CHAPTER 151: CHAPTER 151: BLOOD AND BLAME

Kieran’s POV

I didn’t even realize I’d driven the blade into her heart.

My hand moved before my mind caught up. One moment, Lorraine was reaching for me, the silver sword clutched in her hand....

And the next, my mother had grabbed her.

And ripped.

Ripped her arm clean off.

The sound it made....

The sickening, wet tear, it would haunt me for the rest of my life.

Lorraine’s scream didn’t even sound human. It echoed through my skull like thunder. Her body crumpled to the floor before I could even reach her, blood spraying like a fountain from her shoulder, and her eyes, goddess, her eyes were wide with shock and pain before they started to roll back.

"No, no, no, no!" I shouted as I rushed to her.

The silver blade still lodged in my mother’s chest rattled as she finally collapsed, her reign of chaos and bloodlust ending with a thud that should’ve meant relief.

But it didn’t.

Because Lorraine was bleeding out in front of me.

I dropped to my knees beside her, my hands moving on instinct. I tore off my long black coat and wrapped it tightly around the mangled stump of her shoulder, pressing down hard. The blood soaked through instantly, hot and sticky.

"Lorraine," I said, voice shaking. "Lorraine, stay with me."

She was pale. Too pale.

Her lips were trembling, eyes fluttering.

"Hey, hey, look at me," I said, cupping her cheek with my blood-covered hand. "Stay with me, do you hear me? You don’t get to die now."

She was slipping.... fading. Her body jerked slightly and then sagged in my arms, her breathing shallow, uneven.

I felt like my soul was cracking in half.

"Don’t you dare," I whispered fiercely. "Don’t you dare leave me."

I couldn’t lose her. Not her.

Not like this.

Not again.

My coat was now soaked with Lorraine’s blood. Her head lolled weakly against my chest, her body trembling in my arms, barely clinging to life.

But then....

Something sizzled behind me.

A faint hiss, the scent of burning metal.

I turned, heart still pounding, and my gaze locked on the silver blade I had plunged deep into my mother’s heart.

It was.... melting.

Not like ice. No, this was slow and viscous, like thick candle wax. The silver hissed and bubbled where it touched her flesh, as though her very blood had begun to corrode it from the inside out.

"What the hell...." I whispered, eyes widening.

The blade’s once-solid edge had already begun to droop and liquefy, dripping down her chest and onto the floor in thick, steaming droplets. And beneath that unnatural erosion, I saw it:

Her fingers twitched.

Just the slightest movement. A pulse of her dead, clawed hand.

She was healing.

She was coming back.

No.

Not now.

Not like this.

My head snapped back down to Lorraine, still breathing, but barely. Her skin was cold, lips pale, and her blood...

Gods, she was losing too much. Too fast.

My mate is dying.

And my mother is waking up

The decision didn’t even take a second.

I stood, shoving the panic deep down, letting my rage settle into control.

I slid one arm beneath Lorraine’s knees, the other under her back, and lifted her into my left arm. Her blood smeared across my chest and her head drooped forward.

Then I turned to the ghost queen, my mother. The blade was still melting off, slowly, but it was happening

I bared my teeth, crimson eyes darkening further, glowing like blood moons. "Forgive me, mother" I muttered under my breath. "But you are not waking up in this room."

I grabbed her limp, towering body and threw her over my other shoulder like she weighed nothing.

Lorraine on one side. My mother on the other.

Two wolves.

One slipping into death.

One slipping out of it.

I turned to the steel door, stepped over the gory remains of the guards,their blood still fresh and soaking the floor. My heart twisted painfully. I had led them here. To this.

Using my bloodied hand, I slammed my palm against the fingerprint pad.

Beep.

Click.

The steel hissed open.

The hallway beyond was clear, silent.

I gave the chamber one last look, at the flickering ECG, the pooling blood, the dismembered limbs of those who died protecting me. My fists clenched. My jaw locked.

"I won’t let you die," I whispered to Lorraine, voice low and tight. "And I won’t let her wake up."

Then, I ran.

Faster than I ever had before.

Faster than wind.

My boots barely touched the ground as I super-sped through the dark, the air splitting around me, the trees blurring past like shadows of ghosts.

I tore the castle gates open with my body

The Crimson Hunt soldiers barely had time to blink before I was gone, leaving only wind and blood in my wake.

The kingdom passed under my feet in blinks and gasps. Villages, forests, rivers, all blurred into streaks of color.

My lungs burned. My legs ached. But I didn’t stop.

Because if I did....

Lorraine would die.

And the Ghosthound Queen would rise.

And I wouldn’t survive either of those.

So I ran

I didn’t even know if I was breathing anymore.

Not properly.

My lungs felt like they’d been filled with molten rock, and my heart...

My heart wasn’t just racing. It was breaking. And I didn’t know how to stop it.

I barely remember how fast I ran

I only knew the moment I slammed to a halt in the center of the underground hideout, the entire hall froze.

I’d carried two bodies down from the burning gates of hell.

Blood was dripping from me, soaking my boots, forming a grotesque trail behind. Lorraine was limp over my left shoulder, her blood soaking into my coat. My mother, the Ghosthound Queen, hung over my right like a lifeless demon, still bleeding but slowly knitting back together.

"By the Goddess," Astrid whispered as she rushed forward, her usually cold face crumbling at the sight of Lorraine. "Lorraine!"

She grabbed her from me, careful but swift. I saw the flicker of horror in her eyes when she saw the gore where Lorraine’s shoulder should’ve been.

Cyrin was already by my other side, grabbing the Ghosthound Queen’s body from me with Varya’s help. His eyes were wide but calculating. "What happened?" he demanded.

"There’s no time," I rasped, voice hoarse, lungs still burning from the run.

I looked at Cyrin first, my grip tightening as I handed my mother over. "The silver blade is melting, she’s healing fast. The moment it’s gone, she’ll wake up, don’t let her wake until you have her fully controlled."

Cyrin’s face tightened into a grim line. "Yes, my King."

He nodded sharply to Varya. "We move, now."

They disappeared down the hall with my mother’s body just as I turned to Astrid, who had Lorraine in her arms, blood trailing behind her on the cold floor.

Her lips were pressed into a tight line, panic creeping into her usually stone cold demeanor.

"I don’t care what you do," I said to her, my voice low, guttural, almost trembling. "Lorraine must not die. Use whatever it takes, whatever means necessary. If you have to sell your soul, do it. Just save her."

Astrid didn’t speak.

She just nodded and ran.

And for the first time, I saw fear in her eyes.

I stood in the center of the hall, heart thudding, my hands shaking and coated in blood. My chest rose and fell like I hadn’t stopped running. I ran a hand through my hair, dragging my fingers across my skull, trying to calm the storm in my mind.

Then.....

"You did this to her!!!"

The words ripped through the air like claws against flesh.

I turned my head slowly, vision swimming in the haze of blood and confusion

Felix.

His face was red with fury, his eyes filled with the kind of tears that burned when they touched skin. His entire body was trembling, not from fear, but from restraint. His hands were curled into fists so tight I could see blood dripping from his palms. He had dug into his own skin, just to hold himself together.

"You abandoned her," he hissed, voice cracking with grief. "You threw her away like she was nothing. After everything she’s done, after all the times she waz there for you, stood by you, fought for you, and you.... you threw her into the fire and told her she wasn’t worthy."

I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. Because every word he spoke stabbed deeper into a truth I didn’t want to confront.

"She would’ve died for you, Kieran," he choked, stepping closer, his eyes brimming with rage and disbelief. "And you, you practically told her to go die. And now look. LOOK!"

He jabbed a trembling finger toward the direction of the infirmary.

"She’s in there right now, with one goddamn arm, Kieran. And don’t you dare act like it’s a noble sacrifice. She’s like that because she trusted you. And you let her walk into that chamber knowing how dangerous it was."

His voice cracked again, breaking into a sob, but he refused to look away.

He stared me down like I was the villain in his story.

And maybe I was.

"I told her not to trust Lycans. I told her. But she said you were different. She believed in you. Even when you pushed her away. Even when you insulted her. Even when you called her unworthy, she still wanted to be by your side."

He took one more step forward, chest heaving.

"You think power makes you strong? You think being King means anything when the one person who saw the good in you is dying because of you?"

My fists were clenched so tightly my claws had drawn blood from my palms.

I could feel the wet warmth pooling in the creases of my hands.

I hadn’t even realized I was shaking.

And still, I said nothing.

Because I deserved every single word.

I had told myself I was protecting Lorraine.

I told myself I was keeping her safe by pushing her away.

But all I’d really done was hurt her.

All I’d really done was abandon her in the moment she needed me most.

Because I was afraid.

Afraid of what she meant to me.

Afraid of what I could lose.

Afraid of how she made me feel.... like I wasn’t a monster.

And now?

Now she was lying somewhere with half her blood on the floor and an entire arm gone. Because she had believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.

"Say something!" Felix screamed, shaking with fury. "Say anything! Defend yourself, Alpha King!"

I opened my mouth.

Nothing came out.

Because what was I supposed to say?

That I was sorry?

That I didn’t mean it?

That I pushed her away because I loved her too much to let her get caught in my darkness?

None of that would bring her arm back.

None of that would undo what happened in that hellish chamber.

I felt like I was drowning in silence.

My crown had never felt heavier.

And then, before I could say anything, Felix turned away.

He didn’t even wait for a reply.

He just walked off, muttering, "You Lycans are all the same."

And for the first time in my life...

I believed him.

Because in the end.....

I had proven him right.