Violet

This man...

"The water," I said. "The lakes in those specific unclaimed lands are toxic to wolves."

"And how would you even know that?" another Supreme Alpha asked.

"My companion’s—Bei’s hand had been burned by contact with it. I—"

"Hold on." Calder turned to Kael, glaring. "You say you played no part in aiding the Lycan. You coming to my nation, and I am sure others for discussions regarding the matter. Your wolf was with her!"

"Nothing I said was a lie. Just as a lot of you all did, I sent my wolves after her. Bei was an inexplicable navigator and one of my best, it is not strange that she would find her."

Calder fumed.

"So you dragged her into the water? In your weakened state?" He turned to me.

"Yes."

If anything, I could have easily just use the toxin excuse to say I didn’t even have the strength to have killed her.

"And then you tore her apart."

"No." I frowned. "She was still fighting. Even in the water, which was harming her. She was still ripping and tearing at me. She wouldn’t stop."

I held Calder’s gaze. I was already getting angry.

What was this round about? They could clearly see the scars on my body!

"I was poisoned, half-blind, barely able to think, and drowning. I had nothing else but my hands, so I used them. I used them just as she was using her teeth, claws, and abilities. I was also drowning. And the toxin left me in a disoriented state. I did not stop until I was certain she was dead, because every wound I inflicted before that point had failed to stop her."

The hall was deathly quiet.

The other Supreme Alphas were frowning.

"If you find my words hard to believe, you can go through the evidence," I added.

Calder turned to Voya.

"The toxin she references. Has it truly been examined like it noted in the reports?"

"It has," Voya said. "My healers spent weeks extracting it from her system. A tiny sample has even been preserved at my instruction."

Everyone looked uncomfortable. Including me. Why would she keep it?

Voya stared at Calder. "What is the issue exactly? With how you seem so suspicious of me, it makes me glad I kept it ahead of time."

Calder’s frown deepened and he lowered his head to clench his jaw before raising it. "Have it brought forward. Along with the head healer who oversaw the extraction."

Voya beckoned and the doors opened to reveal the old healer that had tended to me. She carried a small sealed container wrapped in cloth. She stood at Voya’s side of the table and the others looked on high alert as she unwrapped and opened the glass container.

That smell hit me before I could prepare for it.

It was rancid. A thick, rotting sweetness that coated the inside of my throat and made my stomach lurch violently. My hand flew to my mouth and I turned away, my body convulsing with the urge to vomit.

That disgusting smell.

How had I not sensed it before? Or maybe it had been because my senses had dulled so much? No wonder the healers always had their mouths and noses covered at the time.

Several of the Supreme Alphas recoiled. One pressed a cloth to her face. A few pushed back from the tables, their noses wrinkling.

Rowan’s eyes widened as he stared at the container. Anger flashed through his eyes.

"Seal it," Calder ordered, his own composure cracking for the first time. His nostrils flared and his jaw was clenched tight.

The healer quickly resealed the container. The smell lingered.

"What is that filth?!" His voice was rough as he snapped.

The healer placed the container on the table, her expression grim. "We... do not understand the compounds, but we noticed it targets the nervous system and energy pathways simultaneously. In a normal wolf, it would cause complete systemic shutdown within seconds. Death would follow almost immediately."

"Seconds," Calder repeated.

"Yes. We tested a diluted sample on tissue. The cellular destruction was near-instantaneous." She paused. "The fact that Violet survived is attributable entirely to her Lycan constitution. Even so, she has been recovering from this for weeks. Full extraction required multiple sessions over the course of her recovery here in Frostheim. Whatever that poison was, it was designed to kill quickly and completely."

Calder stared at the sealed container for a long moment.

"This was in her system," he said slowly. "During the fight."

"Yes."

"And she still managed to kill Palisa."

"Yes, my Lord."

I stared at them, somewhat confused. He seemed somewhat impressed.

Another Supreme Alpha spoke up, "If this toxin kills wolves in seconds, how did Palisa come to even possess it? Where would she even acquire—"

"You seem to be forgetting this comes from her body," another cut in.

The healer shook her head. "I cannot answer that. Its composition doesn’t match any known poison. Some of the compounds appear organic, so it is right that Violet mentioned this came from Supreme Alpha Palisa’s bites."

The implication settled over the room like a chill.

Calder dismissed the healer with a nod, then turned to Voya.

"That thing," he hissed. "Don’t get rid of it yet. We must all be there to see you do it."

Voya rolled her eyes. "That is fine by me."

His expression shifted as he returned to me. The aggressive scepticism was still there, but beneath it I could see the first cracks of genuine unease.

"The toxin corroborates your claim that your abilities were suppressed during the fight," he said carefully. "And the healer’s testimony supports the severity of your condition. But I still require an account of the broader confrontation. You did not fight Palisa alone. There were roughly over thirty wolves."

"Yes."

"Bring forward the witnesses," Calder ordered.

The door opened again. Three wolves were escorted in by guards. Iron bands etched in silver symbols circled their wrists, suppressing their ability to shift.

They were thin, haggard, and their eyes darted across the hall with the desperate alertness of wolves who understood exactly how dangerous their situation was.

They were guided near the Supreme Alphas table.

Just how broken, and eager they looked at the same time sent an uneasy feely creeping up my stomach.

They looked like they had been through a lot.

"You served under Supreme Alpha Palisa of Nal?"

All three nodded. The youngest, a hollow-cheeked male barely older than me, spoke first. "Yes, my Lord."

"You are under oath. Falsehood carries the penalty of death. Tell this council how you came to be in the unclaimed lands."