Chapter 192

• Ethan was barely conscious as he lay sprawled on the cold stone floor, his breath coming in shallow gasps. Ryker was beside him, crouched low, shaking him desperately in an attempt to keep him awake. But it wasn’t working. Ethan’s eyes kept fluttering shut, his body too heavy, too weak to respond. The wolfsbane coursing through his system was too strong, overwhelming even his powerful lycan healing abilities. He was slipping fast. Summer stood a few feet away, and even from that distance, the sharp, acrid scent of the poison stung her nostrils. She could smell how potent it was. That only meant one thing. It meant that Odette had used a dangerously large amount. Even someone as strong as Ethan might not survive that level of exposure without help.
• Summer’s heart pounded in her chest, torn between rushing to Ethan’s side and standing her ground. She knew he needed medical attention, fast. They needed to flush the wolfsbane out of his body immediately, or it would soon be too late. The poison was spreading too quickly, and time was slipping through their fingers. She clenched her fists, her gaze fixed on the king, who stood before her, poised and deadly, ready for a fight.
• They were in the middle of a brutal standoff. The throne room was tense with silence, broken only by distant sounds of fighting echoing from other parts of the castle. Summer had been mind-linking, calling out for help. Her voice echoed in the minds of Ethan’s pack, the only ones who could still hear her plea. The Alpha was down. His warriors were the only reinforcements she could hope for, and they were trying. They were fighting tooth and nail to break through the enemy ranks. But it wasn’t easy. They were being intercepted, slowed down by more warriors than they had accounted for. It was chaos, and reinforcements weren’t arriving fast enough.