The Alpha's Mate (Unedited)

Part 23

I awoke later that night.

It was midnight.

No, this wasn't some epic night-time escape. The air was thick and humid from the recent hot weather and I sweating like crazy. I slipped out of bed, my throat hoarse and dry. I slid on some shoes and opened the door slowly with a quiet click, desperate for a drink. I padded across the hallway and made a beeline for the kitchen, blinking sleep out my eyes. The hallway was pitch black, but I could just about make out the route with my enhanced werewolf vision.

I headed straight for the fridge and grabbed a carton of orange juice, plonking it down on the worktop and unscrewing the cap. I noticed that stuck on it was a label with Rafael's name on it, written in loopy handwriting with a pink marker pen. Amy. Seriously, who writes their name on food anymore? Especially your boyfriend's food. Or fiancé, I thought slightly bitterly. I deliberately poured a giant glass and tipped the rest down the sink, aware that my actions were probably slightly petty. I took a swig of the juice.

Hmm. That's odd. It tasted slightly bitter.

I shrugged, putting it down to my parched throat unable to taste properly in its current state of dehydration and washed it down with another few sips. I eventually drained the glass and washed it out quickly, balancing it on the draining board. I staggered off upstairs, feeling slightly dizzy.

By the second floor of the house, I was starting to sway. My vision was clouding slightly and my stomach felt like it was groaning. I fell through my bedroom door and stumbled over to my bed, collapsing onto it. I felt terrible. My head was throbbing and I was struggling to concentrate on anything over than the pain threatening to overwhelm me. I buried my sore head in my pillow and felt myself slip into darkness.

"Oh My God!" I heard Luna exclaim.

I fluttered my eye lids and instantly squeezed them shut at the stabbing pain caused by the lights. My head felt like it was a drum kit and my throat was on fire.

"The light" I mumbled and tried to open my eyes to see what Luna was doing. She was knelt over my bed, staring at me apprehensively, Thankfully, she was alone. I slammed my eyelids shut again.

"I don't feel too well" I croaked and Luna placed a cool hand on my forehead.

"Oh my God, you're burning up! Funny - you didn't seem ill last night. You seemed fine." she said, her tone tinged with uncertainty "Did you eat anything past its sell-by date?"

My brain throbbed as I remembered last night's incident.

"The orange juice" I moaned and Luna looked puzzled.

"Last night, I got thirsty and drank some orange juice from the fridge and started to feel sick" I said, with a mammoth effort.

"Which juice?"

I felt my face flush even hotter.

"Rafael's. I, erm, drank all of it. The carton's on the side" I mumbled and Luna vanished. She reappeared not minutes later, gingerly holding the very top of the carton with her thumb and forefinger.

"This it?" she asked and I nodded weakly.

"Guess you need to rethink where you buy your juice. I'm pretty sure it was bought yesterday; it wasn't in the fridge yesterday morning" I said and Luna frowned.

"Something's not right..."

She began dissecting the carton, tentatively tearing the top open and inspecting the innards. I struggled up into a sitting position and Luna flung herself down next to me. I rubbed my forehead, feeling awful. Urg, I hate being sick.

Luna carefully rubbed her finger along the edge, collecting a drop of orange juice and scrutinized it.

"It looks okay" I said.

Luna held the drop up to her nose and sniffed it, immediately reacting and wiping her finger on her t-shirt.

"Wolfs bane" she whispered.

"Is that bad?" I asked, already certain of her response.

"It's poisonous" she said, picking up the carton carefully, Rafael's name scrawled clearly on the side "Especially to werewolves. Someone is trying to poison Rafael's drink."

And I had taken a nice, big dose.

I flipped over and grabbed the wastepaper bin, heaving up the contents of my stomach.