Chapter 2

KATHLEEN POV:

Later that night, Joshua returned. He walked into my sterile, white room carrying a bowl of steaming broth, the scent of herbs and roasted meat filling the air. He wore the same look of gentle concern he'd perfected over the last three years.

"I brought you some soup," he said softly, his voice a low murmur. "It's full of nutrients. It will give you strength."

The rich aroma should have been comforting, but it turned my stomach. I knew exactly where this soup came from. In the vision from the manor, I'd seen Ella pack it. I'd heard her tell Joshua, "He's a growing Alpha, he needs to eat. Don't worry, I'll take the rest to the sick wolf. She won't know the difference."

The sick wolf.

In his eyes, I wasn't even his Luna anymore. I was less than an Omega, worthy only of his bastard child's leftovers.

The humiliation was a hot, sharp thing, and it caused the Wolfsbane Essence in my blood to surge. A wave of nausea rose in my throat, violent and uncontrollable. I scrambled out of bed, my weak legs trembling, and stumbled into the adjoining bathroom, collapsing in front of the toilet.

I retched, my body convulsing as I threw up the little water I'd had that day. It felt like I was coughing up my own soul, each heave more painful than the last, until specks of blood dotted the porcelain bowl.

"Kathleen!" Joshua's voice was filled with alarm from the other side of the door. He rattled the handle. "Kathleen, are you alright? Let me in!"

His performance was flawless. The worried Mate, desperate to help his ailing Luna. I wanted to scream, to tell him what a monster he was, but I could only choke and spit, the poison burning its way up my esophagus.

He continued to knock, his calls growing more frantic. I ignored him, resting my forehead against the cool tile of the floor, waiting for the sickness to pass.

Eventually, the convulsions subsided, leaving me weak and shivering. I managed to crawl back to bed, pulling the thin blanket up to my chin. The wolfsbane had triggered a raging fever. My body was on fire, my mind adrift in a hazy fog of pain. I closed my eyes, letting the darkness take me.

Sometime later, I drifted back to consciousness, but I kept my eyes closed and my breathing even. I could hear voices in the room. It was Joshua and Dr. Brennen.

"Her condition is worsening, Alpha," Brennen said, his tone grim. "Her life force is... fading. I don't think she'll make it to the next full moon."

There was a long pause. I waited for Joshua to show some sign of grief, some flicker of pain through our fading Mate Bond.

There was nothing. Just a cold, calculating silence.

"What about the Moonpetal?" Joshua finally asked.

"As you commanded, it's being prepared for Ella's mother," Brennen replied, a hint of disapproval in his voice. "But Alpha, without it..."

"I'll tell the pack that Rogues broke in and stole it during the night," Joshua said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. "It's a tragedy, but these things happen."

My blood ran cold. He had it all planned out. My death would be a 'tragedy' he could use to gain sympathy from the pack.

"I have cared for her for three years," Joshua continued, his voice hardening. "I have slept on a cot by her bed. I have fed her with my own hands. I have paid my debt to her parents. No one can say I didn't do everything I could for my fated Mate."

The words were not for Brennen. They were for himself. A justification for murder.

He wasn't just a cheater. He was a monster, patiently waiting for me to die so he could be free. The fever raged, but inside, my heart had turned to ice. He thought I was a weak, dying wolf. He had no idea what kind of storm he had just awakened.