I was getting immensely frustrated. Zachary had tried to summon the witch three times so far and he'd come up empty handed with each attempt. 

Alarik's phone rang and I pulled it out of his pocket. Thankfully the drugs were still working on him. 

"Allison," I said without bothering to look at the number first. 

"I need to speak with Alarik." I knew the voice, it was the doctor. 

"Well he's a bit indisposed at the moment. Whatever you need to say, you can say it to me," I snapped at him. I didn't mean to sound bitchy, I had just had enough with everything going on. 

"Well, uh, we've had a few more people enter with the same conditions," the man said. 

"A few?" I asked. A few wasn't exactly a solid number and he could tell I wanted that from my tone. 

"Twenty-four to be exact, Mrs. Trenton." I rolled my eyes at his use of Alarik's last name. There were far more pressing issues than the fact that he and I weren't married yet. 

"Do what you can to make them comfortable. Keep them alive as long as possible; we're working on fixing this now."

"Yes, ma'am."

I ended the call and put the phone down rather harshley on the dresser. 

"Have you gotten anything yet?" I asked going back to Zachary. 

"She's got a strong barrier around her," he murmured with his eyes closed. He started up a chant in a language that I didn't understand. There was an alter in front of him with various objects and herbs scattered around. 

"Well fix it and get her here," I snapped.

I could feel Zachary tensing. It probably wasn't a good idea to piss off a warlock, but it wasn't a good idea to piss off a werewolf either, and I was beyond pissed.

"We have more that were taken into the medical center for this curse. Our people are dying and that witch is the cause of it. I want here here. I want to know why she did this and then I want to make her fix it."

"Well I've been unable to pull her here. If I'm having this much difficulty just summoning her, I doubt you're going to accomplish either of your goals, little wolf," he said smoothly but I could here the edge of annoyance hidden behind the words.

"I am not a little wolf," I spat. "I am the Luna of this pack and that witch was brought in here by you. That makes this partially your responsibility. If you wish to keep your name out of it, then I suggest you cooperate in getting her here and making her stop whatever is going on."

I heard Alarik groan and I looked toward where he was lying on the bed. A coughing fit racked his body and he turned on his side, blood coming up from the force of the cough.

A sheen of sweat covered his forehead and I could see it starting to soak into his shirt. There was no doubt that something was wrong with him. I knew that he could fall over on the ground and he'd still deny that anything was wrong with him though.

He was stubborn, my stubborn mate. Sometimes it was endearing, right now it was frustrating.

When he turned toward me, his eyes were glowing with his wolf. It was clear that whatever this was, was affecting him differently than it was affecting the rest of the pack.

It was drawn out, each symptom developing much slower. He was losing his control on his wolf, the one thing that an Alpha was supposed to have absolute control over and that witch was making him feel the control leave while his body completely shut down.

Unshed tears burned behind my eyes. I couldn't let them loose right now though, there was too much that needed to be done. The pack and Alarik-whether he knew it or not- were relying on me to fix this.

"Allison." Alarik's voice was faint.

"Go back to sleep, you need to rest. Don't do anything to over exert yourself right now. You need to save your strength and just focus on keeping yourself alive."

"What are you talking about? I'm perfectly fine."

A growl rumbled through my chest as I fixed my stare right on him.

"You are so far from fine that you're not even within the same galaxy of the word, Alarik. Now lay back down and rest right now! I'm working on fixing this, but you need to do me a favor and stay out of it right now. You're in no condition to go running around trying to save the day."

I took a deep breath to calm myself down and sat next to him placing my hands on his shoulders.

"You saved me, now let me save you," I whispered.

"You're not supposed to save me, Allison."

"Yes I am. We're supposed to save each other. It's my turn now so I need you to sit here and let me do it."

Alarik closed his eyes and I could feel everything swirling around inside him through the bond. I could feel the pain he was going through both physical and mental.

Not only was he feeling the curse tear himself apart from the inside out, he was putting himself through the mental pain of his believed failure.

I wondered why I didn't have the curse. What made me exempt from it? It appeared to be something that spread through contact, that was how the people throughout the pack had gotten it. They had shook Alarik's hand, been in close proximity to him. I had been with him more than anyone in the pack and yet I wasn't feeling anything like he was.

If it weren't for what I felt through him and the bond, I would be perfectly fine.

"Close it out," he whispered.

"No."

"Allison, close me out."

"I'm not going to just close you out, Alarik."

"You don't need to feel any of this. I don't want you to. Close me out and do what you need to."

I can do what I need to without closing you out, you fool, I said to him, afraid that my voice would betray me. I'm not going to leave you alone.

Alarik closed his eyes and I turned back to Zachary with a lump in my throat.

"What do you need to get her here?"

~~~~~~~

Zachary had summoned another witch. We'd fought about it for a good ten minutes before I finally relented. He'd argued that he would only be able to summon Zelena with the assistance of more magic, and since I wasn't an option, he needed another witch.

He and the woman talked quietly. She'd seemed appalled when Zachary had explained the situation to her.

They'd gotten to work almost immediately and I'd sat beside Alarik. He appeared to be asleep but his breathing had become shallow. Each breath looked like a struggle and I found it difficult to watch him.

In his sleep one tear came to the surface, collecting in the corner of his eye before breaking free and sliding down toward his hair. It had been tinged with read and my breath caught.

The image of blood flowing from the eyes and nose came back to my mind. Soon after had been death. Was that the next step for Alarik? It was hard to tell since the cursed disease had reacted differently within him than it had the others, but I didn't feel foolish enough to hope.

I heard Zachary and the other witch start a chant, the same one he'd been saying before. I felt the rhythm and power within the words and I felt the shift in the room as the magic started to flow between them.

It was an odd feeling, like an electrical current that pulsed throughout the room. It was almost as if there was a draft in the room. The hair that fell over Alarik's forehead started to move slightly and goosebumps rose up on my arms.

I could feel the magic intensify as the pulled on it more to summon Zelena.

It felt like there was something pushing back. It was a heavier magic, one that was trying to resist the witches beside me. It must have been Zelena resisting the summoning.

Zachary and the woman pulled harder. Their chanting became louder and their closed eyes scrunched up as they focused and pulled against the invisible force.

My eyes widened as I soon started to see something in the center of the room.

It looked more like an apparition of a ghost than anything else, but it must have been Zelena. She was appearing in the designated border of the candles. Zachary had said it would be a safe place, a zone where Zelena's magic wouldn't work. She wouldn't be able to pass through unless we allowed it and she was harmless within the ring.

The image within the circle seemed to pulsate, slowly getting stronger until I could make out the woman's face.

Her beautiful face contorted into a snarl as she realized that her magic was failing her.

I closed my hand into a tight fist and felt my claws that had started to slip out dig into my palm. I felt my rage surfacing, gaining strength as Zelena came more into focus within her confined space.

Within a few moments I was face to face with the witch who had cast the curse on my mate and my pack. The anger bubbled up within me and I found it impossible to contain.

I didn't want to snap, but it seemed impossible that I would be able to contain it.

We still need her alive. She's the only one who can reverse whatever's going on. Alarik saved you, now it's your turn. Just as you told him.

My mind tried to reason with my rage. I just hoped that part of me would be the one to win out when all was said and done.

***********

So there's that. Sorry for the long break here, but here's the chapter. Hope you like it.

What do you think is going on here? What will Allison do? Leave your comments and ideas below. Thank you for coming back and I hope you like the last few chapters (because yes, I believe this is coming to an end here soon.) Thanks all!