A Luna for the Lycan King novel Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Darren

The moment the griffin touched down, I was off, the corridor blurring around me as I tore through it. Dayanara’s voice followed, muttering something about not getting herself lost and about being ready to zap any lycan fool enough to mess with her. I barely heard her. I didn’t care about anything but getting to Lyle and getting answers. I reached back for Dayanara’s hand without stopping, dragging her through the endless twists of the halls. My father waited outside Lyle’s room, pale as moonlight, stunned into

silence as I careened toward him.

“Did you look at the videos?” I asked, barely able to choke the

words out.

“Cloaked,” he said, eyes wide with shock. “Lyle and Allissa collapsed, then Allissa was lifted by… nothing. Like a ghost.” The familiar fury began to boil, too hot to contain. Too hot to control.

“Fuck!” The word shot out, almost louder than I intended. I knew how I must have looked–feral and unhinged–but I couldn’t stop. Not now. “We have to get her back,” I said. “Where did they take her?” My father shook his head, the weight of it showing in the

lines of his face.

“We don’t know,” he said. “We know they disappeared in the woods, but that’s as far as our surveillance took us.” I paced, the movement doing nothing to settle the tempest inside m

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“Stop that!” Dayanara hissed. “We’ve been over this. You can’t help her if you get lost in your madness.”

My heart still hammered like a prisoner against my ribs, a painful reminder of everything I was losing. Of everything I had already lost. We paused outside Lyle’s room, and Dayanara studied me.

“Where’s your brother at?” Dayanara asked, and I noticed how my father’s look changed. He glared at the stranger, and I realized!

didn’t introduce them.

“She’s a friend,” I insisted, though the words barely came out. “She’s a princess of the Sorcery Kingdom.” My father didn’t seem convinced, his gaze locked on the door like it was the final enemy

he couldn’t defeat.

“I can’t,” he murmured, voice breaking. “I can’t go back in there.”

Dayanara took a step closer, her usual flippant demeanor replaced by something I hadn’t seen in her before. Determination, maybe. Compassion. “I don’t need you to accompany me. Either of you. I just need to analyze his blood. Is he through those doors?” she asked, taking a step toward it.

“The kingdom doesn’t know. We didn’t want to upset them,” Milo whispered as he watched Dayanara.

“You need my skills. You can trust me.”

“We need her.” I saw the uncertainty still lingering in his eyes, but

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he

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didn’t try to stop her.

Milo shifted uncomfortably, torn between desperation and doubt. “Can you help the others too?” he asked, his voice low and

hesitant. “The ones who were brainwashed?”

“Not a problem,” Dayanara replied, almost too casually. But then she paused, a new seriousness in her face. “First, we need to figure out what poison was used,” she said. “We need to find Allissa before anything else.” My father nodded, and I saw him flinch at the mention of her name, there was so much pain in his eyes. He pursed his lips and took in a shaky breath. The look of failure evident in his eyes. He failed to protect his son and his

son’s mate.

“He’s been in there… since it happened.” He stopped, and I knew he was seeing it all again. Lyle’s lifeless body. “We laid him there,” he said, nodding toward the room. “For now.”

Dayanara reached for the door handle and I felt my own resolve crumble for a moment. The thought of seeing Lyle like that was

tearing me up.

“You don’t have to.” Her eyes met mine.

“I have to do this,” I said, more to myself than anyone. “I owe it to

him.” I took a breath, the kind that felt like drowning, and rear‘ ed

for the door handle first.

I stepped inside, each movement a fresh ache, a new break in my 3/5

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so wrong, his hand cold and lifeless in mine. The reality of it was

too much. Too brutal. My legs buckled and I was on the floor,

sobbing like the child I was never allowed to be. My brother was gone, the empty husk of him a painful reminder of what I’d lost. Of what I’d never have again. The memories came sharp and

unrelenting: his laughter, his loyalty, the bond we’d never get to feel again.

い

He looked like he was sleeping. Sleeping, but never to wake up. I

gripped his hand, stiff and cold as screams of grief ripped from my

chest, wild and unrestrained. I hadn’t cried like this since I was a

pup. Maybe not ever. But the dam had burst, and I couldn’t stop.

Didn’t want to stop. All the grief, all the anger, all the helplessness

-it all poured out, raw and consuming.

His smile, his laugh, the way he always had my back even when

I didn’t deserve it. Those were the things I remembered. Those

were the things I would never see or hear again. It was like losing

him all over, the wound ripped open and bleeding inside me. I

thought of when we were kids, always getting into trouble but always together. I thought of the last words I’d said to him before

this madness started, before I’d failed him.

Dayanara stood nearby, but she was a ghost to me now, a