CHAPTER 104: ALCHEMY 3

ALDRIC

The hallway stretched before me. Empty. Quiet. The kind of quiet that came after midnight when most people had sense enough to be sleeping.

I turned the corner and stopped.

The Luna Omega stood there. Her back was to me. Shoulders hunched like she carried weight she wasn’t built to hold. When she turned, I saw the tears. Fresh ones that left tracks down her cheeks. She tried to hide them. Failed.

My intel had been clear. The medic omegas would be getting their loyalties tested by the spiritually inclined freak that called herself an elder. The doctor and healer were supposed to be gone by now. Yet here she was. Still lingering. Still inserting herself where she didn’t belong.

The sentinels at the door wouldn’t see me as a threat. They knew who I was. What I meant to this pack. But this omega. This unexpected variable. I didn’t like that she was here and I didn’t know why.

"Luna Fia." I let warmth color my voice. Let my smile reach my eyes. "We meet again."

She straightened. Wiped at her face with quick, furtive movements. "Alpha Aldric." Her bow was proper. Respectful. Everything it was supposed to be. But the issue was that she shared my air. Her nose was strung high like a challenge. And I like challenges.

I moved closer, studying her. "You’re up late."

"I couldn’t sleep." She met my eyes for a moment then looked away. "I’ve been in the infirmary with Grand Luna Morrigan."

"I see." I tilted my head. Kept my expression soft. Concerned. "That’s very dedicated of you."

"It’s guilt." The words tumbled out of her in a raw and honest manner. It was repulsing to see in real time. "And worry. For her. For Cian. For all of it."

"Guilt?" I raised an eyebrow. "What could you possibly feel guilty for?"

"Not being able to help." Her hands twisted together. "We tried making a cure. If you would even believe that. Thorne, Maren and I. We spent hours mixing things. Testing. Hoping. But in the end it was just..." She trailed off and shook her head.

Interesting. They’d been playing at alchemy. Mixing herbs like children playing at being witches. The thought would have been amusing if it weren’t so pathetic.

"We don’t know each other much." I stepped closer. Let my voice drop. Became gentle. Understanding. "But you seem like a decent person."

She looked up at me. Those tear-stained eyes searching for something. Comfort maybe. Hope.

"So don’t lose hope." I reached out. Let my hand hover near her shoulder without quite touching. "Cian and I... We will never let Morrigan just die like this."

"Thank you." Her voice cracked slightly.

"I’ll tell you what I told Cian." I pulled my hand back. "Take a rest. Tomorrow will come. And I promise the possibilities that it brings are endless."

She nodded. Then tried for a smile that didn’t quite work. "Are you going to see her?"

"I am."

"Alright." She moved past me. Her footsteps soft on the tile floor.

I turned. Watched her go. Watched the way she carried herself. Small. Unassuming. Completely unaware of how much she didn’t belong here.

Repulsion curled in my gut. Sharp and immediate. She really was a piece in the game I hadn’t seen coming. Cian marrying her had caught me completely off guard. Marrying at all had been unexpected. But marrying an omega?

It was best I chopped whatever this was as soon as possible. Having an omega on the seat of Luna was just sickening. The thought of it made my skin crawl. Made everything feel wrong and out of place.

I continued down the hallway. The infirmary door came into view. One sentinel stood guard. He straightened when he saw me and bowed.

I waved back. Casual. Like this was just another visit. Nothing unusual.

The door opened under my hand. Closed behind me with a soft click. The room was dim. Quiet except for the steady beep of monitors and the mechanical hiss of the ventilator.

Morrigan lay there. Still. Peaceful. Dying.

"How have you been, sister in law?" I moved to her bedside. Looked down at her pale face.

My hand slipped into my pocket. Found the two needles I’d prepared. The tips were covered. Protected. One held dark liquid. The other golden.

I pulled them out. Held them up to the light. The golden one caught the glow. Seemed to shimmer.

"It is horrid the state that you are in." I set the needles on the table. "But something will be done about it soon. I promise you."

I reached for her wrist. Found her pulse. Counted the beats.

My body went cold.

I checked again. Pressed my fingers harder against her skin. Felt the rhythm.

Wrong. It was all wrong.

I knew this alchemized poison well. Had studied its effects using several Omegas and a few sentinels. Watched how it worked before I decided this was the one I wanted. Her heartbeat was supposed to be irregular. Musical in its chaos. But this wasn’t right. The pattern was different. Stronger.

I lifted her hand and examined her skin in the dim light for the tree bark lesions. The marks that mimicked the rot so perfectly. They were fading. The edges were lighter. Less defined.

My eyes widened.

Was her body fighting the poison now? How? The witch who had strengthened it was powerful. Even if she wasn’t, this shouldn’t be possible.

Movement caught my eye. A bottle on the table across the room. Empty.

I walked over. Picked it up. Brought it to my nose.

The scent hit me immediately. Sharp. Familiar.

I ripped the covering off my golden injection. The cure I’d brought. The one meant to keep Morrigan more alive than she was now just long enough before Madeline came to perform the miracle. I held it to my nose.

They smelled almost identical.

"No." The word came out quiet. Disbelieving.

That fucked me up. Completely. The whole reason I’d come here tonight was to give Morrigan a trickle of the cure. She’d had a cardiac arrest after all and I needed her alive enough for Madeline to play hero. Cardiac arrests were no good for my plans.

So how had Morrigan gone from cardiac arrests to looking like she was rising above a poison strengthened by a powerful witch?

I looked back at the empty bottle in my hand. A laugh escaped. Small. Sharp. Wrong sounding in the quiet room.

"Am I going crazy?" I turned the bottle over. Examined it from every angle. "There is no way a gaggle of powerless fools created a cure to combat magic."

But the evidence was right here. In my hands. In Morrigan’s improving vitals. In the fading lesions on her skin.

I didn’t have time to linger on this. There was tomorrow. If Morrigan woke up now, my entire plan would be ruined. Everything I’d worked for. Every compromise I had to make since the exposure of the poison and Bo. Everything I’d carefully constructed.

My eyes scanned the room. I found more bottles. Vials and containers lined up on shelves. Some were labeled.

I moved closer. Read the names. Most meant nothing to me. Herbs and tinctures I had no knowledge of.

Then I saw it. Silver Thorn Draft.

My small knowledge of herbology kicked in. A tonic brewed from the bark of a silverthorn tree and powdered wolfsbane petals. When injected or swallowed, it overrode a wolf’s regenerative reflexes. Slowed brain activity.

Perfect.

I grabbed the bottle. Moved back to Morrigan’s bedside. Found her feeding tube. The liquid poured in easily. Disappeared into the tube. Into her.

But it wasn’t enough. Not after what that omega had done. Not after she’d willingly stumbled into something that could ruin everything.

I picked up the dark injection. The one filled with alchemized poison. The one I’d only brought as insurance. In case I was too generous with the cure.

My hands were steady as I found a vein in Morrigan’s neck. The needle slid in easily. I pushed the plunger. Watched half the contents disappear into her bloodstream.

Then I thought of the fucking Omega and her fucking audacity. Of her tear-stained face. Her guilt. Her pathetic attempt at playing healer.

She’d done this. She’d created and done something that threatened my plans. Again. Maybe accidentally. Maybe through sheer luck. But she’d done it.

And I wanted to punish her for it.

I pushed the plunger all the way down. Every last drop of poison flooded into Morrigan’s system.

The needles went into my pocket. I walked to the bathroom. It was small, clean and most importantly utilitarian. I held both injections over the toilet and dropped them in before pressing the handle.

The water swirled. Pulled them down. Erased the evidence.

When I stepped back into the room, everything changed.

The monitors screamed. High pitched. Urgent. Morrigan’s body jerked. Convulsed. Her back arched off the bed.

I ran to the door. Yanked it open. The sentinel turned. His eyes widened when he saw my face.

"Get help!" I let panic color my voice. Made it shake. Made it desperate. "Something is wrong with the Grand Luna!"

He ran. His footsteps echoed down the hallway. Faded into distance.

I turned back to the room. To Morrigan coding on the bed. To the machines that screamed and screamed and screamed.

And I smiled. This would be fun.