No Other Option

"What happened?!" Taran looked at the frail form of his sister. She seemed like any breath might be her last.

"My mistress was injured by a fiend." The silver wolf answered. "We were tricked."

"Fechin?" Taran recognized the mannerisms of his sister's assistant as he spoke. "I did not think you were planning on becoming a wolf!"

Fechin dipped his head as Taran ushered him into the room. "Things did it go as planned. Lady Livie used her fail-safe elixir to save me, but then would not let me transform her with a scratch when she was crushed."

"My sister never wanted to be a wolf to begin with, so I am not surprised. I hope the Empress suffered more than Livie." Taran balled his fists.

Fechin's face was grim. "The Empress knew we were coming. The Emperor himself beat us to the city with a large portion of the Imperial army."

"Surely even an entire army of mere humans could not withstand the troops under my sister's command. That is preposterous." The nobleman stroked his chin.

The silver wolf lowered his head. "While we made a serious dent in their number, they were very well prepared to meet us. We were betrayed."

"Impossible! I got rid of the only brat who could have tipped our hand." Realizing what he had admitted, Taran glanced over at Dania to gauge her reaction. But the woman was too busy pushing things off of one of the long tables to even register his words. He lowered his voice, "I doubt even the prince and princess knew what we were up to before Renat ended up in the mountain camp."

"It was far more than luck that helped them, Sir Taran," Fechin sighed.

"Magic?"

"A magic user injured My Lady," the assistant responded. His silver ears pressed up against his head.

"Blasted magic users!" Taran growled. A beaker broke behind him as it was forced from its place. He turned on his fiancée. "Dania, what the blazes are you doing?"

"What you seem incapable of doing," Dania's biting reply caught him off guard, "Actually helping your sister."

In his rush for information, Taran had ignored the dire condition of Livie. In his mind, if she had made it all the way to him, then she would survive until he had learned all he needed to know.

His cold and calculating demeanor towards his own flesh and blood was truly chilling.

Happy to have someone who seemed to care, Fechin moved past the nobleman and put his mistress on the table. Livie's face was pale from the long journey and her lips were tinged with blue.

"Can you help her?" The silver wolf whined softly.

"Of course she can!" Taran scoffed.

"I'm not a doctor, Taran. You should call one of the healers! Surely you have at least a couple around." Dania began to pull at the clothing matted against Livie's skin. It was caked in dried blood and dirt and reeked of Fechin's sweaty fur.

Taran barked at the reptilian guard. "Why are you still standing there?! Get a healer!"

As the lizard scrambled from the room, the nobleman rolled up his sleeves to aid Dania in her work. When Livie's abdomen was finally clear of cloth, the female scientist poured some of the unused water from her experiments on her torso to clean it.

With the dirt wiped away, the deep bruising under the skin was clearly visible. Dania's expression became bleak.

"There's too much damage," she muttered.

Although Dania did not like Lady Livie, she also did not like the idea of watching the woman die. Death was not to be taken lightly no matter who was its victim.

"Please," Fechin begged.

"I'm sorry," the woman's eyes turned a deep blue and welled with tears. Another death to add to her total.

"You must save her!" Taran screamed. A sudden change overcame the young nobleman. "I will not tell my father another of his children died when I should have been there to protect them."

He moved to one of the fireplaces and removed the boiling magical water from it. "Get her to drink this. It will heal her."

"I don't think it is potent enough for what is wrong with her." Before beginning her trials with the healing water, Dania did not have much experience with the human body.

But after months of seeing people die horribly and dealing with the aftermath of injuries inflicted on the abominations by one another, she had gained an understanding of body's inherent limits. Livie had reached hers.

"No!" Taran was beyond reason. He dipped some of the boiling water from the pot with an empty vial. The scalding red marks on his hand showed just how hot the water was, yet the handsome man did not seem to notice.

"You'll burn her!" Dania screamed, taking hold of his injured arm.

But the marks on his hand quickly faded as his wounds healed. The potent water could heal as well as harm.

"Move out of my way!" Taran thrust the scientist aside and tipped up his sister's head, steam poured from the vial and boiling droplets dripped into Livie's mouth and streamed down her pale cheeks.

Livie managed to choke. Beyond her shallow breathing, it was the first movement the woman had completed on her own since arriving.

Then the woman went still.

Taran growled. "Nothing is happening!"

"I'm not surprised. I'm not even sure she swallowed any of that scalding mess and even if she had, her body is literally crushed. She is no more than skin and bones. Has she even eaten since this happened?" Dania looked to Fechin.

"Barely," the silver wolf answered honestly. It would do no good to lie now. The person he had sworn to protect with his life was in danger. "She was able to keep down a little water though."

Dania surveyed how flat Livie's abdomen was. She looked like a piece of yellow fruit with its middle squished to either side. It was a miracle she was alive at all.

"She has a very strong will."

"Do something!" Taran took hold of the brunette's shoulder and shook her frantically.

"I can't. Only something truly miraculous can fix what ails her," Dania tried to reason with the man. She had the distinct impression that when Taran's sister died, he might actually lose his grip on reality. If only he would loosen his grip on her!

"I told you..." Taran's voice trailed off as his eyes went past her to one of the tables at the wall. "That's it!"

Dania looked over her shoulder and gasped. "No Taran. It isn't ready. I am not even sure if that creature is compatible with people!"

"It was made with me in mind anyway. She wanted to be grand. This will be glorious."

"You'll kill her!" Dania tried to pull on the man's arm as he passed her, pushing her to the ground.

"You are mistaken. This is what will save her. It is ready. I know you have been stalling to make me think it isn't so." Taran was suddenly calm and confident. He pulled a beaker from its holder and strode towards the pale woman stretched out on the table.

"Now now, sister. Do not spit this one out. I mean it." Taran firmly gripped Livie's chin.

Fechin thought to stop the nobleman, but he really saw no other option. If Dania offered no other solution, then he did not think the healer would be any different. So the assistant reluctantly stepped away from his mistress and let her brother work.

Livie's jaw was forced open. Unlike before, the liquid was carefully poured into the lady's mouth with such precision, Dania began to wonder if Taran's former outburst was all for show. Had this been his plan from the moment he saw his sister be carried through the door? Was his concern all for show so that Livie could be his first test subject?

Dania couldn't say for sure, but the thought worried her as much as the unfinished elixir. She stood slowly, watching the events unfold in slow motion before her.

Unlike before, Livie sipped at the container, wetting her dry tongue and swallowing what she could.

Her eyes fluttered open as she looked at her brother with a pale smile.

"There you are," Livie said.

"A promise is a promise…" Taran took her hand.

"Thank you," Livie breathed out a ragged breath and went limp.

"She's dead!" Fechin scrambled to gather up the woman in his arms. "What did you promise? To kill her?!"

"She isn't dead. Livie is just resting. I did not promise to hurt her. I promised we would transform together."

The woman on the table shuddered violently, and the table began to shake. Livie screamed, her voice wailing against the pain inside her.

Dania watched as Livie's deflated abdomen convulsed and filled and the bruising on her skin faded.

"Hold her down!" the scientist screamed to Fechin. "She will be feral!"

By the time the change was complete, the laboratory was in shambles. Livie was covered in sweat, her glossy hair covering her face.

Taran watched her heavy breathing with a tense expression. Her head suddenly snapped up, the black pupils of her eyes large but not encompassing her brown irises. Her eeire gaze landed on Fechin before flicking to Dania and finally Taran.

"I'm glad it worked," the handsome man chuckled softly. "How do you feel?"

"Powerful," Livie said with a wicked grin. "Now, it's your turn, brother."

Taran clicked his tongue, staring down at the other half of the elixir he was still holding in his hand.

"Not so fast, sister," he answered with one eyebrow raised. "First, show me what you can do…"