THE RISE OF AN OMEGA-Chapter 23: Poison and truth

Kira’s POV

"Wolfsbane?" I muttered amid the excruciating pain I was feeling.

Mira laughed ominously. "Honestly, I wasn’t sure if this would work on you," she said as she moved closer. "You know, since you are the moonkeeper. But after all, moonkeeper or not, you are still a wolf." A wry smile appeared at the corner of her lips.

This was my first time being attacked with wolfsbane; I had heard about it, how dangerous it could be for werewolves, and how an enemy could end the life of a wolf with wolfsbane.

But never had it been used on me; it’s why I didn’t recognise the pain. Besides, It hadn’t been long before my wolf awakened, so there was no way I could have known how it felt to be attacked with wolfsbane.

Thinking back now, there was a time when some people tried to poison me with something; they wanted to know if my wolf had awakened, so they spiked my water with a small quantity.

I didn’t know that my drink had been spiked, so I drank it, and nothing happened to me. I just noticed that some people were whispering things about me, and it was then the hatred and disgust the people of Asher’s pack felt for me became stronger.

Since I wasn’t affected by the wolfsbane, it meant that I was not a wolf.

But here I was in pain, kneeling in front of Kira, almost dying.

While growing up, I learnt a few things about wolfsbane; wolfsbane can also be called aconitun, or monkshood. It’s a poisonous plant from the buttercup family.

Its toxins are very dangerous when ingested by a werewolf or absorbed through their skins. Causing symptoms like numbness, vomiting, heart problems and, lastly, death.

I wasn’t vomiting, but I felt numb, my eyes were dizzy, and my heart was aching seriously.

"What you are feeling now, is nothing compared to what you are going to feel in the next twenty minutes from now." She chuckled

My eyes opened wide.

So this wasn’t the final pain, there was more to the pain.

I could feel my life being sucked.

I opened my mouth to say something but the pain I felt was just too much.

"Uh uh, don’t do that to yourself, my dear,", She said, cycling around me. "The more you try to do anything the faster the poison spreads."

My stomach churned, and I suddenly felt nauseous. Before I knew it, I threw up, and the contents were mixed with blood.

"That’s it, you should have about ten minutes now..." she laughed evilly "The good thing is, I have the antidote, and I will be able to give it to you on one condition"

"Which.... is?" I managed to ask

"You follow me back to Alpha Asher"

I knew that this was the card she was going to play. Little Did she know that I would prefer to die here in Ryker’s pack than to go back to the pack where I was humiliated and rejected.

Initially, when I felt my mate bond and knew that it was Alpha Asher, I was glad, thinking that all my days of suffering had come to an end, but what did he do? He turned me into an object of shame.

"I... Will... ra..ther... die... than to... go... back... to... Asher" I stuttered.

"Oh my dear, it’s such a tragedy," she said, folding her arms. "Honestly, I wouldn’t prefer it any other way; I would have loved it if you had died, but..." She paused for a moment, resting her hands on her chin. "Alpha Asher wouldn’t approve, though your death would benefit me greatly. At least I know I still have a chance." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Have a chance?

Is this actually what I think it is?

Mira wanted Asher romantically.

I scoffed.

"With you in the picture and that wench that parades herself as the luna of the pack, I don’t stand a chance but if you die.... hmm" she folded her arms "I could easily find a way to get that wench out of the picture, but right now, Asher’s orders are to bring you alive, and I dare not go against his orders, but then if you proof to be too stubborn, I could just find something to tell him, something convincing enough for him to see why I had to kill you." She laughed hysterically.

Mira was the sickest human I had ever met; I thought it was just the fact that she hated Ryker, or maybe she wasn’t getting what she wanted from Ryker, which was why she deflected, but it wasn’t, she wanted him romantically.

How sick in the head can a human be?

Except for the fact that she wasn’t human, none of us were.

I tried to use my telekinetic powers, but I was too weak, too weak to conjure anything.

The pain became more severe making me fall flat on the ground. I crumpled to the floor, my body curling on itself, and my knees were drawn close to my chest like I was trying to shield myself against the pain I was feeling.

My arms wrapped around the stab region-my stomach, my fingers dug into my fabrics, and my breath was ragged. I laid there folded in on myself my form was tight and trembling like a wounded creature seeking shelter within my own body.

Well, I am a creature.

"Kira!!!" Ryker called out my name.

"Damn it!" Mira swore

"About time", I muttered under my breath.

"Emilia, Marcus make sure she’s okay" He commanded

"Yes sir" they both echoed

I tried to take a breath, but I couldn’t. The pain was just too much.

"Are you okay?" Emilia asked, her voice laced with concern

"Oh my gosh, she has been poisoned," Marcus exclaimed.

"Poisoned, with what?"

"Wolfsbane!"

"Wolfsbane?" Emilia turned me over gently.

"Oh my gosh, it’s truly wolfsbane" she exclaimed, hands on her head

"We need to rush her to the pack," Marcus said, his voice laced with urgency.

"There’s no way we would make it in time, she’s going to die before we get to the pack"

"So what do we do now?" Marcus asked

"We have to find a way to get the antidote around."

"You could do that?" Marcus asked

"Well, thank the goddess for our area, one could atumble on the plant that we would use to make an antidote." She said

"Isn’t that going to take more time?"

"No, it shouldn’t if we both start searching for it together," she said

"What am I looking for?" Marcus asked

Emilia informed him, and they both left in search of the antidote. Before Emilia departed, she warned me not to move, explaining that moving around could cause the poison to spread faster.

I lay there watching as Ryker engaged Mira in a fierce battle.

The night before, after I had trained with Mira, after fixing something to eat, I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. My conscience was disturbed, so I stood up, grabbed a coat that night and headed for Rykers.

*****

Surprisingly I met him outside his Palace, staring at the sky as if waiting for something to fall off from the sky.

I greeted him, he had a look of surprise on his face.

"Hey, why are you here by this time of the night?"

"Is Isabella in?" I asked, ignoring his question

He hesitated for a while, walked to a nearby rock and sat on it. "She’s sleeping."

"Where is she sleeping?" I paused and bit my lips.

I shouldn’t have asked that.

"Is that jealousy I sense?" Ryker said smiling

"Just answer the question," I said raising my voice a little

"In my room" he replied calmly looking away

I exhaled. It’s not like it was any of my business, we weren’t in a relationship, so I didn’t have any right to be angry or jealous, but I felt jealous and angry.

Why?

I wasn’t quite sure.

"Well, that’s none of my business" I blurted out. "I have been training with Mira for some days now," I said

"Training with Mira? Why?" He asked

I began to tell him everything that had been going on between me and Mira, how I suspected her of being a two-faced wench. At first, it was hard for him to believe, but I showed him proof of improvement in my abilities.

I informed him about her exceptional fighting skills and mentioned that she claimed someone else had told Asher about me.

He paced around, finding it hard to believe that Mira was a spy. I told him how she was planting seeds of doubt in my head about him.

"What do you want from me, why did you choose to save me" I asked

"There’s practically no reason, in particular; I just helped someone who needed my help." He said

"That’s all?" I asked hoping that he would say more.

He exhaled, "That’s all"

I hoped he would say he liked me from the start, but I guess he didn’t feel that way.

Either way, I was happy with the fact that I was able to speak to him that night. As I stood up to take my leave, I told him to come to my house the next day so he could meet Mira and maybe lurk around to eavesdrop on our discussions.

*****

I guess he was busy, busy with Isabella, maybe, but he showed up, and I might not have to die after all.