I Refuse To Be Your Luna (Flourish and Harold) novel Chapter 173

Chapter 173 Widows Kiss

Alpha Damian’s POV

Fenwick’s call came through at nearly two in the morning local time, and I nearly let it ring out entirely, too deep in the particular exhaustion that came from three days of back to back negotiations on a continent six hours removed from anything resembling my own sleep

schedule.

“Alpha Damian.” His voice carried none of its usual careful calm. “You need to hear this now.”

I sat up, my wolf sharpening instantly despite the fatigue. “Go ahead.”

“The lab finished analyzing the flower. Widow’s Kiss.” He paused, and I could hear him choosing his next words with unusual care. “It’s not just a symbolic warning. The petals are treated with a compound that transfers through skin contact over prolonged exposure. Historically, it’s been used against Alphas specifically, packs going back three generations at least. Small doses, repeated over time, mimic natural decline. No wolf ever suspects poison when the body simply seems to be failing on its own.”

Something cold settled through my chest, colder than the exhaustion, colder than the six time zones separating me from home. “She only had it on her pillow one night.”

“One night is enough to establish exposure, if the intention was ever to escalate.” Fenwick’s voice tightened. “Alpha Damian, there’s something else. I had the villa’s air filtration system checked as a precaution, given how frequently Lady Flourish has been staying there recently. We found trace residue. Same compound. Concentrated near your own bedroom, not hers.”

I went utterly still, my wolf coming up snarling before the rest of me had fully processed what he’d just said.

“How long,” I said, my voice dropped low and dangerous.

“The lab estimates exposure going back at least ten days. Possibly longer.” A pause, heavy with everything he wasn’t saying outright. “Alpha Damian, this wasn’t a warning aimed at Lady Flourish at all. She simply happened to be in the house while someone was already working on you.”

I sat there in the dark hotel room, my pulse hammering in a way it hadn’t in years, running back through every headache I’d dismissed as exhaustion these past two weeks, every strange, heavy fatigue I’d blamed on merger negotiations and midnight phone calls and not enough sleep. My wolf, I realized now, had been sluggish too, slower to surface than usual, something I’d chalked up to stress rather than anything more deliberate.

“Get me a full toxicology screen the moment I land,” I said. “And Fenwick, I need the villa swept top to bottom. Staff included. Whoever managed to introduce that compound had access close

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12:01 Thu, Oct 1

Chapter 173 Widows Kiss

20

Finished

enough to my own bedroom, which means it wasn’t a stranger scaling the hedge line three nights ago. It was someone already inside.”

“I’ve already started on staff backgrounds.” Fenwick hesitated. “There’s one more thing. The financial trail on the extortion setup against Ethan, the same Karl-linked account. It traces back further than we initially found. There’s a payment history connecting to someone on your household staff. Small amounts, going back nearly a year.”

My wolf went utterly silent, the particular stillness that came right before something dangerous.

“Who.”

“I don’t have full confirmation yet. I need another day.”

“You have twelve hours.” I was already pulling my jacket on, canceling the remainder of this trip in my head before I’d even finished the sentence. “I’m cutting the negotiations short. Book the earliest flight back.”

“Alpha Damian, if you leave mid-negotiation, Ragnar’s people will read it as-”

“I don’t care what they read into it.” My voice came out harder than I intended, though I didn’t soften it. “Flourish has been sleeping in that villa for over a week, breathing whatever’s been sitting in that air system while I’ve been across an ocean congratulating myself on outmaneuvering my own cousin. If something happens to her because I prioritized a merger over getting home, none of the rest of this will matter to me at all.”

Fenwick went quiet for a moment. “Understood. I’ll have the flight arranged within the hour.”

I ended the call and sat in the dark a long moment, my wolf pacing hard and furious beneath my skin, turning over every conversation I’d had with Charles these past few weeks, every warm, easy familiarity I’d never once thought to question.

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