[Arthur's POV]
I smelled the strong scent of lemon soda from Steph. I knew Steph was lusting after me.
This realization spurred me on. After catching her amber eyes, the desire to have her long legs clamped tightly around my waist once again fought my sanity.
She quickly closed her eyes and muttered something between her lips. It didn't look like my future luna wanted me to find out that she was desiring me.
I walked over to Steph and joked with her. However, on the premise of this joke, she told me that she had enchanted me with a spell that would turn me into a normal human male.
When she said this, she wasn't lying or joking. I would even go so far as to say that if she really knew magic, she would have chosen to do so.
When I realized that Steph might prefer human males, I admitted my brain seemed like a computer that had suddenly died.
Was it possible that the second female I liked would also pick a human male over me in my limited life? Even worse, at this time, that second female was my mate.
I worried that everything would be as it was thirty years ago (actually, twenty-nine years ago). I would again have to choose to let go of my lover and be left alone.
Was I destined not to get the female I liked? All the ladies I loved would fall in love with human males who were weaker than me and may had only a decades-long life span.
I lost my composure and sanity. I was beyond annoyed when Steph asked me why I didn't like human males. I stupidly said to Steph again what I had said to Emily.
"Why do I need their protection?"
Realizing I hadn't given her a reason, Steph shook her head." I'm not as weak as you think, Arthur."
This was the second time I'd gotten that response. And, magically, I got the exact same answer both times.
I first heard this response from my first love, Emily, the human girl who didn't really like me.
The difference was when I learned that Emily had chosen her fellow human, not me. I just felt disappointed and felt a bit lonely.
Now, I realized that Steph wanted to have a normal human male mate, not me, an alpha king. My brain was in chaos as if trapped in a jumbled ball of wool.
"Wake up, Arthur." Paul shouted at me, "It's just your guess. Just tell her what you're thinking. Ask her what she's thinking. Remember, Steph is not Emily. she's your mate."
Thanks to my wolf, I found an exit from the maze of disorganized thoughts. Paul was right. I couldn't just rely on my own wild guesses and speculate on what my mate was thinking. More importantly, Steph didn't have no feelings for me.
"Sorry, Steph," I took a deep breath, "you know, even if I don't enhance my sense of smell, I can tell if a person is lying or not. But you said you would turn me into a normal human male, and that doesn't seem like a lie. I'm guessing if you prefer regular human males to me. That's why I was so agitated that I lost my mind to state those bad reasons."
"By the way, I don't hate human males. Well, I mean partly human males."
[Stephanie's POV]
That bastard alpha king!
How could he keep boosting my good feelings for him?
He was telling me what was on his mind when I thought he might be a traditional stubborn and biased alpha king against women.
Just when I thought I could reduce my infatuation with him because of this excuse, then, once again, he took a point from me.
Thinking back to when Carl and I were dating, all I ever heard were his sweet words about how much he loved me. I never heard him tell me what he was thinking in his mind.
I tried to search my memory to see if Carl had an expression other than a smile and tenderness when he was with me. The result was no, except for when I lost Patrick in my last life when he pretended to be with me in tears.
As my boyfriend, all Carl ever showed me was his perfect smile and obsession with me. He seemed like a robot who only smiled and said lovey-dovey things.
"So, can you tell me why you want me to be a normal human male? Do you want a human male as your mate more than me?"
After stating his true inner thoughts, Arthur threw his questions at me. I gazed into his dark blue eyes. Right then and there, I knew that Arthur was more of a complete male wolf than Carl. He would get anxious over one of my assumptions and choose to share his thoughts with me. He was desperate to know how I thought of him.
If I ignored the female who saved me with him, the she-wolf, Arthur would actually be a good mate, wouldn't he?
"About the spell I mentioned..." I sighed, "I was just thinking if I had magic and turned you into a normal human male, I might have not been so affected by the mate bond. And not been attracted to your damn statue-like figure."
In just two blinks of an eye, I had the pleasure of seeing the alpha king who sat on one of the three thrones of the Night Moon Continent, completing the journey from holding his breath to opening his mouth to grinning at me with his white teeth.
"But..." I admitted my fascination with his body, but I hadn't asked him about the she-wolf.
At this moment, however, Lily opened the kitchen door. She came out of the kitchen carrying a covered breakfast tray.
Lily was surprised to see Arthur and me standing together. She reacted quickly and immediately smiled at me, "Miss, good morning. How is your head? Is there anything you need?"
Lily should be only 13 years old now. Her father and mother were both my father's betas, and she would have been my best friend. Shame that I barely spoke to her or noticed her in my last life.
In fact, she was very cute when she smiled. Her eyes were gray, just like Mrs. Grete's. She also had cute little freckles on her face. Seeing the smile of this young girl with a flaxen twist pigtail, I seemed to receive a good mood from her smile as well.
"I feel much better Lily, thank you for your concern. I was awakened by hunger. Is this breakfast for me?"
Lily seemed surprised that I had talked to her so much. She glanced down at the breakfast tray in her hand, smiled, and nodded to me several times, "Of course. My mother said she prepared Miss's favorite beef sausage and grilled bacon salad for breakfast today."
"Thank you, Lily. I think I could eat a ton of beef sausages right now." I rubbed my nearly hungry stomach. If I didn't eat breakfast, how would I have the strength to go to school and meet the bitch couple?
"I thought, that's my breakfast." Arthur reminded Lily with a smile.
"Sorry, Sir. I promise I'll have your breakfast ready and delivered to your room soon."
Even though I knew Arthur was teasing me, I saw Lily's panicked expression, and I knew he had managed to scare that sweet 13-year-old girl.
However, I noticed Lily's fingers squeezing the edge of the plate. She even moved back a half step. It didn't look like she would give this breakfast to the honored guest.
What a sweet and brave child! Why didn't I notice it in my last life?