CHAPTER 177: CHAPTER 177: BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

Kieran’s POV

I froze where I stood. For a moment, I thought my eyes were deceiving me, playing some cruel trick to distract me in this pit of chaos. But no, there he was.

Alistair Ashthorne.

Only, he didn’t look like the Alistair I remembered, the arrogant, smug bastard who strutted around the academy with his chest puffed, dripping in pride, always sneering as if the world itself wasn’t worthy of him. That Alistair was gone. What stood before me was a man hollowed out, darker somehow. His shoulders hunched, his eyes dimmed with something I couldn’t place, and yet they still held a dangerous edge. There was no arrogance now, just... survival.

He looked at me with a grim smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "Who would’ve thought I’d ever be saving you, Kieran Valerius Hunter? The Lycan Prince, the same man who ripped out my sister’s heart without breaking a sweat." He huffed bitterly, as if saying the words out loud left a bad taste in his mouth. "But well.... times have changed."

My jaw clenched. I’d expected hatred, vengeance from him, but the resignation in his tone caught me off guard. "What the hell are you doing here, Ashthorne?" I growled, unable to mask the suspicion lacing every word of mine

His expression twisted, part resentment, part weariness. "I was a victim of Adrian’s mind control too," he stated. "When Director Voss launched the all wide academy search for the student behind the Crimson Hunt in the Academy, Adrian pinned it on me. He twisted my mind, shoved the guilt into my bones until even I started believing it. He got into his twisted plans and I had no escape nor anyone to help me. When he finally took over the Academy with his sister, you and your merry pack ran for it, and I... I was forgotten in the dungeon. Rotting."

His voice broke for the first time, jagged with bitterness. "And no one came for me. Not a single damn soul."

A muscle in my jaw twitched. I wanted to argue, to say something, but the truth of it weighed heavier than the words on my tongue. He was right. None of us had gone back. None of us had even remembered him

Alistair laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "So when Adrian finally came for me, after he took the academy for himself, I didn’t have a choice. I had to pledge allegiance or die in a cell."

I narrowed my eyes, his story had a sad edge but I was still not trusting him. "If you’ve pledged your allegiance to Adrian Vale, then why in the hell did you help me just now?"

He tilted his head, studied me with a strange look, as if weighing the worth of my life against some invisible scale. "Because," he said slowly, deliberately, "even if you are the bastard that ruined my family, you are still a better evil than these people are."

The words lodged in my chest like a blade. My lips parted slightly, but before I could respond, his tone dropped lower, graver.

"You have absolutely no idea what these people are planning, Kieran." His voice held none of the arrogance I once knew, it was stripped bare, raw with urgency. "An ethnic cleansing. That’s what this is. The Crimson Hunt isn’t just about seizing power. It’s about rewriting the very bloodlines of the werewolf kingdom. Every council that stood against them? Either already swallowed whole... or fighting a war they cannot win. Because the Crimson Hunt?" His jaw tightened, his eyes flashing with something close to fear. "They always win."

A chill crawled down my spine. I wanted to call him a liar, but there was no mistaking the conviction in his tone, the haunted weight of his words.

"They move differently," Alistair continued, almost in a whisper, as if naming the truth too loudly would summon the very monster he spoke of. "These aren’t men bound by laws or honor or even the hunger for power we wolves have been raised to understand. No." His gaze cut into mine like steel. "Their leader... he doesn’t just want to rule. He wants to be worshiped. He doesn’t want a throne. He wants a kingdom that kneels in fear, a world where his name is carved into blood and stone as if he were a god."

Lorraine’s POV

Adrian led me across the yard with a careful silence, his grip around my arm neither too tight nor too loose, like he couldn’t quite decide whether I was his prisoner or his friend. The morning air bit at my skin, the faint glow of lights along the walls casting long shadows that moved like watchful eyes. Every step we took away from the open yard sent a coil of dread twisting deeper into my gut.

The guest houses stood on the edge of the ysrd, cold, forgotten places meant for holding people until they were either trusted or broken. Adrian stopped at one

"Inside," he said flatly.

I hesitated, and that was all the opening he needed. He shoved me forward, the sudden force making me stumble into the room. My palms scraped against the rough table as I caught myself. The air was stale, carrying the faint scent of dust and mold, as though the room hadn’t housed life in years.

I spun around just as he reached for the knob, his hand already lifting to lock me away. Without thinking, I lunged and caught his wrist.

"Adrian, wait."

He froze. His blue eyes flicked to mine, unreadable, but I could feel the tremor in his hand. That was enough for me to work on

"Why are you doing this?" My voice cracked, half with exhaustion, half with desperation. "Do you even know the real reason I came here instead of just running away from the Lycans?"

He said nothing, but his jaw tightened.

I gripped his wrist harder, forcing him to face me. "Because I trusted you. I thought if anyone would welcome me with open arms, it would be you. Do you understand that? After everything, after all the lies, I realized the only thing that was true... was your love for me."

His breath hitched, almost too quiet to hear, but I caught it.

"I missed you, Adrian," I whispered, letting the words tremble off my lips. "I missed our friendship. I finally saw through everything, through the Lycans’ cruelty, through their poison. You were right all along. They don’t deserve to live. That’s why I came here. Not to fight you, not to fight your cause.... but to stand with you. Just like before. Just like we used to."

Adrian’s eyes flickered, a storm of conflict passing over them. His fingers curled against my grip but didn’t pull away.

"But I guess I don’t matter to you anymore," I continued softly, the words slicing me as I said them. "The moment The Leader told you to kill me, you didn’t even hesitate. Not once. I thought... maybe I meant something. Maybe I still did."

For the first time since he led me here, Adrian stepped fully inside the room. He let the door close behind him and, instead of turning the key, he pocketed it. His chest rose and fell with sharp breaths as though fighting himself.

Then he reached for me.

Before I could retreat, his arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a sudden, desperate embrace. His warmth clashed with the chill of the room, and for a second, just a second, I felt the weight of his conflict bleed through the way he held me.

"I’m glad you finally left Kieran," he murmured against my hair. His voice was tight, brittle. "I’m glad you came back to me, Lorraine. But this..." He pulled back just enough to look at me, his face pale in the dim light. "...this is bad timing. You shouldn’t have come now, not while The Leader is here."

A cold chill passed through me. "Why? Adrian, what is he planning?"

His lips pressed into a thin line. For a long moment, he didn’t answer. I thought he might not. Then finally, his voice came low, hushed, as if the walls themselves might betray him.

"No one knows." He shook his head, his eyes haunted. "That’s the thing about him. He trusts no one. We only know what he wants us to know, when he wants us to know it. He doesn’t explain, he doesn’t confide, he doesn’t forgive. Whatever he’s planning, Lorraine... it’s something big. Something that has never happened before."

I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry. "And I am somehow a part of it?"

"Yes." His gaze locked on mine, and for the first time I saw fear there, not of me, not even of the Lycans, but of The Leader himself. "The only reason you’re still alive right now is because he needs you. Don’t you get it? He’s been waiting for you. He arrived here almost a week ago just to wait. For you, Lorraine."

The floor tilted under me. My voice came out as a whisper. "He knew I was coming?"

Adrian nodded once, grim and certain. "And that’s what terrifies me most. The Leader, the most powerful, brutal man in the kingdom, waited for you. Patiently. He doesn’t wait for anyone. Not kings, not Lycans, not gods. But you...." His voice cracked, and he dragged a hand down his face. "Lorraine, it scares me to even think about what that means."