Nature is not a place to visit 48

Chapter 48
*”There is no cure for me (says the virus).*
*Donna Matz *
I watched with bated breath as Hudson slowly regained consciousness.
His eyebrows furrowed as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings of the guest room, but when his gaze landed on me
and Rae, relief flashed across his face.
“O-ollie?” he asked, and his voice was hoarse and quiet. No doubt a side effect from the constant screaming he’d been
doing these past couple of days.
Feeling a little more confident that he wouldn’t suddenly snap or lose control, I stepped a little closer and took his hand
in mine. “Hey,” I said softly.
“W-w –” Whatever he meant to say was swallowed by a coughing fit. I began rubbing his back while Rae flagged down
one of the guards outside for a glass of water, and I instructed him to grab Ambrose from wherever he was. Once the
coughing subsided, he tried again. “W-where am I?” he managed to get out.
When the guard returned with the biggest glass of water I’d ever seen, he gulped down its contents quickly.
I waited until he’d finished drinking before I said, “You’re at Ambrose’s home. His castle.”
Hudson nodded slowly, still taking in the newly-renovated but bare guestroom. “Rae?” he asked, “What are you doing
here?”
“Hudson,” I said, “Do you remember what happened?”
He was quiet for a moment. “It’s all a little fuzzy, but I think so.”
The guard returned with another full glass of water, and it wasn’t until he chugged every last drop that he said, “I
remember waking up with this terrible pain one night. My inner wolf was doing everything possible to claw its way out of
me, but I couldn’t…I couldn’t shift.” His eyebrows furrowed. “It’s all a bit of a blur after that. I just remember a lot of
pain, and then waking up just now.”
“And you don’t feel any more pain?” I asked.
He shook his head, and my body sagged with relief.
He really was okay.
“You look like someone just told you I got cured of cancer or something,” he said.
“They might as well have,” Rae cut in, “It was pretty touch and go there for a while, especially when Mia and I had to drag
your sorry ass through a whole two-day hike to get here.” There was no real bite to her words. She might not have been
willing to say it, but I knew Rae was just as relieved as I was.
“You did?” Hudson asked, “I don’t remember any of that, but…thank you, Rae. Sincerely. I don’t mean that just as an
Alpha to his pack member, but as a friend too.”
“Whatever,” she scoffed, looking anywhere but Hudson. “Don’t mention it.”
“So, what happened?” Hudson asked, turning to me. “As I said, the last thing I remember was waking up in pain, my wolf
dying to get out of my head.”
I took a deep breath. “Well, that’s probably a good way of putting it,” I told him, “You were stuck in the transformation
process. Your body was trying to shift, but it wasn’t able to. Not like before. Hence all the pain and memory gaps. But
you’re better now. Ambrose was able to fix it, so you shouldn’t have any more issues.”
Instead of looking relieved, Hudson narrowed his eyes. “What aren’t you saying, Ollie? Why did this happen?”
“You were cursed by a witch,” came Ambrose’s voice, and all three of us turned around to find him leaning in the
doorway. Akeem stood beside him.
“A witch?” Hudson stammered. “I don’t remember meeting any kind of witch, letting alone getting cursed by one.”
“A witch doesn’t have to come in direct contact with you to curse you,” Ambrose explained, sidling up beside me and
touching my shoulder gently. I leaned into his touch immediately. He looked over Hudson closely. “Any headaches?”
“Not so far,” Hudson shook his head.
Ambrose nodded. “That’s a good sign.”
Hudson frowned. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing,” he said, “But I felt like I was *dying.*”
“You would’ve with enough time,” Ambrose said, “Your body can only handle so many forced transitions, especially
prolonged ones such as that.”
“And witches are capable of that?” Hudson asked, his voice ringing with disbelief. “I mean, have you ever seen a curse like
this before?”
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“More than a few times,” Ambrose replied, “It’s a common tactic against werewolves, forcing their bodies to transform in
and out of wolf form or get stuck somewhere in the middle.” When he saw Hudson’s wide eyes, he added, “But
fortunately, easy to reverse if it’s caught within a reasonable amount of time.”
“*Fuck*,” Hudson muttered, and his eyes looked like saucers. “Guess you learn something new every day.”
As Hudson grappled with this new information, I was suddenly struck with a realization. Since Hudson had shown up at
the gate, his body contorted in agony and stuck in the middle of a shift, something had been itching at the back of my
brain.
And now I knew what it was.
Hudson may not have seen this before, but it felt like *I* had.
The day that Ambrose, Luke, and I ventured into Blood Moon territory, those Blood Moon warriors had tried to sneak up
on us. Ambrose had stopped them, but the way he did it – suspending them mid-air until they were screaming, unable to
shift back to their human or wolf forms – felt eerily similar.
“Are you okay, little wolf?” Ambrose’s voice broke my train of thought, his face etched with concern.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” I said, but I found myself unable to shake the thought.
I might’ve opened my mouth to say something, but I never got the chance.
The loud snap of bones breaking echoed throughout the room, and Hudson screamed, arching off the bed in agony.
It was happening again.