A Healer's Severance, An Alpha's Regret

The rustling leaves of the sacred grove muffled the din from the ceremony hall. The night air was much quieter here.

Porter impatiently tugged at his ceremonial cloak.

"What the hell was that? Accusing her of using illicit drugs in front of the elders? You humiliated her!"

I rubbed my wrist, already turning red from his grip.

"She's the one who shamelessly brought up your past flings at our daughter's First Moon Ceremony. Remember?"

A flash of guilt crossed his face.

"I knew it. You're still holding a grudge about last night. We were drinking, playing truth or dare. We're wolves, Vic. We talk about our instincts. It wasn't what you think."

I let out a cold laugh. "Porter, you're disgusting."

His eyes turned cold, his jaw tightening.

"Do you have to make everything so ugly?"

"Maybe Blair was right. You've been impossible since you had the baby. That's all she meant."

The words cut deep. I was about to retaliate when a sharp, piercing cry sliced through the noise of the ceremony hall.

I shoved Porter aside and bolted back inside.

I burst through the doors, and the scene before me turned my blood to ice.

Blair was holding Lily in one arm, and in her other hand was a small baby bottle filled with a pale purple liquid. She was forcing the nipple between my baby's lips.

"Here you go, little sweetheart! Have a taste of the good stuff!"

"Gotta build up that tolerance from a young age!"

Porter's friends were laughing and cheering her on.

The pale purple liquid sloshed from the bottle into my daughter's wailing mouth. The diluted wolfsbane burned her like fire. Lily's cries twisted into terrified, hoarse shrieks, her tiny limbs flailing against her swaddling.

Blair just laughed, her grip on the baby tightening as she tilted the bottle even further.

"What are you doing!?"

I slapped her hand away with all my might.

The bottle flew from her grasp and shattered on the floor.

I snatched Lily into my arms. She choked and gagged against my chest.

"Shh, baby, Mommy's here…"

I gently patted her back. My fingers brushed against a patch of damp cold—Blair had held her so tightly that her diaper had burst.

Porter burst in right behind me, just in time to see me rip our daughter from Blair’s arms, sending Blair stumbling to the floor.

His first instinct wasn't for his child. It was for her. He grabbed Blair's arm, pulling her up and roaring at me:

"Victoria, what the fuck is wrong with you? Why did you attack Blair?"

He didn't even glance at our daughter, who was sobbing for breath in my arms.

I held Lily tightly, my eyes like ice.

"Porter, why don't you ask your precious friend what she was just doing?"

"Feeding a three-month-old pup wolfsbane! She almost killed her!"

Porter froze. His gaze flickered to the purple puddle on the floor, and for a second, his expression faltered.

But Blair was already rubbing her arm, her face a mask of wounded innocence.

"Victoria, please. When I was a pup, my grandpa used to rub diluted wolfsbane on our gums. It's not a big deal."

"It makes them stronger! I was just trying to give the little one a boost!"

I was trembling with rage. I pulled out my communication crystal. "I'm contacting the Elders' Council—"

Smack.

The crystal was snatched from my hand and hurled to the ground. Porter was breathing heavily, his chest heaving.

"You're really going to call the council over this? On a day like today, you want to ruin everything for everyone?"

"Fine! What she did was stupid, but she didn't mean any harm! Why do you always have to blow things so out of proportion?"

I looked at him as if he were a stranger.

"Porter…" My voice sounded hollow, unrecognizable even to me.

"You were raised in the old ways. You know exactly what wolfsbane does to a pup."

"This is your daughter."

"What's going on here?" Porter's parents pushed through the stunned crowd, their faces grim.

"You just had to cause a scene at a sacred First Moon Ceremony, bringing shame upon our entire pack!"

I pointed at the shattered bottle on the floor. "Blair fed Lily wolfsbane. I'm taking this to the council."

"Wolfsbane?" Porter's father, Alistair, paused, then snorted in dismissal.

"For that? When Porter was a pup, his grandfather used to let him lick diluted wolfsbane off his finger. He turned out just fine!"

Porter's mother, Beatrice, jabbed a finger in my face.

"The pup is fine! What's the big deal? A little diluted wolfsbane won't kill her!"

"Blair is a good girl—we've watched her grow up. Don't you dare try to blame her!"

I looked at Porter's damning silence, at his parents' blatant lies, at Blair standing by with a triumphant smirk plastered on her face.

A bone-deep disgust washed over me.

I took a deep breath and turned toward the door.

Porter called out behind me. "Where are you going?"

"To the healer," I said without turning back. "If she is harmed in any way, Blair, I swear to the Moon Goddess this isn't over."