Chapter 187 Ashes in the Sky

    bLeslie’s /bPOV

    Two dayster.

    Finished

    I arrived discreetly at Rogue Pack’s private airfield and boarded our luxury aircraft, codenamed Night Raven–an elite ne reserved for the highest–ranking royals.

    The interior was extravagant, equipped with every imaginable amenity.

    But I couldn’t rx. My mind kept turning, running through every possible scenario I might face at the summit.

    As the ne leveled off at cruising altitude, a new message shed across my phone from an unknown number.

    “Queen of Rogue Pack, Alpha is upied with urgent pack affairs. Flight has been dyed to 7 p.m. A liaison will greet you upon arrival. -Mch”

    I frowned slightly, then let out a coldugh.

    So he wasn’ting after all?

    Fine. Better that way. Sharing a ride with him would’ve been unbearable…

    I put the phone down and closed my eyes, nning to rest for a while.

    But just as I was slipping into sleep-

    A violent explosion ripped through the calm, jolting me fully awake.

    The entire ne shook violently. One side of the aircraft had been torn wide open–howling winds and bursts of lightning roared into the cabin like a wild beast.

    Around me, attendants and guards screamed in panic. The re of rms shed with cries for help, creating a deafening storm of chaos.

    “iMove/ii!/i” Asphodel roared in my mind, its ancient beast instincts fully awakened by the scent of death. i“/iiThis /imetal coffin’s iing /iaparti! /iGet up, Lesliei!/ii” /i

    Under itsmand, I shoved my fear aside,

    The acrid sting of sulfur filled the air–1 knew that smell.

    Gunpowder.

    b15:57 /bbWed/bb, /bbSep /b17

    Chapter 187 Ashes in the Sky

    This wasn’t an ident. This was an assassination.

    b31 /b

    Finished

    I threw my arms over my head and stumbled through the chaos toward the parachute storage bay.

    Just as my fingers grazed the handle of thepartment door, I heard a final, brutal biscreech /i/bof metal tearing apart.

    The ne disintegrated in midair.

    Without hesitation, I hurled myself out of the gaping hole-

    Behind me, a fireball erupted, lighting the sky in a blinding, blood–red sh.

    Time froze.

    I fell alone, into the storm–choked abyss below, a void of ck ocean and crashing thunder.

    Kirby’s POV

    Crimson Moon Pack Headquarters.

    I stepped out of the meeting room just before sunset. Outside my window, the branches of the World Tree caught the fading light like it was any other quiet evening.

    In forty minutes, I was supposed to board a helicopter abroad. I hadn’t forgotten–Leslie would be there. She might not want to see me, but even the thought of breathing the same air as her made my heart race.

    I loosened my tie and called for Mch to bring the signed documents.

    But before I could finish the sentence, he burst in–face pale as a corpse, panic written across every line of his body.

    He’d been my second–inmand for years. Steady. Reliable. I’d never seen him look like this.

    “A… Alpha…” he choked out.

    My brows knit, a cold premonition curling around my heart like a serpent.

    “An hour ago… we got word…” Mch’s voice shook, barely holding together. “Leslie… her aircraft, The Astronomer…. it went down over the Storm Sea. The Elder Council’s verification team… confirmed… no survivors.”

    No survivors.

    Chapter 187 Ashes in the Sky

    31

    Finished

    The words were light as ash. But they stole the air from my lungs and turned the room to ice.

    “What did you say?” My voice came out cracked and razor–sharp. Blood surged into my eyes, turning my vision red.

    I had to have misheard him.

    Mch didn’t dare repeat himself. His eyes brimmed with red. “It’s real. Her name’s on the official casualty list. The entire Rogue Pack knows. King Lars has returned from overseas–he copsed from grief and was admitted to the medical center.”

    Then came silence.

    A terrible, suffocating silence.

    i“/iiNo/i,” Lance whimpered inside me, a hollow, broken sound. i“/iiOur /iibond/ii… /iit’s ilong /iibeen /iisevered/ii. /iiThen /iwhyi… /iwhy idoes /iiit /iifeel like /iipart /iiof /iimy /iisoul’s /iibeen /iiripped /iiaway/ii… /i

    That’s right–our marriage bond was broken. That spiritual link was severed by my own hand.

    There should’ve been nothing left to feel.

    But it felt like something had gripped my heart with brutal force and was hacking at it slowly- one dull, jagged cut at a time.

    There was no pain. Just a numb, frozen tremor, so deep it swallowed every breath.

    I went cold all over. My skin turned ghost–pale. It felt like someone had torn the soul right out of me.

    A secondter, I lost control.

    Everything on the desk–documents,puters, decorations–exploded outward under my Alpha aura.

    The thousand–year ironwood desk shattered like tinder.

    “I don’t believe it! She’s not dead! She can’t be!” I roared, my jaw clenched so tight it nearly cracked.

    Leslie loved life too much.

    She was radiant. Proud. Always wore her emotions openly, never hiding what she felt.

    Even when Lyana provoked her, she never flinched.

    After the divorce, she lived like a queen unleashed.

    Chapter 187 Ashes in the Sky

    I could still see her ying the Moon Goddess harp onstage,manding business negotiations with elegance and ease, casting me aside like I meant nothing-

    Each memory etched deep into me, carved so sharply they’d be part of my bones.

    Without even realizing it, she had be a part of my world, embedded in my marrow.

    I hadn’t even… begged her for forgiveness yet…

    And now, I couldn’t imagine a world without her in it.

    31

    Finished

    Send Gifts