The Curse

16.1 | In which, self-sacrifice is the cure for all

Quickly scribbling her explanation down on a piece of paper before her, she read over it multiple times. She felt when Xavier entered the room, as he came to stand behind her and read over her shoulder. She ignored as he turned to Richard and discussed it all. She knew Richard understood and would be able to explain it better than she was.

Spinning around and glancing at the two of them, she passed the piece of paper to Xavier,

"I need you to broadcast this to all the females in the pack, preferably we need a variation in ages, and all other particularities of people," she trialled off, staring up at him expectantly. She heard when he addressed all the females in the pack, and kept her fingers crossed in cautious optimism.

She felt her entire body sag as one by one women from all through the town linked her with the willingness. Of all the women who were more than willing, the elder shifters, the ones who wished for grandchildren, were the most willing to sacrifice themselves for their family. She felt tears pool in her eyes at their selflessness. She could not have asked for a better pack.

Setting up her equipment in the room, she instructed Xavier to ask them all to assemble outside, giving him a clipboard and a chart to note everyone down on. She included their age, weight, height, their fertility, and their medical histories in regard to lunar cycles of fertility.

Within a few hours they had a list of all the women in the village, every single one had volunteered themselves for the experiment. Moving around the room, she glanced at the ten women she'd asked to go first. Richard had already distributed her blood straight into their veins. They hoped that the most simple, and direct solution would be effective, that way they'd eliminate a large amount of the hassle involved in the spreading of the "cure."

After sitting, and observing the women bodily responses for 6-hours, Madeline still remained cautiously optimistic. None of the women had showed negative reactions, although she wouldn't be able to assess their physical and internal responses until at least 12-hours had passed.

Waiting was more draining than checking over her scientific calculations for the 20th time. As she was waiting for the responses in the systems of the women, Madeline and Richard had worked to calculate the incubation period of the "cure", and a way in which to assess effectiveness.

After 12-hours had passed, Madeline was growing increasingly pessimistic about the results. Of the 8 women they'd assessed so far, each of them displayed the same results, negative for any beneficial reaction. As Madeline and Richard each assessed their last patient, Madeline paused and gasped loudly. Something was happening inside the women before her, Madeline watched as the scars in the internal scan healed themselves. Her cells were bonding with the women blood and replicating at an amazing pace.

"Xavier," she yelled, getting the sleeping wolves attention. He jumped up throwing his chair back behind him before running over to her, fawning over her. He held her head in place making eye contact and questioning her tone,

"It's working," she whispered in awe of the results. She glanced over the women sheet, and found that rather than the "erasure" of her womb, and other reproductive organs, they'd become scarred, and she knew she'd figured at least part of the issue out. Scarring, was repairable.

She grinned at the women before her, who was looking more confused than ever at the results.

"I cant guarantee anything at this stage, but it appears that your reproductive abilities may return within the next cycle of the full moon," she watched as tears filled the women eyes before she threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around Madeline. She stood there bewildered as a man appeared at the right shoulder of the women hugging her. She realised he would've felt her distress, meaning he was her mate. She nodded slightly at the man, pulling away and smiling at her, leaving them to their reunion.

She was happy, but conflicted. She knew she had to figure out how to recover the fertility of the other women who's issues were more intense than scarring, and the thought of being unsure made her more nervous than ever.

Staring at the results before her, she began nibbling on her bottom lip again. She knew there was a solution in the results somewhere, there always was, it was just a matter of identifying it and capitalising on it in a way that benefitted everyone.

Staring at the blood samples of the other women, she felt as though she were going stir crazy. Madeline jumped up, making her way to the back-door and running out quickly before surrendering control to Martina while she simmered on her ideas. She found herself resting on the forest-floor in shifter form. Lifting her head, she sniffed around her before laying eyes on a deer at the other side of the clearing. She made sure not to move, as she allowed the deer and it's family to pass.

She'd never find the urge to hunt in the wild, at least, no anytime soon.

As she padded her way back towards the lab rooms, she continued simmering on her ideas. She'd tried direct injections, using blockers, and attaching her blood to decoys before injection, and so far nothing had worked. It was as though the blood was incapable of reaching the womb, as though she had to artificially inseminate the womb with her blood.

The idea made her chuckle before she stopped and developed it further. She could do it in multiple ways; she could combine her blood with their fertilised egg, and hope that the blood gives it the ability to be unsusceptible to the damaged state of the womb, cocooning in it a way; or she could attach her blood to a decoy and leave it in their on its own, hoping that it would find its way to the reparation state of being. Or, maybe the key wasn't entirely in her blood, she considered stem-cells, and bone-marrow, before again mulling the ideas around in her head.

She started running her way back to the labs, pushing her idea's to Xavier and Richard. She knew the two of them were reluctant on the part of the bone-marrow and stem-cells, although bone-marrow would be the easier of the two options. She pushed her determination through the link towards Xavier, and the reality that she was doing it, whether she had his permission or not. It was her body, after all.