Chapter 113: Lethal Protection

Adeline’s POV~

Gwen kept holding my hands, her eyes studying my face with deep concern. It felt like she could see every confused thought inside my head.

"Look at you, sweetie," she muttered, her voice laced with deep, undeniable concern.

"You look so pale. You’ve grown too thin. Are you eating properly? Is the food here not good? Is the menu here not according to your favorites? Tell me the truth, have the kitchens been slacking?"

Hundreds of students were frozen in place, their brains entirely fried. They were staring at us, unable to believe what they were seeing.

The Dowager Luna.

The feared matriarch of the Second Throne.

The woman who could make entire packs tremble with a single look...

Was standing in the middle of the academy courtyard, holding my hands and worrying over me like a grandmother.

I quickly shook my head.

"No, no, Gwen... the food is good here," I murmured softly, trying to calm her down. "You are worrying way too much over nothing."

Her expression darkened instantly, a flicker of fierce protectiveness flashing across her features.

"How can I not worry when you refuse to listen to every single thing I say?" Gwen scolded gently, though the weight of her words carried the force of an order.

"I told you to stay safely at the headquarters, and you stubbornly refused. And now look at you... you aren’t eating properly. Tell me honestly, Is your dorm even comfortable? Do you need a better room? I can have a private suite prepared for you by tonight."

My eyes widened. My hands were still trapped safely inside her warm, gentle grip. I offered a reassuring, albeit nervous, smile.

"No! No! It’s fine," I quickly said. "The dorm is actually very comfortable. Really. I’m taking care of myself."

Gwen still looked doubtful.

Before Gwen could press further, her gaze snapped away from me. Her eyes sharpened as she turned her head toward her grandson, who was standing a few feet away.

"Raven," Gwen’s voice cut through the air, dropping back into that cold, commanding tone that usually made packs tremble. "I told you to take care of her. Is this how you do it? Shouldn’t you have convinced her to stay safely at the headquarters where she belongs?"

"You should have checked on her constantly," Gwen continued. "If she refused to eat, you should have found a way to make her eat. She is under your protection. That is your responsibility."

My heart skipped.

For a brief second, my eyes met Raven’s.

His dark eyes were already fixed on me.

There was something unreadable in them.

I quickly slid my eyes away, not wanting to deal with the overwhelming gravity of his presence.

I could feel his gaze following me, even after I lowered my eyes.

Uncomfortably aware of the thousands of staring eyes, I slowly pulled my hands back from Gwen’s grip.

"No, I actually—" I started to say, trying to step in and clear the air.

"Oh, don’t worry about that, Grandmother," Raven cut me off abruptly. His deep, gravelly voice rolled over the courtyard, smooth and dripping with an arrogant, absolute certainty. I snapped my head back up to look at him.

"I will personally make sure she eats and stays right where she needs to be. Exactly right where she... belongs," Raven said, his dark eyes locked straight onto mine with a burning intensity that made my stomach flip.

"If she refuses... well, I’ll just carry her there myself. And feed her myself."

’A wolf who claims his mate does not ask for permission. He simply conquers every excuse until she has nowhere left to run.’

My lips parted slightly in pure shock. Did he seriously just say that out loud? In front of the entire academy?! Heat rushed violently to my face. I stared at him like he had lost his mind, my mind screaming, What the fuck did he just say?!

Why does he have to say things like that?

It wasn’t even what he had said.

It was the way he said it.

Like he already knew exactly how I would react.

Slowly, I tore my gaze away from him and looked back at Gwen, bracing myself for her reaction to her grandson’s brazen words, hoping she would scold him.

To my absolute astonishment, the Dowager Luna wasn’t angry at all. Instead, a slow, deeply pleased smile spread across her face.

"Good," Gwen said simply, her approval loud and clear for every highborn to hear.

Over in the dirt, Chloe was still slumped against the cold stone, holding her swollen, crimson cheek. The humiliation burning through her veins was so intense she couldn’t even look up, her whole body trembling violently as she realized the monster she had tried to attack was practically royalty to the royal family itself.

She looked terrified now.

The girl she had called a rogue...

The girl she had tried to attack...

Was clearly someone the royal family cared about.

A few feet away, Lucas and Logan stood paralyzed.

Their faces were completely drained of colour, their eyes darting back and forth between Gwen, Raven, and me as the horrifying realisation and maybe... the reality just settled in for them.

Miya had shrunk back so far behind the crowd she was practically invisible, her breath hitching in her throat out of sheer, unadulterated terror.

"Did... did you hear that?" a student whispered.

"The royal family is protecting her."

The students who had mocked me when I walked around the campus were now completely silent. No one dared to laugh. No one dared to whisper another insult.

They had called me a rogue.

A defect.

A wolf with no place among them.

But now they knew better.

’If the Dowager decides to erase their bloodline today, no one will be able to save them.’

The highborn students who had been screaming insults just moments ago were now sweating bullets, desperately wishing the ground would open up and swallow them whole.

’They had mocked a wolfless, a rogue, a "defect", only to find out she was standing safely under the direct, unyielding, lethal protection of one of the most powerful woman in the Lycan world, and personally taken care by one of the most dangerous prince of the Four Thrones.’

"Oh, I almost forgot, sweetie..."