Chapter 7
Ruby’s POV
as my trembling legs would carry me. Meanwhile, the servant trailing behind me, her frantic footsteps echoing my own. The words still rang in my ears hollow and hurt Martha is dead.
My heart thundered in my chest, a wild, desperate rhythm that drowned out all other sound. Each step forward felt like trudging through quicksand. I stumbled, nearly falling, but I forced myself upright. I had to reach her. Flad to see for myself
The crowd came into view as I approached the warehouse. A throng of curious faces pressed together, murmurs rippling through them like a tide, I barely registered their presence.
“Move!” I demanded.
“Get out of the way!”
When they didn’t move quickly enough. I shoved past them, ignoring their startled protests. The world narrowed to a single point of focus as I broke through the wall of bodies.
And then I saw it.
Blood. So much blood. It seeped across the floor in dark, viscous pools, glinting in the dim light. My breath caught, and my knees buckled. Hanging pathetically from a shelf, like a broken doll discarded by a careless child, was Martha. My Martha.
A scream fore from my throat, raw and piercing, as I rushed to her side.
“No! No, no, no!” I sobbed, my hands fumbling with the cruel bonds that held her limp form alofi. My fingers shook so violently that I could barely manage to untie them.
“Helpi
me!” I shouted at the onlookers. “Don’t just stand there, help me!”
No one moved. They were all still standing there, too scared to come closer.
Tears blurred my vision as I finally managed to loosen the knots, Martha’s lifeless body slumped forward into my arms, and I cradled her against me, her blood soaking into my dress. This woman had been more than a servant. She had been my nanny, my confidante, the one person who had stood by me through every storm
And now she was gone.
“How could this happen?”
I wailed, my voice breaking “Who did this!”
My words hung in the air, unanswered. No one dared to meet my gaze.
Two days ago, I had lost my daughter, Alicia. My beautiful, sweet girl. My heart had barely begun to process that unbearable loss when I stumbled upon the betrayal that shattered my world. Alpha Dominic, my husband, the man I had given everything to, was having an affair. And not just with anyone. With Camilla. My own sister.
Now this. Now Martha.
I clung to Martha’s lifeless body, my tears falling freely. The guards approached cautiously, their faces etched with pity.
“Luna,” one of them said softly
“Please step aside. We need to take care
re of her, my
v Luna
“No!” I snapped, clutching Martha tighter. “You don’t touch her! She’s mine! She’s mine!”
as was their duty as pack guards.
But they didn’t back away. One of them reached out, demanding and comunanding as
“Luna Ruby, please. Let us help you. Let us help her”
1 shook my head, sobbing harder. The weight of it all crushed me, stealing the air from my lungs. My litle Alicia. Dominic and Camilla. And now Martha. The threads that held my life together had snapped, leaving me with nothing but jagged fragments.
Finally, my strength gave out. The guards gently pried Martha from my arms, and I collapsed to the floor, my sobs echoing in the cavernous space.
1/3
Chapter 7
Why was this happening!
What had I done to deserve such cruelty?
1 knelt on the cold, blood–shirked floor, my body trembling with the weight of grief and rage. My voice cracked as I shouted to those around me.
“How could this happen? Who did this?”
But no one answered, their silence like a thousand needles piercing my skin.
Turning to one of the guards, 1 forced my voice into steadiness. “Check everyone who interacted with Martha. Anyone wandering suspiciously.
Check the surveillance cameras”
I clutched my clothes. “NOW!
The guard nodded quickly, disappearing into the crowd as my heart continued to break into pieces. It wasn’t long before he arrived–Dominic. My mare. My betrayer.
He strode in with his Beta, his brow furrowed as though he had the audacity to be confused.
“What is going on here?”
Pain flared within Π like a fresh wound. Memories of him defending Camilla, his arms around her, his soft assurances to her during the interrogation, resurfaced with brutal clarity. The slap he’d given me, the mark it left, still throbbed. And yet he dared to look at me as though I owed him an explanation.
I rose to my feet, forcing every ounce of composure 1 could muster.
“How late you are. Dominic, I stated, my tone brittle with restrained fury. “An Alpha should be present in moments like these. But of course, you must have been preoccupied”
His confusion deepened, but certainly not for guilt.
“Did you know?” I asked my voice dripping with venom.
“Did you know that a King graces our pack with his presence! Or have you been too busy amending to your mistress and your unborn child to notice?”
His face darkened, and the room grew unnervingly quiet. My words hung in the air, daring him to deny them. But instead of responding. Dominic’s expression twisted with rage. Before I could react, he grabbed me by the hair, yanking me forward. Pain exploded across my cheek as his hand struck me, the sound ringing out like a gunshot.
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Fresh blood trickled from the corner of my lips, and the stinging ache of the blow burned into my skin. blurred my vision: my trembling hands held my face. For the second time today?
Tears
The murmurs grew louder, the pack shifting uncomfortably, until the air itself seemed to change. A deadly chill swept through the room, silencing every voice and movement. I felt it before I saw him.
Killian Rudwick, the Lycan King, stepped into the room
His crimson eyes burned like cibers as they swept across the scene, taking in every detail. When his gaze landed on me, his expression tumed to one of faint amusement, though his aura betrayed his irritation.
“I had hoped,” he began, the calmness in his voice was clearly a deception even as it carried the deadliest of subtle threats, “to retire in peace and test the best that the Ravenhold Park has to offer. Perhaps enjoy a few of the famed luxuries I’ve heard so much about. And yet…”
He tilted his head, his sharp gaze falling on Dominic
“Imagine my surprise.” Killian continued, stepping forward leisurely, “when instead of tranquility, I find chaos. A commotion loud enough to disturb even me. And is that.”
He gestured toward me with a slight tilt of his chin, his eyes narrowing.
“Blood, on your Luna’s lips!”
