Chapter 291
Chapter 291:
I waited for that familiar spark of ancient wisdom — the warm, loving gaze that had protected me when I was nothing but a wolfless outcast. But the eyes staring up at the ceiling were cloudy, vacant, and entirely unfocused.
“Grandma?” I whispered again, my voice cracking.
Sensing my distress, Kain took a step forward, his towering frame casting a protective shadow over the bed.
The reaction was instantaneous and violent.
The moment Kain moved, my grandmother’s familiar scent of dry herbs and old parchment spiked violently with the sour, rotting stench of absolute, primal panic — the instinctual, uncontrollable terror of a lower-tier wolf suddenly trapped in the presence of an apex predator.
A broken whimper tore from her throat. Her frail body flinched violently, shrinking back against the pillows as if trying to merge with the mattress to escape Kain’s overwhelming Lycan aura.
“No…” I choked out, the sound tearing from my throat.
She wasn’t looking at me. She wasn’t looking at Kain. She was staring at a nightmare only her fractured mind could see. The wise, unshakeable Elder of the Silvermoon Pack was gone, replaced by a hollow shell entirely consumed by fear.
𝘛𝗿e𝘯𝘥𝘪𝗻 𝗼𝗇.сom
My legs gave out. I slumped against the edge of the bed, a sob ripping through my chest. Kain immediately dropped to the floor beside me, his strong arms wrapping around my trembling shoulders and pulling me flush against his chest. I buried my face in his shirt, gripping his arms like a drowning woman clinging to the last piece of wreckage in a dark, endless ocean.
Adelina POV
I clung to Kain’s shirt, my tears soaking into the expensive fabric as my grandmother whimpered on the bed. The sterile scent of the Medical Sanctum was entirely suffocating.
“Adelina p>
The frail, confused voice made me freeze. I slowly pulled back from Kain’s chest, wiping my eyes. Elder Maeve was looking at me, the primal terror in her cloudy eyes replaced by a deep, furrowed confusion.
“Why are you in those clothes, child?” she rasped, her trembling hand reaching out. “Where is your white dress? The one with the moon-wolf crest p>
My breath caught in my throat. “Grandma — what do you mean p>
“The Blood Blessing Ceremony,” she urged, her voice taking on a frantic, breathless edge. “You must hurry. Your father is waiting at the altar. The Alpha does not like to be kept waiting p>
My father. The former Alpha. He had been dead for years.
Dr. Evans stepped forward, his expression grim. “Elder Maeve, can you tell me what year it is p>
She blinked, looking at the doctor as if he were a fool, and stated a year that was over a decade ago.
The words were like silver needles piercing directly into my heart. The last of my defenses shattered. A sob tore from my lips, and my knees buckled. Kain’s strong arms instantly caught me, lifting me effortlessly from the floor and tucking me against his side. Dr. Evans gave Kain a solemn nod and gestured toward the door.
Out in the Sanctum corridor, the cold, polished moonstone walls offered no comfort.