Chapter 67 Chapter 67
“What?” Reynard said, feeling both concerned and annoyed. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
She shrugged awkwardly. “I wasn’t fully sure, but now I know for certain that I can’t feel my wolf. I feel funny…”
“Funny?” asked the doctor.
She nodded. “Empty,” she added, trying to clarify her feeling. “I can’t feel my wolf, and I’m pretty sure I can’t tap into my powers either. I feel… human, or at least what I think human would feel like.”
Kneeling in front of Suki, Cassandra took hold of her hands. “Suki, no more hiding any potential symptoms. Don’t be afraid, we’re here to help.”
Suki nodded again, fighting back her tears, which were desperate to fall.
“Can you try to summon your claws for us, Suki?” requested the doctor.
“Yeah, sure.” Raising her hand, she looked down at her palm. Her first attempt to tap into her power failed. Then the second. Then the third. She groaned, fatigued from the multiple attempts, “I’m sorry, I can’t.”
“Don’t apologise, it’s not your fault.” Cassandra stood straight, facing the doctor and questioned, “Do you think it’s the same substance that tampered with the male we dealt with a while back?”
The doctor hummed. “It appears so. Similar instances where both patients were bitten or scratched, then some time later lost access to their wolves.”
“Not to mention this contraption that’s injecting them clearly has a way of disappearing to remove the evidence,” Cassandra added, looking at the little dust particles that were bagged in the hope that something could be retrieved from them through tests. The chances were looking slimmer and slimmer.
He scratched his chin. “Yes, more questions that need answering. The Alpha and Beta will be watching our research very closely.”
“You told my father already?” Suki cringed.
Cassandra placed a hand on her shoulder. “This matter is urgent, the Alpha demanded that if any occurrence like this happened again, he needed to be immediately informed. Since he’s your father’s best friend…” She gave an awkward smile.
Suki sighed, “I understand.” He was going to be furious and concerned – neither was fun to deal with.
“If this is the same case as the other patient, then the chances are that it’ll leave your system naturally, and you’ll regain access to your powers in a few days, perhaps less,” the doctor reassured.
“Are you certain it’s the same substance that affected that man?” Reynard asked.
“Not entirely, but we can compare the tests and the bloodwork. It’ll be difficult since the symptoms don’t align with any known drugs, poisons or potions. We don’t have any more of his blood, but, Suki, if you’re willing to offer more blood, I’d love to do more tests to see if we can find something to understand why this is happening.”
Cassandra added, “I would too. The witches and I can conduct more tests back in our sanctuary to see if the magic in your blood has been tainted in some way.”
Without hesitation, Suki held out both her arms. “Of course,” she breathed. “Do what you need to do.”
After a while, Suki couldn’t look at how many vials of blood they had filled. It wasn’t too much, but after being injected with a suspicious substance, a subtle fear of needles was brewing within her. She made a mental note to herself to ignore it – there were more important things to worry about.
“Okay, you can stop squeezing my hand, Ki, it’s over,” Reynard said.
Suki released her grip. “Sorry,” she whispered. “Was I squeezing too tight?”
Rey offered her a sympathetic smile and shook his head.
“Oh, right, no werewolf strength.” She forced a faint titter. “Must’ve felt like nothing.”
“Don’t worry, it’ll only be temporary,” the nurse who was taking her blood chirped. She cleaned her arm and applied a plaster to it. “All done, take it easy tonight. Your body will feel even weaker from the amount of blood we’ve taken. Have a good meal and make sure you don’t do anything strenuous. The sooner your body produces more blood, the more likely your powers will return.”
Suki nodded once and very weakly. “Okay.”
Reynard hovered his hands around her as she stood. “I’ll make sure she gets home safely and will keep an eye on her.”
✧ ✧ ✧
Suki was weaker than she realised. She offered as much blood as possible in the hopes that it would help discover what was going on, but she couldn’t help but regret it when she had to take a break while walking to the car, then again when she walked from the car to her house.
She sat on a bench in the front garden and sighed, dropping her head in her hands.
“Stop being so hard on yourself,” Rey said, sitting next to her. “You’ve given more than enough blood for their research, and you’ll be on the mend in a few days. Everything will be fine, you’ve helped towards this issue.”
“It doesn’t feel like enough,” she murmured.
Rey tucked her hair behind her ear. “Suki–”
She stood up rapidly, which only made her head feel fuzzier than it already was. “Don’t, please. I know giving my blood probably helped a lot, but is that all I’m really good for? I’m a Beta, and all my father does is hide me away from the problems in the world instead of getting me to help.” A tear escaped her eye. “I should be doing more.”
“Right now–” Rey stood up slowly and held her shoulders. “–you need to get better. Once your powers are back, we will do what we can to get to the bottom of this. Deal?”
With a defeated exhale, Suki weakly nodded. A twinge of guilt lingered in her gaze.
Rey’s eyes flickered between hers. Wanting to ask her for clarity, even though he already knew the answer. “You couldn’t hear me at the hospital, could you?”
Her eyes widened ever so slightly. “W-What do you mean? Of course I–”
“Suki,” his voice was stern.
She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, her lip quivering as she spoke, “I’m sorry. It’s just… That empty feeling… It scared me. It’s still scaring me.”
Reynard’s eyes softened. He exhaled and pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay. I’m here. You can talk to me about this.”
“I can’t feel it,” she sobbed. “I can’t feel our bond. I can’t feel you or Brendan anymore. It’s gone…”