Chapter 238: Chapter 0238

•DANTE•

\[FOUR YEARS AGO\]

First thing in the morning, Cassandra and I drove out to the Ironwood Pack to treat their Beta's son.

She had spent most of the previous night studying everything she had on the lunar plague, going through her notes at the kitchen table while I sat across from her pretending to read and actually watching her work.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Dante?" she sighed as she looked at me. "I don't want this to fail before we even start. You know that I only healed someone once, and it was by mistake."

"This is the only way we will know if you have the Luna's healing powers," he answered. "Not all Lunas do, but you used them once when we were young. So we must test them out again."

"Gosh, we should've done this experiment in the hospital."

"No," I answered. "I'd never risk you being labeled as a witch because the humans won't understand. But this patient is perfect. He's one of our own."

When we arrived, the Beta and his mate were already waiting outside the pack house with two of their warriors. They looked like people who hadn't slept in days, which they probably hadn't.

"Dr. Frost," the Beta replied as he stepped forward. "Thank you for coming. I am Benson."

"We came as soon as we could," Cassandra answered, shaking his hand before turning to his mate beside him. "How long has your son been showing symptoms?"

"Eight days," his mate replied. Her voice was barely holding together.

Cassandra nodded and looked at me briefly before they led us inside.

The boy's name was Cian. He was sixteen and lying on the bed in his room with two pack medics standing over him, burning herbs in small bowls on either side of the mattress. The smell hit me the moment we walked in. The herbs were the only thing keeping him from fully losing control.

The medics stepped back when we entered. The Beta and his mate stayed in the doorway.

"Give us the room," I replied.

They pulled the door closed behind them.

I set up Cassandra's equipment on the side table and watched her move closer to the boy. She stood over him with her arms folded, studying him.

"He's further along than the Beta described," she replied without looking up. "The wolf and his body are fighting against a terrible plague, and it will kill his wolf before he dies. That's why the herbs aren't doing enough anymore."

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"I have to go in and heal the wolf directly," she answered. "Not just the body, but the wolf itself."

I looked at the boy. "Cassandra, healing the wolf's side means he will feel everything in real time. He will fight back."

"I know that," she replied.

"You have never done it before."

"I know that too." She turned and looked at me. "But I think I can. The way I healed Adam's poisoning, I wasn't just treating his body. I was reaching something deeper. I want to test whether I can do the same thing here deliberately."

I looked at her for a long moment. "And if he panics and attacks?"

"Then you hold him down, Dante," she answered. "You must do that for me until I learn how to do this without endangering our lives."

I exhaled and rolled up my sleeves.

Cian let out a low sound from the bed that was somewhere between a growl and a groan. His fingers curled into the sheets. Then his eyes snapped open, and they were completely red.

He came off the bed faster than a boy his size should have been able to move.

I stepped in front of Cassandra and caught him by the shoulders before he reached her. He was strong, and I had to use my full weight to drive him back onto the mattress.

"Cassandra, now," I replied through my teeth.

"I need another second," she answered, reaching into her bag.

Cian bucked hard and nearly threw me sideways. I locked my arms around him and put my full body weight into keeping him flat.

"Don't even think about it," I growled toward the boy, not that he could hear reason right now. "Lie still."

He snapped his teeth in Cassandra's direction.

Every part of me that was lycan surged forward at that. "If you move toward her again, I will put you through that wall," I replied. Cian stopped jerking and lay still.

"Now," I replied to Cassandra.

She leaned across me and pressed both palms flat against Cian's chest. I felt the shift in the room the moment her hands made contact. The temperature changed.

Cian arched his back and roared.

"I can feel it," Cassandra murmured. Her eyes had closed, and her brow was furrowed. "I can feel the wolf. He's right there. He's frightened."

"Keep going," I replied.

She pushed deeper. I could see it in her face, the effort it cost her, the way her jaw tightened and her breathing deepened. Whatever she was doing was not small.

Cian's resistance dropped degree by degree. His growling became uneven breathing. His fingers released the sheets. The red in his eyes faded, until they were clear and brown and blinking up at the ceiling.

"What happened?" he whispered.

Cassandra lifted her hands and stepped back. She was pale, and I moved toward her immediately.

"I'm fine," she replied before I could ask. She pressed her hand against my arm and then looked at Cian. "You're safe now. You should rest."

I looked at her face and then at the boy breathing steadily on the bed. She had done it. She had reached the wolf directly and healed it from the inside.

I had been beside her for years, and I still had no framework for what she was capable of.

"Don't say anything yet," she murmured, reading my expression. "I still have a lot to learn. And if I am going to do this in the hospital, then I don't want people knowing about it."

"Your secret will be safe with me."

She was right. I was thinking that whatever lived inside her was something neither of us fully understood yet. And that one day, we would need to.