Chapter 41: #FORTY-ONE

Nicholas’s POV

"Poison? What do you mean he was poisoned? How the hell was he poisoned?" Elijah asked in horror mixed with despair as I shivered under the cold shower, unable to believe that I was actually poisoned.

"Was it food poisoning? What did he eat?" Adrian questioned as he looked at Elijah, then at me and my brows furrowed. "Give me a fucking answer, you were with him all day long—"

"Don’t yell..." I begged with a soft groan and his lips thinned. "It can’t be food poisoning; the only thing I ate all day was also eaten by Elijah, and he’s fine."

"It indeed isn’t food poisoning." The doctor commented as he turned the water off and I cried out in pain, my body writhing around from the heat that nearly consumed me.

He totally ignored my cries and pleas for him to turn the water back on and even stopped the rest who tried to turn it on for me.

I was definitely gonna die.

"He’s hurting badly, what do we do?" Elijah spoke up in frustration as he tried to ground me with his hands but he was totally making it worse.

"Undress him and get him in the bathtub." He ordered with a rub of his forehead and suddenly, all four of them turned to him with a glare, making him rub the back of his neck nervously. "That’s better than leaving him on the floor, I’m not doing anything to him. I-I’ll turn around."

He did turn around as he said those words and Adrian pulled me up while I struggled against him, the heat almost making me lose my mind.

"Hold on a bit, baby." He whispered as he carried me to the bathtub and then placed me in it, making me sigh in relief when the water enveloped me completely.

I almost dipped my head in as well but Elijah stopped me, making me hiss in pain.

"What is the fucking cure? He can’t be in the water all night, it’s cold!" Cassian complained as Adrian slowly peeled my clothes off and my body started to shiver again, my teeth chattering together.

"Well, he’s been poisoned by either a piece of clothing he wore or by a fabric his wolf was rejecting." The doctor replied and even I was confused as he spoke.

"Poison by clothing?" I asked, my voice trembling due to the cold but I knew I couldn’t dare get out of this water.

"You either wore something your wolf didn’t want to get involved with or someone purposely poisoned your clothes to make you burn up until you lost your mind. Like I said, this case is extremely rare and old." He explained and Roman, who had been leaning against the wall, finally straightened up.

"What can we do now?" He asked, staring at me, and I shrank into the water. "For fucks sake, how will he be better?"

"We have to find the piece of clothing and burn it." The doctor replied, and everyone turned to me, making me feel so self-conscious.

The cold was seeping into my bones now and I felt like I could freeze to death anytime soon.

"The hoodie." Elijah suddenly said and my eyes widened. "That has to be it. I told you Jayden was up to no good!" He added as he rushed out of the room, making them stare at him in confusion.

"The same hoodie you said had the same scent as the intruder?" Adrian whispered to me, and I nodded shakily, unable to speak as I was shivering so badly.

"Jayden w-wouldn’t do something like t-that..." I whispered with a shake of my head and he went silent. "I trust him..."

"Trust is a very expensive thing, darling." I heard Roman and I could feel my heart clenching tightly in my chest as I shook my head continuously.

I suddenly dipped my head right into the water, making them yell in panic as Adrian dragged me out while I struggled against him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He snapped when I clawed at his hands that held me up and then I broke down.

There was no way Jayden would lie to me, right? There was no way he actually gave me something that he knew was poison... right?

"I thought I had a fucking friend but I’m finding out that he tried to poison me with something I thought he gave to me willingly, so pardon me for losing my mind." I whispered in despair as I buried my face in my hands, trying my best not to cry but I couldn’t help it.

Elijah returned just at that moment, the hoodie crumpled up in one hand and a box of matches in the other.

The doctor walked up to me as he took out a syringe and took my hand, making me hiss from the heat that flooded it at once.

"It burns so bad..." I whispered in frustration and he muttered a few words of comfort as he took out my blood with the syringe before I shrank back into the water once again.

I watched as the doctor sprayed the blood all over the hoodie, making me frown. He then asked Elijah to burn it up immediately before he shoved a few pills into my mouth, making me retch from how bitter it tasted.

The smell of burning fabric filled the bathroom, followed by my screams as it felt like I was the one being burned instead.

"What’s going on!?" Adrian yelled as he tried to hold me down but I kept thrashing against the water, crying out in pain as I could feel my skin being singed by the fire.

"Make it stop! Please, make it stop!" I begged in pain as I tried to splash water over the fire but the doctor stood in front of me, stopping it from getting close.

"He’ll be fine in a few minutes." He said calmly, like he didn’t care that I was dying, and then I lunged right at him, not caring that I was naked.

Cassian grabbed me before I could do anything to him and I clawed at him instead, crying out in pain as I tried to pull away from him.

"Just kill me..." I begged as I clung to him. "I wanna fucking die, just kill me already!"

I could hear them yelling at the doctor as they even tried to put out the fire but the doctor yelled that they must not do that or all the pain would go to waste.

"Help me, Cassian." I cried out and he looked torn, like he had an idea but didn’t know if he should do it. "Can you help me? I don’t care how, just do something!"

"I’m sorry." He whispered as he suddenly grabbed me by the back of my head and then sunk his teeth right into my neck, making me freeze.

And then my body went limp on him, making the whole room spin as my vision went dark. My body was still on fire... but then it started to reduce until it felt like I was now floating in warm water.

When my eyes opened, I was in the bathtub, all four brothers sitting around me as they watched me with worried eyes. And then I passed out once again.

I heard someone suddenly call my name and it sounded like Jayden. He called out to me like he was in trouble and when he called my name for the third time, I jolted up in panic.

I looked around to see that I was now lying down on Elijah’s bed, and he was sitting right beside me, a look of worry on his face when he saw the panicked expression on my face.

"Love, are you alright?" He asked as he touched my forehead gently and I nodded as I rubbed my arms.

I was surprised to see that I was wrapped up in his hoodie and pants, making me feel warm and cozy.

"How long was I out again?" I asked softly as I rubbed the back of my neck and he took my hand, kissing it gently.

"It doesn’t matter. You’re safe and that’s all that matters."

"And the hoodie?"

"Burnt to ashes." He replied and my face fell once again. "I was so scared that I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sorry I couldn’t help—"

"It’s not your fault." I whispered and he sighed. "Your brothers?"

"They had to leave for work. Roman only left a few minutes ago." He replied as he touched my body once again, relieved to see that I was feeling better.

"Do you really think Jayden... would do something like that?" I whispered softly, playing with my hands nervously and he sighed, a frown resting on his handsome face.

"You can’t trust him anymore. Besides, who’s to say he was the one who snuck into the house? He seems to know a lot of things about you." Elijah pointed out and now that I wasn’t blinded with trust, I remembered that stranger’s figure once again.

"Could it really be him?"

"There’s only one way to find out.’