Chapter 10

• CAMILLE'S POV
• It had been years and I had only met Neal Galdina once but I could never forget him. I just couldn't understand what he was doing here.
• "I didn't mean to startle you," he said. "I was just told that I would find you here."
• I pulled the mask closer to the bridge of my nose. It was the only thing protecting my identity. Because I suspected that he would know.
• I bent over to pick up the phone then I took a step back away from him. A part of me was sort of overjoyed that Neil was alive. He was the first person I had tried to save with my gifts and it brought me some peace knowing that I had succeeded.
• "I'm sorry, who are you?"
• "I'm looking for someone," he told me and my heart dropped somewhere in my chest.
• "I hope you find them," I told him immediately pushing past him to get back into the hospital.
• "You are a werewolf, aren't you?" He asked, stopping me dead in my tracks.
• My breathing was becoming more rapid. I cursed under my breath for stopping. It made me suspicious and proved him right. Knowing, I couldn't hide information like that from him. I turned to face him. "And what about it?"
• "Well, it is suspicious to see a werewolf without a community." His words felt like they were laced with threats. "When that happens, it is either because of an excommunication or they are running. Were you banished by your pack or are you running from them?" He proceeded to ask.
• "What the fuck do you want?" I demanded.
• "Like I said earlier, I am looking for someone." I looked into his eyes for some answers. They were colder than I remembered them to be. The accident must have had something to do with that. "We have been looking for a healer. My search causes me to believe she might be working in your hospital."
• "Really? What makes you think so?" I asked. I had always been careful. When I healed in the hospital, I was discreet with myself. The cameras were always off and the patients were asleep. When I took on jobs outside, aside from the payment, they were bound to secrecy. Of course, I knew better than to trust someone with enough money to keep living. So I put on masks for appointments like that. No one knew who I was. I just wanted to see what he had just in case.
• "Someone who isn't supposed to live somehow makes it out of the ER alive and better than ever. He even claims he was touched by an angel. That was the first thing that interested me in this hospital. A little bit and pieces convinced me that the healer had to be working here."
• I scoffed. "I take it you didn't believe in miracles?"
• "Two weeks ago, I did another test. I found someone on the wrong side of the road. Found out he had a pregnant wife and his whole life ahead of him. The kind that would gather the sympathy of someone with empathy and fucked him really good. Internal bleeding, a swollen brain and broken bones. Three days ago, he walked out of the hospital like a new man. I do believe in miracles. It is why I am here."
• Hearing what he was confessing to and the lengths he was willing to go to fish me out made my stomach twist and churn. I remembered a life I had to scrub out of my memory and felt my skin start to get prickled. "My break is over. I should be on my way."
• I started to walk away from him. I tried not to make it too obvious that I was running. I needed to be calm. But my mind was in shambles. Despite being careful, someone has been watching. The Lycans had been watching.
• "The healer also works in this town only. The clients and the miraculous healings of this hospital tell me that much. Which means she must reside here." Neil continued, striking horror into the depths of my soul. "Her clients also say she has a werewolf scent. So tell me something, Cameryn, is there any other werewolf on your premises?"
• I stopped walking. He had somehow had a peek at my name tag. The fake name and the nose mask on my face were my saving grace at this point.
• I turned to face him and in the most idgaf tone I could muster, told him, "I wouldn't know. I just moved to Marblefay."
• "Ah, I see." He mused. "Well, I should be on my way then."
• That was it? Somehow I found that hard to believe. But Neil didn't seem to be joking. He started to walk away. Some semblance of peace found me and just when that respite hit, Neil turned back to face me.
• "But in case, you bump into another werewolf, tell her that Dimitri Galdina, King of the Lycans wants to meet her."
• "And what makes you think they would be the healer?"
• I probably should have kept my mouth shut. But I just wanted to see how far I could take it.
• "Because I am hoping for a miracle. My brothers were not keen on my decision to seek the elusive healer out and ask for her presence. They wanted a more direct and surefire approach to ensure that the healer does not refuse the kingdom's demands."
• The way he was talking told me one thing and one thing only. He was on to me.
• "If I sense any other werewolf, I'll deliver your message," I told him and got on my way.
• I had barely made it through the front entrance when I started to panic and scroll through my phone for Megan's phone number. I found it and dialled it with shaking hands.
• When the call went through and I put the phone to my ear. I heard the voice of a man.
• "Hello, Miss Gallagher."
• "Who... Where is Megan? She better be safe!"
• "She is safe," the man retorted. "Bound and gagged. But alive and well."
• "And my children?"
• "We'll be taking them with us. I am certain that would give you the incentive to come with us."
• I was going to say something back. Anything. I couldn't return to that world. I wouldn't. But I couldn't bring myself to say a word.
• For the next seconds, all that filled my ears was the white noise from the receiver and Megan's muffled screams.
• "What do you Miss Gallagher?" The man's voice brought me back to reality.
• "Hand the phone to Megan. I want to speak to her."
• I didn't think he would give in to my request. But seconds later, Megan's voice filled the speaker.
• "Hello, Mrs Gallagher?" She was probably scared to death. The poor girl. I had dragged her into my mess of a life.
• "Megan, are you alright?" I asked.
• "They didn't hurt me. They... I don't know how they broke in. They took the kids too." Her voice was now breaking.
• I stepped back outside and back to where Neil and I had been talking. He was still there. Which told me he hadn't been lying when he said his 'brothers' were not so keen about his seeking me out. The sole reason Neil had been here was to scout me and make it seem like it was my choice. When that had failed, his brothers had taken matters into their own hands.
• "Who are these people? Do you know them?"
• "Megan," I began, continuing to approach Neil. "Everything will be fine. Nothing will happen to you. I swear it."
• Then I cut the call.
• "It is nice to see you again nurse Cameryn. Did you have a change of mind?"
• "Why are you looking for a healer?" I asked.
• "My kingdom needs you."
• I swallowed. It reminded me of the first time that I met him and the circumstances surrounding that first meeting. Like before, I wondered if I could still trust him.
• "Help me, Cameryn." He stretched out his hand.
• "Return my children and free my babysitter." I retorted, crossing my hands. "Only then would I help you."
• "Your babysitter will be fine. We have no intention of hurting her. Your children are fine too. But fulfilling your wish in that aspect would be rather difficult. The little cubs are on their way now to the Lycan kingdom. What happens to them is entirely your choice."
• "That does not sound like I have a choice. In fact, it sounds like a threat."
• "I am sorry you feel that way," He replied, stepping toward me. "If it makes you feel any better, it is how much my kingdom and even the werewolf world needs you."
• I didn't have a choice in this matter. I was getting pulled back into that world whether I liked it or not.
• ***
• DIMITRI'S POV
• Great days didn't happen often in the Galdina Estates. Today would be much worse because my body was rejecting the pills. It was days like this I would be at my worst and keep up my reputation as a heartless man with too much power in his hands.
• But I was happy. It had been five years since Camille Dumont died because of the nefarious intentions of her stepmother and her then mate, taking away the hopes I had of a normal life. It had been five difficult years of struggling to keep my disease under the covers. But all that ended today.
• Neil's digging around and my conversation with the human elites had led me to strike a gold mine. Another healer was alive and well and this time, I intended to keep her close.
• I stepped out of the bathroom with a towel dangling loosely on my hips. I needed to be in the proper regalia to address her. I was also pondering on what words to say to her. Considering we kidnapped her children, she wouldn't be so keen to help out.
• There was a knock on the door and without waiting for my response, the fellow barged in. Audacity like that told me it could only be Milana.
• "Dimitri," she began, falling on the bed and rolling to the side so she could meet my eyes while she spoke. "There are crying children in the living room. Who are they? Family I don't know about?"
• "Hardly," I retorted, pulling the towel off my hips so I could wipe dry with it. "They are the children of that healer Neil was helping me search for. Turns out she is real after all."
• I watched a smile light up on her face and she got up to approach me. "That is great." She said, taking a look at my back. I could see it too in the mirror from where I stood. I didn't even need to look at it to feel it snaking its way across my back and right hand. Each vein seemed to be poisoned by the darkest ink I had ever set my eyes on. The tainted lines branched and intersected, resembling twisted roots of some malignant tree, draining the life of every other in its path. The sensation it sent through my body as it pulsed was chilling and painful to the touch. "You have to get better."
• "I hope she is that good. I've heard wondrous things about her gift."
• "I'll leave you to it then," Milana whispered, planting a kiss on my cheek.
• I watched her leave before proceeding to dry myself up. As much as it was great that Neil found this woman, I didn't have a lot of faith like most people did. Healers were rare but I had met my fair share. I had even grown up with some. The disease plaguing me had plagued my father and his father. So it wasn't relatively new. What would be new was permanently getting rid of it. Which the healers I had encountered couldn't simply accomplish. The only healer that had given me such high hopes was the late daughter of the also late Alpha of the Lily of the Valley pack, Camille Dumont. I almost had the granddaughter of the legendary Abigail De'crescent. I was so close to freeing myself from this inherited disease and It got stripped from me.
• Thinking about only seemed to make my blood boil. So I stopped thinking. I had a healer to meet.
• I stepped out of the grand chamber, adorned in the most striking attire befitting my station as king of the Lycan.
• With each stride across the ornate halls, I emerged into the living room, where her children awaited, their eyes wide with terror. A terror, they soon seemed to forget when they laid eyes on me or rather, the golden band sitting on my head.
• "Are you a king?" The boy asked.
• I looked at Milana who had been sitting with them and trying to pacify them the whole time.
• "Yes, I am."
• "I have seen this in a movie before," the girl continued. She seemed to be even more cheekier than her brother despite having puffy red eyes and drying tears on her cheeks. "Are you our father?"
• Milana was the first to burst into a laugh. She really had no self-control. "Dimitri, you had children and it didn't occur for you to tell me?" She whispered in the most dramatic manner.
• I knelt before the children, my regal robe flowing to the floor. "No, dear," I replied gently, a soft smile gracing my lips as I tucked down her hair behind her ears. "I am not your father, but I can be your friend."
• The boy's eyes widened in wonder, while the girl's playful spirit sparked a glint in her eye. "Can we explore the castle?" she asked eagerly, her curiosity overshadowing her previous distress.
• "Of course, you may," I answered, gesturing toward the majestic corridors. "But first, you must tell me your name."
• "Mummy said we shouldn't give private information to strangers. I think especially strangers who kidnapped us. Are you going to kill us?"
• Children were wild things. One second ago she was asking me if she could explore the castle and another second she was asking me if I was going to kill her. I couldn't help but chuckle.
• "No. I don't want to kill anybody. Especially not you. I want to be friends with you guys. My name is Dimitri." I offered the girl my hands given her cheeky nature. She would be the first to take it. The boy was a little bit more careful and wary.
• I was right.
• "Sofia," the girl shook my hand. "Now, can we explore the castle?"
• I looked at the boy and urged him to take my hand. "What about you boy? What is your name?"
• He looked at his sister w who gave him the look. I could tell who was older. He reluctantly took it and looked me in the eye.
• "Collins."
• Welcome, Sofia and Collins," I greeted warmly. "It's nice to meet you."
• "Now, can we explore the castle?" Sofia asked me. She pouted like she could guess I was going to say no. I was but Lycaon was she good.
• "The castle is really big. It would take days to explore the whole thing. But I have a garden at the back with a pond and guess what?"
• "What?" They retorted together.
• "There are fishes and ducks in the pond. Do you like animals?"
• They both nodded.
• "Good then, I can take you–"
• I didn't get to finish. "That will not be necessary, Your Majesty. Step away from my children."
• When I tried to meet the eyes of the daring woman, her entire form was shrouded in black. Even her face remained hidden beneath a dark veil. Her eyes were the only thing I could really see. Oh. She wanted to keep her identity hidden.
• "You must be..."
• "Cameryn Gallagher. Mother to the children you kidnapped and the healer you seem to be looking for."