Eclipse Sector (V-Clan #3)

4. Ivana

CHAPTER FOUR

IVANA

Taking a deep breath, I steeled my spine and drew my brows upward as I faced Cillian.

“Excuse me?” Because what the hell was his problem?

Demanding that I say what I’m doing…

Isn’t it obvious that I’m simply standing here in a ballroom, same as him?

“You enrolled in the Eligible Omega Mates program. Why?” he demanded.

Excuse me? I wanted to repeat.

Instead, I folded my arms across my chest and gave him the haughtiest look I could muster. “How else am I supposed to find someone more in my league ?” Those were his words the other week, yes?

His eyebrows lifted like mine had seconds ago. “What?”

“You know, an Alpha who might appreciate my… what was it?” I glanced upward, pretending like I didn’t know every word he’d uttered that had broken my heart. “Oh, right. My misplaced confidence among my other unsavory qualities .”

Repeating those descriptions did little to heal my emotional wounds. However, I did rather enjoy the confused expression rolling across Cillian’s features. The Elite was rarely caught off guard, but clearly I was surprising him now.

He blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Come on, you’re the one who said I needed to start looking for a more appropriate mate, one who won’t mind my…” I looked up again, then snapped my fingers. “My penchant for telling Alphas what to do. Maybe I’ll find that Alpha through the courtship program. Perhaps he’ll like my childish games , too.”

That had his eyebrows flying upward, realization seeming to have finally cut through the layers of his stubborn mind. “Ivana?—”

“It’s fine, Cillian,” I interjected, not wanting to discuss this further. “I already told Quinnlynn that I’ll happily relocate to Night Sector. Soon enough, you won’t have to worry about my unsavory company at all.”

I gave him a consolatory pat on the arm, then shadowed to the other side of the room before my eyes gave away my true feelings.

Or before I said something I shouldn’t.

Something heartfelt. Painful. Depressing .

Because just seeing him brought back all the emotions he’d evoked that night.

A night when I realized I’d been hoping and trying in vain to win the attention of an Alpha who would never see me as worthy of him.

Who would never desire me like I desired him.

Stop this, I chastised myself. Stop thinking about him .

Of course, this had been the entire point of asking Benz to?—

“Nicely done,” the Beta interjected, appearing beside me as though conjured by my thoughts. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cillian look so out of sorts.”

Gritting my teeth, I rotated toward my best friend and narrowed my gaze at him. “You had one job as my escort tonight, Benz: don’t let me talk to Cillian.”

“You told me not to let you look for him or approach him or talk about him,” Benz replied. “You said nothing about keeping him from approaching you.”

My lips parted, prepared to offer a retort.

Except…

Except nothing came out.

Because he was right.

I’d told him not to let me go anywhere near Cillian. It had never even crossed my mind to tell Benz to stop Cillian from talking to me.

Because Cillian never sought me out.

Not once in our entire six years of knowing one another.

Unless I counted the first night we’d met, but he hadn’t actually been there for me. I’d been an unexpected part of the situation. So that hardly counted.

Cillian came up to me, I marveled. How… strange.

And how incredibly frustrating, too.

Because now he was very much on my mind. On an evening when I’d vowed to move on. To step into my future. To stop fretting over an Alpha who didn’t want me.

My fingers curled into fists, my jaw clenching as irritation sizzled along each of my nerve endings.

“Prince Cael,” Benz greeted suddenly, his tone taking on a regal quality that he complemented with a bow.

“Hello,” a cultured voice said in response, his accent holding a touch of English to it. “Am I interrupting?”

“Of course not,” Benz replied, his head still lowered. “I’m simply Omega Ivana’s escort for the evening.”

“A friend, then?”

“A friend,” Benz echoed.

“A best friend,” I corrected him.

Benz’s lips curled just slightly. “Yes, a best friend.”

“That is a very important distinction,” Prince Cael murmured. “Beta…?”

“Benz,” my best friend replied, finally lifting his head.

“Cael,” the Alpha said in return, the two of them shaking hands. “It seems I need to impress you almost as much as Omega Ivana.”

I blinked at that, my focus shifting to the Alpha Prince.

Prince Cael and I had never met, but I knew of him. He’d attended the coronation a few weeks ago. As had Prince Tadhg, Prince Lykos, and a handful of other high-ranking V-Clan wolves.

Of course, I knew of Prince Cael before that evening, too.

He was an Alpha Prince.

Everyone knew of him.

His blue-green eyes captured and held mine as I openly evaluated him. I should probably bow or curtsy, but my wolf seemed too intrigued by this male’s nearness to cower or submit.

Which was precisely the wrong way to react to an Alpha Prince.

However, he didn’t admonish me for it. He merely smiled, the action making his handsome features that much more alluring.

“Why would you need to impress either of us?” I asked him. It was typically the other way around where Alpha Princes were concerned.

“Because I’ll be joining the mating pool,” he replied softly.

My eyebrows lifted. “But you can’t relocate to Night Sector.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Indeed, I cannot. However, Kieran has given me special permission, as I require a mate for Lunar Sector.”

“Oh.” My brow furrowed as I considered what he was saying. “You don’t have any eligible Omegas?”

“There are a few in Lunar Sector, but none that are suitable,” he replied. “I’m either related to them, or they’re too young.”

“Hmm, I suppose that would pose a bit of a problem,” I agreed, cocking my head. “Good thing King Kieran discovered more, then.”

Benz cleared his throat beside me, causing me to glance at him. His turquoise eyes seemed to be trying to convey some sort of warning, one I didn’t quite understand.

Had Prince Cael not been standing beside us, I’d have been tempted to demand, What the hell is that look for?

Except, just thinking about it provided me with the answer.

I was speaking to Prince Cael as I would anyone else.

Although, he wasn’t anyone else . He was an Alpha Prince . A visiting royal from another sector. A being who required respect, exuded authority, and no doubt expected me to submit .

Especially as an Omega.

“Forgive me, Prince Cael,” I said immediately, falling into a curtsy. “You caught me by surprise.”

“On the contrary, I think you caught me by surprise,” he replied, holding out a hand. “Formalities are unnecessary, as are apologies. I find your candor refreshing.”

“Refreshing?” I repeated dumbly, my gaze on his hand while I maintained a curtsied position.

“Yes, refreshing .” He waggled his fingers in my view.

I swallowed, unsure of what to say now. What does he mean by “refreshing”? It sounded like a compliment. But surely I’d misunderstood him.

And why is he moving his hand like that? Is he trying to tell me to stand?

“Would you like to begin anew?” he asked, causing my brow to furrow. “Perhaps I can properly introduce myself and you can return the favor? Then you can give me your beautiful gaze again rather than wasting the view on my hand.”

I glanced up at him, his words so unexpected that I couldn’t help it.

A pair of dimples framed his elegant smile, his eyes crinkling a bit with the action. “Hello. I’m Cael.”

I straightened. “Seriously?”

“Quite serious. And you are?”

Arching a brow, I deadpanned, “Ivana.”

He smirked and held out his hand again. “Lovely to meet you, Ivana.”

I gave him my palm, purely because it felt natural to do so. Then I felt my own lips curling as he bent to press a kiss to the back of my hand. It was a very formal gesture, if a bit intimate. “I thought you said formalities are unnecessary?”

“They are,” he said, his blue-green irises swirling with secrets as he held my gaze. “But I’ll never turn down an opportunity to kiss an Omega.”

“Unless you’re related to the Omega, or if the Omega is too young,” I replied, reiterating his claim regarding the Omegas in his sector. “Correct?”

He chuckled, releasing my hand as he stood up once more. “I like you, Ivana.”

“That’s not exactly an answer,” I pointed out.

“When I kiss an Omega I’m related to, it’s on the cheek in a brotherly kind of way.” He paused, his gaze flicking upward. “Well, I suppose the same could be said about Lunar Sector’s two little five-year-old hellhound Omegas, too. But that’s more so because they demand kisses from me.”

I smile again, entertained by his description. “So you’ve already been claimed, then?”

“It seems that way some days,” he replied. “They’re probably not going to be too enthused by me joining the mating pool.”

“No, I bet not.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Maybe they’ll forgive me if I find a more age-appropriate mate to help me create an Alpha pup for them to fight over.”

“Already planning for your future children?” I asked, my eyebrow inching upward again. “What if you and your mate create an Omega instead?”

“Then my mate and I will have to try for an Alpha the second time around,” he returned without missing a beat.

“So you want multiple pups?”

“Of course. What Alpha doesn’t?”

“Hmm,” I hummed, considering the question. “Well?—”

I very nearly replied “Cillian”—because of course my mind went there first—but Benz cleared his throat, interrupting my thought.

“I’m going to grab a blood champagne. Would either of you like one?” he asked. It was a smoothly delivered line, one anyone else would assume was innocently voiced.

However, I knew better.

Benz had absolutely known what I’d been about to say, and he’d effortlessly stopped me from mentioning a certain Alpha’s name.

“Ah, you’re taking my line,” Prince Cael said, his amusement palpable. “Shouldn’t I be offering to find the lovely female a drink?”

Benz grinned. “I think the lovely female is enjoying your conversation too much to part with your company. So I’ll go handle the drinks, like a proper escort.” He shot me a wink before stepping away, leaving me alone on the edge of the ballroom dance floor with the Alpha.

“Well, I daresay your best friend is rather charming,” Prince Cael mused.

“I think Benz would say the same about you.” Because this Alpha was clearly cut from the same cloth as Benz.

“Oh?” He feigned surprise. “You think I’m charming?”

“I think you know you’re charming, My Prince,” I told him.

“Just ‘Cael,’ please.” He gifted me with another one of those alluring smiles. “We’ve already agreed to forgo formalities, yes?”

“Then you’ll need to call me Ivana rather than lovely female ,” I told him.

He laughed, the sound so infectious that I couldn’t stop myself from smiling in response.

Yep. Definitely a charmer, I thought, surprised by how comfortable I felt in his presence. Only Benz had ever managed to accomplish such a feat this quickly. And even he took a little bit of warming up to.

“Kieran told me I would like you,” Cael said, his gaze dancing over me in obvious merriment. “He wasn’t wrong.”

“King Kieran told you about me?”

He nodded. “Yes. He suggested I come talk to you tonight, and I must say, I’m glad I listened.”

“Why did he tell you to talk to me?” I wondered aloud.

He shrugged. “I think he was trying to ensure I joined the mating pool.”

“By introducing us?”

“Yes.” He cocked his head a little to the side, causing his dark locks to fall playfully across his forehead. “If it was his goal to entice me, he’s succeeded.”

“I thought you were joining because you need a mate?”

“I do need a mate, and I fully intend to join the pool,” he replied. “But I didn’t tell Kieran that. He’s an ally, not a friend. Although, I’m starting to question the latter. He’s proving to be quite intuitive where my needs and desires are concerned.”

My cheeks heated as Cael looked me up and down, his insinuation clear.

“I hope I’m not being too forward,” he said after a beat of silence. “I just don’t see the point in hiding my intentions or dancing around the truth. And something tells me you feel similarly.”

“I do,” I admitted, swallowing.

Benz chose that exact moment to return, causing the Alpha to grin widely once more. “Ah, perfect timing, mate.” He accepted one of the flutes from Benz and gave it to me before taking a second for himself.

“Thank you,” I said to them both.

Benz flashed me a grin.

Cael issued his own thanks to Benz, then returned his focus to me. “A toast, then?” he asked. “To the mating games?”

Mating games , I repeated to myself. An interesting turn of phrase.

“Yes,” I agreed, clinking my crystal glass against his. “To the mating games.”

His smile was positively dazzling. “Cheers, then.”

“Cheers,” I returned, tapping my flute to Benz’s as well.

I took a sip, the blood-laced alcohol easily sliding down my throat—an action Cael watched with interest before following suit.

It all felt so natural.

So easy .

And yet… I could feel Cillian’s eyes on me.

Maybe it was just in my mind. Some hopeful part of me not wanting to let him go. My wolf refusing to acknowledge defeat.

I couldn’t say.

But I swore I could almost hear him growling in my mind.

A fantasy , I decided. That’s all he ever was.

However, Cael— Prince Cael—might just be the true fantasy.

Only time would tell.

Mating games, I thought once more. Mating games indeed…