3. Conspiracy

Ella's POV

After they left, I crouched down to pick up the broken bamboo basket that had been stepped on, sighed, and returned home to replace it with a new one.

In the past, even when Mother wasn't around, Kevin would stand by my side, and the werewolves wouldn't dare to bully me. I held back the tears that wanted to spill from my eyes, trying my best not to think about Maya's words.

Turns out, Kevin had slept with Maya the day before the adult ceremony.

My mate and the bitch I detest the most made love, and then rejected me.

I passed by a weapons shop, and from not far away, I heard noisy voices. I originally intended to ignore them and pass through the crowd, but a familiar male voice called my name, “Ella!”

Even if I didn’t turn back, I could tell it was Kevin's voice. At this moment, I didn't want to deal with him.

“Wait, Ella! I need your help.”

My steps hesitated for a moment, and he caught up with me. Kevin's tall and sturdy figure stood in front of me, heaving for breath, his scent still so familiar, yet I felt him so strange at this moment.

“Ella, are you still angry about yesterday? I thought given our past relationship, you would forgive me.”

Forgive him?

With a hint of anger, I lifted my head, but when I locked eyes with his blue ones, he chuckled, “Ella, I apologize to you. Can you forgive me? I hope we can go back to how things were.”

I remained silent. I didn’t understand how agonizing his rejection was for me, while Kevin could easily brush off what happened.

He truly didn't care about my feelings.

I gestured angrily.

Kevin, I said yesterday that we have no relationship from now on. Please, don't come near me.

Kevin furrowed his brow, scrutinizing my expression. His handsome face showed helplessness, “Fine, you're still so stubborn. If you change your mind, we can still go back.”

As I tried to leave, he grabbed my clothes again, “Ella, I need your help right now.”

I glared at him with anger.

“My subordinates started vomiting excessively this morning, and what's worse, just now, two werewolves died of heart attacks. I've asked the Pack's pharmacist, but the pharmacist says it's an extremely rare poisonous herb, yet there are no specific clues about it, so we can't find an antidote.”

As soon as he mentioned the poisonous herb, my interest was piqued. Kevin knew well about my fascination with herbs. He continued, “All the poisoned werewolves claim they didn’t consume any herbs but had their usual breakfast. Ella, I need you to help me identify the poisonous herb that's affecting the werewolves.”

With every move and gesture, Kevin exuded a sense of authority as a leader. I hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly. I communicated using sign language.

I can help, but I have conditions. Once I'm done, you must fulfill my request.

“Okay,” Kevin nodded in agreement.

Then, Kevin led me into a rudimentary grass hut, likely a temporary shelter. There were two guards outside the door, and as I entered, the guards closed the door automatically. I pursed my lips, this seemed like a clandestine affair.

I examined the bodies of the two deceased werewolves, their lips were purple, a clear sign of suffocation. According to Kevin, they had vomited before their deaths.

I focused, using my fingers to manipulate the chin of one poisoned werewolf. As I moved his face from left to right, there was a sudden chill when my fingertips touched his skin. However, the werewolf had only died a few minutes ago, and his body temperature wouldn't have dropped so significantly.

“A mute Omega treating the sick? How could the Alpha trust her?”

“Is she here to cause trouble?”

I heard whispers behind me from the guards, ignoring them as I approached the poisoned but living werewolf.

Kevin warned his subordinates with a glance, and the scene quieted down. Then, he followed my steps closely, “Ella, any discoveries?”

I stared at the enlarged pupils of the poisoned werewolf, their trembling body from the cold, and gestured with sign language.

Do you feel a burning sensation in your throat, heaviness in your chest? Or even a sensation of chilling?

The soldiers didn’t understand my sign language, they looked puzzled, gazing at Alpha Kevin. Kevin repeated my questions.

"Y-yes, all of us have the symptoms she mentioned."

How long has it been since you started feeling sick?

I continued using sign language.

"About... 3 hours."

I frowned and continued gesturing.

Did you eat a green plant this morning, and its juice was red?

When Kevin reiterated my question, the soldiers pondered, still wearing perplexed expressions.

"As we've just checked, there were no herbs found in today's breakfast," said one werewolf soldier.

"Red..." Suddenly, another soldier seemed to recall something. His lips trembled as he said, "We did eat a sandwich with red-colored bread, but that didn’t seem like an herb..."

"Quickly bring the sandwiches bought today," Kevin ordered his subordinates.

Soon, the sandwich wrapped in white paper was presented to me. I opened the package, uncovered the red crumbs, sniffed them. The scent of the crushed juice wasn’t strong; one wouldn’t notice it unless smelled closely.

Indeed, it was the smell of herbs!

I took a small piece of the breadcrumb, licked it with my tongue, about to savor its taste, but I forcefully spat it out when a strong force made me do so. I looked at Kevin disapprovingly.

"Ella, are you out of your mind? This might contain poisonous herbs. I asked you to find the poison, not to ingest it!" Kevin's expression turned serious as he reprimanded my inappropriate action.

The other werewolf soldiers also looked at me incredulously.

I pursed my lips, unconcerned. They didn’t know; in fact, I had tasted various herbs since I was very young, almost immune to poisons.

Smell it.

I gestured to Kevin using sign language.

Like me, he took some breadcrumbs and smelled them. Then, his eyes flashed with a fierce glint. He looked at me, questioning with his blue eyes. Immediately, I gestured with sign language again.

This is Bloodroot. For humans, ingestion leads to fatal poisoning within two hours. For werewolves, it’s within four hours. They need to have their stomachs pumped as soon as possible.

After conveying this, I left the grass hut. Kevin didn’t stop me, immediately ordering his subordinates to seek a physician to treat the poisoned werewolves.

To be honest, I don't care about the conspiracy involving the Blood Moon clan; it's not something I need to know. After all, the less a weakling knows, the safer they are.

The only thing I worry about is my mother, the beta of the Blood Moon clan. As a female warrior on the war front, she will face many dangers. In the previous generation, my grandfather and even my ancestors, generation after generation, served as the Alpha's Beta for the Blood Moon clan, protecting the werewolves. However, when an anomaly like me, a weak Omega, appeared in their lineage, I didn’t receive the shelter and understanding from the clan members. Instead, I faced endless ridicule.

So, my only wish now is, if there’s a chance, I want to leave with my mother and go somewhere that truly accepts us.