Darius's head snapped towards Elena, his eyes blazing with a momentary, terrifying fury that promised immediate retribution. But Ariana's faint whimper in his arms pulled his focus back. Elena wasn't important now. Ariana was.
He turned and strode towards the front door, carrying Ariana carefully. Tara rushed forward with a thick blanket, wrapping it around Ariana's fragile form with trembling hands. Samuel held the car door open, his gaze unusually anxious as Darius settled Ariana in the back seat.
"Go! Now!" Darius ordered, sliding in beside her.
The car sped away, leaving the stunned pack members, Elena's calculated gasp, and the lingering scent of fear and uncertainty behind at Blackthorn Manor.
The drive was a blur of frantic urgency. Darius held Ariana close, his wolf pacing caged within him, howling with fear and protective rage.
"Hold on, Ariana," he murmured, his voice rough. "Just hold on."
They arrived at the Blackthorn family hospital, a sleek, modern building nestled discreetly within the territory's deepest woods. Inside, the air was sterile, quiet. A team was waiting, alerted by Darius's frantic call.
"Alpha!" Dr. Anya Sharma, a formidable woman with sharp, intelligent eyes, met him at the entrance. "Bring her in! Quickly!"
Darius carried Ariana directly into an examination room, laying her gently on the medical bed. He didn't move from her side, his golden eyes glued to her still face, watching every shallow breath.
Dr. Sharma began her assessment, her movements efficient and precise. "Vital signs are weak," she murmured, checking Ariana's pulse. "Extreme fatigue, possibly shock. Any known medical conditions, Alpha?"
Darius nodded, his jaw tight. "Her family... they provided records. Said she has a degenerative illness. Terminal. Six months. They gave me her medication." He gestured to a nurse, who handed Dr. Sharma a file and a small bag of pill bottles.
Dr. Sharma took the file, her brow furrowing as she scanned the pages. "Degenerative illness... and these prescriptions..." she murmured, pulling out the bottles.
Miss Eva, a nurse with an almost intuitive knack for sensing illness in pack members, came forward to assist. She glanced at the file and the medication bottles. "This diagnosis... and the drugs... they seem... unusual," she murmured softly, more a thought than a statement.
Darius's head snapped up, his sensitive hearing catching the quiet comment. "Unusual how, Miss Eva?" he demanded, his voice sharp, laced with sudden suspicion.
Miss Eva hesitated, glancing at Dr. Sharma. "Based on the symptoms listed in the file, Alpha... and what I'm seeing in Luna Ariana... these medications... they're very strong. Almost suppressive. And they don't seem like the typical course of treatment for a degenerative disease."
Dr. Sharma finished her initial examination and looked gravely at Darius. "Alpha, her vital signs are concerningly weak, consistent with severe stress and possible malnourishment, yes. But I see no immediate physical signs of a terminal illness itself. Her system seems... inhibited. Suppressed." She held up the medication bottles. "We need to know exactly what these are. And what's in her system. Something isn't adding up here."
Blood samples were taken. The medication bottles were sent off to the lab with urgent instructions. The wait in the small, sterile room was agonizing. Darius paced back and forth, the restless energy of his wolf making the silence unbearable. He stopped by Ariana's side, looking down at her fragile form. The protective rage surged, hot and fierce, aimed squarely at Elena and the family who had brought Ariana to this state.
Finally, the door opened. Dr. Sharma returned, her face grim, accompanied by Miss Eva, who looked visibly troubled.
"The lab results are back, Alpha," Dr. Sharma said, her voice low, serious, leaving no room for doubt. "The blood work is conclusive."
Darius stopped pacing, his golden eyes fixed on her face. "And?" he prompted, his voice tight.
"Luna Ariana's blood shows trace elements of specific compounds," Dr. Sharma stated. "Compounds designed to mimic the symptoms of severe fatigue, chronic weakness. They are also actively suppressing... her latent abilities. Her own natural resilience. Her very life force, in a way."
Darius's jaw clenched. Suppressing her... abilities?
"And the medications," Dr. Sharma continued, holding up the small vial containing a sample from the pills Ariana had been taking. "The labels claimed they were for a specific condition. The lab analysis proves otherwise. This vial contains substances designed to actively degrade her health, keep her weak, inhibit her healing. They were designed to keep her sick."
The room fell silent, the sterile air suddenly thick with the weight of a monstrous truth. It wasn't a misdiagnosis. It wasn't a natural illness.
"Her medications were switched, Alpha," Miss Eva whispered, her eyes wide with disbelief and horror. "Deliberately. Someone has been poisoning her."
Darius stood frozen, his golden eyes wide with a terrifying, cold understanding. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, the force of it making his knuckles pop. Poisoned. The woman he had been forced to marry, the one he had seen as a fragile burden even as a hidden affection for her grew, had been a victim all along. Deliberately targeted. By her own blood. By the woman who had just stood in his foyer, claiming to be his rightful mate.
"Poisoned," Darius finally said, the word a low, dangerous growl that vibrated with suppressed fury. "They lied to her.,Her family... the people she trusted... they have been poisoning her, secretly, for what?" His gaze shifted, hardening with a terrifying, absolute resolve. "How could humans be this heartless to even their own child, their own daughter?" Elena. Her parents. The doctor who signed that report. They would all pay. His mate. His wife. Attacked in the most insidious way. And now... he knew the truth.