Chapter 170

Cara’s POV

“I have been told the date of the car accident,” Grayson said. “You then confirmed with me that at that time, you lost contact with your wolf. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” I said, trying to brace myself, but it was difficult when I had no idea what was coming.

Or maybe I did, but I was still to cowardly to face it, not until I had no other choice.

“I’m afraid… and the tests confirm this… that you are now suffering from a very specific type of condition, one that does not at this time have a known cure,” Grayson said. “You see, werewolves who do not have wolves are cursed with a short lifespan.”

“But I have a wolf,” I said.

“Unfortunately,” Grayson continued. “This condition is especially serious for those who once had a wolf but who lost it during an accident.”

A lump rose up in my throat, keeping me from speaking for a moment. I swallowed it down. “What are you saying?” I asked. “How serious?”

“Your fatigue will only grow worse over time,” Grayson said. “Eventually you will lose the ability to fight against it, and you will be pulled into a deep sleep. In this sleep, your body will simply… stop.”

He was talking about my death. The end result of losing my wolf in an accident like I had was death.

I went very still, feeling cold all over, even my hand that Ruby was holding so very hard.

I looked at her for confirmation, trusting her implicitly.

To my great detriment, she nodded in the affirmative.

Grayson had no reason to lie to me, but I had still been hoping that he was.

Mia was just getting well, finally. I was thinking about the long future she had in front of her. Now I was facing the impossible realization that I might not be there to see most of it?

I could understand now why they had both wanted my family in here with me. I wished, in hindsight that I had taken them up on it. Trying to share this news would be too terrible for words. My brothers might not even believe me, thinking I was playing some kind of horrible joke.

After everything we’ve been through, to be faced with this now…

“What can we do?” I asked him. “You said there’s no cure, but there has to be something. I’m not going down without a fight.”

Grayson himself seemed to rally, seeing my determination and my inability to simply roll over and accept this terrible fate.

I was an Auburn. We were tough as nails fighters, stubborn as hell. I was going to fight and claw to keep myself here for my family and my kids. Whatever he said to do, I would do it.

“If we can find a way to return your wolf,” Grayson said. “Then your body might heal and the damage could reverse itself.”

“I’ve tried meditation,” I said. “I’ll keep trying but… Are there other methods? Medicine or a treatment of some kind?”

“No,” Grayson said. “Once the wolf is gone, there is no known way to draw it back. Meditation is the only thing that has been clinically proven to work, but the odds are not in your favor. In the study of a hundred patients calling on their wolves, only a dozen or so were able to reach out.”

“That’s still 12%,” Ruby said, hope in her voice. “That’s not nothing.”

It wasn’t nothing, but it was certainly a minority by a large margin.

I could be the exception though, couldn’t I? Surely?

Except the meditation hadn’t worked so far, and I’d been trying for years. What hope did I really have now that my body was growing weaker? Wouldn’t it be harder to track down my wolf if my voice couldn’t go as far?

“If I can’t find my wolf,” I said, “How much time do you think I have before the deep sleep?”

“With your current symptoms, I would give you three months before the sleep takes you,” he said. “In the sleep state, you could last for up to five years longer before…”

Before I died.

Facing my own mortality caused a pump of sadness to rise up inside of me. I turned to Ruby, and it was the devastation I saw in her own eyes that finally pushed me over the edge.

“I should have known,” she said miserably. “I should have seen.”

“And done what?” I asked. “I’ve already been meditating, and there is no cure…”

“Still… Oh, Cara. I’m so sorry.”

Not as sorry as me.

Tears falling from both our pairs of eyes, we fell into a tight hug, holding on like if we stopped we might lose each other already. Two friends holding fast against the world.

Alaric’s POV

I checked my watch for the seventeenth time since Cara left the room. I’d only thought she meant to go to the bathroom or something. I didn’t suspect she’d be gone this long. Given what had happened not all that long ago, with her passing out, I was worried she had collapsed somewhere on her own.

I never should have let her leave alone.

Only, no. She wasn’t alone. Ruby went with her. Surely Ruby would have told us if something bad had happened. Yet, there’d been no word.

So where were they?

Colin was the most observant of the brothers. Perhaps because he was the quietest, he always seemed adept at being able to read other people and their emotions.

Right now, while Ethan and Mia were talking with Richard and the twins, Colin came closer to me.

“Something’s bothering you,” Colin said. “This should be a happy occasion…”

“Cara still isn’t back,” I explained.

“Did she saw where she was going?”

“No. I assumed the bathroom, but…”

“Perhaps she went down to the cafeteria.”

That didn’t seem right. “And leave Mia after she was so recently healed?”

Colin’s jaw tightened and I could see the worry now building up inside of him as well. “That doesn’t seem like her.”

“It doesn’t,” I agreed. “But I can’t leave Mia…”

“You stay,” Colin said. “I will look for her.”

Relief immediately filled me. In addition to being the most observant, Colin was the most responsible, outside of Eamon. And with Eamon stuck in BloodyMoon pack lands, Colin was the next best thing.

“Thank you,” I said, and hoped he could see even a fraction of grateful I was. It seemed to encompass all of me in that moment.

Nodding, Colin wordlessly headed for the door.

Colin’s POV

In the hallway, I looked around, uncertain where to search for Cara first. Alaric’s suspicions had to be correct. Cara wouldn’t just leave Mia’s side without damn good reason.

In that case, I doubted she would have gone to the cafeteria. She could have gone to the bathroom as he initially suggested, but if Ruby was with her, then she would have alerted someone if there was a problem. I couldn’t just go walking into women’s bathrooms searching for her.

As I stood there, debating on my course of action, a door across the way opened, and Grayson stepped out. Behind him, from within the room, I spotted Cara and Ruby. Both were crying.

Looking at Grayson, a touch of protective anger rose up inside of me. How much did we really know about this man?

“What happened?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice calm, not wanting to cause a scene and draw unwanted attention. Not yet, anyway. Not until I knew what was going on. “What did you say to Cara?”