CHAPTER 200: CHAPTER 200: CHOICES

Lorraine’s POV

Everything suddenly vanished. The burnt corpse. Kieran’s scream. Everything.

Gone.

I jolted back into the present with a gasp, my lungs seizing as if I had dragged fire back with me. My heart slammed violently against my ribs. Sweat dripped down my temples, my whole body trembling.

"Lorraine?"

Kieran was suddenly right in front of me, his hands cupping mine as if afraid I would collapse. There was raw fear in his eyes, fear for me. "You were gone for a moment, you weren’t blinking, you weren’t breathing. What’s wrong? Talk to me."

I forced breath into my lungs. Focus. Survive this moment.

"I’m.... fine," I lied, swallowing hard. "Just.... lightheaded. That’s all."

Before I could insist further, Kieran scooped me up into his arms like I weighed nothing. My breath hitched, and I grabbed instinctively onto his shoulders.

"Kieran..!"

He ignored me, carrying me over to the thick trunk of a moss covered tree and gently setting me down so I could rest. Felix, Varya, and Alistair quickly gathered around, wide eyed and frantic.

"Do you feel better?" Kieran asked, still crouched in front of me, still not letting go of my hand like he needed to make sure that I would not black out on him again.

I nodded too quickly, trying to get ahead of the panic tightening my jaw.

But Felix couldn’t hold back. "This is exactly what I’ve been saying!" he exploded. "You wake up from a five day coma and immediately run off into this cursed wilderness, of course your body isn’t ready! Lorraine, you need to rest, you need to go back to the Academy where it’s safe!"

"I said I’m perfectly fine...."

"No, you’re not," Kieran cut me off, rising to his full imposing height. His voice hardened as he spoke. "I agree with Felix."

Great. Betrayal by my own people.

His gaze snapped to Varya. "Do you still obey my commands, Varya?"

Immediately, Varya dropped to one knee, fists to the ground, head bowed low.

"Until I breathe my last, I am yours to command, Your Majesty."

"Then take Lorraine back to the Academy," Kieran ordered. "Do not let her leave her bed until she is fully healed."

My blood boiled.

"Excuse me?" My voice shot out before I could even stop it. "Just who the hell do you all think you are?"

Kieran blinked, surprised by my venom. Good. Cause he needed to calm down and hear every ounce of it.

"You do not dictate my life," I snarled. "I am not some artifact or relic to be locked away and safeguarded. My life is not yours to protect, guard, or cage. My life is mine. And I will decide what to do with it."

Everyone became silent. Even the wind seemed afraid to move.

I exhaled slowly, guilt now tugging at the edge of my frustration. "I’m sorry," I forced out, my voice softer now. "I just.... I’m tired of people telling me what I should and shouldn’t do."

Kieran’s expression eased just slightly, but not enough.

"And for the record," I continued, "I didn’t almost faint because I’m weak or sick. I...." I hesitated. "I had a vision."

"A.... vision?" Felix asked, eyebrows lifting.

"What was it about?" Alistair questioned

My gaze flicked to Kieran, just for a second. The image of him sobbing, broken, clutching my burned corpse slammed into me like a punch.

But I knew I had to swallow the truth.

"I.... I don’t know what it meant." I lied blatantly "Just random flashes. Nothing clear."

Kieran stared at me too long. Like he didn’t believe me. Not entirely. But he let it go, for now.

"So," I said, pushing myself upright. "I am going with Kieran to find his father. If any of you don’t want to follow, that’s fine, you can go back to the Academy right now. No one will judge you."

The moment was now quiet and tense. But no one moved.

Felix looked conflicted, shifting from foot to foot, but he stayed. His loyalty wasn’t loud, but it was real and I appreciated that.

"I guess all of us are going then," I said, my chest surprisingly warm at the sight of them staying, despite everything.

I turned to Kieran. "So.... where are we headed to first?"

For a moment, his cold facade slipped. Awe flickered behind his dark crimson eyes, like he still couldn’t understand how someone like me existed in his world.

Then he masked it beneath a cool, emotionless expression.

"The Lycan Territory."

Of course.

His hometown.

A place of power. Of danger.

The last time I went to that place, I lost an arm. Who knows what I will lose this time.

I nodded. "Then that’s where we go."

Kieran exhaled, relieved but also trying not to show it. "The night is far gone already so we will find a good place to rest for the night and we’ll move at sunrise. We’ll need to avoid all scout routes and Crimson Hunt outposts. We’ll take the river path north until we reach the Old Moon Bridge that marks the beginning of the Lycan territory. The Old Moon Bridge is the only entrance into the Lycan territory that is not heavily guarded like the others and mostly abandoned, so that is the path we will take."

Felix groaned. "That bridge is rumored to be cursed."

Alistair rolled his eyes. "Oh please. Only fools believe those rumors."

"Some rumors often come from truths," Kieran said coldly. "We will have to stay alert. Even the trees have eyes these days."

Varya cracked her knuckles. "Good. I’m dying to break something else tonight."

Despite the tension, I almost smiled. That was the Varya I had come to.... tolerate.

Kieran stepped closer again, too close, his scent wrapping around me like sinful temptation, night air, lightning, and blood.

"You know you can actually stop all these and leave now, you don’t have to prove anything, little wolf," he murmured quietly enough that only I could hear.

I held his gaze. "I’m not proving anything. I’m just doing what I’ve always done from the beginning, fight for the people I care about and try to survive."

His lips twitched into the faintest hint of a smirk. "So you care about me?"

"No, I don’t, I am just a very patriotic wolf that wants to find a King that once ordered her to be killed off" I stated with a shrug

His eyes burned into mine, like he wanted to say something else...

But he didn’t.

Instead, he gave a curt smile, turned toward the dark forest, and began walking.

We followed.

As we walked, my mind drifted back to the vision I had.

I died. Burnt till my body charred black

But the strange thing about that vision was everything looked strange, including the clothing Kieran wore.

So I wasn’t sure whether that vision was about how I would die in the future, or how I died in the past.