ONE!!...No way

"Diane! Diane!" 

I threw the door open, scanning the bedroom hastily. My frantic voice permeated the entire house as I called out for my sister. 

She wasn't in her room. 

Neither was she in the living room, nor the library. 

My chest heaved as my heart palpitated wildly. Diane could be anywhere. I had to find her before she hurt herself or worse. 

Like last week, my mind supplied and goosebumps littered my arms. Crap no, last week could not repeat itself. I had almost had a damned heart attack seeing my sister's golden hair all wet and mussed up in the mud, her eyes closed and her body limp. We had found her next to an abandoned shack a few meters away from the house. I had no idea how she had wandered that far. 

Our house was right atop a small hill in Claw Village. It was hard to miss. We lived on the outskirt of the village anyways, away from the werewolves who detested our stench. The stench of humans. Diane was all I had left, the only other human I could relate with and the only family I had left. 

And yet this... This sickness wanted to take her away from me. 

Never. I thought, gritting my teeth as I left the room and raced outside. I would never allow it! I would protect Diane with every single piece of me!

Darting through the living room, towards the door, I had a quick glance at the polished mirror, mom's only possession that I was able to keep and saw her familiar brown eyes stare back at me briefly. To everyone who knew my mother, I was a perfect replica of her. Honey brown eyes, caramel blonde hair that shifted between brown and blonde shades and a rather curvy body. 

And what good has that done you? My mind quipped. Nothing. Not one good thing in the twenty years of my existence. 

I yanked on the door handle and threw it open only to see Diane skip towards the door happily. Her purple dress billowed around her legs and she waved a flower wreath in her hands. A murky gray covered her once brown eyes, due to the slow sickness that poisoned her mind. I had no idea what it was. I had tried so hard to find a cure for the past five years, all to no avail. 

"Ava?" Diane called, giggling and waving her wreath in my face. Her hair which was braided to the back was starting to come loose. "Look what I found at the farm. Isn't it pretty?" 

Pretty? I barely glanced at the damned wreath. I had almost lost my shit when I couldn't find her. I thought she was gone. What would I have done if something awful had happened to her? How would I ever face Mom? 

Tears burned at the corner of my eyes and I swallowed down the sob that threatened to spill. 

"Ava?" Diane mumbled, cocking her head to the side, her happy smile diminishing by the minute. "Did I do something wrong? I forgot something again, didn't I?" 

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around her, patting her hair lightly. "No no, you didn't. It's my fault. I made a mistake this time." 

I should have paid more attention to her. I would have known when she left if I wasn't so engrossed with making us dinner. 

"You're not lying to me are you?" She mumbled, burying her face deeper into my dress. 

"Aye," I laughed, "Why would I lie to you Diane?" 

"I trust you," She whispered, wrapping her arms tight around me. 

I sniffed, blinking back the tears. Diane would only get alarmed if she saw me cry. Fixing my eyes on the sky, I eyed the gray clouds that gathered. Evening was fast approaching and it looked like it would rain. I had to get Diane's medicine from the Old Lady before it turned dark. 

"You do trust me, don't you Diane?" I asked, pulling away to cup her face. She nodded and I smiled. "Can I trust you to stay in the house till I return? Dinner's ready. I just need to get your medicine from Gisele." 

Diane's eyes clouded even more and she looked down, biting her lower lip. 

"Hey hey, look at me," I urged, stroking her cheeks. "The house is safe okay? As long as you let me lock the doors, and tuck you in bed, nice and safe, it's safe I swear." 

She nodded glumly. "Okay. Don't be long," 

"I won't," I promised, patting her shoulder reassuringly. "Now come on, let's scoop you some rabbit stew. I made it extra spicy this time." 

****

Thirty minutes later, I raced down the hill, clutching my coat around me and headed for the village. Claw Village was one of the fourteen villages that made up the Silvermore pack. My family, made up of only humans, had married into the werewolf pack and our experience ever since had been... Unpleasant. I almost chuckled at the thought. 

Unpleasant was a fucking understatement. 

"Oh look, it's the weaseling human," Someone scoffed when I stepped foot in the village square. I couldn't care less, I had been called worse. 

Weaving through the lively village square, ignoring the mouth watering scent of flayed meat, and spicy buns that permeated the air, I searched the market square for a particular old woman with gray hair and the most bizzare dark eyes one had ever seen. 

She was also the only werewolf who was nice to us. 

"Over here!" Gisele whistled standing before her stall, a grin on her slightly wrinkled face. Her long gray hair was braided to the side, her arms folded underneath her cloak as she watched me approach her. 

"You moved stalls again," I commented, stepping under the wooden shack. It housed a long table overflowing with herbs and spices, their pungent scent thickening the air. 

Gisele shrugged, the impish grin on her face. "Fangbury called me a witch again. Couldn't take the insult anymore and decided I'd had enough. I got this place for a few hundred coins." 

I glanced around and shrugged. "It looks good enough. You should have told me you were moving. I'd have come to help-" 

Whatever I had wanted to say was lost when an intense pain exploded in my chest. Groaning, I hunched over, clutching my dress.

Oh no. Not again. 

My vision turned blurry as I wheezed, struggling to breathe. I could hear Gisele speak but whatever she said was drowned by the sound of blood rushing in my ears. 

The pain was familiar. 

It was said that when a werewolf got rejected by their mate, they would go through excruciating pain. No one talked about what would happen if a human got rejected. Twice. 

Oh but I knew. It was way worse than pain. It was bone rattling, nerve grating madness. 

"Your internal scars still haven't healed yet," I heard Gisele mumble and I moaned in response. 

She must have helped me sit on a bench because when I could move, I found myself propped against a wooden wall, trying to breathe evenly. 

"We both know," I wheezed, "They won't be healing at all." 

Gisele shook her head, her eyes watching me sadly. 

"Oh don't look at me like that," I said, sitting straighter when the pain eased. "Did you find the blue morning rose?" 

Gisele shook her head again and my eyes fell. The blue morning rose was rumored to be able to cure all sorts of diseases of the mind. Like the one that ate at Diane's mind. I would pay anything to make sure my sister was well. Anything at all. 

"Nothing at all?" 

"None of my fellow healers in the city or other villages have it, Ava. It grows under very rare conditions." Gisele replied, picking up a bottle of concoction and handed it to me. "There's just one place I am certain it grows. But it will be easier pulling a tooth from a wolf than plucking a flower-" 

"Where is this place? If it's in a fucking Volcano, I'll go!" I swore. 

Gisele laughed and patted my hair as if I was an amusing little puppy. "Oh relax child."

"I cannot relax," I gritted my teeth. "Diane's getting worse. She's starting to lose sight of colors and forget even the simplest of tasks." 

Gisele stared at me hard, as if pondering over something before speaking. "It's in the royal palace." 

My brows shot up. "Ah crap," 

"Now you know," she shrugged. "The palace is miles away. There's no way you could enter and even if you could, I doubt the royal family would allow anyone into their gardens." 

"I could try," I mumbled feebly. 

"And how would you possibly do that? You can't leave Diane for too long, remember?" She said, and I nodded.

"I know that," I replied with a sigh, clutching the bottle containing Diane's medicine and rose to my feet. "I could write a letter or something. I'll ask for permission from the royal family, hell I'll bargain with them if I have to." 

Gisele smiled warmly and nodded. "Fine. We can try all of that. You should be on your way now, those clouds don't look like they're smiling." 

"Thanks Gisele," I mumbled, rising to my feet. "We wouldn't have survived this long without you." 

As I made my way home, I wondered what I would do if the royal family did not accept my request. Oh who was I kidding, they most likely weren't going to accept it anyways. Especially if they found out it was from a lowly human. 

What the hell would I do then?

****

Three rapid knocks on my door stopped me from settling into bed. I glanced at Diane's sleeping frame next to me then at the bedroom door. 

Who the hell was it at this hour? I was too fagged out to be bothered by meddlesome werewolves who thought it was fun to pick on me. 

Shrugging on my black cloak to cover my rather ratty nightdress, I walked out of the bedroom to the door. 

"Who's there?" 

There was silence on the other end and the hairs on my neck bristled in fear. 

"W-Who's there?" I asked again. 

"Open up Miss Lopez, The Silvermore brothers seek an audience with you." 

No fucking way.