The Lunar Crest Academy: Marked by The Lycans
Chapter 98: Punishment...

Chapter 98: Chapter 98: Punishment...

Kieran’s POV

I looked at her... I watched her.

Her skin still glowed with the warmth of our touch, lips flushed, eyes burning with a hundred questions and a single plea.

"Take me with you."

It sounded so simple. So gentle. But gods, it shattered something inside me.

She didn’t beg. Lorraine never begged. She asked with a kind of quiet defiance, like she already knew I’d say no but hoped, for once, that I’d disappoint her expectations.

I wanted to say yes.

Hell, I wanted her with me. The idea of having Lorraine at my side, sleeping under the moonlight in the same rhythm, hearing her heartbeat as I walked into the darkest battle of my life, it was tempting.

Too tempting.

She calmed the storm in me. She made me want to stay human.

But that’s exactly why I couldn’t take her.

I turned away, unable to meet her gaze anymore. If I looked too long, I’d fold.

"I can’t," I said, my voice hoarse.

"Why?" she asked behind me, her voice cracking ever so slightly. "You just said you might lose yourself. Isn’t that all the more reason to have someone there to bring you back?"

She didn’t get it.

Or maybe.... she did. And it still didn’t matter to her.

I clenched my fists, the claws aching just beneath the surface. My wolf stirred inside me, restless and waiting, itching to be unleashed. That’s what this meditation would be.... an unshackling. The beast inside me would rise, not as a half-formed thing caged by flesh and thought, but as me.

One being. One will. One wrath.

And if Lorraine was anywhere near when that happened.... _{free we\bnove(l).com}

I didn’t trust myself not to destroy her.

I turned to face her, trying to keep my expression still, unreadable. But Lorraine.... gods, she always saw straight through me.

"It’s not safe," I said quietly. "I’m not safe."

"You’ve never been safe," she replied, stepping toward me. "And yet here I am."

I almost smiled. Almost.

But then I stepped back.

"I can’t risk you," I told her, my voice like gravel. "This path I’m about to walk, there’s no light. It’s not some training camp, Lorraine. It’s a war inside my own soul. The kind no one walks with you. The kind you either survive.... or don’t."

She bit her lip, her eyes shimmering with restrained emotion. "You think I can’t handle darkness?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I think I might not be able to handle you in my darkness. Because if something goes wrong.... if I lose control, it’ll be you I hurt first."

She was silent at first

And then she just nodded, slowly, biting back whatever words threatened to escape.

That was the worst part. When Lorraine didn’t argue. When she understood.

It made me want to scream.

I stepped forward again, reaching for her hand, lacing our fingers together. I stared at how small her hand looked in mine.

"I will come back," I swore. "And when I do... I’ll still be me"

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. "Don’t make promises if you’re not sure you can keep them."

"I’m not sure of anything," I admitted. "Except this..."

I leaned down, pressing my forehead against hers.

"I want to come back to you. More than anything."

She didn’t say anything after that.

She just closed her eyes and held my hand like she was memorizing the shape of it.

Lorraine’s POV

Kieran moved back

The warmth of his body pulled away from mine like the sudden hush of a storm. I blinked up at him, half-wishing this was another one of my too-real dreams, where nothing ever ended, and he never walked away.

But this time.... he did.

Kieran didn’t say much. He rarely did when it really mattered. His eyes swept over me one last time, lingering with something close to regret. Or maybe it was restraint. Or maybe... it was both.

He brushed my cheek with the back of his fingers. So gently it hurt.

"Try to survive, Lorraine," he said, his voice low. "By any means necessary. I’ll be back. Soon."

And then he turned.

The door creaked as he opened it. He paused in the doorway, his silhouette sharp against the light.

My heart raced. My lips parted. I wanted to scream Wait, Don’t go

But I said nothing.

Because what would be the point?

He had to go. For himself. For his throne. For something bigger than either of us could name right now.

Still... it didn’t make it hurt any less.

The door closed behind him.

And just like that, I was alone.

I stared at the space where he had stood, at the faint imprint of his presence lingering in the room like heat after a fire. The silence pressed against me like a second skin. It was stifling. Suffocating.

I let out a breath and sank back into the couch.

It was cold now. Empty.

My fingers gripped the edge of my sleeve as I stared at the faint light dancing across the floor. Kieran’s words echoed again.

Try to survive.

He said it like he knew something I didn’t. Like the next few days, or weeks, would be worse than what I’d already been through.

And maybe.... they would be.

Without him here, the Lycans would be unchecked. Varya might have been "instructed" to protect me, but for how long would that last? For how long would anyone care if another feral vanished?

And with a bounty on my head, the chances of me vanishing is at an all time high

Kieran was gone, and I had more enemies than allies now.

I stood from the couch slowly, my limbs heavy, my heart heavier. The study was cold now without Kieran’s warmth. The shadows in the corners seemed darker than before.

I stepped out into the hallway, the door clicking shut behind me. My boots echoed softly on the polished stone floor. I kept my head down, trying not to think, trying not to feel. But grief clung to me like a second skin. I didn’t even realize someone was in front of me until I walked right into a chest.

Hard. Tall. Unmoving.

I looked up.

My breath caught.

Magnus Thorn.

His narrow face was twisted in that cold, permanent smile of his, sharp as a blade and twice as cruel. His black robes rippled faintly around him, and his eyes glowed a faint amber.

"Well, well, if it isnt thd most popular feral right now" he murmured. "Lorraine Anderson right?"

I took a careful step back. "Director Thorn."

He tilted his head, watching me like a hawk watches a rabbit. "This is class period, is it not?"

"I.... I’m on my way back to class," I said quickly.

"Were you in class when the bell rang?"

"I..."

"I believe that’s a no." His smile deepened, amused now, like this was all some kind of delightful little game. "And do you remember the rule for missing class, Lorraine?"

I didn’t answer at first. But the look in his eyes told me I had better.

"You lose a finger, amongst other punishments" I whispered.

He moved so fast I didn’t see it coming.

His hand fisted in my hair, yanking my head back painfully. I let out a cry, stumbling, and then he was dragging me down the hallway, out of the building, through the grand doors, and across the stone courtyard.

People turned.

Students.

Elites.

Nobles.

Lycans.

Teachers.

They watched. Some whispered. Some just stared and laughed. No one stepped in.

I tried not to cry out, but my scalp burned with every step he yanked me forward. My boots scraped against the ground.

"Let me go!" I gasped.

But Magnus only dragged me harder.

"Discipline," he called out in his smooth, cold voice, "is the only thing that will keep this academy from turning into chaos."

He stopped at the base of the front steps.

A crowd had formed now.

And then Astrid Voss appeared, striding forward with her usual cold elegance.

"What is going on here?" she snapped, eyes narrowing on us.

Magnus looked up at her with something close to glee.

"We have our first victim," he said. "Miss Anderson has missed a class. She is going to miss a finger."

My blood ran cold.

He wasn’t joking.

He was really going to do it.

Astrid’s lips parted in shock. "Thorn, this is unnecessary. At least bring it to the disciplinary board first...."

But she didn’t even get to finish.

In one blinding motion, Magnus grabbed my hand.... then seized my middle finger.

"Wait....!" Astrid started, stepping forward.

CRACK.

The sound echoed through the courtyard like a whip.

Pain shot up my arm, white-hot and devastating, stealing the scream from my throat.

I collapsed to my knees, clutching my hand as agony roared through every nerve. Blood pulsed through my ears. My vision blurred.

My finger... he’d really.... it was gone!!!

And in place of it was a bloody stump with crimson liquid spraying out of it.....