One Year To Burn

Chapter 15

Denzel’s POV

Pain pulsed through my body, sharp and unrelenting. I was trapped inside my own head awake, aware, yet completely powerless. I knew I needed to move, to get up, but my body refused to obey. The attackers were closing in, and Tyrell was nowhere to be found.

“Can you get up?” I asked Rayon.

He struggled, then somehow forced himself onto his feet. “I can’t shift, Alpha. I think we’ve been poisoned.”

The words landed like a death sentence. Poisoned how? We’d gone out for a territorial meeting and were already on our way back. Tyrell had insisted we stop, claiming he needed a moment, so we parked the car. We were close to Blood Moon Pack territory; I hadn’t thought twice about it. Not until my legs gave out beneath me and paralysis crept through my body.

Howls and growls echoed through the woods. Wolves were near. I couldn’t even lift myself to defend us. I prayed some patrol guards would cross our path in time.

“We have to try,” I told Rayon. This wasn’t how my story ended.

Somehow, we both got upright. Claws extended, we braced ourselves for the attack. I called Tyrell over and over, but there was no response. The wolves’ scent was familiar too familiar but my thoughts were thick, clouded, useless. I conserved what little strength I had and fought.

We held them off for a while, but they were too many. Too strong.

Then everything went black.

Pain dragged me back. It wrapped around my body, confusing and disorienting. Was I alive? Dead? I couldn’t tell. I fought to wake, forcing my mind to claw its way back to consciousness. I needed strength. I needed my wolf.

“Nigel,” I called silently. “Are you there?”

Nothing.

Panic surged.

When I finally opened my eyes, light stabbed straight through my skull. I groaned.

“He’s awake, Doctor. The Alpha is awake,” someone said.

A hospital. I knew immediately.

“The poison is almost completely out,” a familiar voice said and then her scent hit me all at once.

Apples. Peaches.

Venessa.

“Venessa,” I managed to rasp.

“I’m here, Alpha,” she said firmly. “You and Gamma Rayon will be fine.”

What was she doing here?

I tried to sit up, and the nurse and doctor rushed to help me. Once upright, my gaze went straight to Rayon. He lay on the bed beside mine, his chest rising steadily. His wounds nearly healed.

Relief flooded me.

“Tyrell,” I said hoarsely. “Is he”

“Beta Tyrell is fine,” the doctor said quickly. “He and Delta Devon brought you and Gamma Rayon in. They’re unharmed.”

I turned my head slowly and looked at Venessa.

“Why is she here?” I asked.

The doctor cleared his throat. “Because she saved both your lives and your wolves’. Miss Gordon is a healer. Skilled with herbs. She identified foxglove poisoning just by seeing the discoloration of your fingertips. We missed it entirely. She treated you both using a remedy she already had prepared in her room.”

I frowned at her.

How did she know to prepare an antidote in advance?

I didn’t ask not yet.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood.

“Alpha, you need rest,” Doctor Dwayne said sharply.

“I’ll rest in my bedroom,” I replied. “Venessa come with me.”

Before we left, Rayon coughed softly. I glanced back, reassured.

“Make sure my Gamma recovers fully,” I said, then walked out.

Venessa followed.

Outside the clinic, the pack crowded the area some crying, others pale with fear. Tyrell and Devon stood guard at the entrance.

“Thank the goddess, Alpha,” Devon said. “You were unconscious for five hours. We thought we’d lose you both. I was on patrol when I caught the scent of blood. I followed it and found you and Gamma Rayon lying in pools of it. Then Tyrell showed up, and we rushed you here.”

I nodded, though my mind snagged on one thought.

What had Tyrell been doing in the woods that it took him so long to find us?

I’d deal with that later.

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” I said, tightening my grip on Venessa’s hand.

“Follow me,” I ordered.

Fear flickered in her eyes. She knew something. I could feel it.

I took her straight to my office and slammed the door shut. Weak as I still was, I could feel myself recovering faster than usual. Nigel stirred faintly inside me quiet, but present.

I sat behind my desk and fixed my gaze on her.

She was hiding something. And I intended to uncover it.

“How did you know?” I asked.

She wiped at her cheeks. She’d been crying.

A sharp, irrational jealousy cut through me. I told myself it was because she feared losing Rayon her only chance to move on.

“You went there for Rayon,” I said.

She shook her head. “That was the only way they’d let me in. I couldn’t say I wanted to see you, Alpha. You know that.”

Guilt settled heavy in my chest. I’d found her too late. That was on me.

“How did you know it was poison?” I pressed. “And how did you already have the antidote?”

She hesitated, visibly nervous. “I was injured with silver today. I made the concoction to help my wounds heal faster. I was just… lucky I made enough.”

My frown deepened.

I was healing faster than normal. I didn’t need to wonder why. Proximity to my mate.

“Injured?” I asked sharply. “Let me see it.”

She swallowed and looked away.

“Show me, Venessa,” I said coldly. “Or I’ll start believing you planned all of this.”

Her head snapped up immediately. “I would never hurt you. I swear it.”

“And why is that?” I demanded.

She lowered her gaze.

Did she feel it too? Beyond the bond did she care for me the way I cared for her? Was she as torn, as conflicted, as broken by this as I was?

Her eyes gave nothing away.

I forced myself back into control, burying the questions clawing at my chest.

One thing at a time.

And I was far from done with her.