Chapter 85: Kissed My Enemy

Adeline’s pov~

I pulled the hood of my oversized black sweater lower over my forehead, my hands shoved deep into the front pocket as I walked down the dim, quiet corridor of the academy the next morning, staring blankly at the cold stone floor beneath my boots.

I know everything is messed up.

Really, really fucking messed up.

I knew it for sure because I had done the single most insane thing imaginable in that dark room last night.

I fucking kissed Zyran.

The same arrogant, ruthless bastard of a Lycan Prince who gets on every single one of my nerves.

Yes... I fucking kissed him.

Oh, my Goddess. I must have completely lost my damn mind last night.

A sharp prickle of heat washed over my skin, forcing me to snap my eyes up from the floor, only to freeze dead in my tracks.

Standing right at the end of the long corridor, leaning casually against a stone pillar, was Zyran.

He was dressed in his dark uniform, watching me with that familiar, dark smirk playing across his sharp jawline. His pitch-black eyes were already locked on mine.

"Zyran..." I muttered, the word barely an inaudible breath against my own lips.

As if hearing my silent whisper, his smirk widened. He lifted his hand and casually ran his thumb over the corner of his lower lip, a slow, deliberate gesture that made my pulse violently spike. He held my shocked gaze for one agonising second, and then, with an agonisingly smooth tilt of his head, he gave me a slow, deliberate wink.

My heart did a violent, dangerous flip in my chest. I instantly tore my eyes away, blinking frantically to fight off the scorching heat crawling up my neck and straight onto my cheeks. I spun on my heel and ran in the opposite direction as fast as my legs could carry me.

I took three sharp turns down the hallway, my heart hammering against my ribs. I kept glancing over my shoulder, holding my breath, but he didn’t chase me.

Thank Goddess he didn’t follow me.

I pressed my back against a quiet alcove near the courtyard, closing my eyes tight as the chaotic memories of last night rushed back into my head like a flood.

[FLASHBACK]

"So tell me, sweetheart..." Zyran whispered, his voice dropping into a dark, velvet murmur. "Are you going to be my girlfriend and then let me mark you... or am I going to walk straight to Raven and tell him who his mate really is?"

He held me flush against the wall, his iron-firm hand clamped securely around my waist, leaving zero space between our bodies.

I lifted my chin, forcing every drop of sarcasm and cold venom I could muster into my voice, even as his overwhelming, dark Lycan scent flooded my senses and turned my knees to jelly.

"Are you blackmailing me now?" I asked, forcing a sarcastic, razor-sharp edge into my voice. "Do you honestly think I’m afraid of you, Lord Zyran? Did you really expect me to be all scared and beg you not to tell Raven? Because if that’s the reaction you’re expecting from me, you’re going to be deeply disappointed."

Zyran’s smirk turned darker, more possessive. His lips hovered mere inches from mine, his warm, dangerous breath brushing across my mouth.

"I’m not disappointed at all, sweetheart," he murmured, his face lingering mere inches from mine, his dark Lycan scent completely wrapping around my senses. "In fact, I am even more determined."

A violent thrill shot straight down my spine, making my knees feel weak. My mind spun into sheer disbelief.

Who would have thought that I would end up like this? Stuck in a pitch-black storage room with an arrogant Lycan prince? The same prince who wanted me gone from this academy was now pinning me against a wall, completely determined to turn me into his Luna?

And then... a sudden realisation hit me.

Guilt.

Wait... Is this all just because of his guilt? Is he doing these because...

I remembered what Blake had let slip before.

Blake said Zyran had sworn a solemn oath to protect female wolves. Zyran had openly hated me when I arrived, and Chloe and Miya had used that exact hatred to launch their attack, sending three omegas to slaughter me in the mud.

Zyran hired them to warn me, but they had other plans.

Is that what this whole unhinged performance is about? Is this entire absurd proposal just his fucked-up way of protecting me to ease his own conscience?

He realised his dark threats almost got me slaughtered, and now his twisted, broken conscience was driving him crazy. He was acting completely insane out of pure, suffocating guilt.

That must be it...

I raised my right hand, placing my palm flat against his broad, firm chest. I pushed back with as much strength as I could muster, trying to create at least an inch of distance so his lips weren’t hovering directly over mine.

"You don’t have to do this, Lord Zyran," I said, my voice dropping into a quieter, serious tone.

"I know what you’re doing. You think your hatred towards me is what caused those three wolves to attack me in the woods that night. But it wasn’t your fault. So you don’t have to feel guilty, and you definitely don’t have to pull a stunt like this. I can protect myself, and I don’t need you trying to save your conscience through me. If that is what you are trying to do in this stupid way of blackmailing, then I suggest you stop it."

Zyran went completely still.

Slowly, his free hand came up from his side, his long, warm fingers wrapping gently around the side of my neck, his thumb resting right over my pounding pulse.

He leaned back down, closing the tiny gap between us until his mouth was resting a millimetre away from mine, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intensity so raw it took my breath away.

"Who the fuck said anything about guilt?" he growled softly, his thumb tracing a slow, possessive line over my jaw.

"Did I feel guilty?" he asked.

"Yeah. Fucking right I did. I was pissed off at myself for not being there to rip those three bastards apart before they even dared to lay a single finger on you. I felt guilty that my hatred gave them an excuse to hurt you. But this... right now? What am I standing here doing right now with you in this room? This isn’t about some pathetic, guilty conscience, Adeline."

I stared up at him, my head spinning, my mind completely tangled in a web of pure, exhausting confusion.

"Then what is this all about, Lord Zyran?!" I demanded, my voice trembling with raw frustration as I tried again to push against his massive chest.

"Stop playing these sick, twisted games with me! One day you’re telling me to leave the academy, warning me to stay away from the Lycan Princes, the next you’re slaughtering omegas in dungeon cells, and now you’re blackmailing me about Raven’s bond just to force me into being your Luna?! You are so fucking confusing!"

Zyran’s lips curved into a slow, dangerously captivating smile, his dark eyes burning with an unyielding, possessive heat that made my heart hammer violently against my ribs, his hand tightening softly around the nape of my neck, tilting my head back just enough so I had no choice but to look straight into his wild, dangerous eyes.

I swallowed hard beneath his hand, my mind spinning into total, chaotic confusion.

"I’m not playing games, sweetheart," he purred. "And Let’s take the blackmail off the table. Forget Raven. Forget the bond. I’m asking you directly, Adeline... Be my girlfriend. Let me hold you, let me protect you, and let me show you what it means to truly belong to me. Let me put my mark on you, and no one in this entire royal academy will ever dare to touch you again."

"No!" I choked out, shaking my head frantically as my breath hitched in my throat. "No, that makes you even more confusing! You make zero sense—"

"I’m being completely straightforward as a man can fucking get, sweetheart," he purred smoothly into my mouth. "There is nothing confusing about wanting you."

"Yes, there is!" I argued, my hands clutching the front of his jacket as I stared up into his eyes. "You’re a Lycan King, and I’m a scentless nobody! You hated me, and now you’re asking me to—"

"Adeline," Zyran growled, cutting my desperate rant short.

Before another word could escape my lips, his hand on my neck slid up to grip the back of my head, tilting my face upward as he crashed his lips firmly onto mine.

My entire world shattered into blinding, incandescent sparks.

The kiss was sudden, raw, rough, and possessively intense. He consumed every drop of air left in my lungs, his tongue demanding entry as his other arm locked around my waist, lifting me slightly off my feet and pulling my body entirely flush against his solid, burning heat.