The Lunar Crest Academy: Marked by The Lycans
Chapter 58: Death in the Eyes

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Death in the Eyes

Lorraine’s POV

The forest exploded.

Dozens of Elites lunged, black blurs crashing toward the Lycans with lethal intent. The air rang with the clash of power, bones cracking, snarls tearing through the trees, blood misting the air like fine rain.

Varya was a demon unleashed.

She twisted through the swarm of Elites, her crimson hair a flash of fire as she tore through flesh with a savage grin. One Elite’s throat was ripped out with her teeth, another flung into the air before his back cracked against a rock. The two Lycans at her side weren’t far behind, ripping limbs, smashing skulls, moving like wolves possessed.

But there were too many Elites.

For every one they killed, two more came. Selene circled the battle like a vulture, never engaging head-on, only slipping in with precision, slashing at Varya’s side when her guard dropped, stabbing into exposed tendons with her extended claws

I watched the chaos through a blur.

I didn’t care who won. I didn’t care about Selene’s sick game or Varya’s pride.

I just needed to escape.

"Elise," I whispered, gently tapping her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open for half a second, and I saw the pain swimming there. "We’re getting out of here. I promise."

Adrian crawled beside me, bloody and panting, while Felix staggered toward us, still limping. He looked at Elise, then me, and gave a barely perceptible nod.

He understood. So did Adrian.

We didn’t speak. We didn’t need to.

They helped me lift Elise between them. Her head lolled onto Felix’s shoulder, her body trembling in their grip. My legs burned, but I forced myself to move, step by step, slow and silent, inching backward through the brush, trying not to snap a single twig.

We were so close from getting away from them

Then.....

A gust of wind. A blur of blonde and blue.

And Selene was there.

Right in front of us.

Her eyes were a shade too calm. Too knowing. She tilted her head as if she were bored with the entire bloody affair.

"I don’t recall giving you permission to leave," she said flatly.

Before I could scream, she grabbed Felix by the throat and hurled him like he weighed nothing.

I heard the crack as his back slammed into a tree trunk. Heard the gasp leave his lungs. Heard nothing after that.

"Felix!" I cried, panic strangling me.

Adrian roared, stepping forward with wild fury, but Alistair moved like a phantom and caught him mid-charge. They crashed to the ground, fists flying, growls cutting through the carnage.

And Elise..... Elise slipped from our grip and hit the earth again, her body limp like a broken doll.

I wanted to reach for her but I couldn’t, I froze

Because now, I was alone.

Face-to-face with Selene Ashthorne.

Her presence was suffocating. Her blonde hair clung to her pale face, splattered with blood that wasn’t hers. She took a step closer, and I took one back.

But I stumbled.

My knees gave out, and I landed in the dirt, scraping my palms. I scrambled backward, heart pounding like it wanted out of my chest.

This was it.

This was the face of death.

Not some beast in the night. Not a sword in the dark.

It was her, Selene. Calm. Beautiful. Terrifying. Claiming my life like it was hers to take, like it had always belonged to her.

I told myself not to be afraid.

Not now. Not when it mattered.

Fear was a luxury I I couldn’t afford, not with Elise unconscious, Felix broken, and Adrian pinned to the ground like a rag doll. Not with death crouched in front of me wearing Selene Ashthorne’s pretty face.

She knelt, mocking eyes narrowing as she tilted her head. "Pathetic," she murmured, almost like a lullaby meant to lull me into my end. "You’re trembling."

I wasn’t.

Not from fear, at least. I was trembling from rage. From pain. From the taste of blood on my tongue.

Just as Selene leaned in to whisper probably something cruel, I grabbed a fistful of the cold, gritty sand beneath me, and shoved it into her face.

She shrieked. Recoiled. Her hands flew up to her eyes, blinking furiously, snarling as she staggered back in shock.

I didn’t waste the moment. I shoved her with all my strength, knocking her off balance. She hit the ground hard.

And I ran.

I didn’t look back. My legs burned. My lungs felt like they were on fire, but I didn’t stop. I needed distance. I needed.....

She was in front of me again.

Before I could blink, she had reappeared like a ghost made of vengeance, faster than thought. Her face was twisted now, no longer amused.

She was furious.

"You really thought you could escape me?" she hissed.

Her hand clamped around my throat, and she slammed me into a tree so hard the bark cracked behind me. My feet left the ground. My breath caught.

"I’ve let you live too long," Selene snarled. "For a filthy little feral, you’ve grown far too bold."

I clawed at her arm, but her grip only tightened.

"For hurting my brother...." she growled, voice shaking with venom. "You deserve to die in the most miserable way imaginable."

Her claws lengthened before my eyes, obsidian and gleaming. With a vicious hiss, she drove them into my chest.

Agony ripped through me.

I gasped, but no sound came out. My body convulsed. Her claws were digging through flesh, scraping bone. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t scream. Couldn’t move.

"I’m going to rip your heart out," she whispered, voice deadly soft. "And I want you to feel it."

Adrian screamed my name. Felix’s voice cracked with desperation. But they couldn’t reach me, Alistair held them down, grinning like this was just another show.

My vision blurred. My body numbed.

I felt her hand reach deeper. Breaking through my sternum

I felt it brush against the beat of my heart.

Then.....

A sudden whoosh split the air behind Selene.

It was a crack. A blur of motion. A sound like tearing flesh.

Selene froze.

Her eyes widened in horror

Something..... someone, had stabbed through her from behind. A hand. A monstrous looking hand. Clawed and dripping, bursting out through her chest, holding something pulsing and red between its fingers.

Her heart.

Still beating.

Her lips parted in disbelief. Her body slackened.