Chapter 136 Becky’s finding CAS SANDRA When I returned to the clinic after Asher’s health check, Marley was speaking. with a patient. I waited patiently for them to finish, and when she turned around 1 face me, she smiled. “Have you seen Becky?” I wondered. My friend nodded and gestured behind her. “She’s in the lab room. She’s been back there all day. Hasn’t taken a break at all today.” Becky hadn’t come to breakfast either. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t stop worrying about her. She had always been a dedicated worker and assistant, but she was pushing herself too far. She needed to take a break and face what was going on. So, I nodded and then headed toward the lab room. When I reached the door, I knocked twice, and when I didn’t get a response, I entered anyway. Becky was standing in front of one of our devices, studying it so closely that she hadn’t even realized I’d entered until I walked up beside her. “Cas sy,” she exclaimed, and she pushed her round glasses up her nose. “I didn’t even see you.” After she greeted me, her attention went right back to her experiment, and she cuickly scribbled down some notes I couldn’t make out. “Becks, you should take a break,” I advised. “You’ve been in here all day.” “I will,” she replied with a wave of her hand. “I just need another minute to finish this, alright?” “Okay,” I said, and I took a seat on the nearest stool and waited for her to wrap.

111 up her project. Once her minute was up, she set her note sheet down and turned to face me. Her cheeks were pale and her eyes were bloodshot and tired-looking. She stretched her arms above her head and gave me a small smile. “I know you’re worried about me,” she said. “After everything that happened yesterday. But it’s all over

and done with now. That ba stard of a man won’t bother me anymore. Besides, even if things hadn’t been so terrible, we wouldn’t make a nice couple anyway. He’s an upper-class wolf and I’m just a commoner. We never would have worked out.” Sho I remained silent and studied her expression. I couldn’t tell if she meant wha said or not. Her words were cheerful and casual, but the redness of her eyes and the swollenness of her lips suggested she’d been crying. I knew she was trying to deflect in an attempt to save face, but I wasn’t so easily convinced. I was too in touch with my emotions to know when someone was trying to lie about something like this. “You’ve been in here since yesterday,” I pointed out gently. “Erika told me that you didn’t use the room they prepared for you. Is that true?” Erika had come to me before I’d gone to the palace to check on Asher. The maid’s kind eyes had been wrought with concern. “I know she’s going through a lot,” she’d said. “So don’t be too hard on her. I only bring this up because I’m worried, Cas sandra. Becky is a good girl with a kind hear I don’t want to see her hurt.” “I know,” I’d replied. “Thank you for telling me, Erika. I’ll check in with her and find out what’s going on. I’m sure she’s okay. Just needs to ride the wave for a while.” My entire way back to the clinic, I’d considered what to say to her. I didn’t want to be confrontational. I couldn’t force Becky to face her problems head-on. I just wanted to be a good friend to her and let her know that she had our full support. In the meantime, I hoped Asher would touch base with Silas so we could get this mate business all sorted. Becky deserved a loving man, and while I didn’t know Silas well, he surely deserved a kind partner like Becky. |||

2/4 Meanwhile, Becky nodded and pulled me back into the present moment. “Yes, I’ve been in here since yesterday, Cas sy. But it’s not because of Silas, I promise. I’ve been hard at work on something else.” “Really?” I wondered, and my eyebrows creased together. “Something else?” Becky nodded again, only this time it was far more enthusiastic than before. “Come here, and I’ll show you.” I stepped off of my stool and walked over to her workstation. Becky hand. a stack of papers, and I scanned them quickly. “What are these?” I wondered as I tried to make sense of the lab results. “After the celebration, I came in here and studied the coroner’s report thoroughly,” she replied. “In it, I found something similar to the poison Udosyn. So, I tried to recreate a few elements based on Udosyn and tested it…. It turns out our assumption was correct. It’s all related, Cas sy.” My lips parted in surprise. I had only mentioned once in front of Becky that the disease might be related to the poison, and I certainly hadn’t expected my assistant to recreate it overnight. “Becky this is…” my words trailed off as I tried to find the right this to say. “How did you do this? And so quickly? This is insane.” “I used my anger as motivation,” she replied with a small shrug. “I wanted to show anyone who looked down on me that I was capable and intelligent. I’m not going to let someone treat me badly or think I’m stu pid just because I don’t come from money.” “Good for you,” I replied, and I sincerely meant it. “Seriously, Becky this is amazing. You are so incredibly talented. I’m impressed.” “Thank you,” she replied, and her smile grew brighter. I was so proud of her. Though we hadn’t known each other as Marley and I had, I felt an intense bond with Becky. I thought of her like a sister, and I was so ||| 3/4

impressed by her scientific mind and her will to persevere. “If you could recreate this overnight, there’s even more hope that we could find a cure for the disease,” I remarked as I stared down at the data. “We could save so many lives with this information and put a stop to this terrible illness.” “Marley told me the disease is prevailing in Wild Crawler,” Becky mentioned thoughtfully. “I don’t know if it would be possible, but I was wondering if I could go and visit to get more information. The more patients I could study, the better. And besides… I’ve never been on that side of the country before. It could be trip for me. Get my mind off of things.” Becky had a good point. Her hypothesis and research could really do some good in Wild Crawler. It would also be good for her to get away from Anemond and take a break away from the capital city for a bit. “I’ll have to ask the Alpha King for permission,” I said. “But I’m sure he’ll be okay with it. One thing you need to keep in mind- Wild Crawler is a very small Pack and the disease can be dangerous. You’ll have to be extremely cautious.” “Of course,” Becky said, and she nodded seriously. “Thank you, Cas sandra. I think this could be good news for everyone.” 4/4 III

Chapter 137
Marley had originally planned to leave Anemond in a few days to return nome, but when she heard that Becky was going to Wild Crawler, she pointed out that my clinic was going to be short-handed. “As much as I want to get home, I won’t leave you to deal with all of these patients on your own,” my friend insisted with a twi nkle in her light green eyes. “I’ll extend my stay a little longer so I can help. “You don’t have to do that,” I countered. “What about your boys?” “They’ll be fine,” she assured me with a wave of her hand. “Besides, I’ll just call my parents. They love spending time with the kids and the kids love their grandparents. It works out well for everyone, Cas sy.” I offered her a small smile. “That’s really kind of you, Marley. Thank you. I really appreciate the help.” “Of course,” she said. “That’s what sisters are for.” Sisters. The words from her lips brought me joy like no other. Though my identity prior to Wild Crawler was a mystery to them both, I considered Marley and Becky as my sisters. They were there for me and made this life of insanity and complications worth it, and I was lucky to have them by my side. Once we got the plans arranged, we decided to have a nice dinner with one another to celebrate Becky’s newest scientific accomplishments. Erika and Hannah prepared an insane amount of food, including some mouthwatering roasted chicken, garlic and cheese potatoes, a salad full of leafy greens, and an impressive dark chocolate cake for dessert. ။