Chapter 27
**HELENA'S POV**
I knocked gently on Jeremiah’s door, half hoping there wouldn’t be an answer. He had asked me to check on his mate, and I thought for a moment, just maybe, that he had come to his senses. Maybe they had finally completed the mate bond. But as I stood there, waiting, my stomach turned with dread. What if it wasn’t that? What if it was something worse?
No one answered.
I knocked again, this time a little louder, and still, nothing. My hand hesitated over the doorknob, and that’s when I smelled it—the sharp, metallic scent of fresh blood. My heart skipped a beat, and without thinking, I pushed the door open.
The sight inside hit me like a punch to the chest.
Astrid was sitting on the floor near the bed, wrapped in a white bedsheet, stained red. Her own blood. She was staring at nothing, her eyes wide but unfocused, as if she couldn’t even see the world around her. Her face was streaked with dry tears, and she was completely still, frozen in place like a statue.
“Astrid…” I whispered, rushing to her side. I prayed silently, hoping that what I was seeing wasn’t what it looked like. Please, no. Please, Jeremiah, tell me you didn’t do this.
I knelt beside her, my voice shaking as I asked, “Are you okay? Astrid, can you hear me?”
She didn’t respond. Her eyes were vacant, her lips slightly parted as if she had been trying to speak but couldn’t. It was as if she had shut down entirely. Panic gripped my chest. I couldn’t let her stay like this.
“Stay with me, okay?” I told her, even though I knew she wasn’t really hearing me. I had to act quickly. I ran into the bathroom and grabbed a few warm, wet towels, along with a bucket of water. The scent of blood was stronger now, and I felt a wave of nausea. I couldn’t imagine what she had gone through.
Returning to her side, I carefully pulled the sheet away from her shoulders, trying to check for wounds. When I saw the bites on her neck, I gasped. My heart shattered at the sight. These weren’t just bite marks. They were deep, gruesome wounds. Jeremiah had marked her—but it wasn’t like any normal mark. This was brutal, savage. Flesh was missing, and the skin around the wounds was raw and torn. It was like she had been attacked by a wild animal, not her mate.
“Oh, Moon Goddess,” I whispered, feeling my hands shake. How could he do this? What kind of monster had Jeremiah become?
I worked quickly, trying to stay calm. I needed to help her. I crushed some herbs from my bag and mixed them with water, creating a healing paste. Gently, I applied the mixture to her neck, cleaning the wounds with the wet towels. Astrid didn’t flinch, didn’t protest. She sat there, completely still, as if she didn’t even feel the pain.
But I knew better. She was hurting, more than she’d probably ever hurt before.
After cleaning the wounds, I wrapped her neck in soft bandages, the herbal paste already working to reduce the pain and swelling. I injected her with a strong painkiller, hoping it would at least numb the worst of it. Once she was bandaged and cleaned up as best I could manage, I stood and grabbed some clean clothes.
“I’m going to take you back to your room, okay?” I told her, though I wasn’t sure she could hear me. “You’ll be safe there.”
She still didn’t respond, but I wasn’t going to leave her here. I couldn’t. Not in Jeremiah’s room.
I dressed her in a simple green dress and a woolen sweater, something warm and comfortable. She didn’t move or speak the entire time. Her silence was deafening, and it broke my heart to see her like this. No one deserved this—especially not from their own mate.
Once she was dressed, I carefully helped her stand and led her back to her room. I asked one of the workers to fix her door, which had been broken earlier. I wasn’t leaving her here in Jeremiah’s space, especially not after what had happened. I wasn’t sure what he was capable of anymore.
As I settled her into bed, I felt the weight of everything pressing down on me. Growing up, Jeremiah had been such a sweet boy. Calm, happy, always full of energy and laughter. After his parents died, yes, he changed, but I never imagined he could hold this much rage inside him.
I tucked the blankets around Astrid and brushed her hair back from her face. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
Her eyes finally closed, but she didn’t say a word. The silence felt suffocating. I left her room, my heart heavy, and made my way to Jeremiah’s office. I knew he’d be there. After everything, he always drowned himself in work and whisky, just like his father used to do when he was overwhelmed with guilt.
When I pushed open the door, I saw him exactly as I’d expected—sitting at his desk with a glass of whisky in hand, his eyes brooding, staring off into the distance.
He didn’t look at me as I entered, but I could see the tension in his jaw, the tightness in his shoulders. He knew why I was there.
“What is wrong with you?” I demanded, my voice harsher than I’d intended. “What did you do to her?”
He didn’t answer at first, just set his glass down with a hard bang on the table. “Watch what you say, Helena,” he warned, his voice low. “Especially if you’re here to defend the enemy.”
“The enemy?” I scoffed, stepping closer to him. “Astrid is your mate! She has nothing to do with this! You know that, Jeremiah.”
He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. “You don’t understand.”
“No, I don’t,” I shot back, my heart pounding with frustration. “And neither do you, apparently! You’re punishing her for something she didn’t do. You’re going to regret this, Jeremiah. You’re going to regret it if you don’t change.”
His eyes darkened, but I didn’t care. I was done with him. Without another word, I turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me.
I didn’t know if anything I said would get through to him, but I had to try. For Astrid’s sake.
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