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The question that had been killing me was finally on the table. What was so important and valuable that Kieran did not want to hand over to the hunters? If he handed it over now, this could end peacefully. I knew he had it because he didn’t say, ‘I don’t have it.’ Instead, he refused to give it up.
‘Kieran, please,’ Simon pleaded, his voice full of hurt. He ran his hand through his hair. ‘Do you have a healer amongst you?’ He looked at all of us. ‘If any of you are healers, or know of any, please help my wife. She’s a werewolf and has been suffering from an illness for over two years. She will die soon.’
What on earth was going on?
Sitting in Simon’s old SUV was awkward to say the least.
Simon thumped his fingers on the black steering wheel and hummed an old tune. I kept my eyes on the gravel road ahead while picking at the thread of the faded red seat covers. Hank sat quietly in the back seat between Kieran and Logan.
“So,” he chuckled nervously. He looked ridiculously small next to Logan and Kieran. ‘You guys won’t attack us, right?’
‘I thought we’d established that,’ Logan snapped, obviously annoyed.
‘Okay,’ Hank squeaked, drawing in a shaky breath. ‘My mum would definitely ban me from hunting.’
‘You’re thirty-one and you still live with your mother?’ Kieran asked, shaking his head. ‘And she still tells you what to do?’
‘I love my mum,’ Hank defended. ‘We watch movie together.’
Approximately one hour earlier:
“Kieran, please,” Simon pleaded, his voice full of hurt. He ran his hand through his hair. ‘Do you have a healer amongst you?’ He then looked at all of us. ‘If any of you are healers, or know of any, please help my wife. She’s a werewolf, and she’s suffered from an illness for over two years. She will die soon.’
What on earth was going on?
Once he had finished speaking, I glanced at Logan. He was staring at me, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion. There were a lot of questions I wanted to ask, but so little time.
I was beyond confused.
Pamela told me her parents were divorced. Was that one big lie? Was it her psychotic side speaking? If her mother was a werewolf, wouldn’t Pamela be one too? Even if her father were a pure human, their offspring would still be a werewolf as long as one of the parents carried werewolf blood.
Why did Simon possess such weapons if his wife was a werewolf? Wasn’t he afraid she’d get hurt? Was that the reason she was ill? From being around wolfsbane so much? Was she angry with him for possessing those weapons?
Kieran was wrong to make the decision without consulting me first. I knew he knew exactly what Simon was asking even before he brought it up today. He knew I could heal werewolf illnesses, but nothing else.
Illnesses such as cancer and HIV were incurable. Healers could only heal illnesses passed down through werewolves.
“No,” Kieran said again, shaking his head furiously. ‘I will not put her in danger.’
‘She’s your mate, isn’t she?’ Simon asked after a few seconds of quiet contemplation. His eyes lit up as he dropped his gun. ‘Please, Kieran, I’m begging you. You know what it’s like to have a mate, a soulmate. You’d hate to see her on the verge of dying.”
Simon’s voice cracked at the end, and he frowned. I could tell he was holding back tears and trying to keep his composure. However, the more he spoke, the more evident it became that he was breaking down.
I couldn’t respond at first. It was too hard. I was too shocked to speak. I could tell that the others were just as confused as I was. My mind was silent. I couldn’t hear their voices.
Simon looked at each of us with pleading eyes. When he looked at me, even for a moment, my heart stopped. Should I help him? Was he lying? What if he killed me after I’d helped him? Would he? Does he hate all werewolves except his wife?
‘I know I’ve done a lot of bad things,’ Simon began. ‘But wouldn’t you stop at nothing to help the one you love? You wouldn’t believe me if I told you that my wife is a werewolf, given that I create such vile weapons. Once my wife explained how they worked, I tried so hard to find a Healer. One day, I decided to visit a werewolf pack off the coast of Vermont. They attacked me. That’s the reason for my scar. Since then, I’ve made weapons to protect myself.
‘But that doesn’t explain why you kill werewolves for fun,’ Beck spat disgustedly. ‘Your wife is a werewolf, yet you kill them with no remorse!’
‘I know,’ Simon sighed. ‘After I talked to a few more werewolves, I started to get frustrated. I knew they were lying when they said there were no Healers in the world today. My frustration led to killing. I regret it. I don’t expect you to understand. Please help me. I’ve only come across one healer, but she couldn’t help. She only healed disheartening emotions. I swear to you that I stopped killing werewolves after that moment.
‘You guys attacked us twice,’ Beck cried, pointing at Brielle. Brielle shrank back from the unwanted attention. “You stabbed my mate!”
‘I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we tried talking to you first. But once you smelled the wolfbane, you automatically growled at us. You circled us and bared your canines. We were scared,’ Simon stated, as if it were obvious. ‘So we had to attack. We apologise. But you never gave us a chance.”
“Is this true?” I asked the pack through the mind link. ‘I wouldn’t know,’ they replied, ‘because I haven’t been present during these attacks.’
There was silence before Lila replied.
“Now that I’ve thought about it, they have tried to tell us something. Our minds would focus on the weapons, not the people,’ she gasped. ‘Now I feel horrible.’
‘It’s okay, Lila,’ I said, when nobody else spoke up. ‘I would have reacted the same way if I had seen deadly weapons.’
‘I’m going to help him,’ I said quietly when Kieran still refused Simon’s offer. Simon even handed his gun over to one of the Rogues and revealed that his pockets were empty. He then ordered the other hunters to give up their weapons.
‘What?’ Everyone responded.
‘No,’ growled Kieran. “F**k no, Talia.”
“Why not?” I snapped angrily. ‘It was wrong of you to make my decision for me.’
‘I’m your friend.’
‘Exactly. You’re my friend, not me.’
‘No.
‘Kieran, it could all be over if I helped his wife.
‘Why would you want to help her?’
‘It was Simon who did wrong, not his wife.’
Silence. ‘How do you know they wouldn’t hurt you?’
‘I don’t.’
‘Then you’re not going.’
‘You can’t stop me.’
“Please don’t do this to me, Talia,” Kieran pleaded. ‘What if they’re lying? What if they hurt you? What if everything goes wrong?’
‘Life’s full of risks, Kieran,’ I sighed. ‘I can’t waste such beautiful talent.’
‘They’ll kill you if you don’t cure his wife,’ Kieran said quietly, almost as if it pained him to say the words. ‘I won’t allow you to walk into that.’
‘I’ll take care of it,’ I replied hastily, putting up my block. There were too many voices in my head. If I tried to explain my point of view, it would take all night. The only quiet one was Logan, who nodded in agreement.
I stepped up, ignoring Kieran’s warning glances.
‘Simon,’ I said, clearing my throat awkwardly. His eyes snapped to me. I could see realisation swimming in his brown eyes. Everyone watched me silently. Logan stepped beside me, blocking my view of Kieran. ‘Is your wife’s illness purely werewolf-related?’
‘Yes,’ he whispered, eyeing me as if I were God, which was very awkward. “Her wolf is very sick. We’re not sure what it is. We’ve tried everything to heal her, but nothing has worked.”
Werewolf illnesses were difficult to diagnose. They were so similar, it was hard to distinguish between them. As a Healer, all you had to do was mutter words while waving your hands over the patient’s entire body.
“Talis – ” Kieran called quietly.
‘My cousin Logan and I will be able to help you,’ I suggested, ignoring Kieran. ‘But we’ll only do it on several conditions.’
‘Talia, this is not a good idea,’ Luca whispered.
‘Anything. I’ll do anything,’ Simon replied eagerly.
‘Your hunters will stay here under the watchful eyes of my friends,’ I ordered confidently, motioning towards the werewolves. ‘They must hand over all the weapons they possess right now and empty their pockets. Your men will be kept in our conference room until I am sure that you will keep your word. You may take Hank with you if it makes you feel safer. You must also prove that you have no weapons on you or in your car. My friends will destroy the weapons they have collected today.”
‘I’m not asking you to destroy all the wolfbane weapons and plants. I’m afraid it’s too late for that. Your men will probably have one hidden under their beds at home for safekeeping. However, I shall warn you. Healing is a gift from the ancient healers. They watch you. If you come after us and try to destroy us after the healing is done, your men and their families will face terrible consequences.” There were several gasps from both the hunters and the werewolves. It was true. If a healing was performed under certain terms and conditions, everything agreed upon must be followed. Breaking promises was taboo, especially when something as significant as healing was involved.