Pride, Mates, and Past Mistakes

Of course I've Been to Medical School, Why Do You Ask?

*Sierra*

And just like that, everything in my mind simply washed away. Nolan was awake.

Nolan was awake.

"Nolan!" I gasped, catapulting out of my seat. There were gasps and shouts of happiness from the rest of the group. I knelt before my brother as everyone else crowded around the couch in joy, momentarily ignoring the heavy news we'd just received. Cody grinned and patted Nolan's shoulder. "I knew a scratch like that wouldn't take you out, bro." His tone was teasing, but the relief in his eyes was as clear as day.

Nolan gave a feeble snort. "Of course not. I've never been better."

I shoved away my whirling thoughts and knelt before my brother. "How're you feeling?"

His face was still ashen, and a sheen of sweat had formed on his forehead.

"Honestly?" He groaned, attempting to prop himself up on his elbows. He winced in pain, and then gave up, collapsing back on the pillows with a groan. "Honestly, it feels like someone's holding a blowtorch to my stomach." He closed his eyes and hissed through his teeth. "A blowtorch, and lava. And a fire. Kind of just like the sun in general...on my side." He winced again, cursed, and his eyes flew open. "Wow, that hurts."

I pressed my lips together. He wasn't getting any better. Maybe it was time I administered that 'other' medicine Rowena had mentioned during the phone call. She'd brought up the suggestion of adding a few drops from "the blue bottle" along the ointment we were putting on him.

What she hadn't mentioned out loud was that the blue potion was filled with melted, slightly diluted, deadly silver.

Enough silver could kill one of us, especially a shifted wolf like Nolan. A few drops itself could be deadly to a regular wolf, but Nolan was an Alpha. I had no idea how strong he was. But if he was strong enough, then the few drops of silver would be just lethal enough to kick start his wolf healing instincts, which would either help him heal exceptionally quickly, or it might kill him.

"How did you make it through the night?" I asked, frowning. He was sweating like crazy. Was his fever breaking?

"Well," Nolan hesitated, his eyes focused somewhere behind me. "I got through it...with help, of course."

I followed his line of vision and found Casey staring right back at Nolan, an unreadable expression on her face. But before I could say anything, Casey cleared her throat before turning towards the kitchen and walking away. "I'll, uh...get a wet towel to cool him down."

She said like she'd done that many times. I turned back to Nolan and watched his face as his eyes followed Casey out of the room. Cody met my eyes and raised his eyebrows.

I blinked, momentarily stunned. Had something happened between Casey and Nolan last night?

As much as I wanted to pursue this new information, I shoved it aside. "Nolan, listen to me. We have to give you that new treatment Rowena told us about. It's really, really dangerous, but I think it's our last hope, especially if we—"

"Hold up." Nolan sat up quickly, immediately seemed to regret it, and winced. He laid back down and took a deep breath before speaking. "Hold up. As exciting as that dangerous new medicine sounds," He said, his words taking up more energy than they should, "before all that—what about the mission itself? Like, what happens now?"

I turned, looking at James, who was frowning at me. There it was. The big cloud above us seemed heavier than ever. I closed my eyes. "I...don't know," I said honestly.

"'The mission's off,'" James mimicked angrily. "She says it like it's so easy to forget, but it's not, it's not, not after all we've been through..." He ran a hand through his hair.