Chapter 81 The Burning Want
Moira's POV
I lay in bed with an ice pack pressed against my forehead, my body a catalogue of injuries that no amount of werewolf healing seemed capable of fixing. My right ankle throbbed beneath layers of elastic bandaging, swollen to nearly twice its normal size.
The past week had been an endless string of disasters that defied all reasonable probability. On Monday, a golden retriever had broken free from its leash during my morning jog and tackled me into a muddy ditch, leaving bruises across my ribs and a gash on my knee that required twelve stitches.
Tuesday brought a near-drowning incident at the pack house pool when I'd inhaled water wrong during my daily laps and Sophie had to pull me out while I coughed and gasped on the tile deck. The chandelier fell on Wednesday. The massive crystal fixture ripped loose from the dining room ceiling. I had just walked underneath. It missed me by less than two feet.
Thursday had been the medication mix-up that left me covered in hives and struggling to breathe until Edwin rushed me to the emergency room for an epinephrine injection.
Friday saw me slip on a mysteriously cracked floor tile in the bathroom and crack my elbow against the marble counter hard enough to leave a bone-deep bruise. And this morning I'd woken to find a venomous spider nestled in my pillowcase, its bite leaving an angry welt on my neck that the pack doctor said would take days to heal properly despite our enhanced metabolism.
I had reached the point where even drinking cold water felt like tempting fate, as if the universe itself had decided to target me specifically with every possible misfortune it could devise.
The worst part was that my werewolf healing abilities, which should have kicked in within hours of each injury, seemed to have completely failed me. The burns weren't healing, the sprains weren't mending, even the minor cuts and bruises lingered far longer than they had any right to.
Sophie perched on the edge of my bed with her small body curled toward me and her amber eyes reflecting genuine worry as she studied my battered face. "Mommy, I think there's definitely something wrong with you."
I managed a weak smile. "I'm just having a run of bad luck, sweetheart. It'll pass."
Sophie shook her head with conviction. "No, this isn't normal bad luck. You're too unlucky, like something's actually making all these things happen to you. I think we should ask Elara to help you. She knows about this kind of stuff, and she could figure out what's wrong."
Sophie had accidentally revealed to Elara that I'd been speaking negatively about her behind her back, and instead of the confrontation, the two of them had somehow bonded over it and now Sophie talked about Elara with the same hero-worship tone that made my teeth grind together.
I used to encourage their relationship back when I thought having Sophie close to Elara might help improve Alpha Sebastian's attitude toward me. But Elara had always been impossible to truly win over, always keeping me at arm's length no matter how much effort I put into being supportive and kind.
And now Sophie had joined James in following Elara around, seeking her approval and attention with enthusiasm.
The bedroom door opened before I could formulate a response to Sophie's suggestion, and Edwin walked in with his work jacket still on, his deep brown eyes immediately finding my face and filling with concern.
He set his briefcase down and moved to the other side of the bed, reaching out to check my forehead temperature. "Maybe we should ask Elara to take a look at you. She studies this kind of thing at that academy. She might be able to identify if something's actively working against your healing."
I jerked upright, my voice coming out sharply. "What? But you don't even believe in that stuff. You were the first one to say Elara was wasting her time at Moonveil Institute, that werewolves should rely on instinct and strength instead of mystical nonsense that can't be proven or measured!"
Edwin's expression tightened with something that looked like reluctant acceptance of an uncomfortable truth. "I know what I said before, but this isn't normal, Moira. Your healing factor should have kicked in by now, should have at least started repairing some of the damage. The fact that you're getting worse instead of better suggests something beyond ordinary bad luck or natural causes."
He pulled out his phone. "Tomorrow's Saturday. I'll contact Alpha Sebastian and ask him to have Elara come back to the pack house to examine you. Whatever's happening, we need to figure it out before you end up with something worse than burns and sprains."
I lunged forward without thinking, ignoring the screaming protest from my injured ankle as I tried to grab his phone. "No! Don't call him!"
Edwin looked startled by my vehemence, his hand moving the phone out of my reach while his other arm came up to steady me before I could fall off the bed entirely. "Moira, what's wrong? Why are you so against getting help from Elara?"
I scrambled for an explanation that wouldn't reveal the real reason panic was clawing at my throat. "Alpha Sebastian's not even here! He left yesterday morning for Crescent Bay to attend that werewolf council meeting, remember? He'll be gone for at least a week. And I have work tomorrow, that variety show recording I've been waiting months for. I can't just cancel because of some bad luck."
Edwin's expression shifted from concern to disbelief. "You can barely walk, your arm is covered in second-degree burns, and you want to fly to Crescent Bay to record a television show? Moira, be reasonable. I'm calling your agent right now to cancel the appearance."
I threw myself forward and grabbed his wrist with both hands, ignoring the way the movement made my burns scream and my ankle throb with renewed agony. I pleaded with genuine desperation coloring every word, "Please don't cancel it! Honey, please, this is the most important opportunity I've had in years!"
The female celebrity who had been scheduled to appear as the main guest had been caught in a scandal involving illegal substance use and her entire career had imploded overnight, leaving the producers scrambling to fill her spot with someone who had enough name recognition to maintain viewer interest.
The other celebrities they'd booked were all third-tier with minimal followings. For the first time in my career, I would be the highest-profile personality on the show, the one the cameras would focus on and the one viewers would remember.
But the real reason I couldn't let Edwin cancel, the reason that made my chest tight with need and my mind race with possibilities, was that the show was filming in Crescent Bay. The same coastal city where Alpha Sebastian was currently attending his council meetings. The same city where I could arrange an accidental encounter.
Edwin stared down at me with something like pity crossing his features. He let out a long, heavy sigh that spoke of exhaustion and reluctant surrender. "Alright. If this means that much to you, then go. But if anything else happens, if you get hurt again or your condition worsens, you're coming straight home and seeing a doctor. Understood?"
Relief flooded through me so intensely that fresh tears spilled down my cheeks, and I threw my arms around Edwin's neck with exaggerated gratitude, forcing my voice into the sweet, girlish tone that usually worked on him when I needed something. "Thank you! I knew you'd understand, I knew you'd support me! You're the best husband anyone could ask for!"
I pressed against him in what should look like an embrace. My palms touched his midsection. Soft flesh gave way beneath his shirt. His muscles had gone slack from years of desk work. Most werewolves stayed fit naturally. He didn't. The texture made my stomach turn. I kept my face neutral. My mind compared him to Alpha Sebastian anyway.
They were brothers. Both had Alpha bloodlines. Both should have been equally powerful. But the decades had treated them differently. Alpha Sebastian was fifty and still trained like he did in his twenties. He kept his lean, muscular build. His ice-blue eyes could freeze someone in place. When he entered a room, everyone noticed.
Edwin was forty-eight. He had let himself go soft. His body showed it. His spirit showed it. He had Alpha authority in the pack. But he lacked Alpha Sebastian's magnetism. He lacked that raw power that drew people like moths to flame.
The contrast between them had grown more pronounced with each passing year, and every time I looked at my husband, I couldn't help but think about what I could have had if circumstances had been different, if Alpha Sebastian had chosen me.
The comparison made it harder to maintain the pretense of contentment with my life, harder to ignore the burning want that had never fully died despite years of trying to smother it.