Chapter 55

[Third-Person’s POV]

After Oliver had informed the staff of what they needed to do, he insisted on joining Alexander on his venture outside toward the greenhouse. The feeling he initially had in his stomach had not let up once. At times like this, he truly felt like the wheelchair was purposely slowing him down.

Just another reminder that he really needs to get around to telling her the truth about his situation. But at the moment, all he needed to focus on was finding Evelyn.

“Sir, perhaps, she just lost track of time,” Oliver suggested.

Alexander appreciated the idea that the Beta was trying to ease his nerves but it was no use. Plus, it naturally wasn’t like Evelyn to become easily distracted.

They searched the greenhouse and found nothing out of the ordinary. Alexander wasn’t sure if that was reassuring to him or if it merely added to the frustration. Part of him was slightly anticipating uncovering some kind of scene that could have taken place. Anything that would have indicated any sort of explanation.

But no.

Not a single thing was out of place. Alexander grimaced and decided that they should move on to the tent next.

The two men entered the tent and were immediately struck with panic and shock as they found Evelyn hunched over on the ground with her arms wrapped around her center. Her whole body was trembling and there was a thin sheen of sweat that covered her skin.

“Oh my God,” Oliver whispered.

Alexander felt his heart lurch in his chest. “Evelyn!”

Without a single hesitation or second thought, the Alpha abandoned the wheelchair and charged at the woman. He carefully gathered Evelyn in his arms and tried to coax her out of her unconscious state.

“Evelyn?”

Soft, broken whimpers slipped from her throat. It was obvious that she wasn’t able to speak, let alone open her eyes.

Alexander’s heart dropped into his stomach when he discovered how stiff she felt in his arms. It was like her body was already undergoing rigor mortis.

“What the hell is happening to her?” he snarled under his breath. “Look around, see if you can find anything that would give us some clue as to what happened. I’m taking her back to the house.”

Nearly everyone was stunned to find Alexander barging through the doors with an unresponsive Evelyn in his arms. Poor Nina nearly had a heart attack when she caught sight of the two.

“Oh my God! What happened?” she gasped.

“We don’t know,” he said gruffly. “Have a few of the staff prepare a bath in my rooms immediately. She’s freezing. I need to try and bring her body temperature back up.”

Alexander glanced down to find Evelyn’s hand grasping at the material of his shirt. She was still shaking like a newborn fawn; her breathing was ragged and coming out in short spurts. Every moment felt crucial.

He turned on his heel and made it back to the master bedroom where already the staff had been prepping the room.

The bath was filled with the gentle aroma of lavender.

“Thank you. That will be all.”

“Sir, are you sure you don’t want us to get her more suitable for the bath?” one of the maids asked.

In other words, was he certain that he ought to be the one to remove her clothes?

Alexander clenched his jaw and refrained from rolling his eyes. Had things been different between them, there wouldn’t even be all of these boundaries. Yes, it was an intimate act no matter how anyone was able to view it.

But he was quick to recover from the hesitation and shook his head at the staff. “No. I will do it.”

I’m her goddamn husband and if anyone is going to see her completely bare, it's going to be me. No one else.

Not that he needed to provide some kind of excuse for himself, but this was purely medical what was happening. He needed to get her out of her sweat-soaked clothes and into the steaming bath so that her body temperature would rise back to its normal level.

Once everyone else left, Alexander got to work on carefully removing her clothes. Of course, under any other circumstances, he would have asked for her permission to do away with the material. But time was not a factor that was currently on their side.

“Okay, Evelyn,” he kept his voice calm and even. “I’m going to lower you into the bath, okay?”

All he heard was a small hum from her chest.

“We need to bring your temperature back up.”

Alexander was sure that he was about to break out into a complete swat himself for how cautious he was being. He gradually lowered her into the steaming water, handling her as though she was the most coveted possession he had.

And, in a way, she was.

Alexander could not fathom what had happened to her. He guided her to lean against the back headrest and made sure that she wasn’t sliding down. From that point on, he began to examine her up close. With light touches he tilted her head to the left and then the right, checking for any possible blemishes.

Had she been injected with something? Oh God. Such a possibility brought on a whole slew of unsettling thoughts and questions. If that was the case, then that meant that an enemy had somehow infiltrated the barriers...Or worse, someone within the pack had attacked Evelyn.

“I can’t jump to conclusions,” he told himself.

Especially because he wasn’t able to locate any such mark on her skin. But his sense of relief was short-lived when he noticed the ever-so-slight blue tinge that marked her lips. He reached down to lift her hands up for a closer look. There too, he saw the same color pigment appear around her nail beds.

His heart slammed into his rib cage.

His voice came out hollow. “You were poisoned.”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Alexander eased her arms down and brushed her hair back from her face. He pushed himself off the floor to head toward the door.

“What?”

“Sir, it’s me,” Oliver said. “I think I found the cause of Evelyn’s collapse.”

“She was poisoned.”

“Y—...Yes, sir...How did you—”

“I noticed the blue tinge around her mouth and nails,” he mentioned. “Have you found anything else that connects to this?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.” Alexander glanced down to observe the chipped tea cup that had been spotted at the scene where Evelyn had fallen ill. “We all know that Evelyn tests each batch of tea before sending it out to others.”

Alexander nodded in confirmation. “Right...Wait, are you saying that the poison was in the tea mixture that she brewed for her to test?”

Oliver gravelly nodded his head. “Yes. Don’t worry, sir. I’m going to personally see through that the whole mixture is sifted through to find out what exactly it was that sent Evelyn into this horrible state. Your focus needs to solely be on her, right now.”

It was times like this when he was grateful to have someone like this at his side to help.

“Alright. But the second you find anything out of the ordinary, find me.”

Alexander closed the door and returned to Evelyn’s side.

“Evelyn...We don’t know what poison you ingested. But something tells me that it’s not going to be entirely easy to flush out of your system right away,” he said to her. “But whatever happens, I promise that I’m not going to leave your side.”

Her lips parted while a tremulous whisper escaped. “...Alexander...”