“He went into heat. Omegas have a higher metabolic rate than alphas during their heat. His body managed to break down the carbon dioxide.”
“That’s a relief,” Deltta said. “Do you think this will be enough to prove that someone poisoned me?”
“Well, not the where and how, but it's proof that there was poison in your system at the time of the incident.” He looked down at his feet. “I don’t know how I missed it.”
“You were not looking for it,” he said. “And Pharyi used the substance because it’s not obvious. I’m glad you kept my samples, otherwise, we wouldn’t have proof of Pharyi’s crime.”
“Right. I’ll send you the data I’ve compiled.”
“No, send it to Tarymn. He’s the one investigating Pharyi.”
“I’ll do that right away, alpha king.” Dr Micha turned to the screen. Deltta left him to his work. He pulled out his connector as he walked out of the health center. He pressed Tarymn’s code.
“Tell me you found something,” the alpha said a few seconds later.
"I did. It's as you suspected, Pharyi poisoned me.” Deltta whispered into the connector, not wanting anyone to hear. As always, he was the focus of attention. The stares and the shocked looks on people's faces always got to him, but today, he didn’t mind it. He was going to clear his name. Everyone would know what happened.
Tarymn roared. "Finally, we're getting somewhere."
Deltta loved his enthusiasm, but they still had a long way to go. "Proving Pharyi poisoned me won't be easy."
“Hym will find out who did it,” Tarymn said confidently. “Has Micha identified the poison?”
Deltta growled.
“Repinuj. The bastard was either trying to kill me or he planned for everything to go down the way it did.”
He got pissed every time he thought of Pharyi. He wished he could go to his house and beat him to a pulp. But that wouldn’t clear his name. It would make things worse. He had to wait for Tarymn to complete his investigations.
The brothers started talking on the other side. Deltta listened.
“Repinuj is used by the animal sanctuaries,” Hym said. “And we have about twenty of them in the capital.”
“But there are more across the planet. Do you think he sourced the drug from the ones in the capital? He could have gone anywhere. Fuck. We might never find out which animal sanctuary Pharyi got the substance from.”
“I think we can,” Hym said.
Deltta froze…waiting.
“The drug is used for reproductive purposes. They wouldn’t take it out from the safe on a whim, which means a pair of extinct animals underwent the procedure in one of the sanctuaries. What are the chances all the sanctuaries across the planet used the stuff that week?” Hym asked.
The connector went silent. Deltta’s heart pounded hard in his chest. Could this be it?
“Hym?” Tarymn said.
“I’m on it."
Deltta heard a door open and close.
“Deltta?”
“I’m still here.”
“We’re close. I can feel it,” Tarymn said. “I’ll let you know what Hym finds out.”
“Alright,” he said. Leaning his head against the hover pod, Deltta tried not to freak out.
But he was failing.