Chapter Fifty-Three: A Matter of Time
Luther stood by the window, his eyes fixed on the horizon, staring out toward the edge of pack territory where he knew Charlie was. It had been three long, agonizing days since her encounter with Leah, and despite his vigilance, he hadn’t seen any signs of the disease taking hold. But that didn’t stop the worry gnawing at him like a constant, festering wound.
Rex, his wolf, was restless, barely allowing him to stray far from her. Every time Luther tried to distance himself, Rex would push forward, growling with discontent until Luther returned to her side, if only to watch over her in his wolf form. It was the only thing that brought them both any peace.
Liam, on the other hand, had been forced to handle nearly all the pack business alone, buried under the weight of managing their territory and keeping their alliances intact. The neighboring packs were becoming increasingly impatient with the sudden cutoff of supplies. Luther knew they were on the brink of something bigger—something dangerous. The situation had become a delicate balancing act, with Liam holding their enemies at bay for now, but the tension was palpable.
"Luther, I need your help with this," Liam said, breaking the silence, his voice tight with frustration. He was seated behind the large oak desk in his office, looking over several documents with a furrowed brow. "I can’t keep stalling these packs forever. They’re starting to threaten us—some of them are talking about crossing the border if we don’t resume supplies."
Luther heard the frustration in his brother’s voice but said nothing. His mind was too focused on Charlie. Every day that passed without her showing symptoms was a relief, but it did nothing to ease the gnawing fear in his gut. What if the disease just hadn’t manifested yet? What if it hit her when they least expected it?
Liam was still talking, though his words had begun to blur in Luther’s mind. He turned slightly from the window, catching sight of Liam’s grim expression. The stress on Liam was clear, the burden of leading the pack alone weighing him down. But before Luther could respond, a figure appeared in the doorway.
Dorian, their pack doctor, stepped inside, his face lined with worry. There was a seriousness to his expression that immediately set both of the twins on edge.
“Beta Samuel already briefed you on the southern border breach,” Dorian said as he moved toward a chair, his voice steady but laced with tension.
Liam immediately dismissed the Beta, motioning for him to close the door behind him. The office fell into a thick, uncomfortable quiet as Dorian took a seat.
“Go on,” Liam prompted, his voice low.
Dorian wasted no time. “We had a breach on our southern border last night. A wolf, infected with the disease, wandered in—half dazed, confused. One of our warriors intercepted the wolf but was bitten before another warrior could take it down.”
Luther tensed, pulling himself away from the window to listen more closely. A breach. An infected wolf.
"The warrior who was bitten is already showing signs of infection," Dorian continued, his face grim. "It’s only been twelve hours since the attack, but the symptoms are progressing fast. We’re still unsure if it was direct exposure to the blood or the bite itself that triggered it, but he’s in bad shape."
Liam cursed under his breath, running a hand through his hair. "And Charlie?" he asked, his voice tight. He was asking the question they were both thinking but hadn’t dared to voice yet.
Dorian leaned forward, his eyes moving between the two of them, as if waiting for them to put the pieces together. "Charlie has been exposed to Leah’s blood for three days now—no signs of infection."
Luther’s heart skipped a beat, his mind racing. Three days. Charlie had been exposed for longer than this warrior, yet she hadn’t shown a single symptom. How was that possible? The warrior was already deteriorating after twelve hours, but Charlie…
Dorian gave them both a pointed look. “You need to consider what this means.”
Luther’s chest tightened. He took a step forward, unable to stay silent any longer. “You’re saying Charlie might be immune?”
“I’m saying it’s a possibility we have to look into,” Dorian replied calmly, though the weight of the words was anything but light. "The infected wolf bit the warrior, and within hours, symptoms began. But Charlie…she’s not just asymptomatic. She’s not showing any signs at all, and we would’ve expected to see something by now."
Liam sat back in his chair, his jaw clenched. "So what are you suggesting, Dorian? That Charlie somehow fought it off?"
“It’s too soon to tell,” Dorian said. “But whatever’s happening, it’s not what we expected. Either Charlie was never infected, or she has some form of resistance to the disease. We need more time, more information.”
Luther’s mind spun with the possibilities. Relief surged through him at the idea that Charlie might not be doomed to the same fate as Leah or the other wolves who had fallen victim to this disease. But at the same time, a heavy sense of responsibility settled in his gut.
“What about the warrior?” Luther asked, his voice rough. “How long does he have?”
Dorian’s expression darkened. “It’s moving fast. Much faster than we anticipated. If he continues to deteriorate at this rate, he might not last more than another day.”
A tense silence followed his words, the weight of the situation pressing down on the room.
Liam stood, pacing behind his desk, his frustration mounting. “And the neighboring packs? If we don’t resume trading soon, they’ll use this as an excuse to storm our borders. They’ll come for our resources. We’ll be fighting on two fronts—disease inside the pack and enemies outside it.”
Luther nodded, understanding the pressure Liam was under. They couldn’t afford to spread themselves too thin. Their pack was already in a precarious position, and adding external threats into the mix would only make things worse.
Dorian leaned forward, his gaze sharp. “The priority right now is containment. You’ve already kept Charlie isolated, and that’s good. But with this new breach, we have to take every precaution. I’ll monitor the warrior, but we need to prepare for the worst.”
Luther’s stomach turned at the thought of losing more of their pack to this disease. The warrior wasn’t just a nameless figure to him—he was one of their own, someone they had trained with, fought with. The idea of the disease tearing through their ranks, spreading like wildfire, was too much to bear.
But then, his thoughts turned back to Charlie. Three days. No symptoms. It was a sliver of hope, something to cling to in the face of everything else.
Liam stopped pacing, his eyes locking with Luther’s. “We need answers, and we need them fast,” he said, his voice hard. “If Charlie is immune…it changes everything.”
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