Chapter 20 The Smell of Poison
Calix Pov
The training hall was supposed to be locked after hours but I had keys. Perks of being the Alpha's son, perks I rarely used but tonight I needed space. I needed somewhere to think, somewhere to breathe.
I pushed open the heavy door. Stepped inside. The place was dark and empty, just how I wanted it.
Then the smell hit me. It was sharp and bitter, burning my nose, making my eyes water. I knew that smell, i had smelled it before during training exercises. During demonstrations.
Wolfsbane.
My whole body went stiff. Why would there be wolfsbane in here? We didn't use it in training, it was dangerous and lethal.
I walked further in, following the scent. It got stronger near the benches, the lockers. Where students kept their stuff during class.
That's when I saw them. Her shoes, still sitting on the bench. White powder coating the insides, spilled on the ground, it was deadly and deliberate.
Someone had put wolfsbane in her shoes on purpose. Knowing she'd wear them, it would hurt her, maybe even kill her.
Rage flooded through me. Hot. Red. Blinding. My vision went dark around the edges. My hands started shaking. My wolf surged forward.
"Who did this?" he snarled. "Who hurt our mate?"
I didn't know. But I was going to find out. Then I was going to destroy them.
My breathing got harsh fast. I could feel my control slipping, could feel the rage taking over. The curse rising up, demanding blood and violence.
I needed to hit something, to break something and let it out before I shifted right here. Before I lost control completely.
I stormed out of the training hall. Into the cold night. My feet moved without thinking, walking and moving. Trying to burn off the fury.
But it wasn't working. It was getting worse, building, growing and consuming me.
There was an oak tree near the edge of campus. Old. Thick. Massive trunk. I stopped in front of it. Stared at it. My hands clenched into fists.
Then I swung.
My fist connected with the bark. Pain shot up my arm, the tree shuddered and bark cracked, split.
I hit it again. Harder. My knuckles split open. Blood smeared across the rough surface.
Again. Again. Again. Each hit sent fresh pain through my hand. Through my arm. But I didn't care. Didn't stop. Just kept hitting. Kept punching. Kept destroying.
"She was hurt," I said through gritted teeth. Each word punctuated with another hit. "She was in pain. She screamed."
I'd heard about it. Everyone had heard about it. The wolfless girl who burned her feet. Who collapsed screaming. Who had to be carried to the nurse.
They didn't know she was mine. Didn't know every scream had felt like a knife in my chest. Didn't know I'd almost run to her. Almost revealed everything.
I hit the tree harder. The trunk was splitting now. Deep cracks running through it. Pieces of bark falling away.
"Someone did this to her," I growled. "Someone hurt her on purpose."
My wolf was howling. Demanding we hunt. Demanding we find whoever did this. Demanding we rip them apart.
"We will," I promised him. "We'll find them. We'll make them pay."
I pulled my fist back. Put everything into the next punch. All my rage. All my pain. All my fury.
The tree cracked. Loud. Sharp. Like thunder. The whole trunk split down the middle. Started tipping. Started falling.
I stepped back. Watched it crash to the ground. Watched branches snap. Watched leaves scatter. The sound echoed across the empty campus.
My chest was heaving. My hand was destroyed. Knuckles shredded. Bones probably broken. Blood dripping onto the grass. But I barely felt it. The physical pain was nothing compared to what was happening inside.
"This is our fault," my wolf said. His voice was broken. Guilty. "We weren't there. We weren't protecting her."
"I know," I said. My voice came out rough. Raw. "I know."
If I'd been there. If I'd been watching. If I'd been close enough to stop it. This wouldn't have happened. She wouldn't have been hurt.
But I'd stayed away. Kept my distance. Thought that was safer. Thought that was better.
Now she was lying in the infirmary. Feet burned. In pain. Alone.
"We should go to her," my wolf said. "Check on her. Make sure she's okay."
"We can't," I said. Even though every part of me wanted to. "People will ask questions. Will wonder why I care."
"Let them wonder," my wolf said. "Let them know. Claim her. Protect her properly."
"And put an even bigger target on her back?" I asked. "Make her more of a threat to Simone? Make things worse?"
My wolf didn't have an answer for that.
I looked at my hand. It was a mess. Would take hours to heal even with my wolf abilities. Would probably scar. Good. I wanted it to scar. Wanted to remember this moment. This failure.
"We need to find out who did it," I said. "Quietly. Carefully. Can't let anyone know we're looking."
"It was Simone," my wolf said. Certain. "Has to be. Who else would do this?"
He was probably right. Simone was the only one who hated Maddie enough. Who was threatened enough. Who was cruel enough.
But I needed proof. Needed evidence. Couldn't just accuse the beta's daughter without something solid.
"We'll watch," I said. "We'll listen. We'll find proof. Then we'll handle it."
"How will we handle it?" my wolf asked.
I didn't answer. Didn't know yet. But whoever hurt her was going to regret it. Was going to pay. One way or another.
I started walking back to my dorm. My hand throbbed with each step. Blood left a trail behind me. I'd have to clean that up. Have to make sure nobody saw.
The rage was fading now. Leaving behind exhaustion. Guilt. Pain. The curse always left me feeling empty after. Hollow. Wrong.
I'd destroyed a tree. Could have destroyed so much more. Could have lost control completely. Could have hurt someone.
That's what scared me most. Not what I had done. But what I could have done. What I was capable of.
"This is why we stay away from her," I reminded my wolf. "This is why we can't be close. This rage. This violence. This curse. We'd hurt her worse than wolfsbane ever could."
My wolf whimpered. Knew I was right. Hated that I was right.