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“You think it was a mistake to help us?” I asked. I couldn’t keep the hard edge out of my voice.
“You don’t understand. Now he knows for sure that you are the child I swore was dead.” She hesitated. “For most of us, we don’t use our power unless a close family member is dying. We can always tell, even the weakest of us. We’re allowed to warn that family member, to give them time for their goodbyes, but that’s it. When I showed up, I proved to Eli that I knew you were in danger, that you were related to me, and that I was willing to break our laws to stop him from hurting you. He will be enraged by this. I’ve only brought more trouble to your door.”
“I’m already dying,” I said. “What else can he do?”
“Make you suffer,” she said, deadly serious. “Never underestimate his capacity for causing pain.”
“Earlier, you mentioned a sensory room,” I said. “What was that?”
“A place where people who disobey are sent. We’re punished until we’re realigned with the compound’s beliefs.”
“Brainwashing,” Byron said in disgust.
Vira shrugged. “When I left, all those years ago, I ended up in the sensory room. Eli put me there himself. He said it was to protect me, but really, he did it to control me. He succeeded for a long time. But when werewolves came to the compound, talking about a child, I knew things were changing. Nobody can run from their past forever.”
“What will your brother do next?” Byron asked.
“He’ll keep trying to hurt Margo and anyone who protects her, anyone she wants to protect.”
“What about these Elders?” Byron asked. “If they wouldn’t approve, then surely they’ll deal with him themselves.”
“He is no great loss to them, and they may be inclined to let it play out. If he succeeds, they will learn more about you. If he fails, they won’t have to deal with him. I cannot trust them to do the right thing, either way.” She shuddered. “If I leave, he might follow. He will want to send me home. If I keep moving, I might distract him long enough for you to hide.”
“What’s the point in hiding?” I asked.
She looked at me with sorrowful eyes. “I don’t know how else to help.”
I looked down at Dorian. His shivering had stopped, thanks to the thick fur keeping him warm. I was still trembling. I remembered how long it took my arm to heal. A werewolf with the same injury could probably heal three times as fast. I was too human to survive, but what if I could be a little less human? What if my body was stronger, warmer, and fast enough to heal me before death could destroy me?
“I have an idea,” I said in a small voice. “It’s kind of drastic, but I’m dying, so what the hell?”
“What is it?” Byron asked.
I held Vira’s gaze. “I can’t beat this because I’m too human. I can’t recover quickly enough from the effects. The cold, the weakness, it’s all eating up the human parts of me, right? So what if… what if I could change who I am?”
Vira shook her head, confused. A low growl came from Dorian, but I ignored him.
“What are you saying?” Byron asked.
“If I’m dying anyway, then why not try… What if I became a werewolf?”
Dorian let out a short, sharp bark.
“I’m already dying!” I told him.
Byron had frozen to the spot, but he hadn’t rejected the idea outright. “Could that even work?” he said at last.
“How could anyone be both?” Vira said.
“The process itself could kill you, Margo,” Byron said warily. “Nobody alive has managed to turn another person into a werewolf.”
“It’s not possible?” Vira asked.
“It’s possible,” Byron said. “My grandmother was changed, but the people involved are all dead.”
“I’m not saying I know it’ll work,” I said. “I’m saying if I’m going to die, then at least I can choose the method. At least I can try. Nobody has any other ideas because there are no other ideas. I either die like this or die trying to become something else. It should be my choice. I’m willing to take the chance.”
“This is serious,” Byron said. “Not an offhand choice to make. If we try to do this for you, and we fail, we bear the guilt. You can’t come up with an idea like this without even discussing it with your parents.”
