Chapter 4

I wanted to burn a hole through her with my eyes.

I was done holding back. "She is Caleb's own mother!" I yelled. "If anything happens to her, Caleb will tear you apart when he gets here!"

Tessa burst out laughing—loud and shrill. "Wow. You'll make up anything. I heard you loud and clear. You said she was your mother-in-law. How is she suddenly Caleb's mother? You suck at lying!"

She sneered. "You ruined my mood. I need to teach you a lesson. Next time you go out, watch who you're messing with."

Rowena was shaking uncontrollably in my arms, her breath incredibly faint. Her airways were shutting down completely.

She needed her medicine. Right now. Or her wolf spirit would fade away completely.

My eyes burned. I screamed as loud as I could, "Help! Please—someone help us! She's dying! Call the Healer!"

The massive pool deck was empty and dead silent. Nobody came.

Even Bruno started to panic. "Tessa, what if—"

She cut him off coldly. "Don't panic. Old bones are tougher than they look. She's faking. My Alpha is almost here. Leave them in for a few more minutes. If she was going to die, she’d be dead already."

She was dead wrong.

If we missed even one minute of the golden window, Rowena's wolf would be gone forever.

Despair crushed my chest.

Just then, the resort manager came running over. My voice was hoarse. "Help! Her lungs are failing from wolfsbane! Pull her out—hurry!"

He had met Rowena years ago, but he didn't recognize her now. Seeing a woman on the brink of death, he panicked too.

He only came over because of the noise, hoping to suck up to Tessa. He never expected a murder scene.

He hesitated—piss off Tessa, or risk a dead body on the territory and lose his job?

Finally, he pleaded with Tessa. "Miss Montgomery, maybe we should let them out? If she actually dies here, it will ruin the resort."

Tessa glared at him, full of arrogance. "Fine. Drag them out."

The manager waved at Bruno, who finally hauled Rowena and me out of the pool.

She lay on the deck, completely motionless. I didn't even pause to catch my breath—I sprinted to my bag like a madwoman.

My hands were shaking wildly as I dug out her special wolfsbane-antidote serum. I rushed back and popped the cap on the glass vial. I was just about to inject her—

Tessa’s stiletto heel slammed down on my hand, crushing the glass vial to dust.

I whipped my head up, trembling with pure rage. She just pouted. "Drop the act. I let you out. Now get lost. Next time you see me, walk the other way. Consider this me being generous."

Pure, blinding fury completely snapped my control. My wolf eyes flared gold. I lunged up, my claws slicing right across Tessa's cheek. "If Rowena dies, I will bathe in your blood."

She clutched her bleeding face and screamed. "You psycho bitch! I shouldn't have been nice. I should have let you drown!"

I tried to rush her again, but Bruno and the manager pinned my shoulders down to the wet tiles.

Tessa stepped up and went completely feral. She slapped me across the face, back and forth, over and over. My ears rang. I lost count of how many hits I took.

The burning pain in my cheeks snapped me back to reality.

If I wasted another second, Rowena really was going to die.

I broke free and forced open my mate mind-link with Caleb. I screamed into his head in absolute panic.

"Caleb! Your mother's lungs are failing from wolfsbane! We're at the Obsidian Peak pools. Get the pack Healer here right now. If you're late, her wolf is gone!"

His tone echoed in my head, cold and annoyed. "I'm in a pack meeting. Stop bothering me with your dramatic bullshit."

He brutally snapped the link shut from his end. The forceful rejection felt like an ice pick to my brain.

I shook with anger. He heard the word "mother" and naturally assumed it was my mother.

Did he seriously not know whose mother actually had a damaged wolf spirit?

A second later, Tessa whipped around to the entrance, her eyes lighting up. "Caleb! You're finally here!"