Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 45

Andrei & Natalia

Andrei

The security tent felt far too small with all of us crammed inside. Damon sat across from me, his eyes clear now after the healers had flushed the wolfsbane from his system. Natalia stood beside him, one hand on his shoulder, chin lifted in cool defiance.

As for Lilith, she was pressed close to my side, clutching my shirt and trembling like Damon would lunge across the table and attack her right then and there.

“Let’s see what really happened,” I said, nodding to my Beta.

My Beta pulled up the security footage on the laptop screen. The cameras had caught everything–one of the safeguards we had taken prior to the event, just in case of an incident like this one.

The footage started twenty minutes before the incident. I watched Damon at the feast, talking with other Alphas, completely sober. He picked up a cup of water from the drinks table and took a sip.

Then, within minutes of drinking the water, Damon’s movements became unsteady. He blinked rapidly, shook his head like he was trying to clear it. Classic signs of wolfsbane ingestion.

“Back it up,” I ordered. “Show me who was near that drinks table.”

My Beta rewound the footage. We watched servers moving back and forth, guests picking up various beverages. Nothing looked out of the ordinary until I saw Lilith walking past the table. She brushed past Damon, her arm bumping the same arm that was holding his cup.

“Zoom in.”

The image quality wasn’t perfect, but we could all see it. Something small fell from her sleeve, landing in the cup with a tiny splash that went unnoticed.

Beside me, Lilith went rigid. Damon hissed through his teeth, eyes flashing angrily. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but Natalia shook her head and squeezed his shoulder, and he restrained himself.

“Now show me the bathroom footage,” I said, my jaw clenching.

The scene shifted to show the hallway outside the restrooms. Damon stumbled into view, clearly disoriented. But before he reached the men’s room, we could hear a woman’s voice.

“Damon? I need help.”

On

screen, Damon’s head snapped up. He turned toward the women’s room, and despite the grainy footage, I could see his brow furrow in confusion.

“That’s…” Natalia started, then stopped.

“Play it again,” Damon said quietly.

Chapter 45

+25 Bonus

We watched it three more times. Each time, the same soft call. Each time, Damon responding like a man on a mission, stumbling toward the women’s room.

“You thought it was Natalia,” I said, turning to my brother.

Damon nodded slowly. “In the haze, I… I saw brunette hair through the door. Heard a woman calling for help. I thought my mate needed me.”

I turned to look at Lilith. She’d gone pale, her eyes wide as saucers.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” I asked.

“This is ridiculous!” Lilith pulled away from me and wrapped her arms around herself. “Are you implying that I drugged him? Lured him in there? For what purpose?”

“You tell me. You’re the one who suggested the Northern River Basin for the hunt. The only place in our territory where wolfsbane grows wild.”

“I didn’t know that!”

“The footage doesn’t lie,” Natalia said, gesturing to the screen. “We can all see what happened.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify