Deviant Kings: Claimed by The Four Lycan Kings

Adeline’s pov~

Come. We need to get you out of the open.

Before I could even open my mouth to speak, Raven closed the distance between us in a flash. Blake didn’t walk away; I felt his eyes on me.

Without saying a single word to Blake or his followers, Raven reached out and firmly gripped my hand. His palm was burning hot against my cold skin, his grip tight and completely unyielding.

Caught completely off guard by his sudden, aggressive touch, I stumbled forward. My heart leapt into my throat as Raven instantly spun on his heel, dragging me along behind him. He didn’t look back once, his long, angry strides pulling me away from the courtyard and toward the private tower.

"Hey! Raven, wait—" Blake called out from behind us. His voice was mixed with utter shock and a sudden, sharp irritation, but Raven completely ignored him.

Every single eye in the courtyard was fixed on us. The whispers exploded into a deafening roar as the students watched the untouchable Lord Protector—a royal Lycan who never let anyone touch him—dragging a strange girl away by the hand.

Great, I thought, panic clawing at my chest. First day, and I’m already a target.

I kept my head down, my face burning with heat as I hurried to keep up with Raven’s furious pace, leaving a stunned, staring crowd in our wake.

Raven didn’t stop until the deafening noise of the courtyard faded into a tense, suffocating quiet. He dragged me down a maze of grand, marble hallways before turning sharply into a secluded, dimly lit corridor in the east wing.

He finally released his grip on my wrist, spinning around to face me.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing, Adeline?" Raven demanded. His deep voice vibrated against the stone walls, dangerously low. His dark eyes flared with a protective fury as he stepped closer, his massive frame trapping me against the cold wall. "I told you to wait for me at the north gate. The very first thing you do is run straight into Blake?"

I rubbed my red wrist, wincing slightly but refusing to let my voice shake. I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me. "It was an accident. I lost my balance and bumped into him. I didn’t mean to start a conversation."

"Blake doesn’t just do ’conversations,’" Raven snapped, his chest rising and falling heavily as his royal Lycan aura flared, demanding submission. It felt like a physical weight pressing down on my lungs. "He’s a predator, Adeline. He smells weakness from a mile away, and right now, you look like a walking target. If he, or anyone else in the elite circle, suspects what you are..." He trailed off, the unspoken threat hanging heavily between us.

If they find out I’m a runaway rogue, I’m dead. I knew the rules.

I swallowed hard, looking up at the guy who was supposed to be my only lifeline in this twisted playground of royalty. "I kept my head down. I didn’t touch him, and I didn’t look at him. I just want to find my room, Raven. I just want to survive."

Raven stared down at me, the harsh lines of his face softening just a fraction at my breathless admission, though the tense, rigid posture of his broad shoulders didn’t fade.

He reached into the pocket of his tailored black blazer and pulled out a sleek, matte-black phone. "Give me your phone," he commanded softly, the harsh edge in his voice finally melting away into a quiet, intense focus.

I hesitated for a fraction of a second before pulling my phone from my sweatshirt pocket and handing it over. Our fingers brushed, and a small, electric spark shot straight up my arm, making my breath hitch. I froze, but Raven didn’t say a word. His thumbs flew across my screen as he input his contact information, dialling his own number to save mine.

"There," Raven murmured, handing the device back to me. "That is my private number. If anyone corners you, if anyone so much as breathes in your direction the wrong way, you press speed dial. Understood?"

I nodded quickly, clutching the phone tightly against my chest like a shield. "Understood."

"We are in the same classroom," Raven continued, his dark eyes locking onto mine with a sudden, heavy intensity. "But today is just the first day. There are no formal lectures yet. It’s just to get familiar with the surroundings, pick up your schedule, and learn the layout of the campus."

He took a step back, finally giving me some breathing room, though his eyes still tracked every small movement of my face.

For the first time all day, I felt like I could actually breathe.

A slow, uncharacteristically small smile touched his lips, a rare look of genuine warmth that completely transformed his rugged, dangerous face. "Try not to run into any more walls today, Adeline."

Before I could even process the sudden change in his demeanour, Raven turned on his heel and walked away. His long, powerful strides carried him back toward the bustling main halls of the academy, leaving me completely alone in the quiet, secluded corridor.

I stood frozen for a long moment, my back pressed against the cold stone wall, staring at the empty space where he had just been standing. The ghost of that small smile lingered in my mind, a sharp contrast to the terrifying Lycan prince who had just been radiating a suffocating aura of pure authority.

Don’t get careless, I scolded myself, my fingers tightening around my phone. He’s helping you to repay a debt, nothing more. You cannot afford to trust anyone completely.

I let out a long, shaky breath and looked down at the screen. Raven’s private contact was saved right there. It was a lifeline, but it was also a reminder of just how dangerous my reality had become.

With a deep breath, I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt back over my head, hiding my face as much as possible. I needed to find the administration wing, grab my schedule, and locate my room before the rest of the elite circle decided to take an interest in the new, poorly dressed transfer student.

I stepped out of the secluded hallway and back into the labyrinth of the academy, keeping my eyes firmly on the floor.

The administration wing was a labyrinth of echoing stone halls and stained-glass windows. Don’t get careless, I reminded myself, a mantra I’d repeated every day. You are a ghost here. A ghost trying to find out who murdered your family.

"Name?"

The sharp, monotonous voice cut right through my thoughts. I blinked, looking up at an elderly, severe-looking wolf behind a massive oak desk. Her fingers were poised over a heavy ledger, her expression radiating the classic, cold superiority of the academy’s staff.

"Adeline... Adeline Vance," I said, the fabricated last name tasting foreign on my tongue. It was the name Raven’s forged documents had given me. A shield made of paper.

The woman’s eyes flicked down to her ledger, then back up to me, scanning my plain sweatshirt with open disdain. She didn’t find a highborn lineage in my appearance, but when her eyes snagged on the ink next to my name, everything changed. It was the seal of the House of Dravenmoor. A flash of pure shock, followed quickly by a tight, rigid fear, crossed her face.

"Room 404, East Tower," she whispered. Her hands actually trembled a little as she slid a heavy iron key and a parchment schedule across the wood toward me. "Your... your classes begin tomorrow at dawn."

"Thank you," I murmured, taking the key and turning away before she could recover enough to ask questions.

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