Chapter 25 Chapter 25

Chapter 25 Chapter 25
Chapter 25: Poisonous Well

~ Ignas’s POV
The scream was loud and sharp. It cut through the air like a blade. My heart stopped.
I ran in my wolf form, the breeze from our speed ruffling our fur.
“Ignas.” Roy’s voice crashed through the pack link like thunder. “There’s chaos in the general meeting hall. People are screaming. Ten people are dead. We think the water—”
“What about the water?” I snapped back.
“Poisoned. We think the water was poisoned.” His voice echoed in my ears through the link.
Poisoned. How? Where the hell did poison come from?
My heart slammed in my chest. I didn’t slow. I ran faster.
The world blurred around me.. I didn’t even feel my paws bleed when I leapt over the fence and shifted mid-air, landing hard on two feet right at the pack house doors. I hurriedly put on my coat which I had hung around around me after I had shifted.
I shoved the doors open.
And hell met me.
I ran to the middle of the hall where a woman, an omega, sat in the dirt. Her arms held a small body that was limp and lifeless. The body looked like her. It must have been her pup. He wasn’t breathing. His lips were blue. So blue. And his eyes were closed. Her face was soaked with tears. She rocked back and forth, crying so hard it hurt to hear.
Pups were crying. Warriors dragged bodies from the center of the hall. People pressed against the walls, their faces pale and their body shaking. I caught sight of lifeless forms. Ten of them, all laid out in a line. Blank eyes stared up at the ceiling. One was a boy no older than twelve. Another was a nursing mother. Someone had placed a cloak over her chest where her child had once rested.
I stood frozen for half a second. My brain couldn’t catch up.
Then I saw Roy. His eyes locked with mine.
“What happened?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. He had told me that it was poison, but I didn’t register it. My head couldn't grasp around the word.
“Who.” That was all I said again. He shook his head, stepping backwards.
His jaw tightened. “We don’t know. But it was the drinking water served at the start of the meeting. The pitcher was laced with Aconite. The Pack Witch's sister just confirmed.”
Others stood around her. Silent. Some were crying too. A few were holding their stomachs or leaning against walls, pale and shaking.
A healer looked at me, her eyes red. “They drank from the new well,” she said. “Then they fell. One by one.”
I looked outside, my eyes fixed at the well. A small, clean stone well built just last moon. Steam rose from it. The smell hit me next. It smelled bitter and strong now that I smell it.
“Where’s the witch?” I asked.
“Inside. Helping the sick. She's trying to help those that haven't died yet.
I ran. Inside the pack house, the air was thick. Gods, it smelled like herbs and blood. Bodies were everywhere. On beds. On blankets. Their skin was still pale.
Ten wolves. Ten already dead.
The pack witch looked up as I entered. Her hands were green from the herbs she used. “It’s poison,” she said. “Aconite. Someone put it in the well.”
“Someone?” I repeated. My stomach turned.
“It wasn’t an accident,” she said. “It was brewed. It was most definitely done on purpose. I could feel it.”
I stared at her. “Show me.”
She took me back to the well. The water shimmered with oil. Purple stains clung to the stone, by the sides of the wall.
This wasn’t nature. This was betrayal.
I turned to her. “Who had access to the herbs?”
Her face was tight. “Only the elders. It came from the sacred pouch.”
My heart turned cold.
I called a meeting. Every wolf came. Some were wide eyed from shock. Others were red eyed from crying. The air was thick with grief.
I stood in the center. My voice was low, but strong. “Someone poisoned the well. Ten are dead. Others may die too. This was no mistake.”
Gasps, cries and screams of rage erupted from the crowd.
The witch stepped beside me. “The aconite came from the sacred storage,” she said. “From the elder chambers.”
Every heads turned. All eyes moved to the elders.
Elder Marlo stepped forward. “We would never,” he said. “No elder would harm the pack.”
I stared at him. “Who had access to the pouch?”
Marlo hesitated.
Then, his eyes flicked toward Elder Garith.
That small movement was enough.
“Garith,” I said. “Where were you this morning?”
Garith stood tall. “I owe no answer for rumors.” A scoff of shock or pity from what he was about to get left my lips.
Beta Renna stepped up. “You pushed for the new well. You said something about the old one being ‘tainted."
“It was!” Garith shouted. “This pack is weak. You let rogues live. You let that man—”
He meant Lykon. What the fuck does he mean? We were all rouges!
I stepped closer. “So you killed pups and people's loved ones to make a point?”
Garith’s eyes narrowed. “I warned you. You didn’t listen. So I did what had to be done.”
I grabbed his robe and tore the elder’s cloak from his shoulders. Gasps filled the air.
He moved fast, reaching under his sleeve. A blade.
But Renna was faster. She tackled him to the ground. The knife flew from his hand. Guards rushed forward, dragging him up.
“You killed your own,” I said. “You killed innocent wolves and pups!”
“I saved us from rot!” he shouted, spit flying from his lips. “Better ten now than a hundred later!”
I stepped back. My voice shook. “Take him. He will face trial. And judgment.”
The crowd stayed quiet. Then someone whispered, “My son…”
Another voice. “My mate.”
Then came low, sad angry howls grew from the pack.
I stood still as the cries rose. I couldn’t cry. Not yet. Not until the danger was gone.
We had been wounded. By one of our own.
I loo
ked up at the dark sky.
I swore, under my breath: This would never happen again. I was going to deal with Garith mercilessly.