Veritas

Chapter 6

Wolf's-bane was a cute little plant that was lethal to wolves.

Daisy sniffed the air, and sure enough, mixed in with the disgusting stench of the rogues was the sweet, nutty smell of the lethal flower. After making quick work of the second rogue, she lunged at one of the last two fighting Axel.

He was getting slower, and sloppier. The rogues were no match for him in top form, and even in his poisoned state, he was keeping them at bay; however, Daisy and Emese could see how dire the situation was. He needed medical attention immediately. Despite the werewolves' ability to heal quickly, that ability didn't apply when they were inflicted with wolf's-bane. So not only was he sluggish from the poison, but any wounds that had been inflicted would not be healing properly either.

"How were you poisoned?" She demanded, throwing her rogue against a tree to distance him, allowing her to get in between Axel and the last rogue snapping at him. Emese was now in a defensive stance before her mate, who suddenly flopped onto the ground in a sitting position. He was panting heavily, and she could hear his weakening heartbeat.

"It was after I got bit...I could feel it...As if they injected it into me...It wasn't just like they had it on their teeth...It makes no sense" he explained through his exhaustion.

He was right that it made no sense. Werewolves had no ability to inject venom with their bite, despite what some human lore would suggest. The only creature she knew of that could inject venom with a bite was a vampire; but...These were certainly not vampires. What was going on?

It didn't matter, she knew she was losing time. She managed to make fairly quick work of the two rogues before taking a look around. The numbers had dwindled, and the rogues were most certainly facing heavy losses. As a matter of fact, it seemed that the majority of rogues had been focused around Axel. There were over a dozen dead rogues circling them; whereas, overall there were probably only two dozen in total.

"They targeted mate" Emese said furiously. Daisy had to agree, somehow there were no casualties from the pack; but, it was clear the rogues had singled out Axel.

"We need a medic! Axel's poisoned! The rogues are dead!" Daisy shouted through the pack link.

"On the way!" came the reply of the pack's doctor, giving her a sense of hope.

She turned her attention back to her mate, and saw he was swaying on the spot. She sidled up to him to let him lean on her, and nuzzled him gently. "You're going to be okay, baby" Daisy cooed softly through their mind-link.

"Told you I...Wouldn't die...Before you got here..." he responded with a weak chuckle. Even though it was through mind-link, Daisy could hear the exertion in Axel's body with every word shared.

"New rule, now. You can't die today at all" she said, nudging him gently to guide him to the ground so he could rest better. "Just take it easy now, love. The fighting is over, everyone is safe. We just need to focus on saving you, okay? Stay strong, don't talk, just listen to me, okay?"

Daisy shifted back to her human form so she could cuddle into him more, stroking the fur on the top of his head while she hummed to him. She didn't care that the novice guards and novice warriors were able to witness their shared moment, all she cared about was trying to keep JJ focused on the here and now. She just needed him to hold on until the medics could take him.

The two were in their own little world. Those around them had begun the task of cleaning up the bodies, and were respectfully ignoring the couple for the most part. Daisy was focused on listening to Axel's heart, and his breathing, her own heartbeat and breathing picking up each time she noted his had slowed down.