After My Mate Poisoned Me, I Took His Pack

The healer's examination room had become familiar in a way I didn't like. Too many hours spent on that table. Too many questions I couldn't answer.

"Describe it again," she said.

I pressed my palm flat against my sternum. "Pressure. Like something pushing from the inside. It's not painful. Just... present."

"When did it start?"

"Three days ago. In the morning. I thought it was anxiety at first, but it doesn't fade."

She placed her hand over mine. Her fingers were warm. She closed her eyes and went very still.

After a long moment, she stepped back.

"Your wolf is waking up," she said quietly.

I stared at her. "I thought that would take weeks."

"The suppression is clearing faster than I expected. Your body is... responding aggressively to the detox. As if it's been waiting."

I didn't know what to say to that.

She handed me a small vial. "Keep taking this. Twice daily. And rest. What you're feeling is going to intensify before it stabilizes."

I took the vial. My hand was steady. "How much will it intensify?"

She met my eyes. "I don't know. I've never treated a wolf suppressed for this long who survived."

I nodded once. Then I left.

---

That night, alone in my quarters, it happened.

I was sitting at the desk, reviewing the tribunal procedure notes Dorian had left for me. Buster was asleep on the rug. The room was quiet.

Then the pressure behind my ribs sharpened.

I sucked in a breath and pressed my hand to my chest. It wasn't pain. It was weight. Something immense pressing outward against the cage of my bones, testing the limits.

I stood. The room tilted slightly. I gripped the edge of the desk.

Then I felt it.

Not words. Not a voice. A presence. A vibration that started deep in my chest and spread outward through my blood, my muscles, my skin. Something that had been silent for so long I'd forgotten what it felt like to have it there.

My wolf.

She didn't speak. She pressed. Hard. Against the inside of my ribs, my spine, the base of my skull. Testing. Pushing. Asking how much space there was.

I sat down on the floor. Slowly. My back against the bed frame.

"I'm here," I whispered.

The pressure intensified. Not painful. Just... vast. Larger than anything I remembered. Larger than anything I thought I was supposed to hold.

I closed my eyes and let her press.

She didn't stop. She kept testing the edges, the boundaries, the places where the wolfsbane had carved her down to almost nothing. And everywhere she pressed, I felt heat. Not fever. Something deeper. Something that had been cold for three years and was finally, finally waking up.

I don't know how long I sat there. When I opened my eyes again, Buster was awake, watching me. His tail thumped once against the floor.

"I know," I said. My voice sounded strange. Steadier than it should have been. "I feel it too."

The pressure eased slightly. Not gone. Just... settled. Waiting.

I pulled myself up and went to the mirror.

My eyes looked the same. My face looked the same. But something in the air around me felt different. Heavier. Like the space I occupied had expanded without my body changing at all.

I pressed my thumb against the cold mark on my neck.

Still cold. Still there.

But the thing inside me — the thing pressing against my ribs — was not cold.

I went back to the desk and opened my journal. I wrote the date. The time. The sensation. Then I underlined one sentence twice:

*She is not small.*

---

The meeting with Caelan was scheduled for late afternoon.

I arrived early. Dorian met me at the door and walked me through the hall to Caelan's private study. The space was quieter than the tribunal chamber. Smaller. Books lined the walls. A fire burned low in the hearth.

Caelan was standing near the window when I entered. He turned and gestured to the chair across from his desk.

"Luna Montgomery."

"Amora," I said.

He inclined his head slightly. "Amora."

I sat. He remained standing for a moment, then moved to the desk and opened a folder.

"The tribunal will convene in nine days," he said. "The Council has confirmed attendance from six pack representatives. Alpha Baker has been formally summoned. He cannot refuse without triggering forced removal of his title."

"Good," I said.

Caelan's eyes flicked to mine. "The procedure is straightforward. You will present your evidence first. The Council will question you. Then Alpha Baker will have the opportunity to respond. If he attempts to use Alpha tone on Council grounds, he will be removed immediately."

I nodded. I'd read the procedure notes three times already.

"Your testimony will be under oath," he continued. "The Luna Accord protects you from retaliation, but it does not shield you from cross-examination. Alpha Baker's legal representative will question you directly."

"I understand."

He studied me for a moment. The quality of his stillness shifted. Sharpened.

"Are you physically ready?" he asked.

It wasn't a legal question. I could hear that.

I met his eyes. "Yes."

He held my gaze. Then he nodded once and closed the folder.

"The Council will deliver a verdict within seventy-two hours of the final testimony. If the evidence supports your claim, the penalties will be immediate and permanent."

"What penalties?"

"Forced severance of the Alpha bloodline. Exile. In extreme cases, execution."

I let that settle in my chest. "And Daisy?"

"If she is found complicit in the poisoning, she will face Omega servitude across rotating packs. Indefinite term. Rank irrevocable."

I nodded slowly. "That's sufficient."

Caelan's mouth twitched. Almost a smile. "You don't want execution?"

"I want them to live with what they did," I said. "Death is too quick."

He studied me again. Longer this time. Then he stood.

"If you need anything before the tribunal, Dorian will handle it. You have full access to the archives and the legal library."

"Thank you."

I stood and turned toward the door. As I moved, the pressure behind my ribs surged. Hard. My breath caught.

I stopped walking.

Caelan's voice came from behind me. "Amora?"

I pressed my hand to my chest. The pressure eased slightly. I turned back.

"I'm fine," I said.

He was watching me with that focused stillness again. His nostrils flared slightly.

Then his expression changed.

It was subtle. A flicker in his eyes. A shift in the way he held himself. Like he'd just registered something he hadn't expected.

He didn't say anything. He just looked at me.

I looked back.

The air between us felt heavier than it should have. The cedar-and-rain scent I'd noticed before was stronger now. Closer. Like it was coming from his skin instead of the room.

My wolf pressed hard against my ribs.

I took a step back. "I should go."

Caelan nodded. His voice was measured. Careful. "Of course."

I walked to the door. My hand was on the handle when he spoke again.

"Amora."

I paused. I didn't turn around.

"Your wolf," he said quietly. "She's stronger than you think."

I stood very still.

Then I opened the door and walked out.

The cedar-and-rain scent followed me all the way down the hall.