My Alpha Mate Defended His Witch Ex, So I Let His Cure Kill Me

Chapter 2

On the 6th day, Vera came to apologize.

Kane held my hand, his voice tender. "You're the Luna of the Blackwood Pack. I can't keep letting people treat you like this."

Once, those words would have moved me.

Now, they only sounded absurd.

Vera brought me a glass of berry wine and smiled sweetly. "Evelyn, I went too far last time. Let this drink be my apology."

The faint scent of wolfbane poison lingered in the wine.

Kane had clearly smelled it too. Yet he only winked at me and showed me the antidote syringe hidden in his sleeve.

"Go on and drink it. I already have the antidote ready. I won't let you suffer for long. It isn't easy for Vera to swallow her pride. She's upset, so it's only natural for her to act out a little."

I smiled and accepted the glass. Under his pleased gaze, I flung the wine into Vera's face. Dark red liquid streamed from her hair.

"I already told you. I don't need this kind of apology. If you two want to play happy family, leave me out of it."

Kane's expression darkened. He took Vera with him and slammed the door behind them.

He did not return for the next few days, but every day, he sent someone to make sure Mia watched me take my medicine.

One evening, Mia hesitated as she brought in my dose. "The Alpha may be staying with Miss Vera, but he asks about your temperature and appetite every day. He said black wolfsbane is dangerous. Missing even one dose could leave you with permanent damage."

Once, I would have taken those words as proof that Kane still cared about me.

Now I understood. Concern that always came after someone else was nothing more than a scrap of consolation tossed my way.

The moment the medicine hit my stomach, I coughed up a mouthful of blood. My vision went black.

When I woke, Kane was leaning over me, examining my pupils. The instant he reached for my pulse, I hid my hand beneath the covers. His hand stilled. The concern on his face slowly hardened into irritation.

"There is no way my medicine is wrong. Evelyn, when did you start using fainting spells to trick me into coming home?"

I turned my back on him. "If you don't want to be here, you can leave."

He was silent for a moment, but still tucked the blanket around me.

Vera's usual sweet perfume clung to him, and blue powder from whatever medicine he had prepared for her stained his cuff.

Perhaps he noticed me staring, because he hid his hand behind his back and softened his voice.

"All right. Let's not talk about Vera. Haven't you always wanted to visit your foster parents in Pine Ridge? Give me a few more days, and I'll go with you."

I murmured my agreement.

Believing I had finally stopped making a fuss, Kane leaned down and brushed his lips over my mate mark.

For the first time, the mark did not respond to him.

He frowned, but in the end, he blamed the poison.

The day he promised to take me to see my parents was also the day of my final dose.