~ Chapter 2 - Results ~
2430 Words
~Louise~
I remained where Joseph had left me, staring after him until his shadow had gone from the window beside the door. His words stung. Why? Yes, Alphas ruled omegas, but with kindness, compassion, and fairness. They gave us commands, and we obeyed them. Why had Joseph treated me like I was nothing more than fodder to be hunted? Was it because he could smell my sickness?
“Louise!” Mum hissed as she spun me around until we were face to face. Jewel glared at me through her eyes, their irritation, and fear radiating off them in waves. “How can you speak to the soon-to-be Alpha of the Mist clan like that?” Her voice was low, but the rage still burned within her. “He could have us exiled… or worse! What were you thinking, Louise?”
“Didn’t you hear what he said?” I scoffed. Hot tears threatened my eyes. The hold on my stomach had released, and the nausea returned, burning my throat. “He could smell it… He knows!”
“It’s still no excuse,” she hissed between clenched teeth. “He’s our future Alpha…!”
“But it is!” A small whimper escaped my lips. “It means…” I trailed off, too upset to speak. If the alpha to be could smell my cancer, it meant that it was real, and it was getting harder to hide.
“Oh, Louise,” Mum said, her voice softening as she visibly composed herself and dismissed Jewel with a thought. She gently lifted my chin, meeting my eyes. “Joseph is going to be alpha in a few years. You’ll need to learn to get along with him.”
“If I live that long!” I reminded her, reaching her mind through our family mind-link.
Before she could argue, Doctor Anderson stuck his peppered-haired, chiselled face through his doorway. The usual mask of exhaustion darkened the tanned skin beneath his eyes.
“Louise Carpenter…” he called. Our eyes met, and his voice wavered. “You’re next… come on through.”
I let my shoulders slump and walked toward the door, realising the silence in the room hadn’t broken. All eyes followed me as if I were a strange sight.
“What?” I asked the room with a shrug.
Just like other omegas, they dropped their gazes.
“Louise, that’s enough…!” Mum’s voice reached my mind, laced with Jewel’s growl.
“Fine…” I exhaled, shaking my head.
I entered Doctor Anderson’s room, and settled into the chair nearest his desk, folding my hands in my lap. It was a typical sterile doctor’s office—white walls decorated with dreamlike paintings of different lands. The room contained an examination bed covered in a plastic protective sheet, a white privacy curtain, and a medical supply cabinet. But what made his room unique was the large wooden desk covered in multiple piles of paperwork. It was an organised mess. To his right there were two dirty coffee mugs, a small plate covered in crumbs, and mounds of files spread out around the computer. How can he work like this?
“Hmm, I see you’re as outspoken as ever, Louise. But I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he said, a half-smile touching his lips. His eyes, reflecting the werewolf moonlight, met mine.
“Some things never change, Doctor,” Mum sighed, the weight of her words settling beside me like a shroud. “She’s become increasingly moody lately… I suspect it’s the medication.”
He chuckled softly, clicking the pen in his hand. “Yes, mood swings can be a side effect of some medications. But we are wolves by nature—it runs deep in our blood, and our hormones can get the better of us. Makes us do things we would normally never do.”
“I know, but it seems like more…” Mum nodded, her voice laced with a worry that scraped against my already frayed nerves.
“Doc, what are my results?” I blurted out, desperate to steer the conversation away from my apparently awful attitude. I slumped forward against my legs and noticed tiny droplets of blood had soaked through the blazer sleeve on the shoulder Mum had held. Mum tensed—she had seen it, too. I picked at my nails, my breath catching in my throat. “Please, just tell me… I don’t want to drag this out.”
Doctor Anderson peered up from the end of the pen he had nervously been chewing on. Tears welled in his steel-blue eyes, and he made no attempt to blink them away. He cleared his throat, the sound a rough rasp. “Louise, I’ve gone over the tests and—”
“—Am I dying?” The words tore from me, raw and desperate. He didn’t need to say anything. I could see it in his eyes. Terror seized my heart, stealing my breath. An icy dread settled in my stomach, heavy and crushing. “How long do I have?”
“Well, Louise, the latest scan shows the disease has progressed significantly since the last one.” Doctor Anderson said, his voice low. He propped his elbow on his desk, pushing back a thick folder. “At this rate, and without further intervention, I’d estimate perhaps a year… maybe two…”
“A year!” The words exploded from me, echoing in the sterile silence. I glanced from him to Mum, then back to him again. There were no words. A year. There wasn’t enough time to breathe, let alone to live!
“A year!” Mum echoed, her voice no more than a strangled whisper. “That’s not possible! She is still young… There has to be more time!”
Doctor Anderson continued to click his pen in a frantic rhythm, his expression a careful blend of hope and honesty. “There might be a path forward,” he whispered, placing his pen on his desk. “It’s… a significant surgery, and no one has ever performed it on a werewolf. A complete hysterectomy would allow us to remove the source of the infection, and it could give you a real chance to fight this. It wouldn’t be a quick fix. You’d still need to continue treatment afterwards. However, just like any surgery, it doesn’t come without its risks.”
“Surgery?” I gaped at him, my hand going to my stomach. “You mean—you will remove my insides?”
He nodded, his expression hardening with resolve. “The tests show you have stage three ovarian cancer. It’s already affected your fallopian tubes, and without surgery to remove both your ovaries and tubes it will progress and spread further… You will die.”
Die! The word slammed into me like a physical blow that left me breathless. I straightened and wrapped my arms around myself, attempting to ward off the chill that had covered my body. “I’ll die?”
“But wolves can heal! That’s one of their given powers.” Mum sucked in a shaky breath, her hands trembling as she gripped the arm of her chair. “When Louise gets her wolf, that should fix everything… right? It has to!”
He shook his head, deep sadness in his eyes. “That’s usually the case, but I’m afraid Louise is beyond that now.”
“So, I might die before I’m eighteen… before I meet my wolf?” I asked as the nausea bubbled up my throat and threatened to escape. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as the chill flowed through me, engulfing every inch of my body. “That’s not fair…”
“No, it’s not…” Mum agreed, placing a hand on my knee, her dark eyes focussing on the doctor. “But you said this surgery has never been done on a werewolf before. How do you know it can be done on Louise?”
He nodded, grabbing the pen again. “This is an experimental surgery. I’ve performed it on quite a few humans in my time. However, I’ve never performed it on werewolves. There are slight differences, but our anatomy is similar.”
“Oh, so help us, Moon Goddess,” Mum exclaimed, rubbing her forehead.
Doctor Anderson tapped his pen against the desk and continued. “With surgery and continued treatment, Louise has an eighty percent chance of meeting her wolf. Without it, she won’t live to be eighteen.”
“Eighty percent?” I breathed, the question a strangled sound as tears welled. Help me, Moon Goddess! “And you’re saying you will remove my ovaries? So, I can never have pups?”
Doctor Anderson swallowed, his face tight. “I’m sorry, but yes, that’s correct.”
The weight of it all crashed down on me. The Moon Goddess united wolves as lifelong mates, creating an unbreakable bond when they came of age. It was so deeply ingrained in us that destined mates hardly rejected each other. A sensible wolf would never accept a mate who lacks the ability to produce an heir. That wolf would be labelled useless—undesirable and a failure. The fear of rejection was as potent to wolfkind as the fear of death.
Tiny tremors vibrated within me as the thought of that broke through. Mum’s hand squeezed my leg, letting me know I was not alone, and the choice was mine.
“I understand it’s a lot to process, Louise,” Doctor Anderson whispered. “However, your life is important, and I want to save it.”
Death was staring me hungrily in the eyes, and I had to choose between it or the hollow ache of never finding my other half.
Sucking in a trembling breath, I turned to Doctor Anderson. “Doc, I will have the surgery… if it gives me a chance to live.”
He nodded knowingly back as he turned to his computer. “Good, I was hoping you would.” He typed something into it and then faced me again. “I have booked you in for surgery two weeks from today. Stay strong, Louise. We’ll get you through this… and you will meet your wolf.”
But not my mate! Maybe that’s why Alpha Joseph said I smelt wrong. He could sense I was an abomination of wolfkind!
“Thank you for everything, Doctor Anderson,” Mum said hoarsely.
I offered Doctor Anderson a sad, wan smile and hurried out of the office, hot tears streaming down my face. I needed Lorraine and Joanne. Their unwavering support was the anchor I needed. They, along with Mum, Doctor Anderson, and a few close family friends, were the only ones who knew about my illness. It was a secret we had to keep from the Alpha and Luna. Discovery meant banishment for those who had kept my secret, and I refused to be held liable for that.
I reached Mum’s car and met my tear-soaked reflection. The scrawny girl peering back looked so ill and pale, her face gaunt and sallow. It hit me then how much the illness and chemo had stolen from me. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before the pack noticed.
Mum stepped up behind me, her saddened reflection mirroring mine. Tears dulled the moonlight in her brown eyes.
“I can see you watching me, Mum…” I sniffled, wiping my eyes.
“I’m sorry, baby girl, this is just horrible.” She said, hooking an arm around me and pulling me into her embrace.
“Why is this happening to me?” I whimpered, burying myself in her embrace.
She kissed my forehead. “I don’t know, sweetheart. But we will get you through this. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll hold your hand through it…”
I leaned against her, my cheeks burning red, and exhaled a skipped breath. “But look at me. If I do survive, will I even find a mate?”
She squeezed me against her. “Of course you will survive and find your mate. I can feel it in my bones.”
“What if I don’t? What if nobody wants me? An omega without pups… I’ll be nothing.” The words spilled out, a torrent of fear and self-pity.
Mum pulled back slightly, her gaze firm. “Louise, don’t you dare talk like that. You are strong, intelligent, and beautiful. Your wolf, when she comes, will be fierce and loyal. Any mate would be lucky to have you, pups or no pups. And if they can’t see that, then they aren’t worth your time.”
While her words offered comfort, they felt hollow. It was easy for her to say. She had found her mate, my father, and they’d had me. She knew the joy and fulfillment of motherhood… something not meant to be in my future.
“It’s just…” I trailed off, unable to fully articulate the crushing weight of everything. “It’s not fair. Everyone else in our pack gets a chance at a normal life, at love, at a family. Why me?”
“Life isn’t always fair, sweetheart, but the Moon Goddess has a plan for you… for every werewolf,” Mum said softly, stroking my hair. “You will find happiness. You fight for it.”
“Fight for it?” I scoffed, pulling away from her embrace. “How am I supposed to fight cancer? How am I supposed to fight the expectations of our pack? How am I supposed to fight the feeling that I’m already broken?”
Mum’s expression softened, and she reached for my hand. Her touch was warm and grounding. “To fight, you must face each day one breath at a time. Accept help when necessary and hold on to hope without giving up. You fight by being Louise Carpenter, the resilient and extraordinary young woman you are.”
Her words, though simple, struck a chord within me. Maybe she was right. Maybe I couldn’t control what was happening to me, but I could control how I reacted. I could choose to wallow in self-pity, or I could choose to fight. And I was a werewolf, even if my wolf was delayed. We were born fighters.
“Okay,” I said, my voice a little stronger. “Okay, I’ll fight… until I can’t.”
A small smile touched Mum’s lips. “That’s my girl. Now, let’s go…”
- Writer
