CHAPTER 192: CHAPTER 192: THE PRICE OF POWER

Lorraine’s POV

I woke up feeling as though my skull had been split in half. My head was heavy, yet light at the same time, a strange floating sensation that made the world tilt sideways. For a long moment, I just lay there, my vision blurry, shapes bending and warping in front of me like I was peering through water.

Where.... where was I?

My throat was dry, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth. I blinked, forcing my eyes to adjust to the dim light until the haze began to clear.

And then it all came rushing back.

The fire. The Queen’s funeral. That sickening prickly feeling crawling beneath my skin like a thousand burning needles stabbing me all at once. The whispers, loud, endless, clawing at my skull until I thought I’d go mad. The fire’s glow, brighter and brighter, and then.... nothing.

I had collapsed.

My stomach twisted. Did I collapse in the middle of the Queen’s funeral? In front of everyone?

Slowly, I looked around. The sheets beneath me were stiff and white, the faint antiseptic smell clinging to the air. A steady beeping sound echoed beside me, and when I turned my head, I saw the machine, monitoring every breath I took. A thin tube fed into the back of my hand where a drip connected to a bag of clear fluid.

The academy hospital.

Before I could even gather myself, the door swung open.

"She’s awake! She’s finally awake!"

The voice was loud and frantic. I turned just in time to see Felix storm into the room, his face lighting up with relief. He ran to the bed so fast the chair in the corner toppled over, but he didn’t care. His arms wrapped tightly around me, burying his face against my shoulder.

For a second, I just froze, startled by the sudden affection.

Finally?

I placed a shaky hand on his arm, confusion lacing my words. "Wait, what do you mean finally? The Queen’s funeral... it was just yesterday, wasn’t it?"

He pulled back, his eyes wide with disbelief, as though I’d just grown a second head.

Before he could answer, the door opened again.

Varya walked in first, her striking red hair pulled into a neat ponytail, her stride graceful and confident as always. Behind her was Alistair, his expression calmer but his eyes fixed sharply on me, assessing, observing.

Both of them looked.... relieved.

"You’re awake," Varya said softly, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Alistair didn’t smile, but his shoulders eased just a little, like a burden had been lifted.

I frowned at all of them. "Why are you making such a big deal out of a little faint? I was just tired, that’s all."

Varya’s brows arched sharply, her lips curving into something that was neither a smile nor a smirk. "A little faint?" she repeated, her tone dripping with disbelief.

"You were out cold for five good days," Alistair said flatly, his voice leaving no room for argument.

My breath caught. "Five.... days?"

"Yes." Felix nodded rapidly, still gripping my hand as if afraid I’d vanish again. "And the doctors... they tried everything. They couldn’t get you to wake up. Not with medicines, not with healers, nothing worked. You just.... slept."

I stared at them, stunned.

Five days. Gone. Just like that.

The funeral hadn’t been yesterday. It had been days ago. While the academy mourned, while Kieran..... while he buried his mother.... I had been lying here, unconscious, completely useless.

My stomach churned, a sick heaviness pressing down on me.

"What?!" The word left me in a half choked whisper, my pulse quickening as I struggled to comprehend it. "I.... I was asleep that long?"

"Yes." Varya’s gaze softened, though her voice remained steady. "We were starting to think you weren’t coming back."

Just then, the door creaked open again.

Astrid Voss stepped in, her presence as commanding as ever. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, her sharp eyes locking onto mine.

"Took you long enough to open your eyes, Lorraine," she said, her tone casual, though there was a heaviness underneath it.

I blinked, surprised, then slowly sat up against the headboard. My body still felt sluggish, every movement stiff like I had been frozen for too long.

"Astrid...." I swallowed hard. "Something is going on with me. I don’t know what exactly, but..."

"Your body is deteriorating."

Her words cut straight through mine, abrupt and merciless.

"What?!" My voice cracked, the word sharp and too loud. I searched her face, waiting for the hint of a joke, a smirk, something, but Astrid’s expression was grave.

She glanced at the others hovering around my bed. "Can you all give Lorraine and I some time alone?"

Varya frowned but nodded, tugging Felix by the arm as he hesitated. Alistair gave me one last unreadable look before they filed out. The door shut behind them, leaving me alone with Astrid.

I forced my trembling voice steady. "What’s happening to me, Astrid? How and why is my body deteriorating?"

Her eyes softened only a fraction, but her voice stayed calm, deliberate. "Your wolf is fully awakened inside you, Lorraine. But it isn’t just any wolf." She paused, as if weighing the weight of her words. "It’s the reincarnation of the Moon Goddess herself. And such power doesn’t come free."

My breath skipped for a moment

"Life is give and take," she continued. "The presence of such power is sucking your life force itself. The more you use it, the faster it drains you. That’s why the white strands in your hair are spreading. And the more they spread, the closer you are to death."

Her words struck me harder than any blow I had ever endured.

"What?!" The word escaped in a broken whisper this time, hollow and filled with disbelief.

"Yes." Astrid’s gaze held mine firmly. "So our only option right now is to keep you from using your powers. But even then, the sheer presence of that wolf inside you, fully awakened, is slowly eating away at your life force."

I let out a bitter laugh, scoffing despite the icy dread in my chest. "Great. I fought all my life to wake my dormant wolf, to finally live freely, to protect myself and the people I love. And now I finally have her, fully awakened, powerful beyond comprehension, and you’re telling me that her existence is what’s killing me?"

Astrid didn’t answer immediately. Her silence said enough.

My throat tightened, anger and despair mixing until it was hard to breathe.

Before she could respond, the door burst open with a loud bang.

Magnus Thorn stepped in, but he looked nothing like his usual composed self. His face was drawn tight, his jaw clenched, and his eyes flicked immediately to Astrid.

"Kieran left." His voice was grim, heavy.

Astrid straightened instantly. "What do you mean, left?"

"He’s gone," Magnus said. "And not to the royal castle. He packed up and slipped out, without his entourage, without his royal guards."

"What?!" Astrid’s voice cracked through the room, sharp with shock.

My heart lurched, my stomach twisting painfully. "Kieran?" I choked out. "What happened to Kieran? Where did he go?"

Magnus and Astrid exchanged a glance, the kind that carried too much meaning in silence. Then Astrid turned back to me, her expression grim.

"After the funeral, Kieran was supposed to head to the royal castle," she said carefully. "For his coronation as the Alpha King."

"And....?" My voice was tight, my chest aching with unease.

"And a royal wedding," Magnus finished for her, his voice low.

The words slammed into me like ice water. "Whose.... whose wedding?" My voice trembled.

"Kieran’s," Magnus said. His tone carried no softness, only brutal truth. "He is the Alpha King now. And after meeting with the council leaders, it was decided to strengthen the royal army through alliance. He was supposed to marry an Elite, the eldest daughter of the Alpha of the Midnight Heart Pack."

He paused, his jaw tight. "Kaelani Rothberg. Their family practically controls the Elites now, ever since the fall of the Ashthornes."

My stomach dropped, bile rising in my throat.

"A royal wedding...." The words left me in a whisper.

"Yes," Astrid said, her eyes narrowing. "He was supposed to leave for the castle today. But apparently... he’s nowhere to be found now"

Her words echoed in the silence of the room, pressing down on me heavier than the prickling under my skin or the whispers in my head.

Kieran had disappeared.