CHAPTER 7: The Karmic Lock on Julian's Neck

The auction night at Crystal Palace ended like a mass funeral for the Bloodmoon Pack. The real destruction centered not only on the trillions of dollars in assets that evaporated, but also on the spiritual destruction of its inhabitants.

In an empty warehouse that used to be where Bloodmoon's most expensive wine was stored, Julian sat leaning against the cold, wet floor. His proud Armani jacket was in tatters because he tore it himself. The thick smell of alcohol wafted from his body as it trembled uncontrollably.

His ever-mighty wolf now howled and groaned at the bottom of his soul, torn apart by the loss of his true mate. The ties that he had forcibly severed three years ago suddenly rose up to become a curse, biting his sanity layer by layer. The face of Chloe the naughty omega girl who was now his Goddess of Destruction, kept replaying in his mind. Chloe's cold eyes, her melodious yet deadly laugh, and the way the Alpha King bowed down in adoration... all of that was a torment crueler than the seventh fire of hell.

"Alpha... we have to pack up. The auction house and Vanguard representatives will take over this main building in two hours." His trusted Beta's voice trembled, standing in trepidation at the threshold of the entrance.

Julian raised his head slowly. His eyes were red and sunken like a living corpse. "Where's the bitch?" his voice was hoarse like rusty metal being scraped together.

The Beta swallowed roughly. "M-Mrs Seraphina tried to escape with the remaining money in the reserve account. However... Vanguard guards intercepted her at the airport. H-She is now being held in our underground base on the orders of... Miss Chloe."

Hearing Chloe's name, Julian's chest was hit by a giant sledgehammer. Memories of him slapping Chloe in the middle of the storm suddenly replayed very clearly. His disgust with himself boiled to the top.

With his remaining strength, Julian staggered to his feet. He walked towards the basement.

In a stuffy, dimly lit detention room, Seraphina was chained to rusty iron bars. Her blonde hair was tousled, her red dress was torn, her beautiful face was covered in blood and dirt. At the sound of the iron door opening, Seraphina looked up expectantly.

"Julian! My darling!" Seraphina screamed, her eyes searching for the remaining love in her male mate's eyes. "Let me go! Those Vanguard bastards dare to touch me! Challenging me is challenging Luna Bloodmoon's honor! Let's prove that your royal blood cannot be stepped on by that bastard Omega child!"

However, what he met was not Julian, who used to worship him like an angel descended from heaven. Julian approached him with the heavy steps of a wounded hunting wolf. His eyes no longer glowed clear gray, but instead were cloudy and deadly.

Without a word, Julian strangled Seraphina's neck with one hand until the woman's body was lifted from the floor.

"A-Ahck... Ju... lian..." Seraphina thrashed madly, her legs kicking in the air. The oxygen in his throat disappeared.

"Luna Bloodmoon, you say?" Julian whispered sharply, his breath blowing the air of hell into Seraphina's ears. "You are a pestilence that eroded my house to ashes. And for what? Only five million dollars in change isn't even enough to buy Chloe's dress!"

Julian's tears of regret and hatred poured out. He glanced around the dirty room, remembering that this was the room he had locked Chloe in when the Omega was seriously ill and he preferred to accompany Seraphina shopping. How evil he was in the past. How stupid of him to hold dog shit while dropping bits of heaven from his grasp.

Julian threw Seraphina's body into the corner of the room like throwing a stale carcass. The woman coughed badly, vomiting blood as her ribs cracked against the concrete wall.

"Let him rot here. Don't give him anything to eat or drink until the Vanguard representatives decide the fate of his carcass," Julian ordered without mercy to the remaining guards.

Julian stepped out, his breath ragged. He squeezed his shirt at his chest, right where his heart was beating. 

"Chloe..." he muttered softly, a lament of regret that was a million lights too late. "I realized... I'm crazy... come back..."

But at the end of the hall, it wasn't Chloe that he found, but a line of armed military troops with the Black Wolf logo. And behind them, Arthur's figure stood tall with a gold pocket watch in his hand.

"Bloodmoon's time is up, Mr. Blackwood," said the butler in a deadly formal tone. "Please get out of Miss Chloe's property, or we will clean it up along with your pile of rubbish."