The Lunar Crest Academy: Marked by The Lycans
Chapter 69: Into The Fire

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Into The Fire

Kieran’s POV

What?

The word rang in my skull like a gong, deafening everything else.

The Lycans were under attack?

No. That couldn’t be possible.

We were the most powerful sect in the academy, stronger than the nobles, deadlier than the elites. Who would be foolish enough to strike us? Who would dare?

I stared at Astrid Voss, still locked in her cell, her eyes wide with urgency.

"You’ve been here since yesterday," I said slowly, piecing it together. "You couldn’t have known what’s happening in the auditorium, so how....."

"I saw it," she interrupted, her voice trembling for the first time. "Its complicated and I will explain later but if you want to save the lycans, yo must leave now"

I blinked, trying to force reason through the cloud of disbelief. "But who..... who would even try to take us down? What could hurt us?"

Astrid stepped forward, gripping the cell bars. "Wolfsbane, Kieran. They’ve soaked the sprinkler system. Elite soldiers are there with tanks of it, and they’re targeting only your kind. You don’t have time to ask questions, go!"

Just as I turned to leave, her hand shot out and grabbed my arm with surprising strength.

"One more thing...." Her voice dropped, fierce. "Do not kill Alpha Desmond Ashthorne."

I narrowed my eyes. "What?"

"If you kill him now, it will escalate everything," she said, her voice taut with warning. "The peace between the Lycans and the Elites, it’s fragile. A Lycan prince killing the Alpha of the Elites will shatter it. You’ll start a war this academy can’t contain."

My claws flexed unconsciously, still slick with blood. "He’s hurting my people."

"And you can stop him. But you need to be smart about this, Kieran," Astrid said. "You’re not just a prince, you’re their future king. Fight like one."

My chest was heaving now, the walls around me shrinking as tge urgency surged.

Go.

Without another word, I turned and vanished in a burst of speed, the corridors blurring around me Every instinct in my body screamed in one direction.

The auditorium.

Toward the chaos. Toward the blood. Toward the screams of my people.

Lorraine’s POV

Adrian’s grip on my wrist was firm as he dragged me through the chaos, students rushing past us in a blur of fear and panic. My heart was pounding, my legs stumbling to keep up, but then....

A sudden gust of wind rushed past me, slicing the air like a blade.

I stopped.

Whipped around.

And there he was.

Kieran.

Standing tall, no, towering, in front of the auditorium like an avenging storm. His academy uniform was torn in several places, soaked and dark with blood. His claws were still extended, dripping crimson. His chest rose and fell in heavy, furious breaths, and his eyes....

His eyes burned like molten gold, contorted in a rage I had never seen before. Not cold and calculated like usual, but wild. Savage. Consuming.

He was going in there.

"No...." I breathed. "He’s going to go in there."

"What?" Adrian followed my gaze and paled.

"If he walks into that room, they’ll attack him. He’ll get hit with the wolfsbane too," I said, my voice rising. "They won’t even hesitate."

Adrian shook his head. "Let’s go, Lorraine. It’s not our fight. The Lycans can handle themselves. There’s nothing we can do."

I looked at him. My heart squeezed. "But this is happening because Kieran killed Selene. And he killed her to save me, Adrian."

Adrian’s face twisted. "I know you feel responsible. But Lorraine, we’re very weak compared to them. Powerless. What could you possibly do in there?"

"I don’t know," I whispered, voice shaking. "But I won’t stand by and watch him burn."

"Lorraine...."

"You go," I said, stepping back. "Go to the hospital. Stay with Felix and Elise. They need you more."

I tore my hand from his grasp and turned toward the auditorium.

"Lorraine, no!" Adrian shouted behind me, but I didn’t look back.

I was already running. Faster than I ever had before.

Toward Kieran.

Toward the fire.

Toward the chaos.

I ran faster than I ever had, lungs burning, my feet slipping on the blood-slick floors outside the auditorium.

"Kieran!" I shouted, breathless, my voice breaking. "Stop!"

He didn’t even flinch.

I launched myself in front of him, arms outstretched to block his path.

"You can’t go in like this!" I cried. "They’re using wolfsbane. It’s in the sprinklers, they’ll subdue you. You’re walking into a trap!"

His eyes met mine, still glowing with that molten fury, his face tight with restraint, just barely.

"I’m not letting them slaughter my people," he said through clenched teeth

"But if you go in without a plan, you’ll just be another target," I said, desperate. "Please, Kieran, just wait...."

He pushed past me.

Not violently. Not with anger.

But with finality.

Like a king who had already made his decision.

I stumbled back, heart sinking, as he stepped through the wide doors.

And then, I saw it.

The horror.

The Lycans, were on the ground, their bodies blistered and smoking, steam rising from their skin where the wolfsbane had soaked into them. Patches of skin sloughed off like wet paper. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air. They twitched and writhed, their healing slowed to a crawl under the constant assault of the wolfsbane

Some couldn’t even even scream anymore.

And yet the streams didn’t stop.

The warriors wielding the wolfsbane kegs stood back, hosing them down relentlessly with cruel satisfaction.

My stomach twisted.

Then....

"Enough," Kieran said.

He didn’t yell.

He didn’t roar.

He stated it.

Like a command that rang through the air with the weight of destiny itself.

Several of Alpha Ashthorne’s men turned to him.

They lunged.

Kieran moved like death itself. His claws slashed through flesh and armor as if it were mist. One had his chest ripped open mid-air. Another collapsed with his throat torn in one swift motion. Their blood sprayed across the floor.

But then, one of the warriors holding the wolfsbane hose turned toward Kieran, ready to soak him in the deadly liquid.

Before he could squeeze the trigger, Kieran vanished.

Appeared behind him.

Slit his throat with one clean motion.

The man dropped instantly.

But that single act made them all turn to him. _{f r\eew,eb novel.c(o)(m)}

Six hoses, all turning, aligning.

Sprays pressurized and hissing.

Target locked.

"NO!!" I screamed from the doorway, as a wave of horror crushed into me.

And then they fired at him.