My Mark Is His Posion

10

Chapter 10

FREYA'S POV

I stared at Doctor Carver curiously, wondering what it was he was about to say. He interlocked his fingers together and rubbed one thumb over the other.

It seemed like he was uneasy and it surprised me. In the few weeks I'd known him, he was not a man who got nervous.

"You both know me well as a doctor," he started and I nodded, impatiently waiting for him to go on.

"But that's not all that I am," he added and paused, as though waiting to see our reactions.

"Okay?" Elena drawled impatiently.

"I've known Damon Lancaster for many years now."

Beside me, I felt Finnley tense, while my brows only furrowed in confusion. Doctor Carver and Damon?

"How is that possible? What do you mean?" Finnley asked, taking a step toward Doctor Carver.

"I've known him because I was once a part of the Ashford pack."

Finnley and I gasped simultaneously in shock.

"The shifter pack led by Alpha Tovin Quinn years ago?" Finnley asked, voicing both our thoughts.

Doctor Carver nodded in agreement and I exhaled another shocked gasp. How could it even be? He was fully human... wasn't he?

"Wait, hold on, what... what's that? Who's Tovin now?" Elena stuttered, looking helplessly from Doctor Carver to us for an explanation, but we were still too stunned to give any response.

"The Ashford pack was one of the most unified shifter packs to ever exist at that time," Doctor Carver began to explain. "Until Damon swooped in seven years ago with his crazy, bloodthirsty little hounds, aiming to take over leadership of the pack."

"And he assassinated Alpha Quinn as well," I added, and Doctor Carver stared at me as though wondering how I knew.

"We heard the stories when we were little," I admitted, remembering the times we sat around as children at the pack house and listened to stories from the older wolves. Eventually, we grew up to believe most of them were made up, until today.

"He invaded the land completely and destroyed every single thing we ever built!"

Doctor Carver's face scrunched up with obvious contempt as he spoke.

"He had help from a group of rogues, and the attack was so sudden and unexpected that otherwise we would have fought back, and Damon's name would not even be known to this day," he paused, the muscles of his jaw flexing.

"That day was...brutal, to say the least," he shook his head with a solemn look.

"But you survived," I told him.

"I was only lucky to have escaped before they came on me and so I sneaked into human territory after days of running through the woods. I practically started my life over learning all about medicine while still trying to gather all the intel I could on Damon. Now, here we are, with his men only a few feet from this building," Doctor Carver finished with an eerie-looking smile that no one could bring themselves to reciprocate.

Silence filled with tension enveloped the room.

I still stared hard at him, as though trying to see past this kind man who saved me from dying to the man who had to experience such a savage end to his own pack.

To be honest, I was not sure how I felt knowing who he really was. I expected to feel betrayed, I waited for the voice at the back of my head to feed my anxiety by telling me he had everything all planned out, but there was nothing.

Instead, a strange sense of calm washed over me, knowing I was indeed not alone. We were more alike than I could ever even imagine. He had been carrying his secret for years while also making a name for himself here in the human world."

"Well, I'm honestly grateful you did not tell me all of this when you found me or I would have run off for dear life," I said teasingly and the tension in the room eased.

Doctor Carver laughed lightly. "I knew the day would come eventually."

"So you're saying I've been working for a non-human for years now, huh?" Elena sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. I low-key pitied her, knowing there was so much going through her head at that moment.

"To an extent, yes," Doctor Carver nodded. "Anyway, we need an effective plan before leaving here. We'll need food, supplies and other essentials for the journey," he turned to Finnley.

"How ill is your Alpha?"

"According to what I've heard, in a few weeks, the illness will be irreversible and he'll end up dying slowly."

Doctor Carver hummed a response and asked Elena for a notepad as he and Finnley began to map out the routes we would follow.

Quietly, I lowered myself to the sofa and placed a palm over my belly, hoping I was making the right choice by deciding to return to Willow Ridge. If the wrong person spotted me, that might be the end.

I wondered what would happen if it later turned out that Finnley had misheard my name and I was humiliated again as the girl who got marked before being mated. This time, I was certain they would not even hesitate to cut my head off as punishment.

'But what if I eventually found him?' A voice at the back of my head asked.

Or what if he finally revealed himself?

"Freya, are you with us?" Finnley's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I nodded repeatedly even though I had heard nothing he'd said in the past few minutes.

After going through the sketched plan, I breathed out and nodded.

"This looks good. It's better we leave at first light, the darkness will provide extra cover."

***

OMNISCIENT POV

Cassandra was seated on a chair facing the grand bed where Alpha Gideon lay with sweat slowly rolling down from his face to the pillow.

The room was completely silent except for the ticking of the clock and the faint sound of ruffling pillows as the Alpha restlessly tossed and turned.

Footsteps sounded near the door and Cassandra's eyes snapped to it, cold and empty, as though she had just had the worst of weeks and had barely recovered.

Elder Reginald hovered by the door, not bothering to walk in.

"How is he doing?" Reginald whispered, his voice holding no sympathy.

Cassandra opened her mouth to speak but the Alpha tossed again, muttering something.

"Freya...Where are you, my Freya?" He muttered in a clearer voice

and Cassandra's face went completely pale with shock.