The Lunar Crest Academy: Marked by The Lycans-Chapter 214: Hexborns

Kieran’s POV

Felix stepped into the middle of the road exactly when he was supposed to.

He stood perfectly still as the black sedan rounded the bend, shoulders tense, breath steady, eyes fixed forward. The car’s headlights washed over him.

The sedan screeched as the driver slammed the brakes.

Doors flew open.

"What the....."

"Move out of the way!"

"Who is this idiot...."

They didn’t finish the sentence.

I was already there.

I hit the first soldier before he even registered my movement, my hand driving straight into his chest, bone cracking around my arm as I tore out his heart. His body crumpled to the ground.

The others shouted, stumbling back in shock.

That was all the time they got.

I lunged into the next two, claws ripping through armor like paper. One went down gurgling, the other dropped screaming as I broke his spine with a twist of my wrist.

Alistair burst from the trees, taking down the flank. His movements were quick and controlled, a clean sweep of a kick, a crushing blow to a throat, a blade driven into a soldier’s lung.

Felix dove behind the sedan, then yanked the back door open. "Varya!" he shouted.

A soldier suddenly charged me, blade raised, I caught his arm, shoved him backward, and drove my clawed hand through his skull. He fell instantly.

Alistair slammed another soldier into the dirt, silencing him with a crushing stomp.

"Felix, get her out!" I shouted.

"I’m trying!"

I moved to cover him as another soldier lunged. I tackled the man into the side of the car, metal buckling under the impact, then ripped him apart before his scream finished.

Felix managed to drag Varya halfway out of the backseat.

Her body collapsed against him, limp, bloodied, her breathing faint.

"Alistair!" I called.

He dropped the last soldier he’d been fighting and rushed over.

The sudden quiet was jarring. The only sounds left were Felix’s panicked breaths, Varya’s shallow gasps, and the wind rustling the trees.

Felix looked up at me, fear raw in his eyes. "Kieran... she’s bad. Really bad."

I crouched, sliding an arm under Varya’s back and pulling her into my hold.

Her skin was cold. Her face pale beneath the dirt and blood. She stirred weakly, eyelids fluttering, trying to focus.

"She’ll heal," I said firmly. "She’s a Lycan. Her wolf healing will kick in soon."

Felix swallowed hard, nodding, still shaken.

Alistair scanned the forest. "Area clear. No more soldiers."

"We’re done here," I said. "We need to move."

"We go back for Liandrin," I said. "And we get Lorraine."

Lorraine’s POV

The moment her glowing fingertips brushed my forehead, the forest trembled.

The trees blurred.... stretched... melted.

My breath hitched as the entire world warped around me, like someone was peeling back the layers of reality. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

And then, just as suddenly...

The forest disappeared.

I stood in the courtyard of an ancient stone castle. Everything smelled of dust and hearth fire. Children ran across the courtyard dressed in rough animal skins, laughing, wrestling, training with wooden weapons.

Heavy metallic scent clung to the air, so thick I could almost taste it.

"What... what is this place?" I whispered.

My wolf appeared beside me, glowing softly. "A memory," she said. "Your memory."

Before I could question her, a small movement caught my eye.

A little girl sat alone in the corner of the courtyard. White hair spilling down her back. Bare feet dirty. Shoulders hunched. Her eyes, goddess, her eyes, one red, one white. She looked so small. So heartbreakingly alone.

The other children glanced at her with disgust twisting their faces.

"Freak."

"Monster."

"She’s not a true werewolf."

A stone was kicked in her direction. She flinched and curled in on herself.

My chest tightened so painfully I felt my breath stutter. I stepped forward without thinking. "Who.... who is she?"

My wolf answered with a solemn softness that made my spine tingle.

"Her name is Maeryn."

"And she is you. In your past life."

My heart stopped.

"What?!" I turned to her sharply. "That little girl.... is me?"

She nodded. "Just like in this life, you were born an outcast. A feral in current life... and an abomination in your past life. You were the first ever Hexborn."

The word pulsed with unfamiliar weight. "Hexborn? What is that?"

"Let me show you."

The scene rippled, colors smearing like wet paint before snapping into a new image.

A forest clearing.

The children were older now, teenagers. And Maeryn stood in the middle of them, taller, but still alone. Still different. Still hated.

They surrounded her like a pack of wolves taunting prey.

"A curse!"

"Demon!"

"Abomination!"

The first rock struck her shoulder. Then another hit her cheek, splitting her skin. They kept throwing, sharp stones, sticks, anything they could grab. She didn’t fight back. She just hugged herself, trembling.

Something inside me twisted violently. It felt like watching my own childhood replayed in a nightmare I didn’t know I remembered.

And something about this scene made me remember my life before Lunar Crest Academy, and how I was abused.

"Stop...." I whispered, voice breaking.

But the memory didn’t hear me.

Another rock hit her head, and Maeryn screamed.

A sound ripped from her throat, raw, agonized, powerful.

And then....

A surge of power exploded from her body. Brilliant, violent energy burst outward in a shockwave that sent every teenager flying through the air.

Some hit trees and crumpled. Some slammed into boulders, bones snapping on impact. Some landed on sharp spikes of broken wood and never got up again.

I gasped, hand flying to my mouth. Maeryn stood trembling, horrified, sobbing, surrounded by the destruction she had unintentionally caused.

"She was both witch and wolf," my wolf said quietly. "The first of her kind. A Hexborn."

The word finally made sense.

A curse. A power. A miracle no one wanted.

"She didn’t choose this," I whispered.

"No. But fear makes people cruel."

The world shimmered again.

Suddenly, Maeryn now stood bound with ropes in the center of a wooden podium in a hall. Faces glared at her with hatred. The pack leader stood tall on a stone dais.

"For murder," he declared, "Maeryn shall be sentenced to....."

"She didn’t intentionally kill anyone!"

A voice cut sharply through the crowd

Everyone turned.

A boy stepped out of the crowd, tall, even as a teenager, with striking dark hair and sharp eyes full of defiance. He walked straight into the center with fearless steps.

My breath stilled.

"I was watching from the tower window and I saw everything," he said, chin lifted. "They threw stones at her first. They injured her. She didn’t touch them. She only screamed. They fell. It wasn’t her fault."

Murmurs rippled through the hall. Someone hissed at him to sit down. Another cursed under their breath.

The pack leader glared. "You are the son of the Blood Moon Pack Alpha. You are a visitor here and not part of us. A boy like you have no right to interfere in our judgments."

"I may be a boy," he said steadily, "but my father taught me never to stand by and watch injustice like the lot of you."

Gasps echoed.

The pack leader’s face twisted in fury. "Guards!"

The guards lurched forward to grab him, but before they could reach him, the doors of the hall burst open.

A tall man strode in, power radiating from every inch of him, surrounded by his own warriors.

The Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack.

Chaos erupted instantly.

Swords clashed, wolves shifted, bodies collided in a violent surge.

The boy didn’t waste a second.

He sprinted to Maeryn, hands shaking as he cut her ropes loose. "Come on!"

Maeryn stared at him with wide, terrified eyes.

He grabbed her hand.

They ran.

Through corridors. Through the woods. Past ancient trees and the roar of distant battle.

They didn’t stop until they reached a quiet clearing, breathless and trembling.

Maeryn looked up at him, voice small. "Who.... who are you?"

The boy smiled softly.

"My name is Avelar," he said.

Then with a quiet pride that sent a chill down my spine

"Avelar Valerius Hunter."