Free Web NovelChapter 163: Chapter 163
Caden’s POV
Everything that just happened was still sitting heavy in my head, but I didn’t even get a second to process it.
Gunnar suddenly moved.
He didn’t say anything first, he didn’t warn anyone, he just grabbed Cane by the collar and punched him straight across the face.
The sound of it made my breath get hard.
Cane dropped to the ground instantly, his body hitting hard, and for a second I just stood there staring because I didn’t expect that at all.
"Gunnar—" I started, but he didn’t even look at me.
He bent down, grabbed Cane again like he weighed nothing, and pulled him back up roughly. Cane barely reacted, his head hanging slightly, and that was when I noticed something was seriously wrong.
His skin didn’t look right.
There was a strange dark color spreading from the bite on his neck, like it was moving slowly under his skin.
My stomach dropped.
Gunnar turned his head slightly and looked at me, his expression tight and angry.
"Move," he said.
That was all.
I didn’t argue. I followed immediately.
We left without saying anything to anyone else. The air felt heavy as we walked fast through the hall, and I kept looking at Cane, trying to figure out how bad it was.
"Gunnar," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "What the hell is that?"
He didn’t answer immediately, and that made it worse.
By the time he finally spoke, his voice was low and controlled, but I could hear the anger sitting right under it.
"Gravemaw rogue," he said.
I felt like the ground shifted under me.
"That’s not..." I swallowed. "That’s not possible."
"It is," he said.
"That bite—" I pointed at Cane, my voice rising now. "I didn’t think it would be this fatal?"
Gunnar shot me a look.
"Does that look normal to you?" he snapped.
I shut up.
Cane made a low sound then, like he was trying to breathe through something heavy. His body tensed slightly in Gunnar’s grip, and I could see the dark lines spreading more clearly now.
It wasn’t just around the bite anymore.
"Shit," I muttered under my breath.
We didn’t waste any more time.
It didn’t take long before we reached Leslie’s place. Gunnar didn’t even knock properly, he pushed the door open and walked straight in.
Leslie looked up immediately from where she was, clearly not expecting us to just burst in like that.
"What is—" she wanted to say, but then she saw Cane.
Her expression changed instantly.
"Put him down," she said quickly, already moving toward us.
Gunnar placed Cane on the table, but not gently. He stepped back just enough to give her space, but his body was still tense.
"What happened?" she asked, already examining the wound."It already knocked him out?"
"Do I look like I’m here to joke? Get to work" Gunnar snapped.
She didn’t respond to that, she just turned back to Cane and started working quickly.
"Alpha Caden, please hold him," she said.
I moved immediately, stepping forward and holding Cane’s shoulders as his body started to tense more. He was getting worse fast.
Leslie grabbed a cloth and started cleaning around the bite, but the moment she touched it, Cane reacted hard, his body jerking under my grip.
"Hold him still," she said again, more firmly this time.
"I am," I said, tightening my hold.
Gunnar was pacing now.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
"What are you doing?" Gunnar demanded.
"I’m trying to slow it down," Leslie replied without looking at him.
"Slow it down?" Gunnar repeated, his voice rising. "That’s your plan?"
She didn’t answer immediately, and that silence made everything worse.
"What the hell do you mean slow it down?" he snapped.
Leslie finally looked at him.
"There is no cure for a Gravemaw bite, Alpha Gunnar" she said. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
The words hit hard.
I felt my grip tighten on Cane without realizing it.
"What did you just say?" Gunnar asked, his voice dangerously low now.
"I said there is no cure," Leslie repeated, more clearly this time.
Gunnar let out a short, sharp laugh, but there was nothing normal about it.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "No, that’s not acceptable."
"I’m not asking you to accept it," she said. "I’m telling you the truth Alpha"
"That’s not good enough," he snapped.
Leslie turned fully to face him now, her expression serious.
"This isn’t something you can fight your way out of," she said. "Gravemaw rogues are different. Their bite carries an infection that spreads through the system. It shuts everything down slowly."
I felt my chest tighten again.
"How long?" I asked before I could stop myself.
Leslie hesitated.
Gunnar noticed.
"How long?" he repeated, his voice sharper now.
She exhaled slowly.
"A few days," she said.
The room went silent.
"No," Gunnar said immediately. "You’re wrong."
"I’m not," she replied.
"You haven’t even tried everything yet," he said, stepping closer to her now. "You don’t get to just stand there and tell me he’s dying."
"I am trying," she said, her voice rising slightly now. "I’m doing everything I can to hold it back, but I cannot remove it."
Gunnar ran a hand through his hair, clearly losing patience.
"Then find someone who can," he said.
"There is no one," Leslie said firmly.
"That’s bullshit," he snapped.
"It’s not," she shot back. "This isn’t some regular infection you can just heal with herbs or energy. This is something real ancient and violent. It destroys from the inside."
Cane groaned again, louder this time, his body shaking slightly under my grip.
"Focus on him," I said quickly.
Leslie turned back and continued her treatment, applying something to the wound that made Cane tense again.
"I can slow it," she said. "That’s all I can do right now. Keep it from spreading too fast."
Gunnar wasn’t satisfied.
"That’s not enough," he said.
"I know it’s not enough!" she replied back, her hands shaking from Gunnar’s presence alone.
The room went quiet again for a second.
Gunnar stared at her, his jaw tight, his anger clear.
"So what?" he said finally. "We just sit here and watch him die?"
Leslie didn’t answer immediately.
That silence said everything.
"No," Gunnar said, shaking his head again. "No, I’m not doing that."
He started pacing again, faster this time.
"There has to be something," he said. "There’s always something."
"There isn’t," Leslie said, softer now but still firm.
"You don’t know that," he shot back.
"I do," she replied. "I’ve studied this. I’ve seen what it does. No one survives it."
I swallowed hard.
Cane’s breathing was getting worse.
"Cane," I said, trying to get a response. "Stay with me."
He didn’t answer properly, just another strained sound leaving his mouth.
Gunnar stopped pacing and looked at him.
For a second, his expression changed. The anger was still there, but there was something else under it now.
"Fix it," he said to Leslie, his voice lower now but still intense.
"I am trying," she said again.
"That’s not fixing it," he replied.
"There is no fixing it!" she almost cried from frustration, louder this time.
The words echoed in the room.
Gunnar stepped closer to her again, his presence heavy.
"Don’t say that," he said.
"I’m not going to lie to you, Alpha" she replied. "He doesn’t have much time."
My chest felt tight again.
Gunnar looked like he was about to say something else, but before he could—
The door opened.
We all turned at the same time to look at the person.
Summer stood there which was quite surprising.
What was she doing here?
She looked back at Cane, then at all of us.
For a moment, she didn’t say anything.
Then—
"I know someone that can help Uncle Cane," she said.
All of us turned to her immediately.
Gunnar stepped forward.
"What did you just say?" he asked.
"I know someone who can cure him," she repeated.
The room went completely silent.
"Who?" Gunnar demanded.
Summer swallowed slightly, but she didn’t back down.
"My mother," she said.
I frowned.
"Your mother?" I repeated.
She nodded." Yes my mother, Carian,"
