CHAPTER 17: THE COLOR OF TREASON
Caleb's POV
I was still sitting at my desk, the weight of the Oni legends and my father's signature pressing into my skull, when Daniel's voice tore through the mind-link like a jagged blade.
*"Alpha, Caleb! Your mate is bleeding—she's down!"*
I didn't think. I didn't breathe. I launched myself over the desk, the mahogany groaning under my weight as I sprinted for the door. My office door hit the wall with a deafening crack.
*"Which mate, Daniel? Answer me!"* I roared back through the link, my heart hammering against my ribs so hard it felt like it would shatter.
*"Hazel!"*
The world became a blur of gray stone and rushing air. I took the stairs five at a time, my wolf, Adam, clawing at the surface, his fur bristling with a primal, protective rage. *If anything happens to her Caleb, I will never forgive you,* he growled.
I reached the high-security wing just as Lucien came skidding around the opposite corner, his face a mask of sheer terror. He was running just as hard as I was. I didn't have time to wonder why he looked like he was losing his own soul.
Daniel, Marcus, and Sophie were already inside the cell. The air hit me first, the metallic, sickeningly sweet scent of necrotic blood and the bitter, ozone tang of silver.
"Hazel!" I bellowed, shoving past Marcus.
She was slumped against the wall, her skin a terrifying shade of ash. Her body was wracked with violent tremors, and she was coughing up thick, viscous black blood that stained the floor and her tunic. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she collapsed, fainting before she could even gasp for air.
"What happened?!" I yelled, the sound echoing like thunder in the small space. "What did you do to her?!"
"We found her like this!" Daniel shouted back, his hands pressed against her side, trying to steady her.
Lucien was on his knees beside her, his voice a broken whisper of her name, but I didn't give him a second glance. My focus was entirely on the girl dying in the dirt. Silver suddenly appeared at the edge of the cell, her eyes wide, her hand covering her mouth in a perfect display of shock.
Medics burst into the room, their white kits clashing with the dark grime of the dungeon. "Move! Alpha, move back!"
I didn't move. I felt Adam taking over and my eyes going golden, he grabbed the lead medic by the collar voice coming out terrifying. "Save her. Or I will tear this pack house down stone by stone."
They fell to work, pumping her stomach, injecting stabilizers. The sound of her retching black liquid onto the floor was the most agonizing thing I had ever heard. Finally, the vomiting stopped. Her breathing became a shallow, ragged whistle.
"She's stabilized for the moment," the medic panted, wiping sweat from his brow. He looked at the black liquid on the floor, his expression darkening. "This wasn't an illness, Alpha. She's been poisoned. High-concentration silver-nitrate. Ingested."
A cold, murderous calm settled over me. Silver-nitrate. It was a slow, agonizing death for a wolf. It dissolved the organs from the inside out.
I didn't wait for a stretcher. I pushed the medics aside and gathered Hazel's limp, fragile body into my arms. She felt like nothing—as light as a fallen leaf.
"Caleb?" Silver's voice cut through the tension. She stepped in front of me, blocking the exit. "Where are you taking that... Thing? The infirmary is the other way."
I didn't even look at her. My eyes were fixed on the door. "Get out of my way, Silver."
"Caleb, this is highly improper! You cannot bring a prisoner into—"
Find the one who did this, Adam snarled. My eyes flashed golden, my vision sharpening with predatory focus. I want their heart.
I stepped past her with enough force to send her reeling against the bars. I didn't go to the infirmary. I went to the top floor. I went to my private quarters. I kicked the door open and laid Hazel gently on the center of my bed—my sheets, my scent, my territory.
Adam was pacing in the back of my mind, a Great Wolf circling a kill. *Find them. Kill them. Tear the hearts from their chests.*
I walked back out to the landing, leaning over the banister. "Assemble the staff!" I roared, my voice vibrating with the Alpha Command. "Every cook, every maid, every guard! In the Great Hall. NOW!"
Ten minutes later, the hall was filled with trembling people. I stood on the dais, Lucien, Marcus, Daniel, Sophie, and Silver standing in a line behind me.
"Someone fed a prisoner silver-nitrate," I said, my voice low and lethal. I walked the line of kitchen staff. "Who made the tray?"
"I did, Alpha," the head cook stammered, his knees knocking. "But it was just bread and water. I swear by the Goddess!"
I turned to my inner circle. "Lucien? Marcus? Sophie? Silver? Did any of you enter that wing?"
"I went to the cell in the morning, after Silver and Hazel had their... altercation. Her food was kicked away so I guess she had to have another brought to her." Lucien said
My head snapped toward Silver. My golden eyes locked onto hers. "An altercation?"
Silver adjusted her sleeves, her expression one of wounded innocence. "She attacked me first, Caleb. I was merely defending myself. She's feral."
"That's not true," Lucien countered sharply, his jaw set. "I saw the aftermath. Hazel was sitting on the floor while your fiancé was screaming for blood."
I looked at Silver, a dark suspicion taking root, but the maid in my hand was the immediate problem. Adam didn't want words. He wanted justice.
They rest denied going there.
Suddenly, a guard near the back cleared his throat. "Alpha... I saw one of the new maids. The ones assigned to the Luna's suite. She was near the cell block around the time the tray was delivered."
All eyes turned to a young girl in the third row. She began to shake so violently she dropped to her knees.
I was across the room in a heartbeat. I reached down, my hand wrapping around her throat as I hoisted her off the floor. Her feet dangled, kicking uselessly.
"Why?" I growled, my claws beginning to prick her skin.
She coughed, tears streaming down her face, her hands clawing at my wrist. "Alpha... please..."
You took it upon yourself to judge my mate?" I whispered to the maid. My voice wasn't human anymore; it was the Alpha's roar muffled by flesh.
"Caleb, stop! You'll kill her before she can talk!" Lucien shouted, stepping forward to grab my arm.
I threw her to the floor instead. She crumpled, sobbing and gasping for air.
"Why did you do it?" I demanded, looming over her like a god of death.
"Because!" she wailed, looking up with eyes full of fanaticism and fear. "That Thornblood is a curse! She's the reason the Shadow Hunters came twelve years ago! She's a monster in a girl's skin! If she stays here, we all die! I was saving us! I was saving the pack from the abomination! She's a mon—"
I didn't let her finish. With a sickening crack, I snapped her neck. Her body went limp, and I dropped her onto the floor like a piece of refuse.
The silence in the hall was absolute. I turned to the rest of the staff, my golden eyes scanning every single face. I felt Adam taking over again and I let him.
"Listen to me, and listen well," He said, the Alpha Command vibrating through the air, forcing everyone in the room to drop to their knees. "That girl in my bed is my fated mate. She is your future Luna. If any of you so much as look at her with ill intent, if you so much as think about touching a hair on her head, I will not just kill you. I will erase your entire bloodline from this pack."
He looked at Silver, my gaze lingering a second too long.
"This pack has enough enemies at the gates. I will not tolerate them inside my walls."
I turned on my heel and walked out, heading back to my room where the only person who mattered was currently fighting for her life.