Chapter 3

I turned around and went straight back to the square.

The Greywolf Pack was holding an emergency council.

A rare illness—wolfsbane fever—had struck the pack in recent days. Several elite warriors had collapsed one after another. The leadership and the elders were frantic.

The wolves of the sick warriors were weakening fast. Their bodies burned with fever. Soon they'd lose all reason and turn into mindless killing beasts.

Panic had swallowed the entire pack.

The healers were drowning. Nothing was working.

Delilah stood at the center of the platform, holding up a small vial of glaring red liquid.

"This is a miracle cure I formulated myself. It will heal wolfsbane fever instantly!"

That was a discarded prototype I'd thrown out three years ago.

To secure her position as the future Luna, Delilah was claiming my failed work as her own without a flicker of shame.

Logan watched her, swelling with pride.

"Delilah is the elder's daughter for a reason—her medicine is unmatched! Today I'll administer it to our warriors myself, in front of the whole pack. Let everyone see the future of Greywolf!"

Eager to flaunt his Alpha leadership.

I stood at the back of the crowd, and one breath was enough.

The vial had spoiled. In its current state, it was as deadly as bloodroot poison.

It wouldn't cure wolfsbane fever. It would tear the wolf right out of the body. Instant death.

Delilah wasn't just vicious. She was stupid.

"Stop."

My voice cut through the square.

"That vial is poison. Anyone who drinks it dies."

The crowd erupted in shock.

Delilah whirled on me, finger jabbing.

"You jealous little bitch! You came here to mess things up!"

Every eye turned to me.

Logan's face was already tight with disgust.

He glared at me, defending her.

"Seraphina! I know you can't let me go—but I have Delilah now. I let you off after what you did to her, and this is how you repay me? Slandering her in public to drag me back? Guards—seize her!"

A warrior reached for my arm.

In that exact second, one of the dying warriors lunged forward, snatched the vial, and downed it.

Three seconds.

He clutched his throat.

Black blood erupted from his mouth in a violent fit. His body convulsed.

His wolf flickered down to almost nothing, screaming inside him as he writhed on the ground.

The square exploded into chaos.

I let out a cold laugh and shook off the warrior's grip.

"One drop of fire-salamander bile. Heart-rot root. Delilah—did you really think dragging my discarded notes out of the trash made the formula yours?"

I recited her stolen recipe out loud, in front of the entire pack.

"Pity you stole it without understanding it. You tripled the heart-rot. Were you trying to wipe out every elite warrior we have?"

My voice carried to every wolf in the square.

The color drained from Delilah's face. She stumbled back.

I shoved past the guards and knelt by the dying warrior.

My fingers flew, and I gave him a strong dose of medicine.

His convulsions stopped. His breathing steadied.

The crowd's eyes shifted to Delilah.

Suspicion. Anger. Disgust.

Logan's face went the color of curdled milk—as if he'd been slapped a dozen times in front of everyone he knew.

Delilah's humiliation sharpened into pure venom.

She suddenly whipped around and pointed at me.

"It wasn't the formula! Seraphina poisoned the medicine stores! She's jealous that the Alpha chose me, and she'd rather kill the whole pack than let me have him!"