Nature is not a place to visit 45

Chapter 45
*“We must take care of our families whenever we find them.”*
*Elizabeth Gilbert*
I heard the screams before I’d made it to the gate.
Familiar screams – Hudson’s screams.
I made it to the gate in seconds, Akeem and the guard who’d alerted me hot on my heels. And then I froze.
Crouched onto the ground, clawing at the dirt, and screaming was my brother. Except, he didn’t quite look like my
brother at that moment. Dark fur sprouted along his skin, and his canines looked exceptionally large in the moonlight.
From the way he keeled over, his back looked hunched…and broken. Below the elbow, his wrist and hands had partially
turned into dark paws with long claws.
He was stuck in the middle of the transformation into his wolf form.
And if the way he screamed bloody murder was any indication, it looked like it hurt. That wasn’t a surprise – transforming
into your wolf included the breaking and reforming of bones, but it happened so quickly that most wolves barely felt it.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
I was by his side in a flash.
“Hudson!” I shouted, reaching out to touch him. He flinched away, growling, and when he snapped his heads toward me,
I saw that his eyes were completely gold.
“Your Majesty!” Akeem reached me immediately, forcing himself between me and Hudson. “Whatever’s going on right
now, I don’t think it’s wise to touch him. He doesn’t seem to be in his right mind…”
“Oh, you *think*?” came a new snarl, and I whipped my head around to see Rae. I’d been too focused on Hudson to
notice it before, but my brother wasn’t alone – Rae and Mia both stood off to the side, the latter looking as pale as a
ghost.
“Rae,” I said firmly, “What the hell’s going on? Why is he like this?” I gestured aimlessly to Hudson. He was still keeled
over, crying and shouting in agony.
Rae seemed to be holding herself together more than Mia was, but I didn’t miss the haunted look that passed through
her eyes. “I don’t know,” she said, her voice shaky, “He’s been like this for two days. It keeps happening – it’ll take him
hours to transform, only for the process to start all over again. It won’t stop, and it doesn’t seem like he has any control
over it. We didn’t know what to do, but bring him to you and your mate.”
Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and my mind filled with questions. Questions that I didn’t have time to ask right
now. As if to affirm that sentiment, there was a loud crack and Hudson’s right wrist completely twisted. He let out
another wail of pain.
“Get him inside now!” I ordered, and the guards stationed at the gate didn’t hesitate to follow my orders, lifting Hudson
as gently as they could. It wasn’t an easy task, especially when he growled at the physical contact and attempted to snap
at one of them.
I turned to Akeem immediately. “Ambrose is in a meeting – get him now.”
The man nodded firmly, and took off without another word.
Rae, Mia, and I followed after the guards, who were moving as quickly as they could without jostling Hudson.
Even as we speed-walked back to the castle, I took this opportunity to try and get more information from Rae. “Tell me
everything,” I said, “I want to know how this happened.”
That haunted look passed through her eyes again, but she obliged. “About two weeks ago,” she started, “I’m running
border patrols at the new territory, and I pick up this unfamiliar scent. It’s weird. It doesn’t smell human or wolf – almost
artificial. Like someone was trying to mask their scent.”
I nodded.
“I tell Hudson about it,” she continued, “And he’s concerned, but since we couldn’t find the source, there wasn’t much to
do. None of the other pack members running patrols smelled it either. A week goes by, and suddenly, I smell it again. It’s
stronger this time, and I’m able to track it nearly fifty miles before I lose it again. I wanted to keep going, but Hudson
ordered me back. Said it didn’t appear to be a threat and there was no point in running myself raggard about it, so we
should let it go for now.”
*Of course he did. That’s Hudson for you. Always looking out for someone else.*
“I get back to the new territory,” Rae said, “And it’s business as usual for a couple of days…until this happened. In the
middle of the night, Hudson just started screaming bloody murder, nearly woke the whole pack.” Rae’s face creased, like
it physically pained her to talk about this.
On instinct, I reached for her hand and squeezed.
She squeezed back.
“I was the first one to get to him since I was running patrols,” she explained, “He just started transforming, but much too
slowly. His bones broke one by one over the course of hours, not seconds like we’re used to.”
My heart clenched.
“We tried to help,” she told me, “But none of the herbs in our supply – or the Blood Moon’s old stock – seemed to do
anything. Healer Carol was at a loss, and Hudson wasn’t lucid enough to provide any kind of explanation either. She said
all we could do was wait it out. It took him nearly four hours to fully transform, and we thought the whole thing was
over…but he just shifted back, and it started all over again.”
For the first time since I’d seen her, Mia chimed in. “It’s been on a loop like that ever since,” she said, and her voice was
even shakier than Rae’s. “Nothing we do helps, and if any of us try to get close of us to try, he snaps. And it seems like
he’s getting worse. It takes him longer to transform each time. It used to take him only four hours, now it takes him
nearly ten…and he looks more worn out every time.”
We finally reached the entrance of the castle, and I caught sight of Ambrose waiting for us. He looked as calm, cool, and
collected as ever.
*I guess one of us has to be.*
He regarded Hudson’s screaming, half-transformed body with narrowed eyes. “Take him to the first guest bedroom on
the left,” he ordered, and the guards nodded.
He then turned to me, and I was already closing the distance between us, explaining the situation to him with as much
information as I knew.
He pulled me into his arms immediately, and I’d be lying if I said his touch didn’t make some of my fear and anxiety melt
away. His touch had always done that, but since he’d marked me, it’d only gotten stronger.
He listened to me frantically ramble, and when I was done, he drew me in closer and kissed my forehead. “It’s okay, little wolf,” he soothed, “You do not need to worry about your brother. I’m going to fix