Just Another Poisoned Cocktail
Cassia was my mate Linus's childhood sweetheart. After she discovered that an alchemical experiment in my childhood had left me hypersensitive to wolfsbane, she tampered with the "Eclipse" cocktails I had personally mixed for the party.
The moment I swallowed it, an excruciating pain exploded in my stomach, as if my blood was first frozen, then set ablaze. My strength was draining from me as if a plug had been pulled.
Panicked, I scrambled for my room to get the one thing that could save me: the "Morning Star Potion" my father had prepared years ago.
But she had replaced that, too. The liquid in the bottle was the same poisonous concoction.
All color drained from my face. All strength vanished from my body. I collapsed, clutching desperately at the leg of my mate, Linus.
"Please—I've been poisoned. A potent alchemical poison. You have to help me—"
Linus hesitated.
But Cassia gently stroked his arm and laughed. "Linus, your mate is such a lightweight. It's just a cocktail."
The other werewolves chimed in. "Stop the drama! No one gets poisoned from a single cocktail." "She's just jealous of Cassia. She wants to ruin the party."
Linus's face grew cold again. "Cassia is an alchemist. If there was poison in that drink, she’d be the first to know. You'll be fine."
I stopped begging. With my last ounce of strength, I reached for my father through our bloodline link—Alaric, Lord of the Silvercrest Pack.