CHAPTER 99: CHAPTER 99: SYMPOSIUM (1)

Elias gave a quiet, incredulous laugh. "You’re aware that sounds exactly like something an overbearing alpha would say in a bad romance novel, right?"

Victor didn’t look at him, gaze still fixed on the stage. "If the writing’s good, it sells."

Elias rolled his eyes, but before he could fire back, the shift in the air became impossible to ignore. The break hadn’t even been called yet, but already heads were turning, murmurs passing between seats.

They weren’t just staring at Victor’s easy stride or the faint pull of the bond between them. They were measuring him and Elias right along with him.

The old Numen whispers seemed to thicken in the room, settling like smoke. That Victor’s confinement had never been permanent. That he wasn’t just a powerful alpha but something closer to the Numen God of the old stories. And now, with him walking, breathing confidence into the air, those rumors suddenly felt less like legend and more like fact.

Which made Elias, marked, seated beside him, calm under all those eyes, the obvious key. The one who had changed something. The one who might be holding the door to everything they wanted.

Elias let his gaze slide over the rows ahead, catching the quick flicker of eyes turning away when he met them. People who hadn’t so much as acknowledged his existence a month ago now wore polite, acquisitive smiles, already weighing how close they could get.

Victor didn’t bother lowering his voice. "They’re wondering how to approach you."

"Approach me for what?" Elias asked, feigning bland confusion.

"For access," Victor said simply.

—

When the break was called, the room shifted in an instant, chairs scraping, voices rising, the sound of polite laughter sharpening with intent.

Elias didn’t even make it to the coffee service before the first pair of them closed in. Researchers from a European consortium, their credentials impressive enough to hide the desperation in their smiles. They opened with warm praise for his "remarkable leadership" on the project, pivoting smoothly into questions about timelines, funding, and, inevitably, whether Numen’s backing meant they could "explore certain collaborative opportunities."

Before he could fully sidestep them, another voice chimed in. A silver-haired man in a suit that probably cost more than Elias’s entire wardrobe, introducing himself as a dean from a prestigious North American university. He spoke glowingly of Elias’s "potential" and suggested that a transfer to their program could "accelerate" his work, with guaranteed funding and "unprecedented resources."

More followed. Two women representing a joint project across several research institutes, their conversation quick and laced with the assumption that he’d be eager to align himself with them.

Elias kept his expression politely neutral, nodding in all the right places while giving absolutely nothing away. Every offer, every compliment, had a hook buried in it, and he had no intention of swallowing any of them.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Victor across the room, surrounded by a small cluster of high-ranking partners from Numen’s inner corporate circle. Their suits were sharp, their body language deferential, and none of them looked like they’d give up Victor’s attention easily.

The next one wasn’t like the others.

He didn’t bother with smiles or polite small talk. Tall, broad-shouldered, the kind of alpha who carried himself like the world bent to make space for him. His eyes flicked briefly to the mark on Elias’s neck, then back up with a smirk that didn’t even try to hide the condescension.

"So this is how it works," he said, voice pitched low enough to seem casual but carrying an edge meant to cut. "One month, you’re a nobody grad student. The next, you’re sitting here with Numen’s name on your work. Guess opening your legs pays better than publishing."

Elias’s brows rose slowly, the insult sliding over him like water off glass. "And here I thought you were going to open with a pitch. Guess not everyone comes prepared."

The alpha’s smirk widened, sensing blood. "Why bother? We both know your expertise is... limited. If Numen wasn’t..."

He didn’t get to finish.

The bond pulled tight, warm and electric, a current that made the hair at the back of Elias’s neck prickle. The space beside him shifted, and suddenly Victor was there, silent, unhurried, but with a presence that made the air itself feel heavier.

He didn’t look at Elias. His gaze was locked on the other man, crimson and utterly without warmth.

"Walk away," Victor said, like he was dismissing a feisty pet.

The alpha tried to hold the stare, but it was like leaning into a storm. His jaw tightened, then he glanced away, muttering something that might have been meant as a retreating jab, but it was lost under the weight of Victor’s silence.

When he was gone, Victor’s attention finally cut to Elias, his smirk thin and edged. "You were taking too long to end that conversation."

Elias picked up his water, hiding a small, satisfied smile behind the rim. "You know, I can deal with them myself. There is no need to attract more attention to us."

Victor’s hand rested on the back of Elias’s chair, the contact deceptively light but the bond thrumming with a low, possessive heat. "Attention was already on you the moment he opened his mouth."

Elias set his glass down, tilting his head just enough to meet his gaze. "Then maybe next time, let me handle it without making it look like I need you to step in."

Victor’s mouth curved faintly, the kind of smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "It’s not about what you need. It’s about what’s mine."

"Jealousy doesn’t look good on you," Elias said, though the quiet amusement in his tone made it clear he wasn’t entirely disapproving.

Victor’s smirk sharpened. "It looks good enough to make him leave."

Elias huffed out a quiet laugh, leaning back in his chair as though the conversation were about nothing more than weather. "One of these days, you’re going to have to admit you enjoy it when people think you’re dangerous."

"I don’t care what they think," Victor murmured, his gaze sweeping the room before settling back on Elias.

Elias only sighed and braced himself for the second half of the symposium. He wasn’t sure who was more difficult to deal with, Victor or the leeches attempting to attach to him.