Try To Trust Me—Even Just A Little Bit

Clara's POV

At dawn, a guard delivered a letter to me. Alvan, the renowned international Lunar Scent master, had finally replied.

I tore open the envelope to find not only Alvan's handwritten note but also a detailed authentication report. As I read through the findings, a chill crept into my palms.

The report made everything brutally clear: the silver poisoning derivative in that calming incense was no accidental contamination from raw materials. Someone had deliberately extracted and added it using professional techniques. The toxin had been carefully diluted, its scent completely masked by cedarwood and moongrass, designed to seep slowly into the spinal cord through prolonged exposure until it permanently crippled a werewolf's legs. The method was insidiously calculated—without my natural sensitivity to scents, I never would have detected it.

Report in hand, I went straight to Lady Agnes's chambers.

After reading the report, Lady Agnes's expression turned thunderous. As Silvermoon's matriarch, she would never tolerate someone poisoning her son right under her nose. She slammed the report onto the table and immediately summoned the head of her guard.

"Lock every servant who has been involved in Kyle's care in the basement cells," Lady Agnes commanded, her voice tight with suppressed fury. "Interrogate them one by one. No one leaves until we get to the bottom of this."

Lina was naturally among those servants. When the guards came for her, she remained remarkably composed, even taking the time to comfort the other panicking attendants, saying she trusted Lady Agnes would uncover the truth and clear everyone's names. Her performance of innocence was so convincing that no one could have suspected she was the poisoner.

That afternoon, I returned to the apothecary to prepare Kyle's next round of Lunar medication. The moment I stepped inside, an unusual scent hit me.

I hurried to the waste bin and discovered that half of yesterday's medicinal residue was missing. Examining the workbench more closely, I found evidence that someone had used the mortar and pestle—gray powder still clung to its surface.

My mind went blank for a moment before understanding crashed over me. Lina hadn't just poisoned the incense—she was after my Moon's Healing power itself. She'd stolen the residue infused with my Moon's Healing to extract a compound that could suppress an Omega's healing abilities. Once my Moon's Healing was neutralized, I'd be unable to purge the silver poisoning from Kyle's system, and his body would collapse completely.

This woman was even more cunning than I'd imagined.

Without alerting anyone else, I took two guards directly to Lina's temporary quarters.

When we pushed open the door, Lina was frantically trying to shove a paper packet up her sleeve. I signaled to the guards, who immediately restrained her and retrieved the hidden packet. Inside was exactly what I'd suspected: gray powder ground from the dried medicinal residue.

"This is just protective powder I made for myself!" Lina's face drained of color as she shouted, still struggling against the guards' grip.

I looked at her coldly. "This was extracted from my medicinal waste. Lina, there's no point in lying anymore. As of now, you are no longer a caregiver here. You'll be transferred to maximum security detention. When the investigation concludes, you'll face the consequences you deserve."

I had her taken away immediately, severing any possibility of her reaching Kyle again.

By the time I'd dealt with everything, evening had fallen.

The setting sun painted the sky burnt orange, with wisps of twilight clouds drifting across the horizon. When I returned to my room, I found Kyle sitting in his wheelchair, staring absently out the window. The scar on his face looked particularly desolate in the dying light, but when he heard my footsteps and turned, a flash of wariness crossed his eyes before slowly softening.

That brief flicker of guardedness felt like a tiny needle pricking my heart.

I knew that no matter how much I did, my position as a substitute bride and the conspiracy-laden environment we lived in still created an invisible barrier between us.

"You must be exhausted," he said quietly.

I walked over and shook my head, moving behind him to rest my hands on his shoulders. "Not at all. Everything's handled. Lina's been locked up—she won't get anywhere near you again."

Kyle grasped my hand, his fingertips cool but his grip firm. "Thank you, Clara."

"The weather's beautiful today. Let me take you outside for a walk," I suggested.

I wheeled him through the long corridor to the rear courtyard of the estate. White flowers bloomed across the lawn, and the evening breeze carried the scent of fresh grass. We found a quiet corner and stopped.

I moved to stand in front of Kyle, crouching down to meet his gaze. In the moonlight, his eyes were as deep and fathomless as a dark pool.

"Kyle," I said softly, looking directly at him, "you still can't fully trust me, can you?"

Kyle's body stiffened slightly. He looked at me, complex emotions churning in those profound eyes—struggle and restraint warring within. He didn't answer immediately, instead turning his gaze to his own immobile legs.

"Clara," his voice came out rough, tinged with self-mocking coldness, "three years ago, I trusted someone without reservation. I gave him my back, shared my pack's safety with him. I thought he was my brother, my second-in-command."

He closed his eyes, the vein at his temple pulsing: "Then Legos personally drove a silver-poisoned blade into my body. I paid the most brutal price to learn that the most foolish thing in this world is to give someone unconditional trust."

Looking at that vicious scar across his face, I could feel the wound in his soul that would never fully heal. He was terrified of paying that price again, afraid that any light that managed to break through would ultimately prove to be another carefully orchestrated betrayal.

I reached out and gently covered his cold hands with both of mine.

"I know you've been hurt, Kyle," I said, meeting his gaze with unwavering determination. "But I'm not Legos, and I won't become the second person to betray you. Try to trust me—even just a little bit."

Kyle stared at me, violent emotions surging in his eyes. The possessive desire mixed with longing and fear wove itself into a complex web across his expression.

"Clara..." he murmured my name, his voice carrying a suppressed fragility.

I knew that getting his scarred heart to open again would take a long time, but I had all the patience in the world.