Introspect [The Mating Games #3]

ORION KALLIS

That wasn’t as long as I thought it would be, his wolf said as they finished up the last question.

Same here, Orion agreed as he tapped on the submit button to end the test and send off his answers.

Except, the answers never went through.

Maybe it’s the signal, his wolf hummed. We are on an island in the middle of the Bermuda triangle after all.

Let me try again, Orion murmured quietly as he tapped the screen for a second time.

It appeared that his wolf was right about the connection the first time. While nothing had happened before, a spinning circle appeared at the top of the screen to indicate that something was happening. It just wasn’t the something that he had been hopeful for.

Instead of his answers being submitted like he would have expected, a red message popped up on the screen, just above the button – which was now disabled – that he had pressed twice now.

ERROR: there is no entry for ORION KALLIS in the mate database!

A pregnant pause passed between them as they tried make sense of the red sentence in front of them.

What are we looking at right now? his wolf asked in a quiet, gravelly tone.

It says that we’re not in the mate database? Orion said, but it came out as more of a question.

What’s that supposed to mean?

I have no idea, he answered honestly. Reaching a hand up, he rubbed both of his eyes and blinked a few times before staring down at the screen again.

What even is the mate database?

You’re asking the wrong person but I can only assume that they use it as a record to keep a track of the mated couples during the Mating Games.

So, if we don’t have an entry in the mate database, then that means…his wolf began but eventually, his voice trailed off as he gulped and swallowed his words.

Then that would mean that we don’t have a mate.

That’s not fucking possible! His wolf growled in denial, baring his sharp, elongated teeth dangerously at his human who dared to say such a repulsive speech.

I’m not saying that we don’t have a mate so calm the fuck down! Orion growled at his wolf, struggling to keep a tap on his emotions which were amplified by the feelings and emotions of his wolf also. All I said that this is what this error message probably means.

We were invited to the Mating Games like everyone else so we definitely have a mate. So, why are we getting this error message when we try to submit the test?

I have no idea, Orion groaned, attempting to submit the test once again. However, the button was disable so he wasn’t able to interact with it. Something has to be wrong with the system, he growled. We were invited onto the island. We were given a Hex Charm and we were able to complete the test so I don’t fucking understand why we’re not able to submit it.

Maybe their system is down.

Maybe but I doubt it.

We need to ask someone.

At the suggestion, Orion sighed and pursed his lips.

When the panic became too much too overwhelming to handle, threatening to spill over the top and drown him, Orion knew that he couldn’t sit around any longer. Pushing the desk chair back, he rushed out of the apartment and headed into the living room as that was the only way to head out of the apartment.

“Orion,” one of the wolves call out to him. “How did you find the test?”

Ignoring his question, Orion decided to answer with a question of his own.

“Were you both able to submit the test?” he asked, the seriousness evidently clear in his tone of voice.

“Yes,” one of them answered positively while the other nodded his head, yes.

“So, you didn’t have any issues submitting or anything?” he continued to ask.

This time, they both shook their head.

“You didn’t experience or see any sort of error message when you tried to submit your answers?”

“No,” the second wolf denied at the same time the first one asked, “Are you sure you’re pressing the right button?”

Even though the question was seemingly innocent and deep down, he knew that the wolf was just trying to lighten the situation, he was far from impressed. On the contrary, he turned his head and growled at the two wolves that had finished early and continued on his mission to get to the bottom of this.

With the dysfunctional Hex Charm in hand, he stormed out of the apartment and toward the set of elevators. When he pressed the button and it didn’t arrive in the first two seconds, he growled loudly and turned sharply right to the set of stairs that no one seemed to use.

As he was nothing more than a regular wolf, the apartment that he was staying in was only on the fourth floor so he was able to get to the ground floor of the hotel in no time.

Immediately after he pushed through the set of double doors of the stairwell, his eyes zeroed in on the group of stewards that were huddled around a table in the hotel restaurant, only visible as they were sat in front of the entrance.

“I need to speak to you!” Orion demanded as he walked up to their table, his eyes trained on the only familiar steward sat there. “What is the meaning of this?” he asked, all but thrusting the Hex Charm into Denver’s hands.

“It’s nice to see you, too, Orion,” Denver chuckled as he put down his drink and accepted the device; completely ignorant to what he was about to get himself into. “Tell me, what am I looking at here?”

“Look at the bottom of the screen,” the frantic wolf demanded. When Denver was too slow to glance down, Orion stepped closer and tapped the bottom of the screen. Or more specifically, the sentence in blaring, angry red which made his heart skip several beats. And not in a good way.

“ERROR: there is no entry for ORION KALLIS in the mate database,” Denver read aloud, his eyebrows knitting together as he read it once again. When he was still unable to make sense of the error message, he lifted his head and glanced around the table. “I’ve never come across this before. Have this happened to any of you before?” he asked the three other stewards sat at the table, passing the Hex Charm around so they would be able to get a look for themselves.

“What does that mean?” Orion was unable to hold back the growl as he questioned the steward, growing more and more impatient with each passing second.

“I’m not sure yet, Orion,” Denver frowned, standing up. Moving out from behind the table, he reached out to grab a chair from a nearby table for Orion but he couldn’t bring himself to sit down. Not when he was this panicked and alarmed.

“Have any of you come across this issue before?” Orion asked, beating Denver to it.

“No, never.”

“I’ve never seen this before.”

“This doesn’t make any sense to me.”

The three other stewards all piped up, none of their answers what Orion was looking for.

“I’ve completed the test so why can’t I submit it like everyone else?” Orion asked as he took back the Hex Charm, once again trying to press the submit button but alas, nothing had changed since the last time that he had tried.

“We don’t know,” Denver sighed, shaking his head. “None of us have ever seen this before. I think it’s best to check in with the team.”

“With the team? What team?” he questioned, his mood and emotions all over the place. The fact that his wolf was equally enraged just made him feel all that much more.

“The team in charge of the Mating Games.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Why are you just sitting around doing nothing?” Orion threw his hands in frustration, this being the most that he had spoken since he had stepped onto the island. “Something is clearly wrong here. I need to speak to the people that designed this test. Why is this fucking error message popping up?”

“Just give us a moment, please,” Denver told him, exhaling deeply. “I’m just checking with them now,” he said and from the way his eyes were glazed over, Orion knew that he was mind linking someone right now.

“What are they saying?” he insisted, not for once trusting these people to be completely honest with him.

“Just give me a moment and I’ll tell you,” the steward insisted but Orion still wasn’t convinced. How could he be when there was so much hanging on the line?

How can they be so calm about all of this? his wolf demanded of him.

Probably because they’re not going through with this themselves, Orion grumbled. They don’t know what it’s like to go without a mate for so long.

A few moments of silence passed before his next spoke.

If we’re not in the database, does that mean our mate is also not in the database? his wolf asked in an eerily low, quiet voice.

Stop thinking like that! Orion growled at his wolf, baring his teeth as the rage pumped through his body. I thought I was supposed to be the cynical one so why are you giving up now?

Because deep down, we both knew that this was too good to be true.

Ignoring his wolf as he just couldn’t deal with such pessimism right now, Orion returned his attention to the group of stewards. However, before he could start demanding answers again, Denver started speaking.

“The team said that they’ve never seen this issue before,” the steward in question spoke in a quiet voice.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Orion asked, his words demanding answers.

“It means that we have no idea what’s going on right now.”

“What are we supposed to do now?”

“We need to check with the Alpha king,” Denver pursed his lips, clearly not pleased with the demanding, disrespectful tone that Orion was using on him.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get going to the palace so we can speak to him directly!” Orion instructed but he was very quickly called back before he was even able to take a step toward the palace.

“You can’t just go up to the palace and demand a session with the Alpha king,” Denver sighed, a pitiful expression on his face reserved solely for Orion as he shook his head.

“Then what do we do?”

“We wait for the Alpha king to reach out to us.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry,” Denver tried to assure him but there was no point. Orion was beyond assuring now. “King Bernard has been made aware of the situation so when he calls for you, we’ll come and find you. For now, why don’t you relax and grab a drink?” he sent a pointed look toward the chair next to the table that he had pulled up earlier but Orion growled and shook his head.

Turning around, Orion marched out of the restaurant area and headed out of the hotel, needing some fresh air to calm himself down. He knew that heading to the palace would do more harm than good, especially when he was specifically instructed not to do that. But he couldn’t just stand around and wait for the Alpha king to call for him whenever it tickled his fancy.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean? his wolf growled, baring his teeth in a threat that was far from empty. Relax and grab a drink? How does he expect us to relax and grab a drink when we’re not even able to complete the first task without being reminded that we’re not supposed to be here?

I have no idea, Orion growled back, but there’s no way that we’re not getting to the bottom of this.

-

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Layla Knight

31.05.2021