Moon Bound [Undergoing Rewrite]

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

After managing to get dressed, Dmitri tried to walk out of the room, but stumbled forward, a hand clasped over his full-even lips. He was trying to not show the pain he was in, but he didn't have to.

Ludovica could sense it.

When she tried to help him, he jerked away. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

In that moment, he began to cough, as if he had a horrendous cold. Wide-eyed, he stared in disbelief at his bloodstained hand. Then, he crumbled to the ground.

With a cry for help, she knelt beside him and pulled him closer to her. This couldn't be happening. It had to be a nightmare.

"Please don't leave me," she whispered as she held him closer, wishing she could rewind time. It should have been obvious that Diego had been planning this. She had Dmitri's scent all over her skin, which told anyone that was only a matter of time before they tried to mark each other, making it official.

Dmitri's eyes snapped open as he inhaled deeply. His white eyes averted in every direction, as if he was trying to figure out where he was. Bewildered, Ludovica stared as snowflakes fell from the ceiling around them. "G—Get Beth." With an aching heart, Ludovica realized his lips were covered in frost. "I'm—I'm losing control."

Without a second thought, Ludovica lurched to her feet, but before she could leave, the door flung open. Beth stormed into the room, followed by everyone else. She knelt beside Dmitri and grasped his hand, which was also covered in frost.

"You're freezing," she whispered, the pain lacing through her evident in her tone. She began to whisper to him in another language before she flattened her small hands on his chest. Her hand began to glow as she kept chanting. By the time she finished, the snow had completely vanished and the frost melted from his lips and hands.

"What happened?" asked Angie, holding her child in her arms.

"He has been poisoned."

"Impossible," Vincent said.

"Diego planned it all well. He injected my veins with...with a potion created by witches that I had believed didn't exist," Ludovica whispered, her heart clenching with agonizing pain. "Axion."

Everyone's eyes widened at the name. Beth stared at Dmitri in complete horror. She shook her head before clasping a hand over her lips. "No. Then...he...he will die a slow painful way. His insides are being destroyed as we speak. He will not make it."

"The potion has other effects. If Dmitri is strong enough it will not kill him," Alfonso said from the opened doorway of the room. "He will turn human."

For hours Ludovica stood beside the bed where Dmitri slept...or so she thought. Just to make sure he was still with her, she placed her hand above his heart, feeling the too slow heartbeat underneath her palm.

"I never thought...I would ever turn human." He spoke slowly, but Ludovica was still elated to hear his voice. Beth's spell had calmed him down and helped him regain control. After she made a second spell to abate his pain, the boys carried him to the bed.

In an attempt to control her voice, Ludovica brushed the hair strands out of his forehead and inhaled. "I'm sorry. This is entirely my fault. I should have sensed that venom within my veins."

Eyes still closed, he shook his head, a faint smile on his lips. "It was mine. My powers should have alerted me, but I ignored the alarm going off in my head." He chuckled. "My wolf was too blinded to mark you as our eternal mate."

"Is best you rest." She kissed his forehead and narrowed her eyes at the unusual drop of his warmth. Usually, werewolves' bodies were warmer than humans. This was a sign that he was indeed too powerful for the venom to destroy him from the inside out, so...he was turning human.

Her gaze fell upon the mark on his neck. She traced the tip of her forefinger along every detail, holding back a sob as it began to fade away. "Dmitri..." her voice trailed off when she realized he had fallen back asleep.

How was she going to deal with this?

If he turned human, he would be forbidden to ever enter Astros...they wouldn't have a future. He would begin to age; She would not.

"Can I come in?" asked Beth from the hallway.

"Yeah."

Ludovica stepped away from the bed, arms folded over her chest as Beth walked into the room. She took one glance at Dmitri, and then stared at Ludovica.

"I was discussing our options with Vincent and Hellen. Once this is over, we are taking Dmitri with us."

Ludovica folded her fingers into fists. "You can't make that decision for him."

"We both know that he has no other choice. Ludovica, you can't forget the fact the council wants you both alive for unknown reasons. If Dmitri turns human, it will be easier for them to trap him. They won't send him away; they will lock him up in one of the prisons in Astros. We aren't taking any chances. When this is over, he will leave with us."

"How do you know he will agree?"

"Because he won't want them wiping his memory of you." She stepped closer, her eyes overwhelmed with tears. "Many want him dead. He will not make it in the human world."

"What can the venom do to me?"

"What?"

"If it is retracted. What would happen to me?"

"I...don't know."

"I want you to try, even if it kills me."

"But what do you wish to do with the venom once—" Beth stared in complete disbelief at Ludovica, realizing her intentions. "You are insane."

"I know."