Rejected By Alpha, Wanted By His Enemies

Chapter 4: Wolfsbane

LENA

The scratching sound above the ceiling stopped.

I stayed frozen on the stone floor, my ears straining to catch any tiny movement. The single candle on the desk flickered.

Scratch. Click.

Something was definitely up there. It sounded like sharp claws dragging slowly across the old rock, moving directly over my head.

My Eclipse wolf didn't just growl this time; she slammed against my mind, desperate to get out. The cold, dead-iron smell began to leak through the cracks in the ceiling boards, overriding the lingering scent of Caleb’s.

They were right above me.

I stood up slowly, making sure my boots didn't make a sound against the floor tiles.

My heart pounded so hard I was sure whatever was up there could hear it. I looked toward the wooden door. The Council guards were right outside in the hallway. If I screamed, they would open the door in seconds.

But would they be fast enough against creatures that could move faster than Alphas?

Before I could make a decision, a loud crack echoed through the room.

One of the thick wooden ceiling beams split right down the middle. A shower of gray dust rained down onto the mattress. I stumbled backward, my back hitting the stone wall near the window.

A pale, gaunt hand burst straight through the plaster.

The fingers were long and skeletal, tipped with thick, black fingernails that looked like iron claws. The hand gripped the edge of the broken wood and ripped it sideways, widening the hole. A face dropped down through the darkness of the ceiling crawlspace.

It was another one of the hooded assassins. His hood was pulled back, revealing a face covered in geometric tattoos that seemed to writhe beneath his pale skin. His eyes were completely black—no whites, no irises, just two empty holes staring down at me.

"The lamb is cornered," he whispered.

"Guards!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "In here! Now!"

The assassin didn't drop down immediately.

Instead, he reached into his black coat and pulled out a small, silver sphere. He dropped it through the hole. It hit the mattress with a soft thud, and before I could even blink, a blinding, emerald-green light exploded from the metal ball.

It wasn't smoke. It was a thick, glowing mist that instantly filled the small room.

The moment the green vapor touched my skin, a wave of intense, paralyzing weakness slammed into my body. My knees buckled beneath me. I crashed hard onto the floor, my hands shaking violently as I tried to push myself up. The silver rings in my eyes, which had been bright and warm just a second ago, flickered and died out like a snuffed candle.

My inner wolf let out a pathetic, muffled whimper and went completely dark.

Wolfsbane, I realized with horror, my lungs burning as I accidentally breathed in the green mist. But it wasn't normal wolfsbane. This was liquid extraction, vaporized and concentrated to affect even the highest bloodlines. I couldn't move my legs. I could barely lift my chin off the stone floor.

Outside in the hallway, loud shouting erupted.

"What is that light? Open the door! Get the keys!" a guard yelled.

The iron locks rattled violently, but the key seemed to stick in the old mechanism. The wood groaned under the pressure of the guards throwing their shoulders against the outside of the door.

The tattooed assassin dropped down from the ceiling, landing silently on his feet right beside the bed. The green mist didn't seem to affect him at all. He looked down at me, his black eyes empty of any human emotion, and pulled a long, thick leather strap from his belt.

"Do not fight it, Eclipse," the man said smoothly, stepping toward me. "The liquid silver in the air will keep your beast asleep. If you struggle, your heart will simply stop beating."

"Get... away..." I choked out, my fingers clawing uselessly at the rough stone floor, trying to drag my body toward the window. Every breath felt like inhaling liquid fire.

The door behind him finally gave way with a bang.

The two Council guards burst into the room, their swords drawn and glowing with low pack magic. But the green mist caught them off guard. The moment they stepped into the vapor, both warriors stumbled, their eyes widening in shock as the poison hit their systems.

The assassin didn't even draw a weapon. He spun around, his long leg snapping out in a brutal kick that caught the first guard directly in the throat. A loud snap echoed through the room, and the guard collapsed into the corner, motionless. The second guard tried to swing his blade, but the assassin caught his wrist, twisted it until the bone shattered, and drove his own silver dagger into the guard’s chest.

It took less than five seconds. Both guards were dead on the floor.

The assassin turned back to me, his black eyes fixed on my face. He knelt down, his cold, pale hand reaching out to grab the collar of my dress. "Now. No more interruptions."

Suddenly, with a massive, screeching groan of tearing metal, the entire iron grate was ripped completely out of the stone masonry and hurled across the room. It smashed into the far wall, leaving a gaping hole open to the night.

It was Sebastian.

His steel-gray eyes were completely bloodshot, his large frame shaking with an unhinged rage. He had evidently ignored the Council’s rules, staying close to the building because he knew the danger wasn't over. The moment his eyes landed on my paralyzed body on the floor, a sound came out of him that didn't sound like a wolf at all.

It sounded like a demon.

"Step away from my Luna," Sebastian roared.

The assassin blinked in surprise, but before he could move, Sebastian lunged. He didn't shift into his wolf form—the room was too small, the green mist too thick but his human hands were already covered in thick gray fur and long, curved claws.

He slammed into the assassin, throwing the pale man against the wooden desk.

The desk shattered.

Sebastian’s fists raining down on the assassin's face, his claws tearing through flesh and bone. But the green mist was starting to take its toll on him too. I could see Sebastian's movements slowing slightly, his chest heaving as the vaporized wolfsbane began to poison his lungs.

The assassin noticed. With a fluid, unnatural twist of his spine, the pale man slipped out of Sebastian’s grip and drove a small, dark needle directly into Sebastian’s shoulder.

Sebastian grunted, his eyes widening as whatever was inside the needle hit his veins. He stumbled back, his large body crashing against the wall.

"Sebastian!" I tried to scream, but it came out as a weak, raspy whisper.

The assassin didn't try to finish the fight. He knew his time was running out. He turned back to me, reaching down to grab my arm to drag me toward the broken window.

But a second scent suddenly hit the room, cutting through the green poison like a lightning bolt.

A silver flash blurred through the broken door from the hallway. Caleb Thornton slammed into the room like a runaway train. His face was wild, his black hair wilder, and his ice-blue eyes were completely gone, replaced by the brilliant, glowing silver of his wolf, Ash.

He had felt the bond fracturing from across the grounds, the poison in my blood triggering an alarm in his own soul.

Caleb didn't stop to think. He grabbed the assassin from behind, his massive jaws extending as his face half-shifted, and bit down directly on the man's neck.

A horrific crunch echoed through the small space. The assassin let out one final, choked gasp before Caleb ripped his throat completely out, flinging the dead body onto the floor like trash.

Caleb dropped to his knees beside me, his chest heaving violently. His silver claws gently touched my face, his hands trembling as he looked at my pale, sweating skin. "Lena. Lena, look at me," he begged, his voice deep and rough with pure panic. "I'm here. I've got you."

On the other side of the room, Sebastian was pushing himself up against the wall, coughing up dark blood from the poison needle, his steel-gray eyes glaring at Caleb through the green haze. "Get... your hands... off her..." Sebastian choked out, trying to force his legs to move toward us.

Caleb ignored him, his focus entirely on me. He slid his arms under my knees and my back, lifting my limp body into his chest. The moment he held me close, the fated bond flared up again, trying to fight off the weakness in my veins, but the green mist was too strong. My head fell back against his shoulder, my eyes heavy.

"I have to get her out of the mist," Caleb shouted, looking toward the broken door.

But before he could take a single step, the sound of dozens of boots echoed from the hallway outside.

A flood of Council warriors, led by Victor Thornton and the remaining elders, poured into the ruined room with torches and drawn weapons. They looked at the two dead guards, the dead assassin, and then at Caleb holding me in his arms while Sebastian stood bleeding against the wall.

"Treason!" Victor Thornton roared, pointing a shaking finger at his own son and Sebastian. "They broke the confinement! They killed the guards! They are trying to steal the Eclipse wolf!"

The High Council elder stepped forward, his face pale. He looked at Caleb's arms wrapped around me, then at Sebastian's deadly posture.

"Alpha Caleb. Alpha Sebastian," the elder said, his voice echoing with ancient authority. "You have violated the sacred decree of neutral ground. You have shed blood inside the quarters."

"The hunters were inside!" Caleb snarled, his silver eyes flashing as he held me tighter. "They were trying to kill her!"

"It does not matter," the elder cold-bloodedly replied. "The law is to prevent pack war. By the authority of the High Council, your packs are now at war, and the bond between Lena Brooks and her suitors is hereby declared—"

“STOP!” Someone yelled, cutting him short.