CHAPTER 164: CHAPTER 164: HER WARMTH

Lorraine’s POV

"Your Majesty," Cyrin said gently, "you don’t need to panic. Kieran will wake up soon. His body just.... needs time."

Her eyes narrowed, flicking from Cyrin to Kieran’s still body on the table. "Time?" Her voice was quiet but dangerous. "Why is he unconscious at all?"

Cyrin hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering. "Too much of his power was drained during the ritual. That’s all. He pushed himself towards his limits to lock your wolf away..."

Her head snapped toward him so sharply that my stomach tightened. "A ritual.... to lock my wolf up?"

I could hear the crack in her voice

Cyrin didn’t move, didn’t break eye contact. "Yes, my Queen. We did it for your safety, and for his, and for the safety of everyone else here"

The queen stared at him in silence for several long, suffocating heartbeats. Her breathing was steady, but I could feel the air shift, like the seconds before a lightning strike. Then she spoke again, her tone lower. "You locked my wolf up." It wasn’t even a question this time, just a slow, repetition of his words.

"Yes," Cyrin confirmed again, and there was something almost weary in the way he said it. "Your Majesty... while you were asleep under the influence of wolfsbane in the hidden chamber, the Crimson Hunt has been moving without resistance. They’ve taken control of almost everything, cities, territories, even the royal castle itself."

Her expression didn’t change, but I could see the faintest tremor in her jaw. "How long?"

"Long enough," he said. "Kieran and Lorraine risked everything to reach you. Getting to you nearly cost Kieran his life and it cost Lorraine one arm. We brought you here because... for now, it’s the only place that’s safe."

The queen’s gaze flicked toward me then, those crimson eyes pinning me in place for a moment before she turned back to Cyrin. "And my husband? The Alpha King. Where is he?"

That question sucked all the air out of the room. I felt it, the way everyone’s movements froze, the way the energy shifted from tense to suffocating.

No one spoke.

Her head tilted slightly, like a wolf scenting the air for weakness. "Why is no one talking?" she asked, each word colder than the last.

Still, no answer.

It was Astrid who finally stepped forward. Her voice was steady, but I caught the faint tightness in her throat. "He is dead, my Queen."

The words hit the queen like a physical blow. For a heartbeat, she didn’t move, just blinked once, twice, as if she hadn’t heard right. Then, slowly, her lips parted in disbelief.

"No," she said softly, shaking her head. "No.... that’s not possible." Her voice rose slightly. "My husband is the Alpha King. He’s an ascended lycan, the most powerful wolf ever born. There is no way.... no way my mate is dead."

Her breathing grew heavier, ragged now, and her eyes darted from face to face, searching for any sign that this was some cruel mistake.

"You’re lying," she said suddenly, voice cracking. "You have to be lying. He’s too strong, nothing can kill him. Nothing."

"Your Majesty..." Cyrin began, but she cut him off with a sharp, choked sound, half snarl, half sob.

"You think I would believe that the man who could tear armies apart with his bare hands is gone? You think I would believe that my mate, my king, is...." Her voice broke, and she shook her head violently. "No. No, no, no..."

Her knees buckled, and she dropped to the floor, her hands gripping the edge of the table where Kieran lay. Tears blurred her eyes, but her voice was still fierce, even through the cracks. "He promised me.... he promised he would always come back to me. He can’t be gone. He just can’t."

The sight made something twist inside me, this woman, this feared queen, reduced to someone clinging desperately to the last shred of hope she had left.

No one moved to touch her. No one dared. The only sound was her ragged breathing and her sobs.

And in that moment, I realized that grief looked the same on everyone, no matter how strong or terrifying they were.

The wailing of the Queen continued and the walls began to feel like they were pressing in on me.

The sound of the Queen’s grief rang in my ears., raw, animalistic, and impossible to drown out. Kieran lying unconscious on that table.... her tears for him... the way everyone’s faces were heavy with the weight of loss and fear.

It was too much.

Before I could think, I turned around and walked out of the room. I needed air before I drowned in theirs.

The moment the door clicked shut behind me, I leaned against the wall, pulling in deep breaths like I’d just escaped a battlefield. My hands were shaking, and I hated that they were.

"Lorraine."

Felix’s voice snapped my head up. He was already hurrying toward me, his brow furrowed in concern.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, stopping just close enough that I could see the tension in his jaw.

I opened my mouth to say something... but the sound of footsteps interrupted me.

"Astrid."

She stepped out into the hallwsy, her eyes immediately finding mine. There was no warmth in them, only that cool, sharp gaze that always made me feel like I was under a microscope.

"Will you give me and Lorraine some space alone?" she said, glancing at Felix without giving him much of a choice.

He hesitated, looking between us, but I gave him a quick nod. "It’s fine. You can go."

Only then did he step away, though his eyes lingered on me until he turned the corner.

When we were alone, Astrid took a step closer, folding her arms as she looked me over like I was a soldier who’d failed inspection.

"You’re acting weak, Lorraine. I am disappointed."

The words hit me like a slap, but I forced myself to keep my voice level. "I’m trying my best to get back on my feet, Astrid."

Her eyes narrowed, her tone sharpening. "After trying to kill yourself?"

I froze

"Do you have any idea what the bloody hell it took for us to save you the first time?" she demanded, her voice rising with each word. "And you threw it away without a second thought, slitting your own throat like it meant nothing."

I tried to look away, but she stepped forward again.

"What if Kieran hadn’t gotten to you in time? What if we couldn’t save you again? Do you ever think about that? Or does it not matter to you?"

Her words were like blows, each one landing in the exact place I’d been trying to protect. My hand curled into fist at my side

She didn’t stop. "You’re not the only one who’s been through hell, Lorraine. You’re not the only one who’s lost something. But some of us...."

"Stop!!"

The word tore out of me before I could think, my voice louder than I intended. Astrid went still, her gaze sharpening, but I didn’t give her a chance to speak.

"I didn’t ask anybody to save me," I said, my voice shaking but steady enough to hold its ground. "You think I don’t know what it cost you? I do, I heard. But for all I know, you should’ve just let me die."

Her eyes flashed, but I pressed on, heat building behind my words.

"Not everyone is as strong minded as you are, Astrid. Not everyone can just.... push past everything and pretend they’re fine. I’m trying. I really am. But I can’t do it your way. I can’t just wake up one morning and be whole again because I am clearly not"

The lump in my throat made it harder to speak, but I didn’t stop.

"You want me to heal? Then let me do it at my own pace. Stop acting like I’m failing because I’m not meeting your expectations. Because right now? It feels like you don’t care if I heal at all, you just care if I’m useful again."

Before Astrid could reply me again, I walked off, and I didn’t look back

Kieran’s POV

The first thing I was aware of was the heaviness in my body.

It wasn’t pain exactly. more like every muscle had been wrung out, drained to its last drop. My eyelids felt like they’d been stitched shut, but I forced them open anyway.

Light blurred in my vision, and then... a shape.

No, her.

My mother.

She was sitting at my side, hands folded in her lap, her eyes fixed on me with a clarity I had never seen in them before. There was no wildness there, no haze of bloodlust threatening to swallow her whole.

For a heartbeat, I didn’t believe it. I thought maybe I was still dreaming, still trapped in some fever state from the ritual.

"Mother," I croaked, my voice raw.

Her head snapped toward me, and the instant she saw my eyes open, she was on me.

"Kieran," she breathed, and then I was pulled into her arms.

The embrace was fierce, almost desperate. I could feel her shoulders shaking, her tears warm against my neck as she held me tighter, as if letting go might make me vanish.

"Oh, my son..." Her voice cracked, and she clutched me closer still. "My son."

I froze for a moment, not because I didn’t want it, but because it was so foreign.

For the better part of my life, she had been absent, locked away in that hidden chamber, drowned in wolfsbane so potent it might as well have been a prison of poison. My memories of her were fragments, faded glimpses of warmth before the sickness in her mind had stolen it away.

And yet... I had always craved this.

Her touch.

Her presence.

Now it was here. Real. Solid.

It felt impossible. It felt wrong that something I had only dared to imagine could suddenly be mine to hold.

I closed my eyes and let the moment wash over me, clinging to her like I had when I was small, before the world became something sharp and merciless.

When she finally pulled back, her gaze shifted around the room. Her eyes darted to each corner like she was checking for shadows, for eavesdroppers.

Then she leaned in, lowering her voice to a whisper that only I could hear.

"Kieran," she said, her fingers tightening around mine, "they told me your father is dead."

I felt my chest tighten, but before I could speak, she continued, her tone fierce beneath the softness.

"They said he committed suicide.... that it was because of some kind of spell." Her eyes searched mine, as if daring me to believe it. "But I think that is a lie."

Her conviction was like steel, unyielding, absolute.

"Your father is my mate," she said, her voice trembling just slightly. "And you know how strong a lycan mate bond is. I can still feel him, Kieran. That bond is not broken."

Her breath caught, but her gaze never wavered.

"Your father is not dead. The Alpha King is still alive."