Healing Begins

Healing Begins
Elara's POV

My eyes snapped open as cold water hit my face.
"Wake up!" Alaric's voice was desperate and terrified. "Elara, please wake up!"
I was lying on the ground, and everything hurt. My chest felt like someone had torn a hole through it. The silver mark that used to glow so brightly was barely visible now, like a dying spark.
"What happened?" I whispered, trying to sit up.
"Sabrina," Alaric said sadly, helping me stand. "She drained most of your power before I could stop her."
The memories came rushing back - Sabrina's fake apology, her grip on my hand, the horrible burning as she stole my strength. I looked around and saw the frozen dogs starting to move again, blinking like they were waking up from a dream.
"Where is she now?" I asked.
"Gone. She disappeared the moment she finished with you." Alaric's silver eyes were filled with rage and fear. "How do you feel?"
"Empty," I admitted. "Like part of me is missing."
"We need to get you somewhere safe so you can recover."
"No," I said strongly, even though I could barely stand. "Look at them."
Around us, the pack members were stumbling around, looking confused and scared. Mrs. Henderson had fallen to her knees, coughing up blood. Tom Miller was so weak he couldn't even lift his head. The curse was killing them faster now, like Sabrina had made it stronger somehow.
"They're dying," I said. "I can't just leave them like this."
"Elara, you barely have any power left. If you try to fix them now, it could kill you."
"And if I don't try, they'll definitely die." I took a shaky step toward Mrs. Henderson. "I have to do something."
"Then I'm staying with you," Alaric said, moving to my side. "Whatever strength you need, take it from me."
I looked at him in surprise. "You'd do that?"
"I'd do anything for you," he said simply. "You know that."
His words gave me strength I didn't know I still had. Maybe Sabrina had taken most of my power, but she hadn't taken everything. And with Alaric's help, maybe I could still make a difference.
I knelt down beside Mrs. Henderson and put my hands on her shoulders. "This might hurt a little," I told her softly.
She looked up at me with eyes full of pain and fear. "Elara? You're really trying to help me?"
"Yes," I said, closing my eyes and reaching for whatever power I had left.
At first, nothing happened. The silver mark on my chest stayed dim, and I felt like I was trying to light a fire with wet matches. But then Alaric put his hand on my back, and suddenly I could feel his strength flowing into me.
Warmth spread through my body and down into my hands. The silver mark flickered, then began to glow softly. Mrs. Henderson gasped as the black spots on her face started fading away.
"It's working," she whispered in surprise.
But the mending took almost everything I had. When I finished, I was so dizzy I nearly fell over. Alaric caught me before I hit the ground.
"That's enough," he said strongly. "You need to rest."
"No," I panted. "There are more. I can't stop now."
"Elara-"
"Please." I looked at him with tears in my eyes. "These people may have treated me badly, but they don't deserve to die. And maybe... maybe if I help them, they'll finally see that I'm not the useless omega they thought I was."
Alaric observed my face for a long moment, then nodded. "Okay. But we do this slowly. One person at a time, and you rest between each cure."
For the next hour, we moved from wolf to wolf. Each healing got a little easier as I learned to work with Alaric's power instead of just my own. Tom Miller's gray face returned to normal color. Jenny Morrison stopped coughing up blood. One by one, the dying wolves began to revive.
And something amazing started happening. The pack members who had been healed began following us around, watching in awe as I worked. Instead of the disgusted looks I was used to, they stared at me with wonder and thanks.
"I can't believe it," David Chen said after I fixed the black marks on his arms. "You're actually saving us."
"After everything we did to you," Maria Santos added, shame clear in her voice. "Why would you help us?"
"Because it's the right thing to do," I said simply.
"We were so wrong about you," Jake Phillips said, tears running down his face. "You're not weak at all. You're the best person I've ever met."
Their words meant more to me than I expected. For so long, I'd thought of the day when my pack would finally respect me. Now it was happening, but it felt different than I'd imagined. I didn't feel pleased or proud. I just felt... tired. And sad that it had taken something like this for them to see my worth.
"There's one more," Alaric said, pointing to a small house at the end of the street.
Inside, we found a little girl who couldn't have been more than five years old. She was asleep, her breathing so shallow I could barely see her chest moving. The curse had hit her worse than anyone else.
"Can you save her?" her mother asked desperately.
I looked at the child and felt my heart break. She was so small, so innocent. She'd never done anything to hurt me. She didn't deserve this.
"I'll try," I said, kneeling beside her bed.
But when I reached for my power, I found almost nothing left. The silver mark on my chest was barely shining at all. Even with Alaric's help, I wasn't sure I had enough strength left to heal someone this sick.
"Elara," Alaric said quietly. "If you use everything you have left, you might not survive it."
"I know," I whispered.
"Then don't do it. One life isn't worth losing you."
I looked at the little girl's pale face, then at her mother's desperate eyes. "It is to them."
Before Alaric could stop me, I placed my hands on the child's chest and poured every bit of power I had left into fixing her.
The silver mark on my chest blazed with light one last time, then went totally dark. The little girl's eyes fluttered open, and she smiled at me.
But I felt myself falling backwards, my vision going black around the edges.
"Elara!" Alaric caught me just before I hit the floor.
"Is she okay?" I whispered, looking at the little girl.
"She's perfect," he said, his voice shaking. "But you..."
I could feel my life slipping away. Using all my power like that had been too much. My body was shutting down.
"Thank you," the little girl's mother sobbed. "Thank you for saving her."
"Worth it," I managed to say.
That's when I heard footsteps in the hallway. Someone was clapping slowly, mockingly.
"How touching," Sabrina's voice said from behind us. "The little omega dies a hero."
I tried to turn my head to look at her, but I was too weak to move.
"You're too late," Alaric growled. "She's already saved them all."
"Oh, I'm not here for them," Sabrina laughed. "I'm here for her. You see, what she just did - using up all her power like that - it's exactly what we needed."
"What are you talking about?"
"The final step in our plan. Now that she's totally drained, she can't fight what comes next."
I felt something cold and sharp press against my neck. A needle.
"Sweet dreams, little destroyer," Sabrina whispered as she injected whatever was in the needle into my veins. "When you wake up, you'll be everything we've been waiting for."
The world went black, and the last thing I heard was Alaric screaming my name.