Born To Be Your Apocalypse

The Fallout

Sabrina's POV

The sudden movement exploded right in front of me…stealing the anger right off my face…replacing it with confusion.

Zane’s hand blurred in a matter of seconds. The c***k of his open palm against the girl's cheek ripped through the room like a gunshot, sharp and brutal enough that even the air seemed to flinch.

The sound bounced off the walls, echoing long after the slap itself was over. I felt my own body jolt in surprise. The girl I had just let go…including the others, went rigid with pure shock, tiny gasps slipping from their lips.

The girl's head snapped sideways from the force. For one stunned heartbeat she just stood there, mouth open, eyes wide, the perfect red imprint of his hand already blooming across her skin.

Then the tears came.

“Zane!” she cried, voice cracking as she clutched her cheek. Tears clouded her eyes almost instantly, spilling over as she stared at him in disbelief.

“You slapped me? For this disgusting curse?” The last word came out in a scream, high and accusing, aimed straight at me like I was the one who had forced his hand.

I didn’t move…not because I didn't want to. I just couldn't make my legs move. It was as though I was too shocked and confused to move them.

I shifted my weight just enough to fold my arms across my chest, keeping the blade ready, and let a cold, mocking smile curl my lips.

“Trouble in lovers’ paradise, huh?” I taunted, voice deliberately light. “It didn't take long for the perfect little couple to start cracking…did it? Tell me, does he usually hit you this early in the argument, or is this special just for me?”

The girl's face twisted as she turned fully toward Zane, tears streaming freely now.

“Zane! Why would you hit me!” Her voice rose higher, broken and desperate. “I was only telling the truth! She’s nothing! She’s a—”

“You will not talk to her like that again. Ever.”

Zane’s words came out through clenched teeth, low and cold. Every muscle in his shoulders looked locked, like he was holding himself back from doing something far worse than a slap. His eyes stayed fixed on the girl with pure murderous warning. The control in his voice was thin, stretched tight, as if one more word from her might snap it completely.

Why the hell would he need to hold himself back like that? Trying to put on some fake protective show for me? As if I cared. As if any of this was going to change a single thing.

“But Zane…” the girl started again, softer this time, almost pleading, stepping closer to him with one hand still pressed to her stinging cheek.

He cut her off without mercy. “Stop it, Lyria. Or you leave my sight this instant.”

The name landed like a final confirmation. Oh. Yeah. That was the b***h’s name. f*****g Lyria. The same girl who had once laughed while she described in filthy detail how Zane preferred her body over mine, how he had taken her against walls and in cars and anywhere else he could get her while I was being dragged around like a criminal.

Hearing it out loud again only made the old hatred burn hotter.

Lyria’s tears didn’t stop, if anything they came harder. She wiped at her face with the back of her hand, smearing mascara, and her voice turned into a relentless, nagging stream.

“I’ll forgive you for hitting me,” she said, stepping even closer, “if you promise me right now that Sabrina Quinn is gone from this pack. Especially from this room. She doesn’t belong here with us. She's nothing but a dirty curse. We had a plan, Zane, to keep her at the outskirts of the pack. We were supposed to be happy. Have you forgotten what her family did to yours? Have you forgotten everything so soon? How will…”

“Exactly,” Zane’s voice sliced across hers, sharp as the knife in my hand.

“My family. Not yours. So shut up for one damn minute and let me handle my business.”

The words must have landed hard. Lyria’s mouth snapped shut for a second, but the tears kept falling. Her lower lip trembled and when she spoke again her voice was smaller, broken, almost childlike in its desperation.

“We were so happy together,” she whispered. “Before she came back. Sabrina doesn’t need to be in this pack. That wasn’t the plan. You said we would be together and I waited for you. Why are you protecting her? Why did you slap me because of her?”

I let out a short, bitter laugh that cut through her crying.

“Yes, Zane boy,” I said, tilting my head as I kept the knife steady. “Listen to your w***e. She’s got a point for once. Let me go. I’ll rather be dead than stay another second in this place.”

I took a slow step sideways, never lowering the blade, eyes locked on Zane’s face as I continued talking.

“You think this little reunion is going to change anything? You think dragging me back here and surrounding me with your pack of dogs is going to make me forget what you all did? Newsflash…I’m not that girl anymore. I don’t care about your dying realm.”

“Shut up, b***h!” Lyria snarled and I saw Zane move in front of her…as though trying to stop her from making a move on me.

My smile only sharpened. “Tell me, Lyria, does he still f**k you the same way you used to brag about? Or has the novelty worn off now that the ‘disgusting curse’ is standing in the same room?”

Lyria’s face went white, then flushed dark with pure rage but she didn't say anything.

Zane’s mouth curved into a slow, dangerous smirk that it annoyed me so much that he was enjoying this even in the slightest. The expression was almost lazy, but his eyes stayed focused entirely on me.

“And you,” I said, pointing the knife at him. "Don't you think for a single second that Diego won’t find me. He will. He always does. And when he does, all of you will be sorry. Every last one of you.”

“I’m looking forward to that,” he said quietly. “To Diego finding you. Really. I’d love to see how that plays out.”

The words were a challenge and a promise all at once. It seemed as though something dark and possessive lived under them, something that made the mate pull in my chest twist uncomfortably, but I ignored it.

Lyria’s composure shattered completely after Zane spoke. Her face twisted with fury, tears forgotten, as she pointed a shaking finger straight at me.

“I want her gone!” she screamed, voice raw and hysterical. “I want Sabrina Quinn out of this pack and out of this room right now! She doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as us! She—”

A new voice drifted in from the doorway behind Zane, calm and absolute, cutting through the chaos like a blade of its own.

“She’s not going anywhere and that is final…”