CHAPTER 233: FROM HIS SIDE

[ Back at the Greater Woods - Kieran’s end of the events ]

Kieran’s chest heaved like a crazy fucking storm contained in too small a vessel.

His claws flexed, half shifted, biting into the skin of his palms as he loomed over Lyla.

"You had to?" he snarled, his voice breaking through clenched teeth, feral. His eyes blazed gold, shadows pulsing along the veins of his neck. "Do you even realize what you have done, woman? You walking straight into this only means how desperate you are to sabotage our rescue mission!"

" Alpha... no... I was... "

Kieran grabbed her shoulder too tight, almost tearing her flesh."Now listen to me, Lyla. Did you or your father have anything to do with my daughter’s disappearance?!" He took one intimidating step closer.

" What! No! Alpha, how could you even think I could ever hurt Freya! She is my daughter too... "

" Save it! I heard what that despicable father of yours had to say about Freya the day he visited last week!" Kieran’s eyes were literally fire...amber and burning.

All colour drained from Lyla’s face... but she recovered quickly.

" Well! Since you heard what he had to say, you must have also heard my response?!" Kieran did not reply. " Or perhaps you were too prejudiced even to bother... " After a momentary pause, Lyla added. " Anyways, none of it matters. What matters is that we find Freya. And I insist Alpha, I can feel her somewhere close. She is somewhere near! "

Kieran roared, not with reason, but with desperation...an animal wound too tight.

Lyla’s lips trembled. "Alpha, I don’t need you to understand or sympathize with me...but I love Freya like my own child. Please,listen to me. You need to save her...I can feel her...I am not lying."

"Don’t you say it!" Kieran’s hand twitched, dangerously close to gripping her arm.His restraint was threadbare. Even though he couldn’t feel Freya, he could feel the darkness and its intensity around the spot. Lyla could as well be right. Freya might as well be round the corner, just cloaked by the mist.

Dax edged closer, teeth bared, but wisely said nothing while he kept watch.

Kieran’s whole body shook. His wolf raged against his skin, wild, untethered. He wanted to rend something apart...tear the mist, the illusions, this damned helplessness...rip it all open until Freya was back in his arms.

And then...it hit him.

A pulse. A whisper beneath the fog. The taste of dark corruption in the air.

Ah! It was fucking Karl.

Kieran’s head snapped up, nostrils flaring. His eyes narrowed into slits, glowing hotter, brighter. "He is here..." he growled, as the sound vibrated from down in his chest. "I can smell him. That rotten stench." In his mind he knew he needed to end this... As if taking Autumn wasn’t enough, now Karl was after his daughter?!

The mist coiled tighter, pressing in.

Karl’s miasma slithered like serpents between the trees. It clung to Kieran’s skin, suffocating, pressing at the edges of his mind, whispering poison.

"Coward!" Kieran bellowed, his voice carrying through the woods like a whipcrack. "Show yourself!"

The miasma swelled in answer, curling, wrapping, trying to strangle. Kieran tore at it with his claws, ripping the dark aura as if it were flesh. The shadows screamed against his touch, black tendrils retreating with every strike.

Lyla stumbled back, shielding her face as the clash of powers distorted the very air.

Kieran’s jaw clenched. "I will shred you apart with my bare hands, Karl if you so much as lay a hand on my baby! You hear me?!" His voice thundered, half man, half wolf, vibrating with a fury that made the forest tremble.

Something sprang at Lyla, "Watch out!" Kieran snapped at it while he tumbled with Lyla under him, unable to keep his balance.

For a breathless moment, he braced himself...waiting for Karl’s counter, for the snap of illusions, for the shadow hands to surge. He flexed, muscles taut, ready to strike.

But the mist... shifted.

It didn’t advance.

It recoiled.

The darkness peeled away like smoke under a hard wind, the forest groaning as though exhaling.

And then...A sound pierced it all.

High, fragile. Innocent.

"Ma...mma... Dada..."

Kieran froze. His heart missed several beats at once.

The soul of his soul... his little Princess!

Through the thinning veil, her small shape shot forward, wild curls bouncing, cheeks flushed with life. His little girl.

"You came for me!"

She launched herself like a cannonball straight into them, knocking into his chest with surprising force, tiny arms wrapping around his neck.

Kieran staggered.Shock and overwhelming relief rendered him speechless. His arms locked instinctively, pulling her close, inhaling the sweet, real scent of her. His knees nearly buckled as her small hands clung to him with absolute trust.

Lyla gasped beside him, her arms sweeping around little Freya too. Her tears soaked into Freya’s hair as the little one giggled and planted wet, uncoordinated kisses across both their faces.

"Mamma! Dada!" Freya squealed, her voice bubbling with laughter through the remnants of tears. "You really came for me!"

Kieran’s throat closed. He couldn’t speak. The golden fire in his eyes dimmed, replaced by something far more dangerous...raw tenderness. His wolf, wild and raging moments ago, now bent, bowed, soothed by the child’s presence.

Lyla pressed her cheek to Freya’s curls, sobbing softly. "Yes, baby... we came. Of course we will always come for you."

Kieran finally found his voice. "Freya... my little star..." His hands shook as he cradled her, as if afraid she might vanish again.

But she didn’t. She clung tighter, her tiny frame so warm, so alive against him.

For the first time in days, Kieran let out a breath that wasn’t a roar or a growl...it was a sob disguised as an exhale.

And right at that moment...the forest lit.

Blue rays filtered through the canopies above, spilling like liquid moonlight. They cascaded over the three of them, wrapping them in an ethereal glow. The very air seemed to hum in reverence.

Kieran’s gaze flicked upward, his arms tightening protectively around Freya.

From the sky, the bluish hue only grew brighter, descending...