Chapter 126

Lucas' POV

I picked Matthew up by the throat, his pathetic begging falling on deaf ears. My claws extended as I held him aloft, his legs kicking uselessly in the air. Blood from my previous kills dripped down my arms, mingling with the fresh blood seeping from where my claws punctured his neck.

"I'll rip your heart out and feed it to my dogs," I growled, my voice barely recognizable even to my own ears. My eyes had turned almost black, consumed by the primal rage of my Lycan. This is what my father spent all his years trying to turn me into. If he saw me now, he'd be disgustingly proud.

Matthew's face contorted in terror as he watched my claws extend further, poised to tear through his chest. With one swift motion, I plunged my hand into his chest cavity. The resistance of skin, muscle, and bone gave way beneath my strength. Matthew's screams echoed through the cave. His body writhed in my grip, blood pouring from the wound as my fingers closed around his still-beating heart.

I could feel it pulsing against my palm, frantic and desperate like its owner. I tightened my grip, ready to tear it free...

Suddenly, an invisible force slammed into me. It tore Matthew from my grasp and sent me flying across the cave. My back hit the stone wall with such tremendous force that I heard something crack-whether it was the wall or my bones, I couldn't tell.

The impact was so violent that I felt my Lycan form recede. My claws retracted, my fangs shortened, and my eyes returned to their normal color. I slumped to the ground, my vision swimming. Every breath sent waves of pain through my chest, and I tasted blood in my mouth.

Disoriented, I tried to sit up. The cave spun around me, figures blurring into indistinct shapes. I could make out Matthew's crumpled form on the ground, but something else-someone else-had entered the cave.

"I've waited many years to have you in my grasp, Lucas," a voice said. "You were my ultimate punishment against your father."

I squinted, trying to focus on the figure standing before me. My vision refused to clear. It was as if a fog had settled over my eyes, obscuring everything more than a few feet away.

"Amaris," I murmured, recognition dawning despite my inability to see clearly.

Panic surged through me. "What's happening? I can't see,"

For a predator like me, blindness was the ultimate vulnerability.

A soft laugh reached my ears, feminine and almost musical, yet it chilled me to my core. "Oh, dear boy. Has your father not taught you what a witch can and cannot do?" The voice, Amaris's voice, sounded amused. "For a Lycan of your power, I had to use too much magic, enough to blind you."

I tried to stand, but my limbs felt heavy. I was trapped, helpless before an enemy I couldn't even see.

"For what I'm going to do to your kind, it's paramount you see it with your own eyes," she continued, her voice coming closer.

I tensed, ready to lash out at the slightest touch. Yet, what happened next caught me completely off guard. A soft hand was placed over my face. The touch was achingly familiar, sending a jolt of recognition through my body.

I was about to fight against it when I realized how that touch made me feel. Safe. Secure. Like coming home after a long journey. The sensation was so overwhelming, so unexpected, that it froze me in place.

A bright light coursed through my vision, searing away the darkness. I blinked rapidly as my sight returned, the blurry shapes solidifying into clear images.

And then I saw her.

My heart stopped. The world around me ceased to exist. The cave, the bodies, the blood-all of it faded into insignificance before the person standing in front of me.

"Elara?" I whispered, my voice breaking on her name.