You Wouldn't Dare (Khaos Trilogy Book 1), стр. 84
“We’re nothing like them. We’ll make this work because we love each other. I’m not afraid of you. I’ll help you be better, and I’ll point out if you are being unbearable or hurting me in any way. I’ve got you; I’ve got us. I’m strong enough to carry us both whilst you work on your demons. I’m going nowhere.” I grabbed his hands and placed them on my stomach. “We’re going nowhere. Ever. It’s me and you from now on, as a team, I promise.”
Did promises of forever ever really come true?
I couldn’t shake the cut feeling that our forever was going to much shorter than either of us thought.
Chapter 25
Jasmine
Moon Goddess, save us! I silently prayed as I looked at the utter destruction around me. The illness was still raging within us, and now twelve of us had succumbed to it. If the doctor was to be believed, there were many more deaths to come in the next day.
I was working alongside the doctor in an attempt to relieve some of her stress, but she herself had been taken ill over the last two days, and things were not looking good. I was doing everything possible for her - from trying to lower her temperature, making sure she drank plenty of water, keeping her on a hydration drip, and monitoring all of her vitals. Anything I gave her she instantly brought back up, and it seemed her body was fighting all forms of medicine.
As she had instructed me, I was writing down all of her stats from my hourly observations, and already her heart rate was slowing, her breathing becoming more laboured and painful.
This was beyond anything we had ever seen. All the blood tests we were running for known illnesses that had hit other packs in the past came back as a negative.
There was one thing that looked suspicious though. One thing that had glared out at me when I compared each wolf’s blood report.
There were toxins in there. Much higher than anything I had seen before. I didn’t have anyone healthy to compare them too, but I knew what was normal and what wasn’t. I trusted my gut and sent off for more blood tests, this time looking into exactly what those toxins were.
I didn’t know what I was looking for, so it would take longer than if someone with more experience was doing it, but I was the best we had. I would work day and night, never resting until we got our answers.
I winced as my stomach contracted, my forehead beading with tiny droplets of sweat. I rubbed my tired eyes with the back of my hand and gave my head a gentle shake to try to clear some of the fog, but it wasn’t working. I tried to call forward my wolf, but she was still suffering from the effects, halting the advance healing we possessed. My legs wobbled, and my brother was instantly at my side, holding me steady.
“I’ve got you, Jasmine, take it easy,” he guided me to the cot bed I had set up in the corner of the room so I could always be by the doctor’s side, and laid me down gently. “You can’t keep doing this, you’re going to work yourself to an early grave. Look at you, Jaz, you’re no better than anyone here!”
It pained me to see his pale face, his cheeks so drawn in and hollow, the dark circles under his eyes. As ever, he was taking care of me first and putting my welfare above his own.
“I have to, Arthur, if the doctor doesn’t make it, none of us will. She’s the only one who can figure out what this is. I’m doing my best, but I’m not trained! I don’t even know where to start! There’s something in us, something bad! I’ve seen the blood works – this isn’t an illness. It’s deliberate, I know it!”
He pulled me into his arms as my voice broke and my chin wobbled. “Please don’t cry, we’ll find out what’s causing this. I promise. In the meantime, I’m going to find Khaos. He needs to be here.”
“Nobody knows where he is!” I cried, feeling more overwhelmed than ever.
“I’ll find him, he needs to know what’s happening. How has he not felt the bond breaking when these wolves died?”
“Didn’t you feel it? They’ve mated. His wolf will deliberately block us, Arthur, you know how our kind gets. He needs to secure the next heir. We come second until they settle down together.”
“I know, I know!” He ran shaky hands through his hair in frustration.
“At least this means they’re okay. I was so worried that they might have caught this thing before they left – now when they return, we will have both Alpha and Luna to help us heal.”
“You’re right. The sooner we get them here, the better. I know he needs to secure an heir, but what good is an heir without a pack? What happened to the warriors we sent a few days ago?”
“Dead. They must be! They told us they would ring daily to keep us updated and we’ve heard nothing. What’s happening, Arthur? Who would do this to us?
“I don’t know, but we’ll find out. Are you sure? You definitely think this is a deliberate attack?” I nodded. “Okay, so we need to find out how and why. Everyone here is ill, so it’s not a mole in our ranks. Which means we need to identify the source. If what you’re saying is correct, we’ve been poisoned. We just need to--” He was cut off as the alarms sounded,