The Lunar Crest Academy: Marked by The Lycans
Chapter 137: The Burrow Beneath the Trees

Chapter 137: Chapter 137: The Burrow Beneath the Trees

Lorraine’s POV

The truck roared as the tires rolled through the broken forest ground, bumping and swaying as Thorin gripped the wheel with clenched fists. No one spoke. Not a single word. The air inside the vehicle was thick, choked with blood, fear, and everything we’d just lost. My ears still rang from the chaos in the auditorium. My heart hadn’t stopped racing. Kieran’s head was resting against my shoulder, unmoving. Still unconscious.

I hadn’t let go of his hand.

Beside us, Magnus kept glancing down at the prince, concern etched into every line of his face.

"Drive faster," Astrid snapped from the front seat. "We’re almost there."

Thorin didn’t reply. His foot pressed harder on the gas.

We tore through the trees like shadows on the run, the forest closing in on us in every direction until suddenly

"Here," Astrid commanded, pointing to what looked like nothing more than a dense thicket of underbrush and ancient pine.

The truck skidded to a halt, sending a cloud of dead leaves and dust into the air. For a second, I didn’t see anything. Just more trees, more darkness. But Astrid was already moving, her boots crunching over the earth. She knelt by a moss-covered stone wall and wiped it clean with one hand. A metallic glint caught the moonlight.

A keypad.

"This way," she said without turning. "Emergency underground safehouse. Built it five years ago. Just in case a situation like this happens, and it actually did."

Her fingers danced across the keys, and with a mechanical hiss, a crack split open along the forest floor. A hidden steel door swung inward, revealing a narrow stairway spiraling down into shadow.

"Move," Astrid ordered.

The first wave of injured students stepped out of the truck. They moved slowly, limping, bleeding, dazed. Some were holding each other up. Some moved like ghosts.

Varya jumped out next, cradling her arm to her ribs. Her leg was still dragging, but she held her head high. Typical Varya. I glanced back at Felix. He looked like he hadn’t blinked since Elise died, eyes red, face slack with exhaustion.

"Come on," I whispered, looping his arm over my shoulder. "Just a little further."

He didn’t resist. He barely even moved, but I helped him out of the truck. One step at a time.

Behind us, there was a thud.

Magnus jumped down next, Kieran in his arms.

Kieran’s head lolled back, blood caking the side of his face. His arm dangled, limp. Magnus adjusted his grip, holding him like he was the most precious thing in the world.

"He still hasn’t woken up," I murmured, moving closer.

"He will," Magnus said

Astrid stood at the entrance of the open underground passage, eyes scanning the treetops. She wasn’t just waiting for us, she was making sure nothing followed.

One by one, the survivors moved down the staircase. No one spoke. No one cried. We just moved like people who had seen too much and had nothing left to say.

Varya helped Felix descend beside me, even though she was limping herself. Magnus followed, carrying Kieran. Astrid and Thorin came last, and the steel door hissed shut behind us.

Our footsteps echoed down the steel staircase, swallowed quickly by the thick silence of earth and stone. The air grew cooler with every step, damp and untouched by the chaos we’d escaped above. We descended for what felt like forever, the light from the door above shrinking behind us until it vanished completely, and we were swallowed in black.

Then, a sharp clap broke the silence, Astrid’s hands, and a second later, the lights snapped on with a low electric hum.

My eyes widened.

The space we entered wasn’t a bunker, it was an entire underground world.

A massive, wide hall stretched before us. Sleek, metallic walls gleamed under rows of fluorescent lights. There were multiple rooms with heavy reinforced doors, each clearly labeled with glowing white signage. The doors had labels of a number of rooms, medical bay, storage room, weapons and explosives, training/gym, food supply locker

My mouth parted slightly in awe.

There was even a fully furnished living space with couches, a kitchen nook, and even a long wooden table with chairs pushed neatly in.

"You planned all this?" I breathed, unable to keep the admiration from my voice.

Astrid stepped past me with her usual rigid elegance, her boots clicking against the metal floor. "I like to be prepared for every outcome, even the worst-case ones."

I wasn’t sure whether I found that terrifying or brilliant.

Magnus carried Kieran over to the main couch and gently laid him down. The prince looked like he was on the verge of waking up, his brow twitching slightly, lips parting, but his eyes, his damn eyes, stayed closed. I sat beside him immediately and took his hand again, willing him to stir.

"Why isn’t he waking up?" I whispered.

"He’s probably healing," Magnus said, wiping the blood from Kieran’s jaw with the sleeve of his coat. "That fight with the ghosthound rattled every bone in his body. His wolf is still piecing him back together."

"But Kieran’s strong," I muttered, brushing his hair back. "He always gets back up."

Astrid turned to address the others. "Everyone, find a room and settle in. We’ve got first-aid supplies, medical kits, and basic rations. It’s not a five-star hotel, but it’ll keep you alive."

"I’ll help with the medical equipment," Thorin added, his voice oddly subdued.

Astrid nodded. "Good. We need to clean everyone’s wounds so it can fasten the healing process."

The survivors began dispersing, some silently heading for labeled doors, others collapsing onto the couches, too dazed to move. Varya led Felix to a small cot in the corner and knelt to tend to his bloodied arm.

I stayed where I was, right beside Kieran.

"I’m not going anywhere," I whispered to him, squeezing his hand. "So don’t you dare leave me behind."

His fingers twitched in mine

But his eyes stayed closed.

Kieran’s POV

I opened my eyes and found nothing. Only darkness, cold and endless. No ceiling. No floor. Just an abyss swallowing everything whole, except me.

Was I dead?

No.... I remembered. The fight. The chaos. Lorraine screaming my name. Aveline lunging for my throat.

Then Magnus. His hands, fast and ruthless, striking the precise point in my neck to knock me out.

So I was... still unconscious?

A familiar scent, mine but not mine, made the hair on my arms stand. I turned.

Someone was walking toward me. No.... not someone.

Me.

Or more precisely, my wolf.

He wore my face, my body, but his aura was deeper, darker, cloaked in something primal and ancient. His eyes gleamed like burning coals, filled with fury and disappointment.

Before I could react, his fist connected with my jaw, and I staggered back.

"You weakling," he growled. "I gave you the chance. The chance to leave Lorraine, to merge with me and attain total Lycan ascension. You could’ve stood toe to toe with the Ghosthound and ended her, but no." His voice dripped with disdain. "You chose love. Love, when you can’t even protect the one you claim to love!"

I wiped the blood from my mouth, rage simmering in my chest.

"You think I’m weak because I love her?" I hissed. "She’s the reason I even fight in the first place."

The wolf circled me like a predator, teeth bared. "I cannot trust you with Maeryn. You are not strong enough to protect her."

I froze.

"There you go again. Maeryn," I snapped. "Why do you keep calling Lorraine that? Her name is Lorraine. And ever since you took over my body and went to meet her, that night, when her wolf finally woke and stood before you, you’ve been different. You’ve been against her us. Why?!"

His crimson eyes narrowed, fury radiating from him. "You don’t understand, you will never understand and yet you would just listen, you are just as stubborn as you are weak!!"

I stepped forward, squaring my shoulders

"You think I’m weak because I chose Lorraine?" I spat. "You think merging with you, giving up who I am, is strength?"

The wolf’s laugh was low, bitter. "You don’t understand anything. Strength isn’t about you. It’s not about your choices or your feelings. It’s about purpose. Power. Duty. All of which you’ve thrown away for a girl who will be the end of you."

I clenched my fists. "She’s not just some girl. She’s my mate."

"You keep acting like I should be afraid of her," I snapped. "But she’s the strongest person I’ve ever met. She’s survived more than anyone in that damned academy. And I will fight for her, for us."

He tilted his head, mock curiosity in his eyes. "You think this is about survival? About strength? This is about the world, Kieran. And you still don’t get it."

"Then tell me!" I roared. "Stop talking in in circles and tell me why you’re so scared of me being with her!"

He stopped pacing. His gaze burned into mine. His next words were ice:

"Because if you stay with her, if you two stay bound, you will destroy everything."

I froze. "What?"

"You heard me," he growled. "The two of you together are a ticking curse. Cataclysm. Fire wrapped in flesh. You will destroy this world... and each other."

My throat tightened. "You’re lying."

He laughed again, but there was no amusement this time. Only regret.

"Do you think this is the first time?" he said, stepping close, his breath like smoke in my lungs. "Do you really believe this is the only life you’ve lived? You and her, this bond, it’s ancient. Cursed. You find each other, you fall in love... and then the world burns. You lose control. She loses control. You become monsters."

I took a step back, heart pounding. "That’s not true."

"It is. And it has happened before. Lifetimes ago. If you two continue to remain together, it will happen again, and you will spend an eternity wishing you had listened to me"