The Lunar Crest Academy: Marked by The Lycans
Chapter 83: Blurred Truths

Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Blurred Truths

Lorraine’s POV

No.

No, something must have happened.

"Elise wouldn’t just disappear," I said, backing away from Adrian like the floor had tilted. "Not like that. Not without a trace. Not without her scent lingering. That’s not normal."

"I know," Adrian said, his voice quiet. Too quiet.

Felix stood beside me, his fists clenched at his sides, jaw tight "She was literally here when I left her, I just stepped out to the bathroom for a minute and she was gone"

I shook my head. "She wouldn’t leave. Not without telling you. Not without telling anyone"

"She couldn’t even walk," Felix whispered. "Not on her own..."

"Then someone took her."

Adrian looked away, jaw twitching. "We don’t know that."

I turned sharply to face him. "You’re a noble. You have heightened senses. You can trace scent better than either of us. And you’re telling me she just vanished and you can’t trace anything at all? That’s not suspicious to you?"

His expression darkened, guilt flickering across it. "I’m just telling you what I know. Her scent, it’s like it was scrubbed clean. Like she was never here."

My heart pounded. A sick feeling churned in my gut.

No. I refused to believe Elise was just.... gone. She was one of the last of us. She was kind. Strong in her quiet way. She didn’t deserve this.

"We’re going to find her," I said, my voice steel. "We’re going to tear this academy apart if we have to."

Felix nodded without hesitation. Adrian didn’t respond, but he followed when I turned and stalked out of the hospital.

We searched every hallway. Every wing. Every shadowed corner of the medical building.

Nothing.

We moved to the academic grounds next, sprinting past the training halls, the dorm sectors, even the Lycan towers in the distance.

Still nothing.

Each time we asked a passing student or staff member if they’d seen her, they either looked away or shrugged, uninterested. One even had the audacity to say, "Another feral gone? What else is new?"

I had to hold Felix back.

But my rage grew with every step. Elise wasn’t just another feral. She was our friend. Our sister in this hellhole. And now she was missing.

By sundown, we returned to the spot where she had last been seen, her hospital bed, still empty

Something wasn’t right. My instincts screamed it. My wolf was silent, but something deep in my bones was not.

I stood there, staring at Elise’s empty bed, when my eyes caught on something, just above the doorway, nestled in the corner where ceiling met wall.

A camera.

Then another one across the hallway.

And another at the end of the corridor.

My breath caught.

"The cameras," I whispered. "They must’ve seen something." _{fre eweb\(n)ovel(.)co(m)}

Felix’s head snapped toward me. "You’re right."

Adrian was already moving. "Let’s go."

We didn’t waste a second.

We bolted through the hospital’s sterile halls until we reached the small, locked-off section near the east wing, where administration kept all their security archives. A single silver door guarded the CCTV control room, and two bored-looking officials sat behind a tall desk in front of it, sipping steaming drinks.

"We need to see the footage," I said immediately, storming up to them. "Our friend is missing. Elise Marrow. She was in room B-6. She vanished. The cameras must’ve caught who took her."

They barely looked up.

"I said we need to see the footage!" I repeated, louder.

"We don’t give students access to surveillance logs," one of the men said flatly, flipping a page in the ledger he was holding. "And even if we did, ferals are defintely exempted"

"She’s missing," Felix cut in, stepping forward. "A feral girl disappeared from her bed in this hospital. No trace, no scent. We need to know what happened to her!"

Still, neither official blinked.

"You’ll have to take it up with the hospital director," the other man finally muttered.

"Then call her here," I snapped.

They both laughed, as if we were amusing little pests buzzing around their ears. "Director Voss doesn’t answer to students."

The first official finally looked at me. "Only person who can authorize access to the security logs is Director Astrid Voss herself. If you’re that desperate, go beg her."

My chest burned with frustration.

Astrid Voss.

Of course it would come back to her. Cold, cruel, power-drunk Astrid Voss.

My jaw clenched.

If she was the key, then I’d go straight to her.

Even if it meant throwing myself into the mouth of the beast once again

So I told Felix and Adrian to wait as I left

My feet pounded against the pavement as I made my way across the academy grounds, heart hammering like a war drum. Astrid Voss’s office was tucked away in the administrative tower

Each step up the stone stairs felt heavier than the last. Not from exhaustion, but from dread.

I reached her door and knocked once, hard.

No response.

I knocked again.

"Come in," came her voice, cold, clipped, bored.

I entered.

She was behind her desk, scribbling something in a thick folder, not even glancing up.

"I need to speak with you," I said, standing at the center of her immaculate office.

"You’re already speaking," she replied dryly, flipping a page. "Let’s hope you say something worth my time."

"My friend," I began, "Elise Myles, she’s gone. From the hospital. No scent. No trail. Just vanished. I need to check the security cameras. I was told only you have the authority."

She finally looked up. Her expression was unreadable, sharp blue eyes staring at me like I was an insect crawling on her desk.

"And?" she said, leaning back in her chair. "Why should I care about yourr friend?"

My breath caught. "She’s missing...."

"Students die here all the time," Astrid cut me off coolly. "They disappear, drop dead, kill each other. One less feral doesn’t even make the statistics chart."

My fingers clenched into fists.

"She’s my friend."

"Ah," she said, a cold smile playing on her lips. "A feral with a conscience. How quaint."

"There has to be some good left in you," I snapped. "Something human enough to care."

Astrid laughed.

A short, humorless sound that made my skin crawl.

"If you’re looking for ’good,’ you came to the wrong place," she said. "This academy doesn’t breed goodness, girl. It eats it alive."

I stared at her, my throat tight, rage and desperation warring inside me.

"I’m not leaving until I see that footage."

She tilted her head. "Bold. But boldness without leverage is foolish."

She stood slowly, walking around the desk until she stood in front of me, arms crossed.

"I’ll give you access to the security room," she said. "But nothing comes free in this place."

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you want?"

Astrid smiled.

"You know what I want" she said. "I want you, under my training. You’ll report to me every day, follow my rules, my schedule, no questions asked. I’ll train you.... properly. Like a powerful wolf should be trained. No mercy, no leniency. You obey, or you break."

I stiffened. I thought I had already escaped this

"Agree, and I’ll open the door to the security logs." she murmured, her voice low and dangerous

"And if I don’t?"

She leaned in, her breath brushing my cheek. "Then you can leave now. And pray Elise wasn’t taken by someone who doesn’t leave pieces behind. Who knows, it might have be the same predator that hatched that feral Girl im the cafeteria to pieces and tried to frame me for it, this is your chsnce to find out."

My heart thundered.

I hated her. Hated the way she looked at me like I was a project. Like I was just too easy to manipulate and control.

But Elise was out there. Alone. Maybe worse.

"I’ll do it," I whispered.

"Say it properly."

"I agree to your training," I said, louder this time. "I’ll follow your rules."

Astrid smiled like a wolf who’d just caught her prey.

"Good girl," she purred. "Now, let’s go find your little friend."

The walk back to the hospital felt like a countdown to something I couldn’t name.

Astrid Voss walked beside me, her heels clicking with sharp, deliberate precision, like each step was a warning. She didn’t speak, and I didn’t dare break the silence. Her mere presence commanded the air around her, like gravity bent toward her direction.

When we reached the CCTV control room, Felix and Adrian were already there, pacing nervously.

Felix looked up first and rushed to me. "Lorraine, finally, where the hell were you?"

Before I could answer, Adrian’s gaze shifted behind me, stiffening slightly as Astrid stepped into the room. The staff immediately straightened, murmuring greetings and bowing slightly in deference.

"Director Voss," one of the technicians said. "We weren’t informed...."

"Spare me the excuses. Pull up the footage from Hospital Wing B. Bed sic," Astrid ordered curtly. "Minutes before the patient went missing."

The room went silent as the technician tapped swiftly at his terminal, the massive screen on the wall flickering to life.

We all leaned in.

There was Elise, lying in her bed, peaceful, unmoving.

My throat tightened just seeing her.

Then, something changed.

She stirred. Her brows pinched slightly, and she slowly sat up, glancing around with a confused expression.

Then.....

A sudden blur slammed into the screen.

I flinched.

Felix cursed. Adrian’s jaw locked.

It happened in a fraction of a second, one moment Elise was on her bed, the next she was gone, snatched up by a speeding figure and whisked out of frame.

"What the hell was that?" I breathed.

The camera rewound, then slowed down to half speed.

Still just a blur.

Whoever it was moved so fast, their form warped the image, like reality itself didn’t have time to catch up. There was no face. No clothing. Nothing identifiable. Just a blur of motion, and Elise, vanishing with it.

"Can you enhance it?" Felix asked, desperate.

The technician tried again, but before the frame could even sharpen....

The footage cut.

A sharp black screen replaced the last few seconds.

The technician frowned and tapped at the keyboard. "What....? That’s not supposed to happen. That is all the footage that was recorded, the rest..... it’s missing."

"They wiped it," I muttered, stepping forward. "Whoever took her.... tampered with the footage."

Astrid’s arms folded as she stared at the blank screen. Her expression didn’t change, but I could feel the tension in her posture.

"This wasn’t a random snatch," she said coldly. "This was precise. Intentional."

My blood ran cold.

"Then Elise didn’t wander off.... someone took her. Someone powerful enough to erase every trace."

I turned to Astrid. "What do we do now?"

She looked at me, eyes sharp.

"Now?" she said. "Now you keep your end of the deal and you train"