Chapter 149: Shadows in the Crown
Lorraine’s POV
It was nightfall.
The sky above the Lycan territory bled into a velvet black, littered with shards of stars, and the castle, once majestic, now loomed in the darkness like a beast in slumber. But it wasn’t asleep. It was poisoned. And we were walking straight into its jaws.
Kieran, his seven royal guards, and I moved like whispers through the forest trail, our footsteps muted against the mossy earth. We were heading toward a secret entrance hidden beneath the thick roots of an ancient tree just behind the western wing of the royal castle. Kieran said only those of royal blood, and those closest to them, knew it existed.
The moment we slipped through the narrow tunnel and emerged into the castle’s lower halls, my breath caught.
I had never been to the Lycan territory before. All my life I’d heard tales of its grandeur, the palace carved from blackstone and shadow marble, the massive statues of the first Alpha King guarding the gates, the halls that pulsed with ancestral magic. I never thought my first visit would be like this.
Sneaking through its dark corridors. During a war. Beside Kieran Valerius Hunter.
To get the ghosthound queen.
Who would’ve ever thought?
We moved quickly but carefully. The hallway stretched like a black vein beneath the castle, cold and silent. Every step we took felt heavier. The deeper we went, the more I could feel the air thicken with the stench of bloodlust and corruption.
The Crimson Hunt had been here. Recently. Their energy was thick and wrong.
Just ahead, Kieran signaled for us to stop. He raised his hand in a sharp command, and we all pressed flat against the wall.