Avenging Luna
Chapter 88: On The Edge

Chapter 88: On The Edge

Drake’s POV:

I needed to get out of there, away from everything that was making me feel like I was losing control. The weight of the situation was pressing down on me, and I knew that if I stayed, I’d explode in ways that wouldn’t help anyone, least of all Leila. My mind was a storm of conflicting emotions—anger, confusion, and hurt all swirling around, making it impossible to think straight.

I had to clear my head. I needed to go for a run.

Shifting always helped me burn off whatever anger I had built up. The rush of wind through my fur, the pounding of my paws on the earth—it grounded me, pulled me back to something real when everything else felt like it was spinning out of control. I’d be able to think more clearly, figure out what the hell was really going on.

As I walked outside, the cool evening air hit me, but it did nothing to calm the fire burning inside me. The tension in my muscles was too much. I felt like I was about to snap, and the only way to stop it was to shift and let my wolf take over, if only for a little while.

Once I reached the edge of the forest, I let the change happen. The shift was quick, almost automatic, like my body knew exactly what I needed. The moment my paws hit the ground, I was off, running deeper into the woods, letting the rhythm of the run guide me.

The further I ran, the more my mind started to clear. It was like the forest was absorbing some of the anger, the frustration. The soft thud of my paws against the earth became a kind of steadying heartbeat, something to focus on instead of the chaos in my mind.

Leila’s face kept flashing in my head, the way she’d looked when I found her with the bottle in her hand. I couldn’t get it out of my mind—how she’d claimed not to know what it was, how convincing she had sounded. And yet... the wolfbane was in her blood.

I didn’t want to believe she’d go back to wanting to abort our child. But the evidence was there, staring me in the face, and it made me question everything. Was I being too harsh? Or was I being a fool for trusting her? Either way, it was tearing me apart.

I pushed harder, my legs propelling me faster through the trees. I needed answers, but I had none. Every time I thought I was getting close to figuring it out, something new would throw me off balance again.

There was something else at play here. There had to be.

Leila had looked genuinely shocked when the doctor confirmed the wolfbane in her blood. It didn’t seem like the reaction of someone who’d knowingly poisoned herself.

That question gnawed at me, making me doubt my own judgment. If someone else had planted the bottle, who the hell could it be? And why would they want to frame Leila for something like this?

I slowed my pace, the need to figure things out overriding the urge to keep running. My wolf instincts told me to trust Leila, to believe in her the way I always had, but the human part of me—the part that had been betrayed before—couldn’t let go of the possibility that she might have lied.

But what if she hadn’t?

What if someone else was trying to tear us apart?

I stopped in the middle of a clearing, panting heavily as I looked up at the night sky. The moon hung low, casting a pale glow over everything. It reminded me of the first time Leila and I had been together under the moonlight, the connection we’d shared back then. That bond was still there, strong as ever. But right now, it felt fragile, like it was being tested in ways I didn’t know how to handle.

I shifted back to my human form, breathing hard as I stood there in the quiet of the forest. Running had helped burn off some of the anger, but the confusion was still there, gnawing at me.

Leila’s POV:

He came back.

I couldn’t believe it—after everything, Drake actually came back. But now? Now, he found me doing the one thing that made me look guilty beyond all doubt. Drinking from that cursed bottle.

Goddess, what have I done?

I stood frozen, the bottle still in my hand as his eyes flared with anger. No, not just anger—fury. Pure, unbridled rage. He thought I did it. That I tried to poison myself and our baby. I could see it in his eyes, the way his body trembled with barely contained rage. I felt the bond between us strain under the weight of his mistrust. He looked at me like I had betrayed him in the worst way possible.

How stupid could I be?

There were no words. What could I say that wouldn’t make it worse? How could I explain that I had picked up the bottle out of sheer curiosity? How could I make him believe that I had no idea what was inside it, that I had never seen it before? Especially when he had walked in at that exact moment.

The moment I held the bottle to my lips.

I wanted to scream, to cry, to throw the bottle as far away as possible. I wanted to tear my hair out because I had no way of proving my innocence. The evidence was all against me, just like it had been with Lily—when everyone thought I was the guilty one, when everything pointed to me. But back then, I knew who was setting me up. This time... I had no idea. There was no villain hiding in the shadows that I could call out. No one to blame but myself.

Drake was right there, staring at me like he didn’t know who I was anymore, and I... I couldn’t find my voice. The words wouldn’t come. My chest tightened painfully as his gaze bore into me, filled with so much hurt, so much betrayal, that it crushed me.

"Leila," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "You said you didn’t know about this bottle. You said you hadn’t seen it before. But I find you drinking from it? How can I believe you now?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. My throat was dry, and the lump in my chest made it impossible to form words. How could I explain to him that I was just... curious? I wanted to see what it was, to prove to myself that it couldn’t be wolfbane because how could something so deadly be in my drawer without me knowing?

But now...

He looked at me like everything between us had shattered.

"Drake, I... I wasn’t trying to hurt the baby. I swear." My voice was barely a whisper. "I thought... I thought it was just water. I wasn’t sure. I had to check."

Drake’s face hardened, his jaw clenched so tightly that I thought it might break. He shook his head, like he didn’t believe a word I was saying. His body radiated anger and disappointment, and I felt every bit of it through our bond. It crushed me.

"I came back to talk, Leila," he said, his voice now cold. "I wanted to figure out what was really going on. To try and understand. But what I see is you lying to my face and risking our child’s life."

The way he said "our child" made my heart twist painfully. He wanted this baby. He wanted it so badly, and now, he thought I was trying to take that away from him.

"I’m not lying," I whispered, tears burning at the corners of my eyes. "I didn’t know, Drake. I swear, I didn’t know."

But even as I said it, I knew how it sounded. It sounded weak. Like I was making excuses.

Drake’s expression didn’t change. He was unreadable now, a wall of cold fury and hurt. Without another word, he grabbed the bottle from my hand, disgust flickering across his face, and stormed out of the room.

I collapsed to the floor, my knees giving out under me. The weight of it all was too much to bear. My world felt like it was crumbling, and I didn’t know how to stop it. I wanted to scream, to beg him to come back, to believe me. But I couldn’t.

He doesn’t believe me.

The realization hit me like a punch to the gut. I had lost him.

How could I defend myself now? Everything pointed to me. Every single piece of evidence. I could see it in his eyes—he thought I’d gone back on my decision to keep the baby. That I’d reverted to my earlier fears of not wanting to be a mother, of not being able to handle the responsibility. And in his mind, I had taken matters into my own hands.

But that wasn’t true.

I had grown to love this baby. I had come to terms with it, accepted it as a part of me. I wasn’t trying to get rid of it. I would never do that, not now.

But how could I explain that? How could I make him believe me when the evidence was so damning?

The doctor’s results had confirmed it—wolfbane in my blood. The very poison that could harm our child. But how? When? I hadn’t taken it. I would never.

Yet here I was, alone, sobbing on the floor of my bedroom, with no one to believe me. Not even my mate. Not even Drake.

There were no answers, only questions. And I was left drowning in them.

A part of me wanted to chase after Drake, to make him listen, to beg him to give me a chance to explain. But what was the point? He had already made up his mind. He had already decided that I was guilty. I could see it in his eyes before he walked out.

I felt my tears fall harder as the silence of the room enveloped me. I looked at the bottle again, my mind racing. Maybe it wasn’t wolfbane. Maybe it was some kind of mistake. But the doctor had confirmed it.

How had I gotten to this point? How had everything spiraled so far out of control?

I was losing Drake. I was losing the baby. And worst of all, I was losing myself.