Chapter 63

Kayla

The moment Noah mentioned my father, I nearly dropped the bundle of clothes I was holding.

My eyes went wide. “My… My father?” I barely managed to choke out. Instantly, all of the worst-case scenarios went through my head—with my father’s death being at the forefront. I hoped that wasn’t the case.

Noah nodded, but his jaw tightened as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. “It’s best if we talk in private,” was all he said, which only ramped up my anxiety tenfold.

He didn’t need to tell me twice. I quickly turned and paid for the clothes for Grace, my heart pounding as I waited for the cashier to ring everything up and place it neatly into a bag. My hands shook as I handed her my card, and it was all I could do not to literally beg her to hurry up.

Once I was finished, I turned to see Noah waiting for me by the door, his face just as solemn as before.

The cold air nipped at my cheeks as I quickly followed Noah out of the shop. He led me into a nearby alleyway, which told me that this was just as serious as I thought.

“Are you gonna tell me what this is about now?” I asked impatiently, glancing sideways at him once we stopped in the middle of the alley.

Noah didn’t answer immediately. His mouth kept opening and closing like a fish out of water, his eyes darting around as if afraid of being overheard. Finally, he said quietly, “I think I figured out why he’s in a coma.”

The words hit me like a punch to the face. I just stood there for a moment, reeling, my mind whirling between confusion and disbelief. Finally, it seemed to settle on disbelief.

“Noah, no one knows why he’s in a coma. The doctors haven’t been able to figure it out for two years.”

Noah shifted on his feet, rubbing the back of his neck almost sheepishly. “I didn’t say anything before because I wasn’t sure,” he said. “But I’ve heard of something like this happening before. The symptoms, the way it happened out of nowhere… It lines up with a case I saw a couple of years ago. Someone was poisoned.”

Poisoned.

The word felt like ice water trailing down my spine.

“Poisoned?” I repeated, the disbelief curling around my tongue like venom of my own “Noah, I already knew that. My father was hit with a wolfsbane-tipped arrow, and none of the treatments have—”

“I don’t think it was wolfsbane,” he cut me off with a dark look. “Listen, I’m not saying that the doctors are lying to you. But I do think they’re all mistaken.”

My eyes narrowed. “If you’re so sure, then what was the real poison?” I asked.

Noah sighed. “I believe it’s a rare snake venom. It comes from a specific kind of snake found outside the territories. The venom puts people into comas that mimic wolfsbane poisoning, but the treatment for wolfsbane won’t work. It’s almost impossible to trace unless you know precisely what you’re looking for—for the extremely minor differences in symptoms.”

I stared at him, trying to process the words. The logical part of me screamed that it was ridiculous. The doctors had run countless tests, insisted that it was wolfsbane and that the standard treatments were ineffective.

But another part—the one that had been desperate for answers since the day my father had gone into the coma—couldn’t help but wonder if Noah was right. If it wasn’t wolfsbane after all, and that was why the treatments weren’t working.

“You really think that’s what happened to him?” I asked quietly, hardly even daring to say the words out loud.

Noah nodded. “It fits. And if I’m right, then there is an antidote.”

My heart stuttered in my chest, and I took a step closer without even realizing it. “There’s a cure?”

His expression darkened slightly. “Yes, but it’s not easy to get. The antidote is as rare as the poison. It can take months to import, and even then, there’s no guarantee. But it’s better than nothing, right?”

I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Hope.

My father could wake up. He could come back.

That was, if Noah was right. But the little bird inside of me—the fearless hope of a terrified little girl who just wanted her dad back—wanted to believe, more than anything, that he was.

I swallowed hard, willing the lump in my throat to go down before I began to cry in front of a man I hardly knew. Which was a reminder; I hardly knew him. It seemed a little strange that Noah was suddenly looking into my father’s mysterious illness without me even having to ask.

“Why did you even look into this?” I found myself asking.

Noah’s eyes met mine, and for a second, there was a flicker of something uncertain in his gaze. “Do you want the honest answer, or the nice answer?” Noah asked.

Frowning, I folded my arms across my chest. “Honest.”

He sighed and looked away. “I didn’t… exactly like you when we first met.”

I let out a breath of dry laughter at that. “Yeah, I noticed,” I said.” You weren’t exactly subtle about it.”

“I thought you were just another spoiled Alpha’s daughter.” His mouth curved up into a faint ghost of a smirk. “But then I saw how you treated Grace. And yesterday at the country club with Nicholas… I don’t know. I guess you surprised me. And I sort of realized why Nicholas chose you, of all people, to play the role of his Luna.”

His words settled heavily between us, leaving me feeling confused. I didn’t know what to say to that. I wasn’t used to hearing it—especially not from someone like Noah.

But the look in his eyes told me that he was telling the truth. He meant it. He respected me enough to look into it, and now my father’s coma might not have been so helpless after all.

Before I could stop myself, I closed the distance between us, wrapping my arms around him in a quick, impulsive hug. His body stiffened beneath my touch, as if he hadn’t been hugged in years, but after a pause, I felt his arms slowly close around my waist.

“We’ll get him the antidote,” he said quietly into my hair. “I promise.”

When I finally pulled back, his hands lingered for just a second longer than they needed to. His eyes were warm, the teasing edge replaced by something softer. I felt my heart skip, but not for the reasons one might think.

His eyes flicked to my lips, and my own eyes widened. Was he about to…?

“Kayla,” he began, his voice dipping lower. “There’s something else. I think you might be my—”

“Get away from her.”

The sound of a low, angry voice cut through the cold air, snapping us both out of our little world. I let go of Noah and whirled around, my eyes widening when I saw him.

Nicholas was standing at the end of the alleyway, a cup of coffee spilt across the ground at his feet.

And his eyes were nothing short of murderous.