The Triplet Alphas' Regret

Was that... Ralph?

I furrowed my eyebrows, wanting to get a better look. However, when Ralph turned to look in my direction, my first instinct was to duck and hide behind the vase, careful not to let him see me.

However, as soon as I hid, I realized that this was the exact opposite of what I should be doing. After all, Ralph was working for Lucien. If he were here, then that meant that Lucien couldn’t possibly be far. What I should have been doing was to meet Ralph and ask if he knew where Lucien was.

And, more importantly, if Lucien was alright.

With that in mind, I straightened up immediately. The thought of being able to reunite with Lucien soon filled my body with adrenaline― that, and finally having proper sleep and fuel to recuperate and recover.

However, in the split second of hesitation, Ralph had disappeared. The corridor was empty once more.

I frowned.

Judging by Ralph’s reaction, he clearly knew that he wasn’t alone. He had also caught my scent before, since we had interacted a handful of times. As such, it was safe to assume that he should’ve recognized that I was the one in the corridor with him. Were there too many scents floating around that he hadn’t recognized mine?

I made my way to where I last saw him, peering down the hallways to see if I could catch a sign of where he might’ve gone. However, the hallways were entirely empty. It was almost as if I had imagined him standing here.

"Where did he..." I trailed off, frowning as I stared down the empty corridors. Nothing but silence and darkness greeted me.

I took a deep breath, hoping that I would be able to catch his scent and track him down that way. However, despite inhaling mouthful after mouthful of air, I realized something detrimental― I had no clue what Ralph’s scent was.

Clicking my tongue, I mentally cursed myself for not paying attention. However, it wasn’t entirely something I could control either. Until very recently, everything about me remained entirely human and wolfless, with the only exception being finding my fated mates.

That also meant that I didn’t have the same enhanced sense of smell that werewolves did. Even an average omega would be able to catch more with their noses than I could. Thus, being able to recognize Ralph’s scent so quickly and easily was nigh impossible.

I turned on my heel, choosing to go down the corridor that led to the infirmary instead.

I didn’t have much time left to waste. Once dawn approached, the Alphas would either send someone to my room or come down themselves to check on me. If they found out that I had left my room again, they might actually send me to the dungeons next, seeing as to how I had managed to escape numerous other, more comfortable prisons.

Only solid silver bars would be able to hold me down without a doubt.

Once I reached the infirmary doors, I slowly poked my head in and looked around. The infirmary was deserted. There were some notebooks and journals that were left open, with the prescriptions still scribbled on the pages.

No patients were in the beds, thankfully. That was probably why there wasn’t a single healer on duty tonight, which was a win for me.

I quickly crept in and gently closed the door behind me. Then, I hobbled over to where the equipment and shelves were. There were rows and rows of books, second only to the pack house library, which was dangerously close to the triplets’ bedrooms.

I reached for the first book― an encyclopedia on the local flora. That had to be a start.

To be frank, it was a lot easier to find what I was looking for when I knew what to look for. There were only so many things that could affect a werewolf― wolfsbane and silver. Most injuries, unless instantly fatal, could be countered by a werewolf’s quick healing.

Stronger wolves had stronger healing, and likewise, weaker wolves healed more slowly. Willow came from a strong lineage of werewolves. By no means was she weak, especially when she was perfectly formidable before she started to fall ill upon my return.

I could see why everyone suspected me as the main culprit. Such a coincidence seemed almost impossible to explain.

Unless she had been slowly and secretly poisoned by wolfsbane.

The unidentified purple leaves found in the lavender tea looked awfully close to wolfsbane. That was the only other purple colored flora that I recognized and made sense to be in there. If she consumed wolfsbane in minuscule doses, that would explain how Willow slowly and inexplicably weakened to the point where a mere two months out in the wilderness had caused her such injury and pain.

I flipped to the end of the book where the entries titled ’W’ were, and searched frantically for the entry for wolfsbane. The photos included in the books were dim, but I squinted my eyes and went closer to the window, hoping that the moonlight would illuminate it for me. I wasn’t going to turn on the lights and risk curious eyes entering the infirmary.

Lo and behold, the leaves of the wolfsbane plant looked awfully like the handful of tea leaves I had managed to steal.

The photos showed the plant’s purple petals naturally curved over the top of the flower, creating a hooded shape that made it easy to recognize. Even though the petals mixed into the lavender were dried, it did not hide the distinct, rich purple color of the flower. The shape wasn’t an exact match, considering the petal had been crushed into smaller pieces, but some of the smaller buds retained their entire shape and could be used to identify the plant.

I felt my breath catch in my throat as I got closer to solving the mystery of my sister’s poor health. This could prove that I was innocent all this time. It wasn’t my presence that caused Willow to fall ill, but rather, a very reasonable explanation― she was simply poisoned.

But I forced myself to remain calm, sucking in a deep breath.

This wasn’t enough evidence to prove that I wasn’t the reason behind her declining health, not by a long shot. These wolfsbane petals only proved that Willow was poisoned by the tea she often consumed, but this didn’t prove who gave her the tea in the first place.

The most reasonable suspect would have to be Violet. However, with Cassian backing her up, this wasn’t nearly enough evidence to pin the crime on her. She could simply claim that I was the one poisoning Willow from the beginning.

Too many months had passed since Willow first consumed that tea. Anyone else could have slipped into the room to put it there. Without Willow awake to testify, they might even claim that she didn’t even drink that tea, and someone had just placed it there by mistake.

In addition, while the tea leaves I took resembled wolfsbane, that might not be the only plant they resembled. What if Violet claimed it was some other plant?

There was so much flora in the world that it was entirely possible that the leaves came from another plant, even though my gut knew that it was wolfsbane. The petals were crushed, and most of them couldn’t be easily identified, other than a few smaller petals.

I clutched the book tightly, wondering if anyone would notice if I were to borrow it for a short period of time. I needed to do a more in-depth cross-check to rule out all other possible answers.

Just as I was reluctantly putting the encyclopedia back on the shelf, I heard the sound of footsteps outside the door. Before I could find a place to hide, the door slammed open without warning, and I saw Cassian standing right outside.

Of course. I just had to be caught by the worst triplet of the lot.

If it were Soren, I believed I could still get him to let me go. Rowan might give me an earful and demand to stay with me for the rest of the night, but Cassian’s grudge against me was impossible to reason with, especially after the most recent greeting my knee gave to his family jewels.

In fact, it would be a miracle if Cassian didn’t kill me right here and now, since there was no one else around to shield me from him this time. He could very well take his revenge and serve me my just desserts.

Meanwhile, Cassian’s eyes widened when he caught sight of me standing by the window, the moonlight helpfully illuminating my presence. His nostrils flared with anger, and his expression grew thunderous as he realized his eyes weren’t lying to him.

I tried to make myself scarce by ducking away, but he stormed towards me, easily eclipsing the distance between us in a few strides. His hand grabbed my wrist in a punishing hold.

"Wait," I tried to say. "I can explain―"

My back hit the shelf behind, and I winced in pain. Cassian, however, didn’t give a damn. His eyes were practically glowing gold with anger, his wolf threatening to surface.

"What are you doing here?"