Claimed By The King(s) Of Kings

Aina

"Really?!" Aina’s eyes went wide, relief washing over her so fast her knees felt weak. "Oh, thank Goddess."

"We need to hurry up though," the guy said, checking his silver wrist watch. "We need to be on the road right now if we’re going to make it through the gates by six o’clock sharp. I’m Julian, by the way. I’m driving the shuttle today."

"Let’s go, let’s go!" Aina blurted out, already taking off toward the silver coach.

As she hurried alongside Julian, the high-wire tension in her brain finally relaxed, making room for a sudden, hysterical wave of realization.

He called me sir.

A goofy, uncontrollable grin spread across her face. He called me sir! He actually thought I was a guy! The bowl cut worked! The glasses worked! I am a literary genius of disguise!

"Alright, hop on in," Julian said, opening the pneumatic door of the sleek silver coach. "Pick any empty seat you can find."

Aina stepped up the polished rubber steps into the air-conditioned interior. Unlike the chaos outside, the bus was clean, smelling faintly of citrus polish and leather. But it was far from quiet. The vehicle was packed with young adults, boys and girls, all brimming with excited, high-energy chatter, wearing expensive clothes and showing off their family crests.

Aina scanned the aisle. Almost every row was full, except for one aisle seat near the middle, right next to a pair of intensely chatterbox girls.

Stepping quickly down the carpeted aisle, Aina slid into the vacant seat before anyone else could claim it.

Up front, Julian grabbed the small microphone attached to the dashboard. "Alright, listen up, future leaders! The doors are locked, and we are officially en route to Moonside Academy! Everyone ready for the best years of your life?"

The entire bus erupted into wild cheers.

"MOONSIDE! MOONSIDE! MOONSIDE!" a group of guys in the back chanted, pounding the ceiling of the bus.

Aina awkwardly offered a few stiff, polite claps, awkwardly joining in so she wouldn’t look like a total outcast. "Woo. Go Moonside."

Julian chuckled, put the bus into gear, and smooth-talked the massive vehicle into the traffic lane.

Within minutes, the roaring chaos of Mentos Station faded behind them, replaced by the quiet, sweeping beauty of the green hills rolling past the large tinted windows.

Aina leaned her head against the headrest, intending to zone out, but the two girls sitting directly to her right were talking so loudly it was literally impossible not to eavesdrop.

"I am telling you, if I don’t get assigned to the same building as the Princes, I am going to throw myself off the clock tower," one of the girls squealed, aggressively applying a fresh coat of lip gloss.

Aina cast a subtle side-glance toward them.

The girl with the lip gloss had deep mahogany skin, stunning high cheekbones, and sharp dark eyes lined with perfect winged eyeliner. She wore a tailored blazer adorned with a golden lion emblem, the mark of the Sun-Ridge Pack. Beside her sat a girl with warm olive skin, thick, glossy black hair falling in waist-length waves, and brilliant hazel eyes.

Her embroidered jacket bore the silver crescent of the River-Mist Pack. Both of them carried the light, unburdened scent of Betas.

"Oh, please, Maya," the black-haired girl giggled, nudging her friend with her elbow. "As if any of us are getting anywhere near the top-tier dorms. I’m just grateful, we are going to have a shifting class with them. We’ll be able to see those muscles every other day!"

"Right?!" Maya clutched her hands to her chest dramatically. "Well get to even see their wolves, they are literally gods walking among us. Literal gods."

Aina blinked, unable to stop the snort of pure disbelief from escaping her nose. The sound was small, but in the close quarters of the bus row, it sounded like a gunshot. Both girls instantly froze. Their heads snapped toward Aina simultaneously, four eyes glaring at her as if she had just casually spit on an altar to the Moon Goddess.

"Is something funny to you?" Maya asked, her voice dropping into a dangerous, icy sharpness.

"Uh," Aina caught herself, adjusting her heavy glasses and trying to deepen her voice again. "No, I just... did you guys seriously say they’re literal gods? Because they’re just princes, right? They’re just guys who got lucky by being born into the royal bloodlines. Why are you treating them like deity statues?"

The hazel-eyed girl, Rachel gasped softly, her hands flying over her mouth. "Oh my Goddess. You must be a first-year."

Aina gave a slow, cautious nod. "Yeah. I am."

"Then you clearly have zero idea how things work at Moonside," Maya snapped, leaning across the aisle, her sharp brown eyes locking onto Aina. "Prince Malric, Prince Vance, Prince Keali and Prince Theo don’t just ’get lucky.’ They are the strongest Alphas of our entire generation! They literally run the school. The professors don’t step on their toes, they have to bow to them, and the hierarchy revolves around them."

"If you get on their bad side, your entire Moonside experience is dead before it starts," Rachel added earnestly, her hazel eyes wide with genuine concern. "You have to practically kiss the ground they walk on if you want to survive the academy year." Maya let out a dramatic, starry-eyed squeal, sinking back into her leather seat. "Honestly, I would give up my family’s entire estate just to kiss Prince Malric’s boot. Just once. He is so terrifyingly handsome it hurts."

Aina visibly cringed, rolling her eyes so hard she almost strained a muscle beneath her blue contacts. "Okay, that is completely ridiculous. How can you idolize people who don’t even know you exist? They bleed when they get cut, they fail math tests like the rest of us, and they poop. They’re just people."

Maya’s jaw dropped. She pointed a manicured finger right at Aina’s face. "You need to wipe that arrogant little attitude off your face real quick, fresh-boy. You think you’re brave because you’ve got a cute face and a bad haircut? Since you’re a boy, the Princes won’t hold back on you. They give the girls a pass sometimes out of courtesy, but if a guy disrespects them? They will break you in half."

Aina raised her eyebrows, a smug, fearless grin curling her lips as she leaned back against her seat and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, well," Aina smirked, looking straight out the window at the approaching gates of Moonside Hill. "Tell the Princes to bring it on."

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