Kieran’s POV
The abyss was quiet.
It was the kind of quiet that didn’t comfort, but unsettled, a silence that humd beneath the skin like the lull before a slaughter.
"You will not mark her, you must not" my wolf said, voice low but absolute. "If you want the Total Lycan Ascension, Kieran, you must vow it now. You must relinquish her."
I didn’t respond at first. I just watched him. My wolf. The beast that was supposed to be a reflection of , daring to command , giving terms on what I should or shouldn’t do.
Lorraine.
Her na tasted different now. Like sothing sacred.
She had called for . She still calls for . I can still here the echo of her voice in this prison void telling to wake up, to take back the control of my body and co back to her.
I still rember the mont I watched helplessly when my wolf wanted to forcefully take her.
The mont her wolf rose.
Her wolf, silent for years, had awoken in that single terrifying mont. And in that second, sothing happened. My wolf faltered. His grip on wavered. He spoke a language I didn’t recognize, sothing ancient.
Sothing had terrified him. And for so reason, he now wants to never mark the one he knows is my mate.
"I should say yes," I murmured, more to myself than him. "I should do what’s expected. Beco what I was bred to be. Cold. Uncompromising. Ascended."
"Then do it," he said. "Beco the god you were born to be. You’ve been trained for this since birth. Do not let a girl, especially her, derail what centuries of bloodline has crafted."
I looked up slowly. "Her?"
"She’s beneath you. Her kind exists to crawl, not rise. She’s a distraction. A weakness."
My jaw locked tight, fury scraping down my spine. "If she’s weak, then why did you fall apart the mont her wolf appeared?"
His eyes narrowed.
"You felt it too," I said, stepping closer. "She’s not ordinary. You’re afraid of her, you are afraid of what she is"
"She is chaos."
"She is mine!!!."
Those three words struck the air like a blade drawn. Even the shadows pulsed.
I stared him down. "This shouldn’t be about love. You’re right about that. But I refuse to be ruled by you, my own wolf. I refuse your terms."
He stood, slow and deliberate. "Then you forfeit the rge. You walk back into the world half-evolved. Dood to be below par. To be eeak."
I smirked. "No. You just don’t want to admit that I can do this without you. That you need more than I need you. You do not exist if I do not, I am your master here"
His face twisted. A flash of sothing, rage or fear or sothing else buried deeper. "You’ll regret this, Kieran. You will have enemies. Your father will choose a random bride for you if you donot attain the Ascension. And that girl, Lorraine, she will suffer for your defiance. You cannot protect her. You will not even be able to protect yourself."
"Let fail or rise by my own choices," I said. "Let make the mistakes. Let suffer the consequences. But I will not submit to you."
He moved to block my path. "You have no idea what your defiance will unleash."
"I don’t care," I growled. "Because I will ascend, eith or without your cooperation."
For a long mont, he just stared at . Then.... he stepped aside.
The white door glowed at the edge of the abyss. It pulsed like a heartbeat.... mine. My chance. My path back.
And I walked.
The mont I stepped through, it hit , like being slamd back into flesh, into breath, into heat and pain and feeling. My body jerked. My skin burned. My eyes flew open.
And the first thing I saw.... was her.
Lorraine. Her wide eyes. Her trembling lips. Her hand on my face.
I moved before thought could catch up. My arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her to like gravity itself demanded it. And then....
Her lips were on mine.
And we kissed.
The kiss wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t soft or careful. It was fire.
It was raw, rough, breathless, the kind of kiss that clawed into your soul and pulled pieces out. One second, I was drowning in the abyss, chained by my wolf. The next, I was tasting her lips, gripping her like a man who had been starving for years and had finally found water.
Lorraine was above , she had moved her legs fully to the bed, sge straddled on the hospital bed. Her hands threaded into my hair, tugging, clutching, pulling closer like she needed to anchor her. My hands were splayed around her waist, then sliding up her back, locking her to .
A low growl tore from my chest as she leaned in, pressing against , her scent overwhelming my senses. Moonlight and fire. That’s what she tasted like. Like danger and salvation all at once. My fingers dug into the small of her back as I flipped us, my body moving instinctively, desperate to keep her close.
But she didn’t let flip her completely, she clung to just as tightly, matching my intensity. Her lips bruised mine, her breath just as ragged as mine. This wasn’t a kiss anymore.
This was everything we hadn’t said.
Everything we were too afraid to feel.
I should’ve stopped. I should’ve slowed it down. I had just clawed my way back into my own body, and Lorraine had almost been hurt because of .... by .
But the way she held ... like I was real. Like I wasn’t a monster. Like I was still .
I tightened my grip on her waist, pressing my forehead to hers, breath mingling, heat pooling between us.
"Lorraine..." I rasped, voice hoarse and broken. "I’m sorry."
She didn’t answer with words. Her fingers brushed along my jaw. Her eyes searched mine, full of wariness, confusion, but also.... trust.
She leaned in again, and so did I.
And when our lips t once more, slower this ti, deeper, I knew, I didn’t care if I made the right choice or not, she is in my arms in this mont and sohow.... that is enough for
******
"She’s taking too long in there," Magnus Thorn said, arms folded tightly across his chest, jaw clenched with growing impatience. "There’s nothing she can do to help the prince. You shouldn’t have allowed her in, Astrid."
Astrid Voss didn’t answer imdiately. She stared at the closed door, sothing unreadable in her eyes. Finally, she shook her head. "I’ll check on them."
She strode towards the dood, and turned the door handle quietly.
As the door creaked open just a fraction, her eyes landed on the scene within.
Kieran and Lorraine.
Wrapped around each other on the hospital bed, their bodies pressed together like they couldn’t get close enough. His hands were locked around her waist, her fingers buried in his hair. Their lips moved hungrily, devouring, discovering. The room was heavy with the scent of their mingled desire, wolfish, earthy, unmistakable lust
Astrid didn’t flinch, didn’t blink. She simply observed for a second longer, then closed the door just as silently as she had opened it.
She turned back to the others, her expression neutral. "I think we should all leave."
Magnus frowned. "What the hell do you an, Astrid?" He brushed past her and went straight to the door. Astrid didn’t try to stop him, let him see for himself.
As Magnus opened the door just a crack, his usually impassive face twitched. Shock flickered in his eyes, then sothing colder, unreadable. He stayed there, staring.
anwhile, Astrid turned to Felix and Adrian.
"You," she said to Adrian, her voice as sharp as ever. "Back to the nobles’ dorm. Imdiately."
"But...." Adrian’s lips parted, his brows furrowed in protest. "Lorraine...."
"No buts. Go."
He clenched his fists but obeyed, jaw tight as he stord off, throwing one last look over his shoulder.
"And you," Astrid turned to Felix, "to the feral dorm. It’s open so you can stay there now. And past your bedti."
Felix looked like he wanted to say sothing too, but then his eyes t hers, and he nodded and left without another word.
Only Magnus remained, now stepping away from the door. His brows were furrowed in a rare display of stunned confusion, and his lips moved like he was piecing together a puzzle with no edges.
He turned slowly to Astrid.
"Tell everything you know about that girl," he said, voice low and asured but laced with demand. "Lorraine Anderson."
Astrid didn’t speak.
Magnus continued.
"She has sohow grown back the finger I cut off. She’s a feral, yet she is able kill elites, elites, Astrid. And you, tou care about no one. And yet here you are, doting on her like she’s your own."
He stepped closer, eyes narrowing.
"And now the prince, the heir to whole kingdom, has wrapped himself around her like she’s the air itself. Sothing’s not right. Just what the hell is she, Astrid?"
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