Chapter 101: Keiran’s Mate

Author’s pov~

"Let her rest for some time. She must have fainted from exhaustion. She looked so tired," Sierra said, her voice filled with concern as she gently pulled the heavy blanket up around Adeline, tucking her securely in bed.

On the small sofa to the side of the room, sitting rigidly beside the bed, were Keiran and Blake. Across from them, Zyran stood near the foot of the bed before slowly walking back to lean against the wall, his broad shoulders squared and arms crossed tightly over his chest.

The room was filled with suffocating silence.

Every single one of them was trapped with the brutal, undeniable certainty of what they had just witnessed.

’Adeline threw up Keiran’s blood right after healing.’

Keiran’s piercing dark gaze remained locked on Adeline’s pale, exhausted face against the pillow. He was furious. A cold, silent anger radiated off him. The sheer exhaustion clinging to her made his blood boil, because deep down, he didn’t know the full extent of what Raven had put her through, or how the bruise on her leg had really happened.

Keiran and Blake had seen her violently reject Keiran’s blood moments after it healed her, and the biological reality of that rejection was inescapable.

’It absolutely and undeniably meant Adeline was Keiran’s Mate.’

And now, after Blake had pulled Zyran aside to fill him in on every horrifying detail in the hallway, the Third Prince knew everything too. Zyran didn’t just know about Keiran’s rejected blood. He knew about Raven’s, too. He held the complete puzzle pieces of her impossible, multi-layered defiance.

Suddenly, the door burst open, slamming against the interior wall with a deafening crack.

Raven stepped into the room.

His dark, piercing eyes swept across all three Princes with effortless dominance before instantly locking onto Adeline’s sleeping form on the bed.

"What happened to her?" Raven demanded, his voice carrying cold authority. "She was fine..."

He was immediately cut off.

"You should be the one answering that fucking question, Raven!" Keiran growled. Keiran launched off the sofa, crossing the small room in a single, blurring stride. Before Raven could blink, Keiran’s hands shot out, gripping the collar of Raven’s shirt in a white-knuckled fist of pure, unadulterated rage.

His Lycan anger flared to the surface, his dark eyes flashing dangerously as he shoved the Second Prince hard against the wall. Raven didn’t flinch. His cold, obsidian gaze locked onto Keiran’s face, unblinking and utterly lethal.

"What the fuck did you do to her, Raven?!" Keiran snarled inches from his face, his chest heaving as the entire room held its breath.

Blake stepped forward, trying to ease the suffocating power struggle filling the room. "Okay, okay, listen—"

"What happens between me and her is none of your damn business," Raven snapped, cutting Blake off. He glared past Keiran’s fist, his dark eyes flashing with absolute territorial ownership. "She is under my protection. The First Throne’s protection—"

"Not anymore!" Keiran barked back, his voice filled with a dark, primal fury.

Raven let out a harsh, mocking scoff, his jaw tightening. Before he could fire back, Blake raised his voice, stepping right into the line of fire between the two enraged Lycans. "Keiran fed Adeline his blood because she was hurt. Her wounds visibly healed right in front of us, and then, the second she was cured, she threw up every single drop of it."

Keiran shoved Raven back a fraction, his chest heaving as his dark eyes burned into the Second Prince. "And you know exactly what that means, don’t you, Raven? When you asked her if she threw up your blood, she said no. Maybe she was telling the truth. Because tonight? We witnessed it with our own eyes. She threw up my blood right after it healed her."

Keiran abruptly let go of Raven’s shirt, shoving him back. Raven stood frozen for a second, completely stunned, the colour draining slightly from his sharp features.

"What?" Raven whispered, his voice dropping into a dangerous, disbelieving hum. "Her body... rejected your blood after healing?"

Dead silence fell over the dorm. You could hear the faint hum of the night wind against the glass.

Keiran growled. "I don’t know what kind of sick games you played with her, but from now on, stay the hell away from her, Raven."

Blake exhaled a slow, heavy breath, running a hand through his hair. "So... you really are gonna make her your—"

"Yes!" Keiran snapped, cutting him off instantly. His furious, razor-sharp gaze finally tore away from Raven and travelled over to the bed. As his eyes landed on Adeline’s sleeping face, the murderous tension in his shoulders melted away, replaced by an agonisingly soft, protective warmth.

"I am going to announce it to all at the family dinner tomorrow night. Since all the Four Thrones will be present there," Keiran declared. "The Matriarch sent me the invitation this evening about the family dinner. I’m making it official in front of everyone."

Sierra, who had been sitting quietly on the edge of the mattress watching the Lycans tear each other apart, finally found her voice. Her eyes darted frantically between the four towering Princes in the room. She had no idea about the Lycan lore and the meaning behind the ’Blood rejection after healing’. Because no one knows about it unless an ancient Royal Lycan is raised in their bloodline.

"Lords, what are you talking about?!" Sierra murmured, confusion filling her face. "What does rejecting your blood even mean?!" She paused mid-sentence. Adeline let out a soft, distressed murmur in her sleep, shivering slightly as she blindly snuggled closer to Sierra’s side, burying her face into her friend’s jacket in her deep exhaustion.

The entire room instantly went dead silent, every breath held. All four Princes froze, their gazes locking onto the bed, paralysed by the fragile sight of Adeline.

"Adeline? Can you hear me?" Sierra asked softly, her panic bleeding away into deep concern as she leaned closer. She gently stroked Adeline’s tangled hair, waiting. But Adeline had already slipped back down into a heavy, dreamless exhaustion, sleeping in total, unbroken silence.

For a long moment, nobody moved. Then, a low, deep voice cut through the stillness.

"She didn’t just throw up your blood alone, Keiran."

So... Raven knows? But how?

All three of the other Princes. Keiran, Blake, and Zyran whipped their heads around simultaneously, their eyes snapping straight to Raven.

"What?!" they all demanded in unison.

Keiran and Blake looked at Raven in total shock, but Zyran looked at Raven with partial shock, wondering, ’How the fuck did Raven find out about Adeline’s body rejecting his blood?’