It was certain that Elion was targeted by someone, by the two incidents that happened to him simultaneously.
Anyone would scratch it off thinking they weren't connected but Anteros was smarter than that.
He witnessed both and supposed that the man from the lion clan must be the one to send people to kidnap Elion as he failed last time due to his interference but there was also a one percent chance that someone else did it.
>>>But, why are snake and bear clans in cahoots with the lion clan?
>>>Tribes of primary predators never got along with each other... so, how?
Anteros found it weird cause though the lion's clan was the strongest among primary predators of the land due to their pride they never worked with other tribes.
He mentally made a note to investigate it further when he returned to get to the bottom of it.
Elion's cries quieted down to sniffs and that was when his senses started working and it hit him like a truck that he was hugging his soon-to-be husband like a koala.
His pale skin burned with the heat of embarrassment and turned into the shade of cranberries.
The little Mainecoon wanted to break the hug however he was too abashed at the moment and the feeling of the two strong arms caressing his head and his back gently at the same time awkwardly made his heart pump the blood even more rigorously.
On the other hand, Anteros was too immersed in his thoughts and was robotically patting the smaller in his arms but when he heard the sniffs, he felt the warmth emanating from the little Mainecoon's body.
He paused for a second and looked down. Anteros's lips curved upwards slightly seeing Elion's blood-red tips of ears and nape.
He wasn't a fool not to understand those signs. A dark glimmer flashed through his eyes for a second seeing the delicate red nape of Elion, the gentle caressing turned sensual as he brushed the nape with his fingertips.
Elion shrunk in his palms feeling tingly. The curved lips of Anteros raised a few more degrees at that reaction.
Before the thought of teasing the smaller more came into action,
"Snake and bear clan people? Why are they after Elie?" Evander's questions brought Anteros back to his senses.
The Ice-dragon shooed his thoughts away immediately and broke the hug lightly,
"Are you... okay?" Anteros asked as he wiped off the remaining tears on the smaller's face.
The little Mainecoon nodded his head slightly and became bashful. He stepped back a little.
Evius instantly grabbed his younger brother's wrist and pulled him towards him.
"Elie, tell me what exactly happened?" Evius's voice was grim.
The fact that someone tried to abduct his younger brother was so disturbing and at that, Elion was the rarest Mainecoon in the clan, and the cats' tribe for some reason always protected him.
As an outsider he couldn't openly ask about the secrets of the cat's clan so, he thought it was suspicious and could get dangerous for Elion.
Evius didn't know Vulwin, the lion who tried to molest his younger brother the day before yesterday. If he knew the whole lion clan would have faced grievous consequences.
He was from the whale-shark clan, one of the largest and most powerful Apex Predators of vast waters and no one from the tribes of sea dared to go against them.
If Evius wanted he could make the whole lion clan disappear in a night not to mention the inferior predators such as the snake clan and bear clan.
Which was why Elion didn't want his elder brother to know about it and cause problems. So, he was hesitant seeing the furious look on Evius's face.
"I... that..." Elion stuttered.
"How about we check M.S.O.'s* here, we will know who those people are?" Hadeon suggested seeing Elion being too nervous and Evius being angry.
[M.S.O. - Magic surveillance orbs similar to cctv's of Earth.]
"Yes, let's do that. Eros," Drystan signed to the Ice-dragon to calm Evius, or else his aura of Apex predator that was starting to spread might harm the others.
Anteros understood. He immediately dispersed the aura of Evius with his and looked at him, "Mr. Rhincodark, shall we go inside and talk coolly? Elion must be still scared of everything."
That was when Evius realized his mistake, he composed himself, "Sorry Elie, let's go inside first."
Evius placed his hand over Elion's shoulder while Evander took his best friend's hand in his and they walked inside.
They took a private room inside the boutique and sat down. Hadeon and Drystan were talking to the security knights about the footage.
Anteros ordered a warm choco-milkshake for Elion to calm his nerves seeing his sweaty palms.
Though he doesn't look like one the Ice-dragon was a very observant one. He is the type of person who would sit back coolly at the corner of the room and would analyze each and every one with his sharp eyes.
No one could escape his radar, a very meticulous person to the core.
A worker came and handed over the choco milkshake to Elion who was puzzled.
"Drink... it's warm," Anteros stated the obvious.
Elion's cheeks flushed, his plumpy lips curved up shyly as he nodded his head and took a sip of the drink.
Evander raised his eyebrows in wonder seeing their interaction and his best friend being totally smitten by the Ice-dragon's charms.
Evius didn't say anything and stayed quiet thinking something so deeply. He was already planning to show hell to those who tried to harm his little brother.
Hadeon and Drystan were back along with a security knight who seemed like he was from the shepherd's clan of dog's tribe.
Evius stood up immediately, "What happened, did those bastards get caught in the M.S.O?"
Hadeon and Drystan glanced at each other and then shook their heads.
"Actually, there is no recording in M.S.O.'s cause they were not working from the morning and the security knights have been trying to fix it since then," Hadeon explained.
"What?" Anteros's frown became more evident, "...such a coincidence?" He looked at Drystan and Hadeon who understood what the other meant by it.
Those people ran away in a hurry and would have never expected that Anteros would come to rescue Elion if they did that just on a whim.
So the only possibility was that they knew Elion was going to visit the shopping district today and that it was all perfectly planned.
"What the hell are you people doing without fixing a security M.S.O.'s all this time? Don't you know the dangers? What if the Prince wasn't present there and Elie was kidnapped, we would have never known what happened to him just because you people are lazing around not fixing them!"
Evius flared up at the security knight who became timid sensing the immense pressure of the whale shark.
"Brother Evius," Elion stood up holding his elder brother's hand to soothe his anger.
"Is the M.S.O. outside of the magicarriage parking lot also not working?" Anteros queried.
"No, all the security M.S.O.'s in the magicarriage parking lot inside and outside were all hacked and are not working," the knight informed, politely.
Anteros nodded, "That's okay you can go now."
The knight was a little startled that he was letting him go just like that without causing any scene but then he slipped away in a hurry to protect his life from apex predators not wanting to think more.
"Mr. Rhincodark, there is no need to get frustrated. Remember I parked my royal magicarrige in the same parking lot and it's a high-tech magicarriage imbued with recent magitechnology," Anteros stated.
"What do you mean by that?" Evius asked.
"I mean, my magicarrige has a magitech dashcam and it can record just as efficiently as any security M.S.O.'s out there," Anteros elucidated with a calm smirk on his face.
"Right, royal magicarriges have the authority to place recently released magitech dashcam in them for observation," Evander who was always up to date with magictechnology and the dragons heard about it.
"So, for now, I ask you to take your brother home and wait till the night. I will personally visit the Grimalkin's mansion with the information," Anteros proposed.
After hearing that Evius relaxed finally, "I will wait for your highness's arrival then. I hope you won't let those bastards get away from this."
Anteros had devilish glee on his face, "Rest assured, Mr. Grimalkin. Do you think I will let those fuckers roam free after they tried to kidnap my fiance right under my nose? Absolutely no!"
Hadeon's and Drystan's eyes widened in surprise, they connected through mind-link.
Hadeon: <<
Drystan:<<<... massacre!>>>
Evius nodded though it was irritating for him to hear Anteros calling his younger brother his fiance, for now, he didn't speak anything as he just wanted to co-operate.
Cause Anteros was the only heir of the Ice-dragon clan ruling over the Ice-dragon province, if he were to step up then no one could escape from him.
Meanwhile, Elion felt some flutterings inside his stomach as he heard the Ice-dragon calling him, his fiance.
The little Mainecoon looked down feeling shy as he fidgeted through his fingers. Evander noticed it and was all smiley, after getting back home he would tease him a ton for it.
...
In Grimalkin's Mansion...
Evius had to attend some meeting at the company so he quickly dropped both the friends in the mansion and left in a hurry.
After they came back Elion was in a trance not speaking anything just smiling occasionally remembering something in his mind.
Evander scrunched his nose getting no attention from his best friend when he was talking alone for like an hour.
"Elie, where in the world are you? Come back to Gallerath* please!"
[*Gallerath - The planet they're living in.]
Still, Elion was in his world not listening to a word his friend was speaking.
"Oh my! Prince Anteros, why are you here now? Didn't you say you will be visiting at night?" Evander shouted looking at the door.
Elion immediately stood up all alert and looked at the door only to find out there was no one there.
Evander busted out laughing seeing his friend standing in attention.
"Haha, look at you wanting to see your soon-to-be husband so eagerly. Didn't you just come back like an hour before after gawking at him the whole time? What, isn't it enough?"
"Oy, you! I thought he really was here, you bad snowcat, humph!" Elion pouted, plopping on the couch.
"See, this greedy little kitten... Elie, you are a gone case. Don't tell me, you are so whipped for him even before your marriage?"
Evander teased hitting his friend's shoulder lightly.
"No! I mean... I... don't know," Elion was perplexed about his feelings.
"Ohhhhh, you don't know, huh? Who was the one all blushy staring at Prince Anteros? Let me tell you, you didn't even blink an eye at that time. I thought you were a fucking statue."
"Evanie, stop!~" Elion felt heat rushing through his cheeks.
"What the hell, Elie? You have become a tomato just at the mention of his name. Imagine what will happen to you when he kisses you... you might as well book your ticket to hell."
Evander pulled the little Mainecoon's cheeks, grinning, seeing his bashful friend.
Elion's irises expanded at that.
>>>W-When... he kisses me...?!
****