threw a punch aimed at Emma's stomach which Emma managed to dodge. But the speed and accuracy of the punch wasn't lost on her. If she had any chance of surviving this she would have to use her other skill. The skill she hadn't told any of them about having.  

She shut down all other thoughts and let her empathic ability take over. As it always did, the world shifted colors. All she could see was black, white and gray now as her ability rose. Colors were no longer important. The only thing that was important was focusing on Lila. Without realizing, she closed her eyes. And everything became clear. 

A kick to her ankle. She jumped up, avoiding it. A roundhouse to her head. She bent down. A cross to her left arm, a jab towards her nose, a hook to clip her ear. Avoid, avoid, avoid. She didn't know how long this went on for. Marcus would later tell her that it was close to thirty minutes before Lila was too exhausted to continue. 

"Stop! Stop!" Marcus cried out. 

Emma took a deep breath and let her empathic ability go back down. It had taken her years to be able to put it in the back of her mind. Before that, she had suffered feeling everyone's emotions. She had finally learned to control it when she was fifteen. 

She opened her eyes now and color flooded her vision. 

"My god," Lila whispered. "I've never seen anything like that. I didn't land a single punch. And her eyes were closed the whole time!" she said, collapsing on the ground in an exhausted heap. 

Marcus went to her aid while Darius walked up to Emma. He stared at her silently for a full minute before finally speaking. 

"What are you?" he asked, his voice full of awe. 

She turned red when she realized that Lila and Marcus also had an awestruck look on their faces. 

"My grandfather said I was an empath as well as a healer. I don't use my empathic ability unless I have to. It's overwhelming. But it helps when I'm fighting. If you can feel where your opponent is thinking of attacking..." she shrugged. 

"You never have to worry about getting hit," Darius finished. 

Lila stood up and bowed toward Emma. Emma looked at her in shock and was then amazed at what came out of her new friends' mouth. 

"I fully submit and pledge my loyalty to Emma, Alpha female of Illyria. With these words I relinquish my Alpha position." With that she knelt on the ground on one knee and raised her eyes. "I would be honored to be considered your Beta, if you should find me worthy." 

Marcus gave a low whistle. Darius looked at his mate with immeasurable pride. One as superior as Lila recognized in Emma that she was a true Alpha. An Alpha who didn't even have to throw a punch. 

"Oh Lila!" Emma said, quickly reaching down and helping her stand. "You..you can't mean to give me your position?" 

"I do mean it," Lila said with a huge grin. "And I give it freely because you are far superior to me." 

"Don't talk like that," Emma said. "You're wonderful!" 

The three of them laughed at Emma's flustered state. Marcus could only hope that his own mate would be half as adorable as Emma.  

"Alright," Darius said with a soft smile as he pushed an errant curl from Emma's face. "Why don't you two wash up and I'll go make us some lunch and we can talk about the scouting mission." 

"You cook?" Emma said in surprise. 

"He's actually the best cook we have," Marcus admitted. "But he never uses his culinary skills on us lesser beings. I suppose as his mate you'll get to enjoy his many talents." 

Emma grinned. Apparently there was a lot she would get to enjoy as Darius's mate. Life had never been so interesting.