The Lunar Crest Academy: Marked by The Lycans
Chapter 62: The Awakening

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: The Awakening

Adrian Vale’s hands were slick with blood, Elise’s blood, as he and Felix pushed open the doors to the academy hospital. The sterile, icy scent of the place mixed with the tang of iron, and Elise’s unconscious body sagged between them, her skin clammy and pale.

"We need help!" Adrian shouted, his voice rough with urgency.

A nurse darted out, eyes widening at the sight of Elise’s wounds. In moments, a stretcher arrived, and Elise was wheeled in. Felix hovered nervously, whispering her name under his breath.

"She’s a feral," one of the medics muttered under his breath, clearly hesitating.

Adrian stepped forward, pulling out a few lunar coins. "Put it on my tab. She gets full treatment."

The medic’s eyes went wide. "Of course"

As Elise was rushed into the emergency ward, Adrian sat beside Felix in the waiting area, elbows on his knees, fingers laced tightly together. The fluorescent lights above buzzed faintly, and the sterile walls felt far too quiet after what they’d just witnessed.

Then the floor beneath him vibrated, just slightly, but enough for a werewolf to notice.

Adrian stiffened. That wasn’t a quake. That was a clash.

He stood without a word, following the faint tremors that echoed down the hallway. "Stay with Elise," he told Felix.

"Adrian...."

"Stay."

He turned the corner just in time to see them: Prince Kieran Valerius Hunter and Astrid Voss locked in a brutal fight. Claws flashed, speed blurred. Astrid was mostly dodging, but even then, her agility was incredible. Kieran fought like a storm, raw, furious, precise. His eyes blazed red, and the hallway cracked under the force of his blows.

And then, abruptly, it stopped.

Astrid said something Adrian couldn’t hear, and just like that, Kieran lowered his fists. The two of them turned and walked down the corridor together as if nothing had just happened. Like they hadn’t almost torn the walls apart.

Curious, Adrian followed at a distance, keeping to the shadows.

They entered one of the patient rooms. Adrian crept to the edge of the doorway and looked through the small glass panel.

His breath caught.

Lorraine.

She lay unmoving on the hospital bed, her skin so pale it was nearly translucent. Even in her broken state, she looked stubbornly alive, stubbornly beautiful.

Adrian’s body tensed.

"We need to awaken her wolf," Astrid said from within the room. "Bring her to the Hollow Grounds before midnight. The full moon’s power only lasts so long."

Adrian’s eyes narrowed. The Hollow Grounds?

He quickly stepped back as Astrid exited the room. She walked past him, unaware of his presence, her heels clicking softly down the hall. Once she was gone, Adrian slipped away, heart pounding.

He returned to where Felix sat near Elise’s door.

Felix looked up immediately. "Did you hear anything? Do you know how Lorraine’s doing?"

Adrian nodded grimly. "She’s still alive. Barely. But Astrid and Kieran..." he hesitated, "....they plan to awaken her wolf. They’re going to the Hollow Grounds before midnight."

Felix’s eyes widened. "The Hollow Grounds? That place is off-limits. And can a wolf be awakened?"

"It can, its a forbidden procedure, but they are going to do it anyway" Adrian muttered as he opened Elise’s room door. _{fr\eewebno vel .c(o)m}

Neither of them noticed the figure sitting in a shadowed corner of the hallway, still and silent.

Alistair Ashthorne

His eyes glowed faintly in the dim light, and his jaw clenched as he replayed their words in his mind.

So Lorraine might live after all.

And they were going to the Hollow grounds, to perform a forbidden ritual.

Interesting.

.....

Kieran’s POV

I held Lorraine close, cradled against my chest like she was the most fragile thing in this damned academy. She felt weightless, too light. Her skin was ice beneath my fingers, and her heartbeat.... weak, barely there. Each second I carried her felt like she was slipping further from me.

Astrid had said we didn’t have long.

The moment the doctor stabilized her enough to move, I took her. I didn’t wait. I didn’t speak. I just moved.

Astrid needed rare ingredients for the ritual, some obscure herbs, moon-root, bloodroot ash, things that weren’t even supposed to exist within the academy walls. Thorin had already gone ahead to retrieve them. I could only hope he got everything in time.

I stepped outside, tightened my grip around Lorraine’s waist, then bent low. In a blink, I vanished into the night, super speeding past the academy buildings, into the wilderness that surrounded it, the wind howling like it mourned with me. Trees blurred. Time vanished. And then....

The Hollow Grounds.

A secluded glade nestled deep beyond the perimeter wards. No one came here. No one even dared. Legends spoke of it as sacred. Cursed, even. A place where the moon’s light touched the earth most powerfully.

Astrid and Thorin were already there. A fire crackled low beside them, strange tools and vials scattered around it. She stood when she saw me, moonlight reflecting off her eyes.

"You’re on time," she said simply. "Good."

She wasted no breath on sentiment. Just moved.

With quick precision, Astrid took a chalky white powder from Thorin’s bag and began to draw a massive circle into the dirt, murmuring under her breath. Sigils. Ancient runes I’d only seen in forbidden texts. As she worked, I watched, my instincts on edge, my claws twitching with every breath she took.

"Step inside," she said at last, gesturing to the circle. "Hold her in the center."

But I didn’t move.

Not yet.

"Why are you helping us?" I asked, voice low but sharp. "You hated Lorraine. You sent her to the White Room. You murdered a feral girl and hanged her in the cafeteria. That’s what started all this. That’s what pushed her to fight back."

She didn’t speak.

"You’re a Lycan, Astrid Voss," I growled, taking a step closer, shielding Lorraine even in her unconscious state. "A trained soldier. A war commander. So how the hell do you suddenly know how to perform ancient rituals? What are you doing with a secret room in your office? Why do you have a book, one where you write students’ names after they die?"

Her eyes narrowed, but still she said nothing.

I stepped forward again, fury boiling beneath my skin.

"And you wrote Selene Ashthorne’s name in that book before I killed her. You knew she would die. You predicted it. What are you, Astrid Voss? What’s your game plan? And why the hell should I trust you?"

She looked up at me then, the firelight dancing in her eyes. Calm. Controlled. That unreadable look on her face, like she’d lived a thousand lives and didn’t have time to explain even one of them.

"You don’t have to trust me," she said quietly. "You just have to do what I say."

"That’s not good enough."

"You do not have a choice." Her voice was cold steel now. "Because I’m your only chance at saving her. We can stand here and waste what little time we have so I can try to convince you that I mean no harm. Or...." Her eyes flicked up to the full moon overhead. "You can step into the damn circle and let me work before we miss the moon’s window of power."

I stared at her.

Every instinct in me screamed not to trust her.

So I didn’t move.

Not yet.

Astrid stepped closer, the wind picking up around us, whispering through the trees like the moon itself was listening.

"You are the Lycan Prince, Kieran," she said, her voice sharp with conviction. "All my life, I’ve been trained, conditioned, to understand just how precious and untouchable the royal Lycan bloodline is. I know the rules better than anyone. I’d be a fool to try and deceive you. Especially right in your face, Kieran Valerius Hunter."

Her words struck something inside me, maybe not trust, but reason.

I looked down at Lorraine.

Pale. Fragile. Dying.

Damn it.

I exhaled sharply and walked into the circle, dropping to the floor, settling her into my lap, my arms still tightly around her. She felt colder than before.

Astrid nodded. "Good. Now listen closely, this can be a violent process. Awakening a dormant wolf, especially one that’s been buried for this long, is.... brutal. She might thrash. Scream. Float. You have to keep her still. Don’t let go of her. No matter what."

"I won’t," I said without hesitation.

Then she stepped back and knelt at the edge of the circle. Thorin placed several glowing stones around us. The herbs he gathered were already burning, releasing strange silver smoke that shimmered in the moonlight.

Astrid began to chant.

The words weren’t in any tongue I recognized. They sounded ancient, older than Lycans, older than time. They clawed at something primal in me. The wind surged, harder now, whipping through the trees. The moon above us glowed brighter, full and huge, like a living thing. Watching.

Then I felt it.

Lorraine’s body twitched.

Slightly, at first.

Then more.

Her limbs started to tremble violently, her head jerking back. A soft gasp escaped her lips.

"Lorraine?" I whispered, tightrning my grip.

She didn’t respond.

She screamed.

Her whole body convulsed in my arms. I locked my grip tighter around her, holding her down as she thrashed, teeth clenched, eyes still closed. Astrid’s chanting grew louder, faster. The ground beneath us trembled.

Then Lorraine’s back arched, and she began to float.

"No, no, no," I growled, yanking her back down, holding her firmly against me.

A soft glow began to pulse from her chest. Then brighter. A blinding white light started to spread through her body, from the inside out.

"It’s working," Astrid shouted over the storm. "Her wolf is waking up!"

Then....

Mate.

The word slammed into me like thunder. My wolf, my ever-silent, cold, calculating beast, howled.

Mate.

What? What the hell..... Lorraine? Mate?

But I didn’t have time to process it.

The light bursting from Lorraine intensified into a blinding flash. And then.....

BOOM.....

A violent force exploded from her chest, knocking all of us backward like ragdolls. I hit the dirt hard, rolling across the grass. My ears rang. My skin burned where her energy had touched me.

What the bloody hell just happened?