Scout’s POV
"You actually thought I gave a single damn about you."
Claire spat the words directly into my face. The girl who had held my hand while I cried was gone. This creature standing ten feet away in the flickering candlelight was a stranger. A predator.
I backed up one step. My heel hit the edge of the heavy rug. My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs, a dull, thudding warning. I kept my eyes locked on her hands. Specifically, on the blue residue staining the tips of her fingers. The wolfsbane. The poison she had been slipping into the pack’s tea for weeks.
"Why?" My voice came out as a raspy whisper. I needed to buy time. I needed to find an exit. "You swore an oath to the North Pack. You knelt before the Alpha."
"Oaths are for fools." Claire didn't shout. Her voic
