Leah's POV
"What's the hurry?" A voice echoed from the doorway.
Mick Toussaint?!
What on earth was he doing here?
"Ah, we've crossed paths again, Miss Lewyn." Mick's gaze locked onto mine, his eyes narrowing with intent. "Allow me to introduce you to my Luna and wife. I assure you, this reunion will be nothing short of spectacular."
Clara's face materialized next to his.
It was as though my worst nightmare had clawed its way into reality. They stood together, each an abomination that had finally found its twisted match.
"Leah, you conniving wench! At last!" Her lips curled into a cold, vindictive smirk as she slammed the door shut. "We're going to have such a delightful time."
"Get out of my room!" I shouted, desperation hitching my voice.
My legs were numb, unwilling to obey, while I knew exactly what this deranged pair had in mind.
"You look like one of the Swanson boys." Clara purred, flicking her gaze to Darren. "The Swansons have always been so... delectable. Care to join us?"
Darren's fists clenched, his voice a simmering growl. "You heard her. Step back."
"Her Majesty, my foot!" Clara sneered, rolling her eyes. "She's my brother's prisoner now. Luke said I could toy with her as I pleased, and that's exactly my plan."
I was staggered. My breath caught as I tried to mindlink Lucas, but he turned me away.
The betrayal sank in slowly—Lucas had sided with his family, sacrificing me yet again. Clara was his sister. My heart iced over, only to shatter under a surge of questions—
But where was Lucian in all of this? Why would my own father betray me? Why resign his daughter to such a fate...?
Lucian would never ascend as King with my existence because everyone knew the title of Lycan Queen was destined for me. It was the Moon Goddess’s decree.
Apparently, Lucian truly was his father’s son. He sought to alter his fate at the cost of kin. The old King had sacrificed his brother, and now Lucian plotted my demise.
For the first time, terror coiled around me like a web, sinister and binding, as malevolent spiders drew near. But the Lycan blood coursing through me surged vehemently.
This was not the moment to succumb to fear. I had to save my child. I had to protect Darren.
But how, with my legs immobilized?
"If you don’t leave this instant, I’ll tear you both to shreds," I declared, channeling my Lycan tone to buy time.
Both Mick and Clara appeared momentarily rattled, retreating a step.
Mick glanced at Clara and whispered, "What’s happening? I thought she was incapacitated."
Clara glared at him. "Can’t you see she’s bluffing? She hasn’t budged those legs since we entered, you fool! Now, get her!"
As Mick advanced, Darren's rage exploded into a furious roar. "I said step back!"
Before my astonished eyes, Darren’s body contorted and expanded into a massive wolf.
Inconceivable! Panic squeezed my throat as I peered outside. The full moon was obscured by clouds!
Darren wasn’t a Lycan. He couldn’t just transform at will!
How was this possible?
Could it be...
He had been enhanced, too?!
Darren's wolf erupted like a silver streak and barreled towards Mick, its primal fury blazing in its eyes. The massive creature loomed over him, every sinew brimming with raw, predatory power.
Just then, the moon emerged from behind the clouds, casting an ethereal glow across the room. The light danced upon the wolf’s fur, accentuating the beastly contours of its feral form – an untamed force of nature, ruthless and unstoppable.
"No! No! No! This can't be happening!" Mick's screams were filled with anguish. Defiantly but futilely, he steadied himself as the ground seemed to quake with each thunderous step of Darren's wolf. He was hopelessly outmatched against the ferocious might of the wolf.
Clara, oblivious to her husband's torment, was instead consumed by her own seething rage. She lunged towards my bed, her hands closing around my neck in a vicious grip.
"Why won't you die?! You filthy whore! Die!" she spat, her eyes burning with an unhinged fury.
Darren's wolf released Mick and sprang at Clara with blinding speed. His jaws clamped shut with a thunderous snap, locking onto Clara’s neck with a force capable of tearing through steel. His claws, razor-sharp and merciless, shredded through flesh and muscle with savage precision, each strike propelled by an almost supernatural wrath.
"Leave. Her. Alone," Darren's wolf growled, each word dripping with rage as he ripped Clara’s back apart.
Clara’s screams pierced the air, her arms flailing helplessly before they finally hung limp. I had never witnessed anything so macabre – her organs spilling out from her torn body, a horrifying spectacle of carnage.
In that moment, Mick staggered to his feet, a gun suddenly in his grasp, aimed at the wolf’s back.
"Darren!" I screamed.
Simultaneously, control of my legs returned, and I hurled myself at Mick. A deafening bang resounded, and then the world seemed to fall silent.
I glanced down to where a hole marred my chest. Dark blood seeped out, trickling from the wound. Darren's wolf roared in fury, abandoning Clara's mangled corpse to lunge at Mick, tearing his right arm off in a single, brutal bite.
The gun clattered to the floor, and I collapsed. Darren transformed back into his human form, catching me as I fell.
"No... No... Leah... Stay with me, Leah!!!" he cried, his voice a broken wail of despair.
"Darren..." I whispered, my voice a fragile thread. "Take me away... Take me away from this place..."
With a fierce determination, Darren lifted me in his arms, kicked down the barred window, and leapt out of the room. As my head lolled, I glimpsed Mick clutching Clara’s body with his remaining arm, his screams of agony echoing through the night.
That was the last thing I saw before darkness overtook me.