I am staring through the small window in the door. Kai is strapped to the bed. He thrashes and pulls against the silver restraints. The words coming from his mouth are no longer coherent. It is like he is speaking a different language. There is a presence beside me. I don't have to look to know it is my mother. Fake sobs shake her shoulders. It is all a show. I doubt she cares for either of us anymore.
"I knew she was awful, but I didn't want to believe she was capable of poisoning my Kai," my mother sighs.
My head jerks in her direction, and I scoff at her words. "What would make you think Tish had anything to do with this?"
"It is obvious, isn't it?" Mom says. "She hates me, so she is hurting you to get back at me."
I grind my teeth together and try to maintain a calm demeanor. "Raven has looked inside Tish's mind. There is nothing to suggest that she is the one who poisoned Kai."
"I see the Luna Queen is breaking her own rules now," Mom growls.
"Excuse me?" I question.
"Is she not supposed to speak with the council before she goes jumping inside people's minds," Mom says.
"Tish allowed her to look inside her mind," I tell my mother. "She doesn't need permission for that."
My mother looks shocked but has not run out of things to say. "Are you going to believe what she has to say? For all you know, the Luna Queen and Tish are working together."
"Are you listening to yourself?" I laugh. "Why would they want to take us down? Besides, I have seen what is in Tish's mind. It was not her."
"There needs to be a full investigation then," my mother says. Her voice is high pitched and nervous.
I finally look away from my brother and stare my mother in the eyes. ''I couldn't agree more."
She sighs and begins to walk away, but two guards step around the corner and keep her from leaving. She attempts to step around them, but they refuse to let her pass.
"What is the meaning of this?" She demands to know.
"Mom," I say slowly. "The Luna Queen is on the way here. I would like for you to allow her to step into your mind."
"I will not," my mother is appalled. "How could you even suggest such a thing?"
"I just need to know," I say. "Just let her look, and we can put all of this behind us."
"Kai is my son," she shouts at me. "I would never hurt my son."
"Then it shouldn't be a problem to let her look," I try to reason with her.
Tears spring to my mother's eyes. "Kaden," she mutters. I know she is searching for another excuse.
"Mom, I am giving you a choice," I warn her. "You can let Raven into your mind, or you can rot in the cells until the Werewolf Council shows up."
"I am your mother," she reminds me.
"And I am the Alpha of the South Pack. My brother has been poisoned, and my mate has been attacked," I tell her. "There is a traitor in my midst. Everyone is a suspect."
I nod to the guards, and they grab my mother by the arms. She fights against their hold. Claws slip from the tips of her fingers, and she attempts to slash them. She snarls loudly, and the guards dig their claws into her skin.
A nurse comes rushing around the corner at the sound of the fight. There is a syringe in her hand. It is filled with a blue liquid. She pauses when she sees her former Luna struggling to break free.
"Do it," I command the nurse.
Sweat forms on her brow as she fights against my command. The syringe drops from her hand onto the floor, and my mother cackles evilly.
"Fuck this," I growl as I lunge forward.
I grab the syringe off the floor and jab it into my mother's arm. She screams as the wolfsbane courses through her body. I wait until her eyes roll back in her head before I turn on the nurse.
"How dare you defy my command," I scream at her.
"Luna Scarlett and I were friends," she whimpers.
"Are you one of them?" I demand to know.
The nurse backs away from me and shakes her head. "I was only following orders."
I step toward her and grab her around the throat. She gasps for air, and tears roll down her cheeks.
"What have you done?" I demand to know.
"I got her the Belladonna," the nurse coughs.
I snap her neck without thinking. Her body falls to the ground, and blood trickles down her chin.
"Fuck!" I shout in anger at myself.
I shouldn't have killed her. Now, whatever information she had is gone. The guards have already disappeared with my mother. I grip the sides of my head and tug on my hair. A growl rumbles in my chest, and I pace the floor in front of my brother's hospital room.
Kai begins to scream my name, and I look back in the small window. He is no longer struggling against the silver; he is crying. I enter the code on the keypad to enter his room and step inside silently. Kai lifts his head to look at me.
"Where is she?" Kai cries.
"Who?" I ask, not knowing who he is looking for.
"Tish," he chokes out. "I can feel her pain through the mate bond."
"She is in the hospital," I tell him.
"Will she make it?" He wants to know.
"I think so," I sigh. "But Raven's mates won't let me near her."
"We have been terrible mates," Kai says as he stares at the ceiling. "Maybe we should just let her go."
"No!" I shout. "She was made for us."
Kai throws his head back on the pillow and laughs loudly. "Then why haven't you marked her as your own?"
"If you haven't noticed, I have been a little busy running the pack, alone," I snap at him.
"And if you haven't noticed, I have been a little busy being fucking poisoned," he yells back at me.
"I am sorry," I reply. "None of this is your fault. I shouldn't take it out on you."
"Then what are you waiting for?" Kai asks me.
I wrinkle my brow in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"Go, mark Tish," he laughs.
"She is wounded," I remind him.
"I know Tish," he sighs. "She won't mind."