Nebraska could swear her heart skipped a beat. Before her was the body of her husband and her son, unconscious on the ground. Everything had been very fast. Seconds before, they were sharing with the pack, and now they were there.
-Ne …, Nebrask …, Nebraska- the sound of his name reached his ears along with the bustle around him.
She had been in shock for a moment. Sara moved her arm to make her see reason while tears streamed down her face. The queen shook her head and focused. This was no time to panic.
She knelt next to her husband after verifying that Nicolas copied her with Rodrigo, and sought Hades’s breath. It was light but it was present. He breathed in with a modicum of relief. From the tumult that was beginning to form around him, Caesar managed to appear and knelt beside her, taking the pulse of her wrist to study what had really happened.
What happened? What happened to the alpha? Was he poisoned?
The bustle became very audible to almost everyone between questions, wolves jostling, some in panic at the alpha’s state; others running from here to there. Even Siran had a hard time reaching them and watching the scene with a worried face and a painfully furrowed brow. Screams, murmurs…
-Silence!- Nebraska shouted and all sound in the room disappeared. -Caesar- she looked at the doctor looking for results, with all the noise she was not sure that she had been able to find out what was happening.
-Queen, the alpha has been poisoned,- he told her.
Nebraska closed her eyes and pursed her lips.
-Surely it was her- a male voice echoed in the room and everyone looked at a wolf that pushed those in front and positioned himself in front of everyone- Don’t play the victim, you want to take over the pack, so you poisoned the alpha, who better than you to do it-
A minute of silence and then everyone started looking at each other. Doubt began to bloom.
Noa moved away from Nicolas straight towards him.
-What are you saying…? –
-Noa,- her voice echoed above her son’s and he stopped with a slight tremor backing away. It was the first time I had heard her speak in that tone.
Nebraska sat up and turned to the wolf walking slowly. Her hair began to billow slightly around her neck and her eyes turned very golden, the iris disappearing into a whitish center. The wolf that had accused her felt like his body was paralyzed and he began to sweat. No part of his body was moving.
Members of the pack fell back lowering their heads. The atmosphere around her intimidated them to such an extent that it demanded their submission. It wasn’t like the sensation of when an alpha prevailed where their body was crushed by a force greater than them. No, this time it was as if they lost their will to do something to that wolf.
Even his two youngest sons clung to Siran trembling and Nicolas’s face turned pale, hugging Rodrigo tighter in his arms.
-Repeat it again- Nebraska stopped in front of the wolf that had fallen to his knees -Say in front of me that I was the one who poisoned him- she looked at him from above with his frozen face.
The slanderer could not speak; a tremor ran through his entire body. Not even when Hades got upset had he reacted like that.
-I’ll tell you what- Nebraska leaned in front of him and lifted his chin with her finger making their gazes meet, terrifying him. He had never witnessed orbs like those- If I had wanted to join the pack I would have used other faster methods for it. Don’t alter the facts as they suit you. Also- a menacing smile left his lips as he slowly turned his head- Why are you so nervous? –
The wolf’s tremors grew more noticeable and he tried to loosen his grip.
-Siran- Nebraska suddenly got up. Tell Leoxi to be alert and to reinforce the guard on all sides. No one is allowed to move outside the confines of the pack-
The beta nodded. He dared not refuse to refuse his order. First because she was his queen, second, because he did not think he would be able to reject her order with the tone that she had used.
-Caesar, take Hades and Rodrigo so that you can attend to them. Everything you need will be given to you to guarantee their lives. Whoever refuses let me know-
-Sara, gather everyone who drank wine and take them to another room to examine them for other cases of poisoning. The barrels I will personally verify. And prepare a messenger in case the content is contaminated, we have to communicate it-
She turned to the rest of the pack.
-Stay calm and everyone returns to their work, the status of the alpha will be notified as soon as we have a progress. If you see someone acting strange report it to any wolf guard-
The wolves around him nodded at their positions without replying.
-Move,- Nebraska finally ordered, returning to normal.
Everything was done as she had ordered and without complaints. They didn’t know if they were doing it out of fear. She had never used her strength in such a way, she had forbidden it herself as soon as she had discovered other ways to use her ability to calm the savage state. She did not like the reaction of others to her. She liked being respected for what he was, not fear. And that was what she found in the eyes of his children when he stood before them.
Nicolas was around Alan and Noa’s shoulders, but they ran behind his back. The hands of the three trembled slightly and they did not raise their heads even after the omega had her eyes the same color again. Nebraska swallowed and smiled slightly, something she never did and that only showed pain on her face.
-I’m sorry,- was the only thing she said before walking past her and following the path where Caesar had taken her husband and son.
She could bear everything, but the rejection of one of her children was already hard, of the other three it broke her inside. And if they were afraid of her now, then it was better to turn away.
The three of them stood there without moving, listening to what was happening around them. Noa began to cry silently behind her brother’s back and Alan just hugged Nicolas. The older one clenched his fists remembering his mother’s expression.
Nebraska stood for three hours outside the door of what was considered the pack’s treatment room. Caesar’s assistants went in and out, but they didn’t say anything to them and they were forbidden even to look out.
Siran was hugging Sara against his chest. Both had performed the tasks assigned to them. Among the other members of the pack there was no one else with symptoms of poisoning, in addition the contents of the barrels were clean, so it was necessary to notify those who had made the gift, and it was not the time to look for more conflict.
Siran had spoken with Leoxi and the security had been extreme. No one outside could know of the situation, or they would be very vulnerable, with the alpha out and Nebraska, a queen, who did not know if they were going to respond to her afterwards , after all, there was still the question of whether she was the one who had poisoned him.
Leoxi had returned, when it was time to find out, he was shocked by the information they had given him and his despair made him break one of the window panes. Now he was sitting in a corner waiting for results. He hadn’t spoken to her to the omega, he hadn’t even tried.
Nebraska knew it, that so many good things were happening around him was just a simple illusion. Fate was not grateful to her. And for the first time Nebraska felt more alone than when she had been held captive for so many years.
What had she done wrong?