CHAPTER 114: BLOOD IS THICKER

FIA

The sunlight hit my eyelids first. Sharp and insistent. I blinked against it and turned my head away from the window.

Something moved in the corner of the room.

I jerked upright. The covers slipped down to my waist and I grabbed them quickly, pulling them up to cover my bare chest.

A woman stood near the dresser. She wore simple gray clothing and her hair was pulled back in a neat braid. Her eyes widened when she saw me move and she immediately dropped into a bow.

"I apologize for frightening you, Luna. I did not mean to startle you."

My heart hammered against my ribs. I pressed one hand to my chest and took a breath. "It’s fine. I just didn’t expect...you... to be here."

She straightened but kept her gaze lowered. "Alpha Cian instructed me not to disturb you. He wanted you well rested."

The memory of last night came rushing back. The marking. The way my body had felt like it was coming apart. The way Cian had carried me here and laid me in his bed.

Heat crept up my neck. I cleared my throat. "Oh."

" I’ve been assigned to assist you for today."

I nodded slowly. My body still felt heavy and sore. Like I’d been wrung out and left to dry. "Where is he? The Alpha, I mean."

"He’s likely having breakfast now, Luna."

"Right."

She gestured toward a chair near the wardrobe. Clothing lay draped across it. "I brought fitting clothes from your suite. Do you like them? Or should I have another set brought?"

I glanced at the dress. It was simple. Blue fabric with long sleeves. Nothing too elaborate. "It’s fine. Thank you."

She bowed again. "Would you like to have breakfast in the dining room or here?"

The thought of eating alone in Cian’s room felt strange. Wrong somehow. Like I was hiding. "The dining room is fine."

"Very well. I will go run water for your bath."

She disappeared into the bathroom before I could respond. The door clicked shut behind her.

I sat there for a moment. The sheets pooled around my waist and I stared down at them without really seeing them.

What exactly were Cian and I to each other now?

The question sat heavy in my chest. He’d marked me... Rightfully claimed me as his. The bond hummed more between us now. It felt warm and it was constant. But that didn’t necessarily mean anything beyond the physical. Beyond the immediate pull.

I could ask him.

But the mere thought made me want to crawl under the covers and never come out. That would be weird. Desperate. Like I was some naive girl who couldn’t put two and two together.

But not knowing for sure felt worse. It felt like standing on unstable ground.

I put my hands over my face and groaned into my palms.

The bathroom door opened. The Omega stepped out and smoothed her hands down her dress. "The water is running. Warm is your liking, I presume."

Something in her tone made me look up. Her expression stayed neutral but there was a knowing quality to her eyes.

Everyone probably knew by now. The whole estate likely heard about what happened between Cian and me. Servants talked. Guards talked. There was no privacy in places like this. I knew that all too well.

I covered my face again, my face flush with embarrassment. "Yeah. Thank you."

I stood and the covers fell away. The Omega’s gaze stayed carefully averted. I wrapped the sheet around myself and started toward the bathroom.

She moved to follow.

I stopped and turned. "Oh, it’s fine. You can go."

She shook her head. "I apologize, Luna, but the Alpha’s explicit instruction was that I stay at your side and be at your beck and call."

Of course it was. I bit back a sigh. "Okay. Just keep your distance."

She bowed and followed me into the bathroom. The door closed behind us with a soft click.

The bathtub was enormous. Easily twice the size of the one in my suite. Steam rose from the surface of the water in lazy curls. The scent of herbs and something woodsy filled the air.

I dropped the sheet and stepped into the water. Heat seeped into my muscles immediately and I sank down until the water reached my shoulders.

Bottles lined the edge of the tub. I picked one up and uncorked it. The smell was distinctly Cian. At least sometimes. Cedar and something sharper. I’d never had time to explore the things here before. The last time I was in this space, my heart had been trying to claw its way out of my chest while he washed blood from my skin.

I set the bottle down and reached for another. This one smelled like mint. I poured some into the water and watched it cloud and disperse.

The Omega stood near the door with her hands folded in front of her. Her gaze fixed on the wall above my head.

I scrubbed at my skin with soap that smelled like Cian. The scent clung to me even after I rinsed it away. I washed my hair twice. The water turned cloudy and gray.

When I finally stepped out, the Omega was there with a towel. She wrapped it around me before I could reach for it myself.

A new toothbrush sat on the counter. Still in its packaging. I tore it open and brushed my teeth until my gums hurt.

The personal Omega that Cian had forced upon me helped me into the dress. Her fingers were quick and efficient as she fastened the buttons down my back. She combed through my wet hair and braided it over my shoulder.

"Ready, Luna?"

I nodded.

We left Cian’s suite and walked through the hallways. Morning light streamed through the tall windows. Servants moved past us with their heads down. A few nodded in greeting but none of them stopped.

"I want to go to the Infirmary first," I said.

The Omega didn’t miss a step. "Of course, Luna."

The smell of herbs and antiseptic grew stronger as we approached the Infirmary. I pushed through the door and immediately spotted Maren near one of the beds.

She looked up when I entered. Her expression hardened.

Right. We still hadn’t resolved our last conversation. I took a step toward her, trying to figure out what to say.

"Luna Fia."

I turned. Thorne stood in the doorway to the back rooms. He gestured for me to follow.

I glanced at the Omega. "Please wait here."

She bowed and I followed Thorne deeper into the Infirmary. He led me to a small room filled with glass vials and medical equipment. The door closed behind us.

"Goddess, you were right," he said without preamble.

My stomach dropped. "What?"

"I found something off in her bloodstream."

I moved closer. "What did you find?"

"When we made the cure, we didn’t use any Silver Thorn Draft. It was not needed after all." He picked up a glass vial from the table. The liquid inside was dark red. "I found high traces in her system. And it would be around the time you gave her the cure."

My mind raced. "What else?"

"There was also a spike in her poison levels. Almost as if she relapsed badly."

I stared at the vial. Silver Thorn Draft. I knew that substance. "Isn’t Silver Thorn Draft used as a powerful anesthesia? To prevent harmful regeneration?"

"Yes." Thorne set the vial down carefully. "But it was used on the grand Luna last night."

My breath caught. "Why would that be done if she was already in a coma?"

The words hung in the air between us.

And then it clicked.

All of it. The cure that didn’t work. The mysterious relapse. The Silver Thorn Draft that shouldn’t have been there.

I looked at Thorne. His expression mirrored what I was feeling. Horror. Realization.

"Goddess," I whispered. "Did our cure work?"

Thorne’s jaw tightened. "I think it did."

"Then someone gave her the Silver Thorn Draft to make it look like it did not." The words felt heavy as they left my mouth. The pattern was unmistakable. "They would have dosed her again. They wanted her to stay under. To keep her in that coma."

"That is what the evidence suggests," Thorne replied quietly.

I pressed my hand against my lips as nausea rose. Everything pointed to one person. Alpha Aldric. He had been the one with unrestricted access to the grand Luna at that time. He had to be the person who sabotaged her recovery.

"Why would Alpha Aldric do this?" I asked, though the question tasted futile the moment I spoke it.

Thorne frowned. "I do not know. But this was intentional, methodical and cruel. I cannot wrap my mind around the idea that Alpha Aldric could be capable of this."

"We need to tell Cian."

Thorne’s expression tightened. "I am not sure you should. Alpha Cian trusts his uncle, not lightly, not loosely. It is absolute. The moment you present this, he will be caught between the truth and the person he has relied on since childhood. The cognitive dissonance he will face will be severe, and I do not believe it will end well for anyone."

His warning settled over the room like a cold fog.

This was the truth. This was the danger. And Cian, for all his strength, would not be ready for it.

I swallowed hard. "But if we do not tell him, then what are we doing? Pretending nothing happened? What if we are right, Thorne?"

He looked away, his hand braced against the counter. "And what if we are wrong?"

The question stopped me.

He continued, voice low. "I have great doubts now. I will not pretend I do not. The evidence is damning. The access he had, the timing, the substances. It all points to him. But this is Alpha Aldric we are talking about. A man my paths are partly sworn to. A man I should say I trust with my life. Accepting that he could have done this feels like tearing out a part of my own history."

My throat tightened at the raw honesty in his words. He was shaken. Maybe even broken by the possibility.

"So you want us to do nothing," I said quietly.

"No. I want us to be certain," he replied. He finally met my eyes. "If we go to Cian with this and it turns out we misinterpreted something, even slightly, the damage will be irreversible. To him. To you. To the pack." His voice dropped to a whisper. "To the grand Luna."

My hands curled at my sides. "But if we are right, then someone tried to keep her in a coma. Someone tried to silence her. And that someone is currently in this estate. Playing Cian’s loving uncle."

Before Thorne could answer, the door eased open.

We both turned.

Maren stepped inside. Her gaze flicked between us, sharp and unsettlingly focused. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line.

"What did you just say about Alpha Aldric?" she asked.

The room went still.

Thorne’s eyes widened, and my heart kicked hard against my ribs.

Maren closed the door behind her, her attention fixed entirely on us. "I heard his name. And I heard enough to know you were not speaking of him kindly."

Silence hung for a heartbeat too long.