The Lunar Crest Academy: Marked by The Lycans-Chapter 227: A Tough Choice

Kieran's POV

Astrid was the last person I imagined would step out from those trees.

She has always been a strict disciplinarian so I found it hard to believe that she would come herself to look for students that had sneaked out of the Academy and left against her orders.

"You all look like you've seen a ghost," Astrid said coolly.

No one answered.

Her gaze moved over each of us in turn, Alistair's rigid posture, Kaelani clutching ground like an anchor, Varya's trembling hands still on Felix's body, and then her eyes landed on the still body on the forest floor.

"What's wrong with Felix?" she asked.

That was a question we were all struggling to answer.

"He isn't waking up," Varya said, her voice shaking despite the way she tried to hold herself together. "His pulse is fading fast. He's dying."

Astrid didn't waste a second. She dropped to her knees beside Felix, fingers already pressing against his neck, his wrist, his chest. Her brow furrowed, lips thinning as she assessed him. Then she closed her eyes and began to chant under her breath.

The air changed.

I could feel it, the subtle hum of power, ancient and restrained, vibrating through the ground beneath my boots. The leaves above us rustled even though there was no wind. Symbols I didn't recognize flickered faintly around Astrid's hands as she placed them over Felix's chest.

My eyes drifted, unconsciously, to Lorraine.

She was standing a few feet away, her hands clenched around her cloth, knuckles white. Tears streamed down her face silently, her lips trembling as she stared at Felix like she was afraid to blink, afraid that if she looked away, he would truly be gone.

Hope and terror warred in her eyes.

It hurt to look at her.

Minutes passed. Or maybe seconds. Time felt distorted, stretched thin by fear.

Then Astrid stopped.

The chanting cut off abruptly, the strange hum dissipating like smoke in the wind. She pulled her hands away slowly, shoulders stiff, expression grim.

"Why did you stop?" Varya demanded immediately. "He isn't awake yet!"

"Varya..." Astrid began.

But Varya surged to her feet, panic finally cracking through her composure. "Don't you dare stop! You're the head of the school. You are Director Voss. You have a duty to protect your students!" Her voice broke. "Felix is your student too. Heal him. Heal him, Astrid!"

The forest felt too small for the sound of her fear.

Astrid looked up at her, eyes dark with something that almost looked like regret. "There'll be no point in me continuing, Varya," she said quietly. "He's gone."

The world seemed to tilt.

Lorraine let out a sound I'd never heard from her before, a soft, broken gasp, as her legs gave out beneath her. She fell to her knees, shoulders shaking as silent tears poured down her face, her gaze never leaving Felix.

My chest twisted violently.

Alistair sank down as well, his head bowed, tears streaming freely now. "I.... I'm sorry," he kept murmuring. "I'm so sorry."

"No," Varya snapped, spinning toward Astrid. "No, you're wrong. Lorraine, Alistair, you can't believe her. She doesn't know medicine either. Just because she can cast spells doesn't mean she knows everything!"

"Varya…" Kaelani said softly, stepping toward her.

"Don't touch me!" Varya yelled. She dropped to her knees beside Felix again, hands shaking as she pressed her fingers to his neck. "I'll check myself again."

She checked.

Again.

And again.

Her hands began to tremble violently.

"No," she whispered. "No, no, no…"

Tears streamed down her face, splashing onto Felix's still chest as she shook him gently. "Wake up. Felix, wake up."

"He's gone, Varya," Astrid said gently, but firmly.

"Don't say that!" Varya screamed. "You all give up too easily! He's not gone, I can bring him back!" She immediately began chest compressions, movements frantic and desperate. "I can.... I can do it. I can…"

"Enough, Varya," I said, stepping forward.

She didn't hear me.

"I can bring him back," she sobbed. "I just need..."

"I said enough!" I roared.

The sound of my voice tore through the forest like thunder. The ground beneath us trembled, the trees shuddering as if the world itself had flinched.

Varya froze.

Her hands slipped from Felix's chest as her body sagged backward, a broken sob ripping out of her. Kaelani rushed forward and caught her, pulling her into her arms as Varya collapsed completely.

"Felix is gone," I said more quietly now, the words tasting like ash. "That's the truth. And you'll have to accept it."

My eyes drifted back to Lorraine.

She was still kneeling there, unmoving, her face hollow with grief, tears falling freely now. She looked small in that moment. Fragile. Like the weight of the world had finally crushed her.

Then her eyes rolled back as she suddenly began to fall to the ground.

"Lorraine!" I shouted.

I rushed forward towards her... then I stopped dead.

The memory suddenly hit me like a blade to the chest.

The fight in Liandrin's house.

Her body flying across the room.

My hands on her.

My strength used against her.

My vision blurred as Astrid and Alistair were already kneeling beside her, trying to rouse her, calling her name urgently.

I stood there, rooted to the spot.

Felix's lifeless body lay between us.

This was my fault.

All of it.

I had said I wanted to find my father. I had said we needed answers. And they had followed me, they trusted me.

Felix had trusted me.

Lorraine had trusted me.

I had failed them.

I still remembered how broken when Lorraine first lost her first feral friend, Callum, then she lost Elise and that really broke her too.

Felix was her last feral friend.

And now he was dead.

Because of me.

My hand slipped into my pocket, fingers brushing against the folded map that marked Conan's location. The weight of it felt unbearable now.

I couldn't keep doing this.

I couldn't keep dragging them into my war. Couldn't keep watching Lorraine suffer because of choices I made.

My heart ached in a way I didn't think was survivable.

I loved her.

And loving her meant I had to stop hurting her.

I turned away quietly.

The forest swallowed my steps as I walked off alone, unnoticed, carrying the weight of blood, grief, and a resolve forged in silence.

I would find Conan. He is still alive, and he is the root of all these. If he is dead, the Crimson soldiers will have no leader and it will be easier to get Adrian.

And if my father was truly still alive and being held captive, the only person that will be brave enough to do that would be no other than another Valerius Hunter, his own brother, Conan.

So I have to find Conan and end this.

Alone.