CHAPTER 170: CHAPTER 170: A KING’S WORD

Kieran’s POV

Varya’s voice was sharp, cutting across the chamber as she suddenly spoke

"If you’re going to the academy with her, then I’m going too."

I turned my head slowly, my jaw tightening. Of course, she would say that. Varya had never been the kind to sit quietly in the shadows when there was danger to be faced. She was fierce, stubborn, and loyal to a fault, but this wasn’t her battle.

Her eyes burned into mine, unwavering. "You’re the Alpha King now, Kieran. Do you think I’ll sit here hiding while you risk your life in that cesspit? If you’re walking into danger, I walk with you."

I exhaled through my nose, keeping my temper in check. The urge to snap at her pulsed in my chest, but I forced my voice low and even. "No. That will be too much of a crowd. The more bodies we move, the more attention we draw. This isn’t a parade, Varya, it’s infiltration."

Before she could respond, Cyrin leaned forward in his seat, his expression grim, his voice carrying a weight that demanded I listen. "She’s right, Kieran."

I shot him a look, my patience thinning. "Not you too."

But Cyrin didn’t falter. He never did. His gaze was steady, the kind of stare that reminded me he had been at my father’s side long before I ever learned how to hold a blade. "It doesn’t even make sense that you want to walk into the academy with her. You are not just a warrior anymore. You’re the Alpha King. Your life isn’t yours alone now."

The words stung because they were true, but truth did not mean compromise. He leaned back slightly, folding his arms as if he had already made his decision. "Varya will go with you, if you insist on going in with Lorraine, then at least let Varya escort you both."

I felt heat crawl up the back of my neck, frustration pounding in my veins.

The way Cyrin spoke, he wasn’t challenging me as an enemy, but he was still opposing me. Still undermining me.

Slowly, I rose from my chair. The silence in the room grew thick, pressing on everyone present. "You’re not going anywhere, Varya" I said, my voice cold, clipped. "Neither are you, Cyrin."

Varya’s mouth opened, but I cut her off with a sharp gesture of my hand. My chest heaved once, controlled but heavy.

"If we need intel about the academy, Lorraine will get it. You all suggested it and agreed to it." My eyes swept across their faces, landing back on Cyrin. "And I will escort her. That is how it will be done. Not a word more on this matter."

"But...." Varya tried again.

"No." My voice cracked through the air like a whip. Her wolf bristled instinctively

I stepped forward, my eyes narrowing, every inch of me radiating dominance. "I am not asking for opinions. I am not asking for permission. I am the Alpha King now." My voice lowered, dangerous and absolute. "And my word is law."

The silence that followed was suffocating. Even the fire in the hearth seemed to have quieted, its crackles swallowed by the weight of my decree.

Without waiting for their replies, I turned on my heel and began to walk out. My boots thudded against the polished stone, each step final, each step ringing with command. I would not bend on this. I could not. Lorraine will not enter that academy alone, not under my watch.

But just as I reached the doorway, my mother’s voice, soft but deliberate, slid into the silence. "Should I tell Lorraine about this development myself, then?"

I froze, my hand tightening around the edge of the doorframe. Slowly, I turned my head to look at her. She was calm, poised as always, her hands folded neatly in her lap.

"Don’t, Mother," I said, my voice low "Don’t."

Her brows arched slightly, questioning, but she did not push further. She didn’t need to. She knew me too well. She knew that I will go to any length to protect her

Turning back, I pushed the door open and strode out

******

Adrian Vale walked through the dimly lit corridor of the academy, his boots echoing against the polished stone floor. The evening lights sputtered along the walls, casting shifting shadows that stretched and bent with his every step. His face was carved in deep thought, brows knit together, lips pressed into a thin, silent line. For three days now, the Leader had been here, three long, restless days, and not once had he revealed his purpose.

Adrian replayed every encounter in his mind. The Leader had stalked the halls like a wolf hunting prey, his presence so heavy that the entire academy seemed to shrink in silence around him. He had prowled the training grounds, inspected the guards, and most curiously, spent long hours in the archives and administrative offices, rifling through ledgers and old records as if searching for something hidden in ink and parchment.

But what?

Why would he leave his stronghold, an iron fortress where every wolf bent the knee in fear, and come here, of all places? The academy had never been a seat of politics, only blood, discipline, and survival. His absence from the seat of power left questions Adrian could not ignore. What was so important here that he would risk leaving his throne?

And why had he told Adrian nothing?

Adrian clenched his jaw as he strode forward, his long coat trailing behind him. The Leader’s silence gnawed at him worse than answers ever could. He was not a man given to idle visits. No, if he was here, there was purpose. A secret. Something buried that even Adrian, was not yet worthy of knowing.

Adrian’s thoughts were shattered by the sudden thunder of footsteps. Two guards burst from the far end of the hall, their uniforms torn, their faces ashen, their eyes wide with horror. Their chests heaved as they stumbled toward him, hands trembling, and it was only then Adrian noticed the crimson stains smeared across their armor and necks.

"Director Vale..." one stammered, but his voice cracked.

"Speak, you fools!" Adrian snapped, his voice ringing down the stone corridor like a whip.

The guards exchanged a desperate glance before the words tumbled out in broken pieces.

"Your... your sister...." the first choked. "We were sparring... in the training grounds... then she came. At first we thought she only wanted to train with us, but....."

The second guard’s lips quivered as he tried to force the rest out. "She... she’s out of control. She’s ripping everyone apart."

Adrian’s blood turned to ice. "Take me to her. Now!"

The guards hesitated, their feet unwilling to obey, but the fire in Adrian’s voice brooked no argument. They turned and ran, and he followed at a blistering pace, his pulse hammering in his ears.

The metallic stench of blood reached him before his eyes confirmed it.

When they arrived at the training grounds, the sight struck like a blade to the gut. The once, proud sand pit was drenched in crimson, dark pools seeping into the earth. Mangled bodies lay strewn about, limbs bent at grotesque angles, bones shattered, faces frozen in death’s final scream.

And at the center of it, was her.

Aveline.

His sister knelt hunched over the lifeless form of a guard, her small frame trembling with primal hunger. Her blonde hair, hung in blood soaked strands around her face. She tore viciously into the man’s throat, her fangs sinking deep, a guttural snarl vibrating from her chest.

"Aveline..."

The word left him not as a command, but a plea.

Her head snapped up at the sound, and for a moment he glimpsed her face, her mouth dripping crimson, her bright eyes now glowing with a wild, unrecognizable hunger. She rose slowly to her feet, the body falling from her grasp like discarded prey.

The guards behind Adrian whimpered and stumbled backward, their courage drained to nothing.

But Adrian did not move. He could not.

"Aveline, look at me," he said steadily, his voice softer now, as though speaking to the girl she had been. He took one step forward, then another. "It’s me. It’s Adrian."

Her gaze locked onto him, and for the briefest flicker of a second, he thought he saw recognition. But then her lips peeled back, revealing fangs slick with blood, and in the next heartbeat her hand shot out.

Her fingers clamped around his throat like steel.

Adrian was lifted effortlessly from the ground, his boots dangling, his breath cut short. The world spun as her grip tightened. His lungs screamed for air as he clawed at her wrist, but her strength was monstrous, unyielding.

"Aveline...." he rasped, his voice strangled. "It’s me... your brother..."

She stared at him blankly, unrecognizing, her face smeared in blood. Whatever humanity lingered in her had drowned beneath the beast that now controlled her.

Adrian’s vision began to dim. His chest burned. He had no choice. He had to use The Voice on her go mind control her.

His voice deepened, shifting into something not of this world, a resonance laced with command, ancient and terrible.

"Put me down, Aveline," he ordered, The Voice rippling with an ethereal weight that could not be denied.

But she did not release him. Her grip only tightened.

Panic licked at the edges of Adrian’s mind. His sister was resisting. She was resisting The Voice.

His fingers trembled as he closed his eyes, forcing the last of his strength inward. When they opened again, his irises glowed a blazing gold

His voice thundered out, deeper now, vibrating through the marrow of the earth itself.

"LET. ME. GO!"

The words cracked like a divine command.

Aveline froze. Her eyes widened, her body shuddered violently, and then, at last, her grip faltered. Adrian dropped to the blood soaked ground, collapsing onto his knees with a choked gasp. His lungs convulsed as he dragged in desperate gulps of air, his throat burning raw.

Above him, his sister stood trembling, her bloodstained hands hovering in the air, confusion flickering faintly across her savage expression.

Adrian looked up at her, his chest heaving, his body weak.

He was losing control of his sister to the beast within her.