Chapter 174

Alaric’s POV

The first thing I wanted to do after seeing Cara enter Mia’s room was to get her alone so I could ask what was going on, but with the kids so happy to see her, I couldn’t subtly pull her away without upsetting them.

For now, I had to push down on my curiosity and my fear and act like everything was okay. Despite my own nerves, the kids needed to come first.

For a while, it worked. I could hold onto normalcy with both hands while Cara enjoyed time with the kids.

Though, it wasn’t lost on me how the brothers were acting with Cara now. When the kids were looking, the brothers were all smiles. But when they weren’t, those smiles immediately fell into worry as they looked at their sister.

Colin was ceaselessly texting. Though it was pure speculation with no proof, I could only imagine he was talking to Eamon. The Auburn patriarch, who wasn’t even here, was likely informed about Cara’s condition well before I was.

I started to wildly wonder if I’d ever be told the truth. Maybe they’d all leave me wondering until it was far too late to do anything about anything. At the very least, I hoped I would be given enough notice to help however I could.

Without knowing what was wrong, I couldn’t extend any offer of help at the moment.

So I could only watch for now, and hope someone would eventually tell me something. Or, at least, I needed to wait until the moment presented itself that I could get Cara alone to ask her myself.

Richard, Grayson, and Ruby had seemed to disappear. This intrigued me too, as I thought they’d want to stick around and see the boons of their hard work, curing Mia. Richard had only started to bond with Mia and Ethan too.

Instead, the trio had left the room and not come back. My wild mind provided theory after theory, with the most prominent being that they had moved to some kind of research facility within this hospital to help seek a cure for Cara now, as they had done for Mia.

Again, without knowing what was truly wrong, I could only speculate, and it was infuriating.

After a little while, Cara started to waver on her feet. At once, her brothers and I all step forward to assist, offering her our chairs.

She gave firm glances to her brothers, while still ignoring me. “I’m fine,” she said.

“You should sit down,” Ryan said.

“Don’t overexert yourself,” Aidan added.

“I’m not overexerting myself,” she replied. “I’m just standing here.”

“You must be tired,” Colin said, and scooched his chair closer. “Sit.”

She glared at him, but did finally listen and sat down on the offered chair. As soon as she was off of her feet, her entire body seemed to melt, like she was a marionette whose strings had been cut. As if she had been utterly exhausted just from standing.

“Cara…” I said, not wanting to ask any questions in front of the kids, but unable to fully withhold the depth of my concern.

“Later, Alaric,” she said, still without looking at me.

Not wanting to further alarm the children, who were looking at her with concern, I bit down on my tongue and didn’t say a single word more.

For now.

“Are you okay, Mom?” Ethan asked, standing at his mother’s side.

“I am,” she promised. “Or, at least, I will be after some rest.”

“We could find you a room to rest in,” Ryan said, already half-way to the door.

“No,” Cara said quickly. “I want to be here with my children.”

Ryan stopped. He seemed conflicted for a moment, but then nodded. “Very well.”

Not long after, one of the hospital healers arrived to look over Mia one more time. Finding Mia miraculously healthy, the healer said, “There’s no reason Mia can’t go home now. If anything happens, call us at once.”

Mia was excited to go home, and everyone else seemed relieved – in part, at least, when they were looking at Mia. Their tension seemed to return when their gazes fell back onto Cara.

At least, at home, maybe I could finally get her alone, and she could tell me what was going on.

Cara’s POV

Discharging Mia from the hospital and finally bringing her back to Alaric’s felt like a dream come true. She was filled with energy and excitement, bright in all new ways that she’d never shown before. It was as if her illness had cast a dark cloud over her, even in her better moments. Now that it was gone, she was a burst of sunshine and laughter.

Seeing her like this warmed my heart and helped make facing my own troubles somewhat easier. With my kids safe, I could start dealing with my own problems, and dedicate myself to them more fully.

Eamon had already told me that he was tracking down different treatments and methods to help me find my wolf again. I was ready and willing to try anything to wake Lucy up. In addition to wanting to live, I also just missed her. She had been such a steady companion for so long. These past few years without her had been incredibly lonely and difficult.

Getting her back again would be a dream come true. Not unlike the miracle that had saved Mia.

I could only hope to be as lucky a second time.

After getting the kids settled down in their rooms, I knew I’d find Alaric down in the living room pacing. Though I had made the executive decision not to tell him anything, I knew he was still stressed from my strange behavior and from that of my brothers.

He had to know something was wrong, even if he wasn’t sure what.

I felt terrible, because, even knowing he was worried, I still didn’t want to tell him the truth of it. I wanted there to be one person, just one person in my life, who didn’t know I was facing such a dire fate. My brothers were already treating me differently, looking at me with sadness and acting like I might keel over dead at any moment.

I didn’t want Alaric to act like that too. With him, I still wanted to be myself.

That being said, there was another issue I needed to talk to him about. One that I knew wasn’t going to please him.

Now that the kids and I were safe from the assassination and kidnapping plots, there was no reason for us to continue to take refuge here in Alaric’s house.

For a while, I had considered the possibility of staying, just to be close to Alaric. Perhaps if my diagnosis hadn’t come through, I might have followed through on that plan.

However, knowing what I knew, I needed to be back in BloodyMoon, surrounded by family. I had to be close to Eamon and Landon when they found those methods for me to try.

Being here, while enjoyable, was not the best path forward for my health. Especially as I wanted to continue to keep it secret from Alaric.

As expected, I found Alaric pacing down in his living room.

He stopped when he saw me in the doorway, then walked closer to me. “Cara. Please tell me what’s going on.”

I swallowed down any lingering reluctance and said, “I think I should return to BloodyMoon pack.”