Chapter 84: The Breaking Point
It had been a full week since Charlie returned to the pack. A full week since she bit Luther and saved his life. A full week since the atmosphere within Hidden Valley shifted from grief and despair to… unrest.
The pack didn’t know the truth—not the full truth.
Rumors spread like wildfire. Some whispered that Luther had never been infected at all, that it had all been a scare. Others believed that his Alpha strength was enough to fight the disease, that he had some rare immunity. But it was the final rumor—the most dangerous one—that had begun to stoke real fury within their ranks: that Dr. Boyd had a cure and was only willing to share it with the Alpha.
Charlie heard it everywhere she went.
The kitchen. The training field. Even the garden she had once found peace in.
And through it all, Liam and Luther continued to forbid her from speaking up.
Which brought them to now.
Charlie paced the floor of the study, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Liam sat stiffly in the armchair by the fire, while Luther leaned against the far wall, arms folded, jaw clenched.
“This is ridiculous,” Charlie snapped, her frustration boiling over. “They deserve to know the truth. You’re their Alpha, and your people are dying! Let me tell them how you survived.”
“No,” Liam said instantly, his voice low and firm. “You think revealing that your bite saved me won’t make you a target?”
“I already was a target!” she shot back. “They took me once, remember?”
“And we nearly lost you.” Luther pushed off the wall and stepped closer, his voice tight. “I won’t risk that again, Charlie.”
Charlie’s eyes flashed with hurt and anger. “So you’d rather let your pack turn on each other than tell them the truth? You think protecting me means lying to everyone else?”
Liam stood now, tension rolling off him in waves. “It’s not lying. It’s buying time. Boyd is close to a breakthrough. Once we have a cure, we’ll tell them everything. But until then, we can’t risk chaos.”
“I’m not afraid of chaos. I’m afraid of losing the pack.”
“And I’m afraid of losing *you*,” Luther growled.
Before Charlie could fire back, the door creaked open and Rowan strolled in, eyebrows raised as he took in the scene. “Trouble in paradise?”
Charlie groaned and threw her hands in the air. “Of course. Why not add one more voice to the ‘Let’s Make Charlie’s Decisions for Her’ club.”
Rowan leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. “Would you rather I leave?”
“Honestly?” she muttered, glaring at him. “Yes.”
He ignored her jab and looked at Liam and Luther. “What’s going on?”
Charlie huffed. “I want to tell the truth. They want to keep me in a bubble of silence and protection forever.”
Rowan’s expression darkened slightly. “She’s not wrong to want transparency. But they’re also not wrong to be scared of what happens next. You *do* realize what this means if word gets out, right?”
Charlie gave her brother a narrow look. “Oh, please, do explain the implications of *my* blood saving people.”
“Charlie,” Rowan said gently, “do you really think I want to see you locked away or hunted? I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“So don’t let your people die wondering if there’s a cure hidden away.”
The three men exchanged looks. A silent agreement seemed to pass between them, and it only made Charlie feel more invisible.
“Well, that’s it then,” she muttered under her breath, turning her back on them.
“Charlie,” Liam started, but she raised a hand.
“No,” she said flatly. “I’m tired of hearing about how fragile I am. I’m going to see how the *actual* work is going. Since apparently all I’m good for is being the magical blood donor you’re keeping a secret.”
She left before they could stop her, slamming the door behind her.
***
The hallways of the packhouse were quiet, too quiet. The air felt heavy with tension as Charlie made her way down to the infirmary wing. Her boots clicked against the stone floor, each step echoing like a challenge.
She needed hope. She needed results.
But what she found was far from either.
Raised voices drifted down the corridor before she even reached the lab. Her heart dropped as she rounded the corner and saw the mob gathered outside Dr. Boyd’s office. Wolves, some she recognized, others from outlying families, filled the hallway. The tension in the air was palpable, like a match waiting to be struck.
“This is bullshit!” a middle-aged wolf snapped, his eyes wild. “You saved *him*—your Alpha—but you won’t save the rest of us?”
"My brother is dying,” another cried. “What makes Luther so special?”
“You have a cure! Stop hoarding it!”
Charlie’s steps faltered, and for a moment she stood frozen. The desperation in their voices shook her. These weren’t rebels—they were grieving family members, terrified friends. People who had watched loved ones waste away from a disease they now believed had a solution.
Then one wolf spotted her.
“There she is!” someone shouted. “The Luna!”
Heads snapped in her direction. Their eyes turned from the doctor to her, and the grief in their expressions twisted into something sharp—accusation. Betrayal.
“She’s the one who saved him!”
“Why won’t you help the rest of us?”
“Why is your blood only for the Alphas?”
Charlie’s mouth opened, but no words came. She backed up a step, her heart hammering against her ribs.
“I—It’s not that simple,” she stammered.
“You saved *him*. You could save all of us!”
“You’re letting our mates, our children die!”
“I never—” Charlie started again, her voice cracking.
But the fury only grew louder, voices overlapping until it became a wall of noise. She was drowning in it. Drowning in the guilt and the helplessness.
“I didn’t ask to be immune!” she yelled suddenly, the shout bursting out of her like a dam breaking. “I didn’t ask for any of this!”
The silence that followed her outburst was instant and suffocating. Dozens of eyes stared back at her, stunned.
Breathing heavily, she clenched her fists and turned back down the hallway, storming away from the mob. Dr. Boyd didn’t call out after her. He didn’t defend her. No one did.
Her boots echoed again on the floor. Her face burned with shame and fury.
She had wanted to do the right thing. She had *tried* to do the right thing.
But now, more than ever, she realized the truth.
No matter what she did… someone would always think it wasn’t enough.
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