The Lunar Crest Academy: Marked by The Lycans-Chapter 213: Into The Subconscious

Kieran’s POV

The forest was too quiet.

Alistair, Felix, and I stood at the edge of the clearing where Varya had been taken. Her scent still clung faintly to the air, thin and fading... like a dying ember.

We followed her trail into the woods. Every second that passed made her scent weaker, dissolving into the damp chill of the night. We needed to be fast, faster than the bastards that had taken her.

Felix’s footsteps were a little too quick, a little too uneven, and the sharp scent of his fear spiked the air. Alistair walked behind me, following my lead without hesitation.

And me?

I followed the single thread tying me to Varya.

Her scent.

Faint. Bleeding into the wind. But there.

Barely.

"Her trail is thinning," I murmured, more to myself. "She’s losing blood."

Felix stiffened. "Losing blood? How.... how much?"

"A lot," I said coldly. "Keep up."

He made a strangled sound but obeyed.

Alistair didn’t flinch. "We’ll find her"

I didn’t answer. Because reassurance meant nothing right now. Only results mattered.

Varya wasn’t just a childhood friend. She was one of the few who’d stood by me without greed, without ulterior motive, even if she didn’t agree with me, she always obeyed. She was loyal to a fault. Proudly, stupidly loyal.

And I’d failed her.

I pushed harder, faster, my boots digging into the earth. The trail curved, dipped, and then....

"Stop," I ordered.

Both of them froze instantly.

Her scent hit me, sharp, recent, heavy with pain.

"She was here less than twenty minutes ago." My voice dropped to a lethal calm. "We’re close."

We approached a cluster of trees, and the forest suddenly opened into a lit clearing.

A crimson soldiers’ camp.

At least thirty soldiers moved about, sharpening weapons, patrolling, guarding.

Felix’s breath hitched audibly. "God.... there’s a lot of them."

"Quiet," I snapped.

He clamped his mouth shut.

Varya’s scent was everywhere here, strong, agonizingly fresh. She’d been dragged here, bleeding.

Alistair’s jaw tightened. "They have her."

Of course they did.

I crouched behind a thick tree trunk, eyes narrowing on the camp. I felt the shift in my energy, my instincts sharpening, my heartbeat going silent and cold.

I scanned the perimeter. "We attack from the northeast tent cluster. It gives the biggest blind spot. We hit fast and...."

"Kieran..." Felix whispered shakily. "There are too many. Look at them"

I did. And the sight of their red insignias made my hands flex with the urge to break necks.

"I said quiet."

Felix immediately lowered his gaze.

But the fear rolling off him was almost irritating. He tried to hide it with bravado and jokes, but when the danger was real, he shook like a leaf. Yet he followed anyway. Because he cared about Varya.

Even if he didn’t know it.

Before I could speak again, the deep rumble of an engine broke through the night.

A black sedan rolled into the camp, kicking dirt into the air. Soldiers turned, forming ranks out of habit.

Alistair murmured, "Someone important?"

"Stay low," I ordered.

We sank deeper into the shadows.

A crimson commander stepped out, greeted by the squad leader. They spoke in hushed tones, but nothing whispered in the dark escaped a Lycan’s ears.

"Varya... move her... the Leader."

Then two soldiers dragged someone out from behind a tent, someone limp, head hanging, hair tangled with blood.

Varya.

Barely conscious. Bruised. Wounded. She didn’t even have the strength to lift her head.

My vision flickered red.

Felix lurched forward with a furious snarl, but Alistair grabbed him around the waist, forcing him back to the ground.

"Don’t be stupid," Alistair hissed.

My fists tightened

"They’re taking her to the Leader," Alistair whispered urgently. "If we wait... if we let them move her first, we could follow the car. It’ll lead us straight to him."

"No." My voice came out sharp. Final. "We can’t take that risk."

Felix turned to me, desperate. "Why? We could kill two birds with one stone!"

I shook my head. "I promised Liandrin we’d be back in twenty-four hours. If we piss her off, we dont know what she will do, especially when she still has Lorraine. And because of the blood oath, she can kill me if she wants."

Felix looked sick with frustration.

"So what," he said, voice cracking. "We just let them take her?"

"We wait," I said. "Let them get a little distance from the camp.... then we ambush the car."

Felix blinked. "An ambush?"

"Yes. We hit them fast, hit them hard, take Varya, and disappear before the squad here even realizes something happened."

Lorraine’s POV

I blinked hard, my breath fogging in the freezing air.

A second ago, I’d been inside that cramped, rotting house with Kaelani attempting to escape and Liandrin snapping her fingers. Now... now I was in a forest.

A massive one.

Cold wind sliced straight through my skin, carrying the smell of pine and damp earth. I turned slowly, heart pounding.

"Liandrin?" I called out.

Silence swallowed my voice.

"Kaelani?"

Nothing. Not even an echo.

My pulse picked up. How... how was I here? How could a room collapse into smoke and spit me out in the middle of a forest? My mind spun in frantic circles, trying to find logic in a place that clearly didn’t care for it.

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to breathe. "What is this? Where... where am I?"

"Hello, Lorraine."

The voice came from behind me, calm, soft, ethereal. A voice that felt like moonlight made into sound.

I spun around so fast I nearly tripped.

And froze.

A woman stood there, her white gown glowing like it was woven from starlight. Her long hair flowed like silver water. Her eyes, goddess, those eyes, held centuries inside them.

She looked exactly like me.

Same face.

Same eyes.

Same expressions I’d only ever seen in mirrors.

Except she was radiant. Otherworldly. Too perfect.

And of course I recognized her.

My breath caught in my throat.

"...You," I whispered.

She smiled gently. "Yes. Me."

My wolf.

An extension of the Moon Goddess herself.

"What.... what’s going on?" I stuttered, voice cracking. "Where am I? Where are Liandrin and Kaelani? How am I here?"

She sighed softly and walked closer, feet barely touching the ground. "You pissed off Liandrin so much she pushed you, and your friend, into your subconsciousness."

I stared at her.

"I am in my.... subconscious?" I echoed weakly.

"This," she said, raising a hand toward the towering ancient trees, "is your mind."

"But how?" I said. "And how do I get out? How do I leave this place and go back?"

She shook her head slowly, disappointment written so clearly on her face it made something twist inside my chest.

"I still cannot believe," she said, voice dripping with disbelief, "that you are her reincarnation."

I blinked. "...Her? Who?"

She ignored the question.

"You act nothing like her," she continued, circling me as though examining something pitiful. "Even with my powers inside you, you continue to be meek. Too hesitant. Too feeble."

Her words hit like slaps.

I flinched. "Why are you talking like that? What are you even talking about?"

My wolf stopped in front of me.

Her glowing eyes softened, not with pity, but with something heavier.

"It’s time you know the full story, Lorraine."

The wind stilled.

The forest held its breath. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Your true origin," she whispered.

My heart thudded painfully in my chest.

"It’s time you learn just how very powerful you are..."

She reached out, her glowing fingertips brushing my forehead.

"....because it seems you still haven’t realized it."