Chapter 3 - THE BLOOD ANALYSIS
By dawn, the news had sent shockwaves through Obsidian Ridge.
The Alpha King had ordered a complete lockdown of the inner fortress. No one was allowed to enter or leave without Lawson’s personal seal.
In the royal medical lab, Abigail sat beside the central examination table. She had slept for only two hours, her hands wrapped in clean bandages provided by the King's personal guard.
Lawson stood near the window, his arms crossed over his massive chest, watching his royal court physician, Dr. Samuel, inspect the thirty-four needles under a high-powered magnifying glass.
Dr. Samuel was trembling so violently that his white coat rustled.
"Well?" Lawson’s growl rattled the glass vials on the shelves.
"S-Sire," Dr. Samuel stammered, pulling back from the microscope. "The analysis is... horrific. These are custom-forged steel alloy needles, coated in concentrated wolfsbane and moon-shade extract."
"Explain what they did to him," Lawson demanded coldly.
"When inserted along the major meridian pathways of a young wolf's body," Dr. Samuel explained, wiping cold sweat from his forehead, "they act as a magic nullifier and a physical pain generator. The wolfsbane leaks slowly into the bloodstream, creating a constant fever and skin rot. The body tries to fight it, but the silver prevents the natural healing process."
"It mimics a fatal genetic degradation," Abigail added quietly from her seat.
Dr. Samuel looked at Abigail with a mixture of awe and shame. "Yes... precisely. To any physician testing his blood, it would appear as though his core wolf energy was devouring his physical body. A slow, agonizing death that takes years."
Lawson turned toward Dr. Samuel, taking a slow step forward. "And you, who examined my son every week for twenty-four months... you never felt these needles under his skin?"
Dr. Samuel dropped to his knees, burying his face in his hands. "Sire! Lady Vane handled all physical preparations for Lord Finn’s exams! She presented him to me already sedated! She told me touching his skin caused him unbearable pain, so I relied on her reports!"
"Incompetence is no defense against treason," Lawson growled, signaling the guards at the door. "Take Dr. Samuel to the interrogation wing. Lock him in a cell adjacent to Vane."
As the guards dragged the crying doctor out, the room fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.
Lawson walked over to the small velvet cot in the corner of the lab.
Finn was lying on his back, transformed back into his human form—a small, pale boy with messy dark hair, fast asleep, clutching a small stuffed bear Abigail had found for him. His skin was pale, but the awful red lesions were fading into soft pink scars.
Lawson knelt beside the cot, his large hand hovering over his son's chest.
"Two years," Lawson whispered, his voice cracking slightly. "For two years, I held him while he screamed. I prayed to the Moon Goddess to take my life instead of his. And all the while, my own staff were driving steel into his flesh."
Abigail stood up and walked to the other side of the cot.
"They did it because they wanted you broken, Your Majesty," Abigail said softly. "A king distracted by a dying heir cannot protect his borders. He cannot notice who is stealing power right beneath his nose."
Lawson looked up at her, his golden eyes burning with dark fire.
"Who are you really, Abigail?" Lawson asked, his gaze piercing. "A simple third-class maid doesn't recognize meridian pathways. A maid doesn't know how to remove silver-barbed needles without severing nerve endings."
Abigail swallowed hard, her pulse spiking. She looked down at Finn’s peaceful face.
"My father was the Chief Master of Medicine for the Crescent Alliance," she confessed softly. "Five years ago, his pack was wiped out by rogues. I hid among the refugees, changing my name, taking low work to survive."
Lawson stood up, stepping closer to her. "Then you know how to treat him?"
"I know how to heal him completely," Abigail promised. "But removing the needles was only the first step. The wolfsbane poison is still lodged in his bone marrow. If we don't extract it within forty-eight hours, he will suffer permanent nerve damage."
Lawson reached out, taking Abigail’s bandaged hand in his massive palm.
"From this moment on, you are Finn's sole physician and guardian," Lawson declared, his voice ringing with absolute authority. "You answer to no one but me. Anything you need—herbs, guards, gold—is yours. Just save my boy."
"I will," Abigail swore. "I give you my life on it."
Before Lawson could reply, the door to the lab was thrown open.
A tall, elegant woman clad in rich crimson velvet stepped into the room, flanked by two high-ranking beta warriors.
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It was Lady Seraphina—Lawson’s cousin and the Treasurer of the Northern Alliance.
"Lawson!" Seraphina demanded, her eyes sweeping over the lab with sharp suspicion. "What is the meaning of this lockdown? The council is in an uproar! You threw Lady Vane in the dungeon without a trial!"
