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"Yes. The bullets were made of rhodium. I caught two of those bullets then. For another changeling, it would have immobilized him and made him easy to be captured. Rhodium weakens us very much."

He dropped it afterward and picked up another bottle. It's the bottle contained powder too, but the powder is black in color, unlike the other one that was silver.

"This is iron fillings, mostly from Morgan Silver.

It can weaken us too and make us easy to capture.

An average of it can keep a changeling weak for weeks, unable to get up from bed.

Werewolves are more susceptible to this.

A lot of it can kill a werewolf changeling.

" He instructed before dropping it and picking up the last bottle.

"These are called Russian giant garlic. This one is not dangerous to us, but our animal forms hate it. The smell of it can force our animal form to retreat and when that happens, the male comes forward. That means it can practically force a shift when the animal is in charge."

He paused, "Of course, the male does not like the scent either and would prefer not to ever perceive it because it makes the animal go berserk inside him; making it hard to control, making it hard to think, and causing a pounding headache to develop. "

He dropped the bottle, "So, the male tends to avoid it as much as the animal."

Finally, he went silent, turning to glance at her.

Ismena was fascinated and she looked at it. "Wow," she breathed, speechless.

Wolfaraine nodded, unsurprised. "The Wolfhunters know about iron fillings and rhodium.

They might even know about the grinded garlic, but I'm not sure.

But you see the Sigillaria tree leaves? That is the most dangerous of them all and that is the one they do not know about and should never know about.

It is our greatest weakness...even mine.

I heard that the males in my family hunted for these leaves before they were able to collect this one.

.." he pointed at the bottle, "...so that no one will ever be able to use it on us.

My family was very happy when it went extinct. "

"A drop of it in a drink can kill you?" She asked, staring at the bottle in sheer horror.

He shook his head, "That can incapacitate me. Sigillaria can kill me, but it is gonna take five drops or six." he shrugged noncommittally, "Three drops can kill an average changeling. Four drops can kill an Alpha."

Ismena gawked at him in horror, "You're talking about a deadly poison that can kill you as if you're discussing the weather?"

"Death is inevitable, honey. I am not afraid of death." He deadpanned.

"Well, I am!" She huffed, "How many drops can everything in this bottle make?"

"The grinded leaves here are enough to make about two hundred drops. Or three hundred. "

"Jesus. It can kill an entire army." Ismena shivered. "Shouldn't you burn it or something? Why keep something that dangerous with you?"

He smiled then, "It has been here for so many centuries, safe in this box, with no one having any knowledge that something like that exists. It's not for me to throw away."

"Why did you tell me all these, Wolfe? These are..." she swallowed, flapping her hand around, "This is a very important secret and you just told me about it."

"I trust you wholeheartedly." He stated firmly. "I never thought I would ever say that word to anyone in this life, much less to a woman. But I am saying it now, and I mean it."

Her heart warmed. "Thank you, Wolfe. I will take this secret to my grave. You said the humans don't know about this Sigillaria leaves, but what about changelings?"

"I told you about Werewolf and Cougars seeing themselves as the strongest and most powerful changelings right?"

"Yeah. You even told me about all about the Dominant War, when both clans fought for supreme leadership as Alpha King." She provided.

"Good. Three families are the founding families in the Werewolf clan, and the Throne's family—my family—is one of them. Another founding family of is the Doninee Family."

"Is it Alphose's family?" She asked. "According to Eline; There are many Alphas in a clan just as there are Betas and Omegas, but only the Alpha males from the founding families are allowed to lead the clan or become Head Sentinels."

"She is right. But no, it's not Alphose's family.

They are the Steele Family and they are also among the founding families of the cougar clan.

But they are not the Doninee Family. The Doninee Family is in the Werewolf Clan.

According to my grandfather, they are the only family that knows about the Sigillaria leaves.

Although, I don't know if his generation passed the knowledge on.

The oldest male in the Doninee Family at the moment is Cronus Doninee. "

"The Werewolf Alpha in charge of the NAALC branch in New York?"

He nodded, "Yes. That is him. As there is no other male in my family, and Nalaila and I do not have any male child...if I am to die today, Cronus is the next changeling fit to be Alpha King because at fifty-five, he is the oldest of all the Alphas of the founding families."

The pain that his lineage will die with him rose, scrapping his skin like shredded glasses and acid, but he forced himself to push the pain away.

Instead he continued, "Anyway, I am not sure Cronus or Raid...his Beta brother, inherited the knowledge about the Sigillaria leaves from their grandfather."

"Okay." She looked at all the bottles again, "So, why did you show all these to me?"

"I will have Mirian prepare a liquid with a combination of Iron fillings and rhodium powder for you.

If you are going to meet the cougar, you need to keep that liquid hidden somewhere in the room.

Once you get the feeling that the cougar will attack, you should open it and throw the liquid at the cougar. "

She winced, "Wouldn't it hurt?"

"A little bit, but it will weaken. Once it behaves aggressively, you have to use the liquid. Do not question yourself. Do not try to 'brave' your way through it all or the cougar will really kill you. Promise me, Ismena." His eyes pinned hers with intent.

"I-I promise." She vowed .

"Good. I will tie a little garlic for you too. We will hide it where I will never be able to perceive the scent in my male form. If I can perceive it in my male form, then I can perceive it in my Cougar form and we cannot have that."

"Okay, okay. So, now I have some kind of defense too. Garlic and the liquid. Got it." She was grinning now, "I am still nervous, but not as nervous as I was before. My mind is at ease now."

"Mine is not. I still have a bad feeling about this, Ismena." Wolfaraine looked at his hands, his expression pinned.

A shiver of fear went down her spine. "Really?"

"Mmh," he nodded, "Even with all these, this is still very risky. We are not talking about just any cougar here, but the King Cougar. My own cougar. Me."

He looked her in the eyes, "The King cougar is very powerful, Ismena. There is every possibility that something will go wrong and you will die even before you are able to defend yourself in any way. I still feel very bad about this."

"We will be fine." Ismena reassured him, "I will be fine. We have a good plan now. I will be with Nalaila when you shift and afterward, I have defense against the cougar if it’s still feeling funky. Nothing can go wrong. Just think about it in a positive light and everything will be fine."

Squeezing his hand in gentle reassurance, she asked, "When do we do this?"

"Tonight. Let's do it tonight."