Chapter 5. The prince

Raven’s POV

A loud bang on the door made me jump. Azrael froze above me, his fangs out, his eyes glowing blood red. He turned toward the sound, shoulders tense, the predator in him ready to snap.

That was my chance. My chest rose and fell like I had been running for hours. I slid off his bed in a rush, my legs almost giving out.

The door swung open. A female vampire stepped in. She was tall, elegant, deadly beautiful, everything that screamed royal. Her eyes locked on me instantly, and the disgust on her face made my stomach twist.

“Having fun with a filth?” she sneered.

My face burned hot. I wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole.

Azrael growled low, annoyed, but didn’t hide his fangs. “You know the rules, Azrael,” she said sharply, ignoring me. “No other species. There are plenty of low rank vampires here you can play with.”

Her tone dripped with mockery, like I was nothing. Less than nothing.

Azrael rolled his eyes, bored of her words. His gaze cut back to me, and it sent shivers racing down my spine. “She’s mine. I already laid a claim,” he said coldly, his voice like fire and ice at once.

My knees nearly buckled. Mine? Did he just…?

He turned back to the female vampire with a smirk, like daring her to challenge him. Then his eyes found me again. “Go. I’ll see you later.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. My legs were shaking so violently it was a miracle I didn’t collapse. I rushed past the female, not daring to look at her again.

The corridor felt endless. My pulse hammered in my ears as I moved, desperate to put distance between myself and that room. The taste of his presence, his voice, still clung to my skin.

Then I froze.

The air shifted. I felt it before I saw it, someone watching me. My heart skipped a beat. Slowly, too afraid of what I’d find, I lifted my head.

And there he was.

Eyes. The deepest, most dangerous blue I’d ever seen. They locked on me like he had been waiting for this moment. My whole body went cold, then hot. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.

He was tall. Deadly handsome. The kind of man who radiated power without saying a single word. A royal. I didn’t need anyone to tell me, he was above everyone in this academy. Including me. Especially me.

My instinct screamed at me to look away. To lower my eyes. Royals didn’t like being stared at. It could cost me.

I dropped my gaze fast, my chest rising and falling in shallow breaths. But the weight of his stare didn’t leave me. It clung to me, burning into my skin, making me feel like he could see through me, through my soul.

Lord help me, I couldn’t shake it off.

I forced myself to move, legs heavy, until I reached the low-rank quarters. I slipped inside, slamming the door behind me, my back against it.

Safe, for now.

But those blue eyes stayed in my head, haunting, dangerous… and impossible to forget.

Keres’s POV

My eyes locked on her and the world stopped.

Gods. Who was that?

She wasn’t like the others. Not a full fae like me. I could smell it, hybrid. Half blood. Low rank. Filth to some. But to me? The most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

Her pale skin glimmered beneath the academy lights, her hair catching every flicker like silver fire. She walked like she didn’t belong, head lowered, shoulders tense. That only made me harder, hungrier.

My fingers twitched. My clothes shimmered with the power rolling off me as I tried to take another look, but she slipped between the crowd, vanishing down the corridor.

Who the hell is she?

She has to be mine. Mine to claim. Mine to play with. Mine to break if I want.

I moved before I could think, sliding through the students like an invisible. My boots echoed softly on the marble floor, each step bringing me closer to the scent she left behind, sweet, forbidden, like danger wrapped in sugar.

I cannot let her slip through my hands. I want her. I need her. Now.

Her scent curved around a corner. I followed, breath deep, heart pounding, already imagining her trembling beneath me.

Raven’s POV

I could sense him.

The sharp prickle on the back of my neck told me the fae was following me.

No. No more trouble. Not again.

My heart slammed inside my chest as I quickened my steps, weaving through the corridors. I didn’t even look back. If I did, I knew I’d freeze. These royals, they were like predators. Always watching. Always wanting. Always ready to claim.

I couldn’t risk it. Not tonight.

I darted around a corner, my lungs burning, and without thinking, I yanked open the nearest door and slipped inside. Slammed it shut behind me.

The room was dim, shadows stretching against the walls, heat pulsing strangely through the air. My back pressed to the door, my hands trembling as I tried to catch my breath.

God. These bastards. They were all the same. Dangerous, cruel and deadly attractive. Too beautiful to be real. Too sinful to resist.

“Who the hell are you?”

The voice was deep. Smooth. Dangerous.

I stiffened. Slowly, I turned.

And froze.

He was there. Standing in the shadows, eyes glinting like molten gold. My heart stopped. My breath caught. Another one. Another impossibly gorgeous man.

Is this school cursed? Why are they all built like this? So insanely handsome.

He moved toward me, slow and deliberate, like a predator circling prey. I stepped back until the door dug into my spine, my body trapped.

His chest rose and fell with shallow, heavy breaths. Sweat gleamed across his sculpted body like firelight on polished stone. He towered over me, broad, commanding, untouchable.

“Pretty little thing,” he said, his voice curling around me like smoke.

“P-please,” I stammered. “If you’ll just let me go, we can forget I was ever here—”

His eyes flashed, sharp and dangerous. “And who said you could talk back to me?”

My throat dried instantly. Words stuck. My pulse thundered against my skin.

He reached up, his hand brushing my cheek. Warm. Possessive. Claiming. My knees trembled under his touch.

“What is your name?” he demanded.

“R-Raven,” I whispered, barely able to speak.

His lips curled.

I swallowed hard, trying to place him, trying to smell what he was. But nothing made sense. He was power, heat, smoke. Everything and nothing.

“Trying to figure me out?” His tone dropped deeper, darker, vibrating through my bones.

I shivered violently. “P-please,” I whispered again, desperate.

“Close your eyes,” he ordered. “Smell me again.”

Something in his voice dragged me under, and against my will, I obeyed. I shut my eyes, inhaled.

And then it hit me.

Oh God.

Fire. Smoke. Power.

I opened my eyes in horror, my heart slamming against my ribs. “You’re… you’re a dragon,” I stammered.

His smile widened, sharp and cruel. He nodded once. “Yes. The prince of the most powerful dragon king.”

My knees nearly buckled.

He leaned in, his breath hot against my ear. “And you, Raven fae… have just made the mistake of entering my room when I’m in heat.”

His eyes burned like flames as his voice turned into a growl.

“And now you can’t go out unmated by me.”