Her symptoms. The nausea, the dizziness, the fatigue that wouldn’t go away. We’d all assumed it was the pregnancy, the stress, the realm change. But what if it wasn’t? What if someone had been slowly killing her right under our noses?
I turned to the healer, who had been hovering in the background. “When you examined her, did you check for toxins?”
The healer’s face went pale. “I... I checked for illness, for the pregnancy symptoms, but poison... we would need a different kind of examination...”
“Then do it. Now. Quietly. Don’t wake her.”
The healer scrambled to gather supplies. Vials, instruments, tools I didn’t recognize. My mother stepped in to help, her own healing knowledge from decades of queenship proving useful. They’d worked together before, I remembered. During past crises, past illnesses. They knew what they were doing.
They worked in silence, careful not to disturb Riley’s exhausted sleep. Blood was drawn. Tests were run. I watched every moment, my wolf pacing restlessly inside me, unable to help, unable to do anything except wait.
Patience had never been my strong suit. Tonight, it was nonexistent.
The minutes crawled by, each one stretching into an eternity.
Finally, the healer straightened. Her expression was grim. The kind of expression that preceded bad news.
“There are traces,” she said quietly. “A foreign substance in her system that shouldn’t be there. I can’t identify it specifically. We would need an alchemist for that. But there’s definitely a toxin.”
Poison, confirmed. Someone had been poisoning my mate, my pregnant mate, for goddess knows how long.
The rage that flooded through me was calculated fury. My wolf wanted blood, wanted to destroy whoever did this with our bare hands.
“Vix,” I snarled, barely keeping my voice down. “She must have been planning this for a while. Started poisoning Riley long before today’s confrontation.”
“Which means she has help,” my father said. “Someone with access to Riley’s food, her drink, her personal items.”
“We need to find whoever helped her. Healers, servants, anyone who had access to Riley since she arrived.” My voice was cold, every inch the alpha prince who would tear apart anyone who threatened his family. “Every person who has touched her food, entered her quarters, or been alone with her. I want them questioned. All of them.”
“And Vix?” Patt asked.
“Find her. I don’t care if you have to search every inch of this kingdom. She’s not acting alone, and I want to know who’s behind this. Bring her to me alive.”
“What about an antidote?” Thessa asked. “If she’s being poisoned, we need to stop it. Reverse it.”
“We need to identify the poison first,” the healer said. “Once we know what it is, we can work on countering it. In the meantime, I’ll prepare a general detoxifying treatment. It won’t cure her, but it should slow the effects.”
“Do it.”
My parents exchanged glances. My father put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed, the gesture saying everything. We’ll find them. We’ll make them pay.
I looked at Riley, still sleeping, unaware of the danger she was in. She thought the worst thing happening was that I’d betrayed her. She had no idea that someone was trying to kill her. Trying to kill our child.
And she wouldn’t find out. Not until I’d fixed this. Not until Vix was in chains and whoever helped her was exposed, until I could come to her with answers, with solutions, with proof that she was safe.
I moved to her bedside, careful not to make a sound. She was turned away from me, even in sleep, her body remembering the anger she felt, the hurt, the betrayal she believed had happened.
It hadn’t. I would never betray her. Never. I leaned down and pressed the softest kiss to her hair. She smelled familiar, comforting, mine. She didn’t stir.
“I’ll fix this,” I whispered, so low only my wolf could hear. “I swear to you on everything I am. I’ll fix everything. I’ll find who did this. I’ll make them pay. And then I’ll spend the rest of my life making you believe in us again.”
My wolf howled in agreement, in determination, in fury. I straightened and looked at my family, saw the same resolve reflected in their eyes.
“Go,” Thessa said softly. “I’ll watch over her.”
I nodded and took one last look at Riley, at the woman I loved, the mother of my child. Then I walked out of the room.
The hunt began.
