Chapter 86: After The Kiss

Adeline’s pov~

The overwhelming scent of dark bourbon, dominant Lycan aura, and raw heat flooded my senses, completely paralysing my ability to think.

Goddess...

My mind went entirely blank. The silver blade in my hand, the blackmail, the blood, the trap messages—every single thought evaporated into thin air. He tasted like pure, intoxicating danger.

I was supposed to fight him. I was supposed to shove him away, slash his neck, or bite his lip until he bled. But as his grip deepened, a strange, electric heat rushed straight down to my core, making my knees go completely weak in his arms.

My fingers, which were flat against his chest, pushing him away, slowly tangled themselves into the fabric of his shirt, completely surrendering to the intoxicating madness of his kiss.

Zyran let out a low, victorious growl against my lips.

I didn’t push him back.

I was kissing him back.

We broke apart just an inch, both of us heaving for air, our breaths mingling.

His dominant Lycan scent flared dangerously high, heavy and intoxicating, coating the back of my throat like warm liquor.

And then, deep inside my chest, I felt it.

It wasn’t the agonising tear of a mate rejection, but a sudden, strange tug. A faint, prickling sting of pain wrapped around a ghost of a pull, so light it almost felt like a hallucination.

What was that? Why did my chest ache just now?

Zyran rested his forehead lightly against mine, his hot breath brushing over my swollen lips. His dark eyes were completely blown out, devouring every inch of my face in the dim moonlight.

Slowly, his warm hand slid up the side of my neck, his thumb tracing my jaw. But as his long fingers brushed lower, they accidentally grazed the cold metal around my neck.

The ancient pendant the Dowager Luna, Raven’s grandmother, gave me to hide my scent.

The moment his bare skin touched the spell-infused pendant, a sharp, violent spark hissed.

"Fuck!" Zyran hissed, instantly jerking his hand back as if he had touched white-hot iron. "What the hell is that around your neck?"

Why did it burn him?

He stared at his fingertips in shock before his pitch-black eyes snapped directly down to my neck.

"Nothing," I breathed out frantically. I tucked the pendant beneath the fabric to shield it from his sight. "It’s just a pendant!"

Zyran’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t look convinced at all.

"Does it burn your skin?" he asked sharply, reaching out again, his long fingers extending straight for the chain tucked inside my collar. "Does that damn thing hurt you?"

"No! Don’t touch it!"

I pulled back aggressively, twisting my body away from his reaching hand. I grabbed the hem of my oversized hoodie and pulled it firmly up over my throat, hiding the pendant completely from his sight.

Zyran paused, his hand hovering in mid-air. My skin felt hot, my cheeks burning with a deep, betraying flush from the weight of that ungodly kiss.

Seeing my completely flustered, reddened face, the dangerous tension in his jaw relaxed into a wicked, satisfied smirk.

Goddess... what did I just do? I... kissed him?

Panicking at the sheer weight of my own surrender, I abruptly shoved his broad chest with all the remaining strength left in my body.

"Don’t..." I choked out, my voice trembling as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, staring up at him in utter horror. "Don’t ever do that again."

A slow, dangerously satisfied smirk spread across his face. His chest heaved as he slowly ran his tongue over his lower lip, tasting me, devouring the very memory of the kiss right in front of my eyes.

"You didn’t pull away, sweetheart," he whispered. "You kissed me back."

"I was caught off guard!" I hissed, my cheeks burning. "You forced your way in! You trapped me against a damn wall! It meant nothing, Zyran! It meant absolutely fucking nothing!"

"Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart," Zyran murmured.

He reached into the pocket of his jeans, pulled out my phone, and tossed it casually through the air toward me.

I caught it instinctively against my chest, staring at the screen before looking back up at him.

"Keep your phone," Zyran said softly, his dark eyes fixed on mine. "And listen. Stay the hell away from the academy gates. Don’t even think about stepping outside those perimeter walls tonight. I’ll handle the bastard sending you those texts."

"I don’t need your help, Zyran. I never asked you to step in, and I certainly don’t need you to play bodyguard for me."

"You don’t get a choice in this anymore," Zyran murmured. "You’re my girlfriend now, sweetheart. Which means your trouble becomes my fucking trouble."

"I am not your girlfriend!" I hissed under my breath, glaring up at him with every ounce of defiance I had left.

"Keep telling yourself whatever helps you sleep at night," Zyran murmured, a slow, infuriatingly confident smirk curling the corner of his sharp lips.

"Now get out of here," Zyran said, his tone softening just a fraction into a smooth, commanding murmur as he reached past my shoulder to unlock the door. "The morning guards are going to start their rounds, and you don’t need to be caught wandering these halls."

He pulled the door open, his eyes scanning the quiet, empty corridor outside before he stepped back to let me pass.

I didn’t wait another second. I darted out into the dim hallway, as fast as my legs could carry me without looking back at him even once.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

I took a deep, shaky breath, snapping myself out of the suffocating memory as I stood frozen in the quiet alcove, my back pressed hard against the cold stone pillar, my hand coming up to touch my own lips. They still felt swollen, warm, and tingling with the ghost of his mouth, my cheeks burning beneath the shadow of my black hood.

"Adeline?"

A deep, familiar male voice called out from the end of the hall.

It wasn’t Zyran.