Poisoning cure

Danny's POV

[DING!]

[Emergency Medical Override Authorized.]

[Item Dispensed: 1x Botanical Cure Core (Pure Seedling Extract).]

[Note: Brew immediately via thermal extraction to neutralize Level 4 Soil Toxin.]

A strange, cold blue seed materialized in my palm. It pulsed faintly against my skin like a tiny, glowing heart.

I stumbled out of the cell door. Emergency sirens were screaming through the hallway, flashing harsh red light against the stone walls.

Soldiers were sprinting past, shouting panicked orders, completely ignoring me. Being the most hated, discarded Omega in the Citadel finally worked in my favor, nobody cared enough to stop me.

And all thanks to the wicked Danny, former owner of this body, I could easily navigate my way into the kitchen direction.

I slammed through the wooden doors of the kitchen. It was a massive cavern filled with roaring brick hearths, steam, and the bitter stink of low-grade ration paste. Dozens of cooks were frantically stirring iron vats.

The moment I stumbled inside, the entire room went dead quiet.

"Look who crawled out," a chef growled, slamming a heavy iron ladle onto a prep table with a deafening CLANG. He spat on the floor right near my boots. "The Murderer."

"I wonder why the Alpha still keeps him alive?" a female cook hissed, backing away with a butcher knife clutched to her chest. "Did he come to finish us off?"

A prep cook stepped into my path, a heavy wooden rolling pin raised. "You've done enough damage, you monster."

My head throbbed violently, but I swallowed the headache and glared right back. "I don't have time for your grudges! I need hot water and a teapot! Right now!"

The chef let out a cruel laugh. "A teapot? So you can brew another round of death for our General?" He stepped forward and shoved my shoulder hard, making me stumble against the table.

"Chadwick is coughing up black blood upstairs!" I roared, my voice cracking with desperation. "If I don't brew this in five minutes, he dies! Is that what you want?!"

The mention of black blood hit them hard. Their faces paled, and the prep cook with the rolling pin hesitated.

I didn't wait for them to give me permission.

I lunged toward a brass kettle resting over a bed of glowing coals, grabbed a stone mortar, and dropped the blue seed inside. I brought the pestle down with everything I had.

It burst into a fine, pale blue powder that smelled like wild rain, crushed peppermint, and sweet, clean dirt.

The magical aroma spread across the filthy kitchen, instantly wiping out the stink of burnt rations.

I tipped the glowing powder into a clay teapot, poured scalding water over it, and watched steam billow up with a faint blue shimmer.

[TIME REMAINING: 05:04]

I grabbed the handle and turned to run, only for three heavy prep cooks to block the exit, knives and iron pokers held out.

"You're not taking that anywhere," the head chef spat. "You leave that pot right here on the table until the doctors examine it!"

"He's dying up there!" I yelled.

"And you're a traitor!" he barked back.

Fighting three full grown cooks with an injured head wasn't an option. I knew when I was trapped.

"Fine!" I slammed the teapot down onto the central prep table. "It's right there! But if he dies because you kept it here, his blood is on your hands!"

I spun around and sprinted out the rear exit, taking the stairs upward, determined to find Chadwick's room and drag a doctor down here myself.

I ran blindly through the grand upper corridors, following the sound of crying servants and heavy military boots, until I reached a wide hallway guarded by armed soldiers.

At the end of the hall stood Tony, his face twisted in agonized grief.

"Tony!" I panted, rushing forward while clutching my aching temple. "Listen to me! I made an antidote in the kitchen! It's a botanical tea....it neutralizes the soil acid in his blood! You have to let me bring it to him!"

Tony turned around, his eyes bloodshot and full of pure hatred. "Get out of here, Danny. I swear to the stars, if you come one step closer, I will put a bullet through your forehead."

"Tony, please! He's going to die!"

"He's dying because of you!" Tony growled, drawing his sidearm and leveling it right at my chest. "You poisoned him months ago, and now his body is shutting down. I won't let you mock his final breaths. Get back to your room!"

Despair crushed my chest. The timer was ticking down, and nobody would listen to me.

[TIME REMAINING: 02:30]

Just as I took a slow step backward, the heavy double doors of the infirmary opened slightly.

Out stepped Katherine, wearing a elegant white dress, holding a warm tray. Resting on top of that tray was the exact clay teapot from the kitchen.

She looked tragic, her eyes wet with tears, carrying the pot with soft, delicate grace toward the Alpha's private quarters.

A massive wave of relief washed over me.

Thank God, I thought, my heart easing slightly. The cooks must have sent it up with her. At least he's getting the tea to him.

I backed around the corner of the corridor, out of Tony's line of sight, trying to catch my breath as the dizziness flared in my head.

Daddy..." a tiny, trembling voice whispered.

I flinched and looked down. Hidden behind a tall marble pillar in the hallway was Lyra, her big blue eyes wide with terror.

"Lyra?" I crouched down, wincing as my head throbbed. "Baby, what are you doing out here? You should be in your room."

"Daddy, the new Luna..." Lyra whimpered, her lip wobbling as she pointed a small, shaking finger down the corridor toward Katherine's retreating figure. "I saw her just now in the hallway..."

My chest tightened. "What did you see, Lyra?"

"She stopped by the service alcove with your teapot. She had a small glass jar of the bad purple dirt from outside. The poison soil. She... she opened the lid, poured it in, stirred it with a spoon, and then carried it toward the medical wing!"

My blood ran instantly to ice.

The brief wave of relief completely evaporated, replaced by pure, sickening horror.

Katherine hadn't just brought the tea up, she had intercepted or taken the pot, and sabotaged my antidote right here in the hallway, turning the cure into a lethal weapon so she could execute Chadwick in front of everyone and pin the final murder on me.

Why would she want Chad dead? I thought she loved him?

"Stay here, Lyra! Don't move!" I hissed, shoving her gently behind the pillar.

[TIME REMAINING: 00:45]

I didn't care about Tony's gun. I didn't care about my throbbing head. I sprinted down the corridor like a madman, shoving past the startled guards at the door, and burst straight through the mahogany doors.

The room was packed with pack elders, and doctors.

In the center of the room, lying on a massive carved bed, was Chadwick. His skin was gray, black blood was smeared over his lips, and his chest was barely moving.

Katherine stood beside the bed like a grieving angel, lifting a ceramic cup filled with dark, steam-rising liquid to Chadwick's pale lips.

I froze as Katherine turned her head toward the door.

Seeing me standing there, breathless and desperate, her lips curved into a tiny, cruel, arrogant sneer.

"Drink, Alpha," Katherine purred softly, her voice loud enough for every elder in the room to hear. "Danny made this himself... I doubt he'd try to kill you a second time."

My heart shattered into a million pieces.

"NO!" I lunged forward, screaming until my lungs burned. "DON'T DRINK IT!"

[TIME REMAINING: 00:03]