Chapter Sixty-Three: A Wolf Unleashed
Luther paced like a caged animal, his fists clenching and unclenching as he forced himself to stay in the room. Every fiber of his being screamed to be somewhere else—to be with her—but he knew they needed answers first.
Charlie was asleep, curled up in the very same bed where Lily had taken her last breath. The image of her small form in that too-large bed, her hands gripping the blankets as if she were still holding onto the little girl’s fading warmth, had been burned into Luther’s mind. It made him feel helpless.
He hated that feeling.
Liam, ever the level-headed one, stood rigidly before Dorian’s desk, his hands planted on the wood as he leaned forward. “Tell us,” he demanded, his voice sharper than usual. “Tell us what you found.”
Dorian let out a sigh, removing his glasses and rubbing his tired eyes before glancing between them. “Charlie is not a carrier,” he said simply.
Luther stopped pacing, his body going still as his heart pounded against his ribs.
“What?” Liam asked, his breath hitching slightly.
Dorian nodded. “Her immune system fought off the disease completely, and there is no trace of it left in her body. No lingering contagion. She is safe to be around the pack—safe to be with both of you.”
Relief hit Luther like a physical blow.
The fear he had been holding onto—the fear that had kept him away, kept him from wrapping his arms around Charlie and keeping her close where she belonged—shattered.
“She’s safe?” Luther asked, his voice rough with emotion.
Dorian nodded. “As long as she changes her clothes and thoroughly washes, she can return to normal life.”
Normal.
Luther almost laughed at the absurdity of the word.
Nothing would ever be normal again.
Not with this disease tearing through their pack. Not with the threat of outside forces looming. Not with the truth of Charlie’s past still buried in shadows.
And that was the problem.
Dorian sighed again, running a hand down his face. “I don’t know why she is immune, or what makes her different from the rest. But I have a theory.”
Liam tensed. “Go on.”
Dorian hesitated before speaking. “I think it has something to do with where she came from.”
Luther growled lowly, his wolf stirring restlessly beneath his skin. “What does that mean?”
Dorian folded his arms over his chest. “No one knows much about Charlie’s past. She appeared outside of our borders when she was five years old—alone, terrified, with no memory of where she came from. But what if that’s the key? What if whatever place or bloodline she came from is the reason she’s immune?”
Liam frowned. “You’re saying we need to look into her past?”
Dorian nodded. “If we can figure out why she’s different, we might be able to create a cure. But to do that, we need to know everything there is to know about her history.”
Luther’s hands curled into fists. The mere idea of digging into Charlie’s past—of finding out who had abandoned her, who had left her to suffer alone—made his blood boil.
“You should check your father’s records,” Dorian continued. “If Charlie was found on our lands, there has to be some documentation of it. Something Alpha Greg might have known and chosen to keep to himself.”
The mention of their father’s name sent a surge of rage through Luther.
Greg had been a monster.
If he had known something about Charlie’s past—if he had kept that information hidden, leaving her to grow up suffering under his rule—Luther wanted to rip the knowledge straight from his grave.
The walls of the lab suddenly felt suffocating.
His skin was burning, his wolf clawing at him, demanding to be *set free*.
Luther turned on his heel and stormed from the room without a word.
He could hear Liam calling after him, but he didn’t stop.
He needed to run.
To breathe.
He shoved open the first exit he could find, the door slamming against the wall as he stepped outside. The cool night air hit his overheated skin, but it wasn’t enough.
It was never enough.
His hands went to the collar of his shirt, tearing it open, shredding fabric in his desperation to get free. His pants followed, tossed to the side without care, and then—
Snap.
Bones cracked, his body shifting seamlessly as his wolf, Rex, took over.
The change wasn’t painful—it never had been. It was effortless, like slipping into a second skin, like taking a breath after holding it for too long.
The second his paws hit the dirt, he ran.
The ground blurred beneath him as he sprinted into the forest, pushing himself faster, harder, until his muscles burned and his thoughts drowned beneath the primal instinct of the run.
He leapt over fallen logs, weaved between trees, his heart pounding in his chest.
He needed this.
Needed the mindlessness.
The freedom.
Needed to forget—if only for a little while.
But no matter how far he ran, no matter how fast, there was one thing he couldn’t outrun.
Charlie.
Her scent still clung to his skin, a mixture of wildflowers and something sweeter, something uniquely her.
His mate.
His Luna.
His everything.
She had spent the entire night with a dying child, whispering soft reassurances as the disease took its final breath. And where had he been? Outside the window, watching helplessly, unable to do a damn thing.
It killed him.
He should have been in there with her, holding her hand, wiping her tears. He should have told her how proud he was of her, how fierce and brave she was.
Instead, he had let fear keep him back.
But no more.
A deep growl rumbled in his chest as he pushed himself forward, sprinting until the pain in his legs matched the pain in his soul.
When he finally stopped, panting heavily, he was deep in the woods.
The moon shone overhead, bathing the trees in silver light. The wind howled through the branches, whispering secrets he couldn’t decipher.
Luther tilted his head back and let out a long, mournful howl.
A call.
A vow.
He didn’t know what the future held.
Didn’t know what truths they would uncover about Charlie’s past.
Didn’t know if they would find a cure in time to save what was left of their pack.
But he knew one thing with absolute certainty.
He would never let fear hold him back again.
Charlie was his.
And he would never let her face this alone.
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