Chapter 33: Downhill Spiral

She stared down at the bowl of soggy cereal, trying to will herself to eat, but her stomach churned in protest.

How many days has it been since a full, warm meal had entered her stomach?

The answer laid within the question. If she couldn't remember the last time she had eaten a full meal, then it had been too long.

Way, way too long.

But the thought of eating, of putting food inside of her...

Adeline hadn't even taken three bites of the cereal before it was pushed away by clammy, bony hands.

Adeline knew that she needed to eat, she really did, but there was a little voice in the back of her mind, whispering and taunting her.

But it was hard convincing her stomach to allow food, when it didn't even know how to feel hungry.

Pushing back in her seat, Adeline's nostrils flared, trying to detect any wolves nearby.

The faint scent of pine met her nose, but just as quickly as it had appeared, it was washed away; carried along by the tide of daily life.

Good, she didn't want to be bothered.

Craning her head, Adeline looked around the suite that she hadn't been in for almost six months.

Adeline remembered a time when the rooms had been warm and inviting; a time when she had too, lived in this suite.

Just like her own room, the walls were stripped, the floor bare. The furniture sitting in the living-room and dining-room looked brand-new, but she knew that her parents hadn't ordered any furniture in almost a year.

The leather couch that sat with its back to the entry door was shiny and stiff, and the small leather sofa that sat to its right was the same way.

Professional.

Unused.

And the large, wall-mounted television that was hung directly in front of the couches, had what looked like a layer of dust coating its dark surface; and the remote that controlled the device was sitting right under the television on a side table- the remote and table also coated in the ash of time.

It was as if her parents hardly ever came in here, other than to sleep. The very suite that she was raised in, was nearly abandoned; the pictures that had littered the walls were gone, as were all of the objects that made this suite a home.

Speaking of her parents... where were they? She hadn't seen them in almost twenty-four hours. They were usually always around her...

"Easy, Adeline." She told herself as she slowly pushed herself up. If she stood up too quickly, a wave of dizziness would overcome her, darkening her vision and threatening to turn her world black.

But she knew that the self-encouraging words were useless.

Anytime that she got up, the wave of confusion and spinning would arrive, wrapping her in arms of constant movement.

The world tilted as she stood up, sending her head spinning.

Adeline knew that the dizziness would pass in a few moments, it had never lasted longer than three minutes, but it still sent flashes of panic darting through her skull.

Gripping the chair that she had previously sat in, Adeline gripped it with white-knuckles, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

Finally, after about a minute, the dizziness began to wash away, but she wasn't that lucky.

After the spinning had stopped, Adeline started towards the front door of her parents' suite, but only made it two steps before the dizziness came back.

But this time, it wasn't just the spinning that overcame her; dizziness had brought darkness with it.

The world dropped into blackness just before Adeline collapsed.

????

Sasha let out a yawn as she threw in another shirt... or maybe it was a pair of shorts? She didn't know, she was just so tired.

So, so tired.

After the two Seeings the previous night, and the four Seeings in the morning, she was dead on her feet. She was thankful that the four males hadn't put up a fight, if anything, they had been more than eager to prove their innocence, because if they had put up even the slightest mind-barrier, she wouldn't have been able to do all four Seeings.

And much to her relief, none of the males had anything to do with Adeline's curse.

Seeing into them had been quite boring, if Sasha was being honest. The most exciting thing she had found while Seeing into the males, was one of the males, an Enforcer named Sean, had just met his mate.

Of course, she had congratulated him, but she had kept it quiet. There were still unmated, lonely males in the room waiting for their turn to be Seen into. Many had been waiting for centuries for their female, and Sasha couldn't help but wonder what it felt like, watching all of the other males around you, possibly some of them your best friends, finding their mates and starting a family.

From an early age, Lupis pups were taught about the Moon Goddess, and in turn, the gift that the Moon would someday bless them with; a true mate. The females wolves were taught about the Moon and true mates of course, but once the males hit puberty, they spent more time learning about mates, and in turn, females, than the actual she-wolves did.

But not all males were granted that additional education. Many smaller packs throughout the United States didn't dive that deeply into true mates, and even fewer packs went any deeper than the basics of female care; usually only covering basic anatomy and that certain time of the month.

"Sasha?" Desmond's deep voice penetrated the cloud of thoughts swirling around in her head. "How many clothes are you going to pack? We will only be there for about two days."

Looking down at her suitcase, Sasha grimaced. Somewhere above, a soft thud sounded, but Sasha ignored it.

It was nearly overflowing with neatly-folded shirts and shorts, two pairs of sandals, a lacy black bra, and three pairs of panties.

Desmond snorted, "Do you want me to get you another suitcase? Or are you done?"

The Oracle tapped her lip for a moment before spinning around, heading straight for the bathroom.

He groaned, "What now?"

"I need tampons and Advil. The necessary girl stuff."

He frowned, his hand pausing on the zipper of his own suitcase. "But your menstrual cycle just ended. You won't need any of that."

When Sasha shot him a glare from over her shoulder, Desmond took the hint and closed his mouth. "Surprises can always happen, and trust me, D, I know that because I am a tad more female than you."

When Sasha finally emerged from the bathroom, a bottle of Advil in one hand and a packet of tampons in the other, she flashed Desmond a smirk as she walked up to his bag.

"You're over two centuries old, the delta of one of the largest packs in the world... and you don't know how to fold clothes?" Reaching down into Desmond's suitcase, she picked up a dark t-shirt that had been rolled up into a ball.

"I know how to fold clothes." Desmond snapped, but his mouth lifted into an amused smile. "I just choose not to fold them."

"I just choose not to fold them," Sasha repeated his words in a mocking tone. Unraveling the balled up shirt, she folded it, laid it back into the suitcase, and picked up another article of clothing.

Desmond cleared his throat, but his voice was stern. "When we go to see that witch, you are not to leave my side."

"Aye, aye master," she snorted, but stopped when he growled.

"Sasha, I am being serious. My wolf is fighting me with everything in him, he doesn't want you to get anywhere near that witch, let alone See into her, and I agree with him."

Setting the folded t-shirt back into Desmond's suitcase, she stepped back, placing her hands on her hips. "Desmond, we have been through this before, many, many times. I am an Oracle, it is my job to do what is asked of me, whether it is dangerous or not. I am very humbled that you care about me, and don't want me to get hurt, but it's my job; and plus, I am an Oracle. Very few, if any supernatural beings would ever want to hurt me; and I doubt that the witch would want to hurt me either."

He let out a snarl, "You do not know that, Sasha! I have never met that witch, nor has my own wolf. I do not know her, Hell, I do not even know what she looks like or smells like." His baritone voice lowered an octave due to the presence of his beast. Desperate, emerald green eyes met Sasha's own, and held hers, trying to speak the words that couldn't be formed.

Sasha could only watch as her man resided, allowing the feral creature in his soul to rise.

Desmond's mouth opened, but only growls escaped his throat. Ivory white canines flashed in the light as he bared them at her, but Sasha knew that it wasn't to scare or intimidate her.

She could feel Desmond's wolf, could understand the words that it would never be able to say.

"Mate," The wolf growled through Desmond's mouth.

Walking up to her mate, Sasha reached up, placing her palms on each of his stubbly cheeks. Just from her touch alone, the emerald orbs calmed into a moss green color, then disappeared as long lashes closed.

"I am sorry," Desmond whispered, but his voice was still rough with the presence of his wolf.

Sasha's touch was the only thing holding back the feral creature from taking over.

"No," she whispered, pulling his face towards her own a little bit. "I-"

Sasha dropped her hands and spun around, facing the door that had just been thrown open.

She gasped, staring wide-eyed at the monster standing in the doorway.

Desmond let out a snarl, positioning his body in front of the Oracle, shielding her from the predator's half-feral eyes.

"Luna Alexandra." He growled, trying to break the Luna's focus on his mate.

The half-morphed she-wolf took a few steps towards Sasha, but stopped when Desmond snarled and pushed the Oracle behind him.

Sasha's eyes widened even further when jet black claws sprouted from her mate's hands, pointed and aimed at the she-wolf.

The Luna was standing on two legs, but she was more wolf than human. Molten grey fur rippled along her arms and neck, covering her skin in a blanket of pure wild. Alexandra's form towered over Desmond, casting a large shadow throughout the room.

Gently placing her hand on Desmond's shoulder, Sasha tried to pull him backward, but stopped when his chest rumbled with a low, feral sound.

Alexandra's long muzzle opened, exposing a mouth full of inch-long canines coated in a fine layer of saliva. "Adeline..."

The Luna's voice was guttural and rough, but Sasha found it surprising that she could even still talk! Lupises couldn't talk when they were in their wolf form, so Sasha couldn't imagine how difficult it was for Alexandra to be speaking now, nearly fully shifted.

Adeline...

The growling in her mate's chest lessened.

"Fell..." The she-wolf's feral voice was cut off, interrupted by frustrated, angry growls.

But Sasha didn't need to hear any more.

Adeline must've collapsed.

And with her birthday so close...

"Show me where she is," Sasha whispered, side-stepping her growling mate.

"Sasha." Desmond wondered, his voice strained, but she ignored him.

She wasn't scared of the beast before her.

"I'll follow you." Sasha said. As if she were approaching a frightened or scared animal, she walked up to the Luna slowly and cautiously.

She didn't know how much control the human in Alexandra had lost to her wolf, so it was better to play on the side of caution, even if she knew that Alexandra wouldn't hurt her.

The Oracle's breath caught as Alexandra dropped down to all fours, bowing her large head slightly.

When Alexandra raised her head, silver lined her dark eyes.

Reaching out, Sasha trailed her fingertips along the Luna's furry muzzle, offering the she-wolf a silent form of support.

Alexandra's large, pointed ears pressed back, laying flat on the top of her skull.

Even kneeling down, Alexandra was taller than her, but it wasn't as intimidating.

Nodding her head once, the Luna backed up.

Alexandra finished the shift, the bones in her body popping and cracking for a few moments before, finally, a massive grey wolf stood before them.

Rough, warm hands grabbed at Sasha's arms, pulling her back as the she-wolf lowered her head, baring ivory white teeth in malice.

For a terrifying, heart-stopping second, Sasha thought that the Luna would lunge, aiming for her mate's throat.

If Desmond were to be killed... there would be nothing protecting her from teeth as strong as steel and hundreds of pounds of pure muscle.

In reality, Sasha was nothing more than a human.

She didn't have supernatural speed or strength, nor could she shift into a killing machine. She was fragile...

But she definitely wasn't fragile like a flower.

No.

She was fragile like a bomb.

The magic pulsing through her veins was a blessing to many, but it could be welded into something so horrible, that it could, in turn, destroy her also.

She just prayed that she never had to use it to defend herself.

Not only for her own sake, but for others.

????

The moment that Sasha stepped into the infirmary, she knew that Adeline's parents couldn't stay.

They both had shifted at one point or another, constantly growling and snarling at everyone, including each other.

Dillon's large wolf paced around his daughter's bed, his tail brushing against her pale flesh, as if anchoring his sanity onto that very contact.

'They're not going to be able to stay.' Sasha told her mate.

Desmond responded, his voice gruff, 'I agree.'

Walking deeper into the room, Sasha turned in the direction of the guards that were stationed along the wall.

"I need the alphas removed from the room. They will go feral if they stay."

Once all of the enforcers and warriors had nodded and pushed away from the wall, Sasha could only watch as they coaxed the alpha pair from the room.

Luckily, Dillon's and Alexandra's wolves hadn't been in full control. It would've been nearly impossible to get them to leave if their beasts had been in control; there would've been bloodshed.

"I am going to look into Adeline's mind. I know that I won't be able to get into her soul, but I'm hoping that the sickness from the curse will be visible so that I could snuff it out for as long as I can." Sasha directed that to everyone remaining in the room, including her mate.

'Just in case I start screaming,' She smiled slightly.

He didn't smile back; all he did was cross his arms over his chest.

She snickered, 'Oh, quit pouting, you mutt.'

Deciding that she couldn't put off the Seeing any longer, she squeezed her mate's hand once more before releasing it, forcing her legs over to Adeline's limp body.

The girl's face was ghostly pale; her thin lips were pale and cracked, her cheeks hollow, and heavy bags hung under her eyes. Sasha didn't know how she was still alive. Anyone that was as emaciated and lifeless as Adeline should be dead, or on death's bed.

Sasha supposed that it was the curse that was keeping the young she-wolf alive.

As she walked around the girl's bed, a wave of anger flowed over her.

Why didn't Alexandra or Dillon do anything? Why had they waited this long to get help for their daughter?!

She was clearly dying; her condition hadn't worsened to this degree simply overnight!

She took her usual spot at the head of the bed, her hands rising to their normal position, but the she-wolf below her wasn't a normal host.

No.

This host faced the certainty of death; in less than fourteen days, her heart would stutter, then fall silent.

Just like that, the young girl would be gone to the world. After her death, she would be moved onto a moon-white stone altar. A thin blanket of silk would be draped over her body, then every pack member would walk up to her, throwing fists full of rose petals, allowing the mixtures of red, white, and pink petals to coat her prone body. Then, once every inch of her body had been covered in rose petals, a torch would drop.

Her ashes would be carried out into the vast world.

Sasha would not attend another funeral.

She'd do anything in her power to save this innocent girl's life.

Even if she couldn't see her brother.

Looking down at the comatose girl below her, Sasha lowered her hands. Her fingers found Adeline's temples, then her remaining magic welled up.

She was thrust into darkness.

????

Adeline could feel it rising.

Like a heat-seeking missile, it zeroed in on its prey.

Teeth bared and claws poised.

It couldn't be stopped.

It wouldn't be stopped.

Even if she screamed and sobbed, roared and raged, it wouldn't stop.

It enjoyed her pain.

And it would enjoy the pain of others.

????

Sasha directed her magic, but it kept escaping her grasp. It was like a bucking mustang, throwing her this way and that, lunging and darting.

But it pulled her deeper into Adeline's mind, straight towards the wall that separated the girl's wolf from reality.

Emotions pummeled into Sasha, slamming into her magic too quickly for her to identify what they were.

Her magic withdrew slightly, pulling away from the looming wall of darkness.

Something was wrong.

Of that, she had no doubt.

????

Her magic had never withdrawn on its own before.

Then she heard Desmond's panicked voice. 'Sasha! Pull out right now! PULL OUT!'

Trusting her mate's words, she began to reel in her magic, but she wasn't fast enough.

White light slammed into her, causing a cry of pain to escape her lips as she flew backwards. Her back hit the wall, and her breath heaved from her lungs.

It took a moment for her vision and hearing to return, but she had no problem seeing the wolf perched on the bed... staring at her.

The large wolf's lifted its upper jowl, showing off the teeth that would surely tear her apart.

Everything dropped into slow motion as Adeline rocked back onto her haunches, and propelled herself towards the Oracle.