Please, we need you.

CHAPTER FIVE  

ALEXIS'S POV  

“And the recipient of this year’s Excellence in Medical Research Award is Dr. Alexis Wayne.”  

The applause filled the hall as I walked onto the stage. Cameras flashed at me as I accepted the plaque with a smile and shook the presenter’s hand.  

“Dr. Wayne,” the moderator said into the microphone, “your work on rare immunological responses has changed treatment protocols across three continents. How does it feel to stand here tonight?”  

“It feels like the result of a lot of long nights,” I answered. “And a refusal to accept that some conditions simply can’t be treated.”  

A few more questions followed. I kept my answers short and clear. When the interview ended I left the stage to more applause and made my way toward the side exit.  

Ethan was waiting exactly where I had left him with my assistant. The moment he saw me he ran forward and wrapped his arms around my waist.  

“You did it, Mama.”  

I hugged him back, resting my chin on top of his head. “We did it. You kept me company through every late night.”  

He grinned up at me. “Can we get celebratory ice cream on the way home?”  

“Only if you promise to sleep before midnight.”  

“Deal.”  

My assistant, Nora, fell into step beside us. “The car's ready. And the usual messages are already coming in. Two research boards, one hospital board, and those werewolf medical representatives again.”  

“Delete the last ones,” I said.  

Nora didn’t argue. She had worked with me long enough to know that subject was closed.  

I survived that night, thanks to the help of a passerby. After then, I delivered Ethan and picked up the pieces of my life without looking back.

Dyson never came for us, and he never will.

We drove home and Ethan talked the entire way about a science project he wanted to start. 

I listened and answered, already thinking about the next week’s schedule. My life was full, structured, and completely mine.  

That changed the moment we walked through the front door.  

Ethan made it three steps into the living room before he stopped. His face went pale.  

“Mama…I don’t feel so good.”  

I caught him as his knees gave way. His skin was burning and within minutes his temperature had climbed so high the thermometer barely registered it. 

His breathing turned shallow and his body jerked once, then again, it was like something inside him was fighting itself.  

This was not a human fever.  

I carried him to his room and laid him on the bed. Nora stood in the doorway, already pulling out her phone.  

“Do you want me to call an ambulance?”  

“No. I know what this is.”  

I worked throughout the night. 

Placing cool cloths, fluids and the specific suppressants I had developed years ago for exactly this kind of reaction. 

Ethan’s mixed biology made ordinary medicine useless and dangerous at the same time. I adjusted dosages by instinct and memory, watching every change in his heart rate and breathing.  

By four in the morning the worst of it finally broke, his temperature was back to normal and his breathing had evened out. 

He fell into an exhausted sleep with his hand still wrapped  around mine.  

I sat there until the sun started coming up.  

Nora entered quietly with coffee. “He’s stable?”  

“For now.”  

She hesitated. “The werewolf medical team has been calling since last night. They’re desperate. The disease is spreading faster and pups are dying in three different territories. They say their own doctors have nothing left to try.”  

“I’m not interested.”  

“Alexis—”  

“I said no.”  

Nora set the cup down. “Some of those children are younger than Ethan. They’ve never even seen a human, let alone hurt one.”  

I looked at my sleeping son. “The werewolf world tried to kill me while I was carrying him. They called him an abomination, so I don’t owe them anything.”  

“I know. I’m just telling you what they’re saying.”  

I didn’t answer and Nora left me alone.  

Later that night the doorbell rang.  

Three people stood on my porch—two men and a woman, all in formal coats, all carrying the restrained tension of people who had run out of options.  

The woman spoke first. “Dr. Wayne. We apologize for coming to your home. We didn’t know how else to reach you.”  

“I already gave my answer through my assistant.”  

“We received it,” one of the men said. “We’re asking you to reconsider. The disease attacks werewolf healing itself. Our strongest treatments fail within days, children are dying in hospital beds while their parents watch. We have followed every paper you’ve published. Your research on hybrid immune responses is the only work that has shown any real improvement .”  

I crossed my arms. “How many pups?”  

“Forty-seven confirmed cases in the last two weeks. Nineteen dead, while the rest are declining very quickly.”  

“And you came here because you think I can fix it.”  

“We came because we believe you are the only one who can,” the woman said. “We are not asking for forgiveness or politics, we are asking for a doctor.”  

I studied their faces. They all carried pure exhaustion and fear, there was no arrogance this time.  

“I need time to think,” I said. “You’ll have my decision by morning.”  

They nodded and left without further argument.  

I closed the door and walked back to Ethan’s room. He was still asleep, with one arm thrown over his stomach. I sat on the edge of the bed and watched him for a long time.  

Everything the werewolves had done to me was still there. The betrayal, the attack, the years of raising my son in secret so they could never touch him….Dyson.

But the children dying were not the ones who had ordered my death.  

I stood up, walked to the living room, and called Nora.  

“Prepare everything,” I said. “We’re leaving for werewolf territory tomorrow.”