Chapter 114: His to Escort

Adeline’s POV~

Gwen looked down at me, her eyes softening into a pool of pure affection as she smiled warmly.

"Oh, I almost forgot, sweetie," Gwen spoke softly, her tone entirely unbothered by the hundreds of gaping, petrified students listening in horror.

"I heard that your holidays start tomorrow, and we are having a family dinner tonight. So, I came all the way here personally to take you back to our pack house. Shall we leave?"

I blinked.

For a moment, I simply stared at her.

Family dinner? Me? Sitting at a royal table, surrounded by powerful Lycan’s, apex predators of the highest order, in a place I knew deep down I had no business belonging to?

The thought felt strange.

Wrong, somehow.

A fresh wave of shock rippled through the surrounding crowd, and the low, frantic hum of murmurs exploded once more.

My mind scrambled, panic instantly clawing at my chest.

I stared up at Gwen, my eyes wide. "A family dinner...?" I echoed, my voice trembling slightly.

Gwen gave me a firm nod. "Yes, sweetie. Come, let’s go."

I shook my head immediately, taking a half-step back, entirely overwhelmed. "No, no... that won’t be appropriate," I spoke softly, my voice laced with desperate resistance. "It’s a family dinner. I can’t possibly—"

Before I could finish the sentence, Gwen cut me off abruptly, her voice dropping all room for argument.

"Of course it is entirely appropriate, since you are a part of this family as well," Gwen said, her gaze fierce and unwavering. "Never forget that, sweetie."

I couldn’t answer.

The words were simple.

But somehow, they hurt more than anything else.

Family.

I wasn’t used to that word.

Before I could scramble for another excuse to refuse, another voice slid into the space between us, smooth, dangerous, and dripping with absolute authority.

"Okay, Grandma," Raven spoke up, a faint, predatory smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

"I’ll escort her to the car. I’ll help her get to her room to grab her necessary things, and then we’ll meet you at the main entrance."

Gwen gave a satisfied nod, her smile returning. She turned her attention back to me, her hand gently patting my cheek.

"Don’t worry too much, dear," Gwen murmured reassuringly. "Just grab your phone and anything truly necessary. Don’t bother packing dresses, I have already had them prepared beforehand for you at the estate. I knew you would try to find an excuse to wear hoodie everyday."

Before I could utter another word of protest, a large, warm hand wrapped securely around my wrist.

It was Raven.

Without waiting for my permission, he gave a subtle, commanding tilt of his head, using his eyes to indicate that I was walking with him.

I cast one last look toward Gwen, offering a small, strained smile, before I had no choice but to let him pull me away from the centre of the courtyard.

The moment we moved, the crowd parted.

No one needed to be told.

They simply stepped aside.

Whispers followed us from every direction.

I could feel their eyes on my back.

The moment we were a few paces away, out of arm’s reach of the Matriarch, I immediately tried to yank my wrist out of his grip.

"Let go of me," I hissed under my breath, trying to twist my wrist free.

Raven didn’t let go. Instead, his fingers tightened, a silent anchor of raw, unyielding strength. He glanced over at me, his dark eyebrows pulling together in a sharp, dangerous line as we continued walking.

"Stop fighting, love," he whispered. His deep, gravelly voice rolled over me, and he leaned in dangerously close, his breath brushing against my ear as we wove through the parting sea of terrified students.

My breath caught entirely in my throat.

’A true predator does not chase his prey when she runs. He simply closes the distance until she has no choice but to surrender to his gravity.’

Love?

What did he just... call me?

Did I hear that wrong? Was my brain short-circuiting from the sheer stress of the day?

I looked at him again, trying to decide if I had heard him correctly.

His face gave nothing away.

He simply kept walking.

As if he hadn’t just said something that made my entire brain stop working, and then, betraying every single ounce of common sense I possessed, my stomach did a violent, traitorous flip.

I hated that it did.

I hated it even more when I realized I had stopped pulling against his hand.

For a few agonizing seconds, my muscles went slack, and I actually stopped fighting his grip.

No. Snap out of it, Adeline.

Before I could let myself fall deeper into the trap of his voice, I jerked my hand away, ripping my wrist out of his grasp with sudden, rough force.

I didn’t stop walking. The crowd of highborn students parted in sheer, blind terror the second they saw us coming, flattening themselves against the walls to clear our path.

I kept my head down, pulling the dark hood of my hoodie up over my head to shield my face from the thousands of burning, hateful eyes, and shoved both of my hands deep into my pockets.

I thought that would be the end of it. I thought I could create some space.

Mostly, I wanted my heart to stop behaving like an idiot.

Instead, the moment I pulled away, Raven’s arm shot out. He wrapped his heavy, muscular arm securely around my shoulders, pulling me tight against his side as if I belonged there, effortlessly matching my frantic strides.

The heat of his body pressed against mine, burning right through my clothes, a constant, suffocating reminder that I was walking with the most dangerous beast of all holding the leash.

He adjusted his pace to match mine.

I looked up at him. "Raven..." I murmured, my jaw clenched tightly in frustration.

He didn’t look down at me. He kept his gaze forward as he replied in his deep voice casually."What?"

"Your arm."

"I know."

I frowned. "Then move it."

"No." Seriously?Just a single no?

I stared at him in disbelief, "What? Why? Just-"

His jaw tightened slightly. "Because you’re walking too far away."

"I am walking right beside you."

His grip tightened on my shoulders possessively.

He cut me off softly, "Not close enough, love."