<h4>Chapter 556: 556-Saved By My Luna</h4>


    <strong>Troy:</strong>


    Now I understood why it was called the Dark Side of the North.


    In just a few hours, we had seen things that shouldn’t exist.


    And I’m not even talking about therger monster yet.


    Aside from the Drifters, Hollow man, and the Fades, there were others too.


    Creatures that flew.


    Creatures that crawled across the ground.


    Clementine and Ian called them minor monsters, but they had shaken uspletely.


    And now we were in Misty Corners.


    Whatever they had told us about this ce hadn’t been enough.


    The main issue here seemed simple. Just hold your breath and keep walking.


    The problem was, we didn’t know for how long.


    There was no way to estimate the distance.


    Whenever Clementine and Ian had crossed this ce before, they had been running for their lives.


    They weren’t tracking time. They were focused on surviving.


    But that wasn’t the biggest problem.


    The biggest problem was my love, my Leysa. She had a slight breathing issue.


    I tightened my grip around her hand as we entered.


    A strange whooshing sound of wind began hitting us from all directions.


    Fear rose inside me instantly, but not for myself. For her.


    I tried to quicken our pace.


    I realized she had already started to struggle.


    Her cheeks were turning pale, and her lips were turning blue.


    She looked at me, but then her gaze drifted ahead.


    It was as if she had no strength left to respond to my eyes or my silent gestures.


    That was when I realized I would not let her face this alone.


    I was here with her, and I would save her to the best of my ability, just as I had promised.


    Then I turned and lifted Leysa into my arms.


    I knew that the more she exerted herself, the harder it would be for her to hold her breath.


    Now it was just a matter of whether my own breath would give out.


    But I was going to hold it until myst second.


    At least until my Leysa was out of this ce and safe.


    I was already close to gasping when I noticed Leysa’s fingers clutching my shirt tightly.


    It was her signal. She was struggling to hold her breath.


    I began to walk with Leysa.


    Even though it felt like we had covered a lot of distance, we truly had not.


    My eyes started to burn, but more than anything, I wanted tofort her.


    Her body began to shake in my arms, and my knees were slowly giving out.


    I wanted to breathe so badly.


    Before this, a single breath had not meant much to me, but now all I wanted was one inhale, one exhale.


    That was it.


    My mind was slowly turning numb, and my body was turning cold.


    I could tell Leysa was going through the same thing.


    I couldn’tfort her. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I would inhale.


    Suddenly Ian appeared from behind and took Leysa from my arms.


    I think he had realized that after carrying her this long, I was close to breaking too.


    I was on the edge of breathing in.


    At that moment, Clementine gripped my hand tightly.


    My head snapped toward her and I looked into her eyes.


    For a second, it felt like we were about to die, and they were giving us onest silent affection.


    Then I snapped out of it when I saw Ian suddenly sprint forward, partially exposing his monster wolf as he ran.


    Clementine pulled me along with her, and we started running too.


    My chest began tightening.


    My lungs felt like they were swelling inside me.


    My arms and legs tingled.


    It felt like if I didn’t breathe right now, something inside me would burst.


    Finally, I saw light ahead.


    Ian rushed out first with Leysa.


    As soon as he crossed the boundary, he ced her down on the road and copsed beside her.


    Leysa was sitting on the ground, her hands pressed against the road as she began taking sharp, desperate breaths.


    She lifted her eyes, and from a distance, ours met.


    That was when everything around me started turning dark.


    shback.


    "Father doesn’t like us, does he?" I had asked my mother, seeing tears in her eyes.


    "It doesn’t matter. We don’t need him either," my mother replied, though her eyshes were still wet.


    My father was cruel.


    My mother had been his first mate.


    The problem was that the child before me hadn’t survived.


    After that, my father’s anger grew uncontroble.


    He used my mother of not being fit to take care of a child.


    He took all his anger out on her, not realizing she had lost a child too and deservedfort as well.


    But instead, my father med her for everything, leaving her deprived of love and affection.


    Before I was even born, he had already brought another woman into the house, his second mate.


    He could have treated them equally.


    But he didn’t.


    Hepletely rejected my mother. He humiliated her. He insulted her.


    It was my birthday that day.


    My mother had only gone to him to say that it would mean a lot if he joined my birthday celebration.


    When I heard her choking sound and ran toward the room, I saw my father strangling her.


    My stepmother was standing nearby with her arms folded across her chest, watching with satisfaction.


    "Kill her. Kill her," she had said.


    Those words still echo in my mind.


    "No, Papa, please don’t hurt Mama," I had cried.


    He let her go after that, but he locked both of us in the basement.


    Sitting there, my mother told me that it didn’t matter how he treated her.


    But it was a lie.


    "When are we ever going to be free?" I asked my mother, slowly touching her cheek to wipe the tears from her eyes.


    "My son, we will not be free until you be an Alpha," she replied, smiling at me, but I knew the truth.


    The truth was different. I had heard my father tell my brother that he would be the Alpha.


    "What is it? Why are you so sad?" my mother asked, gently touching my cheek to make me lift my head.


    "Father says Messi will be the Alpha."


    As soon as I said that, my mother’s eyes began to fill with tears.


    "No, you will be strong enough to challenge him," she insisted, smiling and giving me a broken smile.


    But the truth was that my father always said otherwise. I would have to do a lot even to challenge him.


    However, my stepmother always told me she would send me to a ce where I would never be able to challenge Messi.


    I knew what that ce was.


    I also knew she hid her true intentions from my father.


    But my father was still an evil man to treat my mother so wrong.


    "Don’t be sad, Troy. I am telling you, when you grow up, your father will have no choice but to make you the Alpha. Even he would want to secure the pack."


    My mother seemed morefortable and confident than I was, so I decided to rely on her.


    "One day, when you find your mate, love her deeply," she had said softly. "Never bring her to the ce your father brought me to. Even if you ever find another mate, stay loyal to the one you choose."


    End of shback.


    "Come on, Troy, don’t stop now," Clementine’s voice pulled me back.


    I realized I was on my knees. The shadows were gathered all around us.


    Clementine was desperately trying to push them away with her hands, but they were consuming her too.


    Then Ian tore through the air and pulled Clementine into his arms.


    "No, Troy’s still there," she cried, reaching her hand toward me.


    I lifted my hand to grab hers, but the dizziness hit me hard. The world tilted.


    Then another hand caught me.


    When I looked up, the familiarfort of it made me understand. It was my mate.


    Leysa was looking straight at me. She had regained her breath.


    Without hesitation, she hoisted me over her shoulder.


    I knew this had never happened before.


    I was much bigger than her.


    But the way she moved determinedly and didn’t leave room for doubt.


    She dragged me out with the others.


    Ian and Clementine were already outside, and we were beside them.


    Leysa stumbled forward and dropped me onto the road.


    At that moment, I realized my mother had been right. I had been given the best mate.


    As soon as we hit the ground, Leysa leaned over me and pressed her lips to mine, forcing air back into my lungs.


    It was an effective method.


    I liked it.


    "Thank you for saving me," I said with augh as I pulled away from the kiss.


    Leysa pouted at me and then yfully pped my chest.


    We had barely started leaning toward each other again when something thudded near our heads.


    We both turned.


    That damn Hollow man had appeared again out of nowhere.


    "Can someone please deal with this guy?" I muttered.


    But there was no time.


    We pushed ourselves back onto our feet.


    It was time to run again.


    Who knew how many more monsters we still had to face?