Chapter 448

[ 930 words ]

Talia’s POV

I slept until it was dark outside.

Nolan woke me softly, speaking in a low voice. “We should go,” he said, gently moving a strand of hair from my face. I rubbed my eyes and followed him down a dim hallway to a room at the back of the house.

A big table sat in the middle. Camilla, Dalila, and Hattie were sitting together, looking serious. Old books were piled up everywhere, some so worn out I thought they might fall apart if I touched them.

Dalila looked up as we came in. “Finally awake?” she joked, but I could tell she was worried about me.

“Let her have a minute,” Hattie said, sounding firm but kind. She slid a cup toward me. “Chamomile tea. You’re going to need this for your nerves.”

“That sounds ominous,” I yawned.

Camilla didn’t look up from her book. “Sit down,” she said. “We need to talk, and we don’t have much time.”

Nolan pulled out a chair for me, and I sat next to him. “They’re hoping the books will tell us something new,” he murmured.

“Leslie told me a great deal about your condition, and I have spent two days with these books because of it,” Camilla said, looking up from the current book she was reading. She tapped the nearest one. “But I want you to tell me everything, especially things that Leslie wouldn’t know.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“What it feels like,” Camilla replied. “Leslie cannot tell me what it is like to be the one they are taking it from.”

So I told her.

I told her what the full moon felt like. It wasn’t like being tired or hurt. There was just nothing there when I reached for it. The herbs barely worked during the full moon. My wolf had been distant ever since.

“Leslie is a serious woman,” Camilla said when I’d finished and closed the book she had been previously reading. “If she says there is no cure in medicine, then there is no cure in medicine, and I will not waste your time pretending otherwise.”

“Then, what do you plan on doing if medicine doesn’t help?” Nolan asked.

“Be patient, Nolan,” Camilla said firmly. “Hattie will examine Talia first.”

Hattie came round the table. She put both hands flat on my belly and closed her eyes. Hattie stayed like that for a long time. Nolan started to get impatient. I could feel it through our mate bond; before I could say anything to him, Hattie began talking.

“They’re strong,” she said. “Camilla, they’re very strong. I’ve never felt anything like this in an unborn child, let alone two of them.” One hand moved up to my chest, right over my heart. “And they’re drawing off her much faster than her body can replace it. That is why her wolf is so distant. She is doing everything she can to maintain them.”

“We know this already,” Nolan said.

“Leslie said the herb tonic won’t work as well, and each full moon night is a risk that it will stop altogether,” I added.

“How far along is she?” Camilla asked.

“Then they’ll be born within three months,” Hattie replied, and Camilla became pale. “but the strain of the birth will be too much for Talia and her wolf.”

Hattie’s hands shook as she pulled her hands back. She looked regretful that she had said that, and Dalila offered her tea.

Camilla frowned and asked, “Is there anything else, Talia? I need to know everything. This will help me determine what to do.”

“I had a dream,” I said.

“Tell me about the dream.”

“I was in a hospital, in a corridor with nobody in it. Theard crying, and I found the nursery, and the twins were there Both of them, healthy screaming their heads off. Then there was a crowd at the end of the half, and I pushed through it, and I saw myself on a bed, dead.”

Nobody spoke.

“It’s not the first one,” I added. “I dreamed about my father before he died. I dreamed about the rogues that attacked Nolan on the road here, before he left.”

Camilla sat back in her chair.

“That is not a nightmare,” she said.

“Your Moonfire has woken

something else in you. It happens

sometimes with the old powers.

They do not arrive alone. Your re seeing forward, Talia, and you have

been for some time.”

“Then it’s going to happen,” Nolan said. “That’s what you’re telling us. That her fate

is already determined?”

“I did not say that.”

“Then do something,” Nolan

demanded, slamming his hands down on the table. He stood up and approached Camilla. Dalila and Hattie immediately became defensive. “Whatever it costs whatever you need from me, I’ll get it. I don’t care what it is. Just tell me

you can change it.”

“Alpha Nolan, you will calm yourself,” Camilla ordered. “We need calm right now. If

you can not control your emotions, I will expel you.”

Nolan relented and sat back down.

Dalila glanced between us. “May I ask the obvious thing? Giving up the pups. Is that

on the table?”

“Yes,” Nolan said.

“No,” I said.

“Talia, we talked about this.”

“It isn’t on the table,” I repeated sternly. “It never has been.”

“You should not be upset with him, Talia,” Camilla said. “He cares. It is a hard decision for you both.”

It wasn’t that I was upset with him. I just didn’t want to talk about it, or even think about it, unless it was truly our only choice. I didn’t know how to make Nolan understand that.

“There’s another option,” Camilla said finally. “It could save both you and the twins, but it’s risky. I want to make sure you understand that before I explain further.”

“Tell me,” I begged her. “Please, tell me what it is.”