Claimed By The King(s) Of Kings

Theo

The morning sun beat down mercilessly upon the grand courtyard of Moonside Academy, casting sharp shadows across the ancient stone paving.

Theo sat at the heavy iron-wrought table inside the shaded stone pavilion, leaning back against his chair with an air of refined, royal arrogance. Beside him, Malric and Vance looked like two agitated predators trapped in a cage. Kaeli, of course, was nowhere to be found—their usual fourth shadow had vanished into his private quarters after the bash and hadn’t graced them with his presence since.

A long, shivering line of female students stretched across the courtyard, trailing all the way down the cobblestone path. One by one, the girls stepped up to the edge of the stone pavilion, hoping against hope that they might be the ones the royal wolf princes were frantically searching for.

And one by one, they were dismissed.

”Next,” Malric growled out loud, not even bothering to look up from his folded hands.

A pretty silver-haired wolf girl stepped forward, her eyes wide with desperate anticipation. Theo leaned slightly forward, resting his chin in his palm as he took a slow, deliberate breath through his nose. Even though the girl looked nothing like the Omega, he didn’t want to take that chance.

Nothing. Just cheap floral perfume and common wolf scent. ”No,” Theo said smoothly, waving a dismissive hand in the air. ”Not the one. Scents don’t match. Next.”

”I... I can be whoever you want me to be, Prince Theo!” the girl pleaded, her voice trembling.

”Leave,” Vance barked from his seat, his dark eyes flashing with dangerous impatience. ”You’re wasting our time.”

The girl scattered down the stone steps in tears. They had been sitting in this pavilion all morning. They had skipped the grand breakfast hall entirely, driven by a raw, frantic hunger that had nothing to do with food.

Theo’s eyes scanned the long line of restless students. She was at the Iron Fang bash last night, he thought bitterly, his jaw clenching as he remembered the phantom scent of wild jasmine that had paralyzed him on the staircase. If she was at the bash, she has to be a student here. And chances are, she’s a freshman.

It was simple logic. He and his brothers had reigned over this academy for three solid years. Never once in those three years had their inner beasts reacted to a single soul on this campus. Their fated mate had to be a new arrival. She had to be a freshman.

There aren’t even that many Omegas in this academy, Theo noted inwardly, his chest tightening with mounting frustration. Finding her shouldn’t be this exceptionally difficult. Where the hell is she hiding?

”Next!” Malric snapped again as another girl stepped up—a tall blonde with dark red lipstick.

”Is it me, Your Highnesses?” she purred, taking a dramatic step closer.

”I know the face,” Theo muttered coldly, scanning her features before inhaling softly. ”And I know the scent. It’s not her. Move along.”

”But—”

”He said move,” Vance growled, leaning over the table.

Before the girl could even turn around, a sharp, frantic clatter of boots echoed across the courtyard paving. A vibrant splash of bright blue hair cut through the crowd as a small figure stormed straight up the stone steps of the pavilion.

Molly marched directly over to their table. With a furious glare, she slammed her hand flat down against the heavy iron surface.

”Ow!” Molly immediately yelped, her face twisting in pain as she pulled her hand back, violently shaking her bruised palm in the air. ”Dammit! Ow, ow, ow...”

Theo tilted his head, watching his sister with a calm, amused smirk playing at the corner of his lips. ”What are you doing here... dear sister?”

Molly whipped her blue hair over her shoulder, glaring daggers at him. ”Don’t ’sweet sister’ me, Theo!” she snapped, her voice dripping with pure sass.

She turned her furious gaze between the three of them, resting her hands on her hips. ”What you guys did to Travis yesterday was completely unforgivable! That is my boyfriend! You can’t just mark him like some animal and decide he’s going to be the pig for your stupid little party!”

Vance leaned back in his chair, crossing his broad arms over his chest with a cold, uncaring smirk. ”I believe we can. And we did.”

Theo rolled his eyes, resting his elbow on the table. In truth, his mind had completely discarded the Whitelock boy the second the party ended. I completely forgot that little rat even existed, Theo thought idly, his eyes tracking a stray autumn leaf blowing across the stone floor. He’s so utterly beneath my concern...

Then, like a bolt of lightning striking through a cloudless sky, his brain slammed into overdrive.

The memory of last night flashed vividly behind his eyes—the smell of sweet jasmine, the flutter of a dark purple dress, and the exact room she had sprinted out of.

Wait a minute...

Theo’s ice-blue eyes widened slightly as the pieces snapped together with terrifying, brilliant precision.

”Wait a second,” Theo said out loud, his sharp voice cutting clean through Molly’s scolding.

Malric and Vance instantly turned their heads toward him, their predatory gazes locking onto their brother.

”That Whitelock boy probably knows who our Omega is,” Theo declared, his voice dropping into a low, deadly serious register. ”Because he was standing right inside that memorial room with her before everything happened.”

Malric’s eyes flashed with instant, brilliant recognition. Vance leaned forward, a sharp, dangerous grin spreading across his dark features as the realization hit them both.

Molly blinked, standing between her three brothers looking entirely lost, like a duck in a thunderclap. She looked from Theo to Malric, then to Vance, her brow furrowing in deep suspicion. ”What on earth is going on here?”

Vance scoffed, resting his forearms against the table as he stared up at his little sister. ”We found our fated mate, Molly. And your pathetic little boyfriend might know exactly who she is, where she is, or at least give us a name so we can start searching for her.”

Malric leaned in, his dark wolf eyes narrowing on her face. ”Where is your boyfriend, Molly?”

Molly stared at them, complete disbelief in her eyes. She let out a loud, mocking laugh, crossing her arms over her chest. ”I’m not telling you! Why on earth would I ever tell you guys such a thing? You’ll just go find him and figure out another way to torment him. I am not letting you guys hunt down my boyfriend!”

A collective, deeply irritated exhale burst from all three princes at the exact same time. Vance’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth clicked, and Malric looked ready to leap across the table and tear the courtyard apart.

Before the situation could escalate into a shouting match that would draw a larger scene, Theo held up a calm hand, taking a deep, steadying breath. He forced his usual arrogant demeanor into something resembling soft persuasion, looking directly at his stubborn younger sister.

”Molly,” Theo said softly, his tone low and almost pleading. ”I promise you... we are not going to touch your boyfriend. We aren’t even going to hurt him.”

He reached up, lightly tapping a faint, dark bruise near his own jawline, a subtle nod to the brutal beating they had received from Headmaster Roiner only hours prior. ”Trust me. We have learned a very good lesson about touching him. We won’t lay a finger on your boyfriend. We just need to get some information from him so we can find our fated mate.”

Molly paused, her stubborn expression faltering for a fraction of a second as she processed his words. She looked at Theo’s face, then at Vance’s rigid posture.

”You guys... actually have a fated mate?” Molly asked, her voice dropping into genuine shock.

Vance let out a loud, miserable groan, throwing his head back against his chair in pure frustration. ”Of course we have a fated mate! That is literally what we have been trying to tell your stubborn ass for the last five minutes!”

Molly held her hands up in defense, taking a half-step back. ”Okay! Okay, relax! Look, I can’t even help you anyway! I have zero idea where he is!”

Malric straightened up, his brow furrowing. ”What do you mean you don’t know where he is?”

”I haven’t seen him since the party yesterday!” Molly shot back defensively. ”If someone didn’t decide to mark him as the party pig, I would probably know where he is right now! But I don’t! He wasn’t even at breakfast this morning—not that he ever goes, but still! He wasn’t even in his first two classes today. I have no clue where he is!”

Malric let out a bitter, sarcastic groan, clapping his hands together once in mock applause. ”Wow. You are so exceptionally helpful, my sweet sister. So extraordinarily helpful! I absolutely love how helpful you are, not even knowing where your own pathetic boyfriend is hiding.”

Molly’s eyes flared with royal defiance. She snapped her head back, glaring directly into Malric’s face with absolute scorn.

”Well, number one, Malric,” Molly bit back, her voice ringing sharp across the pavilion. ”At least I didn’t let my fated mate completely disappear into thin air when she was standing right in front of my face! That was an utter idiot move!”

Without waiting for Malric’s explosive reaction, Molly whipped around, her bright, royal-blue bob bouncing wildly as she marched straight down the stone steps of the pavilion.

Theo watched her retreating figure, his ice-blue eyes fixed on that vivid blue hair shining brightly under the harsh morning sun. Inwardly, he found himself wondering—not for the first time—how on earth their mother had ever permitted Molly to dye her hair such an obnoxious, unnatural color.

Molly and Travis Whitelock... Theo thought, a cold, amused smirk touching his lips as he watched his sister vanish into the crowd. The only two people in this entire academy reckless enough to run their mouths or mock Malric to his face.

Malric couldn’t touch Molly, of course. She was their blood, royal family, and even in his worst rages, he didn’t take her childish tantrums seriously. But watching her sassy defiance only served as a stark, burning reminder of the Whitelock boy.

Malric slammed his fist against the iron table, the metal ringing out like a war horn as he turned his dark, lethal gaze onto Theo.

”Theo,” Malric commanded, his deep voice vibrating with pure, unyielding authority. ”Go find Max. Tell him to gather our enforcement boys and scour every single inch of this school. Tell them to find Travis Whitelock.”

Malric leaned in close, his golden wolf eyes burning with a terrifying promise. ”Obviously, it would be better if they stumbled upon our Omega first... but if not, tell them to bring Whitelock directly to me.”

A dark, cruel smirk spread across Malric’s face as he added one final instruction. ”And tell Max... do not hurt him. Just bring him to me completely unharmed.”