Chapter 486: Help me out!

Adrein.

The crunch of frozen leaves outside the cabin window cut through the room like a blade.

My heart slammed against my ribs, the sudden burst of adrenaline sending a hot spike of pain straight down my frayed bond thread. Beside me, Damien went dead still, his broad shoulders tensing as he cradled Maria tighter against his chest. His eyes shifted instantly into a dark, glowing gold, fixed on the shattered glass of the small window.

I slipped my hand down to the hunting knife at my belt, my knuckles turning white as I held my breath. The cabin was dead quiet. The only sound left in the world was the crackle of the dying hearth fire and the heavy, terrified thumping of my own heart.

CRUNCH.

The sound came again, right beneath the sill of the window.

Damien tilted his head, his jaw locked tight as he prepared to spring. I dragged myself half an inch off the floor, ready to throw my weakened body between whoever was out there and Maria’s cot.

Then, a small, dark shadow leaped gracefully up onto the wooden ledge of the window frame.

It wasn’t one of the Lycan prince’s mercenaries. It wasn’t an armored scout with a crossbow.

It was just a wild forest cat.

The animal sat on the ledge for a brief second, its yellow eyes reflecting the faint embers of the fireplace. It let out a soft, silent breath of cold air before turning its back and bounding off into the dark underbrush, the light patter of its paws fading quickly into the night.

A long, ragged sigh rushed out of my chest, dragging a faint groan of relief with it.

"It’s just a cat," Damien whispered, the golden glow slowly fading from his eyes as his shoulders dropped an inch. "Just a wild cat."

"Thank goddess," I rasped out, rubbing a hand over my face.

The sheer relief washed over me like a wave of warm water. Maria was safe. For now, the woods were quiet, and the Lycan prince’s scouts hadn’t found the ridge.

I pushed myself up off the floorboards, my heavy legs shaking slightly under my weight. My bond thread was still thumping with a dull, sickening ache, but the sudden panic had cleared out the worst of the brain fog.

"I’m going to lock the front door," I said softly, stepping around the hearth. "Make sure the latch is fully down so the wind doesn’t blow it open."

Damien nodded, keeping his eyes on Maria as he gently adjusted her fur blanket. "Hurry back over here. We need to keep her warm."

I walked over to the thick oak door, grabbing the iron handle. The wood was cold against my palm, but as I shoved the door tight into its frame and dropped the heavy iron bolt into its slot, a genuine sense of peace settled into my chest. We had shelter. We had a fire. Maria’s skin was already losing that terrifying blue tint.

I turned around to head back to the hearth, but the moment I stepped away from the door, a faint, metallic scrape echoed from the dark corner of the room.

I froze.

On the dusty floorboards near the wall, Noah was moving.

His hand twitched, his long fingers scraping against the dry wood. Slowly, agonizingly, his dark head lifted, his shoulders rolling as he dragged himself up onto his elbows.

"Noah?" Damien called out, his voice sharp with surprise as he looked over from the fire. "Noah, you’re up?"

I took a step toward him, a nervous smile trying to form on my face. "Hey. Take it easy, man. You’ve been out cold since we pulled you out of the mud."

Noah didn’t answer.

He stayed on his hands and knees, his head hanging low between his arms. I crouched down a few feet away from him, waiting for him to look up, waiting for that signature sarcastic growl or the deep Alpha command in his voice.

Nothing came.

He just stared at the floor, his breathing shallow and strange.

"Noah?" I asked again, my brow furrowing as a cold knot began to form back in my stomach. "Can you hear me? Say something."

Still, complete silence. He didn’t blink. He didn’t shift his gaze. His eyes were dull, completely unseeing, staring straight at the dust beneath his hands as if he didn’t even know where he was.

I looked back at Damien, panic creeping into my voice. "Damien... why isn’t he talking?"

Damien leaned forward over Maria, his dark eyes narrowing as he watched our brother. "Noah! Look at me!"

Noah didn’t even flinch at the sound of Damien’s voice. He remained completely motionless, his jaw slack, his face pale as paper.

"Oh goddess," I stammered, my hands starting to shake as I looked down at Noah’s vacant expression. "What did they do to him down in that cell, Damien? Did Daniel’s men do something to his head? Why is he acting like he’s dumb? Is he paralyzed? Can he even process what we’re saying?!"

"Adrein, calm down—"

"I can’t calm down!" I yelled in a desperate whisper, backing up a step as horror filled my chest. "Look at him! He’s completely gone! He’s looking right through us!"

I thought about what had happened back at the Pack. We were the ones who ordered Noah to be locked in that underground pack cell. We were the ones who put him down there to keep him isolated, to keep the pack from tearing itself apart and while he was trapped in the dark, Daniel had moved in.

If Noah was permanently brain-damaged... if he was broken because we locked him in a hole...

Suddenly, Noah’s entire frame violently convulsed.

His eyes snapped open wide, vein-shot and filled with sudden, agony-driven life. He doubled over with a sickening, wet gasp, clutching his stomach with both hands as his chest heaved violently.

HACK.

A thick, dark spray of crimson blood erupted from Noah’s lips, splattering across the dry wooden floorboards right at my boots.

I let out a sharp, horrified yell, stumbling backward into the edge of a wooden table. "Noah!"

"Damien!" I shrieked, my voice cracking into absolute, raw panic as I stared at Noah. The sight of him coughing made my heart pound painfully against my ribs. "He’s coughing up blood! It wasn’t just physical exhaustion—he’s poisoned! Daniel poisoned him too!"

Damien scrambled up from the hearth, his movements sudden and frantic. The color drained from his face as horror spread across his features. His eyes immediately locked onto Noah just as our brother collapsed onto his side.

Noah coughed again, violently, and another dark puddle of metallic blood spilled from his mouth. His whole body trembled in painful spasms, each violent shudder making him look even more helpless.

"Hold him!" Damien shouted, rushing over and dropping to his knees beside Noah. He grabbed our brother’s shaking shoulders, holding him firmly to keep him from choking as another cough tore through his body.

"Noah, lean forward!" Damien urged, his voice strained with fear and desperation. He carefully tried to keep Noah positioned as he continued coughing. "Get it out!"

I could only stare at them, my own panic rising as Noah continued to tremble beneath Damien’s grip. The sight of his blood and the violent spasms running through his body made the fear in my chest tighten even further.

My heart was hammering against my ribs so hard I thought it would shatter them. The air in my lungs felt completely gone. I stared at the dark blood pooling on the floor, my mind spiraling completely out of control.

This was a nightmare. A total, inescapable nightmare.

Maria was lying on that cot, dying from refined wolfsbane because of Daniel’s betrayal. And now Noah—our rival—was choking on his own blood right in front of me because he had been poisoned down in the very cell we put him in or wherever he was taken.

"This can’t be happening," I stammered, dragging my hands through my hair as I paced back and forth, my eyes wild with panic. "This can’t be happening, Damien! If Noah dies out here... if he dies because we locked him up..."

"Adrein, stop screaming and help me hold him!" Damien barked, trying to clear Noah’s airway as Noah let out another agonizing, raspy groan.

"Maria is going to hate me!" I choked out, a hot tear spilling over my eye as the sheer weight of the guilt crushed down on my chest. "She’s going to blame me for this! She already thinks we’re monsters for holding her here, Damien! If she wakes up and finds out Noah died because we threw him into a cell for Daniel to poison... she will never forgive us! She will hate me forever!"

"Shut up about that and grab his legs!" Damien roared, his hands covered in Noah’s blood.

I dropped to my knees beside Noah’s head, my hands trembling violently as I grabbed his coat, watching in sheer terror as our brother fought for every single breath.