Lorraine’s POV
The room was silent.
Unnaturally silent.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
All eyes turned to , but I couldn’t et any of them. My lungs burned with the force of what I had just done, but my voice was gone now, ripped out with that one desperate scream.
"Stop!"
I had scread at the Alpha King.
The most powerful werewolf alive.
The apex of apex predators.
I had scread at him.
What the hell was I thinking?
Panic clawed at my chest as realization hit like a storm. I could feel the blood drain from my face. My hands trembled against the cold stone floor where I was still kneeling. My knees were sore, but I couldn’t move. I wouldn’t dare.
Then he turned.
I felt his attention before I saw it. Like a weight dropped on my spine.
The Alpha King’s cold, piercing gaze locked onto .....
And I froze.
His eyes were glowing, a deep and gleaming red, and when they t mine, it felt like my soul was being peeled open and inspected. Stripped bare. I couldn’t look away, no matter how much I wanted to.
I wanted the ground to split open and swallow whole. I wanted to disappear.
Why the hell did I do that?
The King took one slow, calculated step toward . Then another.
His boots echoed across the polished floor, splashing softly where blood had pooled.
He moved like a force of nature, asured, rciless, inevitable.
My breath caught in my throat as he stopped right in front of . His towering figure cast a shadow that seed to swallow the light. I didn’t dare lift my head. Every instinct in my body told to stay down. Stay small. Stay silent.
But then he spoke.
"You are the feral girl."
It wasn’t a question.
It was a statent.
Like naming a corpse before the funeral.
Slowly, I lifted my eyes, just enough to et his.
"Yes...." I whispered. My voice sounded like it belonged to soone else. Weak. Fragile.
He studied . Not like a person. Not even like a wolf.
Like a thing.
His head tilted slightly, his red eyes narrowing. "You raised your voice against ."
A beat passed.
Then another.
"I....." I swallowed. "I only ant to ask for rcy"
"rcy?" He repeated, the word foreign on his tongue, like it tasted bitter. "Do you believe you have the right to ask for that?"
I didn’t know what to say.
So I told the truth.
"No." My voice wavered. "But I asked anyway."
There was silence once more as he studied
I thought I saw sothing flicker in his eyes... surprise? amusent?, but it vanished too quickly.
He bent slightly at the waist, his face now terrifyingly close to mine. I could see the lines of age and power etched into his skin. The ruthless curve of his mouth. The sword still in his hand, dripping blood that landed inches from my knee.
"You are either the boldest feral to ever crawl through these halls," he said softly, dangerously, "or the stupidest."
I said nothing.
Because he was right.
I was probably both.
The Alpha King turned his back to and walked toward the center of the room, each step echoing with bone-deep authority. Blood trailed behind him, fresh and glistening,
For one mont,just one trembling, fragile mont, I thought I had found rcy in the hands of the most ruthless creature in existence.
Maybe he had spare . Maybe screaming stop had done sothing. Maybe there was actually a rciful part of him buried under all the ruthlessness and I had finally brought it to the surface, maybe.....
"On your feet."
I didn’t need to be told twice.
I shot to my feet so fast my legs nearly gave out beneath , but I held steady. My heart thundered in my chest as I stood tall, chin high. If I was going to die today, I wasn’t going to do it cowering.
The Alpha King didn’t look at at first. He kept walking until he reached the center of the room again, until all eyes were on him.
Then slowly, he turned, his crimson gaze once again pinning to the spot.
"The only reason I have not killed you yet...." he said, his voice low and deliberate, "is because you sohow amuse ."
A small part of wanted to scoff.
Another part of felt sick.
Amusent. That was all I was worth to him.
He took a step closer.
"What is your na, feral?"
I straightened. "Lorraine.... Lorraine Anderson."
He raised a brow slightly, and I took a breath so deep it burned.
Then I said, "You seem like you are still going to kill , so.... permit to say a few things before you go ahead and cut off my head."
The room stilled again, thd tension crackling like lightning.
Kieran shifted slightly behind his father’s seat, his expression unreadable. Astrid Voss looked like she was seconds from snarling. But I didn’t care. My blood was hot, my pulse racing.
If this was the end, I wasn’t leaving silent.
"All my life I’ve heard of this academy, Lunar Crest Academy." My voice rang louder now, echoing against the stone walls. "We ferals.... we call it cursed. Because no feral who ever ca here has ever gone ho. We disappear. We die and everyone acts like we never existed."
I swallowed.
I could feel their stares. The nobles. The elites. Even the Lycans.
"When I got chosen, I knew I was dood." I t the Alpha King’s gaze. "I ca here expecting monsters. And I found them. But it’s not the place that’s cursed. It’s the people."
I paused, my voice trembling. "It’s you. All of you."
That earned a low snarl from so of the elites and nobles behind , but I didn’t back down.
"You’ve built a world where only strength matters. Where no one has value unless they’re powerful, or pure like the lycans, or born into so kind of big royal family."
I turned, my eyes sweeping the room, eting faces that flinched away.
"Every wolf here is a power-hungry predator. The strong climb over the weak. And no one cares who dies along the way." I gestured toward the blood still pooling on the floor. "Not even the Alpha of a pack, or a noble, or a child of soone important is safe. You kill without blinking."
My voice cracked then, but I pushed forward.
"Your Head of School, Astrid Voss, she llets students murder each other in the hallways. My friend...." My throat tightened. "My friend was taken, right under your noses, while she was supposed to be under the protection of the academy hospital, and no one did a damn thing. You know why? Because she’s not important by your standards."
I looked back to the Alpha King.
"I’m sick of pretending this system works. Lycans, elites, nobles, ferals.... it’s all bullshit. All it does is divide us. It feeds cruelty. It nurtures monsters. It creates more death."
I paused, my chest heaving now.
"So if you’re going to kill , go ahead."
"But know this, if I die today, I’ll die saying the truth."
"This world you rule is rotting. And maybe I’m just one feral girl. But I am not afraid of you anymore."
There was silence now
Stone-cold and suffocating.
The sword still glead in the Alpha King’s hand. Blood still stained his body like armor.
But I didn’t flinch.
If this was my last breath, I was going to make it count.
The Alpha King stared at for a long, heavy mont. I could feel the weight of his gaze pressing against my bones, scorching where I stood. Then....
He scoffed.
A low, humorless sound that echoed like a death knell through the room.
"Our world is a jungle," he said, his voice slow, cold, and deadly. "You either beco strong enough and survive, or you remain weak and die."
His words cut deeper than any blade.
"That is how it has always been. That is how it is now. And that is how it will continue to be."
He took one step, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of .
Right in front of .
I didn’t even have ti to gasp.
The edge of his massive sword was suddenly pressed against my neck, its tal icy against my skin. One flick of his wrist, and it would all be over. I’d be just another dead feral girl, forgotten by morning.
I held my breath. My knees nearly buckled.
This was it.
"Now that you’ve said your piece...." he whispered, his eyes glowing like blood moons, "...it’s ti to pay the price."
He raised the sword.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
And then.....
No pain. No death. Nothing.
I opened my eyes to see the Alpha King, his expression unreadable, staring at .
Then he lowered the sword.
"No..." he said slowly. "I have a better idea."
He turned, his long coat billowing as he walked away from .
I stood frozen, trembling, blood roaring in my ears.
He walked back toward the throne-like seat where Kieran stood behind it, still as stone, face completely blank. Unreadable. Untouchable.
The Alpha King stopped in front of him, and without a word, he held out the blood-soaked sword.
Kieran didn’t move.
"You kill her," the Alpha King commanded.
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