Chapter 64 - Negotiation

"How hilarious. I feel like I am reading some stupid low-rated romance novels, my heart is bleeding so much just from watching it." 

'Gosh, did she have to provoke me every time we had a conversation? God dammit, my pre-rut is making my emotions unstable.' Zeke's expression shifted slightly at Clement's remark. 

"I wonder how popular it would be; a soap opera where the protagonist is having a love affair with his fiance's butler. What a laughable joke." However, there was no emotion in her words. They were just said lightly, which brought a great surprise to Zeke. 

"What are you trying to imply?" Zeke sighed as he threw his back against the furniture. 

Pre-rut was making him impatient. The gentlemanly side he tried to maintain was slowly shedding, dissipating into the air. 

"What am I trying to imply, huh?" Clement reached for her teacup, taking a sip out of it with her little pinky raised like a noble. "Nothing, actually." 

There was a moment of silence. 

"I like him." Zeke suddenly said. "And I want him." 

"Well, aren't you being heartbreakingly honest?" Clement scoffed, there was a mocking tone underneath them. 

Zeke himself was actually quite confused. Why had he said that? But for some reasons, his guts kept on urging him to be honest about it. "Perhaps, I just want to hear your thoughts." 

"As much as I'm flattered, why my thoughts, Roderick?" 

Zeke shrugged his shoulders. The weather might be cold with frost biting at their heels, but not Zeke. He was sweating under his suit and was practically swimming in it. He blamed it on his pre-rut. 

He had actually taken a few suppressant pills, chugging them down like a drug addict, yet they never seemed to work efficiently on him. 

Clement clicked her tongue, expressing her displeasure as she realized Zeke wasn't going to elaborate more. "What a polite ȧssaulter. Don't tell me, you are asking for my blessings?" 

"If you will, who am I to refuse?" 

"What a bastard." Clement finally enquired in aghast. "Not so much of a gentleman anymore, are you?" 

"I have told you before and I will say it again; I want him. I want all of him." The black-haired Alpha's answer was simple, and the man looked like he was perturbed by the words he spoke himself. 

"Do you even love him or are you just ŀusting over him?" 

The young man froze slightly but Clement paid no heed as she continued. Before Zeke's mind could wander any longer, Clement's voice cut through his thoughts, a sharp, studious look on her face. "Are you certain you are not just taking advantage of his sub-gender with no sense of responsibility or even remorse for his future?"

The way she shaped her words made Zeke frown. What did she mean by that? The words acted like they carried unspoken messages. 

"Of course not. When I said I want him, I mean it. I love him. I completely understand you lack the capacity of understanding in that department--"

Clement's eyebrow twitched at that. 

"--but this is the first time I experience such a burst of emotions. The dėsɨrė to hold him, the dėsɨrė to build a future together, I want it, I want everything! I want to know what he likes, what he hates, what's his favorite food, even the sound of his laughs can light up my entire day. And what do you mean by not taking responsibility for his future? I can ȧssure you--" 

Clement coughed and held her hand up. "Please, save that stupid fantasy to yourself." 

Zeke snapped his mouth shut with an audible click as a fierce blush bloomed across his cheek, ears, and down to his neck. Embarrassment downed over him. What the hell did he think he was doing? Did he just do what he thought he did? 

Zeke felt like his head almost exploded with how much blood had risen to his head! He had just gone all out describing the love of his life to his soon to be fiance. And that said fiance didn't feel anything or even a tiny bit of weird about their topic of discussion. 

The black-haired man wanted to dig a hole for himself and weep forever in there. 

"Fine, but there is one condition." 

"As long as you don't interfere-- wait, why do I need your approval?" 'Yeah! Why do I need your approval?' 

"Aren't you the one asking for my thoughts?" 

'Don't raise your eyebrow at me, woman! Don't ever--! Fuck, she raised itQAQ!' 

"Yes, but not approval. Hold up-- don't tell me you like--" 

"Finish that sentence and I will make sure you never meet him again." 

Zeke jutted out his bottom lips, looking like someone kicked his puppy and he sniffed. "What condition?" 

"You are not allowed to confess first. If anything or whatever is going to happen between the two of you, it has to be him who confesses rather than you. To put it in better terms, if the bonding were to happen, he has to be the one who initiates it." 

"And if I disagree?" 

"I will mark him first." 

A possessive growl almost tore out of Zeke's throat. "Are you threatening me?" Bonds between Alpha and Omega were simple, once they marked each other, their bond would be permanent. 

Sadly, Beta didn't have the same capability to create a bond permanently, as in, they could give a bond bite, but could never receive one, the bond would always disappear after a certain time period. 

And since Alphas were really territorial, they much prefered Omegas rather than Betas, but the relationships between Alpha and Beta were not unheard of. 

Not seeing a bond bite on their mate could really set an Alpha off. 

Even though Zeke knew this, he still wanted Jian Yu more than anything and he absolutely didn't want Jian Yu to be marked by any other than him. 

"So do you agree or not?" 

"Fine." Zeke had no other choice but to agree. It wasn't like he was going to use force on Jian Yu either. It was best when the feeling was mutual, after all. Then he suddenly recalled the bitey bitey incident and couldn't help but became gloomy. 

Huffing, Zeke leaned his back in the same way as Clement, an ȧssuring smile suddenly on his face. "I never knew you cared.. Looks like you are kinder than I expected."