From Substitute To Queen novel Chapter 94

Chapter 94

She nodded, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. “Sable, I’m scared.”

“I know, baby. But you’re going to be brave for me, right?

One of the Rogues cut through Daisy’s bonds with his silver knife. The moment her arms were free, I pushed her toward the path.

“Run! Now!”

Daisy took off like a shot, her little legs carrying her toward safety as fast as they could go.

“Smart girl, the first Rogue said. ‘Now it’s your turn to pay.”

Both men started advancing on me. In that moment, facing certain death, something primal awakened inside me.

I closed my eyes.

“Esme,” I called to my wolf. “We need to fight.”

“Finally,” came her fierce response. “Let’s show them what Crawford women are made of.”

Then I began to shift.

Both Rogues immediately shifted as well, becoming snarling brown wolves with yellow eyes and foam around their muzzles. They circled me like predators. looking for the best angle of attack.

The larger Rogue lunged first. I dodged to the side and raked my claws across his flank. He howled in pain as blood matted his fur.

“Good! More!” Esme urged.

The second Rogue came at me from behind. I spun around and caught his front leg in my jaws, biting down until I felt bone crack between my teeth.

But before I could deliver the killing blow, the first Rogue lunged toward something at the edge of the clearing.

Has jaws clamped around a silver blade that had been driven into a tree trunk – some kind of trap they’d prepared beforehand. The metal was coated with a Gark liquid that made my nose burn.

Wolfsbane

He charged at me, the poisoned silver blade gripped between his teeth, aiming straight for my heart.

But then massive black shape exploded from the treeline

Carian in ins woll form was enormous easily twice the size of the Rogues

Coclan! I called though the und link

He landed between the and the buds welding Kugur with the use of an art without heartation, he intercepted the silver blade that had been meant

for my heart

The knife sank deep into his macabes chest. Light breek front gives wat wef fish with a mound like lasting meat

Carlan’s agonized how shattered the right

“Not” I howled back, watching his blood begin to ask his black fuc

But he didn’t fall down. His massive pow struck the knife wichting Rogue across the face with enough lace to break bones. The man flew backward and hit a tree trunk with a sickening crack.

D

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Chapter 94

The Rogue, the one I’d bitten, tried to run. But Caelan’s jaws clamped down on his hind leg and dragged him back into the clearing.

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That’s when Edward and the other warriors burst into the clearing, also in wolf form. They quickly surrounded and subdued both Rogues, ensuring they stayed alive for questioning.

But all I could focus on was Caelan.

The silver knife was still embedded in his chest. His breathing was labored, and his powerful legs were beginning to shake,

“Caclan, hold on, I mind-linked him desperately. “Help is coming.”

His wolf eyes met mine. Even as pain wracked his body, I could see the relief there. Relief that I was safe.

“Are you hurt, Sabi?”

“I’m fine. Don’t talk, just breathe.”

But I could see the wolfbane was already affecting him. His black coat was losing its glossy sheen, and his massive frame was beginning to tremble uncontrollably.

He collapsed onto his side, the knife still protruding from his chest.

His massive wolf eyes fluttered closed.

And he went still.

We rushed to the hospital in the ambulance – Dad, Marcus, Katherine and me, all surrounding Caelan’s unconscious form. Victoria had taken a terrified Daisy home to rest.

The doctors diagnosed high-concentration wolfsbane poisoning. A toxin so potent it could kill even a Lycan King. The poison had already spread through his circulatory system, turning his blood an unnatural deep purple color. They wheeled him into surgery immediately.

During the surgery, I learned that Blair had also been brought to the hospital shortly after us. She’d been pulled from the lake with only minor water in her lungs. There were no serious injuries, and though she hadn’t woken up yet, she was stable.

The waiting room became our prison. I paced the same ten-foot stretch of linoleum until my feet ache.

Katherine sat hunched in a plastic chair, her makeup long since cried away. “Please, God,” she whispered over and over. “Please let my son live.”

Marcus stood off to the side, looking quite calm.

Dad kept his arm around me when I finally collapsed into the chair beside him.

When the doctor finally emerged for the last time, his surgical cap hung limp in his hands. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his voice was hoarse from

hours of intense concentration

“The surgery was successful His Majesty is out of immediate danger.

Katherine launched from her chair. “Thank God! Thank you, Doctor!”

“We managed to flush most of the toxin from his system. The doctor explained. But his body has been through severe trauma. The next twenty-four hours are critical. We need to monitor him closely for any complications.”

Marcus gripped the doctor’s shoulder. Can we see him?

“He’s being moved to the VIP recovery suite now. You can visit him.”

We followed the doctor to a private room where the nurses transferred Caelan to a hospital bed. The rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor filled the

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otherwise silent room.

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I checked his vitals once more before sinking into the chair beside his bed. I took his limp hand in mine.

Marcus stood at the foot of the bed, his hands gripping the railing. Katherine hovered near Caelan’s head, gently stroking his hair. Dad sat beside me.

A knock on the door interrupted the tense silence. Beta Edward entered, his expression grim.

“I have the preliminary investigation results,” he announced, looking around the room before continuing. “We’ve confirmed that Lucian helped Blair escape and return to Blackwood territory. The Rogues we captured are suspected to be Lucian’s men, though they refuse to admit working for him.”