The Lycan King's Outcast Omega (by Cara Anderson) novel Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Sage

Something’s wrong. I feel it the moment I enter the healing wing – the way conversations stop, how wolves avoid my eyes. A mother pulls her pup away when I offer to check his cough.

“We’ll wait for a proper healer,” she says, not quite meeting my gaze.

Proper healer. The words sting more than they should.

“Did you need anything?” I ask another wolf who usually seeks my help with chronic pain. She hurries past without responding.

The whispers follow me like shadows: “-unknown methods–““–strange herbs–““–can’t trust-”

Understanding dawns slowly, painfully. Someone’s been busy poisoning the pack against me.

“Troubling, isn’t it?” Victoria’s voice makes me stiffen. She stands with three other noble wolves, blocking my path to the herb storage. “How quickly trust can turn.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“No?” She examines a bottle of my prepared medicine. “Interesting mixtures you make. Unknown herbs, strange combinations… who knows what might be in them?”

“Those medicines have helped your warriors,” I say, keeping my voice steady. “You’ve seen the results-”

“Have we?” Another noble wolf steps forward. “Or have we seen what you wanted us to see? Wounds that won’t heal properly, requiring more and more of your… treatments.”

Ice slides down my spine as I realize what they’re suggesting. “You think I’m poisoning the pack?”

“Think about it,” Victoria says to her companions, though her words are clearly for any listening wolves.” Strange medicines from a wolfless omega with unknown origins. One who’s betrayed an Alpha before…”

“I never-”

“And now living in the royal wing, growing closer to our King…” Her smile shows teeth. “How convenient.”

My hands shake as I try to continue my work, but the damage is spreading. By midday, no one will let me treat them. Wolves whisper and point, and even some of the young healers I’ve been teaching edge away.

Then comes the pack gathering. I stand in my usual place, trying to be invisible, but Lord Marcus’s voice carries clearly:

“These unorthodox healing methods must be investigated. The pack’s safety cannot be risked.”

Eris rises, the picture of concerned nobility. “Perhaps we should temporarily suspend certain… practitioners until proper verification can be done? For everyone’s safety, of course.”

I watch Alaric’s jaw tighten, see the political trap being laid. If he defends me too strongly, he proves their points about undue influence. If he doesn’t…

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Chapter 49

+15 BONUS

His silence hurts worse than their accusations.

But the final blow comes at sunset. I head to the garden to gather evening herbs and stop dead.

My carefully tended plants lie crushed and torn. Months of work destroyed. Prepared medicines spilled across the ground, the scent of healing herbs turned sour in the dirt.

A note flutters in the evening breeze: “Poisoners don’t belong in the royal pack.”

I sink to my knees among the ruined garden, touching broken stems that only yesterday held such promise. Like my attempts to belong here, they lie shattered at my feet.

The sound of approaching footsteps makes me quickly wipe my eyes. Iris stands in the garden entrance, her face thunderous.

“Don’t,” I say before she can speak. “Please.”

“This is Eris’s doing. She’s behind the rumors, the accusations-”

“Does it matter?” I gesture at the destruction around me. “They believe it. The pack I’ve tried so hard to help thinks I’m poisoning them.”

“Not everyone. Alaric- You should have seen him in council,” Iris says quietly, kneeling beside me in the dirt.” When they started questioning your methods. I’ve never seen him so close to losing control.”

“That’s exactly why I have to go.” I touch a broken moonflower vine, remembering how proud I was when it first bloomed. “Every moment I stay makes his position more precarious.”

“You don’t understand what you mean to him.”

“Don’t I?” I laugh bitterly. “The charity case that became a liability? The stray he saved who ended up threatening his authority?”

“Sage-”

“Did you know these moonflowers are like the ones my mother grew?” The words surprise us both. “I don’t remember her face, but sometimes I dream about her singing while tending flowers just like these. It’s the only memory I have of before.”

Iris is quiet for a moment. “You’ve made your own garden here.”

“And look what happened to it.” I gesture at the destruction. “Everything I try to grow gets torn up by the roots.” A wolf approaches the garden entrance and quickly retreats when they see me. More whispers follow: “-using unknown magic—““–corrupting pack medicine–““–seducing the Alpha-”

“Let me help you replant,” Iris offers. “We can start over-”

“That’s the problem, isn’t it? I’m always starting over. Always trying to prove I deserve a place somewhere.” I stand, brushing dirt from my hands. “I’m tired, Iris. Tired of fighting to belong, tired of watching Alaric have to choose between his duty and defending me.”

Chapter 49

+15 BONUS

“He doesn’t see it as a choice.”

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