The Lunar Crest Academy: Marked by The Lycans-Chapter 224: No.....

Lorraine’s POV

I was still inside my body.

That was the cruelest part.

I could feel everything, every shift of muscle, every tightening of tendons, every violent instinct roaring through my blood, but I had no control over it. It was like being locked behind glass, screaming while someone else wore my skin.

Kieran stood across from me.

But he was not my Kieran again.

Not the man whose touch grounded me, whose presence had always felt like home. This Kieran’s eyes had darkened to something feral and dangerous, his pupils blown wide, his jaw clenched so tightly I could hear his teeth grind. His claws slid free with a sound that scraped straight down my spine.

My own body responded in kind.

Fangs descended without my permission. Claws burst from my fingers, sharp and gleaming, dripping with intent that wasn’t mine, or rather, wasn’t fully mine. My wolf surged forward, no longer listening to me, no longer waiting for my consent.

Stop, I begged inside my head. Please. This is him. This is Kieran. You cannot hurt him.

But all my wolf heard was threat.

And all my body understood was kill.

"What are you doing to them?!" Varya screamed.

I saw her move, saw her shove away from Felix, saw her stagger forward despite her injuries, pure panic carved across her face as she reached for us.

"Stop," Adrian said casually.

The word wasn’t loud.

It didn’t need to be.

Varya froze mid step like she’d slammed into an invisible wall. Her entire body shook violently, muscles spasming as she fought the command with everything she had. I could hear her gasping, teeth clenched so hard I thought they might crack.

"No... no..." she whispered, tears streaking down her face as she tried to force her legs to move.

They didn’t.

Rage and horror exploded in my chest.

Then Liandrin moved.

I didn’t even see her lips move. I felt it instead, a sudden sharp pulse of magic slicing through the air like a whip.

Adrian was ripped off his feet.

He slammed hard into the floor with a startled grunt, surprise flashing across his face for the first time.

A Crimson soldier behind Liandrin reacted instantly.

He moved his sword and punched through her back.

The blade burst out of her stomach in a spray of blood.

Liandrin laughed.

She actually laughed, wet, broken, blood bubbling at her lips as she collapsed forward, the sound gurgling and wrong and horrifying.

"No!" I tried to scream.

My breath hitched painfully. I tried to run to her, tried to move, tried to do anything....

But my body turned back to Kieran.

Because my wolf still said he was a threat.

Adrian rose slowly, brushing dust from his coat like nothing had happened.

"That," he said pleasantly, "is the fate that awaits anyone who dares go against me."

Then he looked at the rest of them.

Alistair.

Kaelani, still on her knees, trembling.

Felix, pale and terrified.

Varya, shaking violently, tears streaming down her face.

"You know what?" Adrian said, eyes gleaming. "Let’s take this up a notch."

My heart dropped.

"Just like Kieran and Lorraine," he continued calmly, "you will stand.... and you will fight each other."

He inhaled.

"To the death," he finished softly.

Then he raised his voice.

"Now."

The world shattered.

Felix lurched forward with a strangled cry, slamming straight into Alistair like a feral animal unchained. There was no hesitation, no restraint, only blind, desperate violence. Alistair barely had time to react before Felix was clawing at him, teeth snapping, eyes wild.

Kaelani screamed as her body snapped upright.

She moved fast, too fast, darting for Varya with a snarl, claws flashing. Varya barely managed to raise her arms before Kaelani crashed into her, the two of them tumbling across the floor in a brutal tangle of limbs and blood.

I couldn’t look away.

Kaelani was smart. Calculated. She moved with sharp precision, striking weak points, using Varya’s injuries against her. Varya, even half healed, was still terrifyingly strong. When she landed blows, they were devastating, but Kaelani’s speed gave her openings she shouldn’t have had.

They injured each other brutally.

But Varya still held the upper hand.

Felix didn’t.

Alistair was an Elite.

Felix was a feral.

And it showed. Terribly.

Alistair tried to resist, he obviously tried. but Adrian’s command held him in an iron grip. His strikes were precise and merciless, breaking Felix down piece by piece. Felix cried out as he was slammed into walls, into the floor, blood splattering as Alistair beat him without restraint.

Tears streamed down my face.

Then Adrian looked back at us.

At Kieran.

At me.

"You’re still resisting?" he scoffed. "Still trying to fight my Voice?"

My head felt like it was splitting open.

"Fight," Adrian screamed.

"Fight to the death. Now!"

And that was it.

The last thread snapped.

Kieran lunged.

So did I.

I was inside my body, screaming, begging, pleading, but my limbs moved with lethal precision, meeting his attack blow for blow. We crashed into each other, claws tearing, fangs snapping inches from flesh. The impact rattled my bones.

He was stronger.

Faster.

Every strike from him sent shockwaves through my body. I managed to hold my own, barely, but each moment felt like I was being driven closer to the edge of something irreversible.

Kieran, please, I begged silently. This isn’t you.

He roared and slammed me backward.

The world spun.

Suddenly, his hand closed around my throat.

He lifted me off the ground with terrifying ease.

Air vanished from my throat

My limbs went weak as his fingers tightened, squeezing the life from me. My vision blurred, spots bursting behind my eyes.

Then his other hand rose.

Shaking.

Slowly, inexorably, it moved toward my chest.

Toward my heart.

I felt his hesitation.

I felt it like a fracture in the command, a crack in the spell.

But it wasn’t enough.

"Do it!" Adrian shouted gleefully. "Rip out her heart!"

No.

Something inside me snapped.

No.

Why do I feel weak?

Why do I feel so small?

My wolf wasn’t listening because I had never fully claimed her.

She wasn’t separate from me.

She was me.

An extension of the Moon Goddess herself.

She is mine to control and not Adrian’s.

The only reason Adrian’s Voice had any hold on me was because I had been afraid, afraid of what I was, afraid of what embracing it would cost my body, my life.

A Hexborn, I realized.

Maeryn reborn.

I didn’t care anymore.

I accept you, I told my wolf. All of you. I don’t care if it will kill me but you are mine, mine to control not his.

The air changed.

Power flooded me like fire.

My eyes glazed over, burning white as the control slammed back into my grip. I grabbed Kieran’s wrist, the one poised over my heart.

I meant to push it away. That was all I meant to do.

But the power surged too hard.

And his bone snapped as I pulled out his hand.

Kieran grunted in pain as his hand broke in mine, the sound sickening. He staggered back, clutching his broken wrist, shock written across his face.

Adrian’s smile vanished.

"What the hell...."

I looked at him.

And I compressed his heart, just by staring at him.

He gagged violently, blood spilling from his mouth as he collapsed to the floor, clutching his chest in agony.

Crimson soldiers rushed me.

I flicked my wrist.

Their necks snapped.

One after another.

By the time I turned back, Kieran stood before me again, still under the spell, still ready to fight.

So were the others.

"I’m sorry," I whispered inside my head.

And with a single flick of my wrist....

They dropped.

Kieran.

Alistair.

Felix.

Varya.

Kaelani.

All of them collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

I turned....

And Adrian stood there.

I reached for his heart again....

But pain exploded in my skull.

A sharp, piercing ringing tore through my head as I screamed, clutching my temples. Fire ripped through my veins.

I had used too much of the power at once. It was taking a toll on my body.

Adrian quickly dipped his hand in his pocket and brought out a gun.

He smiled as he pointed the gun at me.

Then he froze.

Liandrin lay on the floor, her own blood still pooling beneath her, one trembling hand outstretched.

She was holding him in place with her magic.

"Get... your people... out," she choked. "I can’t... hold him... much longer."

I looked around.

Some soldiers were already healing.

Waking up.

I moved towards my people.

Even though using my powers felt like being thrown into fire, I did it anyway.

I closed my eyes.

And when I opened them....

Liandrin’s house was gone.

And we were now in the middle of the woods.