Chapter 322
[ 1,003 words ]
~Samantha~
I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder.
“Luna. Luna, you need to come now.” A healer. Young. Panicked. “It’s the Alpha.”
I was on my feet before fully processing. “What happened?”
“The shadow poison. It’s not responding to treatment. He’s getting worse.”
I ran. Down the hallway. Down the stairs. Into the medical wing. Burst through the door to Dominic’s room.
He was seizing. Body arching off the bed. Black veins spreading across his skin like ink in water.
“What’s happening?!” I grabbed the nearest healer. “You said he was stable!”
“He was! But the poison is spreading faster than we anticipated!” The healer was trying to hold Dominic down. “We’ve tried every antidote. Nothing works!”
“There has to be something!” I moved to the bed. Took Dominic’s hand. It was ice cold. “Dominic, can you hear me?”
His eyes opened. Pupils blown wide. Unfocused. “Sam?”
“I’m here. I’m right here.”
“It hurts so badly. I can see death smiling at me.” His voice slipped out weak.
“You’re going to live. I just need you to be strong.”
“Can’t. Too much. The poison…” He seized again. Worse this time.
The head healer pulled me aside. “Luna, we need to discuss options.”
“What options?”
“The shadow poison is unlike anything we’ve treated before. It’s attached to his life force. Draining him. We can’t extract it without killing him.”
“Then what do we do?!”
“There’s one possibility. Pure Silver Claw relics. The kind blessed by their clan leaders.” The healer glanced at where Dominic was thrashing. “They’re designed to purify shadow corruption. But we don’t have any. They were all destroyed in the massacre.”
“Lila has one. The pendant Black Moon took..” I stopped. “But he has that now. It’s gone.”
“Then I’m sorry. There’s nothing more we can do.” The healer’s face was grim. “You should say goodbye. He has maybe an hour.”
“No.” I moved back to Dominic’s bed. “We’re not giving up. There has to be another way.”
But watching him seize. Watching the black veins spread. Watching him die slowly.
Maybe there wasn’t.
A knock on the door made me turn. Killian stood there. He looked terrible. Barely standing. But conscious.
“I heard.” He moved inside. Sat in the chair beside Dominic’s bed. “How bad?”
“Shadow poison. Spreading. The healers say only a Silver Claw relic can cure it.” My voice cracked. “We don’t have one.”
“Actually.” Another voice from the doorway. Lila. She looked even worse than Killian. Eyes red. Face hollow. “We might.”
“What?” I stood up. “Black Moon has your pendant.”
“He has my father’s pendant. But Silver Claw families each had their own relics. Passed down through generations.” She pulled something from her pocket. “My mother’s bracelet. She gave it to me before the massacre. Told me to keep it safe. Use it only in emergencies.”
She held out a silver bracelet. Simple design. Engraved with symbols I didn’t recognize.
“That will work?” I asked.
“If the healers are right about what he needs, yes. It’s been blessed by three Silver Claw leaders. It has strong purification magic.” Lila placed it in my hand. “Use it. Save him.”
“Why?” The question came out before I could stop it. “After everything. Why help us?”
“Because he was trying to save her. Because he got hurt protecting your children. Because despite everything, he’s a good Alpha.” Lila’s voice held sincerity. “And because you trusted me when no one else did. Let me repay that.”
I looked at the bracelet. At Dominic seizing on the bed. At the healers waiting.
“How do I use it?”
“Place it on his wrist. Channel your royal blood through it. The combination should purify the poison.” Lila moved closer. “But Luna, it’s going to hurt. The purification process burns out corruption. It’s not gentle.”
“I don’t care as long as it saves him.”
I moved to Dominic’s side. Took his left wrist. Fastened the bracelet around it.
The reaction was immediate. The bracelet started glowing. Soft silver light that pulsed in time with Dominic’s heartbeat.
“Now your blood.” Lila instructed. “Channel it through physical contact.”
I placed both hands on Dominic’s chest. Let royal blood flow from my palms into him.
The light shone, nearly blinding everyone in the room. I closed my eyes but didn’t stop.
Dominic screamed. His back arched. Muscles locked.
“Don’t stop!” Lila called out. “It’s working! The poison is burning out!”
My arms started shaking. My vision blurred. Using this much blood this fast was draining me.
“Sam.” Killian’s hand on my shoulder. “You’re going to pass out. You need to stop.”
“Not until he’s healed.”
“You’re killing yourself!”
“I don’t care!”
“He would care!” Killian grabbed my wrist. “Sam, look at me. Look at me!”
I opened my eyes. The room was spinning. When had it started spinning?
“You’re at your limit. If you push further, you’ll damage yourself permanently.” Killian’s face seemed too concerned. “Let me help. Let me channel with you.”
“You’re cursed. The shadow corruption will make things worse.”
“No, it will be purified by the relic too. Two birds, one stone.” He placed his hands over mine. “On three. One. Two. Three.”
His power joined mine. The silver light doubled. Tripled. Filled the entire room.
Dominic’s screaming stopped. His body relaxed. The black veins started receding.
“It’s working!” One of the healers moved closer. “The poison is disappearing!”
Minutes passed. Felt like hours. My entire body was shaking now. Killian was barely holding himself upright.
But the black veins were almost gone. Just a few traces left. Almost there.
“Now!” Lila shouted. “One more push! Everything you have left!”
We did it once last time before I hit the floor hard. Couldn’t get up. Just lay there breathing. Staring at the ceiling.
“Is he okay?” I managed to ask. “Did it work?”
Footsteps. A healer appeared in my field of vision. “The poison is gone. The Alpha is stable. You did it.”
Thank goddess.
“Help me up.” I reached out a hand.
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