Chapter 72

Justin POV

“Reject her first. Then I’ll save Helen.”

I stood firm against that. “No. I can’t reject my mate. No matter what, she is mine, Scott. I would never let her live a life, no matter an antidote, with you as her Alpha.”

She purred against my leg, nodding her head in steady agreement. She wasn’t made to be a pawn in this war, but here she was, swallowing poison and spitting out Scott’s offer to be her mate all the same.

She was strong, but it wasn’t going to last under these circumstances. Her sickness will only worsen.

“Come here, Helen,” I groaned, lifting her off the floor and into my arms. She hung there, lazy and sweaty and tired. So understandably tired. “Tell me something, Scott. How did you and my father poison my mate?”

He smiled proudly. “The fish. We knew you’d take opportunity of the river water. She would eat from it eventually, as would the traitors that left Fiery Cross. Their death is retaliation but hers, it can be prevented. You just have to reject her, Devil.”

I left at his suggestion and wandered upstairs, finding a future warrior of mine lingering in the hall. “Go find the healer,” I said. “And tell people to avoid the fish. If they already ate some, have them tended to. The healer must come help my mate first.”

I managed to get Helen in bed, her body taut and pink in hue. She struggled to breath correctly, panting every breath and groaning in discomfort.

The healer, thankfully, hadn’t had any of the fish tonight. She ran her hands over my mate, an action she has done a lot of lately, and gave me a grim look.

I waved her way, knowing the answer wasn’t going to be something I wanted to hear.

“What should we do?” Randy gasped. He paced the bedroom floor, watching my mate struggle. “How will we solve this one, Alpha?”

“We have Scott, so we work off that.”

“We could torture him, Alpha, but he won’t give up the antidote. He is firm. He wants Helen and he wants you to fall. We can’t allow that to happen, Justin. You are the reigning Lycan. You have to survive. Even if that means reject—”

“No,” I cut in. “Never mention that again. Never.”

“It was an option, Justin, nothing more,” Randy gusted in exhale.

I pondered my mind for an answer, no matter how difficult it was to consider them all. I didn’t want to reject her—I couldn’t. She is my only mate and anyways, I forever only wanted her.

As an idea came to mind, I kissed her temple and smiled widely.

Randy gave me a concerned look like I had gone mad.

And I had, of course, gone mad a long, long time ago. But that was besides the point.

“Find a fish from dinner, taint his food with it, and let him eat,” I growled. “Don’t make it obvious though.”

Randy’s eyes lit up and he ran from the room. This plan had to work, after all. It was my Luna, my lover, and she is the mate that inspired True Mates pack. She was my whole world.

In a couple hours, Helen had passed out completely. She wasn’t in much pain, but she was worsening, nonetheless. She cooed my name in her dreary state, crying between gasps for air as her lungs had begun closing.

“He’s ready to talk,” Randy growled in the doorway.

My hands squeezed one of hers. She would hang on, she had to hang on, just a little while longer. I know that. I kissed her paling lips and ran straight for the barracks downstairs.

Scott hadn’t progressed much less than my mate, his body shivering in cold chills and his face a pale, sad color of death. He still managed to crack a grin, though.

“Very clever, Lycan,” he groaned. He blinked slow, on the edge of unconsciousness that would inevitably lead to his demise. “You just think you’re so fucking smart.”

I shrugged, somewhat proud. “You want to share that antidote now, or should I let you die alone in peace, mutt?”

He was defeated but I still saw that fire to fight in his eyes. “You will have to give her up eventually. If we can’t outright kill you, or outcast your existence, it leaves the weakest link of you left, Justin. She will get hurt and one day, you won’t get the upper hand.”

I looked aside, waiting for the real piece of information I required, and not his rant of reasoning.

He coughed, a little bit of blood spitting from his lips.

“Fuck it.” He sat up rubbing his temples. “One part nightshade, one part lavender,” he snarled. “Muddle it into a liquid and let her drink it.”

I nodded, waving for Randy to go fetch those items.

“I hope you know, Scott. You’ll be trying the mixture first, just to ensure it’s not another trick.”

He grinned with that promise. “Good. It’s the only way I’ll live. It’s the true antidote, Lycan. She should have some immediately. She is going to need it more than me.”

“I know that but your allowance of trust long ran out,” I groaned.

He sat up against the wall, limp and useless to the world. I could kill him like this, but I had other plans in mind. He would serve his use in this antidote search and I would make it known to my father that he made a large mistake in this ploy against Helen.

Randy came back with the cup, handing it to Scott through the bars. He sipped on it, puckered his lips and handed the rest of it back. His eyes went back into color and his skin already cleared up in shade. He was no longer blue in the cheeks and he even stood up in the first minute.

The antidote was legit.

I took the cup and ran for my mate. She hiccupped a cry when I made her sit up, looping my arm around her back and forcing the liquid down her throat. She coughed and wanted to spit it out. I slid my palm over her lips and she eventually swallowed it begrudgingly.

It took a few minutes for her eyes to open, for her voice to crack and her body to respond well to the antidote. When she finally looked at me through unfazed eyes, she leaned into my neck submissively.

I loved when she did that. She wanted to protect me, as much as I had made an effort to always protect her. I wasn’t doing a very good job, but I was trying.

I prayed to the moon goddess that Helen could see I was trying.

“Scott,” she growled his name. “Is he—what did he—”

“He’s in the barracks still. I poisoned him and he told me the antidote, mate. You’re better now.”

She smiled wirily.

“Just rest, Helen. I’m going to handle things from here on out.”

She held onto my shirt, pulling me back to her face so our lips could meet. Kissing her had never grown tiresome on me. It always felt like the first kiss to me.

I rested her back in bed, tucked her under the blanket and found Randy waiting in the hall. He was tired too, and we had grown sick of these games. My mate has been targeted too much at the hands of Scott.

It was time to kill her first mate.