Outside, the air was thick and silent, the sky bleeding soft pink and silver as evening crept in.
Yu Jun stood at the edge of the yard, just beyond the low stone wall that separated the garden from the stretch of woods. His back was to the house, shoulders tense, arms folded so tight across his chest it looked like he was trying to keep himself from tearing apart.
He could still feel it.
That presence—the boy.
The boy from the hotel.
The boy whose scent had haunted him for days, warm and strange and not-wolf.
The boy who now had a name.
Ye Jun.
Ari and Hana's child.
He hadn't known. Hadn't guessed. Of all people…
His head bowed, eyes clenched shut.
He couldn't get the image out of his mind: Ye Jun crumpled on the floor, eyes wide with confusion and pain, body trembling violently, every sound he made cutting deeper than it should've.
Yu Jun had felt like his soul was being flayed open.
And when they touched him—when they touched his mate—his lycan had nearly torn free.
The anger had been instinctual. Not jealousy. Not rage.
Possession.
It had taken everything in him not to snap. Not to push everyone aside and shield Ye Jun from every hand, every glance.
But he couldn't.
Because Ye Jun had no idea what was happening to him.
He didn't even know they were mates.
And worse… Yu Jun wasn't sure he wanted him to.
Not like this.
He leaned against the cold bark of a tree, exhaling hard, gripping the trunk until his knuckles turned white.
"I can't do this."
The words left him quietly.
"I wasn't made for this."
He had always hated the idea of mates. Thought the concept was a leash—a weakness disguised as love. People worshipped the Moon Goddess like she was benevolent, but he knew better.
The bond wasn't a gift.
It was a curse.
And now she'd cursed him too.
With someone so fragile. So clearly unprepared for what being tied to someone like him meant.
And yet…
His scent still lingered on Yu Jun's skin. His voice—his scream—burned in his ears. That delicate figure standing in the elevator, now burned into memory with every fragile line of pain in his eyes.
The pull wasn't going away.
It was intoxicating.
Yu Jun dropped his head back, staring at the treetops, jaw clenched so tight it ached. He didn't know if he was mourning or unraveling.
Behind him, the back door opened.
Hyeon-u emerged, quiet steps crunching over the grass as he approached.
"You okay?" his Beta asked softly.
"No."
Hyeon-u didn't press. He knew better than to ask Yu Jun to lie.
Instead, he glanced toward the house. "Ye Jun passed out. He's resting now."
Yu Jun said nothing.
Hyeon-u waited a few seconds longer, then added, "I found the others. Told them what happened."
Yu Jun shifted slightly, brows furrowing.
"I didn't tell them he's your mate," Hyeon-u said quietly. "But they know something's off. The entire pack—everyone inside—they all looked at you like…"
"Like I was going to explode?" Yu Jun asked bitterly.
Hyeon-u's eyes didn't waver. "No. Like they didn't know what was happening… but still trusted you."
Yu Jun scoffed, glancing away.
"I'm serious," Hyeon-u said, voice firm. "You think they fear you, but they don't. Even now—after everything—they stood by. Not one of them moved against you. Not one."
Silence stretched between them.
Then Yu Jun whispered, "He's… not a wolf."
"I know."
"Not even a hybrid."
"I know."
"I don't even think he knows what he is."
"That's probably true too."
Yu Jun turned to face his Beta, voice hollow. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Hyeon-u looked at him for a long moment, then simply said, "Start by breathing."
Yu Jun gave a dry, humorless laugh. "Hilarious."
But he did breathe.
Slowly. Sharply. Like dragging air through smoke.
Hyeon-u let the silence sit before adding, "Yul's already running to you. Thought he was going to knock the gate down."
Yu Jun closed his eyes.
"He's worried," Hyeon-u said. "And turn's back to the house going back in to tell Hana and Ari about them leaving."
Yu Jun's head tilted back again, gaze lost in the stars beginning to bloom above the treetops.
He didn't want to leave.
Not now.
Not with Ye Jun inside, unconscious and hurting.
But staying… meant facing what the Moon Goddess had done.
And he wasn't ready.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The sound of feet on grass pulled Yu Jun from his thoughts.
Yul was the first to reach him, storming toward him with shoulders tense and eyes searching.
"Yu Jun," his voice snapped like a whip, but the worry was obvious behind it.
Yu Jun didn't speak.
"You should've called us the second something happened," Yul growled, halting just a foot away. "Hyeon-u told us everything."
Min and Hyeon-ju joined a moment later, slightly winded but clearly trying to hide it.
Min gave a low whistle. "You look like a ghost, Alpha."
Yu Jun didn't respond, his face unreadable.
"Seriously," Min said, eyes narrowing slightly. "You've looked bad before—but this? You look like you've been set on fire and told to smile."
"I'm fine," Yu Jun said quietly.
Hyeon-ju scoffed. "Liar."
Yu Jun finally turned his head, looking at them—really looking.
"You don't have to stay," he said to them. "Not for this."
"We're not leaving you," Yul said, voice suddenly gentler.
Yu Jun's throat worked as if to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, he nodded once and looked away.
---
Inside the house…
The party had cleared. Guests, sensing something had gone wrong, had respectfully left after Hana offered gentle apologies, assuring them it was just a "little health scare." But her smile didn't reach her eyes, and her hand had never left Ari's.
Now, in the kitchen hallway, the house had grown quiet again—too quiet.
Hyeon-u made his way through the narrow corridor, intent on finding the mothers and letting them know they were heading out. The weight of the day clung to his shoulders, a dull pressure right between the eyes.
He turned the corner sharply—
And collided directly into someone.
Water splashed over his boots, a bowl hit the floor and rolled away, and then—
His eyes locked with him.
Kwang.
Tall, sharp-boned, storm-eyed Kwang.
The air shifted violently.
Something primal cracked through the space between them.
Mate.
The word slammed into Hyeon-u's chest like a boulder.
But it wasn't coming from him.
It was Kwang's eyes that widened, wild and unblinking, lips parted slightly as he just stared. Shock turned quickly to something deeper. The kind of realization that only came once in a lifetime.
Hyeon-u stiffened.
He hadn't expected this—not him.
Not now.
Kwang stepped forward—tentatively, cautiously—as if approaching a wounded animal.
His hand lifted, soft, almost trembling.
"Hyeon-u," he said, voice like wind, "you…"
But he didn't get any closer.
Because Hyeon-u took a single step back and shoved him away.
Firm.
Decisive.
The air crackled from the force of the rejection.
Kwang staggered back a step, eyes wide in disbelief.
The bowl clattered to a full stop somewhere against the wall, water spreading across the tile.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then Hyeon-u turned sharply, not sparing a second glance. "Don't," he muttered low, almost too quiet to hear. "Don't follow me."
Kwang stood there, frozen, his wolf screaming in his head—Mate, mate, MATE—but his human heart caved under the weight of Hyeon-u's rejection.
Behind the door at the far end of the hall, the soft murmur of Ari and Hana's voices broke through, but Kwang couldn't hear anything except the roaring in his ears.
Everything was unraveling faster than anyone had prepared for .
---
Kwang stood still, his boots wet from the spilled water, but he barely felt it.
Of all people.
Of all people.
His mate was Hyeon-u.
And the look on his face—that controlled, unreadable calm—Kwang had seen it before. Too many times. But it never hit like this.
He had felt something at the hotel. The same quiet pull. The strange flutter in his chest. But now he knew.
Now he was sure.
And Hyeon-u had known too.
Long before today.
The rejection in that one shove echoed louder than any scream.
It wasn't confusion.
It wasn't fear.
It was choice.
Kwang's jaw clenched, his chest tight, his wolf snarling like a caged animal inside him.
He had found his mate.
And his mate… didn't want him.
Not now.
Maybe not ever.
💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥
The front door shut behind them with a soft thud.
Hyeon-u didn't look back.
He walked straight past the main hallway, ignoring the distant sound of Ari's voice and the hum of party cleanup still lingering behind the walls. No one tried to stop him. No one tried to call him back.
He didn't say goodbye.
Didn't thank them.
Didn't even blink.
Min and Hyeon-ju followed a few steps behind, shooting each other uneasy glances. Yul, trailing last, offered a quick nod toward Ari—half apology, half goodbye—before slipping out into the cool evening air.
Outside, the vehicles waited.
The drive back to the pack was a quiet one. Not the silence of comfort, but of things left unsaid.
No one mentioned Ye Jun's scream.
No one brought up the bond.
And Hyeon-u didn't look at anyone the entire time.
Inside the house...
Kwang stood frozen just outside the hallway, staring at the wall where Hyeon-u had disappeared.
His fists were clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms.
When he finally turned and walked into the room, Ryung looked up immediately from the couch where he was half-sprawled, cradling a cold drink and looking like he'd aged a decade in the last hour.
"Kwang?" Ryung's voice cut through the haze. "You good?"
Kwang blinked. "Yeah. I'm fine."
Ryung didn't believe him for a second. "You sure? You look like you saw a ghost. Or like you're gonna throw one."
"I said I'm fine," Kwang repeated, voice even. Too even.
He didn't say he had found his mate.
He didn't say that mate was Hyeon-u.
He especially didn't say how much it hurt.
Later that evening…
The house had returned to quiet.
Ye Jun had been moved upstairs after passing out, and while he was resting now, the tension hadn't fully left. Ari and Hana fussed with blankets and warm soup, keeping themselves busy so they wouldn't dwell on what had happened.
Jin, Ryung, Kwang, and Hanjae stayed until the sky turned indigo, tired but unwilling to leave until they were sure Ye Jun was stable. One by one, after dinner and final reassurances, they all said goodnight.
"See you tomorrow," Hanjae said, yawning into his palm as he hugged Hana.
"I'm bringing breakfast," Jin added dramatically. "And a playlist. Someone has to keep the mood festive!"
Ari smiled, grateful but distracted.
"Take care," Ryung said, nudging Kwang on the shoulder gently. Kwang only nodded.
When the front door closed behind them, the silence felt strange again.
Ye Jun was upstairs, finally asleep.
His birthday had been anything but peaceful.
Elsewhere…
Yu Jun's car pulled into the wide driveway of the pack house.
But he didn't stop there.
He drove past the building, past the main courtyard, and down the dirt road leading to the edge of the woods—where his own house sat hidden behind tall pine trees and guarded silence.
He parked without killing the engine.
The lights from the dashboard flickered faintly across his face.
Still.
His knuckles tightened around the wheel.
He didn't get out for a long time.
The image of those eyes—sky blue and trembling with pain—refused to leave him. And that scream. That scream.
It had clawed something out of him.
Something feral. Something he didn't know he'd been burying all along.
He had seen wolves shift. He had seen agony and blood and rebirth.
But that boy—Ye Jun—hadn't shifted.
And yet the pain on his face had felt worse than any shift Yu Jun had ever seen.
Something was wrong.
And it was his fault.
Back at the pack house…
Hyeon-ju sat slumped on the couch, scrolling through his phone without really reading anything.
When he heard the front door open, he glanced up just in time to see Hyeon-u step in, still quiet, still distant.
"You okay?" Hyeon-ju asked softly.
Hyeon-u gave a grunt in response. Noncommittal. Cold.
"You've been weird since the party," Hyeon-ju pressed. "Did something else happen?"
Hyeon-u didn't answer. He moved past him, toward the stairs.
"Did you talk to anyone?" Hyeon-ju asked more carefully.
That made Hyeon-u pause—but only for a second. Then he started walking again.
Hyeon-ju sighed, frustration tugging at his brow. "You're impossible."
Just then, a blur of movement bounded into the room—his boyfriend.
"Hyunie~!" the boy called, jumping into Hyeon-ju's arms with exaggerated glee. "I missed you, and I barely saw you at the party!"
Hyeon-ju smiled politely but awkwardly, casting a glance toward his brother.
Hyeon-u didn't bother hiding the eye roll.
"Gross," he muttered under his breath, pushing past them and disappearing down the hallway.
He didn't have time for love stories.
Not when his own was already burning to ash.