CHAPTER 56: CHAPTER 56: MY MATE

Ryker leaned back in his chair, a smug smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Yes," he said to Kael with quiet confidence, "half of why Aiden has been pursuing me this strongly might really be because of the mate attraction. But I believe the other half is because of my own appeal. I am handsome, after all, and I even saved him. Why wouldn’t Aiden fall for me immediately? I’m telling you, Kael, even without the mate bond, Aiden would still have fallen for me eventually. It might have taken longer, but it would have happened."

Kael groaned and rolled his eyes at Ryker’s self-assured tone.

"Yeah, yeah," Kael said with a faint smirk, "whatever you say, prince."

Ryker chuckled at that, clearly entertained by Kael’s sarcasm. His mood, which had been tense only moments ago, had brightened considerably.

"Now I can finally tell my family that I’ve found my mate," Ryker said, sounding almost giddy. "They’ll have no choice but to cancel that ridiculous engagement with Seraphina. Where is my cell phone?"

He pushed his chair back and stood abruptly, scanning the room. His sharp eyes landed on his phone at the charging port, where it had been left to charge earlier. He quickly unplugged it and unlocked the screen, ready to call his father and smugly deliver the news.

But before Ryker could even dial the number, Kael’s hand shot out, snatching the phone from his grasp.

Ryker frowned immediately, his earlier good mood souring. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice edged with displeasure.

Kael didn’t flinch under Ryker’s stare. Instead, he calmly held the phone out of reach. "No," Kael replied evenly. "The real question is, what are you doing?"

Ryker’s brows furrowed in confusion and annoyance. "I’m about to call my father, obviously," he said. "Now that Aiden is confirmed as my mate, that seventy percent prediction you made about my family accepting him just became a hundred percent. They can’t argue with me now. I have to tell them so they can cancel that ridiculous engagement with Seraphina."

Kael rolled his eyes again, clearly exasperated. "Can you, for once, think before you act?" he asked. "Where is your proof? How exactly are you planning to prove to your father that you and Aiden are actually fated mates?"

Ryker crossed his arms over his chest, irritation written all over his face. "Through the mate-seeking bond, of course."

This time Kael gave an even bigger eye roll. "So let me get this straight," he said slowly. "You want to prove to your father that you and Aiden are mates by using a bond that no one can see or verify? Something that only you and Aiden can feel? Which means your father would have to just take your word for it. Tell me, Ryker, do you honestly think he will believe you? Or do you think he’ll assume this is yet another excuse you’re using to get out of your engagement with Seraphina, just like you’ve tried to do before?"

Ryker scowled, Kael’s words hitting a little too close to home. He hated the fact that Kael was making sense.

"But when Aiden wolves out," Ryker argued, "just the size of his wolf will prove to my father that I was telling the truth. Dominant omega wolves are bigger than normal wolves—sometimes even bigger than other alphas. Dominant omega bodies are just a little smaller than dominant alphas, so that will be enough proof."

Kael’s expression softened into one of mild pity as he shook his head. "Listen to yourself. You just said ’when,’ which means Aiden hasn’t wolfed out yet. You can’t use something that hasn’t even happened as proof."

Kael folded his arms and continued, his voice more serious now. "You also can’t use the fact that Aiden has three high bloodlines as proof either. Sure, the school test results confirmed that he does have those bloodlines, but he hasn’t manifested a single one of them. Your family will only see the failure. They won’t care about the potential, only about the fact that Aiden can’t use any of his powers yet."

Kael paused, watching Ryker’s expression grow stormy, before continuing. "And you’re forgetting something else. Aiden can only master one bloodline in the end. There has never been a case where someone manifested two bloodlines at once. The other two bloodlines will only boost whichever one ends up being the dominant bloodline. So what if, by the end of the day, Aiden’s final bloodline isn’t his wolf bloodline? You know what that would mean."

Ryker clenched his jaw but didn’t speak.

"It would mean," Kael said gravely, "that even if Aiden is a dominant omega, the bond would break. His wolf would disappear because he can’t be both a wolf and a creature of another race at the same time. Your mate bond would be gone. You’d be back to being mate-less. And I guarantee your father would think of this possibility, if you tell him now, that is if he truly believe your word of Aiden being your fated mate."

Kael’s voice softened slightly. "You can still be with Aiden later, even if the mate bond doesn’t survive, as long as he manifests one of his bloodlines. At that point your father will be convinced that you’ve successfully secured the most powerful being of another race for the wolves. That’s why I gave you that seventy percent earlier. But if you tell your father about the mate bond now and he actually believes you, and then Aiden’s final bloodline turns out not to be his wolf bloodline, your father will be furious. He will feel like something meant for the wolves was stolen by another race."

Ryker’s face darkened, his fists curling at his sides. "So what you’re telling me," he said slowly, "is that after all this excitement, the Moon Goddess could be cruel enough to let my mate’s wolf bloodline disappear. Which would mean I end up mate-less all over again. That’s like dangling a cake in front of a child and then snatching it away right when the child is about to eat it. That is cruel."

Kael reached out and patted Ryker’s shoulder in a rare gesture of comfort. "Don’t overthink it," he said softly. "We don’t know anything yet. Aiden’s final bloodline could still be his wolf bloodline. The Moon Goddess might not be that harsh. You just need to wait and see."

Ryker exhaled slowly, his anger barely contained. "I really thought this was my chance to finally get rid of Seraphina and be with Aiden," he admitted, his voice tight. "But now it looks like I’ll have to wait again, even though the need to be with him is driving me insane."

Kael sighed and nodded. "You just have to endure it. And honestly, another reason you shouldn’t say anything to your father right now is because of Seraphina. Aiden might be strong enough to fight other students now and warn them to stay away, but you know as well as I do that deterrence won’t work on Seraphina. She has too many powerful supporters in this school. If she learns there’s even a tiny possibility that Aiden might be your true mate, she’ll stop at nothing to kill him. And right now, Aiden can’t fight her."

Ryker’s temper finally snapped. He slammed his fist into his desk, the massive oak table splintering under the force as though it were nothing more than paper.

Kael flinched at the sound and stared at the broken table in disbelief. "I know you’re frustrated," he said carefully, "but can you please control yourself? Just last semester we had to replace your desk three times because you kept breaking them when you lost your temper. Do you know how expensive these tables are?"

Ryker stared at Kael, clearly unimpressed. "Really? Do you think this is the best time to complain to me about school furniture?"

Kael shrugged, trying to look innocent. "I was just trying to calm you down," he said, though his grin gave him away.

Ryker growled lowly in frustration. "Of course it’s not working! Seraphina always manages to block every source of happiness in my life. I’m the only dominant alpha in the world and yet I keep losing to one girl. And it’s not just losing—she’s shaping me into whatever she wants me to be. I hate it. I hate being controlled like this!"

Kael stayed silent for a moment, letting Ryker vent. He knew that if he were in Ryker’s shoes, he would be just as angry, maybe even worse. Still, he decided to lighten the mood.

"Well," Kael said lightly, "how about we go get something to eat?"

Ryker stared at him in disbelief, completely speechless. Of all things Kael could have said, that was not what he had expected. Before Ryker could even respond, his stomach betrayed him with a loud grumble that filled the room.

Even Ryker, with all his confidence and pride, felt his cheeks heat slightly.

Kael burst into laughter. "Looks like your stomach agrees with me," he teased.

Ryker scowled, though the corner of his mouth twitched. He punched Kael lightly on the shoulder and muttered, "Shut up."

Kael only laughed harder, the tension finally breaking between them.