The Alpha's Luna Of Vengeance

Episode4

ZIAN's POV

I touched her hand. It was cold as ice. Her chest did not rise.

My hand clenched so tightly my nails dug into her palm.

Goddess! She couldn't be dead. I could not have been too late to save her.

I leaned over Lalita and suddenly heard her take a breath. I froze. The sound was so faint I could have imagined it. I leaned closer to Lalita's lips.

For one horrifying second, there was nothing. Then she inhaled again.

"She's alive," I gasped.

The relief I felt was dizzying, followed by a white-hot rage as the assassin started to stir. The door burst open. Alaric came rushing in. He took in the scene, his mouth falling open with shock.

"What happened here?" he asked.

"Son of a b***h tried to kill her," I growled, my voice shaking with fury. "Grab him. Take him to the dungeons. Find out who sent him."

Alaric nodded once. He was already moving. He grabbed the assassin by the scruff of the neck and hauled him to his feet as I turned to Lalita.

"I'm taking her to the pack healer," I said, gently swinging her up into my arms.

Alaric, stepped forward, saying, "I can take her there."

A primal, threatening growl ripped from my chest before I could stop it. Alaric froze, backed up a few steps, staring at me in shock.

Vivienne, who had said something about alerting the guards and had been moving towards the door, stopped too and stared.

Shit! I hadn't meant to do that. For a second there, the thought of another man holding Lalita, protecting her, had driven me crazy.

I swallowed, jaw tightening as I fought to compose myself.

"I-" I exhaled sharply. "I will take her. She is in my pack. She is my responsibility. Besides this — this attack is sudden and surprising. So from now on, I will handle everything that has to do with her until I get to the bottom of this."

Alaric bowed. "Of course, Alpha."

I carried Lalita out on a run to the healer's quarters. Guards, manning the corridor, rushed to open the door to his chambers. Briefly, I explained to the startled doctor what had happened and laid her down.

He took one look at her, used a finger to brush the soot-like substance coating her skin. A very startled expression crossed his face.

"Save her," I said, my voice tight with tension.

The doctor nodded and set to work. He injected her with something, rummaged among his supplies, tipped a potion into her parted lips. Almost immediately, her eyelids began to flutter.

"She will be fine," he assured me after examining her for a few minutes. "You brought her right in time."

I exhaled, passed a hand over my face. Relief made me weak at the knees. And then my attention was immediately arrested by the look on the doctor's face.

"What is it?" I whispered.

He beckoned me to a corner of the room and said, "This powder on her skin... I recognized it almost at once. But — but..." He trailed off. "Was there something burning in the place where you found her?"

"Yes," I said slowly, wondering what he was driving at.

Whatever it was, it was making the doctor very uneasy.

"Ah." The doctor slowly nodded his head. "That explains the symptoms. The severe loss of blood and all. Burning the substance is the fastest way to release the poison." His voice sank into a whisper. "Alpha, she was poisoned with Withershade, commonly known as witchgrass. It is a substance harmful only to witches."

"What?"

I stared over at Lalita, my mind racing. She was a witch.

It explained how she didn't have a pack scent on her. Only hybrids and witches didn't. Just then Lalita's toes twitched and her eyelids fluttered.

"She's coming around," the doctor said as I hurried to her side.

The seconds ticked past. She opened her eyes slowly. Her gaze found mine. Confusion, then fear, flickered across her face.

"What happened back there?" I asked. "Who was that man? Who are you really, Lalita?"

Her eyes shifted as she said in a very weak voice, "I — I still can't remember. I told you all I know."

She was lying. Again.

"Tell me the truth! Why is a witch assassin after you?"

Her eyes widened slightly at that. She shook her head, saying she had no idea why.

I wanted to force the truth out of her, but she was still too weak for me to press her for answers.

As though reading my thoughts, the doctor said gently, "She needs rest, Alpha."

I stepped back, nodded. I turned to the door.

If Lalita would not speak, I knew someone who would. The assassin. He would be spilling his guts by the time we were done with him.

I headed for the dungeons, my head pulsing with rage. My hands, held rigidly by my sides, were twitching. If I once got them around that assassin's neck...

He had come into my pack, into my house, to murder my mate. And he had almost succeeded!

At the door of the dungeon, I stopped. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting to regain control of my temper. I slammed my fist against the wall again and again, disgusted with myself.

Why the hell was I getting so worked up about Lalita anyway? Lalita was going to be out of my pack and life in a few hours.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door of the dungeon where dangerous prisoners were kept. The assassin was chained to a chair and covered with blood. Alaric, a frustrated expression on his face, was standing over him, his sleeves rolled back, his knuckles raw and red.

"Anything?" I asked.

Alaric shook his head. "The asshole won't talk."

The assassin slowly raised his bloody, battered face to me. He smiled, showing broken, bloodstained teeth.

In two strides I was on him. I slammed a fist into the man's ribs. Bones cracked underneath my fist.

"Who are you and who the f**k sent you?" I roared.

The assassin grunted, blood spilling from his mouth.

"Kill me," he rasped, trying to chuckle and wincing instead. "Torture me. Do whatever you want. I'm not talking. But know this, Alpha. We will get her. Eventually."