My Alpha Chose My Pregnant Sister, So I Chose the Lycan King

"Or I will have the pack guards strip you of your title right here in this hallway," Damian warned, his voice echoing off the sterile walls.

I didn't wait to hear another word. I turned my back on my mate and my sister, pushing through the heavy glass double doors of the clinic.

The afternoon sun beat down on the asphalt parking lot, but I felt only ice in my veins. My joints throbbed with that familiar, crippling ache. I took one step, then another, my vision swimming until the concrete blurred into a gray smear.

A violent cough tore through my chest, ripping a ragged sound from my throat. I doubled over, pressing both hands to my mouth.

Warm liquid coated my tongue. I pulled my hands away.

Blood. Bright, sticky crimson smeared across my skin.

My knees buckled. The ground rushed up to meet me.

Tires shrieked nearby. A matte-black sedan slammed into park just feet away. A car door flew open. Strong arms caught my waist before my head could strike the pavement.

"Selena!" a deep, commanding voice barked.

I blinked, trying to focus on the sharp jawline and dark eyes above me, but the darkness dragged me under.

"Swallow," a harsh voice ordered.

I choked down the bitter liquid and forced my heavy eyelids open.

Cassian Ravenwood stood beside the hospital bed, holding a glass of water. He wore a tailored black shirt, the sleeves rolled up to expose heavily scarred forearms. The boy who used to sneak through my bedroom window was gone. In his place stood the Alpha of the Northern Pack, a man whose reputation for ruthlessness stretched across territories.

Yet, resting against his collarbone, a silver crescent moon pendant caught the fluorescent light. The exact one I bought him at a summer festival ten years ago.

"Cassian," I rasped, my throat raw.

He set the glass on the bedside table with a sharp clink. "You look like a corpse, Selena."

"Good to see you too." I pushed myself up against the pillows. The room smelled of bleach and sterile cotton, entirely different from the pack clinic I had just left. "Where am I?"

"My territory," he said, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "My private hospital. When I saw you collapse outside the obstetrics wing, I didn't trust Damian’s medics to touch you."

I flinched at Damian’s name.

Cassian leaned closer, his dark eyes narrowing. "You chose him over me. You stood in front of my father, rejected my claim, and told the entire council Damian was your fated mate. So tell me, why is your fated mate parading your pregnant sister around while you cough up blood in a parking lot?"

I looked away, staring at the IV taped to the back of my hand. "I have Lupus. My body is failing. I lost our pup a month ago."

"Bullshit," Cassian snapped.

I snapped my gaze back to him. "Excuse me?"

"I said it is bullshit." He turned toward the door. "Thorne! Get in here."

A tall man in a white coat stepped into the room, holding a thick manila folder. "Alpha Ravenwood. Luna."

"She is not his Luna anymore," Cassian corrected sharply. "Tell her what you found."

Dr. Thorne opened the file. "I ran a full toxicology and blood panel when Alpha Ravenwood brought you in. You do not have Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Selena."

My fingers tightened on the edge of the blanket. "I saw the lab results. My joints ache. My hair is falling out. I could not carry my baby to term."

"Those are symptoms of a systemic failure, yes," Thorne replied, pulling out a glossy scan. "But they are not caused by an autoimmune disease. They are caused by Wolf-bane herb."

The name hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.

"Wolf-bane?" I repeated, my voice hollow. "That is a myth. A dark magic toxin from the old wars."

"It is very real," Cassian said, stepping in front of the doctor. "And someone has been feeding it to you for a long time."

Dr. Thorne tapped the scan. "The toxin is designed to suppress your inner wolf. It attacks the immune system, mimics chronic illness, and induces severe weakness. It also makes the uterus completely uninhabitable for a werewolf pup. It caused your miscarriage."

My lungs seized. The sterile room spun.

My baby. My tiny, perfect pup. I didn't lose him because my body was broken. I lost him because someone murdered him.

"Are you certain?" I whispered, my voice trembling.

"Absolutely," Dr. Thorne said. "But Wolf-bane herb breaks down quickly in the bloodstream. To keep you this sick, to maintain the illusion of Lupus, the poison must be ingested continuously. Every single day."

"Thank you, Thorne. Leave us," Cassian ordered.

The door clicked shut, leaving us alone in the tense silence.

Cassian gripped the metal railing of my bed. "Who handles your food, Selena? Who prepares your drinks?"

"The pack omegas," I murmured, my mind racing. "But they cook for everyone. If it was the main food supply, Damian and the others would be sick too."

"Then it is something specific to you," Cassian pushed, his voice dropping to a low, demanding growl. "Think. What do you consume daily that no one else touches?"

I stared at the white blanket. The past six months flashed through my mind. The sudden onset of my insomnia. The exhaustion.

“You look so tired, sister. Let me make you something special.”

Vivian’s sweet, innocent voice echoed in my ears.

“It is a special herbal blend, just for sleep. You have to drink it every night, Selena. Promise me.”

My stomach violently churned.

"Tea," I choked out.

Cassian’s jaw tightened. "What tea?"

"Vivian," I said, the name tasting like ash on my tongue. "For the last six months, she comes to my room every night. She brews a special sleep-aiding herbal tea. She stands there and watches me drink every last drop."

Cassian’s eyes darkened with lethal understanding. "Your little sister."

"She told me it was to help me rest." I grabbed the collar of my hospital gown, struggling to pull air into my lungs. "She poisoned me. She killed my baby. And now she is carrying Damian’s pup."

"She cleared the path," Cassian stated, his tone devoid of pity, offering only cold facts. "She broke your body so she could take your mate and your title."

I threw the blanket off my legs.

"What are you doing?" Cassian grabbed my shoulder, pushing me back down.

"Let go of me," I snarled, my wolf suddenly clawing at the surface, fueled by a rage I had never known. "I need to go back. I am going to rip her throat out."

"You can barely stand!" Cassian shouted, his Alpha aura flaring, pressing me into the mattress. "If you go back there now, Damian will kill you to protect her. You have no proof. You are weak. You will die."

I fought against his grip, tears of pure fury spilling down my cheeks. "She murdered my baby, Cassian! She smiled at me while she poured poison down my throat!"

"I know!" he roared back, his face inches from mine.

The silence that followed was deafening. He exhaled sharply, his expression softening just a fraction. He reached up, his thumb brushing away a tear that had streaked down my jaw.

"I know," he repeated, his voice dangerously quiet. "But you do not fight a war by walking into an ambush. You want revenge, Selena?"

I stopped struggling. I stared into the dark eyes of the boy I had rejected, the man who had just saved my life. "More than anything."

Cassian stepped back and reached into his jacket pocket. "Then we start by finding exactly what she has been feeding you."

He tossed a small, familiar object onto my lap.

My leather purse. The one I had at the clinic.

I unclasped the brass lock and dug past my wallet. My fingers brushed against cold metal. I pulled out the silver travel thermos Vivian had pressed into my hands this morning.

I twisted the cap off, and floating at the top of the dark liquid were three intact, dried purple roots.