Elian's POV
*****
A third mate.
There was really a third mate out there.
Lucian and Beta Axel were already a hassle and now the system was telling him there was a third mate out there? A rogue king at that.
[Hey, relax, would you? You're acting like it's the end of the world— not to mention now Lucian is staring at you like you've lost your mind.]
It was then that Elian snapped back to reality, his eyes fluttering as he brought his gaze to Lucian.
The latter tilted his head with confusion, his hand still firmly holding Elian's wrist.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Lucian asked, sounding more exasperated than annoyed.
Elian blinked once before his brows furrowed as he yanked his wrist out of Lucian's grip. He almost stumbled backwards but stood firmly as he glared at the Alpha Prince.
"What the fuck is wrong with me? What the fuck is wrong with YOU, Lucian?!" Elian snapped, not caring about the fact that they were outside. "Pick a struggle for the gods' sake! One second you're flinging me across the mating ball hall, disgusted to even touch me. The next thing, you have me cornered in a moonlit garden for whatever reason."
Lucian parted his lips with surprise but then anger flickered into his expression as he stepped forward.
"Like I said before... You're my mate. That's it. That's the only reason I'm even bothering myself with you. So if you can't—"
"Then don't bother with me!" Elian snapped, flinging his arms into the air. "Oh my goodness, you're such a self-absorbed jerk! It's all about you... YOU stole my first kiss like it was a game. You didn't even ask."
Lucian's chest rose and fell as he took a step forward, his silver eyes glinting with a cold light.
"Did I? You wanted it, Elian. You know it. Stop trying to play the victim."
Unbelievable...
[Yeah, I'm getting bored of prince douchebag as well. But on the bright side, look at his possessiveness meter stats.]
A silver light flashed before Elian's eyes, and a translucent blue screen that was visible only to him flickered in front of his face.
At the top right corner were three bars, each labelled with the names and mate numbers of each mate.
Beta Axel's possessiveness was at 10%.
Lucian, AKA, mate #1 was at a staggering 22% and the bar kept pulsing like it was at the brink of pushing forward.
And then mate #3, the unknown mate, was surprisingly at 5%.
'How can mate number three be possessive of me if he hasn't seen me?' Elian asked the system mentally as he stared cautiously at Lucian.
[Simple... He feels the bond too. He feels you right now at a level that's possibly heightened beyond the others. He wants you even though he's not aware of your Omega status yet.]
[On a side note, the host is hungry and exhausted. You might want to go eat something and sleep, fruit cake. Or... You can continue this game of cat and mouse with prince douchebag.]
Elian rolled his eyes, dispelling the translucent screen from his view as he fixed all his attention on Lucian.
"You said they're expecting me for dinner, right?" Elian asked with a calm tone, plastering a smile on his face. "Then please, lead the way."
Lucian raised an eyebrow, his gaze slowly trailing Elian.
He had noticed something... Possibly the sudden change in his mood.
As if to prove the system's point, Elian's stomach grumbled just then, causing him to chuckle softly.
"You see? I'm starving. You know a lowly servant boy like myself hasn't had the chance to eat anything after a long night of working at the mating ball."
Lucian remained standing, not moving a muscle but instead staring at Elian, although his eyes twitched slightly.
When the staring contest became too long, Elian groaned, rubbing his right hand down his face before stepping forward.
"Dude, if you don't want to move then the least you could do is step away so—" Just when Elian walked past Lucian, the latter grabbed his wrist yet again.
Goddess, have mercy.
"What are you...?" Before Elian knew what was happening, the Alpha Prince had him pinned against a wall with coiling vines, clutching his jaw and growling possessively.
Elian gasped, struggling to move as Lucian slowly brought his face closer to him.
"What are you hiding?" The Alpha Prince asked with a low voice but that only added to Elian's confusion.
"W–What are you talking about—"
"Don't act coy with me, Elian." Lucian tightened his grip ever so slightly on him, his body pressing closer to Elian until all he could think about was his scent which clung to him like a second skin.
Elian swallowed hard, but there was something else that was getting hard between his legs...
[No way... You find this kinky?]
Elian's face heated up with a violent blush at the system's jab but he tried hiding it as Lucian continued.
"When we're talking, you space out. I know that look in your eyes." The Alpha Prince probed, his eyes glinting with suspicion. "That look... it's like when someone's mind-linking with their wolf. But you don't even have—"
"Thank you for continuously rubbing that in my face!" Elian spat, chuckling dryly. "Now can you let me go or are you—"
"Not until you tell me who you're talking to." Lucian persisted stubbornly. "Or, what? Has the bond between you and the Beta already progressed into the realm of telepathic communication? Or, perhaps..."
Elian shivered as Lucian's hot breath pricked his skin with almost every word he uttered. He was losing control and the Alpha Prince knew it.
'Is Lucian talking about you? Is he noticing our conversations?' Elian asked the system mentally, blinking with both confusion and fear.
He couldn't let anyone find out about the system.
Robotic systems were a thing but systems like THIS didn't exist — not in this world. If someone figured it out… he'd be dissected in a lab before sunrise.
[ALERT! Host's pheromones are spiking rapidly. Full erection detected.]
What the fuck?!
[Oh, and about your question... Yeah, most likely. Our conversations should happen within seconds but you draw it out unnecessarily because you have the processing speed of a gambling grandma.]
Just when Elian was about to snap both at the system and at Lucian, a voice thundered from the entrance of the garden.
"Let him go!"
Elian froze, swerving his head in the direction of the voice.