The crowd outside pointed and whispered.
"That's the so-called miracle worker from Sacred Herb Hall. Looks decent, but she spun lies just to claw her way into the royal pack."
"Her medicines cost a fortune. Last time I came, she was rude as hell. Serves her right, getting what's coming."
Their sneers and scorn pinned me in place, humiliation burning my cheeks.
Some of these wolves were neighbors, folks who'd benefited from our low prices and daily free clinics.
A healer's heart runs deep, but now they'd been riled up to tear me down.
I looked up and saw Jasper, with Wendy at his side.
Her eyes met mine, gleaming with smug satisfaction. "Ruby, I wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I grabbed some herbs from your shop. But somehow, today my stomach's killing me."
"I'm fine, really, but Jasper insisted on coming to set things straight. If we've offended you, I'm sorry on his behalf."
She started to curtsy, but Jasper pulled her back, shielding her.
His glare cut through me, dripping with disgust. "Wendy, you did nothing wrong. Ruby's just a hack who botched your treatment."
"She calls herself a miracle worker? I'm here to expose her so no one else gets duped."
His words whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Rotten vegetables and eggs pelted me.
"Quack! Pay up and get out of Joravia-pack!"
Someone even splashed chicken blood on me. I stood there, drenched and disgraced.
"Jasper, I already said I won't bind myself to you. Why'd you have to wreck my shop's name like this?"
I remembered every patient, and Wendy hadn't stepped foot in here yesterday. This was all a lie.
Jasper brushed me off, refusing to own up.
As he passed, he leaned in, voice low and threatening. "Smart wolves would leave Joravia-pack. Get far enough away, and I won't have to worry about your schemes."
I clenched my fists but ignored him, focusing on cleaning up the mess.
Sweaty and exhausted, I collapsed on the floor. But compared to the agony of dying in my last life, this was nothing.
For a while, my once-bustling shop sat empty.
Rumors spread, and passersby spat at my door. No one called me "healer" anymore-just "liar."
Jasper had gotten what he wanted, in a way.
But I wasn't rattled. If my last life's memories were right, someone would come begging soon.
When palace wolves showed up at Sacred Herb Hall, saying Alpha wanted to see me, I wasn't surprised.
In my last life, around this time, urgent news came from the border. The enemy had poisoned a frontier pack, leaving civilians and soldiers writhing in pain.
That poison was child's play to me, but when Alpha asked, I played reluctant. "Your Majesty, I'm terrified. Just days ago, Jasper had my shop trashed, calling me a fraud. If I go now, who'd trust me?"
Jasper, standing nearby, scowled at my refusal. "You're just scared of being exposed as a fake."
I didn't bite back. Alpha, though, fixed me with a stern look. "Jasper's the one who recommended you for this. It's your chance to prove yourself. Succeed, and my earlier promise still stands."
So, Jasper was behind this. It clicked.
