“Alpha Pollux, what happened to Alpha Castor?”
My heart raced as I felt Castor’s limp body being supported by Pollux. A flood of negative thoughts swirled in my mind. I transformed back into my human form, curious about what had happened.
I checked Castor’s condition and saw a gaping wound on his neck. The wound wasn’t healing like ours do; instead, blood flowed from it, trickling down his chest. I helped Pollux carry Castor’s body into the cottage. After ensuring the twins’ room door was closed, we walked inside.
Castor’s limp body was laid on the bed. Sweat covered his entire body, making his skin look even paler. The veins in his neck had turned blue, clearly visible.
“Castor was cut by a silver dagger. I was deceived by them and knocked out by the female vampire. The male vampire slashed him while Castor tried to help me. The Moon Goddess is still with us because we outnumbered them. The Blackmoon guards arrived, and they were forced to retreat. Castor always brings guards with him, even ones I don’t know about.”
I wasn’t sure whether I should be relieved or devastated. Both feelings made my head throb. My hands trembled violently as I touched Castor’s wound. He didn’t even respond to my touch.
“What should we do?” I asked.
“Only my mother can do it.”
My chest tightened at the harsh reality. How was I supposed to contact their mother? My mind drowned in the situation, unable to think clearly.
Suddenly, I heard a loud plop at the door. Faith appeared, wearing a nightgown, her face stern. She rushed toward us, muttering words in a language I didn’t understand. Her voice sounded like a foreign tongue I had never heard before.
Her hand hovered in the air, about 10 inches above Castor’s body. I held my breath as I saw clumps of blood oozing from his wound. There was a small, shimmering drop of silver liquid mixed with the dark red blood.
Once again, Faith uttered foreign words, repeating them three times. On the third repetition, her hand swung towards the window, and with it, the blood and the silver drop were pulled out of the window. I watched carefully as Castor’s gaping wound slowly began to close.
It was so slow, unlike how a werewolf’s wound usually heals.
I finally exhaled in relief as I saw the blue veins in Castor’s neck fade away. Gradually, his skin darkened back to its normal color.
“His blood circulation is returning to normal, but the damage to his heart from the silver will require him to rest for several days. He’ll wake up after a full day of sleep. I sped up his healing with a spell I normally use for fellow witches. For humans, it takes about two days, but wolves only need one. You’re lucky.”
Even hearing the word lucky didn’t make my knees feel any steadier. I sat down at the edge of the bed, gazing at Castor, my vision blurry from the tears forming in my eyes. Pollux came to me, holding me tightly. His touch grounded me, sending a spark of calm through my body.
“Thanks, Mom,” I said quietly once I could feel my fingers again.
“You’re welcome. Sometimes, human technology can be a double-edged sword. The vampires must have had humans make silver daggers, because the Alliance has banned silver as a weapon in our world.”
“Alliance?”
“Yeah, the Alliance of the Three Nations. Didn’t Pollux tell you?”
At the sight of my confused expression, Faith clicked her tongue. She snapped her fingers in the air, and a second later, Pollux winced. I quickly understood that Faith had cast a spell that caused Pollux to flinch.
“Can I see the pups?” she asked. “Aside from the fact that I couldn’t track their presence after you cast a protection spell, I don’t regret visiting them now.”
I smiled weakly. Faith was right-I had deliberately hidden the twins from their father. My actions had brought both positive and negative consequences.
“By the Moon Goddess, I forgot about Declan,” I muttered.
“Who’s Declan?” Faith turned, halting just in front of the door.
“The troublesome human,” Pollux chimed in, his tone playful. “A vampire bit him earlier. He’s probably just overheated.”
“Speak properly, you rogue!” Faith snapped, her hand raised again. “Where is he, Godiva?”
I stood up immediately, and Faith followed behind me. We walked through the darkened sand for about five minutes to reach Declan’s cottage. Inside, his wife was still compressing his body with a cold cloth, while the husband sat waiting in a chair at the corner of the room.
Faith greeted them and checked Declan’s condition. The man was still unconscious but muttering incoherently, his words barely audible. With a single nod from Faith, I understood that I needed to explain to the couple that we no longer needed their help.
I spoke to them and escorted them outside. I briefly offered them money for their help before returning to check on Declan.
When I entered the room, Faith was sitting with her head resting against the chair that the man had previously occupied. As soon as she saw me, she straightened up, offering me a faint smile.
Faith explained how she was handling Declan’s healing process. I didn’t ask for details on how a witch like Faith treated a human bitten by a vampire. What mattered to me was that Declan would wake up and recover from his critical state.
“My task here is done. After checking on the children, I’ll leave. Healing a wolf and a human from vampire bites has drained my energy. I’ll say goodbye now.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’m relieved you could help us all. I’m sorry for ever turning away from you.”
“I understand. Sometimes a woman’s estrogen can be uncontrollable, especially for a werewolf.”
Faith embraced me, her hand stroking my hair. I escorted her to the twins’ room and left her there with Trisha, who was still watching over them. My body felt heavy, as if crushed under a cement truck, with aches in every joint.
As I reflected on the events that had transpired, Castor was the only one on my mind. I didn’t blame him for falling. This only made me more alert to the presence of danger, almost as Trisha had warned me.
One question continued to spin in my mind: why did the leader of the Sanguine Shadows want me?
The female vampire had also mentioned something about 800 years. I wasn’t even born at that time, yet she knew me. What connection did I have to her?