Chapter 162

I took my phone from the soldier’s outstretched hand and dialed Kenzo again. This time, I didn’t just fail to connect—the signal vanished entirely. My stomach tightened as I glanced at Icarus, who immediately understood. Without hesitation, he pulled out his own phone and tried calling Kenzo himself. No luck. His screen, like mine, showed no signal.

"Kris." Icarus gave a sharp nod toward the soldier standing beside me.

Kris retrieved his phone, checked it, and shook his head.

"Damn it!" Icarus clenched his fist, frustration flashing across his face as he scanned the area, analyzing the situation.

Without wasting another second, he ordered everyone to retreat deeper into the forest. If the interference was coming from the mansion, distance might help. But after half an hour, it became painfully clear that wasn’t the case.

The signal flickered in and out in unpredictable waves, but even when one of us managed to break through and make a connection, the other end of the line went dead. Oddly enough, I was the only one who experienced that disturbing, unnatural sound while trying to call. When I brought it up, Kris—who I now knew was an IT specialist—took my phone for a closer look.

With every option of communication cut off, we had no choice but to wait. Kenzo and the others were supposed to arrive soon anyway. The plan was to regroup in this area within the hour before launching our full assault on the mansion. For now, we used the time to rest and recover, staying in small groups scattered throughout the forest.

I remained with Icarus, Kris, and six other soldiers.

The waiting was unbearable. Every second felt stretched too thin, the silence pressing down on me. I sat on the ground to ease the ache in my feet, but my mind refused to rest.

"Do you think the same thing happened to Hadrian and Gareth?" My voice was quiet, but my thoughts were loud, relentless. My gaze locked onto Icarus, searching for an answer.

His jaw tightened before he responded. "I’m afraid they might have entered a similar jamming zone."

A shiver ran down my spine. "Then… they could be somewhere close. Somewhere in these woods, around the mountain," I murmured, hope and dread twisting together inside me.

"As much as I want to hear from the General and the King, finding them here would mean the degenerates are nearby." Icarus exhaled sharply. "And that would mean our armies are bound to collide."

My breath caught as I recalled Kenzo’s concern about his warriors. They were trained to fight other wolves, but I doubted many had ever faced an onslaught of bloodthirsty vampire zombies—especially an entire army of them. Even the Royal Army had struggled against them, only for more to keep rising. If Hadrian had truly fallen to them, how could Kenzo hope to fare any better?

Yet, no matter how dark my thoughts grew, I clung to hope. The Vampire King had to be stronger than thousands of degenerated creatures. He had to be.

As I sat there wrestling with my thoughts, Kris suddenly crouched beside me. He reached for my hand, turning my palm upward, and placed a tiny black object no bigger than a bean in it.

I frowned. "What’s this?"

"A spying device."

A nervous chuckle escaped me. "Why are you giving me this?"

"I pulled it out of your phone."

My stomach dropped. "What?"

Kris flipped my phone over and pointed to the CPU. "Someone planted a bug on you. It must have been faulty from the start, but when you tried calling Alpha Kenzo, it short-circuited."

A chill spread through me. My fingers curled around the device. "What exactly could this thing do?" My voice was barely above a whisper.

"It could intercept, block, or even manipulate your calls and texts," Kris explained, his eyes sharp as he watched my reaction. "For example, a stranger could call you, and your screen would show a familiar contact. The same goes for messages."

A hollow laugh bubbled up from my chest, bitter and raw. I felt exposed, violated. Someone—whoever had planted this—had listened to my conversations. Freya. Varen. Hadrian. Every private word. Every secret thought. If EH or one of his spies had been the one listening, they would know everything we’d ever uncovered about him. They would know things about me that no enemy should ever have known.

The thought made me sick.

And then, another realization hit me like a punch to the gut.

Had the messages about Hadrian being the father of Selene’s child been manipulated? If they had been fake… If they had been a lie…

That message had been my breaking point, the final push that had driven me toward Kenzo.

Now, the weight of what-ifs crashed down on me, sending my mind into a chaotic spiral. If the truth had been twisted, if I had made my choices based on a deception—then how much of everything I believed had been real at all?

"How long has this been on my phone?" I forced the words out, my throat tightening.

Kris remained composed, his expression unreadable. "I don’t have my full equipment with me, but I’d say the chip hasn’t been there long. A few days at most."

"A few days at most..." I echoed under my breath.

My mind raced. Could it have been that she-wolf who broke into my room? Had she planted it? I’d assumed she wasn’t working for EH, but what if I’d been wrong? What if EH had more than one spy lurking nearby? It would make sense—this time, they’d sent someone with the technical skills necessary to complete the job. The theory clicked into place, but I had no time to dwell on it.

"They're here," Icarus announced, his sharp gaze locked on the eastern edge of the forest.

I inhaled deeply, catching the distinct scents. "Alpha Kenzo and two other teams," I confirmed.

Within ten minutes, every warrior had assembled, forming a line a hundred meters from the mansion. Kenzo strode toward me, his eyes scanning every inch of me as if ensuring I was unharmed. Only after confirming my well-being did he release a quiet breath of relief before turning to Icarus.

"I'm guessing the signal is jammed here too?" Kenzo asked, his lips twisting in frustration.

Icarus gave a curt nod. "Communication’s down in the deeper parts of the woods as well."

Kenzo muttered a curse, running a hand through his dark hair. He was restless, and I couldn’t blame him. The air around us was thick with tension. Every single warrior was on edge.

Something felt wrong.

I should’ve been focused on the inevitable confrontation with my bastard of a father, but there was something else gnawing at me. A heavy, suffocating aura hung over Cassius Marwood’s estate, and I was almost certain it wasn’t coming from my father. Still, we had to push forward with the plan.

The forces from the Royal Army and the Blue Moon Pack, bolstered by a handful of warriors from my mother’s old pack, spread out to encircle the mansion. With communication down, we had no choice but to rely on precision and perfect timing.

The assault was set for 6:55.

With our watches synchronized, the wolves and vampires launched over the fence, pouring into the estate from every direction. That was when we realized something was horribly, unmistakably wrong.

It was too quiet.

The warriors moved cautiously, each footstep deliberate as they advanced toward the main building. Then the stench hit me. I recoiled, pressing a hand over my nose and mouth.

Death.

Icarus motioned for the squads to fan out. Small teams of six to ten broke off to search the mansion’s perimeter. I stayed by Icarus's side as we advanced toward the main entrance. To get there, we had to pass through the garden, where a massive fountain stood at its center. As we moved past a dense hedge, we saw them.

The bodies.

Guards, ripped apart.

Blood soaked the grass, the hedges, the stone pathways. One severed head floated in the fountain, its dead eyes staring blankly as crimson spread through the water.

The sight was pure carnage.

"Who could have done this?" a female soldier murmured beside me.

I turned to her and saw the pallor of her skin, the tremor in her hands—though she clenched them into fists, trying to bury her fear beneath her grip.

Another soldier crouched beside a corpse, his eyes narrowing as he inspected the remains. "No bite marks," he observed grimly. "They weren’t killed by degenerates."

"Then what the hell can kill like this?" The female soldier’s voice wavered between horror and anger. "Wolves with rabies?!"

Her unease mirrored my own. My pulse pounded erratically, anticipation coiling tight in my stomach. Something was coming. I could feel it.

I glanced at Icarus, searching his face for answers, but he was just as lost. His jaw was locked, the tension in his stance barely concealing the frustration in his eyes.

We pressed forward, stepping past more mutilated bodies. Each one had been torn apart with an almost surgical precision, limbs severed, blood painting grotesque murals across the courtyard.

These weren’t just kills.

Whoever had done this had enjoyed it.

A wave of nausea twisted in my gut, but fear held my stomach in a vice grip, refusing to let me crumble.

The moment we entered the mansion, the horror deepened. The walls were streaked with dark red, and the floors swam with blood.

Every member of the elite squad was dead.

Minutes later, Kenzo's team entered from the back, their expressions grim.

"My warriors checked every floor except the top," Kenzo reported, his voice clipped. "There were no survivors."

I swallowed hard. "My father’s throne hall is on the top floor."

Kenzo’s lips curled into a mirthless smile as he grasped my wrist. "Then let’s go, Thalassa." His grip tightened slightly, his tone laced with ice.

"It’s time for the family reunion."