Chapter 478: Poisoned.

DAVIAN.

"A trap?" I snapped, my patience instantly snapping in half, as I took a heavy step into the room, slamming the door shut behind Aidan so hard the glass in the windowpanes rattled. "Are you out of your mind, Adrein? We don’t have time for your hysterical bullshit right now! Daniel is standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for us!"

"I am not being hysterical, Davian!" Adrein yelled back, his voice cracking with pure desperation, as he was leaning heavily against the bedpost, clutching his chest with one hand while pointing at Maria with the other. "Look at her! Touch her skin! I am telling you, her wolf isn’t just weak—it’s being poisoned!"

Aidan froze beside me, his dark eyes shifting from Adrein to Maria’s deathly pale face. "Poisoned?" Aidan repeated, his voice dropping into a low, lethal register. "What the hell are you talking about, Adrein? The pack doctor has been the only one in and out of this room."

"I don’t care who’s been in and out!" Adrein rasped, tears of pain and frustration spilling over his lashes. "The moment I touched her neck, my bond flared like acid. There’s wolfsbane in her system! Someone has been quietly dosing her while we’ve been running around like headless chickens!"

Damien stepped around the bed, looking terrified. "He’s right, Davian," Damien muttered, his hands trembling as he gestured toward Maria. "He felt it first, but look at the color of her lips. Look at how shallow her chest is moving. It’s not just the bond strain... her wolf is completely paralyzed."

I looked at Damien, then at Adrein, feeling a violent surge of anger and disbelief tearing through my chest.

"This is insane," I growled, shoving my hands through my hair as I paced toward the foot of the bed. "Who would poison her? The Pack is on total lockdown! The guards are posted at every entrance, the perimeter wards are up, and Daniel has been working his ass off to get us an alliance with the Lycans!"

"Maybe Daniel is the one playing us!" Adrein shouted, taking a staggering step toward me.

"Shut up!" I roared, stepping directly into Adrein’s space, my Alpha aura flaring so hard the air in the room grew thick and heavy. "Shut your mouth! Daniel is the only person who brought us a real solution while you were busy trying to rip your own bond thread out like a coward! He arranged the surrender! He’s getting us access to the Lycan prince’s medicines!"

"And what if those medicines are a lie, Davian?!" Adrein screamed back, standing his ground despite shaking like a leaf. "What if he’s dragging us out to the border so we’re disarmed and completely helpless? Why are you trusting him so blindly?!"

"Because Maria is going to die in this bed if we do nothing!" I yelled into his face, my chest heaving as I gestured wildly at the mattress. "Look at her, Adrien! Whether she’s poisoned, sick, or dying from your stupid thread-snapping stunt, she does not have another twelve hours! Moving her to the border with Daniel is the only shot we have left!"

"Davian, wait," Aidan said firmly, his voice carrying enough authority to make it clear that he wasn’t asking.

He reached out and placed a heavy hand on my shoulder, his fingers tightening slightly as he forced me back a step. The sudden movement made me tense, but I refused to take my eyes off him.

"Don’t tell me to wait, Aidan," I growled, glaring at him with barely contained frustration. My jaw tightened as I stared at him down. "We agreed on this. We made a decision five minutes ago."

"Just shut up and let me check," Aidan replied coldly, brushing past me without giving me another chance to argue.

The room immediately fell into a tense, suffocating silence. The sudden quiet seemed heavier after our sharp exchange, leaving every movement feeling painfully noticeable. I remained where Aidan had pushed me, watching him carefully as he approached the bed.

Aidan leaned over Maria, his broad frame casting a long shadow across her as he focused entirely on her. His expression was serious, his attention fixed on her condition. Slowly, he reached for the leather glove covering one of his hands.

He pulled it off, exposing his bare palm before closing his eyes. For a moment, he remained completely still, as though concentrating on what he was about to do.

Then he gently pressed his bare palm against Maria’s throat, positioning it directly over her pulse point. His touch was careful and deliberate, his fingers resting lightly against her skin as he checked for the slightest indication beneath his hand.

I held my breath without even realizing it, my entire attention locked on Aidan.

I watched his face closely, studying every subtle movement, every shift in his expression, desperately trying to understand what he was sensing from Maria. I didn’t dare look away, waiting for any reaction that might reveal what he had discovered.

For three agonising seconds, nothing happened. Then, Aidan’s eyes snapped open. A violent, gut-wrenching shudder ran through his entire body. He yanked his hand back from Maria’s skin as if he’d been burned, gasping for air as his pupils dilated into total darkness.

My heart plummeted straight into my stomach.

"Aidan?" Damien whispered, taking a step back. "What is it?"

Aidan turned to face us, his jaw clenched so hard the muscles in his cheek were twitching. His posture shifted in an instant, dropping into a lethal, predator’s stance.

"Adrein’s right," Aidan said, his voice terrifyingly calm, vibrating with pure, unadulterated rage. "There is refined wolfsbane in her bloodstream... concentrated liquid. It’s suppressing her core so heavily her wolf can’t even attempt to heal the bond."

The air left my lungs in one sickening rush. I stared at Aidan, feeling the room tilt beneath my feet. "What... what did you say?"

"She’s been poisoned from inside this house, Davian," Aidan growled, his hands curling into tight, white-knuckled fists at his sides. "This wasn’t an accident, as someone has been systematically weakening her right under our noses."

"No," I stammered, shaking my head as my brain tried and failed to make sense of the nightmare unfolding around us. "No, that doesn’t mean Daniel—"

"Who else brought the ’restorative salves’ into this room yesterday, Davian?!" Adrein yelled, his eyes wide with a horrific sort of vindication. "Who was the one insisting we keep her isolated?! Who was the one pushing us to surrender to the Lycans?!"

My mind raced back through the entire evening—Daniel standing in the hall, Daniel offering to handle the perimeter, Daniel smoothly suggesting we carry Maria along with us so the Lycans could ’heal’ her.

It was a setup— a complete, total setup.

He didn’t just want us to surrender. He wanted us weak, distracted, and carrying a dying mate straight into a killing zone.

"That bastard," Damien choked out, a raw, savage growl ripping from his throat. "That lying bastard. I’ll tear him to pieces!"

"Hold on!" I barked, grabbing Damien by the front of his jacket before he could lung toward the door. My mind was reeling, horror and adrenaline crashing over me in waves, but my Alpha instincts were finally kicking back online. "If Daniel poisoned her, then the entire ’surrender’ plan is a trap. He’s leading us straight into an ambush."

"And Noah," Adrein added, clutching the bedpost as his breathing went ragged. "Noah didn’t just walk away, Davian. If Daniel is doing this... where the hell is Noah?"

The realization hit us all like a physical blow. The room went dead silent, the terror hanging thick in the air.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The sudden, sharp sound of knuckles rapping against the heavy oak door shattered the silence like glass.

We all froze. Aidan’s hand instantly went to the hilt of his blade. Damien bared his fangs, a low rumble vibrating in his chest, while Adrein backed up slightly to shield Maria’s bed.

"Davian? Aidan?" Daniel’s smooth, composed voice called through the thick wood of the door, completely untroubled and dripping with fake politeness. "The perimeter guards are in position, and the transport is ready in the lower yard. We need to leave now if we’re going to cross the border before dawn."

I stared at the wooden door, my pulse hammering in my ears like a war drum. I looked at Aidan, whose eyes were glowing a dangerous, brilliant gold in the dim candlelight. I looked at Adrein, pale and trembling, and then down at Maria, helpless and poisoned on the bed.

The trap was sprung. And the wolf who built it was standing right outside our door.

I took a deep breath, forced my voice to stay steady, and swallowed the burning rage in my throat.

"Give us two minutes, Daniel," I called out, my hand quietly dropping to the leather grip of my own hunting knife. "We’re just gathering Maria’s things."