Chapter 463: Powers of a mermaid_Part 2

"Can I take a closer look at the bullet holes?" she asked, stepping forward. He stepped back to give her space, though he continued hovering nearby worriedly.

She looked down at the holes that had burned through Laila’s flesh as she explained, "When I removed Sebastian’s, I did it unintentionally, so I can’t promise you that if I do it intentionally, it will work."

"I’ll take the chance. I’ll give half my blood if it will cure her. A mate’s blood can cure their mate sometimes," he said, already reaching for a needle to draw his blood, but Viola grabbed his wrist.

"There’s no need. I don’t need blood. All I need is water and clean rags."

Though she was aware that using this part of her ability would drain some of her energy, she knew it was the only way to save the she-wolf.

"I’ll get them for you," Gilbert said as he hurried away.

It didn’t take long for the doctor to return with the water and everything else she needed. Viola took them from him and placed them on the stand before sitting at the edge of the bed. She soaked the clean rag in the water, then brought it toward the wound and squeezed the water into it.

"Won’t that cause an infection, Luna?" Gilbert asked worriedly.

"No. We are no longer doing this the medical way, Doc. We’re doing it the mermaids’ way. I hope you don’t mind me using that here," she said, glancing at him over her shoulder.

Gilbert scratched the back of his ear awkwardly and shook his head.

"I don’t like mermaids, and I never will. But I believe you are an exception now and if it will save her, do your thing."

"You personally don’t like mermaids or is it the history?" Viola asked conversationally.

"It’s a personal dislike for me. Mermaids are a bunch of beings who cause trouble and unnecessary death in innocent people’s lives, then play the victim afterward when they get a taste of what they give," he said, his eyes fixed on what she was doing as his voice revealed just how much he despised them.

"I never knew you held such strong feelings toward mermaids. I might have thought the same in the past, but I believe they might have a lot of reasons to hate our guts, judging by the fact that werewolves eat them and use them like livestock," she remarked, soaking the rag in the water again to fill the other bullet hole.

Viola didn’t find herself hating mermaids the way she once had. For some reason, she wished for peace between the two creatures, but it was starting to seem as though she was the only exception to their hatred for each other.

Gilbert’s blue eyes met hers briefly before he said, "Do you want to know something, Luna? It’s something I don’t let people know, but I feel like sharing it with you."

Viola paused, curious, and looked up at him. "Be careful with the secrets you whisper, Doc. You don’t know; I might let them leak," she said with a small laugh that made Gilbert smile.

"I trust you wouldn’t. And even if you did, it wouldn’t ruin anything. It would only make you understand why I can never be okay with mermaids and why I never object to their sacrifices being made," he told her, seeing the interest in her expression.

"I’m all ears. Did one of them attack you in the past, making you unable to ever consider forgiving them?" she asked, knowing that was usually the reason behind such hatred.

Gilbert’s aqua-blue eyes turned grim, and his smile fell away.

"They did attack me. I lost my family because of them. Not just my family, but my entire pack and relatives," he said, looking away from her as he blinked repeatedly again, only this time it was to suppress other emotions behind his eyes.

Viola frowned. "How is that possible? I thought the Rodrigos were still perfectly fine, and your family is here. Isn’t Natasha, the Elder, your aunt?" she asked curiously, as that was what she knew about the doctor. She also knew his family had initially objected to him following this path but had later become proud of him because of all he had achieved.

Gilbert turned back to look at her. He came forward now, standing beside Laila’s head and placing his hand on her back as he spoke without looking directly at Viola.

"I was adopted by them when I was five years old. My real family came from Mooncreek Pack, and my mother was the Mooncreek Alpha’s younger sister." He turned to her with an ironic smile. "You know the history of what happened to Mooncreek, don’t you?"

Viola stared at the doctor in surprise. Of course she knew what happened to Mooncreek. Everybody did in the werewolf world.

"They were flooded, and many died. Some were lost in the flood, with their bodies never being found..." she whispered.

Mooncreek Pack had been said to be as large as Silver, and had it remained in existence, it would have been competing head-to-head with Silver Pack by now, for it held some of the greatest werewolves. But the flood had caused so much irreversible damage that by the time the other packs came out to help them, many had already lost their lives and homes.

"Did it occur to you that the flood wasn’t normal? I did my research years later and found large splits in the grounds where the pack had once been. The water had come from the ground, and only mermaids have such powers for that," Gilbert said, his voice no longer carrying any emotion. He had taught himself not to hold on to the family he had lost there.

"The Rodrigos took me in when Silver went to take in refugees. They said I was holding on to my dead mother’s hand and refusing to let go after the storm passed," he said in a quiet voice, his eyes turning toward Laila. "And if you’re also wondering why I am so hard on myself and so unwilling to accept Laila, it’s because her family and the Rodrigos are not on good terms, and they would never want her for me."

Gilbert felt it was his duty as a good son to repay them for their kindness in raising him and to end up with a woman they would approve of without causing any problems between them. He had once defied them to pursue a career as a doctor in order to save lives, just like the late great-grandfather of the Rodrigo family, instead of becoming a warrior, and that had already caused some strain within the family. He didn’t want to be the one to crack that bond further by mating with the daughter of their enemies.

But lately, he had begun to wonder if he really wanted to keep trying to please them to that extent when he could enjoy a life with his fated mate, just like everyone else.

Gilbert let out a sigh as he glanced back at Viola, a smile that didn’t reach his eyes on his face.

"So you see why I can’t easily forgive the mermaids. If they hadn’t caused that flood... I would be with my real family. Not that I don’t consider the Rodrigos my real family; they have done so much for me. I hope you understand it if I don’t accept any mermaids."