Chapter 136: Apocalypse 2

Astrid’s POV

I stared at myself in the mirror and barely recognized the woman looking back at me.

I had become someone else entirely ... and the frightening part was that I was okay with it. I told myself it was better this way. No one would ever cross my line again. Not a single soul.

I looked down at her body on the floor.

I had watched her choke until her very last breath left her body and it was not a pretty sight. It wasn’t supposed to be. I had killed my husband’s ex-lover and I was never going to tell him. What would he think of me if he knew? What would anyone think?

I sat on the floor for a moment, staring at the body and thinking hard about what to do with it. Then I heard it ... a distant thud that rattled the walls faintly. The place this bitch had chosen to lodge was close to the neighbouring district, which meant whatever was happening over there was close enough to feel.

Then it clicked.

I almost laughed at myself for how fast the idea came. Damn, I was cold for thinking it.

But this was just another season beginning for me.

I dragged her to the bathroom and left her there. Then I went to her kitchen. The countertop was lined with kitchenware ... different sizes, all sharp, all made for cutting. I grabbed everything my hands could carry. By the time I straightened up, my hands were trembling.

I stopped. Hit myself on the side of the leg.

You’ve got this. You’re the realest one out here.

I had to get it done before anyone came looking for her.

I carried the knives into the bathroom, set them down beside Thalia’s body and got to work. Cut that bitch into pieces like I was prepping vegetables and packed everything into a bag I found in the passage.

Whatever I was before, I was something else now. I didn’t think there was any redemption left for me and honestly ... I wasn’t looking for any.

I washed my hands thoroughly, cleaned myself up until there was nothing left to find, then dragged the bag under the bathroom cabinet and straightened up.

Wait.

One more thing.

Right ... the cameras. I had already cut the wires after killing her and I had avoided every lens on my way in. I wasn’t about to get caught. Not again. Not ever again.

I walked out of the room, went downstairs and checked out using my own card like I had nothing to hide.

"Excuse me," the front desk secretary called after me.

I turned slowly. "What?"

"You didn’t use your room. You didn’t order anything or make a complaint," she said, eyeing me carefully.

I looked at her for a long moment. "If I made a complaint, would you still have your job?"

She didn’t respond.

"Then slide me my receipt," I said.

She pushed it across the desk without another word and I took it, turning on my heel with all the energy of someone who had absolutely nothing to answer for. Behind me I heard her murmur "thank you for your patronage."

Keep that to yourself, I thought.

I pushed through the front doors and stepped outside ... and walked straight into a completely different world.

People were running. Everywhere. In every direction, wolves scrambling past each other in a panic that had no order to it whatsoever.

What the hell was going on?

I grabbed a young lad sprinting past me by the arm. "What’s happening? Why is everyone running?"

"A bomb just dropped," he said ... and pulled free and kept going.

I followed instinctively, running with the crowd until I reached a cluster of people gathered under a shaded area. At least twenty of us pressed together, breathing hard, everyone talking over everyone else.

"Can someone please tell me what’s going on?" I called out.

"Bloodmoon’s agricultural plant has been destroyed," a middle-aged wolf said to me. "Someone’s come to make a claim ... check your phone, it’s already in the news."

I pulled my phone out immediately. "Hold on ... I’m checking now."

The headline loaded and I read it twice.

Remnant of Icefang Surfaces, Causes Havoc in Attempt to Claim His Luna ... Selene Ironheart.

I stared at the screen.

Selene was this man’s Luna? What the actual hell?

I scrolled through the article. This was the madness he had unleashed just to claim a woman. He had destroyed agricultural plants, fired missiles, brought an entire army ... all of it for her. For Selene.

I thought Icefang had been wiped out generations ago. Every last one of them. So where exactly had this one come from?

"We don’t know either," someone beside me said. Apparently I had said that out loud.

His name was William Steelborn.

I read it again. William Steelborn.

How were any of us supposed to survive without food? If the plants were gone, there was no supply chain, no reserves worth talking about ... nothing. This wasn’t just an attack. This was a siege.

And then another thought hit me harder than any of it.

My parents.

They were old. They couldn’t fend for themselves the way younger wolves could. If the food supply collapsed and they were caught in the middle of it...

I dialled before the thought even finished.

They picked up on the third ring.

"How are you? Are you both okay?" I asked, already walking in a small circle.

"We’re fine, Astrid," my mother said. "How are you? It’s been a while since we’ve heard from you."

"Mom, please ... have you both seen the news?"

My father’s voice came on the line. "We’ve seen it. It’s a dark moment for everyone. But we’ll pull through, hopefully."

"I can’t just sit here and accept this," I said. "This is all because of Selene, you know that right? She is the cause of all of this."

"The wolf claims she’s his mate?" my father asked.

"Yes. And she refused to accept it, so the bastard is doing it by force. What do they even see in..." I stopped myself. Breathed. "What is so special that he has to blow up an entire territory?"

"Take care of yourself first, Astrid," my mother said softly.

"You don’t have to worry about yourselves. I’m not letting anything happen to you. Stay where you are ... I’m coming." I ended the call and looked back at my phone screen.

The headlines were getting worse by the minute.

William’s men have closed the borders.

I read it again slowly.

Closed. The borders. There was no way out of the district.

So that was his game. He wasn’t here to negotiate ... he was here to trap, to starve, to break everyone down until he got what he wanted. All of this because of one woman. Because of pussy. Because my bitch sister Selene couldn’t just...

My phone rang.

Ethan.

"Where are you right now?" he asked the moment I picked up.

"Close to the borders," I said.

"Don’t move. Stay exactly where you are ... a rescue team is on its way to collect everyone in that area. That missile he hit the plant with is dangerous and we have no way of knowing if he plans to fire another one," Ethan said.

"Why is this happening? What is the Alpha doing? Is there a plan?"

"He’s working on it." Ethan’s voice was tight. "But the way things are looking right now, we may have to stay low or evacuate completely. William has effectively rendered Bloodmoon useless."

The line went quiet for a second and then we cut the call.

I turned back to the people huddled under the shade, all of them watching me with wide, anxious eyes.

"We’ll find a way through this," I said, loud enough for all of them to hear. "A rescue team is on its way. Stay together."

I barely finished the sentence before I saw them ... a fleet of soldiers moving in our direction, disciplined and fast, weapons ready.

Bloodmoon was under a pressure I had never seen in my life.

And something told me it was only getting started.