Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 227

Chapter 227

“That’s what families do,” Jane said, using the same words she’d used with the photographers earlier. “They stick together.”

“Yeah.” I blinked back tears and tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “They do.”

After Jane finally drifted off to sleep, I tiptoed over to Max’s bed to check on him one last time. He had been sleeping for most of the day, only waking occasionally to choke down some warm broth and the medicine the nurse had prescribed him. I hoped that that meant he was improving.

Dammit. He looked worse.

My heart sank as I pressed my hand to his forehead. He was burning up again, hotter than he’d been since we’d arrived at Moonshadow.

I quickly found Elena, who took one look at Max and immediately began checking his temperature and listening to his chest. Her expression grew more grim with each passing second.

“I need to run more tests,” she said once she was finished. “Can you find Alpha Andrei? I’ll need to speak with both of you.”

Twenty minutes later, Andrei and I were sitting across from Elena in her small office adjacent to the infirmary. It was cozy but also sterile–clearly, Elena prided herself in her cleaning abilities and organization skills.

Wordlessly, Elena spread several sheets of paper across her desk. Test results.

“I’ve been researching Max’s symptoms all day,” she finally said. “The blood work shows something I’ve never seen before in my twenty years of practice.”

She then pulled out a book that looked surprisingly old given the pristine state of the other books on her shelves. “I believe that Max is not suffering from pneumonia. He has what is described in ancient texts as Luna’s Curse.”

The blood drained from my face. “Curse?”

“It’s a rare illness that affects young wolves who’ve had early emergence,” Elena explained. “The symptoms mirror a simple illness at first, but it’s actually the wolf being separated from the body.”

I felt like the floor had dropped out from under me. “Separated?”

“Without treatment, the wolf spirit will eventually detach completely. And when that happens… Max will die.” The room started spinning. I gripped the edges of my chair, trying to process what she was telling me. My baby was dying from some ancient curse that shouldn’t even exist anymore.

“No.” The word came out as a whisper. “No, there has to be something else. Some other explanation.

But even as I said it, I knew Elena was right. The way Max’s illness had progressed, getting worse instead of better despite all our efforts. The fact that his wolf had emerged so early. It all made a horrible kind of sense.

Andrei’s hand covered mine, and I realized I was shaking.

“There has to be a cure,” I said, looking between Elena and Andrei. “If this illness exists, then someone must know how to treat it.”

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Chapter 227

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Elena nodded slowly, “There is allegedly a cure. But according to these texts, the cure can only be found in the Bloodmoon pack.”

Andrei and I stared at her in shock. I recalled hearing about Bloodmoon–an ancient and powerful pack that had long since been slaughtered by rogues. They were said to possess magic from the Moon Goddess’s bloodline, magic that could heal any illness.

“The Bloodmoon pack died out generations ago,” Andrei said.

“That’s what everyone believes,” Elena said. “But some scholars think they never actually died out. They think the pack went into hiding to protect their ancient knowledge and healing practices.”

“So you’re saying they could still be out there,” Andrei muttered.

“It’s possible. And if they are…” Elena looked directly at me. “They might be able to save Max. But you have to find them first.”