The Lunar Crest Academy: Marked by The Lycans
Chapter 80: A Heart to Heart Talk

Chapter 80: Chapter 80: A Heart to Heart Talk

Kieran’s POV

My wolf was raging.

We’d been so close, so close to claiming what we’d been craving, yearning, aching for. And then that knock shattered the moment like glass under claw.

I was at the door in the blink of an eye.

I yanked it open, the wood splintering from the force, and my hand shot out before my mind could catch up, gripping Thorin by the throat and lifting him off the floor with one hand.

"How dare you," I snarled, voice guttural, barely mine anymore. My wolf wanted blood. He wanted to kill for what had just been stolen from us.

"I sent him," a cold, clipped voice said from behind.

Astrid Voss.

Of course.

I turned my head slightly, still holding Thorin in the air like a rag doll. Her heels clicked confidently against the stone floor as she approached, arms folded, eyes as sharp as razors.

"Your father wants to see you," she said. "Immediately. You know the Alpha King, no one keeps him waiting. Not even his own son."

My grip tightened on Thorin for one more delicious second before I dropped him, letting him crash to the ground, gasping and rubbing his neck

My wolf still burned, snapping inside me, but I forced him down. Later, I told him. We’d finish what we started.

"Give me a moment," I said to Astrid without looking at her.

I turned and went back inside.

Lorraine had sat up on the bed, the blanket pulled tight around her bare form, clutched just under her collarbone. Her hair was messy, lips slightly swollen from my kisses, cheeks flushed, and even with all that, her eyes were curious. Concerned.

Goddess, she was beautiful.

I crossed the room and sat beside her on the bed, cupping her face gently. Her skin was still warm from our almost.

"My apologies," I murmured. "My father calls. I have to go now."

She looked like she wanted to ask a thousand questions but didn’t.

I leaned closer, pressing my forehead to hers. "I’ll be back soon. So wait for me, little wolf. Don’t lift a finger. Don’t move. Just.... stay like this for me."

She nodded, and I stole one last kiss, soft, lingering, the kind that said I’ll be back.

Then I stood, pulled on a shirt, and walked out the door, already missing her warmth. Already hungry for her again.

Lorraine’s POV

Kieran...

I watched him silently as he pulled his shirt over that perfect chest, his muscles flexing, his movements precise and predatory, yet touched with something soft.... something that made my stomach knot.

He didn’t look back as he walked out of the room, but I felt his presence lingering like a phantom on my skin. I still felt his lips on mine. I still felt the thr weight of his body, the fire of his touch.

And I wanted him.

No..... needed him.

It hit me like a wave crashing into stone. The ache between my legs hadn’t faded. My body burned for him, throbbed with a hunger that scared me with its intensity. I wanted to scream for him to come back. To drag him back to this bed. To beg him to tear that shirt off and do everything we were so close to doing.

I didn’t understand it.

Why now?

Why did I suddenly feel this insatiable, raw need for him?

I’d wanted him before, maybe.... but this? This was different. This was something deeper. Wilder. It was like my wolf was finally awake and it was clawing beneath my skin, whispering his name again and again.

Kieran.... Kieran..... Kieran.

I closed my eyes, trying to breathe through the burn inside me, and then something else hit me.

The pain in my body.... it was gone.

The torn muscles, the broken ribs, the bruises Alistair left on me, they’d all vanished. I looked down at myself beneath the blanket, shocked. My skin was smooth. My bones didn’t ache. Even the dull throb in my jaw from where he’d hit me.... gone.

What the hell?

I flexed my fingers, twisted my ankles, leaned back slightly, testing.

Stronger. I felt stronger.

But how?

Before I could make sense of it, the door creaked open again, and I turned my head quickly.

Astrid Voss walked in.

Her heels tapped the floor with that same eerie calm, her face unreadable. Cold eyes swept over me, taking in my blanket-covered body and the flush still burning on my cheeks.

My heart jumped, and the tension in the room shifted.

Astrid’s eyes swept over me, cold and calculated, lingering a little too long on my exposed shoulders. I clutched the blanket tighter around my body, suddenly feeling raw and too visible under her gaze.

She walked with an eerie grace, settling herself on the leather couch across from the bed like she owned the room. One leg crossed elegantly over the other, her gloved fingers rested on the armrest, poised and predatory.

"It’s finally time we have a heart-to-heart talk, Lorraine Anderson," she said, voice smooth and laced with venom.

I shifted on the bed, keeping my eyes locked on hers, unwilling to show how unsettled I truly was.

She tilted her head. "You’ve somehow crept your way into the Lycan Prince’s heart.... or at least his bed." Her mouth curved into a mockery of a smile, cold and biting. "Congratulations. That’s quite the achievement for a feral."

"What the bloody hell do you want from me, Astrid?" I snapped, voice sharper than I intended.

Her expression didn’t change, but something flickered in her eyes. "What do I want from you? Now, that’s a very broad question." She leaned forward slightly. "The right question should be, What the bloody hell are you, Lorraine?"

My heart skipped. "Excuse me?"

Her smile widened, slow and predatory. "What kind of creature are you?"

I stared at her, my mind racing.

"I’ve seen ferals crawl, beg, and die. I’ve seen nobles fall, I’ve watched even Lycans bleed. But you...." She studied me like I was some puzzle she couldn’t crack. "You keep surviving things you shouldn’t. You keep rising when you should’ve been broken beyond repair. Like a stubborn worn, you refuse to die no matter what"

I stayed silent, unsure what to say... because she wasn’t entirely wrong.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my voice cracking

Astrid didn’t smile this time. Her expression was serious, almost reverent. "You have something powerful within you, Lorraine. And at first, I thought it was just your wolf. A strong one, surely rare. But now I know it’s more than that."

I stared at her, completely still.

"Your wolf is strong, yes.... but you," she said, slowly tapping a finger against her temple, "you, Lorraine, are uncanny. The way your power explodes when you’re angry or scared. The way you throw people without even thinking. That raw strength, it’s not just instinct. It’s not coming from your wolf. It’s coming from you."

"You’re confusing me," I whispered, shaking my head. "That makes no sense." _{fre.eweb novel\.c om}

Astrid inhaled deeply, her tone becoming clipped, focused. "I don’t fully understand it either, not yet. But I know this much, if we’re going to survive what’s coming, you need to be the strongest version of yourself."

Her voice sharpened. "From now on, you’ll be under my vision. Day in, day out. I’m going to rewrite your entire schedule. More physical drills. Advanced sparring. Strategic mental training. Because this version of you?" She waved a hand dismissively at me. "She won’t survive a real war. And there’s a war coming, Lorraine."

Everything was happening too fast. My head spun.

"Wait," I barked, my voice cracking "Just.... enough of your nonsense, Astrid! I will never trust anything you say, not after everything. Not after the way you turned a blind eye to us ferals. Not after I saw the list of students you want dead. Not after you gutted that feral girl and left her hanging in the cafeteria like some goddamn trophy!"

Astrid stood slowly, calmly. Then, without a word, she walked around the bed and sat beside me.

Close. Too close.

"I am what they call a wolf dreamer, Lorraine," she said softly, her voice stripped of its usual poison. "My kind is rare. Hunted. Most of us don’t live past childhood because warlords seek to use us as weapons, or wipe us out before we can become threats."

I stared at her. "What the hell is a wolf dreamer?"

"We’re a phenomenon. One people still don’t understand," she said, eyes dark and faraway. "And people fear what they don’t understand. That fear drives them to kill us."

I was about to speak when she added, "We rarely dream, Lorraine. But when we do.... those dreams always come to pass."

I felt something cold crawl down my spine.

"You were my first dream," she said, her voice hollow now. "Long before I even became a warror, long before you were even born, I saw you in battle. I saw you fighting with power that split the skies. I’ve never seen anything like it. You were burning. Radiant. Monstrous. And victorious."

She turned to me, eyes blazing. "A war is coming, one that will rip the entire werewolf kingdom apart. There will be no peace, no neutral ground. And we.... we only survive if you are strong enough to fight in it."

I shook my head. "This is insane....."

Astrid grabbed my hand suddenly, holding it tight. Her grip was cold and firm.

"You have to trust me, Lorraine."

I wanted to rip my hand away, but I didn’t. I couldn’t.

"And if it helps you sleep at night," she added, softer now, "I didn’t kill that feral girl you found in the cafeteria."

My breath caught.

"The killer is someone else" Astrid whispered, "And whoever it is, is still out there."