Chapter 6

At three in the morning, a frantic mind-link message jolted me from my light sleep.

"Luna, you need to get to the Silver Moon Club, third floor! The Alpha's in trouble!" The frantic thoughts belonged to Leo, Rylan's Beta.

"What is it?"

"He's been poisoned! Moon-frenzy! It's bad, Luna. Only you can help him!"

Moon-frenzy.

My blood ran cold.

It was a dangerous poison that made an Alpha wolf lose all reason, leaving only the most primal urge to mate.

If he didn't bond with his fated mate to channel that violent energy, he could suffer permanent soul damage, or his power could surge and literally tear him apart.

I grabbed my coat and bolted out the door.

The Silver Moon Club was an exclusive place for high-ranking wolves. I'd never been.

I sprinted up to the third floor. The hallway was dead silent.

Leo was standing at the far end. When he saw me, a flicker of guilt—or was it fear?—flashed in his eyes before he looked away.

"Where is he?" I demanded.

"Room 306," he said, pointing to a half-open door. "I'm... I'm going to get the doctors to wait outside."

He turned and practically fled.

The feeling of dread in my gut intensified, but the need to save my mate overrode everything.

I threw open the door.

The scene inside stopped me dead in my tracks.

The room was dim, lit by flickering candles.

Rylan was half-sprawled on a huge sofa, his breaths coming in hot, ragged gasps.

And Morrigan was pressed against him, her own clothes a mess, her fingers working at the last button of his pants.

"Get off!" I lunged forward, mercilessly dragging her off Rylan and shoving her to the floor.

"Are you crazy?" She landed hard, scrambling to her feet, her eyes full of venom. "I'm saving him! The Moon-frenzy poison needs... it needs a mate's touch to be soothed!"

"You’re a murderer, not his mate!" I laughed, a cold, sharp sound. I pointed to the corner of the room. "There's a camera right there. Forcing yourself on an impaired Alpha... I wonder what the Elders would think of that."

Her face went white.

"Get out," my voice was like ice. "Before I change my mind."

She hastily straightened her clothes, shot me a hateful glare, and fled the room.

My heart finally settled. I turned back to Rylan.

But in the next second, his burning hands clamped around my waist.

His hot breath seared my neck, his lips a desperate, messy trail against my skin. "Aveline... My Luna... Mine..."

The moon-frenzy had stripped him bare.

All pretense gone. All that was left was raw, primal need for his mate.

"He needs you," Echo whispered in my mind, her voice a strange, seductive hum. "Only you can save him. Give him everything."

His mouth crashed down on my neck, right over the scarred mate mark. His kisses weren't tender; they were hot, possessive, branding me.

"Aveline... Aveline..." He chanted my name like a prayer, like I was his only salvation.

I closed my eyes, letting myself feel this long-forgotten passion.

For the first time in seven years, it seemed, he needed me. He craved me.

But...

His lips found the broken mate's mark on my neck.

And suddenly, I was cold.

I am a Healer.

I knew exactly what moon-frenzy did. And I knew exactly how to cure it.

It didn't have to end with this.

A cold shower, my healing energy... that was all it would take.

With that thought, I bit down hard and shoved myself out of his arms.

I hauled him into the bathroom and turned the shower on full-blast cold. Then I pressed my palm flat against the center of his back.

I pushed my healing energy into him, guiding the raging poison out of his system, watching it wash away with the water.

The whole time, he groaned in agony, his body instinctively trying to get closer to mine.

I stayed with him all night. By dawn, the poison was gone.

He woke up clear-eyed. He looked at my bloodshot eyes, and his expression went flat. Cold.

"You can go now," his voice was devoid of any warmth. The passionate beast from last night was gone, replaced by a stranger.

I stared. "How are you feeling?"

He didn't look at me. He just nodded, his gaze fixed on the window.

"You rejected him," Echo whispered, a strange new coldness in her voice. "He expected you to submit, to use your body to soothe his wolf. You refused. You wounded his pride."

"What are you going to do about Morrigan drugging you?" I asked directly.

He finally looked at me, his eyes full of complex mockery.

"She meant no harm."

"What?"

"Morrigan is just infatuated with me. She acted on impulse," he said, his tone terrifyingly calm. "She's a naive girl who doesn't understand the dangers of these things. You, on the other hand..."

"Me, what?"

"Last night, when I needed you most, you chose to run away," his voice was judgmental. "As my Luna, your one duty was to soothe your Alpha. And you refused. You watched me burn and chose to be cruel. I never knew you had such ice in your veins, Aveline."

He called me heartless.

After I had watched over him all night, he called me heartless.

Just then, Morrigan's sweet voice came from the doorway. "Rylan? May I come in?"

Rylan's expression softened instantly. "Come in."

She tiptoed in, her eyes red and swollen, looking like she'd been horribly wronged. "Rylan, last night was all my fault. I was just so worried about you, that's why I... I did such a foolish thing."

"It's okay," he said gently. "I know you were just concerned about me."

A new thought sliced through my mind, but it wasn't mine. It was Echo's, and she sounded broken. "Wait... I can hear him. His true thoughts." Her voice was a horrified whisper. "He knew. He let her do it. This whole night... it was a trap. A test. For you. He wanted to see you break, to see you fight for him, to prove you still cared."

An icy coldness spread through my entire body, freezing my very soul.