Chapter 198

Chapter 198
Dax stared at Tobias, then turned and walked away, Brock following closely behind him.

Marian stared at Misha as Tobias and Eaden headed into the trees.

Backing away, Misha mouthed something to Marian, his eyes never leaving hers.

Her eyes filled as he faded into the darkness.

Reyland was at her side.

She took his hand silently, still facing where Misha had vanished.

Reyland turned her around and they left the meeting place, side by side.

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Back at Lightmoon, Dorien was being treated by Doctor Byron. Corien and Gravan were in attendance.

The heir had been tortured.

There were silver needles, large ones, in his mouth. A spell had been placed on his mouth such that, unless he was awake, his mouth could not be opened.

Any attempt to ease his pain with medicine resulted in his lips remaining sealed.

Corien, stronger now, and with help from Gravan, used a mind meld to help Dorien heal enough to take the pain of opening his mouth on his own so that Byron could remove the needles.

It was a gruelling and messy task.

The needles could not be broken or cut and they were too long to simply remove. They had to be pushed up or down, deeper, until one end showed and then pulled out from his bleeding mouth.

There were three needles in all.

By the time the last one was removed, Dorien had not even been able to so much as whimper in pain.

The cuts on his chest and arms were deep and already festering, something that should not be possible.

The heir was pale, he was sweating profusely, and his eyes were feverish.

He had still been unable to speak.

Byron gave him some of the famed elixir, with Corien’s permission.

The young heir improved, then he had a strong reaction to it.

“Poison,” Dorien rasped, “it’s poisoned!”

Dorien had previously tampered with some of Corien’s heart blood. As the blood was only used by a select few, the bad batch still remained.

The poison was only supposed to affect Reyland, not anyone else.

The fact that Dorien was suffering from the blood, made the heir panic more than anything else.

“Reyland! What have you done to me!” Dorien cursed as he passed out.

The older shifters in the room stared at each other.

“Do you…have anything left over from…” Corien asked haltingly.

“Yes! I do!” Byron exclaimed, rushing out of the room.

“Alpha, what is going on?” Gravan rasped.

“A link. It has to be…” Corien replied slowly.

“What link? How?” Gravan exclaimed, though keeping his voice low.

“Not a link, a…binding…of some sort…Dorien and Reyland have always been close. It may have something to do with the bloodletting and sharing, or that Reyland touched his wolf, Kintel,” Corien expounded, thinking and talking at the same time.

“But…they seem to be even more connected now…somehow,” he continued.

“But…how…?” Gravan whispered.

“I don’t know. This is…” Corien replied slowly, his voice drifting off.

Byron rushed back in. Using a dropper, he took a drop of Marian’s heart blood from a small bottle. He gazed at Corien who nodded back at him.

Then, he placed the blood in Dorien’s mouth.

The reaction was immediate and visceral.

As if having a seizure, Dorien’s body began to shake. All three wolves hurriedly held onto the young heir, holding his jerking, twisting body down.

The cuts on his body began to ooze something foul-smelling.

As they stared, the wounds seemed to begin healing.

“One more!” Corien called out urgently, “Just one more dose!”

Byron nodded and obeyed. Taking the tool up again, he drew another drop and, with Gravan holding the heir’s head steady, fed the young shifter Marian’s blood.

Pure, unadulterated, mixed with nothing, not even water.

His body jerked violently, then his back arched, his head and feet the only things on the bed, and he crashed down, falling silent.

The other three shifters were breathing heavily.

All eyes were on the young heir.

After a moment, Dorien turned on his side, arms around his chest and waist, breathing deeply. Asleep.

Dax walked into the room.

His eyes went from Corien, to Gravan, then to Byron.

He stared at them as he entered, then his eyes went to his son, Dorien.

He stared at the impossible boy.

“What…happened?” Dax asked slowly, his voice gruff.

Byron explained.

“How can that be?” Dax breathed after Byron brought him up to speed.

“Marian. She insisted that I take as much blood as possible. We have extra vials that we can test and use for –” Byron replied respectfully.

“Why did he react to her blood like that?” Dax interrupted

“She is strong, Alpha. How strong, we are yet to discover. Also, whatever magics were used on him…they could have something to do with it. And…” Byron replied swiftly, offering his views on the strange, new matter, then faltering.

“Speak, Byron,” Dax rasped.

“The prince…I…I have used the elixir on two others within the circle and on a few who were very critical – a very small amount, I only added it to their poultices and potions, not direct like the others – and they had no such reaction, poisoned or not,” the doctor stated hesitantly, apologetically.

“Poison…? He…” Dax could not speak.

“He put something in the blood, to harm Reyland,” Corien said quietly.

“We saw it in the meld. His last few hours, snippets, jumbled, but we saw it cleanly,” he continued, explaining what Byron could not.

“What is this…” Dax groaned, staggering, but remaining upright, he leaned against the foot of the bed.

“How did it get to this?!” he breathed.

“Our Dorien is a planner,” a rugged voice stated from the doorway, all eyes turned, except Dax’s.

“No room for error. It’s really only fate that spared me from this devil’s hands,” Reyland droned.

Dax stared at his son, the one on the bed.

“He is a true fighter, Father. Nothing is allowed to get in his way,” Dax’s head snapped to Reyland.

The tall Lycan was gazing at his younger brother, his face full of respect.

Dax blinked.

“This is what Lightmoon is about,” Reyland continued quietly.

“I can’t even kill that siren who touched my woman,” he whispered, “yet, my brother can kill me – twice over – isn’t that just a –”

“Stop, Rey. Stop,” Corien murmured, “Calm yourself. This is much more than that.”

“Is it? I touched his woman once, he killed me – twice. What would HE have done to that Bloodrayne interloper?” Reyland continued, louder now, a sharp edge entering his voice.

“He would have started a war to last for ages. Is that what you want?” Corien stated flatly, his green eyes on Reyland.

The young, new, Lycan stared back, chest heaving as he squeezed the side of his brother’s bed, twisting the metal like paper.