"How long were you planning on your speech being?" Amara asked me as she scribbled down on her piece of paper, her words tumbling out of her mouth a mile a minute.
I shrugged, sighing. "I was going to keep it short. I gathered that the wolves wouldn't be interested in hearing me blab on about how I'm grateful that the warriors put their lives before my own."
Amara hummed in response. "Okay, well that leaves enough time for Rowan to speak also, so I'll double check with him on what he wants to say. Although I'm unsure if that man is capable of showing any emotion."
We were planning the mass funeral for everyone who had lost their lives in the fight. We never held funerals back at my colony, so I was unsure what they consisted of, but they appeared to be a big thing here for the wolves. Amara wanted to ensure that every detail was jotted down and checked three times over. She wanted the ceremony to be perfect.
I wanted to do a separate little speech for Cassia, because without her, Cole would be dead. She gave her life up to save us and I was eternally grateful for her. She deserved her own segment.
"Okay," Amara spoke, running her hands through her auburn hair, puffing out a gust of air from her mouth as she shook her head. "I believe we have it all sorted. I'll take the list of flowers we need to Grace's florist and see what she can do. I'm sure they'll be ready by tonight."
I smiled, peeking over at the list, my eyes widening at the amount that she was going to order.
"A flower for every single person we lost," Amara said, pointing at the paper. The number was more than I had anticipated, the flashbacks of seeing the bodies in their sacks back at the camp filling my mind. I felt sick.
"Okay, thank you for doing this Amara." I sighed. "I need to head over to the hospital. I have an appointment."
Cole had booked me in with Doctor Rygard after mine and Claude's altercation. He had demanded I went straight away, but I felt fine, and to give him peace of mind, I allowed him to book me in. I didn't want to take away an appointment from anyone else just by showing up unannounced when I knew that Claude hadn't actually harmed me.
"For the baby?" Amara questioned, keeping her voice low. We were alone in my house though, Cole and Rowan both out overseeing the guidance councillors for their first real sessions with the humans. Cole had wanted to join me at the hospital, but I had convinced him that this was far more important. The humans needed to see him putting in effort to make sure they had a good plan ahead of them. He had to be the face of it.
I nodded, placing my hand over my belly, it feeling a little harder than it used to be, but it could have been a placebo- or gas.
"Rumours are going around about Claude's disappearance," Amara spoke, seeming to test the waters. "I asked Tirus about it, but he hasn't said a word which is very unlike him. Did Cole banish him?"
I sighed. The wolves wouldn't like hearing that Cole had killed one of their own, even if it was to save me. It was clear that Amara didn't know though. Was it meant to be kept a secret? Cole hadn't said anything to me about not telling anyone. "He's dead," I blurted out.
Amara's eyes widened before she cleared her throat. "Oh."
"He attacked me," I said, dropping my chin. "Cole had no choice."
It wasn't entirely the truth, but Claude had been overstepping the boundaries for a hell of a while now. To Cole, he was a lose end and was never going to show him or me the respect that he wanted. Attacking me was unacceptable. I wasn't the enemy here. Claude was dangerous.
"Shall I add another flower onto the list?" Amara asked, cocking her head and grabbing her pen, looking perplexed.
I shook my head. "No. We're only mourning the people lost in battle. Please keep that Claude business to yourself, Amara. I don't know if Cole wants people to know."
Amara sighed. "People will find out eventually, Reya. They're getting frustrated. Cole isn't updating us on the situation with the humans, and some aren't happy about Finn and Kassandra moving in. I believe they aren't familiar with them being on our side. I know it's not my place to say, but a short informative meeting would help everyone understand what is happening right now. I understand that Cole hasn't had time, but the pack needs to be kept in the loop."
I completely understood where Amara was coming from. Cole hadn't updated the pack on what was going on due to the everchanging future. It seemed neither of us even fully knew what was going on. There was something new around every corner, and it was throwing a spanner in the works.
"Cole will speak to everyone soon. I'm sure of it," I told her, slipping out of the doorway. "We're just trying to figure out some stuff right now. I know he wants to be able to explain everything to everyone in detail and right now it's hard to do that. I'll talk with him though."
I was going to defend Cole until the end. He was doing a hell of a job as Alpha. I knew that not just anyone could do his job. Most would give up or quit.
I made my way in the direction of the hospital, moving my legs as quickly as I could since I was worried I was going to be late. Planning the mass funeral with Amara had taken much longer than I had expected. I had also seen my Father earlier. He was doing alright- just feeling very bored. I was still thinking about getting him a job here, although right now, he still needed to rest. Stress wasn't great for human health.
Once I reached the hospital, I sat down, looking out for Doctor Rygard, his elderly face appearing around the corner once he heard that I had checked in. I smiled, following him down the corridor towards his isolated office like usual, settling down on the chair as he shut the door.
"So, Cole informed me that you had a bit of an incident with someone and he wants me to check the baby?" Doctor Rygard spoke.
"Yes, did he tell you anything else?" I questioned, trying to dig to see if Cole had told him more on the subject.
Doctor Rygard hummed, shaking his head. "He didn't go into great detail, but it wasn't necessary. Lie back please so I can give your belly a scan."
The same scan from last time was performed, the gel cool on my stomach, and once Doctor Rygard was happy with what he saw, he wiped it away. He ushered for me to sit up, offering me a small smile.
"Is everything okay?" I asked.
He nodded. "The baby is obviously smaller than expected like I told you last time, but I don't see any indication that anything that went on with your altercation has caused any damage."
I smiled at him, a small weight feeling as if it had been lifted off my shoulder. Cole was going to be happy about this, and my guess was that he was going to cut his session at the human complex short to come and get the results from me. Standing up, I took notice of the vials of bloodwork on Doctor Rygard's desk, all of them being labelled with small notes written on them. It reminded me of Anthony and Amber's Mother.
"How is she? Anthony's Mother?" I asked, fiddling with my fingers.
"She's still alive," he responded. "Like you were told, we don't believe she'll make it much longer, but she's holding on remarkably well. I believe it's because she's hoping that her children will come and say goodbye."
I nodded. "I understand, thank you." I was going to go and speak with Anthony. I understood he was angry, but did he really want to allow his Mother to die without giving her a proper goodbye? If the answer was yes, then I was going to leave it. I just wanted to make sure he knew that he wouldn't get a chance to speak to her after her death.
"Reya," Doctor Rygard said with furrowed brows as I reached for the door handle. "Excuse me if this is completely out of turn, and I do apologise if it is, but what is she was onto something?"
I knitted my brows together, turning towards him. "What do you mean?"
"She was a scientist. She worked here in the lab conducting research, but gave it up once she had Amber. She's a smart woman, so what if she was actually onto something when it came to taking the wolfsbane? She explained it all to me earlier."
"You think the wolfsbane was a good idea?" I asked, perplexed.
"What she was doing was called conditioning. It's where you force your body to no longer react to something by slowly exposing it to small doses of it. It can take a while, but eventually, it can work, and your body gets used to the substance. However, performing it without medical supervision can be very dangerous, her case being a prime example. I believe she got the dosage wrong. She rushed into it which you can't do when it comes to these kind of things."
I took a seat again, crossing my arms over my chest as I listened intently. "Conditioning?"
Doctor Rygard nodded, looking slightly sheepish. "What if there was a way to stop our bodies from reacting the way it does to wolfsbane? Or human blood when we weaken?"
I hummed, chewing on the inside of my cheek. "You want to expose the wolves to wolfsbane and human blood?"
He hesitated. "I'm by no means suggesting anything. This is just a hypothetical complex. Under medical supervision, it could work. We get volunteers who are willing to put themselves through it, and we inject them with small doses of wolfsbane daily, and by small, I mean minuscule. We keep an eye on them and increase the dose over time."
I clicked my tongue. "What if it catches up to them the same way it did with Anthony's Mother? She suddenly went downhill after years."
"She told me she would put a single bell of wolfsbane in each cup of her tea. It was far too much, and it caused severe erosion in her stomach lining which eventually lead to ulcers, sepsis and organ failure. I wouldn't suggest ingesting the wolfsbane, but injecting it directly into the bloodstream instead."
I nodded once, my hands feeling clammy.
"Anthony's Mother showed some early signs that she chose to ignore and never tell anyone. She informed me earlier how she would vomit and suffer from severe acid reflux. She would get migraines and muscle cramps, as well as frequent pain in her joints. She was lethargic a lot of the time too. If any of the test subjects show any signs for longer than a few minutes, we stop the experiment as it means the wolfsbane is lingering in their system for too long."
"You've really thought about this," I mumbled.
"We aren't aware of what is happening with the humans, but we don't believe they will just leave us be. They know our secrets, and the theory is that they will spread them and take us down. Something has to be done, but that is merely just my opinion. I'm just a Doctor and I understand I don't call the shots."
I smiled. He was just a Doctor? Definitely not.
"Tell me more," I pressed, finding his ideas intriguing. "What about the human blood issue?"
"Well," he replied, shrugging. "Obviously it would take a lot longer for us to build up a tolerance to it since we only weaken every six months or so, but if we start the exposure from a young age, it'll give us more of a chance at becoming accustomed to it. We place droplets around the pack- nothing too crazy. We just allow the wolves to breathe in the scent, and every time we weaken, we add more and more."
This was interesting stuff, and I cocked my head. "Where would we get the wolfsbane we need for the experiments though?"
"Anthony's Mother was able to get her hands on it. We simply ask her for the contact information, and we'll have a good supply of the stuff. I believe this could work."
I nodded. "Doctor Rygard, you're a smart man."
"I appreciate that, Reya," he responded.
"I'm not promising anything, but this is definitely something worth mentioning to Cole. I'll schedule you a meeting as soon as possible."
•••
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