Lucius didn’t like having to cut down indigenous trees but the pack needed more land for a meat processing plant. The town was not developing fast enough and they had decided to start industrializing more as a development strategy. There were a lot of untapped opportunities that he was sure would improve the lives of his pack and the neighbouring packs if implemented. The humans were progressing very fast and it was best for them to do the same. If they stayed backward for long, the humans would try to come and take over the land.
Lucius was not afraid of what the humans would try to do to them. He was worried there would be too much unnecessary bloodshed. If they developed their town, the humans would not see the need to try to do it for them.
Lucius was talking to some council members under a tent when he started to feel a kind of pain he had never experienced before. He almost screamed out when it hit but he had to stay strong since he was the alpha. Under no circumstances was he allowed to appear weak in front of his pack.
Lucius tried to hide it at first but it was too much. He gritted his teeth and contorted his face.
“Are you okay, alpha?” Jim asked, giving him a strange look.
Lucius could feel the sweat pooling in all parts of his body. The two men with him were starting to look concerned.
“Please leave me alone,” he told them.
Jim shook his head. “What’s going on alpha? We have to help you. Mason, call the pack doctor quickly.”
“No, I think it will pass.” Lucius told them.
“I can’t reach his mind,” Mason said before pulling out his phone.
Lucius was no longer listening to them. There was a loud sound ringing in his head and it felt like it was about to explode. He clutched it hard and tried to divert his thoughts from the pain, hoping that would make it feel less intense. It did not work. This made him feel a lot of frustration. The tent had become too hot. He stood up and tore off his shirt while Jim and Mason stared in fear, not knowing what to do.
Mason started frantically speaking to someone on phone, asking them to come as soon as possible. Lucius passed by him and went outside, feeling extremely hot. When he was outside, he ran into the forest and quickly turned. In his wolf form, his instincts were stronger. He realised he had to go to the cottage. Something was wrong.
Lucius ran as fast as he could back to the pack. He passed by several pack members who stared at him while he rushed to the cottage. He crashed through the door, breaking it and ran up the stairs. He shifted to human form when he got to the top. Anger rushed through him when he saw Michelle leaning against the wall. He glanced at the bloodied dagger in her hands and proceeded.
His heart almost skipped a beat when he saw Emma lying on the bed. He rushed to her side and touched her neck to feel her pulse. It was weak. He glanced at the wound on her chest and realised she had been stabbed with a poisoned dagger.
“What’s wrong, Luna Michelle?” he heard the pack doctor asking his wife.
“Joshua, come in here.”
Within seconds, Joshua the pack doctor was in the room. “She was poisoned.”
“Are you okay?” Joshua asked him.
“Don’t worry about me. Help her.”
Joshua leaned down and touched Emma’s chest. “I don’t know what kind of poison this is but she may become paralyzed if we don’t do anything. I’ll take her to my cabin.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
Joshua lifted Emma and took off with her. Lucius paused when he got to the hallway. His pain had lessened although he could still feel it.
“I think I know what’s happening,” he said to Michelle who was now leaning on the railings on the staircase.
Michelle looked at him. “What?”
“Haven’t you figured it out,” Lucius said, smiling excitedly. “You’re in pain. I’m in pain. That could only mean one thing. Our mate bond is breaking. Thank you for rejecting me.”
Michelle’s eyes widened. “But I didn’t reject you.”
“Oh. Well then, I don’t know what it happened but I’m glad that soon we will no longer be mates. Maybe the moon goddess realised that it was useless to keep us together.”
“No, Lucius. This can’t be happening. You and I are supposed to be together forever.”
Lucius rolled his eyes and went downstairs. He went into one of the rooms there and put on some clothes before leaving the cottage and going to Joshua’s cabin. He trusted Joshua but he needed to be there for Emma. He needed to ensure the doctor did not do anything to worsen her condition. He needed her more than ever, especially now that he was no longer tied to Michelle.
He found Joshua trying to force some liquid down Emma’s throat. Jim and Mason were also there watching. Emma lay limply against the bedframe while Joshua on the side of the bed, holing her head with one hand and using the other to make her drink. Very little of the syrup seemed to be going down her throat, the rest rolling down her chin and coating her lips.
“Do you think that will work?” Lucius asked Joshua who nodded.
“Yes. Had the dagger stayed in her longer, she would be dead by now. I wonder where Michelle got that dagger and poison. They’re very rare.”
Lucius remembered that he had left Michelle with the dagger. “Shit,” he said before turning to his two colleagues. “Michelle is in the East Cottage. She still has the dagger. Go and remove it from her.”
The two left immediately.
“I think she has had enough,” Joshua said. He placed the remaining syrup on the table and lifted Emma to put her down in lying position. He picked up a cloth from the bed and wiped her mouth and her chest.
“Give it to me,” Lucius said. His wolf was going crazy seeing another man touching Emma that way.