Heron Lake Plateau Rock and a hard place.

There was a time, not so long ago, when Raven would have fallen all over herself to help this woman at the first sign of injury. And honestly, that drive was still there. The healer inside of her screamed to be freed, to rush to the lovely wolf's wounded shoulder and see to it immediately. But Raven was no longer just a healer. She was an alpha now, and had to think of her own packmates first. The last time she had taken in a wounded stranger and nursed her back to health, she had disappeared without a word and hadn't been seen since. So much time, food, and medicine wasted on a wolf who hadn't even possessed the decency to bid them farewell. Time, food, and medicine that could have gone to her own packmates instead.

Raven was learning a lot about leadership. One of the hardest lessons she'd encountered thus far was learning when to say no, when to turn away — even when it felt like the wrong thing to do.

She eyed the wound on the woman's shoulder. Her voice and expression remained coolly detached, but her gaze was freighted with concern. "Do you not have a pack of your own that can tend to that?"