Lana POV:
It was my birthday.
I hadn't expected a party. I hadn't expected anything. But the doorbell rang at 7:00 PM.
Jameson opened it.
"Caren!" he exclaimed, stepping aside to let her in. He didn't look surprised. He looked relieved.
She walked in, holding a thermos flask. She was wearing a dress that was a little too tight, a little too short. She looked at me, her eyes gleaming with malice.
"Happy Birthday, Luna Lana," she said, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "I brought you something special. A fertility tea. My grandmother's recipe. It helps... broken wolves heal."
"Get out," I said.
Jameson slammed his hand on the table. "Lana! Be polite."
"She is an Omega. She does not belong in the Alpha house uninvited," I said, trying to summon the authority I didn't feel.
"I invited her," Jameson snapped. "She's trying to help us, Lana. She knows we're struggling to conceive. Drink the tea."
"I'm not drinking anything she made," I said, backing away. The thermos smelled wrong. Beneath the peppermint and sage, there was a bitter, metallic undertone.
Jameson's eyes flared. "Stop acting like a child. You're embarrassing me. Drink it. That is an order."
"No."
"I said drink it!"
The Alpha Voice hit me like a sledgehammer. Drink.
My knees buckled. My wolf whined in submission against my will. I collapsed into the dining chair.
Caren smirked. She poured the dark, steaming liquid into a cup. As she leaned in, she whispered so only my wolf hearing could catch it:
"Enjoy it, you barren bitch. You can't even shift. You'll never give him a pup."
My hand moved on its own, fighting every inch of the way. My fingers trembled as I lifted the cup. I didn't want to drink it. My instincts were screaming DANGER.
But the Alpha's Command overrides instinct.
I swallowed the liquid.
It tasted sweet for a second.
Then, fire.
It felt like I had swallowed a mouthful of broken glass and battery acid. My throat seized instantly.
I dropped the cup. I clawed at my neck.
Wolfsbane.
For humans, it's a mild toxin. For wolves, it is death. It shuts down our connection to the moon. It corrodes our insides.
"Lana?" Jameson frowned. "Stop being dramatic."
I couldn't breathe. My airway was closing. Purple spots danced in my vision.
I tried to shift. If I could shift, my healing would accelerate. I pushed, I strained.
Nothing. The poison had locked my wolf away.
I fell off the chair, writhing on the floor.
"Oh my god!" Caren gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. "Did she choke? Is she allergic to sage? I didn't know!"
I pointed to the sideboard. The antidote. Every wolf household keeps a vial of Wolfsbane antidote for emergencies.
I crawled toward it. My lungs were burning. My heart was stuttering.
Jameson stood up. He looked confused.
I reached for the vial.
"Jameson!" Caren shrieked. "She's going to attack me! Look at her eyes!"
My eyes were bloodshot, bulging. I must have looked terrifying.
Jameson didn't think. He reacted.
He saw me reaching out-not for the medicine, but in Caren's direction.
"Back off!" he roared.
He shoved me.
He shoved his dying, pregnant wife.
I flew backward, hitting the wall. The vial of antidote rolled under the sofa, out of reach.
I lay there, gasping like a fish out of water. My vision was going black.
Jameson stood over Caren, shielding her. "Don't you dare touch her, Lana! Apologize to Caren!"
I looked at him. I saw the man I had loved. I saw the father of the child dying inside me.
I summoned every ounce of strength I had left. I didn't use my voice. I used the Mind-Link, forcing it through his block with the sheer power of my desperation.
My Pup... I screamed into his mind. You are killing our Pup...
Then, darkness took me.
