If a cleric has the Gift of the Metallic Dragon feat, can they cast the Cure Wounds spell without preparing it?

Question

The description of the Gift of the Metallic Dragon feat provided in the Fizban's Treasury of Dragons sourcebook states, in part (my emphasis):

Draconic Healing. You learn the cure wounds spell. You can cast this spell without expending a spell slot. Once you cast this spell in this way, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast this spell using spell slots you have. [...]

As a Cleric with this feat, does the last sentence mean I don't need to prepare cure wounds for my spell list, effectively granting me an additional prepared spell?

Answer 1

A cleric with this feat can cast cure wounds using spell slots without preparing it.

You have made the correct observation. The text of the feat is unambiguous:

You can also cast this spell using spell slots you have.

The feat creates an exception for the cleric. Normally, a cleric must prepare spells to be able to cast them. However, the specific beats general rule tells us:

Remember this: If a specific rule contradicts a general rule, the specific rule wins.

The feat provides a specific rule: it permits us to cast cure wounds using our spells slots. Since it does not say we must prepare the spell, we need not prepare the spell.