Fated To Not Just One, But Three-Chapter 703: Poisoned
Olivia opened the door and followed the maid down the hallway. But the moment she looked ahead, her heart sank at the terrible sight before her.
Dozens of warriors were leaning against the walls, groaning in pain. Their skin had turned grey, and their bodies trembled violently.
Lennox, Levi, and Louis followed her, their faces filled with worry. "What is going on?" Lennox asked, his voice booming through the hall.
Just then, Zane came running toward them. He looked tired and dirty. "It’s the water," Zane said quickly. "The main well at the combat ground has been poisoned. Anyone who drank from it in the last hour has fallen sick. It’s not a normal sickness, Alphas. It feels like magic."
Olivia knelt beside a fallen warrior. She placed her hand on his forehead and felt that same oily, dark heat she had felt on Scarlett. "It’s the same toxin Neon used before," she whispered. "But how was he able to poison the well... and who inside the pack is working for him?"
Slowly, all eyes turned toward Zane... and he knew instantly that he was the first suspect. "It is not me... believe me..." he said, trying to defend himself.
Olivia didn’t say a word; rather, she looked down the long corridor and saw nearly a hundred warriors on the floor. Without their warriors standing guard, the mansion was completely exposed to an attack. Neon had planned this perfectly. He had weakened the army before even showing his face.
Lennox growled, feeling helpless.
"We need to flush the wells," Louis said, looking at Zane. "And we need to get the healers to move the sick to the basement where they can be protected."
Olivia stood up, her face pale and full of worry. "The healers won’t be enough. This poison is designed to drain a wolf’s spirit. We have to find the source of the magic and break it, or they won’t survive the night."
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through the Alphas’ minds. It was Golden, using the mind link. "Alphas! Vampires! There are vampires attacking the border!" Golden shouted.
The brothers looked at each other in shock. Vampires rarely crossed into werewolf land unless they were hired as mercenaries. They knew immediately that Neon had used his stolen wealth to hire the most dangerous killers in the Outlands.
"We have to go," Olivia said, her voice shaking but firm. "If the vampires break through the border, then our people won’t be safe."
Lennox looked at her with worry. "You’ve already used so much magic today, Olivia."
"I have enough for one more jump," she promised. She reached out, and the three brothers grabbed her hands.
With a final, desperate surge of white light, the hallway vanished. They arrived at the pack’s north border. The air was cold and smelled like old blood. They saw Neon standing at the front of a massive army. Behind him were more than a hundred vampires, their eyes glowing red. They moved with terrifying speed, clashing violently with the border guards.
When Neon noticed the Alphas and Olivia had arrived, he raised his hand. The fighting stopped instantly. The vampires pulled back, hissing and baring their fangs.
Neon looked at Olivia and laughed. It was a cold, cruel sound. He held up a black stone that was pulsing with a dark, purple light.
"You look tired, Olivia," Neon said with a smirk. "Did you think I wouldn’t prepare for your little tricks? This stone is a Soul-Blocker. Your light cannot touch it, and your teleportation won’t work within miles of it. Your magic won’t work this time. Give up."
"Over my dead body will that happen!" Lennox roared.
The battlefield exploded into chaos. Lennox, Levi, and Louis shifted in a blur of fur and muscle, their massive paws hitting the ground with a thud that shook the earth. They charged into the sea of red-eyed vampires. Olivia tried to raise her hands, her fingers sparking with white light, but the light kept flickering and dying before it could fully form. The black Soul-Blocker stone in Neon’s hand was working, eating her magic before it could form.
Louis stayed close to her side, his claws slashing through any vampire that got too close. His job was to be her shield while she was vulnerable. The fight was bloody, but it didn’t even last a minute before a booming voice stopped everyone in their tracks.
"ENOUGH!"
The word hit the battlefield like a physical blow. Everyone on the battlefield—wolves and vampires alike—froze instantly.
Standing at the edge of the clearing was Lord Frederick. He walked forward slowly, his face etched with a deep frown. His presence was so cold and ancient that the air seemed to turn to ice.
Olivia’s eyes widened. She had never expected to see him here, especially not in the middle of a war zone.
The vampires recognized him instantly. Their hissing stopped. Their glowing red eyes widened with pure terror. One by one, the hundred vampires dropped to their knees, bowing their heads so low they touched the dirt.
Lord Frederick glared at them, his voice filled with a deadly rage. "You have the guts to attack the Full Moon Pack? Do you not know that these people are like family to me?"
The vampires trembled. Neon stood frozen, his face turning a sickly white. He knew exactly who Frederick was; he was the King of the Vampires.
"Lord Frederick..." Neon stammered, his grip tightening on the pulsing black stone. "I... I paid them. We have a contract!"
Frederick didn’t even look at him. He simply raised a hand and gave a cold command. "Arrest him."
In a flash of movement too fast for the human eye to see, the vampires obeyed. They turned on Neon like a pack of starving wolves. Four of them slammed Neon into the ground, pinning his arms behind his back and pressing his face into the mud.
The black Soul-Blocker stone flew from Neon’s hand and rolled across the grass, its purple light fading until it was nothing but a dull rock.
With the stone gone, Olivia felt her magic rush back into her body. She gasped, her skin glowing with a steady, warm light as she leaned against Louis.
Lennox stepped forward slowly, his eyes burning with rage as he looked down at the man who had worn his father’s face for years. "It’s over, Neon," Lennox growled.
