Chapter 4: Mate...Mate..Mate!

Violet’s POV

“You feel it, don’t you?” he rasped, voice low and feral. “That thing clawing under your skin... that madness in your blood.”

I froze, because yes, hell yes, I did feel it. Whatever the hell was inside me, it wasn’t human, wasn’t normal, and it wasn’t sleeping, it was snarling behind my ribs, reacting to this stranger like it knew him but the man squatting in front of me wasn’t getting credit for anything except invading my personal space with predator energy and the audacity of a goddamn Bond villain.

So I inhaled, ignored the way my skin still tingled from the way he said mate, and shifted my glare to Seraphina like I’d just woken up from a very vivid, very illegal fever dream.

“Who’s this lunatic saying shit and claiming me?” I snapped, voice sharp, and trembling with confusion and growing rage. “And why the hell is everyone looking like we just kissed at a funeral?”

No one answered immediately.

Everyone and I mean every single weirdo in that glowing crypt of a room was still staring at us, like they were waiting for a prophecy to drop out of my mouth or my head to spin.

Seraphina, bless her emotionless witchy soul, finally snapped out of it, her jaw clenched, and she turned toward the psycho beside me. “Riven, what are you doing?” she asked coolly. “What did you just say to her?”

Riven, yes, apparently his name was Riven, which sounded exactly like the name of a guy who kills angels and broods under red moons just chuckling.

That’s it.

He chuckled like he hadn’t just declared me his, sniffed me like cologne, and shattered what was left of my sanity.

Then, without answering her, he turned back to me with this smug glint in his eye, something possessive and ancient, something that made me very aware of every chain still strapped to my body.

I narrowed my eyes on him. “Do you always sniff strangers, or is that a ‘possess your prisoner’ special?”

He didn’t respond, instead, he reached forward and touched the cracked metal on my chains. His fingers glowed faintly, runes lighting up under his skin. I felt a soft thrum, and before I could yank away, the cracks sealed. Just like that, my one ticket to chaos...gone.

“Excuse you!” I barked. “I was working on breaking those!”

He stood slowly, towering over me with that same smirk and faced Seraphina again. “The lock’s enhanced, for now, I’ll craft a proper one for her swearing-in ceremony.”

Swearing what now?

My eyebrows flew up, and I let out a disbelieving laugh. “Hello? I’m right here, chained to your demonic IKEA floor. And I never agreed to any swearing-in cult ceremony or whatever the hell this academy runs on.”

Riven turned to me again, all graceful menace and maddening stillness, his eyes raked over me like he was reading an ancient script carved into my bones, and the smile he gave me wasn’t kind, it was dangerous. And worse? It stirred something inside me, something traitorous.

“If you go back now,” he said softly, yet every syllable struck, “do you really think you can make anything better?”

My breath hitched.

“Do you think your sister will forgive you for setting her face on fire?” he added. “You’d be running straight to death, Violet. Or worse, a cold table, naked under the scalpel while the humans try to understand what you are.”

Every word scraped through my chest, I hated him, I hated how right he sounded but I couldn’t show that, not now, so I clamped my mouth shut and glared.

He didn’t gloat.

He simply nodded once, as if he’d proven a point without needing to twist the knife further. “Welcome to Avenmoor Academy,” he said darkly. “Control your emotions, little fire. I’ll be seeing you soon.”

He turned and walked out, not sparing anyone else in the room a glance, just like that.

I watched his back as he disappeared beyond the glowing doors, still half-reeling, half-ready to punch a god in the throat and scared because something inside me had stopped fighting the chains… and started waiting.

I was still staring at the door when Seraphina’s voice yanked me back like a slap.

“Well then, Violet Black,” she said calmly, her tone somehow both formal and smug. “Are you ready to accept the terms?”

I blinked, scoffed, and dragged my gaze to her. “Do I have a choice?” I muttered.

Her lips curved, satisfied. “Not really.”

“Great,” I exhaled. “Love this whole consent-free vibe. Really screams academy of peace and healing.”

She didn’t rise to the bait. “Welcome to Avenmoor.”

Then, without missing a beat, she turned to one of the women in the room, slim, pale, dressed in dark robes, and currently looking like she’d piss herself if I so much as sneezed wrong.

“Lara,” Seraphina called, “escort Miss Black to Dorm C.”

Lara flinched like she'd been called to the guillotine.

“And unlock the chain from the wall,” Seraphina added. “She’s still bound until Riven creates a containment piece, but I don’t want her sleeping on the floor like a prisoner. She’s ours now.”

Ours.

God, that word scraped something inside me.

Lara moved, hands trembling as she knelt beside me. I looked at her, unimpressed. “I don’t bite,” I said dryly. “Unless provoked.”

She didn’t laugh, her fingers brushed the glowing cuffs carefully, and then there was a low click. I was free from the wall, but the chains still dangled from my wrists and ankles like glowing accessories from hell.

“You’re to behave,” Seraphina warned, “Swearing-in ceremony is at dawn. We expect you to be presentable.”

“Can I come in flames or do you guys have a dress code for trauma victims?”

She ignored me. Figures.

With a reluctant breath, I let Lara guide me out.

The second those doors opened, I stopped walking. I couldn’t help it.

Holy. Shit.

We stepped out into a courtyard that looked like it had been yanked from every fantasy novel I'd ever binged under my blanket at 3AM. The sky wasn’t even regular blue, it was this shifting hue of violet and silver, with constellations that moved like they were alive. Towering buildings arched into the sky, shaped with twisted stone and glowing vines, shimmering with strange runes that pulsed as students walked by.

And the students? Weird.

Some had tails, some had wings, one walked past with literal scales down her cheek, talking to a floating orb like it was normal. A guy leapt from one balcony to another like it was a sidewalk, a huge sword strapped to his back and a literal third eye glowing on his forehead.

“I… what the hell…” I mumbled.

“This is the South Wing,” Lara said softly, voice mechanical like she’d memorized the speech. “Most of the dorms are located here. You’ll be staying in Section C, which is mostly first-years. The North Wing houses the arena, the armory, and most training grounds. The East Wing is for the scholars, and the West is restricted unless permitted.”

She kept talking and I zoned out.

Because what the hell was this? Some Hogwarts-Meets-Asylum hybrid with gods and monsters thrown in for fun?

My feet moved, but my brain hadn’t caught up.

Magic wasn’t supposed to be real, creatures like this? Places like this? They were storybook garbage. The kind of fantasy people like me clung to when reality became too unbearable but this place wasn’t soft or whimsical. It hummed with danger, power, old, ancient power that recognized something inside me and it made my skin crawl.

“Do I have a roommate?” I asked suddenly, snapping back to Lara.

She hesitated. “We’ll know by tonight.”

“Great. Hope she doesn’t burst into flames when I sneeze.”

She didn’t laugh again.

As we kept walking, I looked up once more at the sky, it blinked back at me, judging, watching and suddenly, all the sarcasm drained out of me.

Because I wasn’t sure if I’d just sold my soul or if I’d stepped into a world where I’d finally learn why the hell mine was so… broken

My chains glowed faintly, flickering with unstable magic that tingled along my skin and worse? Everyone noticed.

Students whispered as I passed. Some stared openly, others leaned into each other and muttered behind half-covered mouths. I caught fragments... “That’s her,” “The one from the human world,” “Murderer.”

God, I hated it.

This was just high school hell with supernatural upgrades.

“I need to get your dorm key,” Lara said suddenly, stopping by an arched hallway filled with glowing, vine-wrapped pillars. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

I nodded, mostly because I needed her gone. The moment she turned the corner, I exhaled sharply, letting the tight coil in my chest loosen for two seconds.

Big mistake.

“Wow,” a voice drawled behind me, rich with judgment. “You’re smaller than I expected.”

I turned and there they were, three of them, you could smell their entitlement from a mile off, long legs, sharp cheekbones, supernatural auras dripping off them like perfume.

One stepped forward, probably the leader, a wicked smile tugging at her blood-red lips. “So you’re the human half-breed they chained like a dog.” She tilted her head mockingly. “Cute.”

I gave her a long, slow blink and I knew immediately why they came, “Thanks. I love compliments from insecure women.”

Her smirk twitched, another one chimed in. “What are you, really? A glitch? A mutt?”

“Oh, you’re all doing the ‘mean girl in a hallway’ bit? How retro.” I folded my arms. “What’s next? Locking me in a broom closet and pretending you’re relevant?”

The leader's smile vanished and a slap cracked across my cheek before I could blink.

Pain stung my face, my neck jerking to the side, chains rattling in response. A hush fell over the hallway, my magic trembled, reacting to my rising fury but I kept still.

Don’t. Lose. Control.

She leaned close, voice venomous. “You’re a murderer. Everyone knows what you did so maintain your shit when talking to an elite like me.”

I didn’t respond, I couldn't because if I opened my mouth, I’d burn this entire hallway down.

But then…murmurs broke out, students began pointing past us. Gasps and whispers, a ripple of energy that made the air feel… charged.

I turned slowly and my breath hitched hard.

What the actual hell?

Was this school built in a lab designed to manufacture gods?

Tall, broad-shouldered, with inky black hair and pale silver eyes that gleamed like polished steel, he walked like a king that knew he could destroy you and still looked bored doing it. Black robes billowed around him and every step he took echoed in my bones.

The mean girl beside me immediately straightened her spine, smoothed her hair, and painted on a flirtatious smile.

“Zyran,” she purred, practically tossing herself forward. “We weren’t expecting you in this wing.”

I took one step back, desperate to melt into a wall. The last thing I needed was another walking testosterone problem.

But he didn’t even glance at her, he stopped directly in front of me.

His eyes locked onto mine. Silver met mine and something inside me flinched, no, not flinched. Stirred.

A low growl echoed in my head, not mine… his.

His nostrils flared, and he inhaled deeply like he was drinking me in.

Then he grinned, slow, dark, dangerous.

“The goddess finally brought you to me,” he said, voice thick “Huh, little mate?”

The hallway erupted.

Gasps, screams, and someone dropped their books.

Mate?

What...

Before I could ask or punch him, another growl rumbled behind me.

And then arms, strong, solid arms yanked me back against a broad chest, and I tensed as an unfamiliar scent, darker, warmer, like fire and spice wrapped around me.

“Mine,” a low voice said behind my ear, rich with deadly promise. “Claim her again, and I’ll decorate these halls with your spine.”

WHAT.

THE.

HELL.

I whipped around, or tried to, but the man, this second stranger was holding me like he’d waited his whole life just to do that. His eyes were crimson, glowing and intense as he stared past me at Zyran.

Zyran only laughed.

“Let her go, Zaiden,” he said casually. “Or I’ll forget we’re even related.”

“Then forget,” Zaiden snarled, dragging me closer. “I waited centuries for this. I’m not letting go.”

Students were screaming now, phones out, whispers turned to a frenzy and cameras flashed.

I stood in the middle, completely frozen as they growled at each other, both of them radiating enough power to collapse the damn ceiling.

Mate. Mate.

Two men... Two literal monsters claiming me like I was a prize in a twisted auction after Riven’s madness display a few minutes ago.

I just stared, throat tight, magic prickling, heart pounding, brain screaming...

What the fuck kind of twisted academy is this?!