Assistance

**ERICKSON'S POV**

"You can help us? You'd be willing to trade with us?" Arthur got way too excited way too fast.

"That depends." The man, and by man I mean the wolf, laughed low and soft and it sounded like a growl.

"On what?" Arthur spoke up again.

"Shh! Be quiet, son." I snapped at him. I didn't know if this wolf could be trusted. I didn't want to get in too deep if he wasn't actually willing to help us out here.

"I will make the trade with you, assuming you are willing to pay the price." The wolf's face morphed into what seemed to be pure honesty, though his eyes were a little deceitful.

"I will pay whatever it takes. I will make sure that my little girl can live."

"That is good to hear. For starters, for the cost of the potion." He held out his hand to me like he thought I knew how much was needed.

"Can't I come with you to purchase the Flourish potion?" I was a little apprehensive and didn't fully trust him just yet.

"If they see a human standing nearby, they won't sell it to me. I will need to do the actual purchasing by myself."

Based on what I had heard from everyone else, what he was saying made sense. This potion was a special one that needed to be protected from us humans. That was why it was not sold to us directly.

"Fine. I will give you the money for the potion. How much is it?" That's what I needed to know first. If he told me some ridiculously high number, then I knew that he would just be robbing us and nothing more.

"It can range depending on the seller. I am guessing you want a quality product from a reputable shop. For that it will be at least twenty howlings."

I had a feeling it would be somewhere in that range. And it wasn't way beyond a reasonable quote, so I didn't think he was only out to scam us. Not to mention, I didn't have anyone else that I could trust with this.

"Alright, I will give you the money. Please, I beg of you, bring me back the medicine for my little girl."

"Don't you worry, sir. I will bring it right back to you."

"Can I have your name, please?" I asked him as he tried to walk away.

"My name is Boberre. And you are?"

"Mercer, Erickson Mercer. Thank you, Boberre. I will wait here for you." He had started to walk toward the center of the city and not the markets that Arthur and I had visited.

"No, Mercer, it would be best if you waited for me just outside the city gate. That way no one sees me giving you the potion."

"Yes, of course. We need to protect ourselves completely. I will restock some supplies for our return trip and wait for you there." I slightly bowed my head to him again in thanks and climbed into the wagon once again, this time with Arthur as we headed to the food market.

While we waited for Boberre to come and find us, I stocked up on some water and food for our family back home. I wanted to make sure that when Addie woke up, she would have a lovely meal to look forward to.

Arthur and I waited for about twenty minutes once we were outside of the city. That, and the time it took us to buy the items in the market, had totaled about an hour or so. I didn't think that it would take the wolf an hour to buy the potion. This was starting to look like a robbery through and through.

"Dammit." I swore under my breath.

"Don't give up hope just yet, Dad. He might still come back. We don't know yet if he lied to us."

"I know, son, but it's disheartening. It's painful for me to just sit and wait here. I don't want to think that he might have just taken our money and counted that as it. I didn't want that to be the end of it all, but it looks like that's-."

"He's coming out of the city." Arthur interrupted me and my wallowing with his outburst.

When I lifted my head, I saw that the man that we had spoken to earlier was indeed coming out of the city. He had a smile on his face and a bag on his back. He was also leading a horse by the reins and passed by the guards unnoticed.

"Hello there, Mercer." He called out to me as he stopped next to my wagon.

"Boberre, thank you so much for returning to us." I spoke with audible relief.

"You didn't think that I was going to steal from you, did you?" He almost looked offended when he asked me that. "I would never steal from you or be dishonest. I am a progressive kind of werewolf; I like humans very much."

"Thank you again, Mr. Boberre." Arthur hopped down from the wagon. "We owe you our gratitude."

"You will be paying me for this."

"Yes, yes, of course." I nodded at him. "We will pay, whatever you want, we will pay."

"Good." He grinned at me again, almost mischievously.

"Might I ask, Sir, why do you have a travel sack and a horse with you?" I couldn't keep my curiosity about that quiet anymore. The moment I saw him with those items I was beginning to wonder what was going on.

"Well, I learned that only a wolf could administer the Flourish. That means that I simply must come with you to make sure that your daughter lives, correct? We can discuss my payment after she has been healed."

"Yes, yes of course. Oh, thank you so much. To think that you would not only procure the medicine, but you would also come along to make sure that it works as intended. This is so much more than I could have ever hoped for."

"Think nothing of it, Mercer, this is what I promised, right? Now, shall we be off. I don't think you want to keep that little girl of yours waiting for much longer."