Chapter 83

Ella POV

"It's been a while since I've seen you," Dr. Bowman said.

I was sitting on the examination table in my family doctor's office. He was the head doctor for the pack and the personal physician for the alpha’s family.

"Yes, well, I haven't been due for a check-up, have I?" I asked, looking down at my feet.

"I suppose not," Dr. Bowman replied. "But I normally see you at social events, and it seems you've been in the capital all summer, so I haven't seen you."

"Oh," I said, smiling awkwardly. "Yes, I've been spending a lot of time with friends."

Dr. Bowman laughed warmly. "There's no reason to be embarrassed. I'm glad to know that you've been having a good time. I was very sorry to hear about how things have turned out after the wedding."

"Yes, it's been a lot," I muttered. "Dr. Bowman, I wanted to ask you about something, and I'm not really sure how to bring it up."

"Just say it bluntly," he said. "I'm your doctor. There's no reason to be embarrassed or hesitant with me."

I took a deep breath. "In light of what's happened, I've been thinking about my wolf, and... I wanted to know, do you think my wolf could have been forced into a dormant state?"

The smile fell away from his face, replaced by a very serious expression. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," I continued, my voice steadying, "is it possible that someone poisoned me with something that forced my wolf to become dormant and kept it that way?"

Dr. Bowman stood from the stool he had been sitting on and clasped his hands behind his back as he began to pace up and down the room. He looked to be deep in thought.

"It is possible," he said after a long silence, "but I don’t find it likely. In order for something like that to work, you would have had to receive a high dosage of poison initially and then continue with a low dose to maintain the dormant state. For someone to do that to you secretly—it's not impossible, but there are so few people who would have the access to pull it off. Why do you ask? Do you have reason to suspect that someone may have been poisoning you?"

I hesitated to answer. I still wasn't sure who in the pack I could trust, and considering what he had just told me, the possibility that a medical expert from our pack could be David's accomplice seemed troubling.

Who else would have access to me to administer some mystery drug to control my wolf?

"A comment was made to me about it, and it made me think that I should consider the possibility," I said hesitantly, my words coming out in a broken jumble.

"That's a serious accusation," Dr. Bowman said.

"I know," I replied softly. "Are there any tests you could do that might be able to prove it one way or the other?"

Dr. Bowman shook his head. "I don't think that would work," he replied. "The drugs that could cause an effect like this don't stay in the system for very long. It's highly unlikely there would be any evidence left."

My heart sank at his words. I had hoped he would be able to test my blood and tell me what had caused all of this and how I could fix it, but it seemed that was impossible.

"So it's hopeless?" I muttered.

"I didn't say that," he replied. "Even without knowing what caused your wolf to become dormant, if we're approaching this from the theory that it was medically induced dormancy, then there may be a way to restore it."

"Really?" I asked hopefully. "I'm willing to try anything."

Dr. Bowman sat back down and began typing away at his laptop, his serious expression indicating he was deep in thought. I didn’t dare interrupt him as I sat quietly, wringing my hands together, waiting for him to say something—anything.

David had confessed that he was responsible for stealing my wolf from me, and now I had a sliver of hope that I could find her again. It had been so long since I lost my wolf that I could hardly remember what it felt like to have her, but I knew she was still there inside of me, and I wanted her back.

I wanted to restore myself. David shouldn't get the satisfaction of knowing that the damage he had done to me would linger even after I escaped him. I wanted to get my wolf back, and I wanted him to know that I had undone all of his wicked, malicious damage.

"There are a few things we can try," Dr. Bowman said, breaking the silence. "It will take time to reverse the damage that's been done and restore your wolf, and it may be weeks before we know if we're making any good progress, so don’t get your hopes up too high. This is going to be a very long, drawn-out ordeal."

"I understand that," I said. "But you're telling me there is hope?"

He looked at me wide-eyed for a moment, and his expression softened. "Yes," he said, "there's hope."

I felt tears prick my eyes and laughed awkwardly as I wiped them away. "Sorry," I muttered. "I don't know why I got so emotional so quickly."

"It's completely natural to feel that way," he said.

"Where do we start? What do we do first?" I asked, my excitement bubbling over.

He laughed slightly before turning back to his computer screen. "I think we'll begin with physical therapy. I know that might sound odd, but there are some exercises you can do that will help you feel connected to your wolf again."

"Isn't there something more drastic we can try?" I asked.

"We don't want to rush things," he said. "We can do more damage if we're not careful."

"Okay," I said, nodding enthusiastically. "So physical therapy first?"

"And I'll write you a list of vitamins that I want you to start taking. We need to make sure you're in peak health in order to reverse any damage that may have been done by long-term poisoning. I'm not saying that's what happened, but if it is, the best thing we can do to restore your wolf is to improve your health."

"That makes sense," I said.

Dr. Bowman began to write in a notebook on the counter, and my mind raced with all the possibilities. I didn’t know how David could have pulled it off, but I didn’t doubt that it was the kind of thing he would do.

I was frustrated that I didn't have more information, but this was still the best chance I had had in years.

There was a lot to look into and a lot of work I had to do to deal with all the damage David had caused and was still causing, but he wasn't going to win.

I pulled my phone out and texted Alexander. Even though I would see him for dinner at my parents' house tomorrow, it felt like this couldn’t wait.

“The doctor believes my wolf can be recovered,” I texted.

I stared at the screen as I waited for a response. I felt anxious, uncertain of how Alexander might reply.

Luckily, I didn’t have to wait for long. After less than a minute, he replied.

“That’s good news. What else?”

“He said that I must be getting low doses of poison to keep my wolf dormant. I don’t know how, but someone is continuing to poison me.”

It felt so strange to openly talk to him about this. It felt like we should be using a code or keeping it hidden, but I didn’t have to do that anymore. I didn’t have to face this completely alone, and it made me feel more confident that I would get through this.

Alexander’s response was immediate, and it made me smile as I read it.

“We’ll find them.”