Chapter Sixty: The Weight of Protection
A week had passed since they had brought Charlie home from the abandoned house, and in that time, the sickness had only spread further. Every day, more of their packmates fell ill, their once-strong bodies wasting away before their eyes. The air was thick with desperation, an unspoken fear settling over the Hidden Valley Pack like a dark cloud.
Despite Dorian’s tireless efforts, there was still no cure, no way to slow the disease’s merciless grip on their people. The doctor had thrown himself into his research, his obsession with Charlie’s immunity growing stronger by the day. He had already tested her blood in every way he could, searching for the key to her survival, but nothing concrete had come from it yet.
And all the while, Charlie watched.
Luther could see the way it ate at her. She had been given a gift—immunity to a disease that was cutting through their pack like wildfire—but they had forbidden her from using it. The risk was too great. If word got out, if any of the neighboring packs learned of her ability to fight off the disease, they would come for her. And Luther would burn the world before he let that happen.
Charlie had argued, pleaded, fought with them every single day. “Let me go to them, let me comfort them, let me help.” But the answer was always the same.
No.
And then today, the moment Luther had feared most arrived.
It started with a soft cough—one barely loud enough to be noticed. But then the fever came. The trembling. The vacant, glossy stare of sickness taking hold.
A child.
A little girl no older than five lay alone in one of the makeshift infirmary beds, her tiny frame shivering under the weight of an illness she would not survive without a cure. And the moment Charlie saw her, she moved.
Luther had never seen her run so fast.
But he was faster.
Before she could step through the doorway of the infirmary, his arms were around her waist, yanking her back against him. She thrashed, screaming, clawing at his hands as if she could force her way free by sheer will alone.
“No! Let me go!” she sobbed, her voice raw with anguish.
Luther tightened his grip, his arms locking around her as she bucked wildly in his hold. His own heart was shattering at the sound of her pleas, but he couldn’t—wouldn’t—let her do this.
“She’s just a baby, Luther!” Charlie wailed, her body trembling against him. “She’s alone—she’s scared! I can’t—I won’t—please let me go to her!”
His jaw clenched painfully as he buried his face in her hair, breathing her in, trying to anchor them both before he lost control. “You can’t,” he ground out, his voice thick with emotion. “We can’t risk this, Charlie. If anyone finds out—”
“I don’t care!” she shrieked, twisting violently in his arms, her nails digging into his skin. “I don’t care about the other packs, I don’t care about your rules, I don’t care about anything except that she is dying alone!”
Luther squeezed his eyes shut, his entire body shaking from the force of holding her back. He could feel Liam’s presence now, his brother’s emotions crashing through their bond like a tidal wave of grief. They both wanted the same thing—to protect her at all costs—but standing here, holding her back from something so pure, so full of love and selflessness, was breaking something inside of them.
Charlie’s sobs grew weaker, her body slumping slightly in his arms, her fight leaving her. She turned her face into his chest, her tears soaking into his shirt. “Please,” she whispered, her voice hoarse. “She’s just a baby, Luther.”
Luther’s arms tightened, his wolf howling in agony. He wanted to say yes. He wanted to let her go, let her soothe the suffering child with her warmth and kindness. But he couldn’t.
He could feel Liam step closer, the grief on his face matching the torment inside of Luther.
“We have to keep you safe,” Liam murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.
Charlie let out a broken sob, her hands clutching at Luther’s shirt, her body shaking from the weight of her heartbreak. “I don’t want to be safe if it means watching them die,” she choked out.
Luther inhaled sharply, guilt slicing through him like a blade. He hated this. Hated that she felt this way. Hated that the only way to keep her safe was to keep her away from the people she desperately wanted to save.
But the choice had already been made.
He lifted her into his arms, carrying her away from the infirmary, away from the sound of coughing, from the scent of death that was slowly creeping into the walls of their home. Charlie clung to him weakly, her sobs growing quieter, exhaustion overtaking her grief.
By the time they reached their room, her body had gone limp in his arms, her silent tears the only sign that she was still awake. He laid her down gently on the bed, brushing her hair away from her face.
Liam sat beside her, his hands rubbing soothing circles into her back, his own expression haunted.
Charlie sniffled, her voice barely a whisper as she asked, “What kind of Luna am I if I can’t even be there for my people?”
Luther felt his chest tighten painfully. He reached out, tilting her chin up so that she was forced to meet his gaze. “You are our Luna,” he said firmly, his voice unwavering. “And you will not be taken from us.”
She searched his face, her swollen eyes filled with a sorrow he wasn’t sure he could ever heal. “But I can help,” she whispered.
Liam leaned down, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. “Not yet,” he murmured. “Not until we can keep you safe while you do.”
Charlie exhaled a shaky breath, her body pressing deeper into the bed as exhaustion fully overtook her. But just before her eyes fluttered shut, she whispered, “Then find a way.”
Luther and Liam sat in silence as her breathing evened out, the weight of her words settling heavily between them.
‘Find a way.’
Luther clenched his fists, determination hardening in his chest.
They would.
No matter the cost.
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