Chapter 76 BLOOD ON THE MARBLE
Ginnie
Varkos releases Lady Ravena’s wrist with a violent jerk so sharp that she stumbles back half a step.
“What the hell are you doing in my room?” His voice cuts through the room; there's nothing funny about the sound of his voice. “And why the fuck are there two guards behind you in my bedroom?”
Lady Ravena straightens instantly, smoothing the fabric of her robes with trembling fingers that betray the calm she’s trying to project. “I am here to remove the human filth from this house, Varkos….”
“And whether you like it or not she is leaving this house tonight. I will not allow her to be the reason war descends on Bleeding Rose in three days, and I will not sit here and watch centuries of our bloodline’s rights stripped away because my son has lost his mind over a slave.”
The words hit me like a physical blow to the face. I turn towards Varkos, my heart pounding so hard I swear he could hear it.
“V…Varkos, what is she talking about?”
He doesn’t look at me—instead, his gaze stays locked on his mother like she’s a prey he’s deciding to kill. “It’s nothing,” he replies to me through gritted teeth. “She’s just exaggerating…go back to your chambers, Mother.”
“Nothing?” A bitter laughter escapes Lady Ravena, “Tell her the truth, Varkos. Or are you still too much of a coward to face the consequences of your foolish stubbornness?”
Then she turns her icy stare on me. “If Varkos refuses to hand you over to the Council of Elders within the three-day ultimatum that is given to him, war will come. A bloody war in Bleeding Rose all because he chooses a human over his duty, and his people.”
What the—
My knees threaten to buckle.
Three days?
War?
The pieces I’d tried to ignore crash into place with brutal clarity. I stare at Varkos, betrayal burning behind my eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” My voice breaks. “How dare you hide something this important from me…something that could destroy everything. “How could you?”
“I didn’t hide a damn thing from you, Ginnie.” Varkos snaps, finally turning those dangerous eyes on me. “I just never planned on letting it touch you because I swore to protect you and Lily and I will do everything…everything in my power to keep that promise.”
“You still should have told me, Varkos! I deserved to know—“
“Enough!”
Lady Ravena’s voice cuts through the tension before I can say more. “Guards, take the human and throw her out of the Villa. Now.”
The two guards—massive Lycans in black tactical gear step forward instantly, their hands already reaching for me. But Varkos moves fast before I can even realize, and he plants himself directly in their path.
“Take one more step,” he growls, his voice drops so low it’s terrifying, “and I will rip your throats out and use your spines as trophies.”
“He cannot touch you,” Ravena cuts in. “Varkos cannot touch you. He is bound by pack law. Grab that bitch and remove her from this mansion in an instant!”
The guards hesitate—only for a second—then lunge at me. The first guard swings a silver-laced baton but Varkos catches his wrist mid-air, twists, and snaps his bone with a sickening crack. Without hesitation, Varkos drives his elbow into the guard’s throat, silencing him, then slams him face-first into the marble floor.
The second guard is smarter—he shifts partially, extending his claws as he charges low, aiming to tackle Varkos to the ground. Varkos doesn’t flinch, he dodges the move and grabs the man by the back of the neck, then hurls him into the wall so hard that the sheer force leaves a brutal mark.
The guard recovers fast, slashing out with claws that rake across Varkos’s ribs. Blood drips instantly— dark, thick, but Varkos pays no attention to the wound. He growls, pure Alpha power ripping out of him like a shockwave as his hand clamps around the guard’s throat.
Lifts him, slamming again. And again until the sound of the guard's bones breaking echoes through the room. Varkos drops his lifeless body without remorse, and it hits the floor with a wet thud.
Blood pools beneath both enforcers, spreading across the white marble floor like spilled ink. Meanwhile, Lady Ravena’s face drains of color, her staff trembling in her grip.
“Oh…God!”The words tumble out of me as I stand there, unable to move or breathe at the sight of the brutal massacre.
Varkos turns slowly toward his mother, blood still dripping from his hands and pattering softly onto the floor. “The only reason you’re still breathing right now,” his voice drops to a low, dangerous whisper. “It's because you’re my mother. But hear me clearly: no one…not fucking person on this earth will keep me from Ginnie. If you continue to stand between us.
He pauses for a while, as if there was going to be nothing good about what he would say. “I will have no choice but to see you as an enemy…and you’ve witnessed firsthand what exactly I do to my enemies.”
Lady Ravena’s eyes widen—a terrifying kind of fear I’d never seen flashing across her face. Then Varkos steps closer until there is no distance between them.
“Get. Out. Of. My. Room.”
She doesn’t argue.
She turns immediately, her staff clattering against the doorframe as she disappears down the corridor. The moment she walks out the door, Varkos exhales once—then turns to me.
He crosses the space in two swift motions and pulls me into his arms, crushing me against his chest. Blood smears across my skin, warm and sticky, but I barely register it.
“Everything will be fine,” he whispers into my hair. “I swear it—“
I shove him back. Hard.
“No. It won’t.” My voice shakes, “Nothing is going to be fine, not with war coming in three days. And definitely not when innocent people are going to die because of me. I can’t…I won’t…be the reason Bleeding Rose bleeds.”
“You’re not going anywhere!” Varko’s snaps.
“I have to leave.” Tears threaten to spill down my cheeks but I force them back anyway. “ I have to take Lily and go before this gets worse.”
Varkos steps closer, his fingers fisting into my hair, gripping tight enough to sting. “The only way you leave this place,” he forces my chin up until our eyes lock. “Is over my dead body.”
“Too bad you can’t stop me this time.” I wrench his hand away, snatch my nightgown from the floor, and pull it on with shaking fingers. I don’t look back as I walk out.
I reach the staff quarters of my room, and push the door open without hesitation, needing silence, needing to think, needing—
I freeze.
The last person on earth I expected to see is sitting on the edge of my narrow bed.
Kenna.
Her legs crossed, one manicured nail tapping idly against her knee. Her smile is slow, venomous, calculating.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Hello, Ginnie.” Kenna rises gracefully from the bed, like a predator about to strike. “I think it’s high time we talk. Don’t you agree?”