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“I’ve got tea for you, Garren,” I said softly as I stepped up behind Nyx. “If he can have it?”
“Possibly,” Nyx said solemnly. “But I need to know if there’s anything that he solely has. Meds. Foods. Somethingno oneelse touches.”
“What?” Callum growled. My eyes went wide as his wolf flashed behind his eyes. Our alpha was ready to tear the world apart at the unspoken conclusion Nyx had come to.
“Poison?” Garren asked for us all.
“I can smell it on you. It’s subtle, like it’s been over some time,” Nyx explained. “But it’s there.”
“No medicine. We share all meals,” Leven said as he started to pace. “I buy his toothpaste and lotions and shit.”
“It’s got to be something,” Nyx said as he stood. “I need to take everything I can with me to test.”
“You can’t sniff out everything he owns,” Leven protested. His frustration was showing, and I couldn’t blame him. But Nyx met his fire with some of his own.
“Like fuck I can’t!” he bit out. “I’ll test every fucking fiber and substance in this mansion if I have to.”
“We should move him,” I said. “I know this is his space, but he can’t be here. We can run for new stuff tomorrow.”
“I usually feel worse at night,” Garren admitted. His voice was quiet but it caught all of our attention.
Nyx took out a notebook and started taking notes. “Okay, approximately how long after your last meal?”
“I’m fine at dinner. Then I go to the garden for some fresh air. I like to enjoy my tea out there. Then I come in here and just after it goes downhill,” he admitted. His eyes shifted to Leven who looked absolutely furious. “Don’t give me that look, boy. I didn’t want you fussing over me.”
“I’ll fuss if I fucking want to, old man,” Leven fumed. “You almost let yourself fucking die out of sheer stubbornness!”
“No yelling at the poisoned man,” I told Leven. He glanced down at me as I rested a hand on his cheek. We had a silent stare off, a battle of wills, but he finally nodded.
“I’m going to secure a place for us all for the night. I think Franklin has the same stature, I’ll grab clothes,” Callum said as he pulled out his phone and made a call. “Antonio. I need someone calling the pack one by one. If anyone has been feeling sick at night or anything out of the ordinary, I want that intel. Now!”
He hung up and stormed out. My hands shook enough that the teacup clattered against the saucer, reminding me why I came in here. But now that I glanced down at it, all I could think of was poison.
“I’ll gather kitchen stuff. You hit his personal supplies,” I told Leven. “Nyx is right. We find this and stop it before it gets worse.”
In my gut I knew this was yet another attack. That the asshole tracker was planning on isolating me completely, using mind games until I was so paranoid, I was rocking in a corner.
But at least this is one thing we could fix. Nyx had no way of knowing if Garren would have lasting damage without results, so I grabbed a huge tote bag and started pulling out Garren’s favorites. But Leven was right. I’ve drank his teas, used the lemons, there’s nothing here that only he would partake in.
“The garden!” Nyx said as he rushed past me and ripped open the back door before barreling out. “I’m an idiot.” I followed right on his heels, watching as he made a beeline for the raised beds. Plants were not my thing, but he inspected every single leaf, stem, and flower before he grabbed a glove and plucked something out of the dirt and held it up. “I fucking knew it.”
“What is it?” He looked at me and took a deep breath.
“Monkshood.” When I didn’t give a reaction, he sighed. “Wolf’s bane is its other name. They used it historically to poison meat to kill off wolves. In folklore it’s to ward off werewolves.”
“Does it actually harm us?” I asked. Skepticism was my fallback but even I could see that Garren was sick.
“Yes. It would harm anyone though. It’s potent and I’d bet money it’s all in this soil as well,” Nyx said, glaring down at the offending flowerbed. “Which means he’d disturbed and touched the roots without realizing. That’s where it’s most potent.”
“He wears gloves to garden, though,” I argued. “And we’ve gardened too.”
“Yes, hence I said subtle. But it has neurotoxins that can be absorbed and breathed in. Your exposure was minimal, his was daily. I’d bet that it started with a simple swipe over his forehead with a tainted glove, touching the fingers of that same glove as he grabbed them to put them away, anything to keep the poison in his system. A little goes a long way and it was daily. I know it sounds farfetched, but this is not a coincidence, and that man is far too smart to put poison among his plants.”
“It was the tracker. More fucking games of his,” I said in defeat. “He’s angry he was losing this fight. That I didn’t go as easily as the others. He planned on smoking me out and harming everyone I cared about. Garren and I have sat out here plenty of times. If he was watching as closely as I know he was, then he saw us.”
“Well we caught it and that bastard won’t win. Come on, let’s go save Garren,” he said. The fact he wasn’t as worried anymore, just angry, made me feel a whole lot better.
But this was just another mark against the tracker and the pack who sent them.When I find the wolves responsible, it’ll be a massacre. I’m out for blood now and not one of them will be safe.
