CHAPTER 23: DOCTOR TO THE RESCUE
Maya’s POV
I worked through the night without pause, my hands steady even as exhaustion tried to crawl its way up my spine. Dawn was breaking when I finally removed my gloves, my fingers trembling from overuse. The last patient had been stabilized. My feet screamed for rest, but I remained standing.
A shadow fell across the tent.
“How many fatalities?” Zane’s voice rang out, his stature authoritative and voice commanding. I was witnessing him in his element for the first time.
He looked every inch the warrior Beta, the playful sarcasm scrubbed clean by the battlefield. He stood tall, blood-splattered armor still on, his face grim but alert. This was the first time I had seen him like this. No jokes. No smirks. Just raw command.
He had certainly earned his position as the Beta of the most powerful kingdom. He had singlehandedly led the troops to victory within a few hours despite the surprise attack.
I lifted my fingers and signed quickly. Zero.
He blinked, uncertain he had understood. “None?” he echoed, stepping closer inside the tent.
I nodded once, firmly. Then pointed to the tally board we had been updating with every patient, injuries listed, status marked. All survived.
Zane stared at the board for a long moment, his expression unreadable. His eyes then drifted to the rows of recovering soldiers and civilians, the quiet murmur of post-battle fatigue wrapping the tent.
“You are telling me,” he began, slower now, “that with all the chaos, with rogue scum crashing through our defenses and an inside traitor helping them, you still managed to save every damn one of them?”
I looked at him. My answer was in my gaze. Unapologetic. Steady.
Dr. Carl and Nurse Valerie moved past us quietly, acknowledging Zane with respectful nods. I gave them a tired smile, then reached for the remaining medical charts.
Most of the lycan injuries had happened during the initial stages of the attack when the element of surprise worked in favor of the rogues.
Some civilians were caught in the cross-fire but had survived, thanks to Dr. Carl and Nurse Valerie’s timely help. They had helped me set camp near the attack sites when no other doctor could reach due to the unexpected lockdown by the rogues. Surely an insider had helped them gain access within the fortified area.
Zane ran a hand through his hair, exhaling like the wind had been knocked out of him. “You ... you miracle-working lunatic,” he muttered, half in disbelief. “You had no wolf. No backup. You were trapped, and still — … ”
He stopped, then looked straight into my eyes.
“I don’t know what kind of spirit the Moon Goddess put in you but it is stronger than anything I have ever seen.”
I didn’t deserve the praise. I was the most inferior amongst my species. I felt the burn behind my eyes but blinked it away. There was no time for tears. Not yet.
Zane glanced down, saw the dried blood on my sleeves, the deep purpling under my eyes, the exhaustion in every breath I took. His jaw tightened.
“You should rest,” he said gruffly. “Our doctors will take it from here.”
I smirked faintly. He rolled his eyes.
“Don’t look at me like that. You may be Luna, but I am still Beta, and you look like you might pass out on your face.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So do you.”
He barked a laugh. “Yeah, well, I have a reputation to uphold.”
But even as he said it, his posture softened. His gaze landed on my hands. Bruised, calloused, wrapped in bandages from hours of stitching wounds. He didn’t touch them. He didn’t need to.
Instead, he took a deep breath and said, “Thank you. For everything.”
I didn’t need to sign anything back. The look I gave him said it all.
We protect who we can. Always.
A commotion erupted just outside the medical tent.
“Princess Athena! Save Princess Athena!” Shrieked a voice, frantic and shrill. “She heroically fought in the war but got injured! A-and now her condition has worsened after taking the omega’s medicine!”
At the entrance of the tent came a gust of shouts.
“Make way! Princess Athena is crashing!”
The flap of the tent was thrown open with dramatic flair as a cluster of Athena’s aides stormed in, carrying her limp form like she was a fallen goddess on a velvet litter. Gold bracelets jingled as one of them pointed accusingly at me.
Guards barged in, carrying Athena on a stretcher, her golden armor dented and eyes fluttering. Sweat beaded on her brow, and she was muttering nonsense, whether from pain or performance, I couldn't yet tell.
“She fought bravely,” a soldier huffed. “But her condition’s worsened after the omega’s medicine.”
I looked up from wrapping a child's broken arm. My fingers paused.
Omega.
That word burned, spat like venom. Whispers erupted around me before I could even rise.
“She gave her something! Some … rogue-made medicine!” Princess Athena’s parlor maid spat, her voice trembling with rage and rehearsed horror. “This mutt — … ” She caught herself in time. “This omega has poisoned her!” She accused.
“She gave her the wrong dose.”
“Of course she did. Mute. Wolfless. Probably never trained properly.”
“She is jealous of Princess Athena. Everyone’s been saying it!”
The crowd pressed in. Eyes on me.
Then, slicing through the chaos like a dagger. “Oh, how predictable.”
I didn’t flinch. I simply pulled my gloves back on.
Zane, however, was already moving, standing protectively between me and the growing mob. “Watch your mouth,” he growled, low and lethal. “Or you will find out how fast your royal connections can vanish.”
“But she harmed the Luna! How dare she endanger Princess Athena!” Another courtier screeched. “Princess Athena was winning hearts with her bravery, and now look at her. Look!”
Athena groaned weakly from her bed. Dramatically.
Quinn Callahan, draped in smugness and silk, stepped forward. Her identical twin, Rose, flanked her, lips pursed in mock sympathy. Princess Hannah followed close behind, her arms folded and eyes narrowed, scanning me like I was a germ beneath a microscope.
“She just had to be the hero, didn’t she?” Rose drawled. “Little mute Maya, saving the day with her homemade potions. How quaint.”
“She should never have been allowed near the royal family,” Princess Hannah added icily. “What were the guards thinking?”
I signed quickly to Nurse Valerie. Athena’s vitals. Chart. Timing of administration.
Valerie passed the clipboard to me. I scanned it. Something was off.
I walked forward, impassive. I checked her pulse. Elevated, but not dangerous. Her pupils? Dilated but uneven. I reached into my pocket and held up the vial she had been administered earlier. My medicine was alright but wrong dosage of the medicine did not lead to the symptoms that Princess Athena was showing.
It hadn’t been my medicine. It was a milder poison with a different composition altogether.
Zane leaned closer. “What is it?” He asked quietly.
I signed fast. Not ours. Switched.
His jaw clenched. “Someone tampered with the treatment?”
Suddenly, Athena groaned dramatically. “It … hurts … It started … after she … gave me …”
Zane turned to the crowd, voice thunderous. “This wasn’t her doing. In fact, the Princess was likely sabotaged by someone close to her. We will investigate, and heads will roll if the Luna’s reputation is being used for petty political stunts.”
One of Athena’s attendants, smaller, younger, flinched at his words.
Guilt.
Zane noticed. He didn’t call it out. Yet.
Athena moaned again, far more dramatically this time, and fluttered her eyes open just enough to whisper, “The… omega… she…”
I held up a thermometer. No fever. No sign of internal trauma. She wasn’t dying. Just conveniently “weakened.”
The whispers turned into accusations.
"She poisoned her!"
"Doctor or not, she is still a low-born omega!"
"She wants the crown!"
Princess Athena chose that moment to brokenly murmur, “Please tell the King … tha- … ah … I don’t regret … I love him … I save … uh … everyone with … ah … my life.”
Zane looked at her flatly. “Rest, Princess. If you can spare the energy.”
I scribbled a note quickly and handed it to the younger attendant. It listed the proper antidote and instructions.
The girl looked startled. “Y-You’re still helping her?”
I tilted my head. Of course. That’s what a doctor does.
The aides hesitated.
“Now.” His Beta voice echoed through the tent.
They moved.
As the tent flaps closed behind the royal drama parade, Zane turned to me with a grim expression.
“This isn’t just a smear campaign,” he said through our shared mindlink. “They’re getting desperate. The fact that you saved everyone? That terrifies them.”
I met his eyes, calm but resolute. Let them be afraid.
He smirked, then sobered. “If they try to come for you again, I’ll burn their titles to ash.”
I signed back, slow and deliberate. Not if I get there first.
And despite everything, the fatigue, the danger, the politics, Zane laughed.
“Moon above,” he said. “I am starting to think they chose the wrong crown bow to.”
Athena groaned louder. Zane rolled his eyes.
Zane crossed his arms and muttered under his breath, “You are better than all of them combined. Let us get her out of here before she infects the room with her desperation,” he snapped.
“The doctor should be severely punished. She has been trying to harm us participants one way or the other! First the fire then this poison!” Rose accused, dabbing her eyes as if she was the one who was wronged. “She has been a thorn on the royals’ side since the beginning. The Goddess knows how many more shall be sacrificed for her to claim the throne!”
“How many more will suffer because of her? My poor lady,” one of Princess Athena’s attendants cried over her.
“Our dear Princess should be avenged!”
“Yes, yes! The doctor should be held accountable.”
“Punish her!”
“We agree. Beta Zane, we want justice for the princess,” the crowd chanted.
I stepped forward. Calm. Steady.
They recoiled like I was the plague.
In my hand was a weapon that made everyone shudder. A syringe. Empty. But to them, it looked like justice, or rather vengeance.
A hush fell.
I moved to Athena’s side. Slowly. I raised the syringe.
Quinn laughed bitterly. “Oh? Trying to fix your mistake now? Or finish what you started?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t waver. I simply raised the syringe high enough to pull out gasps and shrieks from the conspirators.
“Princess! Oh noooo!”
“Don’t stab her!”
“PRINCESS, WATCH OUTTTT!!!!”
Athena’s eyes snapped open.
Too fast.
Too aware.
And in that moment of panic, her hand twitched, knocking something loose from her robes.
A small glass vial rolled out.
It hit the floor and spun in slow circles before stopping at Rose’s boot.
Everyone stared.
Nurse Valerie picked it up. Squinted. “This isn’t from our supplies.”
True enough, the mark etched faintly into the side of the vial was a royal alchemy mark not used by our medics. It had been smuggled in, likely by someone in Athena’s own camp.
Gasps. Murmurs ensued.
I turned the label toward the crowd: Wolfsbane. Fever Root. Tincture of Ash. A concoction made to simulate war trauma symptoms and deteriorate them.
I pulled out a second vial. The antidote. And administered it swiftly.
Athena’s color returned within seconds. Her moaning ceased. Her breathing evened.
Now the silence was thick.
Then a young soldier blurted from the patient’s bed, “Wait … Princess Athena wasn’t at the battlefield. I didn’t see her. I saw the omega. She set up tents. She carried people. She fought to save us.”
Another shouted, “Yeah! I was there. It was Doctor Maya! Princess Athena only arrived after it was all over!”
Quinn’s smile faltered.
Rose muttered, “Let’s go.”
But they didn’t get far.
The royal soldiers surrounded them, eyes flashing with fury and betrayal.
“You let us think she was a hero.”
“You tried to turn us against the one who saved our lives.”
Quinn’s voice sharpened. “She’s a wolf-less nobody! You can’t believe her over a princess!”
But they didn’t believe in titles anymore.
They believed in what they saw.
In me. A mute, wolfless omega who didn’t need words to tell the truth.
I stood tall, bloodied apron, hands still stained with healing work.
Someone finally spoke what everyone was thinking:
“She doesn’t need a voice. Her actions spoke louder than your lies.”