"Please, Asra." I whimpered, caressing his face.

"Luna? Alpha?"

My head snapped toward the door, my eyes only just peering over the height of the bed. I caught the worried gaze of Rio and Everett, and their nostrils flared when they found me.

"Please, help him!" I cried, brushing tears from my cheeks.

Everett snarled, rushing toward us as he bent over his alpha. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I don't know what happened!" I insisted.

His head snapped toward me, eyes narrowed. "Did you do this?"

"What? No! Are you crazy?" I snapped.

"Who was he with last?"

"Well, me, but it wasn't me! You think I would hurt him?" I scowled.

His eyes narrowed with a challenge. "I don't know, would you?"

My chest flared with anger, irritated that he would think so little of me. After everything I've done, and all the work I had put into my luna work, somebody still tested me.

"Stand down, Everett." Rio hissed. "Assess the situation."

"He's been poisoned."

"What?" I blurted, eyes wide. "Poisoned? How?"

"We guard and check the meals well. It isn't possible." Rio shook his head.

"No-no, it was the rose." I shook my head.

"Rose?"

I pointed to the ground, my hand shaking. "That one."

Everett's jaw tightened as he went to reach for it, but I was quick to grab his forearm and pull it back.

"Don't touch it! That's what he did, and then next thing, he was falling to the floor!"

"How did it get in here?" Rio wondered.

"I don't know. It was just lying on the bed when I came out of the shower."

"You were alone?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"How did Asra get here?"

"I called him because the rose wasn't there before my shower."

"Someone planted it?"

"I think so..." I mumbled, unsure of his expression.

"How? Your door is thumb-printed."

"The-the window was open. It wasn't when I showered."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes, it is still open now." I pointed to it.

Rio jerked his head at Everett, and the large male growled at me before moving toward it. I wasn't so sure what got his pants in a twist. I didn't do any damn thing.

"No sign of a struggle." He stated.

"Why would someone place a rose on your pillow, Ailia?" Rio questioned.

My head dropped, lower lip wobbling as I palmed my mate's chest, feeling for his heart. It was slow but strong, a firm reminder that he was beside me.

"My ex used to bring me flowers."

"You think your ex did this?" Everett grunted.

"Yes." I deadpanned.

"I highly doubt a human could sneak into the pack house and through a perfectly intact window undetected." Everett scowled. "Nobody could get in here without access."

"No! You are not listening to me!" I scolded him and his nose twitched. "He would always give me a single red rose. Always."

"It is a coincidence," Everett shook his head.

"It is not!" My voice rose. "Darius would beat me black and blue, rape me until I couldn't stand and them gift me a single blood red rose as a token of his apology. To sweeten the deal that he was a good guy. You know what we have been researching, Everett, there is every chance that this rose was here because of him."

The large man had the audacity to wince, and I heard Rio's sharp intake of breath from the foot of the bed. I looked between them with barely contained agitation, my hands clenched at my sides.

"I know it sounds ridiculous that a human could climb these floors, but perhaps he isn't working alone!" I snapped, eyeing Rio now. "You know plenty about my past life to know that there is a bounty on my head for whatever reason because of Blake. You know, and you fucking know, that I am not lying right now."

The beta remained stoic, his face expressionless, much like Asra's. I eyed Everett next, finding him glaring down at the floor, but otherwise quiet. Exhaling sharply, I flexed my fingers before glancing back down at the lump of my mate on the ground.

"Now get him off the fucking floor before he gets a crick in his neck!"

"Yes, Luna." Rio nodded.

***

Honestly, the first thought that crossed my mind upon seeing my mate in a hospital state was not what one of worry.

It was how the fuck did they find a bed and butt-dress big enough for him?

Asra looked ridiculous lying in an average size hospital bed and I couldn't help snort at him once the nurses left. They had stripped him into his boxers and made him wear a gown.

I say made; he was still unconscious.

They had taken various samples from him. Blood, nose and throat swabs, blood pressure... they hooked him up to a special wolf-IV, but they did not force him to be asleep. Once all the doctors and nurses left, the gentle beating of his heart through the monitor was my only friend.

I poked his cheek, watching as the skin bounced back. He didn't move to bite me, so he definitely wasn't pretending.

Sighing, I fell back onto the sofa, staring at him some more.

Everett and Rio had lifted him from the ground and placed him on his bed, but after a mild panic, I pushed my mate back onto the floor. He rolled from the mattress and smacked face-first into the ground, much to Everett's horror.

"The bed could be contaminated!" I had scolded.

"She's right," Rio muttered. "I will have someone bring a hospital bed up here."

"That will fit in the lift?"

"They fold." Everett mumbled as Rio ran from the room.

"Oh," I murmured.

There was an awkward silence for a while, and I felt Everett's gaze burn into my face the entire time. I stayed staring down at Asra before Rio returned empty-handed. Right behind him came a male and Eve, the bed wheeled between them. Rio did not let the male in the room, shutting the door once he pushed the bed inside.

We were keeping this quiet, making sure nothing left the room, either physically or mentally. Anyone who asks what the commotion was, are to say that Asra left me a surprise in our bedroom.

Even I wanted to know what good a surprise it was to cause such a reaction.

Shaking my head of the past, I rose from my perch, unable to stay here much longer. He was fine, but I was going insane with the need to make this all better.

But I couldn't leave him.

I paced, humming gentle songs to myself before changing up my pattern of walking. I was half-way through a twirling technique when a doctor came in with Eve by his side. They were both stern, and I cleared my throat, noticing when Rio and Everett stepped inside.

Everett had taken it upon himself to be a guard at the door, and Rio was in charge in place of Asra.

That's what betas are for, I guess.

"Luna," the olive-eyed doctor bowed. "I am Doctor García; we have some results."

"Of course, come in."

He thanked me, stepping into the room. Eve scuttled behind him, muttering a hello to me before she started taking more alpha observations.

"What did you find?" I wondered, perching on the arm of the sofa.

He cleared his throat, glancing at Rio, who had moved to stand behind me. I felt his shadow loom over me, the softness of his clothes shifting against my hip as he crossed his arms.

"He has been poisoned," Doctor García nodded. "The major concerns are traces of aconitum, foxglove and deadly nightshade, but they had masked it with an enchantment. It was undetectable to smell, but once it reaches the bloodstream... Any weaker wolf... it would've paralysed and caused a heart attack. We are lucky it was the alpha who picked it up."

My throat felt dry, and I cleared it to ease the nerves. "And... and if it wasn't an alpha? If it was a human?"

He blinked, remaining emotionless. "A human? Death, easily. A fast one, too. There is enchantment within the cracks, one that makes it fast acting."

I thanked him softly before asking everybody to leave. Eve regarded me cautiously, but I shook my head and pushed her from the room. Even Rio hesitated in the door, his hand falling to my shoulder.

"We will find out who did this, I promise you, Luna."

"Okay," I whispered. "Thanks, Rio."

Once the door was shut, we were alone once more. I nervously chewed at my nails before resting my head on Asra's chest. His heart was steady and strong, nothing to be concerned about.

I was partly glad I didn't touch the rose, despite how sleepy Asra was. The ache within me burned at the thought of my mate lying unconscious, but I couldn't help think of what happened if I had touched it like Asra. It may sound selfish, but that flower would've killed me.

It would've killed anyone it came into contact with.

It was an obvious threat.

One that I wasn't sure I wanted to investigate.

But I had to.

I was the luna.

I needed to think.

Rising from the bedside, I paced again, getting deep into my thoughts. I was mumbling my words, thinking about any plausible reasoning behind the rose.

Darius' thing was a rose, but Darius could not climb into rooms on the top floor of a pack house without a scent. That meant either Darius was working with someone, or someone knew how he liked to give me flowers. Well, a flower.

If he was working with someone, that meant that Evermore was working with someone, right? The wolves were already aware of Evermore, and after the creepy phone call from Darius, it only emphasised his hatred for me.

If that rose was meant for me, he knew I would touch it, as I always did. I liked the colour and softness of the petals; it was why he planted them every spring. He intended for me to get hurt. He wanted me dead.

But no, Darius wouldn't just wish me dead. He would hurt me first. He liked games.

He would make me feel safe first, then drop the hints. Time would pass before he landed the first verbal blow, and then he would strike me where it hurts until I was down. He would make it last. Even when I was unconscious, he would torture me in the dark room. Or leave me to fend for myself.

He would never make it fast. The only fast thing was how quick it took him to achieve a mental breakdown or orgasm. The man was slow and full of so much anger and contempt.

My feet practically burned into the carpet, my body fuming with agitation as my mind conjured a storm.

Darius wouldn't rush it. But it had his name written all over it. First, leaving me alone after taking Arabella, then the threatening phone call. Now the rose made to kill most wolves.

Except the strongest.

Which meant the rose was never for me.

I gasped, the shock rendering me speechless.

This was my eureka moment, right?

"Thank the goddess for that,"

My head snapped up; eyes wide at the sound of that raspy voice.

"Asra!"

"I thought you were going to burn a hole into the damn ground and talk me awake." He grumbled.

I launched myself toward my mate, my chest colliding with his and forcing him back into the bed. He grunted softly, his arms automatically encasing me in his grip. My legs bunched up at his sides as I pressed every inch of me possible into him. I felt the tears burn, happy to hear his voice and that he was definitely one-hundred percent alive.

"What's going on?" He wondered.

"You were drugged! What do you mean?" I blurted.

Pulling away from his warmth, I squished his cheeks between my hands to peer into his eyes. His eyebrows were furrowed, but they softened at my concern. His chest deflated, and he gently took my hands into his.

"I'm completely fine." Asra insisted.

"You could've died." I shook my head. "There was enough poison in there to kill a wolf! They said even an average alpha!"

"I am no average alpha," He mused.

I scoffed. "Not the time for jokes. This is serious."

"Okay, okay." He mumbled, pulling my hand away. "What happened after I passed out?"

I sighed as he leaned back down into his pillows, pulling my head with him. My face pressed into his itchy gown, listening to the gentle thumping of his heart. His chest rose and fell, taking me with him on every even breath as we lay in silence.

Damn wolf will be the end of me.

"I did some thinking."

*********
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