Chapter 93: Raven’s Wrath

Adeline’s pov~

"It was about just a few casual plans for the holidays," I said, trying to sound completely unbothered, keeping my chin high despite the pounding in my throat. "Sierra was just talking about what to do during our days off. That’s all it was."

"Casual plans?" Raven repeated, letting out a dark, humourless laugh. "What kind of casual plans, Adeline?" he pushed, closing the distance between us until there was barely an inch of space left. "Tell me. I’m dying to hear the details. What kind of innocent conversation ends with an Alpha holding your hand?"

"It was nothing—"

"What kind of casual, friendly outing involves going on a date with a fucking Alpha?" he cut me off, his voice rising, every word laced with a lethal, terrifying intensity. He leaned down until his lips were inches from my ear, his hot breath fanning across my sensitive skin.

"What kind of casual plans involve making arrangements to lose your V-card, Adeline?" he growled. "Did you really think I wouldn’t hear that?"

Before I could even gasp, his massive hand shot out and wrapped tightly around my waist, yanking me forward until my body was pinned flush against his hard, broad chest.

"You are not going on that date," Raven whispered, his tone dark, possessive, and absolute against my ear. "You aren’t touching him. And you aren’t gonna let him touch you either. If anyone is going to ruin you, Adeline... it’s going to be me."

"What do you—" My voice cut off into a breathless gasp as his burning, dark eyes locked onto mine.

"I fucking mean it," Raven growled, his voice deep, raspy, and stripped of every ounce of restraint. "Don’t test me, Adeline. Don’t you dare test how far I will go."

His eyes were burning down into mine, completely consumed by a dark, suffocating rage that looked terrifyingly like pure, unfiltered possessiveness. His heavy gaze dropped down to my lips.

My heart was hammering against my ribs so fast, so violently, I was sure he could hear it. His Lycan aura was exploding all around us, thick and suffocating, completely drowning the room in the heavy, intoxicated scent of rain and dark wood. It was overwhelming. It was terrifying. And yet, beneath the sheer terror, a traitorous thrill surged through my veins.

Goddess help me, but surrounded by his heat, wrapped in his absolute dominance, a dangerous part of me just wanted to surrender. To stop fighting. To completely give myself up to him right then and there.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to hold his intense, unwavering gaze. I couldn’t let him see how much he was affecting me.

"If you are doing all of this just because you’re worried about me getting into trouble..." I started, my voice trembling slightly before I forced it to steady. "If this is just about your royal duty to protect me... then stop it. I already told you before, and I’m telling you again. I don’t want you to protect—"

Before the last word could even leave my mouth, Raven snapped. He lunged forward, using his massive body to slam me backwards until my spine hit the cold, hard wall behind me.

A sharp gasp escaped my lips at the sudden impact, knocking the air from my lungs. But before I could recover, before I could even draw another breath, he leaned in so close his lips brushed against mine.

"You don’t want me. But I need you," he growled, his rough, deep voice laced with a raw, agonising desperation that shattered every defence I had left.

Before my spinning mind could process the words, Raven crashed his lips onto mine.

It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t a soft, hesitant one. It was a brutal, desperate collision. A claim carved directly into my flesh.

My eyes went wide in pure shock, my mind completely short-circuiting as the world spun out of control. He’s kissing me.

My hands came up instinctively, resting against his hard, broad chest. I wasn’t pushing him away, but I wasn’t pulling him closer either. I was completely paralysed, trapped in the eye of his storm.

But then, right in the middle of the storm, a sudden, familiar ache bloomed deep inside my chest.

It was a soft, painless pull, a deep, magnetic ache lingering right over my heart. My mind instantly flashed back to last night, to the dark room.

It was the exact same strange, painless pull I had felt last night when Zyran crashed his lips onto mine. That terrifying, invisible tether in my blood flared to life again, twisting my insides as Raven devoured me. Why? Why do I feel this same pull with him? What is wrong with my body?! Why am I feeling this exact same strange pull with Raven? What is happening to me?

Raven let out a low, guttural groan against my mouth, his large, warm hand sliding up from my waist to cup the side of my neck. His long fingers tangled into my hair, wrapping tightly around the back of my neck, angling my head back to deepen the kiss even further, taking total control of my breath, my mouth, and my entire existence. He drank me in like a dying man, his tongue parting my lips, claiming every single corner of my mouth with a possessive, agonising rhythm that made my head spin.

Raven broke the kiss only when I was completely out of breath, my chest heaving violently as I desperately gasped for precious air. His dark, heavy gaze stayed pinned to my face, his lips hovering mere millimetres from mine as a slow, wicked smirk curved his mouth.

"If you need a date, you come to me," he whispered, every word slow, heavy, and dripping with a possessive dark warmth that made my skin tingle. "If you want to lose your mind, your breath, or your innocence... you do it with me, Adeline. Don’t you dare let another man touch what’s fucking mine. I won’t fucking let that happen."

"Raven, stop..." I choked out, my voice trembling as I tried to pull my head back. "You’re out of your mind. You can’t just dictate who I talk to or who I—"

"I can, and I fucking will," he cut me off, his dark eyes burning into mine. "Do you have any idea what it felt like watching you stand there with him? Watching another Alpha smile at you, offer you his hand, and try to carve a place for himself in your life? It drove me insane, Adeline."

"He was just being polite!"

"He tried to touch something that belongs to me."

"I don’t belong to anyone. And who I go out with or who I fuck—"

"You think you can just give yourself away to some random Alpha? Over my fucking dead body, Adeline."

Before I could even form another sentence to fight back, his grip around my waist tightened like solid iron. In one effortless, fluid motion, he lifted me completely off the floor. The world spun for a fraction of a second, and the next moment, I felt the soft, heavy impact of the massive king-sized bed beneath my back.

My heart hammered violently against my ribs as I looked up, completely trapped in the centre of his massive mattress.

Raven stood at the edge of the bed, his dark coat already discarded onto the floor. His broad shoulders filled my vision, his white dress shirt clinging to his frame, dark trousers sitting low on his hips. A few strands of his dark hair had fallen forward over his forehead, making him look dangerously handsome and utterly terrifying all at once.

He crawled onto the bed, sliding between my knees, completely caging my body beneath his massive frame. He reached down, his long fingers entangling softly yet firmly in the back of my hair to pull my head up slightly, as he managed his weight with his other hand on the bed beside me, his dark eyes burning into mine with an unholy, starving heat. A dark, hungry smile rested on his lips.

"Look at me," he commanded softly, his rough thumb tracing the swollen line of my lower lip. "Look at me and tell me you actually wanted that Alpha to lay his filthy hands on you."

"It wasn’t about him! It was just—" I breathed out, my chest rising and falling rapidly.

"You want to lose your virginity, sweetheart?" Raven growled, cutting me off. "Then let that lucky bastard who takes your virginity be me."

With a sharp, brutal pull, he ripped open his white shirt. Buttons popped and scattered like hail across the high-end sheets. Without breaking eye contact for even a fraction of a second, his veiny fingers moved down to unbuckle his leather belt, the heavy metal clinking loudly in the suffocating quiet of the room.

"Raven..." I breathed, my breath catching in my throat. His gaze burned straight into mine, stripping away every defence I had left.