Chapter 44: His Little Sister

Olivia’s POV

​I was sitting beside Doctor Vance’s desk, carefully recording a list of herbs he had asked me to write down, when his hand suddenly stopped moving.

​I noticed it immediately. One second, he had been sorting through a pile of patient records, and the next, he was completely still, staring blankly at the wall.

​I lowered my pen. "Doctor Vance?"

​He didn’t answer. His eyes had gone distant in that strange, hazy way people’s eyes looked when they were speaking through a mind link. I had seen it enough times back in the Blood Moon Pack to recognize it instantly.

​A few seconds passed, and his face suddenly turned pale. He stood up so fast his chair scraped loudly against the floorboards, almost knocking over a tray of empty glass vials.

​"Follow me," he said, his voice loud and laced with panic.

​I blinked. "What?"

​He didn’t waste time explaining. He turned on his heel and rushed out of the consultation room. Apparently, explanations were no longer necessary. I quickly dropped my pen onto the desk and hurried after him.

​"Doctor Vance, what happened?"

​He didn’t answer. He hurried down the clinic corridor, and the moment we stepped out into the bright afternoon sun, he broke into a run.

​I had absolutely no idea where we were going or why we were suddenly running across the stone courtyard, but I ran after him anyway, my heart hammering against my ribs.

​"Doctor Vance!" I called out, trying to keep up.

​"Just keep up!" he barked over his shoulder.

​Easy for him to say. His legs were much longer than mine.

​By the time I realized where we were heading, we were already approaching the main pack mansion. My confusion only grew when Doctor Vance shoved open the heavy doors and rushed straight inside without stopping. A few servants scrambled out of his way, and I followed close on his heels as he took the grand staircase two steps at a time.

​We went past the second floor where my room was located, then continued up another long flight of stairs. I slowed slightly, my lungs burning. I had never been up here before.

​This part of the mansion felt completely different. It was much quieter, dimly lit by wall sconces, and there were no servants walking around. Two stoic pack warriors stood guard at the entrance of a long hallway, but the moment they saw Doctor Vance, they stepped aside without asking a single question. Whatever was happening, they had been expecting him.

​Doctor Vance hurried down the quiet corridor and stopped in front of a massive double door. He grabbed the iron handle, pushed it open, and rushed inside.

​I followed him through the doorway, and then I froze dead in my tracks.

​The room was vast, filled with the soft glow of glowing crystals. There were several healers in the room. I counted five before my attention moved past them to the large canopy bed in the center.

​A young girl was lying motionless on the mattress. She looked small and fragile beneath the heavy velvet blankets, her skin as pale as winter snow and her dark hair spread out across the white pillows.

​For a few seconds, I simply stood near the doorway, wondering who she was and why five senior healers were hovering anxiously around her. Then I remembered what Gloria had told me days ago.

​Lucian had a younger sister. A princess who had fallen into a deep, dark coma during the war.

​My eyes moved back to the girl on the bed. My stomach tightened.

​No. That couldn’t be her. Could it?

​She looked no older than fifteen or sixteen years old. In my mind, I had always imagined a mature warrior woman, someone who had fought on the front lines alongside her brothers. Not this. Not a young girl resting peacefully, looking completely untouched by the brutal world outside these walls.

​This was Lillian? This was the girl my supposed father had put into a coma?

​Doctor Vance shoved his way through the worried healers. "What happened? What caused her core to destabilize?"

​"Her heartbeat suddenly became irregular, Doctor," one of the female healers explained hastily, her hands shaking. "Her body temperature dropped dangerously low just a few minutes ago. We tried channeling life magic, but her pulse almost stopped entirely."

​Doctor Vance didn’t waste a second. He placed his right hand firmly over the young girl’s chest, closing his eyes as a soft, white light flared around his palm.

​I remained near the door, completely forgotten by everyone in the room. For once, I was grateful for that.

​I watched as another healer handed Doctor Vance a small bottle. He opened it, smelled whatever was inside, then shook his head and handed it back. "Not that one. The blue bottle."

​The healer quickly obeyed. Doctor Vance poured a few drops of the liquid into Lillian’s mouth before placing his hand against her forehead once more. A faint glow pulsed beneath his skin.

​Nobody spoke, and I barely dared to breathe. All I could do was stare at the girl lying on the bed. How had someone this young ended up in the middle of a war? What could she have possibly done to be targeted like this?

​After several tense minutes, the white light around Doctor Vance’s hand slowly faded. He let out a long, exhausted sigh and checked her wrist one last time.

​"She is stable now," Vance murmured, his voice heavy with fatigue.

​The healers in the room visibly relaxed, one of them letting out a breath of relief.

​"Keep watching her closely," Doctor Vance ordered softly. "If her heartbeat changes again, contact me immediately. Don’t wait to see if it settles on its own."

​"Yes, Doctor."

​Doctor Vance looked down at Lillian for another moment before turning to the lead healer. "Does Alpha Lucian know about this spike yet?"

​The healer shook her head quickly. "No. We linked you immediately before alerting the Alpha. We didn’t want to alarm him if it was a false rise."

​"Good," Vance said, nodding slowly. "Keep it that way for now. He has enough on his mind today. I will update him personally once I check her vital signs again later."

​Doctor Vance stood up and turned toward the door. I quickly stepped back into the hallway to give him room as he walked out.

​Instead of taking the main grand staircase back down, Doctor Vance led us down a quieter, narrow back stairwell that led directly toward the rear garden exit of the mansion. The silence between us felt heavy and suffocating.

​Fifteen. She couldn’t have been much older than fifteen when it happened.

​Something about that bothered me all the way downstairs, and as we stepped out into the cool evening air, making our way along the stone path back toward the clinic, I couldn’t hold my questions in any longer.

​"Doctor Vance?" I asked softly, stepping up beside him.

​He glanced sideways at me. "Hmm?"

​"How old is she?"

​His steps slowed slightly. "Lillian?"

​I nodded.

​"She is fifteen," he said quietly.

​I stopped walking on the cobblestone path. So I had been right.

​Doctor Vance took another step before realizing I was no longer beside him. He turned around to face me.

​"She is fifteen?" I repeated, staring back at the towering mansion behind us. "How did she get involved in the war in the first place? She was just a child. Why was she even there?"

​Doctor Vance’s expression changed, his brow furrowing in genuine shock. For a moment, he said nothing, then his eyes narrowed slightly.

​"So your father really didn’t tell you anything, did he?" he asked, his tone laced with disbelief.

​My heart gave an uncomfortable beat. My father. King Kenneth.

​I had almost forgotten who I was supposed to be in this house. I swallowed hard, keeping my guard up. I couldn’t tell him that I wasn’t the real Princess Annabel.

​"No," I answered carefully, keeping my voice steady. "I knew there was a war, but no one ever spoke about the details around me. I don’t really know what happened."

​Doctor Vance stared at me for a long moment. I tried my best not to look nervous under his sharp gaze. Finally, he gave a quiet, bitter laugh, but there was absolutely nothing amused about it.

​"Of course he didn’t tell you," Vance murmured. "It means there are some things a father probably doesn’t want his daughter knowing about him."

​My stomach tightened into a knot. "What did he do?"

​Doctor Vance looked back toward the high windows of the mansion before returning his attention to me. There was a dark, cold anger in his face now, but for the first time since I had started working with him, it wasn’t directed at me.

​"If Kenneth never told you what happened during that war, then you deserve to see the truth," he said quietly. "You deserve to see just how heartless your father truly was."

​I frowned, taking an instinctual step backward. "See it? How?"

​"I am going to show you," Vance said, taking a step closer to close the distance between us.

​"Show me how?"

​"My magic allows me to share memories," Doctor Vance explained, his eyes locking onto mine with intense gravity. "Not every healer can do it, but it is one of my abilities. If I was physically present when an event happened in the past, I can allow another person to see parts of that exact memory."

​My eyes widened. "You were there?"

​"I was on the front lines during that war, Annabel. I was there when it happened."

​A chill ran down my spine. Any sensible person pretending to be another woman probably would have said no and walked away right then. I already had enough dangerous secrets to worry about without willingly climbing into someone else’s mind. But the urge to understand the truth behind Lucian’s hatred, his sister’s coma, and the war that ruined so many lives was stronger than my fear.

​"What exactly are you going to show me?" I asked softly.

​"The truth about what happened to Lillian," he answered, holding my gaze. "And especially your father."

​I swallowed hard before giving him a slow nod. "Okay."

​Doctor Vance stepped closer again. This time, I forced myself not to shrink back. He raised both of his hands, stepping right in front of me.

​"What do I do?" I asked nervously.

​"Nothing. Just stay still and close your eyes, Annabel."

​My heart raced wildly as he placed both of his palms flat against the sides of my forehead, his fingers warm against my skin.

​For one final second, I considered changing my mind and pulling away. Then I closed my eyes, and instantly, the sound of the wind around us vanished into total darkness.