It had been a long time since Roman had been excited to visit one of his patients. Since Janice had disappeared, he was always afraid he’d do something wrong and end up killing them instead of helping them. Having someone’s life in his hands was terrifying. It always had been, but before, he’d had someone with experience working next to him, helping him and taking things in hand if he failed.

He couldn’t afford to fail anymore.

At only twenty-four years old, he’d become the official skunk healer. No one else could do the job, and he couldn’t abandon his people, no matter how shaky he felt. He’d always hoped he would become the skunk healer eventually, but he’d thought he’d have at least ten more years of training with Janice. She’d been in her sixties, so there should have been plenty of time for Roman to learn from her.

But Janice had been killed, and Roman had been left alone to figure things out. It was a miracle he hadn’t messed up dozens of times since he’d taken on the role, but that didn’t mean his luck would hold forever.

Luckily, he wasn’t completely alone anymore. He didn’t have a mentor like Janice had been, but Arlene, the badger healer, had agreed to help him. They worked together almost every day, and that helped Roman feel better about his ability to help his people.

“Who’s on our list today?” Arlene asked from the passenger seat of Roman’s car.

Roman didn’t like to drive, but since Arlene lived in badger territory, he had to pick her up every day. The badgers lived almost on the other side of the forest, so it was a bit of a trip, but Roman was happy to drive back and forth. If it meant someone was training him and that he’d be a better healer, he was ready to deal with much more.

“I got a phone call from Carla last night,” he said, keeping his focus on the road. “Her youngest has a fever, so I promised I’d come around today. There’s also Mrs. Wilson. She was feeling under the weather a few days ago. I told her to call me back if that didn’t change, and while she hasn’t, I’d feel better if I checked on her.”

“Anyone else?”

“It’s time to check up on Dean. I want to keep an eye on him since he’s not a shifter. We don’t know how his body will react to the pregnancy, so it’s best to see him often.”

“Good. I like to see you thinking ahead.”

In this case, Roman didn’t have a choice. Dean was his alpha’s mate and almost as important as Jasper. He might be human and related to the foxes, but no one cared. Now that people were starting to realize that Jasper was nothing like his father, they wanted him to succeed. Everyone in the surfeit would benefit if he was a good alpha.

It had been a long time since the surfeit had thrived. They’d lived in fear for years, to the point that Roman could barely remember a time when he hadn’t been afraid. He was twenty-four, and most of his years hadn’t been easy. Jasper’s father had never been a good alpha, which was why he was in jail. His beta, Harvey, was on the run, and the skunks were trying to rebuild. It wasn’t easy because a lot of them couldn’t remember what life had been like before Silas became alpha, but they were working on it. Jasper might not know what he was doing as an alpha, but whatever he came up with couldn’t be worse than what his father had done.

Roman understood how Jasper must be feeling now that he’d been forced to take his father’s place. Being the alpha was a heavy weight, just like being the surfeit’s healer, especially without training. Luckily, Jasper had Dean, and while Dean was human, he’d readily agreed to help Jasper guide the skunks. He had no idea what he was doing, either, but he was trying, and right now, that was what the skunks needed.

Dean was also very much pregnant, something he hadn’t realized could happen. Dean had fox shifters in his family line, but he’d never been able to shift. Being human made his pregnancy more complicated, which was why Roman wanted to keep an eye on him. Luckily, Arlene agreed.

They first stopped at Carla’s house. Thankfully, her daughter’s fever had already broken. The little girl was still under the weather but was getting better, so Roman wasn’t worried. He still made sure to glance at Arlene as he explained it to Carla, and since the badger healer didn’t say anything, he knew she felt the same way.

She’d never allow him to hurt someone from his ignorance. He was doing his best but still had much to learn.

Mrs. Wilson was fine, too. Like Carla’s daughter, she was more fragile because of her age. Shifters tended not to get sick easily, but it did happen when they were young or old. It was possible that Mrs. Wilson had the same illness that Carla’s daughter had. Now that the old alpha was gone, the skunks were freer to mingle and become the surfeit they should have been since the beginning. 

After Silas had become the alpha, things had changed. People were afraid of their alpha and of each other. They couldn’t afford to be close to anyone in case they lost them or, worse, were betrayed by them. It would take time for the surfeit to heal, but with Jasper and Dean at their lead, they would.