Chapter 244 Blood Debt
<b>Leslie’s </b>POV
“Bang-”
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<b>81 </b>
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The crash rang in my ears like thunder. I was thrown hard across the pavement, rolling onto the grass. Pain seared up my arm as it smashed into the ground.
I barely felt it. I scrambled up, heart pounding, and turned back-
My face went cold.
Kirby was sprawled in the center of the road. His back was soaked crimson, blood spreading like a dark bloom. That pale, striking face–now drained of every trace of life.
Moments ago, he had smiled at me, asked if I wanted to eat with him. Now hey motionless, bleeding into the night.
Something in me tore open.
The pain was sharp, blinding–like ws ripping through my chest.
Deep inside, Asphodel let out a raw, grief–stricken howl. The kind of cry that only came when a fated bond was torn.
He saved me. Again. Always him.
Why?
“Silver bullet! He took it himself–call emergency now!” Astrid’s voice cut through the haze. She dragged a half–conscious man by the cor with one hand, the shredded remains of a pistol in the other. The broken weapon glinted, its chamber still reeking of silver dust.
I staggered forward, dropped to my knees at Kirby’s side.
His blood pooled beneath him, dark and heavy. My vision blurred, stung raw,
Every heartbeat felt like a wire tightening around my lungs. I couldn’t breathe.
“Leslie, hey, don’t do this, don’t scare me!” Astrid grabbed my arm, shaking.
I dragged in air, choking it down. The Alpha in me shoved past the anguish, forced steel into my voice.
My phone screen was cracked, but my fingers found the numbers. Trembling, I barked into the
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Chapter 244 Blood Debt
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“Liam–get the best hospital, the best surgeons. Now.”
Another call. “Mch. Prepare everything. Kirby’s been shot. Silver.”
One more. “Adler–send people for Eren. Immediately.”
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Last, to the shadows of Rogue Pack’s guard line. “We’ve been attacked. Parking deck. Come clean it up.”
When I looked at Astrid again, my voice was t as ice. “Stay here. Watch the shooter. Alive or dead–I don’t care.”
<i>The </i>hospital was colder than a tomb. The reek of disinfectant clogged the air, sharp and suffocating.
I sat rigid on the waiting bench, head bowed, hands clenched white in myp.
Every second stretched into an eternity, each tick of the clock a de sawing into my chest.
Mch crouched beside me, pressing a packet of tissues into my hand. His voice was hoarse.
“Leslie… stop crying.”
I blinked, startled, and touched my cheek. Wet. At some point, the tears had slipped free, silent and unstoppable.
The news of Kirby’s shooting spread like fire.
Soon, Marcus and Belle stormed into the hospital suite,
I waited in the adjoining lounge, face calm, though inside the storm only grew.
Through the door, I could hear Belle’s shrill voiceshing through the room.
“I told you! That woman is poison–every time she’s near, he ends up like this!”
Her words stabbed into me like splinters, cruel and raw.
I didn’t move. I sat still on the sofa, eyes fixed on the floor. Mch and Liam stood nearby, shifting uneasily, not daring to interrupt.
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But in my mind–Kirby’s bloodied body burned behind my eyelids, refusing to fade.
Then Father arrived, Thorbane at his side. Their expressions hardened at Belle’s outburst.
Father came to me, his presence filling the space, old pine and iron steadying the chaos. His hand rested firm on my shoulder. His voice was low, grave. “Don’t be afraid, Leslie. Take your things. Go home. Rest.”
Only then did I realize–I hadn’t slept. Not since the shooting. Two days and a night, running on nothing but rage and fear. Exhaustion surged up, heavy as a tide.
Belle must have heard movement. She stormed out of the sickroom, fury boiling in her eyes. She jabbed a finger at me, her voice sharp enough to cut. “You dare talk about rest? My son is lying in there, half–dead, and you–<i>you</i>–the reason he’s like this, you dare sit here and rest?!”
She spat the me like venom, hurling all her grief and rage at me.
I lifted my chin and leveled a cold stare at her, lips mped shut. Not a word.
Thorbane stepped up, eyes like des. The crown prince of the Rogue Pack let his Alpha pressure roll out, and the room went ice–cold. “Luna Belle, your son saved my sister, Leslie. That’s a fact. But she didn’t shove him in front of a bullet. He chose to risk his life for her, and you’re really going to stand here and me her?”
Belle faltered under the weight of him, her face burning red.
Thorbane sneered. “So this is just you blowing off steam? You don’t even care if Kirby lives?”
She trembled, ready to snap back, when the doctor strode in, all business. “Enough. The patient’s still unconscious. He needs quiet. No noise.”
Thorbane came to my side, scooped up my busted phone and bag, handed them to Liam, then hauled me to my feet in a way that left no room for argument. “We’re done here. Now.”
In the car, Father handed me a stack of photos, his voice heavy. “Let the city guards run the public investigation. We’ll dig in the shadows.”
I flipped through them. First shot: a pistol in pieces. Kirby shoving me out of the way shed in my head, and my chest cinched tight. Next: the assassin’s face–unfamiliar, eyes sharp with hate.
“The hitman’s dead,” Thorbane said, voice grave. “Our shadows found wolfsbane in his blood- he came prepared. On paper, he’s a nobody, a bottom–tier Omega from the city. But an offshore ount of his suddenly got a million. This isn’t random.”
“A million… just to buy my life?” My voice came out shaky and hot with anger.
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A million. For that, Kirby almost died on the road.
Ridiculous.
<b>81 </b>
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My nails bit into my palm as I gripped the photos. I would find whoever did this. And I’d pay it back with interest–times a hundred.
Back home, I face–nted on the bed and slept like the dead.
When I finally opened my eyes, dusk stained the sky. A new phone sat on the nightstand, my contacts already restored–Thorbane’s doing.
I opened our group chat. Astrid, Am, and Eric had blown it <ol><li>up. </li></ol>
Astrid: “Honestly, I’ve changed my mind about Kirby. If a guy risks his life for you… you should at least think about it.”
Am: “agreed. ”
Astrid: “But no pressure. Even if you two don’t work out, at least we don’t hate him anymore.”
Am: “Agreed.”
Eric: “I’m done. kirby earned my respect this time.”
Astrid: “Thought you were already done?”
Am: “Agreed.”
Eric: “This user has left the chat. Smile.jpg”
I put the phone down without replying and rubbed my aching eyes. I dragged myself into the bathroom and stood under the hot water until some of the weight washed off me. With a sheet mask on, the mirror finally showed someone who looked vaguely alive again. Lavender from the diffuser curled through the air, smoothing out the edges.
But the ache in my chest didn’t budge.
Send Gifts
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A million. For that, Kirby almost died on the road.