Chapter 173

Ava

The implications of the fake moonstone hit us all like a ton of bricks; Olivia likely still had the original moonstone, which explained why the blight hadn’t let up around the pack.

We had been played like fools, and now Olivia was likely far away, laughing to herself as she cradled the real moonstone in her hands.

“Goddess, how could we be such naive idiots?” Chris growled, pacing back and forth in the yard as he clutched his hair.

“We were so focused on getting the moonstone back,” Leonard added, “that we never even stopped to question if it was real.”

“Olivia has always been clever,” Chris mused through his teeth, “but this... this is a new level of bullshit. My own sister…”

I held a hand up to stop them. “We need to focus. Our priority right now should be on restarting the search for her, not being angry over the fact that she pulled the wool over our eyes.”

Chris finally stopped pacing and shot me a determined look. “You’re right,” he replied. “We need to question Dedrick. He probably knows where she is.”

Without another word, we all headed out into the cool night air. It was late, but that didn’t matter to us; we had work to do.

Dedrick was no longer being held in the cells beneath the Packhouse due to the blight, but had rather been moved to a secure area in the camp that had been erected at the edge of town for those who had been displaced.

As we strode down the rows of tents, it was mostly quiet; although a few night owls poked their heads out of their tents at the commotion, their eyebrows raised. Up ahead, we could see the two guards who were on duty outside Dedrick’s tent, armed with spears.

A strange sense of foreboding coiled around my stomach as we walked up to the guards. I couldn’t explain it, but whatever it was, it didn’t feel good.

“Alpha Chris,” the front guard said as we approached, his eyes darting between all of us. “Luna Ava. We weren’t expecting you.”

“We need to see Dedrick. Now,” Chris demanded without preamble.

The guard hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Of course, Alpha. Right this way.”

Stepping aside, the guard pulled open the flap of Dedrick’s tent. Chris and I exchanged wary glances; I wondered if he, too, could sense the ominous feeling in the air. I certainly felt it.

And as we stepped into the tent, my worst fears were confirmed. The tent was dark, implying that he was sleeping—but he didn’t stir, not even when we turned on the oil lamp. And he still didn’t stir when Chris roughly strode over to his bed and shook his shoulder.

“Wake up, you bastard,” Chris growled, ripping his blanket off and turning Dedrick onto his back. “We need to—”

His voice abruptly cut off, and my breath caught in my throat. Dedrick was unconscious, his eyes rolled back in his head. His lips were an alarming shade of blue and there was a bit of foam dripping out of the corner of his mouth.

“Luna’s teeth,” Leonard exclaimed, dropping to his knees beside Dedrick. He pressed two fingers to Dedrick’s neck, feeling for a pulse. “He’s alive, but barely.”

Chris whirled on the guard, his eyes flashing with an uncharacteristic fury—the same fury I had seen when Degas had passed, although for a much different reason this time. “Call the clinic. Now!”

As the guard scrambled to make the call, Ophelia and I helped Leonard turn Dedrick onto his side, watching anxiously for any sign of improvement. Of course, there was none. Dedrick was fully unconscious, nearly on the verge of death.

“What could have caused this?” Ophelia wondered out loud, her voice shaking.

I glanced up at Chris, wondering if he was having the same thought that I was. The look in his eyes when he met my gaze told me that he was.

“I have a pretty good idea,” I muttered.

The next few minutes were a blur of activity as the medical team arrived and whisked Dedrick away to the clinic. We followed close behind, none of us daring to say a word. Chris took long strides at the front of the group, his hands clenched into fists.

At the clinic, we were forced to wait while the doctors worked on Dedrick. Chris paced the waiting room like a caged animal, while the rest of us sat in tense silence.

Finally, after what felt like hours, a doctor emerged from the treatment room. Her face was grave as she approached us.

“Alpha, Luna,” she greeted us with a nod. “Dedrick is stable for now, but he’s in critical condition.”

Chris stepped forward. “What happened to him?”

The doctor sighed, glancing down at her chart. “It appears to be an overdose of moonbite powder. His system was completely overloaded with it.”

I felt my blood run cold. So it was just as I suspected. Perhaps Dedrick, or someone who was working with him, knew that he would be caught and had a backup plan.

“Will he survive?” I asked, dreading the answer.

The doctor’s hesitation spoke volumes. “It’s... uncertain at this point. The next 24 hours will be crucial.”

Chris ran a hand through his hair with frustration. “Can we see him?”

The doctor nodded. “Briefly. But please, try not to disturb him. His condition is very delicate.”

We followed her to Dedrick’s room, the sight that greeted us causing my stomach to sink even further. Dedrick lay motionless in the hospital bed, hooked up to a multitude of machines that beeped and whirred ominously.

Chris and I approached the bed, staring down at Dedrick’s pale face. The man who had once seemed so strong and scheming was now hardly more than a deflated sack of flesh.

Suddenly, Chris let out a frustrated growl and kicked a nearby trash can, sending it clattering across the room. The noise made us all jump.

“Dammit!” he shouted, his voice raw and hoarse. “I’m such a fool! I believed that fake moonstone was real, and now our one good source of information might die. We’re back to square one, and the blight is worse than ever!”

I quickly moved to Chris’s side, cupping his face in my hands and forcing him to look at me.

“Chris, breathe,” I said firmly, holding his gaze. “This isn’t your fault. We were all fooled.”

I could feel the tension in his body slowly start to ebb as he focused on my eyes. After a moment, he nodded, taking a deep breath.

“You’re right,” he said softly. “I’m sorry. I just... I feel so helpless in all this.”

Leonard cleared his throat, drawing our attention. “We may be back to square one with finding Olivia, but we’re not completely without options. We know more now than we did before, so that’s a start.”

Ophelia nodded in agreement. “Leonard is right. And now that we know the moonstone Dedrick gave us is fake, we can focus on finding the real one.”

“See?” I said gently, turning to Chris again. “Not all is lost.”

Chris straightened up, and a determined look replaced the fury that was previously burning in his eyes. “You’re all right. We need to regroup and come up with a new plan. The situation with the blight spreading to town makes everything more urgent, but we can’t lose focus.”

He paused then, turning to Leonard. “Leonard, go and rally the scouts. I want two sent in each direction this time, and I want a team to go out and comb the entire area where we last saw Olivia. Rally some of our best trackers and have them wait for us. We’re going to shift and comb the woods ourselves tonight.”

Leonard nodded, not waiting for a moment longer before he slipped out of the room to follow Chris’s orders. He turned to Ophelia then.

“Ophelia, I know you’re not technically a part of our pack—”

“But I intend to be someday, darling,” she said, straightening. “What do you need from me?”

“I’d like you and Ava to keep an eye on the camp tonight. Make sure everyone stays calm, especially the children. Rally everyone you can to keep vigil in case Olivia is spotted anywhere, and contact me as soon as you hear anything.”

Ophelia nodded. I held up one finger, indicating for her to give me a minute, and she slipped out of the room.

Once she was gone, Chris let out a sigh that made his entire body slump. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him close, and pressed a warm kiss to the soft skin of his throat.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” I said softly. “With or without Dedrick’s help.”

Chris’s eyes wandered over to the hospital bed where Dedrick still lay unconscious.

“I hope you’re right,” he whispered. “For all of our sakes.”