Elian's POV
*****
"Fuck me!" He cursed, rolling on the bed to his right and dodging the assassin's blade.
The silver blade missed his face by an inch. Feathers exploded from the pillow as the assassin struck again and again, Elian narrowly dodging each.
The assassin wore a black mask over his nose and mouth, but his eyes squinted menacingly as he raised the blade again.
Elian fell to the ground, grunting and breathing heavily as one thing pulsed in his mind more than anything else:
Survival!
[Analysing Host's stats to calculate chances of survival]
The system's voice in his head was a welcome sound but Elian couldn't help but wonder WHY the system hadn't been with him in that dream.
Was it even a dream? It felt too real to be a dream.
[It was a unique mental experience but... It wasn't a dream.]
[Somehow, the mate bond between you and the Rogue King has already reached the level where you can knowingly or subconsciously transfer your consciousness to experience what he's experiencing in real time. Which means...]
At that same moment, Elian got on his feet and grabbed his lamp, using it to block another strike from the assassin. But the lamp broke into glass shards in the process, falling to the ground with a crash.
'Everything happening in that dream was all real.' Elian thought to himself at the same moment that he backed up against a wall, raising his hands slowly.
"L–Listen... I don't want any trouble." He stuttered to the assassin who sniggered coldly, pointing the dagger at him, aiming for his throat.
"Unfortunately, you don't get to decide that. Orders are orders, princess."
Elian glanced at his windows just then, wondering how the bastard got into his room in the first place. The windows were locked which meant he got in through the door.
Suddenly, the system made a soft ding sound in his head, causing him to blink.
[Weapon used: Table lamp. Blunt damage potential: 1 star. You're doing great, sweetie.]
Elian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The system chose NOW to be sarcastic?
Suddenly, without warning, the assassin bolted toward Elian at a speed he could barely follow. He sent one strike to his neck but Elian ducked, falling to the ground and scraping his elbow on the marble tiles in the process.
[Every second counts. Get up now!]
Elian grunted, feeling a sharp pain across his right cheek just as he jumped on his feet and kept on dodging the assassin's strikes as his body soaked with cold sweat.
He had definitely left a cut on his face.
[Head to the north window and pull down the curtains!]
The system's voice acted as a push, prompting him to scan his gaze around.
"Where the fuck is North!" Elian snarled, ducking another slash by merely an inch.
[The window where the sun would rise if you weren't busy fighting for your life. Third from the left, genius.]
Elian didn't have time to argue. He dashed toward the indicated window just as the assassin lunged again.
"They said you're nothing but an Omega. Why aren't you dead already?" The assassin sneered with frustration, chasing after Elian until the latter got to the window, grabbing the curtains while quickly turning his head back to the assassin.
"I ain't your regular Omega, pal!" Elian snapped in return, pulling down the curtains with everything he had.
Instantly, the sun's rays shone brightly from the window, forcing the assassin to lower his head, temporarily disoriented.
The metal pole that the curtains were attached to fell, plummeting directly on top of the assassin's head just when he was a few inches in front of Elian.
Was it morning already?
The curtain draped the assassin's face, blocking his vision and causing him to grunt as he slashed around with the blade, while Elian backed up against the window.
[Calculation of host's survival chances complete...
5%]
Five per cent?!
"Wrong timing, system!" Elian snarled with frustration, managing to send a kick straight at the assassin's chest, causing the latter to stumble backwards by a few steps.
Elian proceeded to push the window open. There were no metal bars, leaving a large enough space for him to jump if he wanted to.
One problem with that though…
[Your room is on the fifth floor. No amount of vibes or finger crossing is gonna save your bones from the impact. That's if you don't turn to instant blood pulp when you get down.]
Goddess, have mercy.
Elian's eyes scanned downstairs when suddenly, the assassin growled menacingly, forcing him to turn his gaze back to him.
The assassin had managed to cut through the curtains, yanking them off his hooded face. Elian could see his gritted teeth underneath the shadow of the hood and swallowed hard.
"Dude, who fucking sent you?!" Elian snapped with a shaky voice, losing his composure. "Listen, I'm... I'm Prince Lucian's mate. If you harm me, he'll come for you!"
He couldn't believe he just said that but he was running out of options. He was cornered between a window leading to certain death down there and this assassin who looked like he had crawled out of the depths of the underworld.
'Why the fuck did you tell me to run to this window anyway?' Elian asked the system mentally as he spotted a hint of hesitation in the assassin's stance.
[Oh, I'm sorry. Would you have preferred standing like a mannequin and making your survival chances ZERO?]
Elian gritted his teeth as the assassin chuckled coldly.
"The Alpha Prince? You mean the same one who rejected you during the mating ball?"
Elian clicked his tongue, fighting back the rage bubbling inside him. He couldn't really use that rage in this situation.
Rage barely amounted to anything when the strength disparity between him and an average wolf was overwhelming. And this assassin was no "average" wolf.
"A little tip before you go..." The assassin suddenly remarked, playing around with the dagger. "The mate bond with the Alpha Prince placed a fat target on your back."
Without another word, he raised the dagger to strike Elian again but this time... Elian's instincts pushed him to the max.
He leaned back, jumping off the window and then managing to grip it with both hands, dangling above the palace grounds.
Elian gasped, gritting his teeth as he tore his gaze from the ground and slowly brought it to the assassin who looked over the window, his eyes glinting with a predatory dark light.
Just when the assassin was about to stab one of his hands, an arm plunged through his chest from behind, sending his blood spraying on Elian's face.
Elian blinked with a mix of shock and terror as his gaze locked on the bloody and beating heart of the assassin which was now held by the hand sticking through his chest.
The assassin froze for only a few seconds before falling out of the window, plunging to the palace grounds below.
When Elian raised his head to the bloody hand of his would-be saviour, he gasped, his eyes widening.