Page 42 of The Alpha's Shattered Bonds

Elder Carl spoke up, offering his support, “Good luck with your examination.” The elder’s kind eyes were solemn, and I knew his thoughts were likely centered on Linda and the supplies inthe infirmary. The urgency pounding through me to get to the bottom of this was mirrored by the elder I’d taken into my trust.

“We elders will stay convened in the council,” Elder Tom added, “Until you’ve sent word of how things are progressing.”

I nodded, pleased by how Elder Tom was clearly being proactive and shadowing Elder Darius with this new development of the illness resurging and our suspicions being centered on Healer Linda and, by extension, her father, Darius.

With Darius and Tom’s reluctant approval, Seraphina and I left the Council Chambers.

As Seraphina matched my quick strides across the snow-dusted path, the quiet was strained. We hadn’t been alone for days. She’d been making herself scarce, leaving with the dawn and returning late ever since the atrocious way I’d behaved on the night Linda had drugged me with that heat potion. That familiar shame knotted my stomach as I thought about how I’d behaved. The worry that she might never forgive me for forcing myself upon her was eating away at me.

With the pace I was setting toward the infirmary, I felt as if I were trying to outstrip such thoughts. I’d heard from Hudson that the first to suffer relapses had been those recently recovered: those who had taken the jedra potion that Seraphina had brewed. But there were others who hadn’t been ill who’d come down with the illness. My chest tightened: Logan was among them.

My gaze skirted over Seraphina’s profile as I worried how she was holding up. Her fair skin was luminous in the falling dusk. Her eyes were bright, and her jaw was set with determination.My chest squeezed. She must be worried about her fated mate and eager to find a cure.

“I’ve examined all the herbs in the supply closet,” I informed her. “But I haven’t been able to sense the dark magic in any of them.”

For a moment, she frowned, then said, “Perhaps whoever’s corrupted the stock has used magic to conceal it.” A smile edged her lips. “Good thing my magic’s back to full capacity.”

My heart hammered in my chest, that easy smile gracing her lips, even amidst these dark times, seeming as wonderful as the well of magic she possessed. Despite the resurgence of the illness, a thrill shot through me as I enjoyed Seraphina’s closeness and the way I felt connected to her all of a sudden. The purpose of the investigation brought us together in a way I’d missed with all my heart.

As we entered the infirmary, I immediately ordered, “There’s to be no more administration of the jedra tonics—not until Seraphina and I have conducted an investigation of the stock here. We are not to be disturbed.”

My sharp instruction had Healer Linda paling, but she nodded brusquely, intimidated just like her father had been. My stare brushed over her. Was this reaction a show of guilt, I wondered.

“Collect the jedra potions, Tyler,” Seraphina instructed me, her tone decisive. I tried to ignore the flush of happiness I felt again at hearing the ease with which my name rolled off her tongue. With anyone else, I’d have minded the lack of respect toward me as alpha, but with Seraphina, it didn’t bother me. In fact, I felt relieved that she was comfortable enough to be so familiar. It signaled a return to the easy way of being with each other that Icherished. How I’d missed that this last week, being deprived of her yet again. I quickly gathered the tonics from Linda and Kelly.

In a moment, Seraphina had collected her bag from Logan’s bedside. My chest clenched as I watched her press the back of her hand to his brow, concern etched across her face. The sight twisted my stomach into knots, a reminder of how close I was to losing her. I forced myself out to the supply closet.

As I stepped into the space, the familiar scents of spicy kulvitch and gentle palliks wrapped around me, instantly transporting me back to our last encounter here. The air had been thick with unspoken desires, a tension that had drawn us so close I could still feel the ghost of her warmth against me. That bittersweet memory lingered like an ache in my chest, a reminder of what I longed for but couldn’t possess.

I struggled to keep my emotions in check as Seraphina joined me. The vast metal shelves lined the stone walls. She began clearing one of the shelves, creating a workspace, while I gathered the pouches of jedra—the harvest of the infirmary aides and Silver Moon warriors. All of which, as I’d told Seraphina, I’d searched for any signs of dark magic.

But I hadn’t had this fierce and determined witch with me then. My gaze brushed over the angle of her cheeks and her green eyes, which, in the low light of the one bulb hanging in the center of the closet, looked darker, like moss in the forest, full of ancient secrets. She’d always been wise beyond her years.

Once again, despite the pressing safety of our pack, the perfume of Seraphina’s honeyed skin had me relishing the sense of closeness that I’d been lucky enough to be granted.

“I’m going to examine the potions for concealment charms, first,” she said, pulling me from my distracted thoughts as she poured a little liquid from each tonic into separate beakers.

“Iri punaruk,” she intoned, holding her hands over the first jar.

I held my breath, then inhaled sharply as the liquid began to separate. Like oil sitting on top of water, a residue congealed on the potion’s surface.

“Look,” she whispered. “Do you sense the dark magic now?”

The hairs on the back of my arms stood on end as the slick feeling of dark magic prickled over me. “I do.” Something spicy scented the air, too. “What’s that spiciness?” I asked.

“Kiva—it’s an herb that grows in the Shadow Moon Pack, and it is particularly good for concealment as they harvest it beneath Igaluk’s dark moon. Whoever’s concealed the magic has cemented the concealment charm with a sprinkling of the herb. That’s why you couldn’t even sense the dark magic when you checked the herbs.”

Anger brimmed through me as the spicy aroma conjured to mind the exact scent the drink Linda had given me held.

Seraphina peered at the next beaker of liquid, the determined set to her jaw never wavering as she uttered the incantation, resulting in the same dark, congealed residue in each of the beakers.

She turned her attention to the herbs in the pouches next, working the same magic.

I blinked in astonishment as the black powder amidst the herbs became visible. Bile rose in my throat as I finally hadconfirmation that the very remedies meant to heal had been the means by which the pack was harmed. Fury fired through me as I stared at these little heaps of fine blackness lined up like gunpowder ready to be loaded.

“Can you cleanse the herbs, or are all of our supplies ruined?” I asked, worried about the sick in the infirmary.

“I can clean them,” Seraphina said confidently. Another few incantations had the herbs safely cleansed. She went one step further and was able to separate the already distilled jedra potions from the corrupt dark magic. I marveled as the oily residue on the surface was decanted into separate beakers, leaving the tonics as the curatives they were meant to be.

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