Defying the Lycan King (Kira and Derek) novel Chapter 155

Chapter 155: KAI!

"What?" Kira spun around, her eyes darting toward the windows, the doors, the dark beyond them. "How did they get in here?"

Derek turned sharply and grabbed Kira’s hand. "Come with me." His voice was calm but urgent.

He crossed to a cabinet against the far wall, pulled it open, and produced a knife in a leather sheath. He drew the blade free and pressed the handle into her palm, closing her fingers around it.

He looked straight into her eyes. "Can you handle this?"

Kira’s throat was dry. She looked down at the weapon in her hand, then back up at him. "I’ll try."

"Aim for the heart," Derek said. "Or the spine. Nowhere else will stop them fast enough. Heart or spine. Say it back to me."

"Heart or spine," Kira repeated.

The door burst open.

Declan came through it with two gammas, ushering Nana ahead of him along with a cluster of women and frightened children, herding them all toward the centre of the room.

Nana’s face was pale but composed as she ushered the little ones inside.

Derek turned to Declan immediately. "What’s the situation?"

Declan was breathing hard. "Connor and the others are holding the Umbras off by the Eastern gate. It’s bad, Derek. They came in numbers."

Derek’s jaw tightened. "Stay with the women. You don’t leave this room. Protect them with your life."

Declan gave a sharp nod.

Derek turned back to Kira, and saw the fear sitting plainly in her eyes no matter how hard she was working to hide it. He stepped in close, placed his hands on her shoulders, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Stay near Declan," he said quietly. "Don’t be brave. Be alive."

Declan’s eyes flicked toward the two of them, but he said nothing.

He signalled Derek to move aside with him for a moment. When they were apart from the rest of the room, he dropped his voice low.

"It’s not only the Umbras tonight," Declan murmured. "There are Lycans out there. Northern Lycans. Derek, if the North has moved on us, then Lawrence has begun. This is the start of a war."

Derek’s eyes flicked briefly to Kira, who was watching them curiously, clearly trying to catch what they were whispering. She couldn’t hear, but the tension on their faces told her enough.

Derek turned back to Declan. "Don’t draw that conclusion yet. Not until we know it for certain. Northern Lycans can be bought. That doesn’t mean Lawrence holds the leash."

He held Declan’s gaze. "Right now, I need your eyes on the people in this room. Nothing else."

Declan nodded once and stepped back.

Derek turned back and across the room his eyes found Kira’s again, and for a moment the two of them simply looked at each other through all the noise and the fear and the dark pressing in at the windows.

Kira, he thought, I hope you never betray me.

Then his body broke and reshaped, fur and muscle and bone, and Leo surged forward, and within seconds the King of Dravengard was gone — replaced by a massive black Lycan with glowing amber eyes.

He let out a deep, rumbling growl that shook the air, then turned and bolted out the door into the night.

The fight was already raging at the entrance of the palace.

Derek threw himself into the chaos without hesitation. Umbras, those shadow creatures that could twist into any form, were everywhere.

The first Umbra that came at him learned its mistake too late. Derek caught it as it lunged at him, and tore through it. It came apart like smoke pulled by wind.

The creatures were no match for him. He tore through them like they were made of paper, his claws ripping through their throats and breaking their spines.

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