Lilith has been returning from a meeting with the King, concealed in a dark hallway when she heard the news. A hushed whisper from a passing servant. A slip of a name spoken in panic. A word that turned her stomach to ice:
Poison.
She didn’t react at first. Not outwardly. She kept sipping, kept her posture straight, her fingers calm on the porcelain.
But her pulse? Thunder.
She excused herself from the table and didn’t stop moving until she was behind the locked door of her temporary guest suite. The moment it clicked shut, her composure snapped.
“Gods,” she breathed, bracing herself against the wall, her heart crashing against her ribs.
Celine was alive.
Not just alive—aware.
They’d tested the food. That meant suspicion. That meant eyes. And now there was talk of an investigation—an Alpha’s wrath unleashed in the middle of the Capital.
Lilith’s mouth went dry.
No one had seen her buy the vial. No one had watched her slip away into the shadows of that rotting forest or speak to that creepy old hag who looked like she’d crawled out of a grave.
But that didn’t mean she was safe.
She knew how this worked.
Leon wouldn’t stop until someone paid. And it was only a matter of time before fingers started pointing.
She paced the room, fingers clawing into her sleeves. Maybe she’d been too hasty. Maybe she’d left something behind. A scent. A smudge. A trace of presence near the kitchens—
No. She was careful. Wasn’t she?
Her breathing came faster. If the King found out? If he thought she had acted behind his back? It wouldn’t just be exile this time. It would be the end.
Her fingernails dug into her palm.
She’d done it because Celine always won. Because Celine always got everything. The power, the pack, the mate, the throne. Lilith hadn’t wanted to kill her. She just wanted her to lose. Just once. And now she was the one who stood to lose it all.
Unless…she turned it around. Unless she acted before anyone could accuse her.