CLAIMED - Fated to Two-Chapter 39: One Evil Down

I stir awake, my body slumped at the foot of the bed.

Then,...

Panic crawls through me when I realize Damian isn’t on the bed. I’m sure I left him there last night. He should’ve been dead by now. How could he still move?

I frantically search for him throughout the yacht, but he’s nowhere.

Until,...

One of the staff appears and ascends on the yacht, her face apologetic. "Alpha Damian was limping toward the deck when we saw him early this morning. He could barely breathe. He’s begging for our help, so we rushed him to the nearest clinic. I’m sorry we didn’t wake you immediately. We were all panicking."

"How’s he?" I ask, trying to sound genuinely concerned while praying for a favorable answer.

"His vital signs are stable now. The doctor said there’s too much alcohol in his system, and a couple of our packmates mentioned they saw him drinking a lot since the day before yesterday."

My heart sinks. Is the Moon Goddess protecting him from death? But what worries me more is that it’s only a matter of time before the doctor discovers he was poisoned, and I’ll surely become the prime suspect.

To avoid suspicion, I force myself to appear worried and innocent when I rush into the clinic. I care for him, feed him each meal time, and even assist him whenever he needs the restroom.

"Don’t drink too much from now on," I bluff.

"Yeah... that’s a lesson learned," he replies weakly.

When the news reaches Atticus, he briefly visits Damian. When he confirms he’s okay, he leaves, reasoning, "I have very urgent and important matters to attend to."

Luckily, he doesn’t suspect me... yet. He seems too preoccupied and anxious about something to focus on what really happened to Damian.

By noon, breaking news spread fast through newspapers and TV stations: mistletoes and winter aconites were found in the Dunebourne first family - Alpha Philip, Luna Lavinia, and Alpha Lance Grant’s cars, luggage, and hotel rooms. The same ingredients used to contaminate the Frostveil Pack’s wines.

Damian insists on leaving the clinic to see Atticus, since Atticus isn’t answering his calls. But the doctor refuses to discharge him.

"Do you want me to go back to the capital and report everything that’s happening to you?" I ask.

Damian hesitates.

So I add, "If you want, you can call the Gammas to escort me there. That way, you won’t have to worry about me escaping."

Though still distrustful, he wants to prove he’s trying to make things work between us, so he agrees.

When I arrive in the capital via a taxi, the different packs’ leaders and officials are gathered outside the Alpha mansion gates. Some appear doubtful, others furious. Meanwhile, Philip, Lavinia, and Lance are chained and forced to their knees. The rest of the Dunebourne werewolves, including Aiko, are surrounded by Frostveil Gammas and Betas who are triple their numbers. One daring move from them, they’ll all either die or be fatally injured.

"Don’t listen to Atticus! He set us up so he could pin everything on us, when it’s them who tried to kill us all!" Lance screams, saliva dripping from his mouth.

"Lie!" Atticus fires back. "It’s the other way around! They want my son’s and my downfall secured so they can take Harleigh Hale back for the same reason why they lied to us all about a decade ago. They’re the real culprits, as the evidence clearly proves!"

Tension spikes further as voices overlap, each pack leader desperate to be heard.

Until,....

Philip suddenly sniggers, drawing every eye to him.

"The real liar here is Atticus and his son," Philip says, his tone smug. "They’re planning something dangerous with Harleigh’s blood. I advise you all to go to their laboratory. You’ll find exactly what I’m talking about."

Atticus’ face drains of color as he stammers, "The only laboratories we have are for our students’ science classes across our territory."

But then,...

A Dunebourne Gamma quickly counters, "It’s in the underground, beneath their capital’s hospital. A scientist named Dr. Reyes is experimenting on Shadowfang blood, trying to duplicate it!"

The uproar explodes. Everyone demands to see the laboratory. No matter how hard Atticus tries to deny it or talk his way out, the other leaders and officials storm off, rushing to their cars and heading straight for the hospital.

"Stop them!" Atticus runs up to me, desperation twisting his face. "Use your ShadowBind!"

Hell no!

"I can’t. I haven’t perfected it," I say.

"That’s b.ullshit!" he spits.

When the crowd is gone, Atticus kicks Philip in the face, slamming him to the ground. "Send all the Dunebourne wolves to jail. Now!"

Though outnumbered, the Dunebourne wolf out so they can fight back, provoking the Frostveil to also do the same.

A vicious brawl erupts while Atticus jumps into his car, three convoy vehicles trailing behind him.

A delighted smirk crosses my face. I didn’t expect for this to unfold this fast. But I’m all for it!

I flee as well. When I reach the hospital, the packs’ leaders and officials crowd the elevator that leads underground. Meanwhile, Dr. Reyes rushes fearfully through the parking area to meet Atticus.

"Why did you open the door and let them in?! Idiot!" he snarls, striking her across the face so hard she hits the ground.

Her suitcase flies open, vials scattering.

"What are those?" Atticus demands.

"This is the experiment’s progress. And it’s near completion," Dr. Reyes says shakily as she crawls to collect them.

"I want to see how far you’ve come. Inject one of those vials into him," Atticus demands, pointing at one of the Gammas.

"But it’s not finished yet," Dr. Reyes says.

"I don’t care! We don’t have much time left!" Atticus snaps. "Those packs ramming our laboratory must learn to fear us before they turn against us!"

Despite clearly being terrified of becoming the experiment’s first guinea pig, the Gamma obeys. Dr. Reyes injects the vial into his veins. Moments later, he hisses in pain, then relaxes.

"Command any one of us," Atticus urges, excitement widening his eyes. "But don’t you dare wish us dead."

The Gamma turns to his fellow Gammas and orders, "Fart."

They do, before bursting into laughter.

"Stop laughing... and cry instead," the Gamma commands next.

Again, the Gammas obey, switching from laughter to tears.

Atticus and Dr. Reyes beam with greed and pride.

My knees weaken as fear erupts inside me. How can a single vial activate the ShadowBind so easily, when I, who naturally has it, struggle to stay consistent? I was never worried about this experiment, assuming it would never work. But it does. And now Atticus will be even more powerful and more evil.

Atticus eagerly signals for Dr. Reyes to inject him next. He recoils from the brief discomfort, but as he straightens, the werewolves from other packs pour out of the laboratory in groups.

One of them steps forward, waving papers. "We printed all the evidence against you. You’re going to pay for..."

"Choke yourself until you die," Atticus commands.

The papers scatter as the man instantly obeys, clutching at his throat. Until, he collapses and dies gasping.

Terror floods the air. The remaining werewolves step back as Atticus advances.

"See? I now have the ShadowBind curse. Anger me, and you’ll regret it," he warns.

But,...

As soon as one wolfs out, the rest follow, surrounding him with snarls.

"If you think you can handle all of us at once, you’re wrong!" one Alpha growls.

As they lunge, Atticus panics and commands, "Fight each other! Don’t stop until all of you are dead!"

They obey against their will, tearing into one another.

Atticus sniggers, drunk with power.

Until,...

His expression contorts. He gasps, clutching his chest as sweat beads across his face. The moment he collapses to the ground, the wolves stop fighting, as if freed from his control.

Then,...

The injected Gamma collapses too, groaning in pain. Both his and Atticus’ well-built physiques thin rapidly, as if melting.

"What’s happening to me?" Atticus wheezes.

"Maybe the experiment failed... and this is the effect," one Gamma says shakily.

Dr. Reyes fearfully and desperately tries to escape, but the Gammas chase her down.

With tears of joy filling my eyes, I stare at Atticus until he takes his final breath. My wolf also howls in joy inside me.

Thank you for making everything easier. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to send Damian to hell soon, so you two can reunite. Then, I’ll take back what belongs to my child... Torrin’s Alpha title.

I destroy the remaining vials by stomping on them, then turn to the other packs officials. "Use the evidence that you gathered against Damian. He too is guilty for all of this, and so are the council members of the Dunebourne Pack."

"From now on, I’ll lead this pack until my child, Torrin’s child, is at the right age," I add.

They gasp in disbelief since they thought that my child is Damian’s as he declared. But none questions my claim, nor disagree with what I said.