Cough! Cough!
I gasped for air, the water in my lungs stinging like needles. With a violent heave, I vomited—not just water, but the remnants of wolfsbane poisoning my system.
I'm still alive.
I tried calling to my wolf, but there was no response. My body was too damaged, too weak to summon him.
Penelope helped me stagger into a nearby cave before I collapsed again, slipping back into unconsciousness.
The wolfsbane slithered through my veins like venomous vines, spreading its poison through every inch of me. In my delirium, reality fractured. My father's face flickered in and out of my vision. Penelope's tear-filled eyes. Even my long-dead mother appeared, her ghostly smile haunting me. Their faces twisted together, weaving a net of memories that trapped me in a feverish nightmare.
I didn't know how much time had passed when I finally woke. Penelope lay beside me, her chest rising and falling steadily.
Is this a hallucination? A dream?
