Chapter 108

Chapter 108 Promised visit

CAS SANDRA

My jaw dropped in surprise and my eyebrows shot up.

What?

Marley and her mate had always seemed so happy together. Their children were incredibly sweet as well, so I was a little surprised by all of this.

“Oh Marley,” I sighed. “I’m so sorry… what happened?”

“He cheated,” she revealed, and her tone was somewhere between sad and angry. “I caught them with another woman one day after work. It was a slow day at the clinic, so I left early, and I caught them right in the middle of the… act.”

“Oh no,” I breathed. “Oh no.”

“Yeah,” she scoffed. “Can you believe it, Cas sy? I was so shocked that I tripped. and fell down on the way out

of the room. I almost broke my nose. And then, the shameless ba stard tried to blame the whole affair on me. He said all of this happened because I was too focused on my work and cared too little about him.”

“That’s bu ll s hit,” I blurted out, and anger swelled within me. “It’s not your fault in the slightest.”

“I know,” she said quietly. “Doesn’t make it hurt any less, though. Oh, well. I guers that’s just how it goes something.”

Though her voice was strangely calm, I knew that she was clearly upset. I felt noad and even worse, I didn’t know how to comfort her.

“I’m sorry, Marley,” I apologized. “I know you’ve been dealing with so much and me leaving you alone in the clinic probably doesn’t make things any better-”

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“Don’t apologize, Cas sy,” she cut me off. “Seriously, it’s not your fault, and it’s not the clinic’s fault, either. He’s been cheating on me for a while now. He probably made up all of that stuff to make me feel bad. Trust me, I don’t regret anything. Our patients mean the world to me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Suddenly, it sounded like someone in the distance was calling Marley.

“Come help us, Marley!” a voice I didn’t recognize yelled.

“Later, I’m busy!” my friend yelled back and I giggled in response. She was ju as tough as ever. That kind of bravery and boldness wouldn’t have been tolerat Merliscire, but in Wild Crawler, Marley was in a much different atmosphere. In being around there, and my heart panged with loneliness.

I missed them all so much.

“What’s going on at the Pack House?” I wondered as noises appeared in the background. “It sounds really busy there. Is everything alright?”

“Oh, Sofia didn’t tell you?” Marley asked in surprise. “Rayden’s going to take the crown next week! We’re decorating and preparing the Pack House for the ceremony!”

I gasped.

Rayden was finally going to become the Alpha of Wild Crawler?

“Oh wow,” I breathed. “That’s so crazy! Marley, can you please tell him I said congratulations?”

“I bet Rayden would be happier if you told him yourself,” Marley teased. “Should grab him now?”

“Marley!” I gasped again. “Marley, don’t you dare!”

My friend dissolved into a fit of laughter. “I’m only joking, Cas sy. I wouldn’t do that. Trust me, I’ll pa*s along the message myself.”

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“You better,” I warningly joked.

We laughed together, and the loneliness within me disappeared. Even though we were separated by thousands of miles, it felt like we were in the same room. again. It was great to share a moment like this with my friend.

Once we settled down, I asked about the clinic.

“How are things going there?” I wondered. “You mentioned you were busy.”

“I’m not going to lie, Cas sy, things are a mess,” Marley admitted, and then she sighed. “Over the past couple of weeks, there has been an influx of patients with the disease, and many of their conditions are only getting worse. We had an older patient pa*s away last week.”

“They died?” I asked in shock. “From the disease?”

“Yes,” Marley lamented. “I’m not sure if it was because the patient was older or if they’d been secretly living with it for longer than we’d known. But either way, it’s scary. I don’t want to admit it, but I’m terrified. Things aren’t looking good.”

“I understand,” I said, and I wiped away the sweat that had broken out across my forehead.. “I’m sorry I’m not there to help you. Did the Alpha King send more healers like he promised he would?”

“He did,” Marley said, and then she muttered under her breath. “It was the least. the bas tar d could do after taking you away. That being said, the healers he sent are all a bunch of cowards. They have no clue how to deal with the disease and they’re all so afraid of getting infected that they refuse to get close to the patients. A couple of them won’t even deal with infected patients at all.”

“That’s awful,” I replied, and I shook my head. “What kind of healer refuses patients in need? That’s just unethical.”

“You’re telling me,” Marley agreed. “I wish you were here, Cas sy. You’re ten times the healer that these b astards are.”

“I wish I was there too, Marley,” I said. “I’m sorry you’re dealing with this all on

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your own.”

“It’s okay,” she said quietly.

We fell silent, and after I took a deep breath, I thought about the older patient that had pa*sed away.

“Did Alpha Gareth manage to get a forensic specialist to examine the corpse?” I wondered. “And if so, were they able to draw any conclusions?”

“Yes,” Marley replied. “They drafted an official report of the evidence, but it was pretty inconclusive. I’ve studied the results and so have the specialist, but we can’t make any sense of it all.”

I considered her words for a second.

A report that not even a forensic specialist could make sense of?

Wild Crawler may have been a smaller, mostly forgotten-about Pack on Wegalla’s border, but it wasn’t primitive in the slightest. Our specialists were highly trained and well educated. If they couldn’t make sense of things, the situation

wasn’t good.

“Are you still there?” Marley asked.

“Yes, sorry,” I apologized. “I’m just thinking, that’s all.”

As I fell into silence yet again, I thought about the imposter in the dungeon and quickly crafted a crude theory.

Just yesterday, Asher had mentioned the Dark Abyss Pack and their war with rene. As I recounted the tale in my mind, I thought of the story Kaleb had told me and wondered if his father, the former king, had gotten infected with the disease. d. ring that same conflict.

If he had, all of this might have ties to sorcery.

Everything was beginning to weave together like an intricate web, and !

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couldn’t help but wonder how much was truly connected. I felt as if we were on the verge of some answers. We just needed to keep pushing forward.

“I might not be able to understand it either,” I admitted. “But I think I know someone who might be able to help. Marley, do you think you’d have time to come to Anemond to visit? I think I can ask the Alpha King to arrange it all.”