Chapter 4: The Blood On Her Dress

Killian.

“What took you so long?” Elaine purred, laying there all spread out on my bed like the whole damn room belonged to her already. That thin silk thing she wore was slipping off one shoulder on purpose. She stretched slow, smiling up at me with those heavy eyes. “I was getting bored waiting for you, baby.”

I dragged a hand through my hair, feeling that tight knot in my chest again. “Nothing.”

She pouted a little. “Where’s that filthy bitch anyway? I really need a foot massage. My feet hurt from walking around the estate all day dealing with pack stuff. She should be the one doing this shit, not you.”

“Don’t call her that,” I muttered before I could stop the words.

Elaine sat up quick, eyes flashing. “What the fuck did you just say? You’re defending her now? That worthless omega? After she tried to trap you with a baby? Killian, are you serious right now?”

My wolf was clawing up my insides, anxious and restless, like something was wrong deep in my bones. Ever since I stood in that bathroom and threw that thick wad of cash at Sara’s feet, telling her to abort it quiet, I kept tasting cowardice in my mouth. Sour. Nasty. Stuck there no matter how much I swallowed.

“I’ll give you the massage instead,” I said fast, dropping down on the edge of the bed. I couldn’t face Sara. Not today. Not after the way her eyes went glassy and hollow when I roared at her. “Don’t want her filth touching you.”

Elaine smiled again, satisfied, and put her foot in my lap. “That’s better. You know I only want your hands on me anyway. Harder this time, okay? And actually focus on me for once.”

I started rubbing but my mind was gone. Flashing back to Sara in that bathroom. Her hands shaking so bad. Three positive tests on the sink. Her voice all cracked and small. Killian? Please… say something. The way she looked at me like I was supposed to still be her best friend from before. Not this.

“Ow! Killian!” Elaine yanked her foot away hard. “You’re pressing too fucking hard! That hurt! What the hell is wrong with you today? You’ve been acting so weird and distant. Talk to me!”

“I’m just stressed about the pack, Elaine. Drop it.”

She crossed her arms, getting that whiny tone. “Well I don’t like it. My father keeps asking me if you’re ready to lead. He says you need to be strong, focused, especially with me as your future Luna. I’m the one who’s worthy. Not some weak, parentless omega who spreads her legs the second someone shows pity. You said it yourself in the hall, remember? You chose me in front of everyone. So why are you like this now? Is it because of her? Tell me the truth.”

I didn’t answer. My wolf kept shoving memories at me. Sara on the cliff that night. Me cleaning her face gentle. Her body under mine. The sounds she made. Then the rejection. The pack laughing. Her running out sobbing. The cash hitting the floor like she was nothing.

The door suddenly slammed open so hard it nearly came off the hinges. My father, Alpha Blackwood, stormed in, face twisted with pure rage. For one cold second I thought he knew about the baby, about what I made Sara do.

“We are under attack!” he roared, voice echoing. “Rogues! Get up now, Killian!”

I jumped up fast, muscles tense. “What? It’s the middle of the day. How the fuck did this happen? What do you mean rogues?”

“They breached the North residential perimeter,” he growled, already turning back to the hallway. “Been fighting for twenty minutes. They’re organized, carving straight toward the pack house. Move your ass!”

We rushed out, shifting mid-run. Bones cracking loud, fur ripping through skin, the wolf taking over. The second we hit the grounds the smells hit hard — copper blood, scorched earth, smoke thick in the air. Screams everywhere. My wolf instincts went wild.

Sara. The thought punched me. She wasn’t in the pack house. I sent her to that clinic on the edge to handle the abortion discreet. Right in the damn path.

Elaine’s scream came from the balcony. “Killian! Where the hell are you going? Come back and protect me right now! You’re supposed to stay here with me! Killian! Don’t you dare leave!”

I didn’t look back. Paws pounding dirt. I reached through the pack link desperate. Sara? Sara, where are you? Answer me! Only chaos came back. Pain. Howls. Dying wolves. Nothing from her.

A warrior’s voice linked in strained. They’re too many, Alpha! They knew the weak spots! Sensors didn’t catch them all!

My father roared through the link. Fight back! Protect the houses and the pups! Kill every last rogue! No prisoners! Killian, flank left now!

We tore into them. Teeth sinking into flesh, blood spraying hot, claws ripping. These rogues moved like they had a plan. Someone sent them. Someone wanted us hurting right now, when everything was already messed up with me and Sara and Elaine.

Another link came, panicked. Clinic area breached! Too many wounded! They’re burning buildings!

My father snarled back. Hold the line! Push them out!

Hours blurred. Fighting. Bleeding. My wolf raging but my human side slipping, thinking about Sara’s face when I told her to abort it. The way she flinched when I slammed my hands on the wall. Are you trying to trap me? I yelled at her. Goddess, I was such a piece of shit.

When the screams finally stopped, the silence was worse. Sun creeping up slow over the wrecked 200-acre estate. Trash, broken wood, blood soaked ground. They laid the dead bodies out in the field near the clinic, white sheets covering them like some sick funeral.

My father was barking at the Beta. “Start repairs on the main pack house immediately! Double the border patrols! Find out who the fuck sent these rogues and why now! I want answers by tonight!”

I barely heard it. Felt like a ghost walking. My wolf had gone quiet and small inside me, scared deep.

I walked the line of bodies slow. Not her. Not her. Please not her. She’s hiding somewhere safe. She ran before the attack started. She’s too strong for this. She always survived everything I did to her.

Then I stopped dead at the end.

Pile of things from the clinic ruins. Shoes. Torn clothes. Burnt wood. And right on top… her dress. That old cheap dress she wore yesterday morning when she took the pregnancy test.

Stiff. Soaked dark with dried blood.

My knees hit the dirt hard. Hands shaking like a weak pup as I touched the edge. The mate bond in my chest squeezed once — hard, painful, like it was tearing apart — then went completely silent. Empty.

“Fuck… Sara…” I whispered, voice cracking bad. Pressed my face into the bloody cloth. It smelled like her still, under all the blood. “No. No, no, no. This can’t be real.”

I sent her there. I told her to go alone. I broke her in front of the whole pack, fucked her, rejected her, got her pregnant, then paid her off like a whore. And now she was dead because of me.

“I’m sorry,” I choked out, tears burning my eyes for the first time in years. “I’m so fucking sorry, Sara. I didn’t mean… I was trying to do right for the pack. For Elaine. But you… you were always there. My friend. My mate. And I killed you.”

My wolf whimpered inside, curling tighter. The monster she saw in the bathroom? Yeah. That was me. And now the pack would never know what I lost. What I destroyed.

Sara was gone.

And I was the one who sent her straight to her death.