One Year To Burn

Chapter 16

Denzel’s POV

“Show me the wound you treated with your herbs,” I said, my voice hard with suspicion. “It doesn’t make sense, Venessa. How do you already have an antidote to the poison in our systems? It’s not adding up. Show me the wound now.”

Tears welled in her eyes as her fingers went to the buttons of her blouse. I didn’t understand what she intended to do, but instinctively, I steeled myself. I braced for whatever truth she was about to lay bare. She slipped the blouse from her shoulders, and shock rippled through me when I realized she wasn’t wearing a bra.

Then she turned her back to me.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

“What who did this to you?” I demanded.

The cuts were unmistakable wide, brutal, carved deep into her skin. Only silver whips could leave wounds like that on a wolf. With visible effort, she bent to retrieve her blouse from the floor and pulled it back on. I crossed the distance between us immediately.

“Who did this to you?” I asked again. My wolf, long dormant, stirred with a low, furious growl.

“Who did this to you, Venessa?” I pressed, but she only shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter, Alpha,” she said quietly.

I caught her hand and drew her close, helping her settle the blouse back into place, my fingers fastening each button as carefully as I could.

“Who did this to you?” I asked again.

She shook her head once more. “I don’t want trouble, Alpha.”

That was when the door opened.

Jalisa walked in and froze at the sight of me holding Venessa. Anger and hurt twisted her face.

“I can’t believe this,” she said, her voice trembling. “You come back from the dead, and the first thing you do is romance your mate in your office?”

“Venessa saved my life, Jalisa,” I said evenly. “If not for her, I’d be dead. Why did you hurt her?” I asked my wife, because I knew she was the only one with enough authority to have a pack worker beaten like that.

“Because of this,” she snapped, pointing at the way Venessa was in my arms.

Rage surged through me. “You’re sick,” I told her.

She wiped at her tears, voice breaking. “You caused this. All you had to do was send this Lycan w***e away, but you just had to keep her.”

I pulled Venessa closer. “I’m glad I have a heart, Jalisa. That decision saved my life.”

Her gaze hardened. “What you’re doing is against the law. If I pursue your infidelity, I’m entitled to half. I’d hate to break your pack and weaken its strength, but you’re leaving me no choice.”

I laughed, sharp and humorless. “Holding Venessa isn’t infidelity. Beating pack members without cause is a crime. She did nothing to you, yet you had her punished. By law, I can separate myself from a Luna who mistreats my pack. I’m allowed to act for their safety because an Alpha is nothing without his pack. And don’t even think about stealing my military for your father’s cause. It won’t work.”

Silence fell. I knew I’d cornered her.

Venessa gently pulled away from me. “I need to go check on Gamma Rayon,” she said.

I didn’t stop her. It was the only reasonable choice to get her away from a woman who clearly wanted her gone, or worse. She left the office quickly.

“I can’t keep living like this, Denzel,” Jalisa said, tears streaming. “Our marriage has been unbearable for over a month. It’s like you’re not even the same person.”

“I haven’t changed,” I replied. “I’m still the same man. You’re just too focused on Venessa to see that.”

She sank onto the couch. “We don’t love each other, and you know it. I’m trying to make this work, to protect your honor, but you’re making it impossible. You have no idea what it feels like to be rejected by your fated mate. I chose you anyway. And now—” I paused, then said it clearly, decisively. “I’m elevating her status. From today on, Venessa is the pack healer. She is no longer a servant.”

Jalisa stared at me, stunned into silence. I’d placed Venessa where Jalisa could no longer touch her, and the certainty of that filled me with grim satisfaction.

“So… she’s a healer?” Jalisa finally asked, her tone eerily calm. The sudden shift unsettled me. Sometimes I wondered if she was always acting.

I didn’t answer.

“What happened out there?” she asked.

My thoughts snapped back to the attack. Then it hit me Tyrell hadn’t been there. Even in Devon’s account, Tyrell was absent. And Tyrell was the reason we’d stopped moving in the first place.

I stormed out of my office and headed straight for the clinic. If my Beta was dirty, he wouldn’t confess but I wanted to see his reaction.

Venessa was seated beside Rayon, holding his hand. Tyrell and Devon sat on the couch across the room.

The sight of Venessa with Rayon twisted something deep in my chest. His gratitude toward her was obvious and it hurt more than I expected.

“Where were you?” I demanded, turning on Tyrell.

He looked uneasy.

“You were the one who ordered us to stop,” I continued. “And somehow, you weren’t there when the attack happened. You didn’t hear anything, and it took Devon who was on patrol to find us before you showed up. So tell me, Tyrell. Where were you?”

My gaze dropped to his hands. His fingertips were purple.

“Can you access your wolf?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t know why Leon has gone silent.”

That confirmed it. He’d ingested the poison too.

“Venessa,” I said, “you’re officially the pack healer. Help him. His fingertips are purple.”

She glanced at Tyrell with a look that suggested she already knew and didn’t care. I couldn’t help wondering what had passed between them to cause such coldness. She stood and went to fetch medicine from her room.

“Those wolves smelled familiar, Alpha,” Rayon said quietly.

“I noticed that too,” I replied, and silence settled between us.

Venessa returned moments later carrying a bottle filled with a green liquid. She asked for thick needles. Tyrell drank the concoction, then lay back on the couch as she instructed him to remove his clothes.

She worked with precise confidence, puncturing his skin with steady hands. I watched, stunned by her mastery. I’d had no idea she was this skilled who would have guessed we’d had a healer among us all this time?

I’d never seen her wolf, but her methods mirrored advanced Lycan medicine. From each puncture point, a thick black substance seeped out.

“Poisoned blood,” she explained calmly.

I watched as the dark ooze gave way to normal red blood. She wiped the wounds clean and removed the needles.

“Beta Tyrell’s body was already expelling the poison,” she said. “He didn’t really need my help.”

I frowned. How could his body fight off the poison on its own?

He must be one very lucky bastard.