Chapter 151: Poisoned Obsession
Michelle
I hated this place.
The air was damp and heavy, the ground uneven beneath my boots, and the silence of the trees pressed on me like a suffocating blanket. Liam had dragged us into the middle of nowhere, and I couldn’t take it anymore. My temper had been simmering since we left, but now it boiled over.
"This?" I snapped, spinning on him with my arms outstretched. "This is where you brought me? To rot in the wilderness like some kind of animal?"
He didn’t flinch. He never did. Liam’s calmness infuriated me more than anything else. He stood there with that same maddeningly detached expression, his silver eyes flickering in the dim light.
"I had no choice," he said finally, his voice clipped but even. "Considering the circumstances, this is the only place safe enough to regroup."
"Safe enough?" I barked out a laugh that sounded more like a growl. "You call this safe? We’re exposed here, Liam. If she—if Josie—comes after us, we’ll have nowhere to hide."
His gaze sharpened, but his face remained cold. "You think I don’t know that?"
I stepped closer, my voice rising. "Then why didn’t you tell me about her powers before? You kept me in the dark, like a fool. I should have known. I should have been ready!"
His lips curled, though not in amusement. "You were the one living in the pack, Michelle. Not me. How, exactly, was I supposed to inform you of things happening under your own nose?"
The words cut like knives. My body trembled with rage. I balled my fists at my sides, feeling the nails dig into my palms. "Don’t you dare put this on me!" I screamed. "I could have handled her if you hadn’t hidden the truth!"
Something flickered in his eyes then, the tiniest crack in his composure, and before I could lash out again, he moved. His hand shot out, gripping my wrist, his strength like iron. He spun me against a nearby tree, pinning me there with one arm across my chest.
"Enough!" he roared, the sharpness of his voice vibrating through me. "Stop acting like this—you’re driving me insane!"
I struggled, thrashing against him, my hair whipping into my face. "Let me go!"
"Not until you shut up," he growled. His face was close now, too close, his breath hot on my cheek. "You ruined everything with your recklessness. I had plans, Michelle. Real plans. And you—" His grip tightened. "You destroyed them by insisting this was the best way. And now the witch will come after me."
The word witch made my stomach twist.
"I didn’t ruin anything!" I spat, even though the sting of his words cut deep. "This isn’t my fault. I don’t fail. I never fail."
Liam’s laughter was short, bitter, and cruel. He leaned back slightly, his eyes like shards of ice. "Never fail? Then why am I the one who had to save you? Tell me, Michelle. Who pulled you out when everything collapsed? Who kept you alive when Josie almost killed you? Certainly not you."
My throat closed up. For a moment, I couldn’t speak. The truth of it burned, but admitting it would kill me.
"You’re a failure," he said flatly. "You should never have provoked her. You could have ended it quickly, simply killed her. But no—you wanted to play your little games. And look where it’s brought us."
His words echoed in the hollow of my chest. I turned my face away, refusing to let him see how much it hurt. Maybe I had made a mistake. Maybe I had underestimated Josie more than I should have.
It shouldn’t have happened. None of it should have happened.
But it did. And now, it burned like acid in my veins.
"I’ll think of a plan," I whispered, more to myself than to him. My eyes stared unfocused at the ground, but inside, my mind twisted and turned. "I’ll get even. She won’t win."
His grip loosened, but his anger didn’t fade. "Stop," he snapped. "Stop using that brain of yours for once. Do you even understand what you’ve done? I was so close to making them trust me. So close. And you—you pulled me off track. And now we’re here, hiding like rats because of you."
His words dripped with venom, and yet I couldn’t let them sink in. I wouldn’t.
"Don’t talk to me like that," I hissed, finally meeting his eyes again. "You may be powerful, Liam, but you’re nothing compared to Josie. If we want all of her powers, we can’t afford weakness. Not now."
His jaw tightened. "And what do you suggest we do, then?"
A slow, dangerous smile crept across my face. The idea had been brewing quietly, darkly, but now it surfaced. "We kill the Alpha."
The silence after my words was deafening. Even the wind seemed to pause, the leaves hanging still in the air.
He stared at me as though I’d sprouted horns. "You’re insane," he said flatly.
"Am I?" I tilted my head, stepping closer to him. "Think about it. Kill the Alpha, and Josie will break. She’ll spiral into madness, unable to think, unable to fight back. She’ll be vulnerable, Liam. And then..." I licked my lips, savoring the thought. "It will be easier to take her powers. To kill her once and for all."
His expression didn’t soften. He looked at me like I was dangerous—and maybe I was.
"You’re doing all of this because you want the men," he said finally, his tone sharp. "Don’t think I don’t see it. This obsession of yours—it clouds everything. Why kill them when they’re the very thing you want?"
His words hit the nerve I kept buried deep. But I wouldn’t let him see that either.
"The only one I want is Kiel," I said, my voice steady now, cold with certainty. "And once his family is gone, once there’s no one left standing at his side, he’ll have no choice but to turn to me. I’ll be there for him, Liam. I’ll wipe his tears, hold him through the pain, make him realize I was the one all along."
His eyes widened slightly, as though even he hadn’t expected that level of madness. But I meant every word.
"You’re delusional," he muttered, shaking his head. "It’s a crazy idea."
"Crazy?" I leaned closer, until I could see my reflection in his eyes. "No, Liam. It’s the most realistic idea we’ve had yet. Everything else has failed. Everything. This—" I pressed a hand to my chest, feeling the thrill of it rush through me. "This will work. And when it does, Josie will be nothing but a memory."
He hesitated. Just for a moment. And that was all I needed.
"You," I whispered, "need to prepare a charm. Something powerful enough to rip her powers from her body. With it, we won’t just win, Liam. We’ll become the most powerful creatures in the world."