ROYAL CONTEST

16| CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CROWN PRINCE OWEN'S POV

During the entire dinner, I kept thinking about what Clara said to me. I love Alyssa and I have never thought of denying it. She knows how I feel about her and I know how she feels about me even though she hasn't said anything to me.

She's already mine even though we aren't fully mated. My dragon met her and as a result, my Lycan as well as my wolf wants to meet her too. I also want her to meet them but I can't force her.

I don't even know how I'm going to ask her because it seems she is ignoring me. It's been a week -yes, I have been counting- since I kissed her that day and since then, she has been trying really hard to avoid me and she is doing a damn good job at it.

After dinner, I decided to follow her.

"You've been avoiding me." It wasn't a question. She was surprised to see me.

"How did you get here before me? I left before you."

"I'm super fast, remember?"

"Your highness, you shouldn't be here at this hour. Your chambers are in that direction." She pointed to the left, where I should've gone.

"I know that but you've been avoiding me for a week. I wanted to see you."

"We've been having breakfast, lunch and dinner together. We see each other every day."

"You know what I mean, Alyssa." She didn't say anything after that. She didn't have the guts to look at me!

"Do I make you uncomfortable?"

"What?"

"I asked if I make you uncomfortable."

"Why would you ask that?"

"I just want to know so that I will stay as far as possible from you. I don't want to be the reason why you're unhappy here."

"I never said that!"

"You don't have to shout at me. I merely asked you a question. You didn't have a problem with looking at me before and now you won't even steal a glance."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She still wouldn't look at me and I hated that. If it wasn't because of the mindlink bond, I would think that maybe I was just forcing myself into her but that's not the case.

She loves me just as much as I love her.

"When I kissed you that day, I thought everything was going well. I thought you felt the same about me and that maybe if you already felt the same, you had already accepted your feelings for me.

"I know you don't know me but I can assure you, I would never have kissed you if I thought it was wrong, if I thought you didn't want to kiss me.

"I told you the first day that I kissed you that I don't go around kissing just about anyone and everyone. I am not going to apologise for kissing you though because it will just mess up everything. It would be an insult to you, me and my feelings for you.

"I'm not going to bother you again. Have a good night, Lady Alyssa."

She didn't say anything and I wasn't expecting her to say anything. I left her standing next to her door and went to my chambers.

'Did you really had to let your ego stand in your way of making her ours?' I knew he was going to say something. Stupid wolf!

'Did I ask for your opinion?'

'I know you, Owen and I think you need my advice.'

'Well, you're wrong. I don't need your advice.'

'You will never admit it but I know you need it. She loves you and you know that. We all know that and she is already mated to us. She's already Crown Princess Alyssa Owen Harrington.'

'She's half-mated to us."

'Half-mated or fully mated is still mated. If you let your stupid ego get in your way, you will lose our mate and losing her means losing us. And by us, I mean all of us. Including yourself.'

I don't need to be told twice. If I lose my mate, I will also lose all my animals. I will be weak and I will eventually die. I may have all these super abilities but losing my mate will make me weak, all my animals will be weak and as a result, I will lose them.

After losing them, it will be a matter of time before I also lose my life.

My wolf is right, I can't afford to lose her. I love her and she is already mated to me whether she wants it or not. I know she loves me, which is why I don't understand why she is pushing me away.

I am not going to force her to accept me though. I don't know the reason why she is acting like this all of a sudden and I guess that is what I should find out before making any decision I will regret later on.

My wolf is right, I needed his advice and he gave it to me like he always does, but I am not going to tell him that. If I did, I would never hear the end of it. That stupid wolf is too proud.

'You do know I can hear you, right? Admitting that I am more useful to you than your stupid dragon and lycan won't hurt you. We both know that.'

I decided to block him. The truth is, he is always right. My dragon is always quick to act, he is too proud, even more than my wolf and my lycan is the quiet one, which is why both my wolf and dragon think he is stupid.

He only shows up when my father is around and now that Alyssa is here too, he shows up more than usual. Even though he is more powerful than my wolf, he never says anything to him for all the insults he always throws his way. He always allows him to do and say whatever he wants about him.

I decided to get ready for bed because I didn't have anything to do.

I couldn't sleep no matter how hard I tried. I kept thinking about her and there was nothing I could do to take her out of my mind. On top of that, it was like my lycan was punishing me for praising him earlier.

'What is wrong with you today? We were getting along really well, or so I thought.' I decided to talk to him when I couldn't take it anymore.

'Do you think she will leave?' What?!

'Who are you talking about?'

'Don't play jokes with me, Jason. You know exactly who I'm talking about.' One thing about these three: they will never use the name the others use to call me. My dragon calls me Chris, which is short for Christopher, my wolf calls me Owen and my lycan calls me Jason.

I guess I should be grateful that I have three names otherwise they were going to give me names of their own choices and since I know their sense of taste, I wasn't going to like any of those names.

'Why are you talking to me all of a sudden? You don't say anything to me, you just control me whenever you feel like it.'

'I'm an Alpha, control is my nature.'

'Well, I know that, but what I don't understand is why you are talking to me all of a sudden. You've been practically living inside me for more than fifteen years and the last time you said something was when you introduced yourself to me.

'You don't even say anything when my dragon or my wolf says something against you. So, I'm asking again. Why now? And why did you choose this time?! I was trying to sleep.'

'I was worried.' Huh? That's a first.

'Your ancestor decided it was okay for him to choose how we should mate. Even though we have the power to choose our own mate, we only have one and we have made our choice.

'If Alyssa decides to leave, you know what will happen. Even though I hate that wolf of yours, I have to admit that he is right. You shouldn't have reacted like that to our mate.

'She's new to all of this and it's understandable that she is scared. She's never had a boyfriend before and now that she loves someone, that person is not only a crowned prince but has another nineteen girls fighting for a place in his heart.'

Why is he a hypocrite?

'So I guess what you are trying to say is that I am experienced. Have I loved someone before or have I had a girlfriend before?'

'You know exactly what I meant.'

'I understand that I am the first guy she has ever loved but she is also the first woman I have ever loved. How is it different for her?'

'I have never thought of you as a stupid person. Don't you see what is different? You are a crown prince, you have three apex predators living inside you. You basically shift into an enormous dragon, a giant lycan and a tiny wolf who is an apex predator nonetheless.'

My wolf didn't like that comment and I had to try so hard to stop myself from laughing. I guess this is his way of paying back.

'And what does she turn into? Nothing. She is just a tiny little girl who happens to have a wolf inside her. You terrify her and no matter how big and strong her love for you is, it doesn't stop her from being scared.'

'What did you say?'

'I said a lot of things. Which one exactly?'

'You said something about a wolf. I want to know if I heard you correctly or if I was just dreaming.'

'I said she is just a tiny little girl who happens to have a wolf inside her.'

'How do you know that? I know I didn't tell you that and when my mom said that, I blocked all three of you.'

'Is it that hard to know that? I didn't think it was a secret. I felt it the very first day I saw her. I thought you felt it too and that's why you were so drawn to her.

'Why do you think I was drawn to her? I agree that she is beautiful, she is smart, but when I saw her, I saw a wolf inside her. Right at that moment, I knew I wanted her and it seemed like for the first time in my life, I wanted something that you also wanted.'

If he saw her wolf, does that mean they all saw it and I didn't? How is that possible?

'Even though her wolf is there, she is latent. It's not your fault that you couldn't sense her presence. Even your mother couldn't, it's just that she knows Alyssa's mother was a werewolf too.'

'What about my father? Do you think he could sense her presence too?'

'No.'

'Why is that? He is a lycan too.'

'That's true, but Alyssa is not his mate, she's mine.'

That means they all felt it and didn't say anything to me. I don't blame them though, I never asked. And if I hadn't blocked them that day when my mother told me, they would've told me that they felt it.

I just assumed that they would tell me when in truth they didn't even know that I couldn't sense it myself.

I didn't even realise I needed that talk with my lycan until I started to look at things from Alyssa's perspective. I would be scared too if a woman I was interested in could turn into a dragon or lycan or wolf and I was only human.

I know she is not entirely human but still, it makes sense why she is scared. And regarding the other girls, I don't know what I would do if I was competing against other guys for her.

This isn't as simple as I wanted to believe it to be.