His Abandoned Luna Chapter 194

|| Lilac’s POV ||

Alaric’s lips left my knuckles and he pecked my lips once gently. And the world erupted into chaos.

“The game has begun,” he murmured against my skin, his breath hot where he’d just marked me.

I smiled, tasting the metallic tang of my own blood on my lips. “Yes.”

A scream ripped through the hall as one of the serving girls’ faces began to melt, her delicate features sloughing away to reveal the withered visage of a crone beneath. The scent of rotting herbs and burnt magic flooded the air.

Warriors moved like shadows— those who knew the plan falling into formation, while others stood frozen in shock. The potions and the scent in the air was working.

Alaric moved beside me in a blur as he moved like lightning. The witch barely had time to raise her hands before Alaric’s claws tore through her chest, black blood spraying across the marble floors.

“Stand still, Luna,” Elizabeth ordered, her sword drawn as she and Marcus formed a protective circle around me. “Nothing gets past us.”

I nodded, my fingers curling around the hidden dagger strapped to my thigh. The hall had become a battleground— witches shedding their disguises, wolves lunging with bared fangs.

To my left, Ezra and three Silver Moon warriors cornered a witch whose fingers sparked with violet fire. She never saw the silver-tipped arrow that took her through the throat— Astrid’s handiwork from the balcony above.

One of them moved closer to me. My hands moved in reflex before even I could notice. I looked down to find my dagger buried in a witch’s chest— one who’d gotten too close. She collapsed at my feet, her dead eyes staring up at me in shock.

Elizabeth blinked. “When did you—”

I wiped the blade clean on my ruined skirts. “You said nothing would get past you.” I smiled sweetly. “I helped.”

Near the dais, Alexander moved with lethal grace, his claws carving through a witch’s spell mid-cast. The magic fizzled into smoke just before it could strike Garry, who repaid the favor by sinking his fangs into the witch’s shoulder.

Then Endora barked.

“There!” Endora’s voice cut through the fray. “The leader!”

My gaze snapped to the hooded figure slinking toward the servants’ entrance. Garry and Alexander moved as one, tackling him to the ground. The witch’s hood fell back, revealing a face I recognized— Councilman Harte, his eyes now glowing an unnatural yellow.

“You’ll never win,” he spat, blood dripping from his split lip. “Agatha will—”

Alaric rushed by his side, his torn shirt showed off his toned chest, gleaming with sweat and blood as he seized Harte by the throat. “Agatha isn’t here.”

Harte’s eyes widened. “How do you—”

Alaric tightened his grip until the witch’s face turned purple, then dropped him like rotten meat. Marcus and Alexander hauled him up as he gasped for air.

“Capture him,” Alaric ordered as he rushed back to my side. “We’ll question him later.”

Harte laughed then, a wet, gurgling sound. “Fools...the potion shouldn’t have worked...this castle was cursed...”

Endora stepped forward, her silver hair coming undone from its braid. “That’s because we cleansed it.”

The witch’s laughter died. “You… traitor!”

His remaining hand twitched, fingers weaving a sigil in the air. Before anyone could react, black veins spiderwebbed across his skin.

“You don’t get to live,” he choked out. “Not unless you’ve found your soulmate. My curse will eat you alive by nightfall!”

Alaric’s arm slid around my waist, pulling me against his naked chest. His lips brushed my mating mark as he said, “Too bad. I’ve already found mine and marked her as well. The curse of our bloodline is broken.”

Harte’s face went slack. “She is your mate! No… that’s impossible...”

“You’ll tell us everything,” Alexander growled, nodding to Marcus. “Starting with where Agatha’s hiding.”

As the warriors dragged him away, Harte’s screams echoed through the hall:

“This isn’t over! SHE’S COMING FOR YOU ALL!”

The doors slammed shut behind the captured witch, the echo reverberating through the grand hall like a death knell.

Silence.

Then I heard a faint noise.

Drip.

A single drop of black blood hit the marble floor.

Drip.

Another.

The air shifted— a whisper of wrongness that raised the hairs on my arms. Runa stirred under my skin. My head snapped upward just as the shadow detached from the vaulted ceiling, coalescing into a gleaming silver dagger hurtling toward…

Alaric.

My body moved before my mind could catch up.

“Alaric!”

I shoved him aside with all my strength, my back meeting the blade’s deadly kiss. The impact stole my breath— cold fire erupting between my shoulder blades as the enchanted steel bit deep.

I coughed, tasting copper.

Laughter— hollow, echoing— filled the hall as the shadowy figure dissolved into smoke.

“You might have broken the curse, Nightshade, but this isn’t over. We will come back.”

Then it was gone.

Alaric’s roar shook the very foundations of the castle.

“NOOO! DOVE!”

His mask clattered to the floor as his features twisted— bones snapping, fur erupting— Hunter surging to the surface in a wave of primal fury. But it was his eyes that undid me— those storm-grey depths now wild with terror.

I reached for him, my fingers trembling against his stubbled cheek. “I’m sorry… I couldn’t keep the promise.”

His growl was pure anguish, his massive hands hovering over the dagger’s hilt like touching it might make me vanish.

“My body just moved...” I whispered.

Runa stirred weakly in my mind, her presence flickering like a dying candle. Mate, she whimpered.

Alaric’s grip on me tightened. “Marcus! ENDORA!”

His voice cracked on the healer’s name.

I could feel it— the life seeping from me with every sluggish beat of my heart. The edges of my vision darkened, but I forced my eyes to stay open. To memorize him. My mate! The man who loved me and chose me every day, every second. My alpha!

“Calm down… my Alpha,” I breathed, each word an effort. “You have… a country to lead now.”

Alaric shook his head violently, his claws pricking my skin where he held me. “No. Dove, stay with me. Stay.”

The room spun. Someone was screaming— my mother? Ezra? I couldn’t tell.

“The curse...is broken,” I managed, my fingers trailing down his jaw. “Take another...ma—”

A snarl ripped from his throat, cutting me off. “Never.”

I tried to keep my eyes open, to take a last peek at my mate. I could die for him a hundred times. Slowly my vision blurred and the darkness took over.

Goodbye, Alaric! I wish we had more time together.Live for both of us!