Luna's POV
Dinner that night was the same as always—omegas ate last, after everyone else had taken what they wanted. By the time I got to the kitchen, only scraps remained.
Mrs. Chen, the pack cook, handed me a plate with leftover stew and hard bread. "That's all that's left, girl. Be grateful for it."
I was grateful. At least it was food.
I carried my plate to the basement stairs, planning to eat alone like always. Through the mate bonds, I felt the brothers finishing their own dinner upstairs—Kael discussing pack business, Ryland joking with friends, Dante eating in silence.
None of them knew their mate was relegated to basement stairs and scraps.
I took the first bite of stew.
It tasted... off. Bitter underneath the salt and herbs. But I was so hungry, and food was food. I forced down another bite, then another.
By the fourth bite, my stomach cramped violently.
I dropped the plate, stew splattering across the stairs. The cramps got worse, twisting my insides like someone was wringing out a wet cloth.
"Luna!" Selene's panicked voice filled my head. "Don't eat anymore! Something's wrong!"
But I'd already eaten half the bowl.
The pain exploded through my entire body. I collapsed on the stairs, unable to breathe, unable to scream. My vision blurred. My heart raced so fast it felt like it would burst from my chest.
Through the mate bonds, I felt my three mates laughing upstairs about something. So close. So far away.
Help, I tried to send through the bonds. Please, help me.
But the bonds only flowed one way. They felt nothing.
I don't know how long I lay there, writhing in pain. Minutes? Hours? Time stopped meaning anything.
Then footsteps pounded down the stairs.
"LUNA!" Sage's voice broke through the agony. Her hands grabbed my shoulders, rolling me onto my back. "Oh God, what happened? Luna, stay with me!"
I tried to answer but only managed a weak moan.
Sage's eyes landed on the spilled stew. She dipped her finger in it, then brought it to her nose and sniffed. Her face went white.
"Wolfsbane," she breathed. "Luna, there's wolfsbane in your food."
Wolfsbane. The poison that could kill werewolves. Even small amounts caused terrible sickness. Large amounts...
"Hospital," I gasped. "Need... help..."
"No!" Sage said urgently. "The pack doctor will report this. They'll investigate. Whoever poisoned you will know you survived and try again immediately. We need to handle this ourselves."
She pulled out her phone with shaking hands and made a call.
"Mom? I need your help. No, I can't explain on the phone. Just bring your medical kit to the Ashford basement. Please, it's life or death."
Sage's mother was a retired pack nurse. If anyone could help me without reporting to the Alpha, it was her.
The wait felt eternal. The poison burned through my veins, fighting with Selene's healing power. My Lunar Wolf abilities were the only thing keeping me alive, but I could feel myself losing the battle.
Through the mate bonds, Kael went to his room to read pack reports. Ryland headed out to meet friends. Dante went to his private studio to paint.
Their mate was dying, and they felt nothing.
Finally, Sage's mother arrived, a gray-haired woman with kind eyes that widened in horror when she saw me.
"Sage, what—"
"Wolfsbane poisoning," Sage interrupted. "Can you help her?"
Mrs. Rivers immediately knelt beside me, checking my pulse and eyes with practiced efficiency. "This is bad. Really bad. She needs—"
"No hospitals," Sage insisted. "No doctors. Please, Mom. Just do what you can here."
Mrs. Rivers looked between her daughter and me, then sighed. "This goes against every medical instinct I have, but... okay. Help me get her to the couch."
They carried me to the ratty basement couch that served as my bed. Mrs. Rivers pulled supplies from her medical kit—IV bags, tubes, vials of clear liquid.
"This is an anti-toxin," she explained, inserting an IV into my arm. "It'll help flush the poison from your system. But Sage... this much wolfsbane should have killed her already. How is she still alive?"
"She's strong," Sage said, gripping my hand.
"We're a Lunar Wolf," Selene whispered weakly in my mind. "Our healing power is fighting it. But Luna... I can feel other poison too. Old poison. This isn't the first time."
"Not... first time," I managed to gasp out loud.
Mrs. Rivers' eyes sharpened. "What do you mean?"
Sage understood immediately. "Mom, can you test for other toxins? In her blood?"
Mrs. Rivers pulled out a strange device and pricked my finger, collecting blood on a small strip. She inserted the strip into the device and waited.
The device beeped. Mrs. Rivers stared at the screen, her face draining of color.
"Sage," she said slowly. "There are traces of wolfsbane throughout her entire system. Not just from tonight. Old traces. Some months old. Some years old."
The room went silent.
"Someone's been poisoning her," Sage whispered. "For years. Small doses, so she'd get sick but not die immediately."
"Why?" Mrs. Rivers asked, horrified. "Why would someone do this to a child?"
I knew why. Through my blurred vision, I saw Vivienne's ice-blue eyes. Heard her voice: Stay in your place, or I'll make sure you disappear.
She'd been trying to kill me since I was a child. Since before I even had my wolf. Since before the mate bonds could activate.
"The bonds," I gasped. "She knew... about the bonds..."
"What bonds?" Mrs. Rivers asked, confused.
But Sage understood. Her face went pale. "Oh no. Luna, if someone knew you were fated to be mated to someone important... they'd want you dead before the bonds could activate. Before anyone could feel the connection."
"But the bonds did activate," Mrs. Rivers said slowly, piecing it together. "Didn't they? During your first shift?"
I nodded weakly.
"So whoever's been poisoning you for years just escalated," Mrs. Rivers concluded grimly. "They know time is running out. They're trying to kill you before..." She trailed off, looking uncomfortable.
"Before her mates can feel the bonds and protect her," Sage finished.
Through my bonds with the three brothers, I felt them settling in for the night. Kael reading. Ryland texting someone. Dante staring at a blank canvas.
My mates, who had no idea someone was slowly murdering me.
The anti-toxin started working, and the pain began to ease slightly. My breathing got easier. My vision cleared.
"She'll survive tonight," Mrs. Rivers said, checking my vitals again. "But Luna, you can't stay here. Whoever's doing this has access to your food, your space, maybe even your room. They'll try again."
"Where can I go?" I asked hopelessly. "I'm an omega with no family, no money, no pack that wants me."
Sage and her mother exchanged looks.
"You could come stay with us," Mrs. Rivers offered. "We'd have to be careful, make up excuses, but—"
"No," I interrupted. "That would just put you both in danger. Whoever's doing this won't hesitate to hurt anyone protecting me."
"Then we run," Selene said firmly. "We heal enough to travel, and we run far away."
"How long until I'm strong enough to run?" I asked Mrs. Rivers.
She checked the anti-toxin bag. "A few days, maybe a week if you're careful. The Lunar Wolf healing in your blood is remarkable—it's the only reason you're alive. But Luna, running alone as an omega is suicide. Rogues will—"
"I know," I said quietly. "But staying here is also suicide. At least running gives me a chance."
Through the mate bonds, I felt Dante suddenly stand from his stool. Felt his confusion, his restlessness. His wolf was agitated about something he couldn't identify.
Could he sense my distress somehow? Even through the blocked bond?
Then Kael called for him through mind-link, and Dante's attention shifted away.
The moment passed.
"Rest now," Mrs. Rivers said gently. "We'll figure something out. I promise."
But as I lay there with poison and anti-toxin battling in my blood, I knew the truth.
No one could save me.
The mate bonds that should have protected me were severed by dark magic.
My fated mates couldn't feel my pain.
And someone was determined to make sure they never would.
I had maybe a week before the next attempt on my life.
Seven days to get strong enough to run.
Seven days to say goodbye to the only friend I'd ever had.
Seven days before I abandoned my fated mates forever and disappeared into a world that would probably kill me anyway.
Through the bonds, I felt all three brothers fall asleep, safe and unaware.
While their mate planned her escape from the pack that was slowly murdering her.
"We'll survive this," Selene promised. "We're stronger than they know."
I hoped she was right.
Because hope was all I had left.