Ruin Me, Alpha-Chapter 40: She Gets Him In Every Timeline

"Really? Astrid? Of all people?"

My voice came out flat, tired, furious. I was standing in Devon’s bedroom, hands folded tight against my chest, back pressed to the wall like I’d been shoved there by fate itself. The room was dark, lights off, curtains drawn, silence thick. But I could see him as clear as day as he stepped into his room.

My powers were back. Fully back.

Devon wasn’t surprised that I was in his room, he stood near the bed, shirt half-buttoned, sleeves rolled, posture relaxed in that infuriating way that had always made my blood boil and my knees weak at the same time. If anything, he looked... worse. Better. Sharper. More devastatingly handsome. Like death had polished him to appear even more better and sent him back to ruin me properly this time.

He didn’t look surprised to see me.

He looked annoyed.

"I don’t have time for this," he said coolly. "Or for your many attempts at murdering me. Get out."

I laughed once, sharp and humorless. "Wow. Straight to business. No ’missed you,’ no dramatic threats? You’re slipping, Alpha."

"Out," he repeated, voice clipped. "Now."

My jaw clenched. "Did you kill Gideon?"

That did it.

Devon exhaled slowly, rubbing his jaw like I was a headache he’d already tried to cure with alcohol. "You really don’t know when to quit."

"Answer me."

He didn’t. Instead, he reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet and car keys, and dropped them onto the bedside table with a careless clatter. Then he turned his back to me and started undoing the rest of his buttons.

"Leave," he said again. "Before I lose my patience."

The audacity.

The sheer, infuriating audacity.

The bedside lamp flicked on with a soft click, dim light spilling across the room as he reached for it without even looking. I pushed off the wall and started moving, slow, deliberate, eyes dragging over everything. The bed. The sheets. The faint scent that was still him—always him—no matter how many times I told myself I hated it.

"You redecorated," I said. "Less brooding. More ’domesticated alpha pretending he’s normal.’"

He didn’t look at me.

"So," I continued, circling, "where’s your wife?"

That got his attention.

He turned halfway, eyes cold. "None of your business."

Something inside me snapped.

I shoved him.

Hard.

He flew across the room, slammed into the wall with a violent crack that rattled the furniture. Any other man would’ve stayed down. Devon didn’t. He pushed himself upright slowly, rolling his shoulders like he’d just been mildly inconvenienced.

"Betrayal," I spat. "That’s what you are. How dare you ruin my life and move on like it was nothing?"

He met my glare, expression unreadable. "I want to move past whatever fantasy you’ve built in your head."

Fantasy.

I grabbed the bedside lamp.

Swung.

It shattered against his head, glass exploding, light dying instantly and plunging us back into darkness.

"You monster!" I shouted, my eyes burning. "I swear I’ll kill you—and your wife!"

Nothing.

No rage. No retaliation.

He didn’t even flinch.

I closed the space between us, grabbed his shirt, fists twisting in the fabric as I yanked him down to my height. Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t care.

"You dragged me into a world I never wanted," I said, voice breaking. "You lied. Manipulated. Ruined everything. And now you just—what? Get to forget? Get to move on?"

He finally spoke.

"Irene Harvey," he said evenly, "I don’t know what this is about, but you need to leave before my wife comes."

The words hit harder than any blow.

I froze.

Pulled back slowly, my hands slipping from his shirt like I’d been burned.

He... didn’t know me.

Not pretending. Not deflecting.

He didn’t remember.

My heart didn’t just break. It collapsed. Crumbled. Turned to dust inside my chest.

I laughed weakly. "You really don’t remember me."

His eyes narrowed slightly, confusion flickering—but not recognition.

I stepped back, shaking. "You ruined my life, you monster. Tossed me into this sick loop because of that honey tongue you’ve got. Deceived me into your games. And now, I’m stuck, in a time you don’t even recall all those games we played?"

I swallowed hard, throat tight.

"Oh, Devon," I whispered. "I swear on my life and my brother’s life, I’ll kill you and use your blood to write a, ’Fuck you, Devon,’ on the wall, for real this time. No one ruins my life and gets away with it."

I turned.

Walked to the door.

Opened it.

Slammed it shut behind me, the reality that Devon didn’t remember me tightening my throat.

The elevator doors were five steps away.

I had my hand halfway up, ready to press the button, ready to leave the Alpha wing before my legs betrayed me, when a voice sliced through the corridor.

"Irene."

I stopped.

I didn’t turn.

I didn’t need to.

I knew that voice.

I inhaled once. Exhaled once. Then I turned slowly.

Astrid stood there.

Not in her usual bouncing, dress she always clad herself in in the frozen world. Not in trousers with pockets full of notes and crumbs. She was dressed in a knee-length dress, fitted, elegant, the kind of thing that screamed Luna without begging for attention. Her hair was pulled back neatly. Her shoulders were straight. Her eyes—

God.

Her eyes were calm.

Cold.

Ambitious.

This wasn’t the hyperactive girl who talked too much and laughed too loud.

This was a woman who had learned how power tasted.

"Well," I said. "Look at you."

She smiled.

And then she crossed the distance between us in two strides and slapped me.

Hard.

My head snapped to the side.

My ears rang.

The taste of iron filled my mouth.

I blinked once.

Twice.

Then I moved.

My hand came up, my body twisting to return the favor—

Her fingers closed around my throat.

The world tilted.

She slammed me back against the wall, forearm pressing into my collarbone, grip tightening like a vice. My feet scraped against the floor as I tried to get leverage.

Astrid leaned in.

Her eyes were bright.

Not frantic.

Not emotional.

Bright with control.

"How dare you," she said calmly, tightening her grip, "come back here after the nuisance you constituted."

I clawed at her wrist. It didn’t move.

I tried to knee her. She shifted her weight and blocked it with ease.

Luna strength.

I felt it then.

The difference.

My lungs burned. My vision blurred at the edges.

I forced a laugh through my constricting throat. "Fuck... off..."

Her mouth twitched.

"Still mouthy," she said. "Some things never change."

My fingers dug into her arm. I tried to pry her off.

Nothing.

She pushed closer, my back flattening harder against the wall.

"I was living a peaceful life," Astrid continued, voice smooth, conversational, like we were discussing the weather. "With my husband. And then you came back. With your madness. Your obsession. Your plague."

Plague.

I choked out a sound that might have been a laugh or a curse.

"You destroy everything you touch," she said. "And I won’t let you destroy this."

My lungs screamed.

I tasted blood.

I forced my mouth open again. "I’ll... destroy... you..."

Her grip tightened.

Just for a second.

A warning.

"Try anything stupid," she said softly, "and I will kill you."

Then she released me.

I slid down the wall, coughing violently, one hand on my throat, gasping as air rushed back in like fire. I stayed there for a moment, hacking, my vision clearing slowly.

Astrid stepped back, smoothing her dress.

Unbothered.

I pushed myself upright, still coughing once, twice, then I lifted my head.

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

When I spoke, my voice was rough.

Venomous.

"Before you lay a finger on me again," I said, "I’ll kill you first."

She raised a brow.

"I’ll use your bones," I continued, stepping forward despite the ache in my throat, "to gut out Devon’s intestines. Slowly."

Silence stretched between us.

Then Astrid laughed.

Actually laughed.

"You’re being dramatic," she said. "As usual."

I stiffened.

She tilted her head. "It’s because he doesn’t remember you anymore, isn’t it?"

The words hit me wrong.

I froze.

"What did you say?"

Her smile widened.

"Oh," she said. "You didn’t think I noticed?"

My heart stuttered.

I said nothing.

She circled me slowly, heels clicking against the floor.

"You walked out of his room like a ghost," she said. "Threatening him. Shaking. Furious. And he looked at you like you were nothing more than an inconvenience."

She stopped in front of me.

"He doesn’t remember you," she repeated. "Does he?"

I clenched my fists.

"How do you know that?" I snapped.

She leaned closer. "Because we were all there when that ritual in the frozen world happened. You didn’t see me but I witnesses everything. And I smiled while I did because I know it was the beginning of your misery."

The corridor felt smaller.

My pulse roared in my ears.

"What?" I said.

"All those stupid promises," Astrid went on, her voice almost bored, "only for him to forget you and toss you into a loop."

My breath hitched.

"You—" I stopped. "You know about the loop."

Her eyes glittered.

"Of course I do."

I took a step back.

"You were never supposed to know," I said.

Astrid laughed again. "Oh, Irene. You underestimate how much power comes with being a Luna."

My throat tightened for an entirely different reason.

"How long?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Long enough."

My mind raced.

"Who told you?" I demanded. "Devon?"

She scoffed. "Devon doesn’t remember you. How could he tell me anything?"

"Then how—"

"I was there, Irene," she cut in. "I watched the ritual took place. And, even though I knew the consequences, i was the happiest person alive."

I swallowed.

"You shouldn’t exist here anymore," Astrid said quietly. "You’re an error. A disease in the timeline."

"And you’re what?" I snapped. "The cure?"

"Yes," she said without hesitation. "I am."

I stared at her.

This wasn’t jealousy.

This wasn’t insecurity.

This was strategy.

"You married him," I said slowly. "You took my place in his life."

She smiled. "You never had a place."

The words burned.

"You loved him," Astrid continued. "And what did it get you? Erased. Forgotten. Reset like a bad dream."

She leaned closer again.

"I get to keep him," she whispered. "In every timeline you fail in."

Rage surged.

"So you hit me," I said, "because you’re scared."

Her hand shot out again—

I caught her wrist.

For half a second, our strengths clashed.

Her eyes widened.

Then she twisted, broke my grip, and shoved me back.

"You don’t belong here," she said sharply. "And if you try to interfere again—"

"You’ll kill me," I finished.

She nodded. "Glad we understand each other."

I laughed.

It came out broken.

"You think this ends with you?" I said. "With him forgetting me?"

She tilted her head. "It already did."

My chest hurt.

Not from her grip.

From the truth.

"You’re stuck," Astrid said. "In a loop you can’t control. Watching the man you love choose peace over you every single time."

I clenched my jaw. Realisation dawning on me. This was the consequence, more like the curse. I’d be stuck in a time where the man I love choose someone else over me again and again. Rage surged.

"And what happens," I asked, "when he starts remembering?"

Her smile faltered.

Just a fraction.

"That won’t happen," she said.

I leaned in.

"It always does."

I knew I was lying. I just wanted to win the argument. Devon was never regaining his memory. This loop is the consequence for bringing him back to life and there would never be a change.

Then Astrid straightened.

"Enjoy the reset," she said coolly. "If you survive it."

She turned.

Walked away.

I stood there, my heart pounding, my head spinning.

The lights flickered.

Once.

Twice.

My stomach dropped.

"No," I whispered.

The floor lurched.

The sound around me warped, stretched, cracked.

My vision tunneled.

Astrid’s footsteps echoed backward.

The walls dissolved.

My breath caught as the world folded in on itself.

Again.

Again.

Again.

The last thing I heard was my own voice, swallowed by the void—

"Fuck."

And then—

Everything rebooted.