"Daniel." Beth stared back at him, gazes locked. "Don't overthink it. It doesn't matter what his intentions are when mine are what's important, right? Daniel?"She pressed her hands to either side of his jaw and ran her thumbs over the slight stubble that had formed, relishing the feel of him against her fingertips as much as she sought to comfort him back. He was tired, just like she was. They were both Alphas with Alpha constitutions, but he must have fought so much more fiercely in his determination to cut through the entirety of the rogue forces to get to her. And his mind, too, had taken a beating. Matt had always gotten under his skin even when the man didn't try."Daniel, answer me," she insisted. "Are you really worried I'm looking at anyone but you?""I know you're not. But I don't want him looking at you.""What'll that do? He'll never have what we have." She rubbed her thumbs over his cheeks again with a smile. "But if it's any consolation, I don't think he came for me bec
Daniel was waking up again. It had certainly taken him long enough, Beth thought with tears in her eyes, and she wiped at the cold sweat that had gathered above his brow."... Beth?""I'm here. You idiot, you scared me! I thought..." Impulsively, she slipped between the covers and curled into his side, shaking more than he was. If anything, he was fine again, and she was the one exhibiting strange symptoms, but the doctor had warned her about that before he left. The symptoms would come on and off, sometimes making him seem fine and then abruptly attacking him out of nowhere. "You've been poisoned," she said, words muffled against his shoulder. "The rogues must have had someone sneak up on you and try some last-ditch way to get rid of you.""Poison?""The doctor thinks it's some chemical plant toxins with silver. Potent. Really potent. To the point where he doubts the one who poisoned you is healthy, either."He must have heard all she didn't say. "I wonder what the other guy looks l
"You should be glad I waited for you," Beth quipped as they settled in a cave to dodge the heavy snowfall that had dumped upon them with the unpredictable weather. "I was going to leave you here by yourself, in case you forgot.""I would have chased you down until I caught you.""I'm no rabbit, Daniel. I would have outpaced you so fast I'd be back before you managed to wander in a circle fifty times looking for me.""I've caught you now." He wrapped his hand around her bare elbow before she could slip her thick tunic on. "You're not getting away from me again.""Don't even think about it," she warned. "You know what the doctor said. Any unnecessary exertion will worsen your condition and make the toxin spread faster. When you're in your wolf form, at least it's manageable enough that you can run and not worsen it, but this is not going to happen." She peeled his fingers off of her arm, holding the stare steady. "If you need that simplified, we are not having sex until we get you the
"There isn't much hope," said the doctor. "I did give Elizabeth Rokley a possible solution, but the chances are little to none. I shouldn't have led her astray with such expectations but I was swept along by her desperation, I think."Daniel bowed his head, understanding. Beth could do that. "So what's my actual prognosis?""I have no idea how long it will take, since if you were anyone else, I would have thought you'd be dead within five days, and half-dead in two. But you're barely showing any symptoms other than the surface evidence of purified silver poisoning, and it's already been a day and a half.""Your best guess.""A week and a half, maybe two. You're quite strong."Of course he was. "The solution you told Beth about?""Well... the outlands are dangerous enough I'd expect her to choose to turn back, except that the intense snowstorms in the winter ironically make it safer to travel through those parts than any other time of the year. This is the best possible chance to cross
They spent more time gawking at the passersby and the unbelievable architecture than they did actually investigating for the whereabouts of the cure, but in all fairness, they had to start somewhere, and keeping a close eye on their surroundings was the best lead they could exercise until they stumbled upon something more substantial than that. So until they overheard anyone talking about an antidote, their best bet was to peek around corners, searching for knowledgeable if shady types who looked receptive to questions. And in the meantime, if they could sightsee and absorb all of the outrageous things here, then what was the harm?It was midnight again by the time they gave up, according to the grand clock that rose up from one of the great stone towers with decorative embellishments constructed all around it. By then, Beth and Daniel were both exhausted and had made no headway at all except to deduce that the tenth of the city they had scoured was devoid of the information they nee
"I can explain," said the stranger. "I'm a Bronze Nation emigrant, now an outlander technically by your terms. I recognized you from afar when I saw you questioning the locals, but I didn't know if you were friend or foe. There's been no word yet about the situation on the border so I was being cautious."A Bronze Nation emigrant? That was usually the polite designation for a spy, especially since Bronze Nation's Catii pack exercised their power through business and intel, but this could be a trap, too. Beth never lowered her guard as she glared at the man, waiting for him to continue speaking.He took her silence as a signal to continue. "I was sent here with my family almost fifteen years ago when I was just a boy. The Catii pack installed us in these parts to keep a steady flow of information coming from past this point, since this is a hub of information across a lot of the other nations. And I know the Heether pack has been collaborating with the Catii pack for weeks now, we got
"It's as bad as I thought!" the man exclaimed. "Maybe worse. We have to take him now! Please, hurry and get his other side, I don't know if he'll even make it far enough to my residence."Beth had already caught Daniel before he could slide down the wall, one arm supporting him around the waist and the other pulling on his wrist to secure it around her neck. There was no longer any time to doubt. His skin was cold and clammy though it had lost so little color -- no wonder he hadn't walked close enough for her to feel his skin, and he hadn't tried even once to hold her hand in the last couple of hours they had spent traveling the breadth of the city.The cold weather wasn't doing this to him, making him icy-cold to the touch. Daniel had always produced so much more body heat than others, and even back then when she had rescued him from Andrew Troy's grasp and taken him back home, he had been warmer than this, even sick. Her heart plummeted when he groaned softly, the signs of his stru
The first night would be the hardest, Beth told herself. It could only get better from here. So as she settled into the chair by Daniel's bed for the night and felt his hand, heart twisting at the coolness of it, she reminded herself again and again that this was only temporary. Twelve hours from now, twenty four hours, he would be well on his way back to his normal self. One night and a day and he would be stronger, livelier. She had nothing to fear.Marten had assured her that even if he looked to be in pain now, it was manageable with the herbs and medicines he had access to in Pandemonium. In the werewolf nations, not much emphasis existed on medicines and pain killing methods since werewolves were by nature resilient. Even Gold Nation with its plethora of half-shifters mixed in with its bursting population didn't invest into these things, not comparably anyway.But here in the outlands, it was far more vital since there were shifters and other peoples who didn't possess werewolf