CHAPTER 147: CHAPTER 147: DON’T FALL AGAIN

Kieran’s POV

I stared at her.

Lorraine Anderson.

Fierce. Unrelenting. Wild like the storm.

She stood before me, eyes blazing with fury and conviction, and I didn’t know if I should call her act brave or just plain stupid. But whichever it was, it was... goddess, it was endearing.

And so fucking attractive.

I clenched my jaw and looked away. No.

Not again.

I couldn’t let this happen again. I made a promise, to myself, to my wolf. I was the Alpha King now. I couldn’t afford weakness, not the kind that came dressed in flesh and defiance and those maddeningly stubborn eyes.

But goddess, she made it hard.

Lorraine stood there, daring me to say no, to fight her on this. And every fiber of my being wanted to....pull her closer instead. To hold her and tell her how much I hated this distance, how much it hurt to cut her off, how much I still.....

No.

I hardened my voice. "If you slow us down," I said, staring right into her eyes, "we will leave you behind."

It came out cold. Emotionless. As it should.

She didn’t flinch. Just held my gaze and nodded like she already expected that answer. Like she was ready to risk it.

Then I turned, and without another word, I walked toward the stairs that led out of the underground. My boots echoed against the stone with every step. The air was cool and sharp against my face as I neared the exit.

Behind me, I heard it, her, the familiar rhythm of her footsteps as she followed. Steady. Unshaken.

And despite everything, despite every promise, every wall I tried to build....

A smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

Damn her.

She never stays where I leave her.

Lorraine’s POV

The morning sun was already bleeding gold into the sky by the time we stepped out of the underground hideout. The cool air of the forest kissed my skin, but all I could feel was the tension riding high in my chest. Kieran hadn’t looked at me once since we started walking. Not even a glance.

He led the way, flanked by seven of the royal guards dressed in black leather armor lined with silver thread. They moved like shadows with blades.

We walked for several minutes in silence, the weight of unspoken words and unfinished fights dragging behind us like chains.

Then suddenly, he stopped.

The guards halted with him, like a well-oiled machine. Kieran slowly turned, his piercing crimson eyes locking onto mine.

"You ready?" he asked, voice flat but sharp enough to cut.

I frowned. "Ready? Ready for what?"

His lips tugged in the faintest smirk, but there was no warmth in it.

"To activate your wolf speed and run fast," he said casually, as though he was asking if I had remembered my shoes. "You didn’t think we were going to walk all the way to Lycan territory, did you?"

I blinked. "I.... I haven’t really mastered super-speeding yet," I admitted, hating how small my voice sounded. "I was only able to do it for the first time yesterday. I don’t know how to control it yet."

Kieran tilted his head, unreadable. "I told you," he said slowly, clearly, "if you slow us down, you will be left behind."

And just like that, he turned around.

"Let’s go," he commanded his guards, and they took off with him, blurs of black vanishing between the trees like smoke.

I stood there.

The wind tousled my hair. My heart beat painfully against my ribs.

He didn’t even look back.

Did he mean that? Did he really not care?

Tears stung the back of my eyes, but I blinked them away. No. No more crying.

You’re not that girl anymore, I reminded myself. You’re not weak.

"I’m not weak," I whispered.

So I turned inward to my wolf

"Help me," I whispered inwardly as I stared at the path Kieran had vanished into. "Please.... I can’t do this without you."

But my wolf didn’t answer. Not a single whisper. Not even a stir.

She had been there last night, fierce and defiant, rising to protect me when Kieran had nearly crushed my throat. She had taken over with glowing white eyes and a voice that shook him.

But now?

Silence.

"Are you sulking?" I muttered under my breath, frustrated. "Come on. Now is not the time to go mute on me."

Still, nothing.

I clenched my fists. "Fine. Don’t do it for me, do it for Elise. Do it for every single one of us they murdered like we were nothing, if you know how it feels for you to lose your people unjustly, to feel as helpless as I am feeling, then please, help md"

Something shifted. A slow simmer. A low growl.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply.

My legs bent instinctively, and I grounded my feet against the soil. My heart was pounding, but I could feel my wolf pressing forward now, her power flickering beneath my skin like liquid flame. She wasn’t taking control, but she was with me.

"Run," she whispered, it was low growl

And I did. I ran.

At first, it was clumsy. I stumbled. The trees around me stuttered and blurred like a broken reel, but I didn’t stop. My wolf roared in my ears, not with words but with energy, and I pushed harder.

My bones burned with the force of the speed awakening inside me. My muscles screamed. My veins lit up with a power that didn’t feel like mine, but it was.

The wind bit at my face as I surged forward, faster, faster. Branches whipped past. The world turned into streaks of green and gold.

I was doing it.

I was actually doing it.

"Where?" I said aloud, eyes darting across the rushing woods. "Where did he go?"

Then came my wolf’s voice, stronger now. "Follow the scent."

Kieran’s scent.

Powerful. Wild. Stormy.

I didn’t need to search, I felt it. Like a magnetic pull guiding me through the blur of trees. My wolf honed in on it, her senses sharper than I’d ever experienced before, and I angled my path toward it without hesitation.

I was racing toward him.

Toward the cold, beautiful, infuriating Lycan King who had broken my heart but still owned it.

This time, I wasn’t going to be left behind.

So I ran as fast as I could after them.

The towering gates of the Lycan territory loomed before us, massive wrought-iron structures flanked by ancient stone statues of wolves mid-snarl. The morning sun had now fully risen, casting a gold sheen across the fortified kingdom.

I skidded to a halt just behind Kieran and his guards. My chest rose and fell with exhaustion, but the pride swelling in my heart silenced the ache in my legs. I’d caught up.

Kieran turned slowly, his sharp gaze narrowing the moment he saw me.

I smirked, just a little. Yeah. I made it.

His eyes flicked down my body as if to confirm it wasn’t an illusion, then back to my face. For the briefest second, something like admiration sparked across his features, but it was gone just as fast.

He looked away. "Took you long enough," he muttered, but his voice didn’t carry the edge it usually did.

I walked past him without replying, heart still thudding as I took in the scene before us. The kingdom looked quiet, too quiet.

A guard suddenly stepped forward. "Your Majesty," he said, voice clipped. "Look."

He pointed to the peak of the royal castle, its high tower, once adorned with the silver-and-black flag of House Valerius.

My breath caught in my throat.

Now flying from that same tower.... was a different flag.

A red one.

A crimson flag, with the sigil of the Crimson Hunt:

"No..." I whispered.

Kieran’s jaw tensed, the muscle in it flexing as his hands curled into fists.

"They’ve taken the castle," one of the guards said grimly. "Crimson Hunt has infiltrated the royal grounds."

My stomach turned. This wasn’t just a breach.

It was a declaration.

"They’ve already made their move," Kieran said, voice quiet, dangerously quiet. "While we were strategizing, they were already poisoning my kingdom from the inside."

He stepped forward, staring up at the corrupted crest now flying above the home he grew up in.

The castle of kings had been conquered.

And his mother was in there.