Chapter 2

Brynn Webb POV:

Edgar let out a loud, fake sigh through the iron bars.

"Miss Brynn, His Highness is unwell today," Edgar said, his tone dripping with mock pity. "This dead dog was merely dropped here by a stray wolf. It was an accident. Why must you make such a scene at the gates?"

I let out a cold laugh and pointed at the dead dog's blackened gums.

"An accident? A dog killed by Bone-Rot Grass poison just happened to land on my carriage? Your excuse is pathetic, Butler Edgar."

Edgar's eyelids twitched. He clearly hadn't expected a pathetic wolfless who couldn't even use the pack's Mind-Link to recognize a rare poison. He quickly straightened his collar and sneered.

"Nonsense! What would a useless wolfless know about poisons?"

The commoners around us nodded in agreement, muttering that the War Marshal's trash was just making things up to save face.

Ignoring their whispers, I reached up and pulled a plain silver hairpin from my hair. Before anyone could react, I stepped back to the carriage wheel, crouched down, and plunged the silver pin deep into the dead dog's mouth.

"Stop!" Edgar roared, his face twisting. "What is this crazy woman doing?"

I pulled the hairpin out and held it high in the air. Under the bright sunlight, the tip of the silver pin had turned pitch-black.

"Silver turns black upon touching Bone-Rot Grass," I said, my voice ringing clear across the square as I stared at Edgar's pale face. "This dog died less than an hour ago. Tell me, how did a stray wolf get its paws on a high-grade poison that only exists in the Crown Prince's private vault?"

Dead silence fell over the street. To werewolves, silver was a deadly weakness that burned their flesh and destroyed their inner wolves, so only the royal family controlled the silver mines and high-grade toxins. Even the lowest commoner understood what this meant. Someone inside the manor wanted me dead or terrified.

Veins bulged on Edgar's forehead. Realizing he was cornered, he pointed a shaking finger at me and shouted, "She's insane! She dared to bring a poisoned silver weapon to the Crown Prince's Manor! Guards, seize her!"

The gates swung open. Two guards charged out with drawn swords, reaching out to slam me into the dirt.

My eyes narrowed. Inside my wide sleeve, three hair-thin silver needles coated in nerve-paralyzing toxin slid between my fingers.

Just as I shifted my weight to strike, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air from the shadowed alley across the street.

Crack!

A pebble struck the right guard's knee joint with terrifying force. He screamed as his leg gave out, dropping him to his knees right in front of me.

The guard on the left froze in shock. Before he could swing his blade, a second pebble blurred past his wrist. The impact numbed his arm, and his heavy longsword clattered to the cobblestones.

My gaze flicked toward the dark alley. Between the shadows, I caught a glimpse of a black velvet cloak and smelled a faint, icy scent of pine mixed with suppressed blood. That was the crushing aura of a top-tier Alpha-one far stronger than anyone in the Crown Prince's manor.

Edgar stumbled back, looking around wildly. "Who's there? Who dares interfere with the Crown Prince's guards?"

The alley remained silent. Yet the invisible pressure hanging in the air made the surrounding werewolves gasp for breath.

Since someone in the shadows was handing me an opening, I wasn't going to waste it.

While Edgar was distracted looking at the alley, I stayed rooted to the spot and secretly flicked a poisoned needle from my sleeve at the butler. The poisoned needle struck the back of the butler's hand, and I pulled it back into my sleeve.

Edgar opened his mouth to bark another order, but only a raspy "Guh-uh-" came out. His vocal cords locked up as if scorched by fire.

He clutched his throat with both hands, his eyes bulging in sheer terror as he pointed at me.

"What's wrong, Butler Edgar?" I asked, tilting my head as I looked down at him. "Is your guilty conscience making it impossible to speak?"

The commoners gasped, stepping further back. First the guards collapsed out of nowhere, and now the arrogant butler had gone mute. The way they looked at me shifted from mockery to fear.

Suddenly, Chloe scrambled out of the carriage on her hands and knees.

She threw herself at the feet of the disarmed guard, pointing at me and shrieking at the top of her lungs, "Arrest her! She's hiding a deadly silver weapon on her body!"

My brows knitted together as I looked down at the traitor.

"I saw it with my own eyes!" Chloe screamed like a rabid dog, desperate to please the manor's masters. "She hid a pure silver dagger inside her waistband! She came here today to assassinate the Crown Prince!"

The crowd exploded into panic. Carrying a pure silver blade into an Alpha's residence was treason punishable by the execution of one's entire clan.

A dozen fully armored guards poured out of the manor gates, surrounding me in a tight circle of steel.

Standing at the center of the blades, I brushed my fingertips over the hard lump hidden inside my waistband, and the corners of my lips curled up.