Chapter 2 Viper Bite

• CASSANDRA
• “Cassandra, Hurry up!” Jasper’s voice back my mind into reality. He looked at me with concern. “Are you okay?”
• I gulped, and then nodded as I pushed away my memories of Anemond. “Yes.”
• I managed to pull myself together. I needed to be level-headed if we were going to heal this patient.
• It didn’t take us long to reach the Pack House. The enormous mansion wasn’t far from the clinic.
• When we reached the end of the busy hall, a pair of people were waiting for us. One of them was Gareth, the Alpha of the Wild Crawler Pack, and the other was his eldest son, Rayden.
• We bowed respectfully when we stopped in front of them.
• The Alpha of the Wild Crawler Pack was a stern man, yet fair, and he was well-respected amongst the Pack. He was normally quite calm, but today, his brown eyes were wide with concern. Rayden wore a similar expression.
• Rayden was tall, with big, dark brown eyes, and black hair that glinted blue in the light, and his perfect teeth were white as pearls. He was slim, but covered in exotic tattoos, and girls in the pack admired his high cheekbones and fit frame.
• When I first arrived here five years ago, Rayden had been a young man of sixteen. Now he was all grown up, and it likely wouldn’t be long until he took his father’s place as Alpha of the Wild Crawlers.
• I was a little surprised to see him here at the Pack House. The last time I’d seen him was two years ago at a dinner hosted by the Alpha’s family. It’d been a farewell dinner to celebrate Rayden’s departure for the Wegalla Empire’s army- an elite group known as the Myriad. It was an honor to be recruited, and so we’d honored the young man accordingly.
• He offered me a kind smile as we approached.
• “Cassandra,” Gareth greeted me in a relieved tone, and then looked at the young male servant standing politely in the corner.
• “Please escort the doctor to the second floor,” he ordered in a stern voice.
• Surprise flooded through me. The second floor of the Pack House was usually reserved for the Alpha’s family and their servants. It was considered private quarters while the first floor was used for meetings and dinners.
• "When my assistant Marley gets here, please bring her and medical kit to the second floor," I added quickly, realizing the seriousness.
• There was a bad feeling forming in the back of my mind, but I did my best to brush it away.
• “Follow me,” the servant addressed me, and after Gareth nods toward us, I followed him down the hall and up the stairs.
• At the top of the stairs was a pair of double doors, and on either side of them stood four guards. Much to my continued surprise, they weren’t a part of the Wild Crawler, but the Crescent.
• I recognized the special crest on the guards’ shoulders, looking warily around the hall. “What’s going on here?”
• The servant who led me upstairs did not respond, but I could see fear in his eyes.
• And there were so many heavily-armed guards outside of the door, the guest of honor must have been very important
• The moment the doors flew open, a chorus of sounds flew toward us. A tingle of anxiety moved through me, but I managed to remain calm.
• The cavernous room was pure chaos. The curtains were closed, and the only light in the room came from candles and the fireplace that blazed with a crackling fire.
• Servants rushed around hastily, a few with piles of towels, and others with trays of various foods, drinks, and other supplies. They all seemed to hover around a specific part of the room, and when a few moved out of the way, I noticed a large, canopied bed.
• At the center of the bed was a young boy, around the same age as my Finnick. Servants attended to the boy, and even from across the room, I could see his lips were blue. Perspiration ran down his face and his eyes were squeezed tightly shut. He was clearly in pain, and his expression broke my heart.
• “The patient is on the bed,” After guidance, the servant left the room hurriedly.
• When I got closer, I noticed the Luna of the Wild Crawler Pack, Sofia Bailey, stood beside the bed. She was just as beautiful as ever, but her short dark hair was a little out of place, and her skin was paler than usual.
• When she heard our footsteps, she turned her attention to me and I noticed her eyes were underscored by light purple shadows.
• “Oh, Cassandra,” she sighed in relief. “Thank goodness you’re here.”
• The Luna’s beautiful face looked tired, but she managed to smile at me anyway.
• I nodded. “How’s our patient?”
• “Not as good, I’m afraid,” Sofia lamented, and she nodded her head toward the young boy. “Please, doctor, you must do something to help him. I fear he’s in a great deal of pain, and nothing we’ve been doing seems to be working.”
• I nodded again. “Of course. You’re in good hands now. I promise I’ll do everything in my power to help.”
• I crouched down beside the boy, and when I placed my hand gently on his forehead, I was surprised to find he was hot to the touch. He’d already broken out in a fever.
• I turned back to the boy. My eyes traveled down until they reached his right leg. His trousers had been rolled up, and the skin of his ankles was ghostly white, except for a huge swollen area. Clear canine marks were dug deep into the tenser skin, and a low sigh escaped me.
• “Poor thing,” I whispered. I retrieved a pair of gloves from my pocket and pulled them on.
• As I carefully examined the bite marks closer, a string of thoughts formed in my mind. Where would the boy have encountered a viper? There hadn’t been any reports of serpents recently, at least not in the forests of the Wild Crawler Pack, and besides, at his age, he wouldn’t have been allowed past the safe zone. So where had the snake come from?
• I turned to Sofia. “Did they happen to catch the viper that inflicted the bite?”
• The Luna appeared unsure, and her eyes flicked over to a point beyond me.
• “No,” a deep, smoky voice said behind me. “The guards are still searching the forest for the wretched thing.”
• A tingle ran down my spine. I’d know that voice anywhere.
• For a moment, I was frozen in place, but after a deep breath, I turned around.
• A man stood in the darkened corner, tucked away just far enough that I hadn’t been able to sense him initially. He lingered in the shadows for a moment and then stepped toward me.
• My heart skipped a beat when his rugged but handsome face was revealed. Though he’d changed a little with time, his cold gray eyes were the same, and they bore into mine with intensity as he advanced closer.
• The tall man was none other than Asher Collins- the Alpha of the Crescent Pack and the king of the Wegalla Empire. But none of that mattered to me. He was much more than just the legendary leader of all werewolves.
• He was my mate.
• All those years ago, he’d left me in that house, pregnant and alone to face the inferno.