Chapter 81: Is Zyran Jealous?

Adeline’s pov~

The heavy, overwhelming scent of leather, dark bourbon, and a dominant Lycan aura wrapped tightly around me, trapping me without him even laying a single finger on my skin.

"You got lost? You want me to believe that?" Zyran repeated softly, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my knees feel weak.

"That’s a cute lie, Adeline. But you and I both know you don’t get lost. You move through these dark halls like you’re hunting for something."

He stepped even closer, his massive frame blocking out the sliver of moonlight filtering through the high window. The heat radiating off him was overwhelming.

"So tell me the truth," Zyran whispered, his voice dropping into a deep, dangerous murmur. "Who were you running from out there in the hall? And why did you look so terrified when you shoved me into this room?"

I stared up into his pitch-black eyes, my hands clenching into tight fists at my sides.

"I wasn’t running from anyone," I whispered back, forcing my gaze to stay cold and unyielding.

"Try again," he murmured, his dark gaze dropping to my lips before rising back to meet my eyes. "And this time, give me a story that doesn’t sound like complete bullshit."

I tilted my chin up, refusing to let him see the wild hammering of my pulse. I forced a slow, cold smirk onto my face.

"Why should I explain anything to someone who wants me dead?" I asked, my voice slicing through the dark, quiet room.

"Why would I share my secrets with the same prince who threatened to snap my neck on my very first day here? The same one who warned me to stay the hell away from the Lycan throne if I wanted to keep breathing?"

Zyran’s smirk vanished instantly.

His pitch-black eyes darkened into something feral and dangerous.

Before I could even blink, he closed the remaining distance between us, slamming his palm against the door right next to my head. He leaned in, trapping me completely beneath his shadowed frame, his chest almost brushing mine.

"Because that same ’someone’," Zyran growled, his voice deep, laced with something I couldn’t name, "is also the one who will go to any fucking extent to keep you safe."

Go to any fucking extent to keep me safe?

My breath hitched at the sheer intensity in his voice, but I forced myself to hold his intense stare.

I slowly crossed my arms over my chest, building a physical wall between us, and let a mocking smile touch my lips.

"Why would I believe you?" I challenged, my voice dropping into a quiet, icy register. "Give me one good reason, Lord Zyran. Give me a single reason why I should trust a word that comes out of your mouth."

Zyran’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched violently along his cheek. His dark eyes burned with a mixture of raw frustration, possessive anger, and something deeply bruised.

"Because I—" he began, his voice rough, but he abruptly cut himself off.

He stopped mid-sentence, his throat working as he swallowed the words back down.

I knew exactly what he was holding back.

I knew he was on the verge of shouting that he wasn’t the monster who sent those killers into the woods.

He wanted to tell me that he had personally walked into those cold dungeon cells, drenched his hands in blood, and ripped the hearts and throats out of the three omegas who dared to lay a finger on me.

If he can’t bring himself to say it, then I will gladly tell him.

"Because you killed those three omegas?" I asked softly.

Zyran froze. His eyes widened just a fraction, a rare flicker of absolute shock breaking through his deadly composure.

"Who told you?" he demanded, his voice dropping into a sharp, dangerous whisper. "Which one of the princes spoke to you? Was it Keiran? Was it Raven?!"

"No one," I answered smoothly before he could spiral into a royal interrogation. "I just heard it from somewhere in the halls."

"No way," Zyran pushed, leaning even closer until his breath brushed against my temple. "The dungeons are locked down under royal guard. Nobody on this campus knows what happened in those cells unless one of the four—"

And those guards who someone like Miya could easily bribe.

"So, what?" I interrupted, cutting him off with a cold, mocking tilt of my head.

"What if the real reason you slaughtered those three omegas is that you were covering your own tracks? What if you realised they failed to kill me, and you didn’t want any living evidence pointing back to you? So you went down there and cleared them out yourself."

Zyran stared at me, his dark eyes searching my face for any sign of a joke.

When he realised I was looking back at him with complete, deadpan seriousness, something shifted in his expression. The intense fire in his eyes dimmed, replaced by a sudden, dangerous quietness.

He slowly pulled his hand back from the door and took a step away from me.

"You can think whatever the fuck you want, Adeline," he said quietly, his voice dangerously calm.

I blinked, genuinely caught off guard by his sudden withdrawal.

"What?" I asked, taking a small step forward, closing the space he had just created. I looked directly into his dark, unreadable eyes. "Now you’re not even going to defend yourself? No explanation? No arrogant speech about how ’I only did this’ or ’I would never do that’? Nothing at all?!"

Zyran just stood there in the shadows, his hands resting casually in his pockets, his gaze locked onto mine with an unsettling, heavy calm.

"It doesn’t matter," he said, his deep voice carrying a strange calmness.

"Well, yeah... of course, it doesn’t matter," I murmured back, echoing his words.

As soon as those words left my lips, I caught it, a split-second flicker crossing his sharp features. It was subtle, masked almost instantly beneath his royal mask, but it was there.

A flash of genuine guilt? Pain? Hurt?

My heart did a strange, painful twist in my chest.

"Because I know you didn’t do it," I said softly, my voice devoid of any mockery now.

"I know you didn’t order those omegas to kill me."

Zyran’s pitch-black eyes bore straight into mine, his throat working as he swallowed down the shock.

"What do you mean, Adeline?" he asked, his voice laced with an unsettling mix of disbelief and lethal caution. "You know I didn’t do that?"

I looked up into his shadowed, lethal face. The arrogant, cold prince who had threatened my life on day one was completely gone. In his place stood a man consumed by unanswered questions, waiting for my answer as if his very soul depended on it.

"Blake told me this morning," I answered softly, my voice calm, stripping away every drop of fake mockery I had used earlier. "He told me point-blank that you would never do such a thing. He swore you weren’t the monster who sent those omegas into the woods to tear me apart."

I let out a small, tired breath, crossing my arms tighter over my chest.

"At first, when I heard him say that, I thought he was just lying," I admitted, meeting his unblinking stare.

"I thought he was just trying to cover for his best friend. But then... I don’t know. Some small, stupid part of me wanted to believe him. And then you walked into that hallway right before the court trial and actually apologised to me. You left me drowning in dozens of questions. You left me completely confused, replaying every single word you’ve ever said to me."

Zyran’s jaw tightened violently.

A dark, dangerous shadow passed over his eyes, and when he spoke again, his tone was laced with a sharp, possessive edge that made my skin prickle.

"So you believe what Blake says?" he asked, his voice dropping into a dangerous, dark murmur.

The way he asked it wasn’t just a simple question.

From his tone, I could tell that it wasn’t just, ’You believe what Blake said?’ It felt deeper, darker, spiked with an unmistakable trace of jealousy. It sounded like, ’You believe whatever Blake tells you?’

"No," I replied firmly, looking straight into his eyes. "I don’t."

Zyran tilted his head, his dark brows drawing together. "What do you mean? You just said—"

"I mean I don’t blindly believe anyone in this royal snake pit!" I cut him off, my voice sharp. "But despite all of that... I know for a fact that you weren’t the one who ordered those three omegas to slaughter me in the dark that night."

Zyran took a sudden, deliberate step forward, closing the small gap between us until the dark leather of his jacket almost brushed my hoodie. His gaze was burning, intense, and utterly suffocating.

"How can you be so sure about that, Adeline?" he demanded, his voice thick with a strange, desperate necessity for answers. "How can you stand there in the dark and declare that with so much certainty when you have every reason on this earth to hate my guts?!"

I slowly took a step back, letting my shoulders rest against the cool wood of the door, looking up at him with a calm, unreadable expression.

"Because I know who really ordered those three omegas to kill me that night," I said casually, my voice calm.

Zyran froze mid-step, his pitch-black eyes widening.