Chapter 26

NATHANIEL

My vision was distorted as I slowly rose from a bed that didn't feel like mine. The room didn't even look like mine.

I tried to jog my memory to remember how I'd gotten here in the first place.

Ayra and I were at the top of the cliff.

Benjamin and Ervin came along.

I asked Ayra to return to the island.

I fought Benjamin and Ervin, but Ervin sunk his poisoned claw into my side. Then I was kicked off the cliff.

"Ayra." Did she get home safe? I placed my feet on the cold floor, patting my side. There was no injury. That was strange. I faintly remembered Ervin and Benjamin mentioned something about the poison consuming my mind, and sending me into a killing spree.

I didn't feel any of those things. Had they been bluffing?

"You're awake," Alan said, dragging my attention to where he stood by the door.

"Where's Ayra?"

He looked away from me, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck. "Um… "

"The fuck do you mean by 'um'. Where's Ayra?"

"Nathaniel!" Sandra's annoying voice shrieked as she barreled over to me, knocking into Alan on her way in, before wrapping her arms around my neck.

The flowery smell of her perfume made me sick, and she was the last person I wanted to see. I untangled her arms around my neck, giving Alan my harshest 'don't fuck with me’ look.

"I think Aiden will be in a better position to explain everything to you."

"Where is Aiden?"

"He went to get some food."

"Tell him I want him in here in two minutes. You should leave, Sandra. I don't want to talk to you right now."

She pulled away, looking down at me with anger. "Is this because of Ayra? Well, guess what? She is on the brink of death, and she's gonna fucking die. She only has a week at most. I'll see who you'll come running to."

"What the fuck would you say that for?" Alan hissed, confirming every word from Sandra's mouth.

I pushed Sandra out of the way. "What happened to her? And don't you dare fucking lie to me, Alan." I bared my fangs at him, letting him know I didn't have to have my demon to assert my dominance.

He swallowed hard in fear. "No one knows how she did it, but she took the poison into her body, and now she's unconscious."

"Take me to her," I instructed, brushing past him.

He led me down the corridor to a door manned by Dalia.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. Who the fuck let her in here? Aiden?"

"Nice to see you too," Dalia said with a bleak look on her face.

"The fuck are you doing here?"

"Serving my mistress."

I met Alan's gaze, but the look in his eyes said he also had no idea about what the fuck she was spouting.

"I don't know if you're high or something, but I'll deal with you when I'm done."

"Whatever you say, sire," she said, making a dramatic brow. She opened the door before gesturing inside. "Go in. You owe her your fucking life."

I bit back the response I had for her when I saw Ayra's limp body on the bed. Her hands were cuffed to the bed railings at her side. Thankfully, the cuffs weren't silver.

"What the fuck did you do, angel?" I muttered, brushing her hair off her forehead.

"Save your life," Dalia piped in from the doorway. "What?" She asked when I shot her a scowl. "You were asking a question, weren't you? She is currently lifeless. I don't see how you expect her to answer."

"Save your responses to yourself. Alan, where's Ishmael?"

"He left an hour before you woke up. He's doing some research on a spell."

"Tell him to drop by at my place. Call Kai and Logan, too. Thirty minutes. By then, they should have gathered in the living room."

"Affirmative. Take it easy, Nate. You just woke up."

"Get them, Alan."

If what Sandra said was true, there was no way I was getting some rest. Ayra didn't deserve to die because of me.

***

"Hit me with it," I said to Logan, trusting him to give me a full rundown down of things without mincing words.

He narrated the events of the two days I was unconscious, and when he was done, I was beyond angry.

"Tell me he's not telling the truth," I said to Aiden and Alan. At least they had the decency to look remorseful, but that did shit to hold back my anger.

"What did you expect us to do? We haven't been here you brought her in," Aiden said. If he wasn't my brother, he'd be feeling the impact of my fist on his jaw.

"Exactly. All the more reason why you should've kept your mouths shut. When you said that during breakfast, I told you she wouldn't do anything like that," I snapped.

"We realize that now, and we're deeply sorry. We apologized to her. She wouldn't have helped you if she planned to kill you in the first case."

"No one is looking at the bigger picture here," Dalia said from where she sat legs crossed on a couch across from me. "The waiter at the party should be asked some questions. He served the drinks. Also, Sandra needs to be questioned. Ayra said she handed the drink to her. It could be that she planned to poison Ayra with the help of the waiter. Nathaniel was the one who took the fall because he drank the glass of champagne."

"You're correct," Ishmael said as he rushed into the living room, looking all rough and tumble. His sunken eyes told me he hadn't gotten any sleep over the last few days. "I ran a check on your blood to see what poison was in your system. I told Ayra this, and the only solution would be to get something of the demon that attacked you."

"It was Ervin. The son of a bitch grew wings."

"Fuck," Aiden and Alan cursed simultaneously.

"You know this demon?" Kai asked, suspiciously. Of course, he was suspicious. He was a smart being.

"Long story. I'll get to that later. Go on, Ishmael."

"There was another thing I found in your system. Lingering traces of a potion I made."

"I didn't drink any of your potions."

"Exactly. I need to tell you the rest of this in private."

"What is it?" I asked after I'd locked the door to my office.

"Your drink was laced with a potion meant for separating bonds. There's one between you and Acheron. Did you feel an excruciating pain after you drank the champagne?"

"Yes."

"I made a potion for one of your pack members, but before I could hand it to him, I found it missing. I haven't gotten around to making another one."

"Who is the pack member?"

"Seth. He said he wasn't happy with his mate anymore, so he wanted to sever their bond. He made a special request when I said no."

"What special request?"

"He wanted to take the pain alone. Normally, both he and his mate would have to drink the potion, and they'd both bear the pain, but he said he didn't want her to suffer. I took pity on him and agreed to make the potion."

"First of all, that was a bullshit story. Seth doesn't have a mate. She died a long time ago."

"Are you sure?"

"I am. I'm also sure he did this. He has some questions to answer."

"That's not all," he said, bringing me to a standstill. "I fear Ayra isn't a werewolf at all."

***

"Alpha Nathaniel. It's nice to see you're finally awake," the blonde woman who opened the door said, holding her hand out to me.

I shook her hand. "Thank you… " I trailed off, waiting for her to fill in her name.

"Reese. I'm Reese."

"Reese. Is Seth in?"

"Yes. He's upstairs. Do you need me to call him downstairs for you?"

"No. Just point me in the direction of his room."

"Oh, his room is on the second floor. The third one on your left."

"Thank you."

I made my way up the stairs, knocking on Seth's door when I arrived at his room.

"I'm not hungry, Reese," he grumbled.

I twisted the doorknob, opening the door. "Seth."

Unmistakable fear struck his face. "Alpha Nathaniel."

***

"Where's Rozol when you fucking need him?" Alan asked, drumming his fingers impatiently on the table. "He said to meet him at the inn."

"Maybe something came up. I say we go look for Ervin ourselves. Ayra doesn't have much time," Aiden said.

Alan's gaze trailed over to me, nervousness in them. "Maybe that's not the right thing to say, Aiden. I'm sure Nate is stressed out to the max."

"Does he look like he's stressed out to the max?" Aiden asked with irritation. "He's fucking eating some shit that looks like a witch's potion. Lord fucking knows what shit that hag served him."

"Food," I answered, earning disgusted looks from the twins.

"This doesn't look like it's edible. Who would want to go back to… garbage?"

I snorted. "Pompous ass."

"You insisted on staying at The Borough. Without me busting my ass out there, your two hundred plus pack members won't have the free food, cars, and roofs over their heads."

"I'm sure they appreciate it."

"I know. You have a fuckton of money, though. You just chose to never leave your island."

"I'll see about taking a break soon. I fucking need it." They shared a look I couldn't read before turning to me again. "What?"

"You didn't say 'Ayra and I'."

"Should I have? I don't make decisions for her."

"Right."

"If you have something to say, Alan, just say it."

"What's going on between you two? What if she isn't your mate?"

"How about you let me worry about that?" I suggested, gulping the water the woman had placed beside me. "Come on. We have to go pay Ervin a visit in his room. He should be done by now."

"Ervin stays here?" Aiden asked as I led them down a hallway where the rooms were located. "And what do you mean by 'he should be done by now'?"

"This is an inn, isn't it?" I asked, ignoring his second question.

"So, you know Ervin has been here, and you made us wait there for over ten minutes. What if he's gone?"

I kicked a door open, moving to the side so Aiden could look inside the room. "Does this look like he's gone?"

Ervin leaped off his bed, glaring at us. "Nathaniel, it seems like you haven't learned your lesson since the last time."

"Yet you're the one who's hiding here like a little bitch. Make that make sense, Ervin." My eyes drifted to the empty bowl of soup on his nightstand. "I see you're done eating. The bill was on me."

"What did you do to my food?" He asked, trying hard to conceal his fear.

"Did you seriously think I'd not retaliate after the bullshit you pulled the other day? It was fun, wasn't it? The roles are now reversed."

"Get the fuck out of here before I lose my temper."

I chuckled, unsheathing the dagger I'd slipped into my pocket earlier today. "You do realize that you've been poisoned, right? Let me make this clear to you — you can't use your powers for now, and neither can you communicate with Benjamin. It doesn't last forever, but who needs forever to end your pathetic life."

"You're a bastard, Nathaniel. I'm disgusted," he spat. "You can't beat me, so you just had to stoop so low as to join forces with that old hag and poison me."

"I never claimed I was a better person, did I, Ervin? I know I'm a despicable person, but you make me look like a saint. I'm doing Benjamin a favor. You were always a loose cannon."

He went down on his knees, refusing to meet my eyes. "End all of this."

I smirked to myself. "Easy way, then."

I walked over to him, grabbing his ponytail in my hand before slicing it off with the dagger. I threw the hair at Alan before turning to him again.

I sank the knife into his throat, making a horizontal cut across his neck. He melted into a pile of ash, sending a strong wave of relief in my chest. Ayra wasn't going to die because of me.