Chapter 5

Karyme POV:

Dinner was a battlefield.

I picked at my steak. Then, my throat began to burn.

"Wolfsbane," I rasped, airway closing.

Archie roared for the doctor, terror in his eyes. "Get the antidote!"

Faustina watched her plate, a small smile playing on her lips.

The shot stabilized me.

"It was an accident!" Faustina wailed. "I saw a new cook using strange herbs! Oh god, the stress... the baby..." She doubled over.

Archie froze. He looked at me, alive, then at her.

"I have to check on the heir," he said, and left me.

I locked myself in my room. Two hours later, a crash echoed from the hall.

I stumbled out. The massive crystal chandelier lay shattered on the marble. Faustina lay amidst the glass, screaming, a small cut on her head.

"She pushed me!" Faustina shrieked, pointing at me. "Karyme tried to kill the baby!"

I stood on the landing, twenty feet away.

Archie looked up, eyes glowing red.

"Go to your room, Karyme," he commanded. The Alpha voice slammed into me. "You are confined."

"Archie, look at where I am standing-"

"GO!"

Later, I watched from the window. Archie sat on a garden bench, Faustina on his lap. He kissed her. Deep. Passionate.

The curse didn't kill us. He did.

My phone buzzed. Wolfsbane cleared.

I am coming, Jalen.

I opened the window, looked at the three-story drop, and shifted. I suppressed the white glow, remaining a shadow.

I landed and ran for the trees.