Dr. Howard covered his face with his hands and kept on thanking Moon Goddess. He let out a whimper, which made the guards furrow their brows in confusion. "Is he crying?" One asked the other.
"Yes!" Dr. Howard shouted, startling them.
"I am crying. And I'm laughing too." He chuckled while tears were streaming down his face. "Oh! Finally!" He laughed.
"Move!" He shoved the guards on his way to pick up his ringing phone.
"Hello, Alpha." He greeted enthusiastically. "I have a very good news. In fact, the best news ever. I have found the cure for Xanthus." He spat the last word with disgust.
He went silent for a while to hear from the other side.
Once again he burst with excitement. "What is it, you ask? First of all Alpha, it isn't an it. It's a she. Her blood."
"Her blood? How? Anyway, who is she?" The guards heard their Alpha ask.
"She is our savior. She is a gift from our goddess." They slapped their forehead when they heard the doctor say it.
Alpha Nathaniel bit his lip in frustration. "By the sound of it, it does seem like she is everything you've said. But Doctor, I'm asking for her identity."
"Words aren't enough to identify what she will mean to us in near future, Alpha. She shall be identified as a goddess -"
"Her name, Doctor!" Alpha shouted in impatience. Former Luna Iria and Lady Ivory became alarmed by his outburst. Three of them had been in the Alpha's office, discussing the next step to help their pack members financially when Nathaniel decided to call Dr. Howard to get an update on the situation.
"My apologies, Alpha. I was just very excited by this discovery -"
"Goddess, provide me strength so that I don't strangle him." Alpha rubbed his forehead. Ivory spit the tea she was drinking as she chuckled.
The doctor panicked. "I beg for mercy, My Lord. I shall tell her name right now. It's Former Alpha Edward's youngest child. Lady Bennet!"
"Ariana?" Dr. Howard heard the surprise in Alpha Nathaniel's voice.
"Yes! Her blood, actually. But then again, she is the master of her blood. So yes, Lady Ariana Bennet is the cure for Xanthus." He rambled. "I will send for her immediately and perform tests."
After listening for some time, he interrupted. "But Alpha, it would be feasible if we run some tests immediately- "
"Hmm..." He nodded his head as he once again listened only.
"As you command, My Lord. I will wait for your arrival before approaching Lady Bennet regarding any of this."
**~~~**
Dr. Howard took long strides as he hurried towards Camp B. Although the Alpha had commanded him not to inform Lady Bennet, he couldn't wait until his arrival. It was a time of national crisis and the doctor decided to override the order of precedence.
Ariana was checking heartbeat of a patient with stethoscope when Dr. Howard arrived. He now looked at her in a completely different light. In his eyes, she was already the savior of their kind. "Lady Bennet, a word if you please?" He bowed.
"Sure." She opened her mask and stepped outside with him. Sean took her place in examining the patient.
"The cure for Xanthus has been found." Dr. Howard informed.
Ariana's eyes brightened. "That's an excellent news, Doctor. I must thank you from behalf of everyone for your contribution. You truly have saved our kind from a grave danger."
"As much as I would like to take the credit, it isn't mine. For the most part. It's my lady's actually."
"Beg your pardon."
"Yes, Lady Bennet. You heard me correct. Do you remember the Vampire who drank your blood yesterday night?" Doctor stepped closer to her.
"Yes. I do." answered Ariana, still baffled.
"Well, he recovered from Xanthus overnight."
Ariana took some time processing what the doctor said. "Are you implying that my blood saved him? It couldn't be. I'm an ordinary werewolf. Well except for my blood rank. However, I'm completely ordinary. You understand what I mean to say."
"No, my lady. You aren't an ordinary werewolf. You have been blessed by Moon Goddess. She decided to put an end to our misery through you. You're our savior."
Ariana stood silent for a while with her arms crossed. "So it seems similar to plasma therapy. Except only my blood can heal Xanthus?"
Dr. Howard nodded in confirmation.
"But as you can see, my blood is limited. How many lives can it save? 20 or 30 in a month? Maybe few hundreds if you drain me dead. I'm hardly the savior you're expecting me to be."
"That's the best part, my lady. It isn't completely similar to plasma therapy. I've already ran tests. Even if you donate 1 pint of blood, our medicine will act as a solvent to it and can simply be injected with a syringe. Your 1 pint of blood can save roughly 500,000 lives. You can donate your blood every week until every patient is cured."
"I know, even 1 pint of blood every week is deleterious for your health. Normal werewolves could never be able to do that. But since you're of Alpha blood, you recover fast. So you won't die at least." He continued.
"You don't have to convince me, doctor. I'm willing to do it. Me having some health problems versus millions of lives being saved. Is that even a fair comparison?" said Ariana with a determination in her eyes.
"One more thing, Doctor. Isn't there a possibility that my biological family members possess this healing quality in their blood too?"
"Actually no, my lady. We had ran tests using blood of Alphas of every pack including Alpha Anwar and His Majesty himself. We checked the blood of those who were cured from Xanthus as well. None of their blood contained antibodies worthy enough to fight Xanthus. Except yours."
Ariana nodded, soaking every information. "So, let's go the lab. I will donate my blood."
"Right now?" asked Dr. Howard, surprised.
"The sooner, the better. I want those infected with Xanthus to be cured immediately so that they don't infect others and then I wouldn't have to donate my blood so much. Got to look out for myself as well." Ariana smiled nervously.
Dr. Howard looked at her with utmost respect and gratitude.
**~~~**
Ariana remained laid back in a chair after the doctor drew blood from her. A guard brought her a glass of water which she drank greedily. She felt fine after a while and decided to return to her tent. She was about to get up when the door to the laboratory opened wide.
Alpha Nathaniel had arrived, followed by Former Luna Iria, Lady Ivory and Sean. "I swear I'll kill that crazy doctor." Nathaniel was fuming.
"Nate." Ariana smiled as she greeted him.
"No no. Remain seated." Nate ordered as he approached her.
Ariana bowed slightly with her head. "Luna."
"You look so pale, my child. Shall I order for fruits?" Luna Iria sat beside her and carressed her head gently.
"No need. I feel better."
"Finally, we meet again." Ivory smiled a bright smile.
"Come here." Ariana opened her arms. "Yours the only face I wanted to see in this world."
Ivory chuckled as she went in for the hug. "Trust me. Watching fake faces of those fake people here was a pure torture for me. So it's a pleasure to see your face too. No offense, but I would like to make it clear from the very start that I loathe your family from the bottom of my heart."
"What family?" Ariana faked ignorance.
"That's the spirit!"
"Oh no. Where did Nate go?" asked Luna Iria as she looked around for him. "I hope he isn't strangling that doctor. I shall go check on him. I will be back soon, dear Ari." She stood up and walked away.
Ivory took her seat. Just then, Ariana glanced at Sean, who walked towards her immediately and took her hands in his hands. "I was so afraid that Dr. Howard was going to hurt you when Nate told me about your blood being the cure."
"Sean, you don't have to worry. They don't need every last drop of blood in my body. I've had a thorough talk with Dr. Howard. I shall donate my blood at a safe interval."
"Alright Sappy Sean, go away. I have to talk to Ari alone." Ivory rolled her eyes.
"Ivory! You don't have to be so rude." Ariana snapped. She looked at Sean apologetically.
Sean shook his head. "It's okay. Considering what a rude prick Nate is, I expected nothing less from his sister." He walked away leaving the girls alone.
"You're friends with someone who bad-mouths my brother?" asked Ivory.
"Sean is the closest thing to a best friend that Nate has." Ariana shrugged her shoulders.
"Strange, but okay. So, you're my best friend from now onwards." Ivory declared nonchalantly.
"What? No! I already have a best friend. Her name is Alexa." Ariana wrinkled her nose.
"Whoever this Alexa girl is, you'll forget her soon. I'm more compatible. We both literally hate all the same people. Especially that P-bitch."
"P-bitch? Really?" asked Ariana dumbfounded.
"Yes. She has got a really pretty name. We cannot call her that. Just imagine! You, me, mother and Nate bitching about P-bitch while sipping tea. Picture perfect family."
Ariana chuckled. "So what? You all are going to adopt me into your family?"
"In a different way, yes." Ivory nodded.
"Different way? What does that mea -" Ariana was about to ask when Nate and Luna Iria returned.
"We talked to Dr. Howard. Thank Goddess, you won't be harmed." said Luna Iria.
"Instead you will be saving millions of lives." Nate whispered, impressed. "Truly, you were meant to be the Queen." He said as he stared at her.
Ariana looked uncomfortable after hearing what was meant to be a compliment. Not knowing how to reply, she smiled meekly.
**~~~**
Words spread everywhere that Pack Ziram had been successful in finding the cure for Xanthus. In a span of six months, cases were reduced to double digits.
Although Xanthus had originated from Pack Ziram, it could have been any pack. Therefore, people thought it was commendable how Alpha Nathaniel took the responsibility and provided all the other packs with medicine free of charge. He was now respected all over the kingdom despite his sudden take over his pack. So much so, a ceremony was being planned to commemorate him and Dr. Howard in the capital city itself.
And as Alpha Nathaniel had said before, if he goes down, he shall take Ariana with him. So in no way was he going to attend the ceremony without her and without making the entire kingdom aware of her contribution.