"I put it on the chair," Fin said, without looking up.
Hale crossed the room and inspected it, lifting the fabric, smelling it. His expression hardened. He glanced at Elara.
"I pulled it from Dex's quarters," Elara explained. "He and Agnes were in the bathing chamber together."
Fin's expression did not change. But the words slid under his ribs and burned.
Anger, precise and unwelcome, coiled tight in his chest.
Xeon: She broke the matebond this morning, remember? I'm sure she walked in on something.
Hale's voice cut through the thought before Fin could follow it further.
"Poison," Hale announced. "Alaric says to rinse her immediately."
That was all it took.
Fin already had her in his arms by the time Hale finished the sentence, moving with sharp efficiency toward the bathing chamber.
A large tub dominated the space, a standing shower set into the stone wall beside it.
Fin did not slow. He cranked the faucet, not caring that his own clothes were getting soaked in the process.
Elara was in there a second later.
Without a word, she helped him hose Serena down.
She hesitated, mindlinking Hale. But Fin was already there, thinking the same thing. He wasn't going to leave any chance of poison remaining on her.
He ripped her sports bra off, tearing it in half, and ripped her thong off. No time for modesty.
Fin's breath hitched. He forced himself not to stare. But gods…was it possible she was more beautiful than the Moon Goddess herself?
Xeon: You're staring.
Fin: I'm not.
Xeon: You absolutely are.
Fin: Shut up.
The question came to his mind again. What was she? Part wolf, but what is the other part?
"If she asks, this never happened," Elara muttered, continuing to hose her off.
"I want to get her hair and face. Will you—"
Before Fin finished his question, Elara grabbed a towel. He wrapped it around Serena's body. Then they worked together on her hair, face, and neck.
They were thorough and no words were needed.
Elara was there with a bathrobe a second later.
Fin carried her out of the bathing chamber. He was soaking wet, but had no intention of putting her down. "There's poison residue on that bed."
"On it," Elara answered, already reading him. "Let's move to the room next door."
"Alaric said to give her the tonic—"
Elara already had it in hand.
Fin stopped mid-sentence, the corner of his mouth tightening in approval, and carried Serena into the adjacent room. He set her down carefully on the clean bed, adjusting her with deliberate gentleness.
"Garrett once said your father was the best beta in the Crythian Expanse," Fin remarked. "I can already tell you were born for it."
"You… you knew Garrett?"
"Yes. Darkhowler's declared heir. He is taking the throne," Fin said. "He saved my life five years ago. We take turns now." He grinned, rare and genuine. "Darkhowler could not have made a better choice."
Elara's mouth fell open. "He is alive? That is not possible. We saw him die."
"I thought you knew." Fin looked up and caught the shine in her eyes. The last thing he wanted was to tip her into something heavier.
Elara recovered quickly and gave a warm smile.
"That is incredible news. Serena always blamed herself for—"
She cut herself off.
Fin didn't press her. But he absolutely would be asking Garrett what the hell she meant by that. The idea of Serena blaming herself for something like that sat heavy in his chest.
His wolf said 'mate' the moment she entered the tent at the High Council meeting. He'd caught a scent in the breeze earlier, but couldn't identify it. It put him and his wolf on edge.
When she entered the tent, that scent slammed into him like a battering ram. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. His wolf didn't need to tell him who she was. He already knew.
He felt her emotions when she saw Garrett. He knew she must've been one of the two people who escaped with him.
When Garrett confirmed later who she was, Fin incorrectly assumed she found her way to safety through her parents' connections. But, at this point, he'd pieced together that was the opposite of what happened.
He had assumed she felt the matebond and was ignoring it for diplomacy. That she had better self-restraint than he did, because it had hit him like a lightning bolt and he couldn't think about anything else.
Again, he was wrong.
He had assumed she was a pawn in a political war, forced to stand in for Drakenfell. A chess piece, unaware and not fully understanding. It wasn't any offense to her. It was a continental war summit after all.
He was wrong.
And she didn't need to say anything for him to figure that out. He felt her emotions clear as day, like they were his own. Underneath her composure and quiet, he felt her. She knew more than what was being said.
She didn't want to draw attention to herself. And she was clearly three steps ahead of everyone else in the room. No one would ever know. But he did.
He'd learned more about Serena in the past few hours than anyone in this pack knew about her, clearly.
If she was Hyran's protege, that meant she was intelligent, which he already knew. That also meant she possessed magical abilities, even though she had a wolf. Highly rare.
They had alluded to that during their alliance meeting, but no one said it outright.
Her composure was another thing today that he was taken aback by. She held it and didn't flinch through Viremont's antics. She held it during their alliance meeting, when she was feeling ill. Fin almost said something then but he didn't want to give away they were fated if that compromised her in any way. So he remained quiet.
He should have known it was silver.
Then there was the blood oath. He felt it activate in her when Aeron tried touching her arm. He knew the sensation. Clearly everyone with that mark had it.
There was the fact she hadn't shifted, and no one noticed or questioned it. She held that secret.
Then there was the fact she broke a matebond with a prince. Not caring she was just crowned. That meant it was never about the crown for her.
Something Fin had been wary of since his fated mate passed away in his arms. Everyone was after power and a crown. But not her. He felt her, and she was pure.
Elara's voice broke him out of his train of thought.
"I just got a mindlink," she said. "Serena is going to hate this."
Fin pulled Serena into his arms, holding her, already seeing where this was headed.
Elara grabbed the tonic.
"I'll do it. Maybe not the best foot to start on after marking her," Elara offered.
Fin froze. That wasn't a bad point. Hell, he didn't want to wake her at all. He'd rather have taken her back to his tent and let her sleep.
"Maybe wait in the hall? I'll help her get changed. She won't know," Elara added.
She must be joking. No.
Fin shook his head. "I'll step out once she's awake if she wants privacy."
His wolf scoffed in his mind.
Xeon: Ridiculous. She's mate. And you've seen her naked.
Fin's lips twitched despite himself.
Elara was watching him. "What?"
Fin let out a dark, uncharacteristic laugh. "She's going to wake up and feel a matebond with me. I am halfway curious to see how long she pretends she doesn't feel it."
Elara burst out laughing. "Gods… if I start laughing out of the blue, it's your fault."
Fin held Serena tightly in his arms across his lap. Elara, not gently, tilted her head back.
They both gagged at the smell as soon as the cork was pulled off the tonic.
"What the hell is in this?" Fin choked out.
"What happens when you let a sadist make medicine," Elara muttered.