The Alpha Queen Returns – Episode 14
Royal Guards closed around Rex, Melissa, and Reva while the last echoes of Jessica’s declaration faded through the banquet hall. Rex struggled against the soldiers restraining him. “Your Majesty, you’re making a mistake. Darkmoon deceived us too.”
Jessica did not acknowledge him. Caroline had begun to sway in Sarabeth’s arms, her face pale beneath the bruises. The child’s brief surge of hope was disappearing beneath an exhaustion too deep to be natural.
Jessica crossed the floor and pressed a hand to Caroline’s forehead. Heat burned beneath cold, damp skin. “This isn’t fatigue.” She closed her eyes and released her wolf senses, following the rhythm of her daughter’s weakening pulse.
Black energy threaded through Caroline’s veins like smoke trapped beneath glass. It curled around something dormant at the center of her being, tightening whenever that hidden power stirred. Jessica had treated hundreds of poisons, but she had never felt one designed to behave like a living cage. Ordinary wolfsbane attacked a shifter’s strength; this substance seemed to recognize its victim and adapt to her.
Her eyes opened, blazing. “Who drugged my daughter?”
No one answered. The guards tightened their grip on the Russos while guests retreated from them. Fear silenced even the boldest nobles. Jessica slowly turned, and the pressure of her aura drove Melissa to her knees.
“I asked a question.”
“It wasn’t me,” Melissa cried. Her gaze darted toward her children, willing one of them to become the sacrifice. “I never gave her anything.”
Jessica looked at Rex. His confidence finally shattered beneath the promise in her face. “I can explain,” he began, already searching for a lie.
“It wasn’t our idea,” Reva blurted. Rex shouted at her to stop, but panic had broken whatever loyalty remained between them. “Lord Killian Darkmoon gave me the drug. He said it would make Caroline obedient before we presented her to Alpha Hunter.”
Shock rippled through the hall. Hunter’s expression darkened as he understood how carefully his name had been woven into Darkmoon’s scheme. Had he accepted Caroline without question, Darkmoon could have exposed the exchange and destroyed Hunter’s standing among the packs. The realization left him furious with Rex and ashamed of his own earlier silence. “So the poison, the girl, and Rex’s request for influence all came from the same source.”
Reva sobbed and nodded. Whether Darkmoon had ordered every detail or merely provided the weapon no longer mattered to her. She wanted Jessica’s fury aimed anywhere else.
Jessica knelt before Caroline and gently lifted her chin. The girl’s eyelids fluttered as she fought to remain awake. “Caroline, stay with me. I’m going to help you.”
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Caroline whispered.
The apology broke something inside Jessica. “You have nothing to apologize for.” She drew Caroline into her arms, feeling how little weight the Russos’ supposed care had left on her body.
“I caused trouble for you.” Caroline’s voice faded between shallow breaths. She still believed her suffering mattered less than the danger surrounding her mother.
“No.” Jessica held her closer. “I caused you pain because I did not listen when you needed me. I swear no one will ever use my life to threaten yours again.” Caroline gave the smallest nod, then went limp.
“Caroline!” Jessica checked her pulse. It fluttered weakly beneath her fingertips, while the black energy advanced toward her heart.
Sarabeth stepped close. “Can you cure it?”
“I can stabilize her, but the drug is reacting with her dormant wolf. Without knowing what Darkmoon created or why, removing it could make the reaction worse.” For the first time that night, uncertainty entered Jessica’s voice. Commanding an army required decisions made with incomplete knowledge; gambling with Caroline’s life was a risk she could barely endure.
