"I understand. Thank you, Alpha. Thank you." He dropped to his knees again, this time in genuine submission.
"Get up. We have work to do." I pulled out my phone, texting Katherine. "You're going to help me turn this situation into an advantage."
By midday, Katherine had examined Sarah and confirmed what Lucas feared. The illness was magical in nature, designed to be incurable by normal means.
"It's blood magic," Katherine explained in her clinic. "Someone cursed her. Recently, I'd say within the past six months."
"Let me guess," I said. "Around the time Harrison first approached Lucas?"
"Exactly. They didn't just offer to cure her. They made her sick in the first place." Katherine's expression was grim. "Classic manipulation. Create the crisis, offer the solution, control the target."
