A MATE IN TWO. Princes of Anon (2)

ELI

~LUCIEN~

"I really don't know what to say Lucy." mother whispers and gracefully moves from her seat to stand in front of me with a smile, one I'm sure is meant to reassure me, but I don't feel that way right now.

"I just don't want you to worry so much," I say to her.

She leans in and cradles my face with her soft hand.

"You can't tell a mother not to worry about her son," she says.

"can you please not tell anyone about this, at least not now?" I ask her, waiting patiently for a reply as she gazes into my eyes with uncertainty.

"If anything, I want to be the one to tell everyone when I'm ready and when I've found who I'm looking for," I tell her.

I don't want everyone to know what is going on. I don't want them to see how hopeless I feel, neither do I want them to feel pity for me or feel obligated to help because they are my family.

The worst thing would be for them to know who I'm searching for only for me to spend years looking for them just like Dominique did.

He handled everything so well when he was looking for his mate. The sorry looks from Dan, mom frequently asking him how his search is going.

Although she tried to help him, we all did. But I can't handle so many people being in my business like that, it doesn't really matter if their intentions are good and they are only looking for my happiness.

I will feel like a burden, I will feel so much worse than I do now and it will only make me want to isolate myself more and I really don't want to do that.

"If that is really what you want, then I'll keep my mouth shut and not say a word to anyone," she says, making me sigh in relief.

"Now as promised, I'll get out of your hair and let you finish your work, I've already taken too much of your time." mother says, her lips pulling up into one of those smirks that spells trouble.

"I'm very serious, mother, I don't want them to know yet," I say with a slight warning to my voice.

She only smiles and raises her hands in surrender. 

"I keep my word. what do you take me for?" she asks with a gasp sounding offended.

But we all know her, she sometimes does things she is not supposed to do, although it's not for a bad reason, she always has our best interest at heart. Still, that does not cancel out how sly she can be and the fact that you have to be serious with what you tell her for her to know what you want her to.

"Thank you then," I say and press my lips against her warm 

cheeks in gratitude.

"Your father and I need to go and get ready. we're going for a vacation," she says and almost giggles like a little girl. That is what they have been doing since Micca's coronation, and I'm really happy for them. Although being a leader comes with its perks, it's so much stress too, especially with what happened during the few months of their reign.

"that's good. You two deserve it" I say with a smile.

I can confidently say that they have been to places on Anon that most of us have not yet been to. There are still some parts of this planet that are not occupied. Anon is about twice the size of Earth; from all that, I have learned.

And the current species barely cover half of this world, so you can imagine the vast land left. The views to see and things to explore and enjoy.

And I have all the intention of exploring as much as I can.

"Bring back some pictures and souvenirs the next time you go to earth." mother says, "I might discuss it with your father, we have to go there for our next vacation."

She says and with a kiss to my cheeks, heads out with a smile on her lips, and that glint in her eyes that tells me that she will have a hard time keeping her words. I had to bend down just a bit for her to reach my cheeks though. She's not short but neither is she as tall as me.

Silence takes her place when she steps out, gently closing the door behind her. Although this is my office, it looks like a mini library with all the shelves filled to the brim with books. I read anything really. Novels, journals, Biographies, textbooks, anything really, as long as it keeps my head out of places that I don't need it to be and fills my head with thoughts that won't make my heartache like right now.

 I can clearly picture that male, and the female he was dancing with, and strangely enough, there is not an ounce of jealousy at the memory of him being with her and touching her so intimately.

I can still smell him. That minty scent of his.

I audibly sigh and lean my back against the windows, close my eyes, and allow my senses to be clouded by that scent. It's as if he's right in front of me, my fingertips still tingles from just that small touch. 

Now that I focus on his scent, I can smell just a tinge of rose. I didn't really pay attention to it the last time, but I can confidently say that that scent belongs to the female he was with and not him.

But even that knowledge doesn't make me angry or jealous, instead, it calms me down. Those two completely different smells together, mixed perfectly invades my senses as though I was there again.

My beast purrs at the memory of being so close to them. The memory of being so close to holding him makes my skin tingle.

" Goddess, help me," I say out loud with a sigh.

I have not seen his face, haven't even heard his voice yet, and I already feel this way. So enraptured by just his smell and the little contact I had with him.

But it makes me wonder, what is it about that female he was with that makes me not want to tear her heart out for touching him. From what I know, if he really is my mate, I should want him to myself, and the thought of him being with someone else should make my beast angry without control... but it doesn't.

And the only reason I can give to that now, is that he might not be my mate and that this could just be an infatuation.

My head is even hurting from thinking so much into it, so with a sigh, I turn off the computer and walk out of my office to go for a run, maybe I can get a proper animal to hunt, not those miniature ones on earth.

I haven't really let him out since I came back. I've been too busy with work, but it's not healthy to do that.

"ooff" 

I look down when a small body crashes into me.

"Eli, get back here!" Inanna's voice resounds in the near-empty hallway and the little boy hides behind my leg with a laugh, his hands holding on to my knees.

I smile and kneel down to face the boy that looks so much like Dominique, with a smile.

"I'm really not hungry uncle Lucy," he says with a pout and wide olive green eyes that are just as big as his mothers. His golden-brown hair reaches his shoulders.

Also, the kid now has a habit of calling me Lucy all because mother wouldn't stop calling me that in front of him. It's not annoying or anything like that. To be honest, I didn't mind him calling me that when he started to talk and couldn't pronounce my full name, but I guess I'm completely used to him calling me that now.

"Hmm, is it the food you don't want to eat or the vegetables?" I ask and ruffle his hair making him pout harder.

"Eli!" Inanna's voice interrupts us, making Eli visibly jump from his mother's clear warning whilst I playful look disapprovingly into his eyes as he tries to run away, but I stop him by lifting him up and setting him on my shoulders.

"Please uncle Lucy. I don't want to eat the vegetables," he says through fits of laughter as I tickle him with him still on my shoulders holding on tighter to me.

"Aha. So it is about the vegetables, not the food." I laugh along with him as he keeps on repeating yes.

Olivia did say that Inanna did not like eating her fruits and vegetables as a kid, so it's no wonder her child is also showing such distaste for the same food.

"There you are," Inanna says when she finally gets to where we are. Her hand is on her hips and a frown on her face. 

"I'm not hungry mama." Eli laughs when I bring him down from my shoulder and make him sit on my arms with his arms around my neck.

Inanna's lips keep trembling with the urge to turn the frown upside down and in the end, she just can't help but give in to her kid.

"I'm sorry that's he's bothering you Lucien." she apologizes with a smile as I hand her son over to her.

"He's not a bother," I reply with a smile. In fact, the kid just helped me, he helped me calm my mind down and to get my head back on Anon instead of on earth.

"See mama, I'm not a bother." Eli proudly says making Inanna and I chuckle.

"not all the time," Inanna says and pinches the kid's cheeks.

"How are you, Lucien?" Inanna asks with a smile, Her eyes flash momentarily with silver before going back to their purple ones.

"I should be the one asking you that. You have Eli to worry you but I don't." I say instead, turning the conversation away from how I'm doing, I'm sure she already has an inkling of how I'm doing.

After her near-death experience, she gained some new abilities that both baffles and amazes me. So I won't be surprised if she sensed how I'm feeling.

She hums, her brows creasing and her eyes shine for just a moment before going back to their normal ones and the crease on her brows vanishes, giving way to a smile.

"Can we go now mama, I think I'm hungry now." Eli shyly says with flushed cheeks making Inanna and I chuckle.

"Okay, and I'm not letting you get away this time." She says and litters a laughing Eli with kisses. 

And for a second, just a fleeting second, I find myself once again yearning for a family of my own.

"Oh, when are the three of you going back to Sol.?" I ask her when she turns around to leave.

"I don't know yet. Zena wants to spend some more time with Eli. Things are going very smoothly there with Michael and Lois taking care of things without us, so we might spend some more time here." she says after a second of thinking through her words.

I nod at her answer. It's typical of mother to want to keep Eli here for a while, he is her first grandchild.

"Bye Uncle Lucy!" Eli yells over Inanna's shoulders with a toothy smile and a wave of his hand, one I return along with a smile.

I still haven't been able to understand how things went 10 years ago when Inanna was performing the ritual. The side effects were unexpected and very powerful. We still don't know what else Inanna can do now aside from getting into people's heads and making lightning. But I'm sure there is more. 

What marvels me is how Dominique seems to share Inanna's abilities with her. No, it is not like Dominique is borrowing powers from Inanna, because if that was so, it would leave her weak and completely drained.

Instead, it is like a well of abilities and gifts that only Inanna and Dominique can tap into. And each time, they get something more powerful than the other, each time they seem to growl stronger, not only in power but emotionally and mentally. 

As if they see things we do not see, as if they understand things we do not understand. And as amazing as that sounds, it is also very unpredictable what else they might get in that figurative well.

They even feel what each other feels. All mates can do that, but theirs is different. They don't just feel some of the others pain, they feel exactly what the other feels as if it is happening to them.