*****
The air inside the Lunar Crest Academy auditorium had shifted into sothing primal.
Once filled with murmuring students and skeptical whispers, it was now a battleground sared with blood, cracked tiles, and lifeless bodies.
The mont Aveline, The Ghosthound, scread her challenge, chaos had exploded.
"Battle formation!!" Magnus Thorn had roared, and instantly, the academy’s most elite enforcers, the head trainers, high ranking instructors, and battle class professors, rallied around him and Astrid Voss.
But it wasn’t enough.
It was never going to be enough.
Aveline moved like she had no bones, just wrath and muscle mory. Her limbs twisted and bent at inhuman angles, moving faster than eyes could track. Her pale hair lashed behind her like a wild banner of death. The mont a staff mber approached, they were either flung aside like dolls or torn apart with her bare hands.
One man tried to swing a silver chain at her. She caught it, wrapped it around his throat, and twisted so hard his neck cracked.
A woman tried to cast a binding sigil, Aveline appeared behind her before she even finished the first rune and tore through her stomach like paper.
She wasn’t fighting.
She was decimating.
Ruthless. rciless. Beautiful in a way that only nightmares could be.
The students watched from the corners of the room, so too terrified to move, others frozen with morbid awe. So Lycans even backed away, shaken. It was the first ti they had seen soone tear through trained Lycans with no weapon and no hesitation.
And through it all, Adrian Vale stood calmly at the center of the auditorium stage.
Not even flinching.
As if this was supposed to happen.
As if this carnage was rely step one in a very detailed plan.
The floor was painted red now.
Bodies littered the arena, moaning, broken, or completely still.
Only two remained standing before Aveline.
Astrid Voss and Magnus Thorn.
Blood soaked through Magnus’s shirt and trickled down from a gash above his brow. Astrid’s hair was ssy, her shoulder dislocated, her arm trembling. Both panting. Both barely on their feet.
But still standing.
Aveline smiled.
Not with joy.
But with fury.
A glimr of silver flickered in her eyes again as she crouched, preparing to lunge at them one final ti.
"Stay behind ," Magnus rasped.
Astrid didn’t reply, she knew it wouldn’t matter.
The Ghosthound would kill them both. She was a monster born of rage and suffering, empowered by the academy itself. They had increased her fury and endurance level, making her even stronger
And now they were going to pay for it.
Aveline leapt.
A blur of blonde hair and shrieking fury cut through the air
"Enough!!!"
Kieran’s voice thundered through the auditorium
Aveline landed mid-arc, crouched low and trembling from halted montum.
All eyes turned to the back of the auditorium, at the entrance
Kieran Valerius Hunter stood there, frad by the jagged shadows of the hallway behind him.
And beside him, was Lorraine Anderson.
Her eyes wide in horror as she took in the broken scene.
The blood.
The bodies.
The mangled doors.
The shattered silence.
Lorraine’s heart twisted as her gaze fell on Varya, still barely conscious beside the wall, and then on Felix, who leaned against the side of a bench, his face swollen, his eyes tired.
Adrian tilted his head at their arrival. "Well," he said. "It took you long enough."
But Kieran didn’t speak.
He stepped forward, each stride slow, controlled, his crimson eyes fixed on Aveline. His aura coiled around him like a living force. He looked at the girl, this silver-eyed weapon of fury, and for a mont, the room dared to breathe again.
Aveline’s fingers curled into claws, her jaw twitching.
She wasn’t afraid of him.
Lorraine’s POV
Kieran was ready to fight.
I could feel the rage rippling off him, feel the violent pulse of his energy vibrating against my skin. His shoulders were tense, crimson eyes glowing like a promise of destruction, his stance a breath away from lunging straight at Aveline and Adrian without a second thought.
But I couldn’t let him do that.
Aveline was just too powerful and I couldn’t risk it
"Enough of this bloodbath!" I shouted, my voice cutting through the tense air.
Before Aveline could leap again, I stepped forward, pushing past Kieran and running straight for Adrian.
He didn’t move.
Didn’t even flinch.
The scent of death clung to the auditorium. The tallic tang of blood filled my lungs, and my heart ached as I passed the mangled bodies of the academy staff
"Adrian," I said, breathless as I reached him. "Please. Stop this. You have to stop her. You..." I swallowed hard, searching his face for the boy I once knew. "You were our friend. You were my friend. That Adrian is still in there sowhere. I know it. Please.... just stop this."
But he only laughed.
Laughed like everything I said was the punchline of so twisted joke.
"You still don’t understand, do you?" he said, that sa cocky smirk curling his lips. "I told you, you weren’t supposed to find out yet. But now that you have...." He moved towards Aveline, who stood silently like a looming shadow of death, her silver eyes locked on Kieran. "Now that you’ve seen what we are, maybe it’s ti you saw how far we’ve co."
He turned to the students in the auditorium and raised one hand.
"To those who walk with the Crimson Hunt, stand."
And one by one... they did.
Lycans.
Elites.
Nobles.
Students I’d trained with. Had classes with. One by one, they rose and stepped behind Adrian.
They didn’t hesitate.
My mouth went dry. My stomach twisted.
There were so many.
Rows and rows of them. Faces I’d known... now enemies. I looked for a crack, a sign that this was a joke, but it wasn’t. I couldn’t even count how many were standing behind him now.
Only a handful of Lycans and elites remained on our side.
Just a few.
All the nobles were behind him.
I glanced back at Kieran. His eyes were unreadable now, mouth set in a grim, frozen line.
He was surprised too
Adrian took another step forward, the weight of his presence filling every corner of the auditorium. "The Crimson Hunt," he said, his voice echoing, "has already taken over the academy. We’ve been building this from the inside long before any of you started putting the pieces together."
My heart sank.
It wasn’t just rebellion.
It was a coup.
"And now," Adrian continued, his voice sharp like a blade, "we own Lunar Crest. So this is your choice, your final one."
He paused. I could feel every student holding their breath.
"Either you’re with us.... or you’re against us."
He raised his hand again.
"And anyone against us... will et their death. Right now."
The silence fell like thunder.
And I... I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.
I looked around and saw the few remaining students standing on our side, Felix, clutching his side with his bruised face set in grim resolve.... Varya, bloodied but still burning with that fierce Lycan pride... a few stunned Elites and Lycans who didn’t know what to believe anymore...
I looked at Kieran.
His jaw was clenched, crimson eyes flicking across the crowd like he was already calculating how many he’d have to kill to Adrian
Astrid Voss stepped forward.
Blood streaked her temple. Her jacket was torn, boots scraped and scorched, but her eyes... her eyes were steady
"I told you a war was coming, didn’t I?" she whispered to , her voice low and grim.
I said nothing. I didn’t need to. The weight in my chest was already heavy, and I could feel the change in the air, the way the room felt too tight, like it was holding its breath.
Astrid turned to Adrian, raising her voice so all could hear. "You’ve played us," she said coldly. "You’ve infiltrated the academy, turned our systems inside out. I’ll give you that. This round is yours. You’ve taken control."
Adrian smiled. It was soft, almost mocking.
"But let us go in peace," Astrid continued. "We won’t try to fight you now. Not today. You’ve won this battle."
Adrian huffed, amused. "And let you slip away only to regroup and strike back?" His voice was laced with venom. "That was the mistake you Lycans made with . When they ca to my pack, when they took Aveline, they should’ve finished the job and ended too. They didn’t. I survived. And I now I’m back for revenge."
His eyes found mine. I hated the familiarity in them. The way he looked at like he still knew .
"I won’t make the sa mistake," he said. Then, his voice rose
"Kill them all."
Ti shattered.
One second we were still.
The next, everything exploded.
Aveline vanished, just gone, and then bodies were flying across the room, bones cracking before they even hit the walls. The students behind Adrian, so many Lycans, nobles, elites, shifted, snarling, surging toward us with one goal, our annihilation.
My blood ran cold.
Kieran launched forward like lightning, slamming into three of them with a force that split the marble beneath his feet. Astrid moved like a blur beside , claws flashing, her strikes precise, deadly. Varya had grabbed a spear, spinning it like a war goddess, cutting through the crowd with practiced savagery.
I barely had ti to think.
Only react.
"Stick together!" Kieran roared, his voice crashing through the chaos.
The fury in my blood surged.
My wolf stirred, awake and furious, raw power thrumming beneath my skin. I felt my eyes shift, saw the room in silver hues, every motion slowed just enough for instinct to take over.
I spun around, Felix was on the ground, coughing blood, but still alive. Still fighting.
I caught sight of Aveline again, she grabbed two Lycans by the neck and threw them like rag dolls. Her power was monstrous. And Adrian... Adrian just stood there.
Calm. Smiling.
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