Chapter 76 THE CURE'S SEARCH

Chapter 76 THE CURE'S SEARCH
Kai's POV

I push Monty with my whole strength and escape his grip.

He is not breathing right.

I watch him from across the shelter, without going close to him again.

I notice everything about him now. The way his skin stays pale, no matter how much blood should be circulating. How his eyes track movement with perfect precision, but never blink unless he remembers to do it consciously. The temperature of his body when I touch him that feels like a stone left in shadow.

He is not alive, and I am the only one who seems to care about fixing it.

"Kai." Ray's voice cuts through my observation. "I need you on the west barricade helping to reinforce the defences."

"In a minute." I do not look away from Monty. "I am checking something first."

"We do not have a minute." Ray moves closer. "Morrison could breach any second, and I need every able body ready to fight."

"Then you should have more able-bodied." I finally meet his eyes. "Half our pack is dead or wounded because we were not prepared for what Morrison can do. Maybe instead of throwing more wolves at an enemy we cannot kill, we should focus on finding actual solutions."

Ray's jaw tightens, but he does not argue. "What kind of solutions?"

"The kind that are written in those texts Logan has been hoarding." I gesture toward the corner where Logan sits surrounded by ancient books. "There has to be something in there about Morrison's power. How it works and how to counter it."

"Logan has been reading those books for hours and found nothing useful."

"Because Logan is looking for information about True Lunas and The Veritas." I stand and brush dust off my pants. "I am going to look for something else."

I cross to where Logan sits and drop down beside him without asking permission. He glances up from whatever page he is translating and frowns at the interruption.

"I am busy, Kai."

"So am I." I pull one of the older texts toward me and flip through pages covered in script I cannot read. "What language is this?"

"Old Norse mixed with Latin." Logan reaches for the book but I hold it out of range. "And you cannot read it so give it back."

"Then translate for me." I point to a section that shows an illustration of a wolf standing over a fallen body. "What does this part say?"

Logan sighs but leans over to read the text. "It is discussing resurrection magic. Specifically the dangers of bringing back the dead without proper anchoring rituals."

My pulse quickens. "Keep reading."

"Why? This has nothing to do with True Lunas or Morrison."

"It has everything to do with Monty." I watch Logan's expression shift as he understanding. 

Logan pulls the book closer and reads more carefully. His finger traces lines of text while his lips move silently forming words in dead languages. "This is not good."

"What does it say?"

"That resurrection without proper soul anchoring creates an unstable existence.

"So Luna is the only thing keeping him functional."

"Essentially yes." Logan keeps reading, and I see worry creep into his expression. "According to this text, the magical tether will eventually degrade. When it does, the revived being will simply cease to exist. Not die again because they were never truly alive."

"How long?"

"It varies based on the strength of the caster and magic used." Logan runs calculations in his head. "For someone as powerful as Luna but completely untrained? Maybe a few months."

A few months. That is all the time Monty has left unless we find a way to stabilise him properly. I grab another book from the pile and start flipping through it, looking for anything that might help.

"There has to be a cure." I search faster. "If resurrection magic exists, then there must be a way to make it permanent."

"Magic does not work that way." Logan pulls out a different book and begins cross-referencing. "True resurrection requires divine intervention or a level of power that has not existed in centuries."

"So we complete it." I find a section discussing magical anchoring and slow down to read more carefully. "What would it take to give Monty a real soul anchor?"

Logan goes quiet. He sets down the book he was reading and stares at me with an expression I cannot quite interpret. "You really care about him."

"He is pack," I say it like that explains everything, and maybe it does. "We do not give up on pack."

"Even when pack is already gone?"

The question hits harder than a physical blow. I look across the shelter to where Monty stands guard over Alicia and Luna. He would die for them without hesitation because protecting them is the only purpose his broken existence understands anymore.

"He is not gone." My voice comes out rougher than I intend. "He is right there. And I am not going to watch him fade away because we were too lazy to find a solution."

Logan studies me for a long moment before nodding. "Alright. Let me see what I can find."

We pull books and cross-reference passages. Most of the information is useless. I find something that makes my blood run cold.

"Logan." I point to the passage. "Read this."

He leans over and translates the faded script. "Resurrection magic powered by stolen divine essence can be stabilised through reintroduction of the source material." He pauses and reads it again, like he cannot believe what it says. "The revived being must consume a portion of the original power that brought them back. Only then can their resurrection become permanent."

"What does that mean?"

"It means Monty needs to ingest whatever power source Alicia tapped into when she brought him back." Logan flips through more pages looking for clarification. "But True Luna magic is not a physical substance. It is pure will made manifest. You cannot just bottle it up and drink it."

I read the passage again, searching for details Logan might have missed. "What if Luna accidentally tapped into something else when she saved Monty?"

"Like what?"

"Like Morrison's corruption magic." The words feel wrong coming out of my mouth, but they make horrible sense. "Morrison had just possessed Monty's body. What if she used his power without realising it?"

Logan's face goes pale. "If that is true, then the source material would be Morrison himself."

We stare at each other while the implications sink in. To stabilise Monty, we would need a piece of Morrison. 

"We have to capture him," I say it out loud, even though the idea is insane. "We need Morrison alive and cooperative enough to extract whatever power source he is using."

"That is impossible." Logan gestures toward the shelter entrance where Morrison's forces wait. "He is immortal. Even if we managed to trap one of his host bodies, he would just abandon it and jump to another. We cannot hold him."

"Then we find a way to hold him." I stand and grab the books we need. "Because the alternative is watching Monty cease to exist in a few months, and I am not okay with that."

"Kai." Logan grabs my arm. "Even if we somehow captured Morrison and extracted his power, feeding it to Monty might just corrupt him the same way Morrison corrupts his other victims. We could be trading one death for something worse."

"Or we could be saving him." I pull free and head toward where Elara coordinates defensive strategies with Ray. "I am not giving up without trying every option."

Elara looks up as I approach, and something in my expression makes her pause mid-sentence. "What did you find?"

"A possible cure for Monty." I set the books down on her strategy table. "But it requires Morrison's blood."

The room goes quiet. Every wolf within earshot stops what they are doing and turns to stare at me like I just suggested we attack the sun.

Ray speaks first. "Morrison is immortal. We cannot capture him."

"We have to try." I open the book to the relevant passage. "According to this text, Monty will fade completely within months unless we stabilise his resurrection with the original power source. That source is Morrison."

Alicia appears in the doorway holding Luna and looking exhausted. "You want to capture Morrison to save Monty?"

"Yes."

She looks at Monty standing and something breaks in her expression. "How?"

"I do not know yet." I meet her eyes. "But I will figure it out. I promise."

Before anyone can respond, an explosion rocks the shelter. Dust falls from the ceiling and the lights flicker. Morrison has started his assault.

Ray moves to the window and curses. "He is not waiting for dawn. He is breaching now."

Another explosion. Closer this time. The reinforced door groans under pressure it was not designed to withstand.

"Everyone to defensive positions!" Elara shouts orders while pulling weapons from hidden caches. "Protect the civilians and do not let anyone through to Alicia and Luna!"

The pack gathers instantly. Wolves shift and take up positions while human resistance members arm themselves with whatever they can grab. The shelter transforms into a fortress waiting for an inevitable breach.

I grab my weapon and position myself near Monty.

The door explodes inward. Metal breaks and stone cracks as Morrison's wolves pour through the opening. They are faster than natural wolves and stronger than anything I have faced before. Behind them walks Morrison himself, smiling.

"Surrender, Alicia and Luna." His voice carries across the chaos. "Do it now, and I will let the rest of you live."

Nobody responds. The resistance fights in silence, knowing that surrender means death regardless of Morrison's promises.

I watch Morrison wade through the battle, killing wolves, and realise something that makes my stomach drop. We are not going to capture him. We are barely going to survive him. And Monty's only chance at a real cure just walked through our front door wearing a smile and carrying death in both hands.