A sharp, burning sensation clawed up my throat, and the pendant at my chest flared once–then dimmed. My breath hitched. Something was wrong.
My hands trembled as I braced against the stone arm of the couch. A wave of dizziness slammed into me, followed by a blinding pulse of pain in my abdomen.,
The pup.My wolf thrashed beneath my skin in panic. I tried to stand, to shift, to call for Killian through the link–but everything inside me buckled. My knees hit the stone floor with a thud, and I clutched my belly.
Goddess, not now… not my baby.A soft sigh filled the room.I looked up–and saw her.
Lila stood above me. Not the fragile, feverish Lila Killian had been tending for weeks. No, this one was strong. Vibrant. Her skin glowed with health, her posture poised like a predator who had finally cornered its prey.
“W–why?” I gasped, my voice a whisper of wind.
She crouched down slowly, brushing strands of hair from my damp forehead as if she were a caring sister. Her smile was cold.
“Because I made a mistake,” she said simply, with a bitterness that dripped like venom from her tongue. “And now I have to fix it.”
My limbs were heavy. My skin burned like it had been set alight from the inside.
“I thought I knew what love was back then,” she continued. “I left Killian for a wolf who promised me the stars… only to be abandoned in the dark.”
My heart thudded weakly.
“I thought Killian would wait for me. That no matter what, I’d return and find him still waiting. But then he married Ashira. Your sister.” Her lips curled. “And I thought, perfect. She was never good enough. It wouldn’t last. It didn’t.”
“But you…” she spat, rising slowly to her feet. “You weren’t supposed to matter. You were just a distraction. Until I saw the way he looked at you. The way his wolf responded to yours.”
A guttural growl rumbled in her throat. “That’s when I realized… I’d lost him.”
I blinked slowly, my vision swimming in and out. I tried to shift, to howl–but my wolf was locked behind a wall of pain and poison.
Lila stepped forward and slapped my cheek. “No, no, no. You don’t get to pass out yet. I’m not finished.”
She crouched beside me again. “Did you know he called me today?” she whispered. “Said he wouldn’t be the one watching over me anymore. That someone else would be assigned because he wanted to spend more time with you.”
She gripped my face with claw–tipped fingers. “That’s when I knew. You had to die.”
My vision darkened at the edges, and I felt the flicker of my baby’s heartbeat within me. Weak. Flickering. But still there.
Chapter Twenty One
3/2 75.0
4:43 am
Hold on, little one. Please…
I was fading fast. The room spun. My breath came in ragged gasps.
.
Lila rose, grabbing the silver goblet I’d drunk from earlier–laced with whatever she had slipped into my drink–and turned to leave. Probably to wash away the evidence.
Then… The front door burst open.A gust of wild wind swept through the room as Killian stepped inside, his aura crashing like a tidal wave against the stone walls.
“Lunara?”
He held fresh moonbloom flowers in one hand. They slipped from his grasp the moment he saw me on the ground.
Lila spun around, clutching the goblet, her eyes wide. “Killian! Thank the Moon you’re here. She just collapsed! I–I was going to call you!”
Tears welled in her eyes like a perfect performance. “She said she felt dizzy, and then she just- she fell!”
Killian ignored her, his golden gaze locked on me. He rushed to my side, dropping to his knees and gathering me gently into his arms.
“Lunara,” he whispered hoarsely. “Stay with me, amore.”
My head lolled against his chest. His warmth cut through the cold creeping into my bones.
Her skin was blazing hot. Her pulse… faint. Too faint. Killian’s wolf snarled beneath his skin.
‘What happened?” he snapped without looking at Lila.
‘I don’t know! She drank wåter and just…”
His gaze flicked to the goblet in her hand. She was about to take it to the kitchen. Why?
His nostrils flared. Poison. He stood slowly, still cradling me, his eyes glowing dangerously. ‘What did you do?”
Lila froze. “W–what? I didn’t-‘
‘Don’t. Lie. To. Me.”
His voice was ice. His aura darkened like a storm gathering over a battlefield.Lila faltered, the mask slipping. The terror in her eyes was real now.
She knew it was over. She dropped the goblet. It clattered against the stone floor.
And Killian’s growl shook the very foundations of the den.
212
