Carnal

Chapter Forty-One - The Cure

There were only four days in her life that Evelyn could think back on with crystal-clear memory.

The first was the day she met Adam; the second, the day she gave birth to Cain; third, the day Jacob was born, and finally the day Jacob died.

She could perfectly recall every second, enjoyable or otherwise.

The majority, if not the entirety, of three of those four days were spent with Dr. Zosak. He had been there through so much joy and heartache—it was hard to think of him as the man he had become.

Stealing away her son, whom he led her to believe was dead, was an egregious act that Evelyn fought hard to morally justify.

After hours of sitting in shock at the news delivered by her husband, Evelyn was unable to come up with a conclusively sound reason as to why the doctor should be excused.

Doing what he did solely for the sake of research was not strong enough ground to stand on.

Destroying her family and diminishing her son's value to that of a test tube was not something she could let slide.

But death was too high a price.

"Dismiss him," she said finally.

Evelyn looked up from her seat at her husband who stood a few feet away next to a fireplace, staring into the flames in deep thought.

Adam's trance was interrupted by her words and his eyebrows furrowed as he realized what she'd said.

"The question was kill or not to kill," he reminded her.

"Don't kill him," she said, firmly this time.

Adam's confusion was evident in his expression.

"I don't understand," he said. "Why wouldn't we kill him? Evelyn, he-"

"I know what he did," she interrupted. "But are we no better if we kill him solely for the sake of doing so? He isn't necessarily a threat. I don't see the point of killing him."

Adam shook his head.

"With all he knows of our pack and our family, he is a threat. I don't trust him enough to simply dismiss him back into the world and I certainly don't trust him enough to keep him here. That only leaves one other option..."

Evelyn stood, beginning to feel angry.

"Why did you ask me what I thought we should do if you had already made up your mind?"

Adam approached Evelyn and placed his hands on either side of her face.

"You're a gracious woman," he said. "If there was a good reason to keep him alive, you would have found it. But there's a time when the line between naivety and graciousness is blurred. We can't afford to allow him another opportunity to do something horrendous."

Her eyebrows furrowed as she stepped back, out of his grasp.

"He didn't kill our son," she said. "If anything, Dr. Zosak is the reason Jacob is alive today."

"Yes and the reason two Betas are dead," Adam reminded her.

Evelyn shook her head.

"Two Betas are dead because of the decisions our son made on his own. Has it occurred to you that Jacob could have just as easily come home to us rather than run away from Zosak?"

Adam seemed hurt by the vague accusation but quickly shielded it with a harsh expression.

"Dr. Zosak will die because he has committed treason against myself, against Cain and against this pack. I will never forgive him for what he did to our family..."