THE TRIPLET ALPHAS ARE HERS

Chapter 163: Marina’s Clinic

Marina’s clinic stood at the edge of the city, where the cobblestone streets gave way to dirt and the palace walls faded from view. It was a simple building—two stories, whitewashed stone, a red cross painted above the door. A garden grew in the back, filled with herbs and healing plants. A queue stretched from the entrance to the corner.

Marina Ashwood had not slept in three days.

She moved between patients with practiced efficiency, her hands steady despite her exhaustion. A wolf with a broken arm. A human child with a fever. A pregnant woman in early labor. The cases blurred together, each one urgent, and demanding.

"Marina, the wolf in room three is refusing treatment." Her assistant, a young human woman named Beth, appeared at her elbow. "He says he won’t be touched by a human healer." fгeewebnovёl.com

"Then let him bleed." Marina didn’t look up from the wound she was stitching. "I don’t have time for prejudice."

"He’s losing a lot of blood."

Marina sighed. She finished the stitch, washed her hands, and walked to room three.

The wolf was young, barely twenty, with a gash across his chest that needed immediate attention. He sat on the cot with his arms crossed, his jaw tight, his eyes fixed on the wall.

"You’re dying," Marina said.

"I’m fine."

"You’re bleeding internally. I can see it in your eyes. In an hour, you’ll be unconscious. In two, you’ll be dead."

The wolf’s jaw tightened. "I won’t be treated by a human."

"Then you’ll die. Your choice."

She turned to leave.

"Wait."

Marina paused.

The wolf’s face was pale, his hands trembling. "Can’t a wolf healer—"

"The nearest wolf healer is three hours away. You don’t have three hours." She met his eyes. "I’ve been healing wolves for thirty years. Humans too. I don’t care what species you are. I care whether you live or die." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

The wolf was silent for a long moment.

Then he nodded.

"Fine."

Marina washed her hands and got to work.

The clinic had not always been this busy.

When Marina first opened the doors, wolf patients refused to enter. They stood outside, bleeding and broken, unwilling to be treated alongside humans. Some died rather than cross the threshold.

Then a wolf noble’s son was brought in. He had been gored by a boar during a hunt, his intestines visible through the wound. The human nurses worked for hours, stitching, cleaning, praying. The boy survived.

His father told everyone who would listen.

"The human nurse saved my son. She held his organs in her hands and put them back where they belonged. I don’t care what species she is. She’s a healer."

Word spread.

Now the clinic had a waiting list.

Marina wrote to Seren every week.

*The clinic is thriving,* she wrote. *We treated forty-seven patients yesterday. Wolves and humans together. The waiting room doesn’t segregate anymore. No one asks for separate sections. They just want to get better.*

*I’m tired. I’m proud. I’m terrified that I’ll make a mistake and someone will die.*

*But I keep going. Because that’s what healers do.*

Seren read the letters aloud to the triplets.

Kael was impressed. "Your mother has more courage than most soldiers."

"She’s not courageous. She’s stubborn."

"Exactly, with healers."

Theron nodded. "The clinic is proof that integration works. Not because the crown ordered it, but because people chose it."

Aeron was quiet. "She needs more resources. More staff. More space."

Seren smiled. "I was thinking the same thing."

Seren visited the clinic whenever she could.

She came without guards, without ceremony, in a simple dress and a plain cloak. She helped with difficult cases; the ones that required steady hands and a calm voice. She held the hands of dying patients. She sat with families who had lost someone.

Marina put her to work.

"You’re still good with stitches," Marina said, watching Seren close a wound on a wolf’s arm.

"I learned from the best."

"You learned from watching. I never taught you."

"You taught me by example." Seren tied off the thread. "I watched you work when I was a child. I saw how you treated everyone the same; wolf or human, noble or servant. That’s why I’m queen."

Marina’s eyes glistened. "That’s why you’re *you*."

The difficult case came on a rainy afternoon.

A human woman, pregnant, bleeding. The local healers had sent her away, saying there was nothing they could do. Marina took her in.

"The baby is breach," Marina said. "The cord is wrapped around its neck. If we don’t act fast, we’ll lose both of them."

Seren rolled up her sleeves. "What do you need?"

"Steady hands. And courage."

They worked for hours. Seren held the mother’s hand while Marina guided the baby into the world. The cord was unwrapped. The baby cried. The mother wept.

Marina sat back, exhausted. "Another one lives."

Seren looked at the mother, at the child, at her mother’s trembling hands.

"This is why I opened the school," she said. "This is why I passed the charter. This is why I fight."

"Because of babies?"

"Because of *life*."

That night, Seren walked through the clinic.

The waiting room was empty. The beds were made. The garden was quiet. Marina sat at her desk, writing notes by candlelight.

"You should sleep," Seren said.

"I should finish these records."

"The records can wait."

"The patients can’t."

Seren sat across from her. "The clinic is thriving. You’re saving lives. But you’re also exhausting yourself."

Marina set down her pen. "That’s what mothers do."

"You’re not just a mother. You’re a healer. You can’t heal if you’re dead."

Marina laughed; a tired, surprised sound. "When did you become so wise?"

"Since I married three wolves who refuse to let me burn out."

"Good wolves."

"The best."

Marina walked Seren to the door.

"The clinic needs more space," Marina said. "More staff. More supplies."

"I’ll make it happen."

"I’m not asking as your mother. I’m asking as a healer."

Seren took her hands. "I know."

They stood in the doorway, mother and daughter, the rain falling around them.

"Thank you," Marina said. "For believing in me. For believing in this."

"You believed in me first." Seren squeezed her hands. "When I was invisible. When I was nothing. You saw me."

Marina’s eyes filled with tears.

"Go," she said. "Your wolves are waiting."