Chapter 95 The emperor arrival

Chapter 95: Chapter 95 The emperor arrival

Meanwhile, the two alphas were growing increasingly frustrated from their search. Damian looked around, his temperature rising and sweat accumulating on his forehead. His breathing was becoming labored, each inhale more difficult than the last.

"He isn’t in either of his friends’ hostels," Killian stated, his voice tight with worry. He was still in his sleepwear, having not yet dressed for the classes they were meant to attend. "I don’t know why, but I’m having a bad feeling about this."

They were currently at the female dormitory, hoping to catch up with Rose, but she was nowhere to be found. For some reason, it seemed almost as if she had never entered her room at all.

As Damian paced around, he was panting and breathing so hard that Killian had to pause his own spiraling thoughts to look at him. "Damian, are you okay?" Killian asked, his brow furrowing with concern.

Damian shook his head, his face pale and strained. "My body is feeling so hot. This is what I normally face before transforming into what I—" He couldn’t complete the statement, couldn’t bring himself to say the words aloud. Transforming into a monster. Panic settled into his features as the realization hit him.

Now? Right now? How was that possible? Was today, of all days, the full moon?

Killian tried to piece together the events unfolding around them, but nothing seemed reasonable anymore. "I don’t know how both of these things are happening right now. Ashton is gone, and today the emperor is coming—the security is going to be tight. You cannot be caught turning into a monster, no matter what."

He felt helpless, completely at a loss for what action they might take. Damian was breathing even harder now, almost as if he had climbed Mount Everest. As Killian contemplated their dire situation, an announcement boomed through the speakers at each of the halls—a decree from the dean herself.

"Hello, students. Everyone of you is expected to be at the assembly. No reason will excuse your absence. We shall be welcoming the emperor in less than an hour."

The words hung in the air like a death sentence. The moonlight alphas were supposed to be right there at the topmost seats, welcoming him. Being absent would be highly suspicious.

"I don’t give a fuck about the emperor," Damian growled, his voice strained. "Me feeling fine or not, we are going to find Ashton. I’m feeling so different now, and I think it might be connected to him. I can’t even sense him properly anymore. I’m scared."

Killian looked at him, considering the implications. Damian had marked Noah—he was supposed to feel him no matter what state he was in. But the connection was weak, fading, and that terrified them both.

"You’re right, we can’t leave," Killian agreed. "I’m glad you have that hunch because he’s clearly in some kind of trouble. We shouldn’t have let him go. We fucking shouldn’t have."

As he spoke, he began to smell around, catching the faint scent of chamomile in the air. He immediately moved forward, following the trail. Damian followed behind, trying to regulate his breathing while also noticing the strong scent of Noah nearby.

Before they could reach their next destination, two figures blocked their path—Marcus and Eugene, who had also been searching for them.

"Look who we’ve been searching for," Eugene said, his voice clipped. "Where is Noah? Mrs. Danielle is looking for you two. The emperor has already crossed the barrier and is about to enter the school premises. We shouldn’t be absent."

Killian’s face turned grim. They didn’t know how to explain that they didn’t want to go right now.

"I understand that you want to stay with Noah," Eugene continued, his tone softening slightly. "But in any way possible, we shouldn’t let the emperor’s attention come to him. Let’s do it this way: Noah attends like the normal omega he is, and we sit right at our positions as alphas. That’s good enough to protect him."

He paused, adding, "Also, sorry we couldn’t come right at night. I realized that Ashton might have been asleep by the time we left the infirmary."

Damian and Killian nodded in response, but Marcus noticed the look on Damian’s face. He didn’t look okay—his forehead was clammy with sweat, dripping as they talked.

"Are you okay over there, Damian?" Marcus asked, his voice sharp with concern. "You look like shit. Your face is horrible."

Damian gulped as Eugene looked up at him. Although they hadn’t been together recently due to the troubles with Noah, Marcus still remained the person who knew him best and could see through him anytime he felt uneasy.

"Just a few contradictions there," Damian tried to wave it off. "I’ll be fine."

But Marcus was too smart to be dismissed. "Trying to make me stop won’t work. If we’re going to go out there right before the emperor, you can’t look this way. Or is it—" He suddenly thought of the worst possible implications. What if Damian was turning into that creature right now? This was very bad.

"Damian, check yourself," Marcus urged. "And where is Noah? We should be leaving now."

Eugene’s question hit with renewed force. Damian’s eyes twitched, and Marcus knew something was wrong. He had suspected it when students spoke of seeing him at the girls’ dormitory—it was abnormal. Marcus and Eugene had gone to both the alphas’ lodges and Noah’s dorm but couldn’t find either of them. They had assumed he must be at the assembly, but on reaching there, he was nowhere to be found. Worry had driven them here.

Eugene had asked around, and that was when they were told of the alphas searching the dormitory, leading them right to where they were now.

"Hmm, there’s a little problem right now at hand," Killian muttered.

Marcus took a closer step, leaning in to hear what he had to say. "Noah is missing—or rather, we can’t find him. We traced his scent right here, and that’s what we were doing before you joined us."

The news stunned the other two. They gaped, unable to process the situation.

"How is Ashton missing?" Eugene demanded, his voice rising with a dangerous edge. "Weren’t you guys with him? You were supposed to stay with him so he wouldn’t be in danger. That’s your job!"

He could see that danger was everywhere. With what Ashton had unleashed at the cafeteria, he knew all too well the consequences that followed—Ashton had been noticed by higher forces.

"It’s not my fault!" Killian defended, starting to freak out. "We can’t be with him all the time. You know the kind of person Ashton is. He was supposed to go meet his friends. How am I supposed to know that he was going to vanish? It’s not meant to happen!"

"You can’t be with him all the time?" Eugene scoffed. "That’s not an excuse! Just look at us—what should we call this? Are you happy with the way things are going? Are you?"

He groaned in frustration and eventually left the hall, deciding that waiting was useless. He would use that time to look for Noah instead.

****

On the other hand, at the assembly, students had filled every seat at each angle of the rows. At the main stage was a huge table lined up with all the staff of the school, Danielle at the central table. Tension hung thick in the air, and Danielle herself looked at the moonlight alphas’ seats, finding none of them present. She gulped nervously.

"Those damn kids always want to put me in trouble one way or the other," she muttered through gritted teeth.

As she was about to address the crowd, she also noticed an empty seat among the staff—Oliver was also nowhere to be found, which made her uneasy. Stylishly, she sauntered over to Susan’s table, asking her question quietly to avoid being obvious to the students.

"Where the hell is Oliver?" she hissed. "The emperor is about to step in here. I can’t allow him to ruin everything I’ve put together. And where the fuck are those alphas?"

The question hung in the air with no one attempting to give her answers. Harold himself was looking through the crowd before he noticed two distinct people missing.

"And in case you don’t know," Harold added, his voice low, "the two omegas are also missing—both Lamia and Ashton. No matter how suspicious it might seem, I don’t think it’s more dangerous than them being missing altogether. And we all know how they feel about him."

Danielle’s skin prickled, her gaze hardening sharply. Then a loud, blaring trumpet echoed through the hall, accompanied by heavy pounding footsteps and a trembling of the ground. It was happening—the emperor was already in the academy.

NOTE: SO I AM GOING TO GO OVER OUR SCHEDULE: DOUBLE ChapterS IN THE EVENING, A SINGLE Chapter IF I AM TOO BUSY SO BARE WITH ME.

ADDED TO IT EXPECT MASS RELEASE DURING WEEKENDS.