The Wolf's Temptation

by Anastasia Chase

  “You’re not seriously thinking you’re interested in that, are you? I mean, not only are you a young man with no degree to show, not that I am judging, but you also haven’t even seen your first day here yet. I hoped you would be a good employee I could keep, yes, but I don’t know about that.”

  Valen nodded. She had no idea what he had been through or seen. He had worked with the healer a little when he was a child until his father had found out and stopped him because it wasn’t right. He couldn't tell her any of the reasons he would be mature or a perfect fit. He had to look at it from her side of things. “I guess you may be right about that, but I applied for this specific job because I had an interest. Healing fascinates me, though, I am not sure I could ever be a typical doctor.”

  He caught Evette looking him over and tried not to smirk. She was impressed and surprised. He liked that he had shocked her for some reason. “I think it’s time for us to open. Why don't you see if you make it through the first week, and then we can talk about the idea of you being my apprentice?”

  Valen nodded, accepting her answer before letting her lead him back up the stairs and back out into the shop. It was brighter outside, the sun still gaining height in the sky for the morning. He watched as Evette went to unlock the door, and he idly noticed how her hips naturally swayed back and forth when she moved. She was beautiful and smart. Hopefully, that wasn't going to become a distraction.

  Evette joined him behind the register, and he quickly realized that he would have to get over himself. They would be in very close quarters. All day she leaned over him to show him how the register worked and how to use the system to make ongoing orders for customers who were returning for some reason. Grabbing products, they would bump into each other. There was no avoiding it, and he was not phased at all, why should he be? It didn't help though that at the back of his mind was that idea of the forbidden fruit. There were dragons who encountered humans because of where their territories were and because humans were so prevalent now. So, there had been rules made. You were not to mingle with humans like that; not for the purpose of mating. That mixing of blood was wrong. But like most things, when you told someone they shouldn’t do it, it made the act that much more intriguing.

  *****

  Evette looked at the clock and was a little glad to see that it was about fifteen minutes until time to lock up. Due to being short staffed and the fact that she had no desire to subject anyone else to a new employee's first day, she and Valen had pulled the entire 10-7 shift alone. It had been great practice for him, but she was beyond exhausted. She had been able to put on a good front the most of the day and act like she had never been in that hospital bed, but her body honestly was not ready to go back to work like that. It had been screaming at her the whole time, but what choice did she have? The bills still came, and life went on no matter how ill she felt.

  Most of all, she had been trying to show her strength and determination in front of Valen. It had been a little embarrassing that her new employee had to take her to the hospital and then was present for the explanation of what was going on with her. The doctor had continued after Valen left to try and get her to accept a more aggressive treatment from the hospital. How could she keep running her shop with integrity if she didn't keep believing it would heal her? She wasn’t just going to give up like that. She would go back to the drawing board and see what else she could do naturally to help ease her symptoms and keep the disease from progressing further. It had already been such a blow that she had it after coming from such a healthy family. It made her feel like a failure somehow.

  “So, how was your first day?” she asked Valen, leaning over the counter. There probably would not be any more customers before close, and she was going a little crazy with the silence.

  “It was not quite as hard as I thought after seeing this place. But I imagine there will be harder problems to solve and even busier days than this to manage. I am not going anywhere of that is what you mean,” Valen told her. She wasn’t sure why he felt the need to reassure her. He was just the next employee, the next one to come and go in her life and shop. Why did either of them seem to care about the other? This was getting too weird and too personal. Maybe she needed to be harsher on him to make it clear that what happened was a one-time thing. He didn't need to come to her rescue or feel sorry for her any more than her ex needed to tell her how to get treated. Ugh, and why would she even compare Valen to someone she was with?

  “Well, we will see in the coming days. Why don't you go on home, and I can lock up? I have a couple of things to check on down in the cellar and then I will probably just head home too. By the end of the week expect to be working with everyone else,” she warned him, walking with him towards the door.

  He looked back at her as she opened the door and held it for him, and she swore she saw worry and hesitation there. Did she look that weak? God, she hated this disease more than anything in the world. Was she paying for something bad she had done in her life? Evette was completely annoyed right now, and she needed him out of there. “See you tomorrow. Come in at noon.” Her words were matter of fact, mechanical. He nodded and walked out, leaving her feeling deflated as she locked the door and pulled the shades.

  She went down to the cellar suddenly feeling like she couldn’t hold herself up for another moment. As she checked on some of the tinctures, she felt for her cell in her little pocket and knew she would be using that once again to ask for help. She had, a few times, had to call her sister and her husband for help when she felt like this, like she might fall asleep at the wheel. She felt terrible for taking them away from each other and their kids to care for her, but she had no one else. Their parents were traveling and had been for over a year. It was the way they wanted to live in their later years. She didn't dare ask them to come back to help her; they had spent 18 years taking care of her. That was more than enough of paying their dues to her. She never let on that anything was wrong on phone calls. They didn't even know what she had.

  She went back up the stairs and sunk down into the chair in front of her laptop, pulling up all the websites she knew she might find research on what would help her get better. She wanted to stop the disease from taking over her life and her family’s. She usually knew what she was doing when it came to these concoctions, and she had been put Lupus and Psoriasis into remission for two miserable patients before, but she couldn't do anything about her own crippling autoimmune disorder. Evette needed more inspiration.

  She pulled up her sister's number on her phone as some of the healer websites were loading and texted to let her know she would need help.

  Hey, I know this sucks and so does traffic, but I am going to need your hubby to come grab me at the store on his way home.

  It wasn’t anywhere near the first time she had done that and it would mean she would have to be taken to her car in the morning as well. Oh well, that was her life for now. It was moments like these though that almost sent her running back to her ex just to have some kind of support, even if it was totally shallow.

  She turned back to her computer, praying that her digging would finally prove to tell her something she didn't already know. She had tried every typical formula to boost her immune system, to detox and heal, that she knew of, and even those she had been suggested by all of these award-winning apothecaries and naturalists. Some she had begun to dig even deeper, looking for answers in places she would never have been for. There was a fine line between natural and completely crazy, but Evette was desperate enough to look for crazy. And that was why she was staring right now at a website owned by a woman who believed that things like fairies and vampires existed in some way at some point in the history of the Earth. In particular, one article kept catching her eyes though she would hate to admit to anyone she had read it. But her broken body was begging her to.

  The Healing Properties of Dragon’s Blood

  Evette sighed and shook her head. If it was insane, she could forget about it later, but she had to re
ad everything she came across that claimed to has an answer before she resorted to putting unnatural chemicals into her body, leading to a life of complications that Americans had all but gotten used to.

  She scanned it. There was actually a substance called dragon's blood, but it didn't come from an actual dragon. Of course it didn't, that would be insane. But this article meant actual blood running through the veins of a mythical flying creature.

  It said that there was nothing left in the world more healing than that, and it could even cure many cancers. It literally got into your body and repaired what was broken, rejuvenating you as if you were young again. Even if it were true, how the hell would she ever go about getting the stuff?

  Annoyed at her crazy thoughts, she went back upstairs and grabbed her purse, hearing the honking of her brother-in-law’s horn outside anyway. He was probably illegally parked there to pick her up. She came out and locked up, trying to get rid of the thoughts of what she had read as she took the long journey through the terrible downtown traffic, having to listen to the man's favorite classic rock station.

  _

  Chapter Three

  “So, tell me, what was it like being alone all day with that hottie?” Kathy asked, wiggling her eyebrow at Evette suggestively. Evette couldn't help but laugh at her silly little sister. Apparently, under the direction of her, her husband had brought Evette to stay there for the night, joining the whole family for dinner. Now, the kids were put to bed, and the adults were left to relax and play a little. Though, Evette’s brother in law, Carter, was using the time to get on a video game which he was actively cursing at in the den. They laughed at him every once in a while. The guy was an accountant, though, so Evette couldn't blame him. He was so bored and buttoned up all day.

  “Completely professional, as it should have been, regardless of whatever it was you were trying to do by bringing him back into the triage room at the hospital,” Evette struck back at Kathy, though she knew she wouldn't stay mad at her about any of that. Kathy was impossible to stay angry at. She was just so nice and fun. It was what made her the best mother possible. Her kids were lucky. But then again, she had also learned from the best. Their mother had been pretty awesome too.

  “Oh, c'mon, sis, I know you had to have felt something, some twinge. You are still alive, you know, even if you’re going through it right now. He lifted you up, put you in the back of his car, and took you to the ER, not knowing a thing about you. He made sure they had your insurance and that they called me. Not every guy does that. In fact, do you think either of your ex husbands would have?” Kathy asked, getting more serious.

  “This guy is so much younger than me and so not my type. Besides, I doubt old, sick, and twice divorced is much of his type either. He will be gone by the end of the week if I ride him hard enough, and do not make any dirty jokes about that. You know exactly what I mean,” she added, knowing exactly where her sister's mind would go.

  Kathy scoffed. “You don’t always have to be so strong all the time, Evette. I admire you for what you do and how you have lived your life, but sometimes, you do have to lean on someone.”

  Evette looked down, sighing. She hated to think that Kathy was right, but she often was. She may have looked like this fun little blonde thing, but she was actually very smart and intuitive. Evette hated being vulnerable. She had been way too vulnerable in her first marriage, which had not lasted very long at all and had been horrible. She also had always wanted to run that shop and prove she could take care of herself. That had actually attracted her second husband, even if he had hated her determination in the end. But she had blamed herself for that. “Well, I know I can always lean on you, though, I feel guilty about it sometimes,” she admitted, hoping to move on from the conversation. The last thing she needed was to get involved with any guy right now, even if it was just a fling. She had to make her health a priority instead.

  “I know you do, and you totally shouldn’t. We all love you, and we all want to help you however we can. I just wish you would let Mom and Dad in on this too. They would be so mad if they knew you didn’t let them come back and help in some way. They will always be our parents. It doesn’t matter that we are in our 30s,” Kathy explained, making Evette feel guilty yet again. Really, what it was on her mind was that if they didn't come back and see her, that she would just waste away with this disease and die and they would never get to see her again unless it was inside of a coffin. It was her worst fear in all of this, but she didn't dare say it out loud. It was childish, but if she didn't, then maybe it wouldn't be real. There would be a miracle and she would wake up from the nightmare and never have to worry about it again. She would be old Evette who could run for two or three miles and never tire, who could get rid of every sneeze with a simple concoction at her shop.

  “I’ll think about it… telling them. For now, I am so lucky to have you.” Evette smiled, sharing a rare moment of affection with her sister. They were generally the joking type, not the kind to go around hugging each other and singing Kumbaya. But those moments were just as nice; just a reminder that she wasn't alone in any of it.

  “Yes, you’re right, you absolutely are, and before I go lay down and get some rest, at least as much as I can in this very pregnant state, I want you to admit to me that your new employee is hot. It doesn't matter if you don’t ever do anything about it. You can fantasize. It's the stuff like that that keeps you going and alive, you know?” Kathy pressed.

  Evette rolled her eyes, but her sister had worn her down. She did need to stop being so uptight, especially if she was trying to heal. Stress never did do the body good. “Okay, so his muscles and that whole goth vibe have their place in a fantasy or two. I will admit to that. But he is still way too young for me.” Both sisters cracked up before hugging and parting for the night.

  *****

  “Hello, sir, how can I help you today?” Valen asked the older man that had come up to the counter. There were two others in the store as well, seemingly just browsing. One of them was in the spa products and that at least made him breathe a sigh of relief since they probably already knew what they were looking for. His first week had been overwhelming, and here he was on the first day of his second week of working for Evette, and he was thrown out there on his own. She was down in the cellar with her apprentice, working while they could. He didn't know whether to take the situation as trust or a test. Either way, he needed to pull it together.

  “I am just here for my monthly order.” Valen nodded. This must have been one of the regular customers that were in the computer system that Evette had shown him how to use that very first day. It wasn’t too complicated; an alphabetical list that led to whatever they had prescribed and the payment they owed. Valen took a deep breath and went for it, take his name first.

  “Roy Cameron,” the man replied in his raspy voice, and Valen found the Cs so he could find his name. There it was, and there were two, already paid for prescriptions waiting for him. Valen had to squat down, taking his eyes off the rest of the store, and grab the paper bag with his initials on it from under the locked counter. For security purposes, it wasn't the best setup, but he got the feeling the customers were not the type to bring a gun in and start shooting. Phoenix may have been a big city, but the people seemed to keep to themselves, and if not, they were kind. It was nothing like he expected so far.

  “Here you go, sir. You have a nice day,” Valen said, smiling and handing the paper bag to the man. That would probably be the easiest encounter he would have for the day. Now, he was going to have to go up to the woman who was browsing through the various remedies and see if she needed help. Was he ready for that? Then again, if he ran into something he didn't know, he could easily go and call for Evette. He doubted that she expected him to know all the remedies yet. He knew very few.

  Valen glanced at the door that led into the break room and then down into the cellar to reassure himself. He could breathe fire, fly through the sky at top speed, and avoid detection despit
e his massive size, but the thought of helping a customer made him petrified.

  He walked up to her, and as he got close, he could see her head was wrapped in a very colorful scarf. There was no hair hanging out of it anywhere. She looked like she had not been getting too much sleep and was very thin. This woman was sick in some way, he could actually smell it on her. That was one of the other special things about being a dragon; a sense of smell that was unparalleled. He wondered what could possibly help this woman at all. Was she dying? Because if he had to guess from the look and smell of her it was possible. “Hi, ma’am, is there anything I can help you with?” Valen asked kindly, holding his breath. It was no offense to her. She probably couldn't smell it at all. And she probably couldn’t help it either. It was just not a pleasant scent.

  “I hope you can,” she said weakly with a sweet smile. Valen could see a hint of beauty and strength that used to be there. “I actually have been going through chemotherapy, and I don't know if you have ever known anyone who had treatment for cancer, but it makes me very sick and nauseous. I can hardly keep anything down. I was hoping there was something here that could help me out that was natural, since I already have to put these awful chemicals in my body just to survive.” What she admitted saddened him. Valen had heard of cancer, though it was rare among dragons. A few humans who had found out about dragon's blood had come to see them for a cure, but that was one thing that was not always curable even by such a potent healing substance. It was the worst disease on the planet as far as Valen could tell.

  He smiled back at her with sympathy. “I have to be honest with you that I am new here and still learning. I do know of a few things that are great for nausea, but I am not sure how they will specifically help your issues or how to use them without taking a whole bunch of pills, which I am sure you must be sick of. The owner is actually downstairs in the cellar right now, making some tinctures. Would you mind waiting here while I go get her to help you?” Valen asked.