After My Alpha Believed Her Lies Over My Truth

The Omega quarters smelled of mildew and despair, a damp scent that clung to my skin like a second layer of filth. For two weeks, I had sat in this rotting cabin, staring at the water stains on the ceiling, trying to keep my wolf from tearing through the walls. I was the Head Healer. I was a researcher. I was the Alpha’s mate. Or I had been.

Now, I was just an inmate.

The silence of my confinement shattered when a frantic voice broke through the Mind-Link. It wasn’t Dominick. It was Sarah, a young Omega I had treated for a sprained ankle months ago.

*"Davina! Goddess, please answer!"* Her mental voice was high, jagged with panic. *"It’s your mother. She collapsed in the laundry room. She’s… she’s vomiting black blood. Everywhere."*

My blood ran cold, freezing me in place on the lumpy mattress. Black blood. Tremors. Sudden collapse. My scientific mind engaged before my heart could break. Acute silver poisoning. It was rare, usually caused by handling untreated weaponry without gloves, but if left untreated for more than an hour, it caused total organ failure.

*"Get her water,"* I commanded through the link, scrambling to my feet. *"Do not let her swallow. I’m coming."*

I didn’t care about the guards. I didn’t care about the exile order. I threw my weight against the rotting wood of the door. The latch gave way with a splintering crack. I sprinted into the twilight, my bare feet pounding against the hard-packed earth.

The pack hospital loomed ahead, a beacon of white stone that I used to manage. I burst through the double doors, startling the receptionist. I didn’t stop. I ran straight for the supply room where the chelation antidotes were stored.

"Davina?" Dr. Aris, the man who had been my assistant for three years, stepped in front of the supply cabinet. His eyes were wide, fearful. "You can’t be here. The Alpha—"

"My mother has silver poisoning," I gasped, my chest heaving. "Move, Aris. I need the EDTA solution and a stabilize-drip. Now!"

He didn’t move. He crossed his arms, looking sick with guilt, but he held his ground. "I can’t. Alpha Dominick put a lock on the high-level meds. He said… he said you might try to steal them to 'prove a point' about your research."

"She is dying!" I screamed, grabbing the lapels of his lab coat. "She will be dead in an hour without that authorization! Give me the key!"

"I can't release Class A drugs without the Alpha's signature," Aris whispered, looking down. "He declared you hysterical, Davina. If I give you this, and he thinks you're faking it… he’ll exile me too."

I shoved him away, a snarl ripping from my throat. "Fine. I’ll get the damn signature."

I turned and ran again, this time toward the Pack House. Every second that ticked by was a beat of my mother’s failing heart. I could feel the bond with Dominick pulsing in the back of my mind—a dark, twisted thing now, full of his irritation and arrogance.

I didn't knock. I slammed open the heavy oak doors of the Alpha’s office.

The room was warm, smelling of rich coffee and leather. Dominick sat behind his massive mahogany desk, reviewing maps of the border. Lillie was perched on the edge of the desk, tracing a finger over his hand. She jumped when I entered, letting out a theatrical little gasp.

"Dominick!" I fell to my knees before the desk, my pride forgotten. I was begging. "Please. You have to sign an authorization. My mother… she has silver poisoning. Aris won’t release the antidote without your order."

Dominick looked up slowly, his face a mask of stone. He didn’t look concerned. He looked annoyed.

"You broke confinement," he stated, his voice flat. "Again."

"She’s vomiting black blood!" I cried, reaching out to touch his boot, desperate for him to feel my truth through the bond. "She was working in the laundry with the warrior gear. There must have been residue. Please, Dom. She’s dying. Just sign the paper!"

Lillie leaned down, resting her chin on Dominick’s shoulder. Her voice was a poisonous whisper, sweet like rotting fruit. "Oh, Dom. Look at her eyes. She’s doing it again. Remember what Dr. Aris said? She creates crises to make herself the hero. Silver poisoning in the laundry room? That’s impossible."

"It’s not impossible!" I shrieked, my vision blurring with tears. "It happens if the silver coating on the daggers chips! Lillie, shut up! You’re killing her!"

Dominick slammed his hand on the desk, the sound echoing like a gunshot. "Enough!"

He stood up, towering over me. His aura crashed down, heavy and suffocating, forcing my wolf to cower. "I am in the middle of a strategy meeting, Davina. I will not have you barging in here with your delusions. You are unwell. You are seeing threats where there are none because you are desperate to reclaim your position."

"I don't care about the position!" I sobbed, pressing my forehead against the floorboards. "I care about my mother! Check the link! Ask Sarah! She’s there with her!"

"Sarah is a child," Dominick scoffed. "Likely another one you’ve manipulated."

He sat back down, picking up his pen. For a second, a spark of hope flared in my chest. He was going to sign it. He had to.

Instead, he pointed the pen at the door.

"Guards," he barked. Two warriors stepped out of the shadows. "Take her back to the Omega quarters. Restrain her if necessary. And tell Aris that no supplies are to be wasted on Davina’s family until I have conducted a full investigation myself."

"Investigation?" I choked out as rough hands grabbed my arms. "There is no time for an investigation! She has minutes, Dominick! Minutes!"

"Then you should have thought about that before you lost your mind and betrayed this pack," he said coldly, turning his attention back to the map. Lillie smirked at me, a quick, sharp twist of her lips, before nuzzling into his neck.

"No! You’re murdering her!" I screamed, thrashing against the guards' grip. My claws extended, scratching uselessly against the floor as they dragged me backward. "Dominick! She’s your pack member! She’s my mother! Please!"

The heavy doors slammed shut in my face, cutting off the warmth, the light, and the last hope for my mother’s life. As they dragged me down the hallway, the Mind-Link opened again. It was Sarah. She was crying so hard she couldn't speak, but I heard the sound that would haunt me forever—the wet, rattling gasp of a last breath.