Brin looks around in search of something, then walks to a row of shrubs in the earth and crouches down and plucks out a few leaves from a plant. “Here,” he says, returning to me. “Keep these on your tongue for ten seconds. If they turn black, it means—”
“Someone has been poisoning me?”
“Yes.”
I take the leaves, spare a second to study their odd, waxy texture, and then place them on my tongue. I count to ten, but only open my mouth when Brin asks me to. He reaches past my lips and pulls out blackened leaves that were a bright green seconds ago.
“Silverdew is a slow acting poison,” he says. “You can’t lace a blade with it. It must be ingested. Through food. In your drink. Small doses, hidden well. It dulls your wolf, weakens your blood. Over time…” He hesitates. “It kills.”
Nyx stirs faintly inside me, growling low.
“Who?” I whisper, feeling my knees weaken with disbelief and shock.
Brin shakes his head. “I can’t prove it, Luna. There’s no way to know. But the hand behind it is close. And powerful. It must be.”
I step back, heart pounding. My children’s laughter resounds in my mind. I feel sick. “You’re saying Kade—”
Brin cuts me off. “I said nothing. I only warn you: trust no one.”
Before I can push him further, a shadow moves behind the glass. A servant’s face, quickly gone. Brin tenses. “Go. If they see us together too long at this time, it’ll bring trouble.”
I nod, though my throat burns with questions. I leave the garden.
???
The keep’s corridors are dim, lit by oil lamps. My steps echo against the hard stone flooring. That’s when I hear boots behind me.
“Freya,” a voice calls.
Beta Jax. Captain of the guard. And my only brother. Once bound by birth to protect me; now sworn to Kade. He has broad shoulders and a scar over his brow from a wound that almost cost him his eye. He was loyal to me and caring once. Now? I’m not sure.
“What do you want?” I ask, not caring to keep my voice polite.I just found out I’m being poisoned. I’m slowly dying. I have the right to be mad.
He keeps his tone low. “The guests noticed your behavior tonight, Freya. The Alpha is disappointed. He thought you were rebelling.”
I almost laugh. “And if I was?”
“Freya,” he says my name like a warning. “You must obey him. And show some respect to Izel now that she’s the lady of the house now.”
Barely holding back a scream in my throat, I close my fist and push it against his chest but he barely moves. “You just watched. You did nothing!”
He sighs. “Is there anything Icould’vedone? You should be more careful now with your words and actions. Around him.Don’trebel. Watch the staff as well. They answer to her now.”
My chest tightens. “Izel?”
He nods once but I knew it already. “The cooks, the maids, even half the guards. Orders slip from her mouth, and they obey before yours. The Alpha doesn’t stop it. And now that she’s titled lady of the house, they’ll be more compelled to follow her. Any respect they had for you, Alpha Kade made sure to erase it all tonight.”
I clench my fists, my heart shattering into a million pieces. “And you? Doyouanswer to her?”
His jaw works. “I answer to the Alpha. I’m sworn to him.”
I swallow the pain that threatens to drown me.
He steps closer. His eyes search mine. “Stay careful, Freya. You’re being pushed out, you have understood that now, yes?”
Nyx growls again, restless in my chest.
“I won’t go quietly, brother,” I say.
