Chapter 3 The Silver Poison

The dirt was deep under my fingernails.

Morning after the branding and the sun was already beating down on my back. My neck was stiff. Every time I moved, the silver scar pulled, reminding me of what Valerius had done.

I was on my knees in the Royal Gardens, pulling weeds. Wasn't allowed in the kitchen today. The Head Maid said I was too "ugly" to look at while the high-borns ate breakfast. So here I was, in the mud.

The grease Martha gave me was thick and smelled like old ham. Disgusting, but it worked. It hid the scent of the King's pup.

Stay quiet. Stay small. Stay alive.

A pair of bright gold shoes stopped right in front of my face. Clean. Not a single speck of dust on the silk.

"You missed a spot, slave."

I knew that voice. Seraphina.

I kept my head down. Moved my hands to the grass patch near her feet and started pulling. My fingers were shaking.

"I said, you missed a spot."

She kicked my hand. Her heel caught my thumb, grinding it into the dirt. I bit my lip to keep from crying out.

"I'm sorry, My Lady."

"Look at me when I speak to you."

One of her guards grabbed my hair and yanked my head up. I gasped as my neck stretched. Seraphina stood there holding a lacy umbrella. She looked perfect. Looked like a Queen. Behind her were two large guards, hands on their swords.

Seraphina leaned down. Got so close I could see the powder lines on her face. She sniffed the air, nose wrinkling.

"You smell like a trash heap." She paused. "But even old grease can't hide everything."

My heart stuttered. Does she know?

She waved her hand and the guard let go of my hair. I slumped back onto my heels.

"The King is a man of duty." Seraphina walked in a slow circle around me. "He thinks branding you and putting you in the dirt ended the problem. But I know better."

She stopped in front of me again. Reached into a small silk bag at her waist and pulled out a glass bottle. It was filled with liquid that looked like melted moonlight. Shimmered with a sick, blue glow.

"Silver-lace potion." The words came out strangled.

Silver-lace was poison to wolves. For a grown wolf, it meant a week of vomiting and pain. But for a pup... it was a death sentence. It would melt the baby before it even had bones.

"Smarter than you look." Seraphina smiled, but her eyes were dead. Like a snake's. "I felt the spark when you were on the altar, Elena. Saw the way you touched your belly. I won't have a bastard threat breathing the same air as my future children."

"There is no pup." My voice shook. "I'm just an Omega. I'm nothing."

"Then you won't mind drinking this." She held the bottle out. "It's just a tonic. To help you work harder."

"No." I backed away on my hands and knees.

"Hold her."

The guards moved fast. Weren't gentle. One grabbed my shoulders and pinned me against a stone bench. The other grabbed my jaw, thick fingers bruising my skin as he forced my mouth open.

"Let me go!" I thrashed. Kicked my legs. Tried to bite his hand but he was too strong.

Seraphina walked over, pulling the cork out. The smell hit me. Burnt metal and sour milk. The smell of death.

"Drink it, Elena." Her voice was cold. "Drink it and maybe I'll let you live as a maid. If you don't, I'll tell the King you tried to hex me. He'll have your head on a spike by noon."

I shook my head. Tears finally spilling over. Kept my lips pressed together as hard as I could.

Help me. Moon Goddess, please. Save my baby.

Seraphina grabbed my nose, pinching it shut so I'd have to breathe through my mouth. I held my breath. My lungs started burning. Vision went fuzzy at the edges.

"Open up, you little rat."

She jammed the bottle rim against my teeth. I felt a tooth chip. The cold liquid touched my tongue.

No!

Deep inside my belly, something woke up.

Not a wolf's growl this time. A roar. A sound so loud it felt like it was coming from the earth itself.

Sudden heat started in my chest. Moved down to my stomach, then out to my arms and legs. Like I'd swallowed a star.

DON'T TOUCH ME!

Bright gold light exploded from my skin.

Not like a candle. Like a bomb.

The guard holding my jaw flew backward. Hit a tree with a loud crack and dropped like a ragdoll. The guard on my shoulders went airborne and landed in the rose bushes, screaming as thorns tore his skin.

But Seraphina got the worst of it.

The gold energy hit her square in the chest. The bottle shattered in her hand, silver liquid splashing all over her expensive dress. She didn't just fall—she lifted off the ground.

She flew ten feet through the air, screaming, and landed with a massive splash in the stone fountain.

Silence.

Only sound was water dripping from the fountain statues.

I sat on the ground, gasping. My skin was still tingling. My hands were glowing with a faint gold mist that was slowly fading.

I looked at my stomach. The heat was gone, replaced by a calm, steady pulse.

You saved us. You're only a few days old and you're already a King.

"My Lady!" One of the guards yelled, stumbling out of the bushes.

He ran to the fountain. Seraphina was gasping, hair soaked and hanging over her face like seaweed. Her beautiful dress was ruined. She was shaking, skin turning bright red where the gold light had hit her.

She looked at me. For the first time, I didn't see disgust in her eyes. I saw pure terror.

"You..." She choked out, pointing a shaking finger. "You... witch! Dark magic! You used dark magic on me!"

"I didn't do anything." My voice was strong now. I stood up, wiping dirt from my knees.

"Guards!" Seraphina's voice went high and crazy. "Call the King! Call the Council! The Nameless tried to kill me! She's a monster!"

The guards didn't come for me. They were too busy helping her out of the water. They looked at me with wide, scared eyes, like I might explode again.

I didn't wait for them to change their minds.

I turned and ran. Not toward the palace gates where the sentries stood. Toward the dark line of the servant tunnels. I knew those tunnels like the back of my hand. If I could get to the cellars, I could hide.

But I knew the truth.

The gold light was too bright. The guards had seen it. Seraphina had felt it.

I couldn't hide the baby anymore. And in this pack, a Nameless with power was worse than a traitor.

I'd survived the poison, but I knew the King was coming. And this time, he wouldn't bring a branding iron.

He'd bring an executioner's sword.

The palace bells erupted overhead—three sharp, violent peals that echoed through the servant tunnels.

The summoning call.

Not an execution. Worse. A trial.

I pressed deeper into the shadows of the cellar stairs, hand on my stomach. If I could just reach the old wine storage, there was a hidden passage that led to—

"There!"

Torchlight flooded the tunnel. Heavy boots thundered toward me. I ran, but my legs were shaking, body still weak from the gold energy that had exploded from my skin.

A hand grabbed my hair and yanked me backward. I hit the stone wall, gasping.

"Got her." The guard growled in my face. His breath smelled like stale beer. "The King wants you in court. Now."

They didn't ask. Didn't wait.

They dragged me back up into the light, my knees scraping against every step, while above me the bells rang on and on—calling the pack to witness my end.