There is no cure

There is no cure
SERENA’S POV

“Thank you,” I said to Alpha Bernard after sniffling.

“What’s that for?”

“For not killing my brother when you could have,” I managed to speak without breaking into tears.

“I could have done that to you,” he cooed.

I felt the need to thank him because he saved my life and the life of my brother hours ago. I didn’t think he was one to do it, but he surprised me.

The view from the penthouse was nice, and it was the reason I stood on my feet, feeding my eyes. I thought it would make me feel better, but I was wrong.

Alpha Bernard joined me here not so long ago. He claimed he was here to clear his head, and since I was here to do the same, he thought to stand next to me.

“How do you feel?”

“Feel? I don’t even know what to feel,” I responded softly.

“You can talk to me. I’m here to listen to you,” he said, patting me on the back.

At a difficult time like this, I might just need my favorite werewolf next to me. Since he couldn’t be here with me, I might just read the past letters he sent to me when he still loved me.

In the space of a week, he had sent me two letters, and I hadn’t opened any of them because I was scared of the words he used in them.

One was first brought to me by a maiden. She claimed a male werewolf handed it over to her while she was on her way to the training ground.

She described what the werewolf looked like, and it perfectly fit with Shaun’s description, but I wasn’t convinced it was him. Why would he bring it himself?

The second letter was brought to me by the guard who usually brings me letters. The guard in question had been delivering Shaun’s letters to me for the longest time.

Even though Shaun once made it known to me in one of his letters that he was no longer interested in me and had moved on with his life, he was still my favorite werewolf.

“What can I do?” I snapped out of my thoughts and asked Alpha Bernard. It was selfish of me to think about myself or my love life at a time like this.

“You can go to bed. Scrap that, you should go to bed,” he replied. He didn’t get my question.

“I’m not referring to...”

“I know what your question was all about, but I think you need to go to your room and sleep for lengthy hours,” he said.

“This isn’t the time for me to sleep. My brother has been possessed,” I reminded him. I was speaking in an extremely low tone because I had no energy left in me.

My brother tried to kill me in the woods. It did traumatize me, and I still hadn’t been able to get over it. I knew it was as a result of the spell, so I didn’t take offense to it.

I just stood there and watched him make an attempt to attack me. If Alpha Bernard hadn’t shown up when he did, there was a probability that I would be dead already.

He rescued me and didn’t kill Dean like he did to the other possessed soldiers. I just remained on the spot and stood still as though I was a tree in the desert.

With his help, Dean was brought to the mansion and had been locked up in a room. The worst part of this was that I had restricted access to him.

“It was a long night in the woods, and now that noon is here, you should go...”

“If there’s anyone that deserves to rest, it is you,” I cut him off.

I didn’t like that he was preaching to me about rest. I did nothing to deserve rest. I wasn’t able to save my brother like I should have, yet he wanted me to rest.

He ran his hand across my shoulder, and for some reason, I refused to take his hand off me. I sniffled, and it was my umpteenth time doing it ever since I got here.

“I might have bad news for you.”

I took a deep breath and looked right into his eyes. I wasn’t prepared to hear whatever bad news he had for me, but I was ready to listen regardless.

This had better not be about Dean. I wasn’t sure he would be able to live long since he had been possessed. I didn’t know about the effect of the spell.

“Is he dead?” I asked. Alpha Bernard was refusing to tell me what the news was about.

“No,” he was quick to respond. He still wasn’t ready to tell me about it.

I couldn’t hold myself back from tearing up this time. Tears rolled down my cheeks uncontrollably, and I liked that he didn’t try to stop me.

“May I know why he was put in a prison that is more like a dungeon instead of just putting him in an abandoned room in the mansion?” I managed to ask in the middle of my tears.

“The spell will make him stronger and blood-hungry. He’ll try to escape so he can feed on blood, so he has to be in a place that...”

“It’s fine, I get it,” I said quickly. He already answered my question in his first statement. I didn’t need a detailed explanation.

I still was waiting for him to talk to me about the bad news. I didn’t want to pressure him into speaking earlier, but I might have to do just that at this point.

With the back of my palm, I wiped my tears. I didn’t like crying in the presence of anyone because it depicted weakness, but I just couldn’t hold myself back earlier.

“The bad news,” I said quietly.

“I reached out to the Seer of the pack concerning Dean,” he mentioned.

That was thoughtful of him. It never occurred to me that we could seek the help of a Seer to help with what was going on with Dean at the moment.

“Is he out of the pack at the moment?” I questioned. That could be the bad news.

“He said he can do nothing about it. He doesn’t have the cure for spells.”

Instead of crying again, I sniffled and raised my chin. I needed the water in my eyes to return to wherever it came from. Crying wouldn’t solve anything.

If the Seer didn’t have a cure, then my brother might just remain in the dungeon for the rest of his life. What was supposed to happen to his dreams and plans for the future?

“Can you tell me what the Witch Queen had to say to you the day you visited her?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I replied. I was still having a hard time holding back the tears in my eyes.

“I was thinking it might help in putting an end to all of this. That is why I’m asking you to tell me about it.”

“We can’t do what they want us to do,” I made it known to him. He had better get that straight.

“I’m not a peace lover. I love violence, but at this point, I can’t help but think it’ll be best to do what they want. We don’t have so many pack soldiers left. We also don’t have spells that can be used against them,” he lectured.

I understood where he was coming from, but I still wouldn’t tell him what he wanted to know. The only thing I wanted to think about at the moment was my brother.

“The worst part of this is that he might end up killing himself. I’m talking about Dean.”

“Why would he do that?” I asked in a shaky tone.

“He won’t stop feeling the urge to drink blood, and if there’s no victim for him, he’ll use himself as a victim.”

“You seem to know so much about how the spell works. I need you to please think of a solution besides the Seer,” I pleaded with him.

“If I knew a solution, I wouldn’t be here with you. I would have swung into action.”

Just like that, all my hope dashed away. From what Alpha Bernard said, my brother might not live to see the next full moon. All of this couldn’t be real. It did feel surreal.

“Take me to the pack archives,” I broke the silence that went on for minutes.

“Why?”

“I’m sure there are ancient books there,” I replied. He might not take me there if I didn’t reply.

“Yes, but why do you...”

“I need to find a cure for whatever is going on with my brother. I can’t keep watching him just like that,” I cut him off. I didn’t have all the time in the world to listen to him speak.