Alpha's mate is a male?!?-Chapter 158: Lost his trust once again.

Jun and Rey stand a small distance away, watching the exchange in silence. Kieran lifts his gaze to them for a brief moment, but he has nothing to say, no words that could change what has already happened. His throat tightens as he turns back to Ace.

Almost quietly, he says, "Ace, can we talk inside for a moment?"

Ace’s stomach churns. Kieran looks

defeated. The weight on his shoulders is so heavy that even his usually strong posture seems to have caved in. There’s no fight in him, no resistance.

Ace doesn’t argue. He just nods and follows.

The walk to their room is quiet, but the silence is suffocating. Ace can feel his pulse in his ears, his mind racing with possibilities, each one worse than the last.

As soon as the door shuts behind them, he turns. "What is it?"

Kieran exhales, rubbing his face with both hands, like he’s trying to gather himself, to find the right way to say what needs to be said.

But no matter how he tries to form the words, they stick to his throat, refusing to come out.

"Ace..." He tries, but nothing follows.

Ace’s brows kniten but he doesn’t say anything as he waits.

Kieran opens his mouth, then closes it again. His jaw clenches. He shifts his weight, struggling to meet Ace’s eyes.

He knows this moment will break him, but he also knows Ace deserves the truth.

"Ace, I..."

"Oh, God! What is it?!" Ace finally can’t wait anymore. "Come on, just say whatever you wanna say already! Did something happen? Are you okay?"

Kieran’s fists tighten at his sides. He forces himself to push past his hesitation. "It didn’t really go the way we had hoped it would." His voice is strained, heavy with regret. "I have failed you, and I’m really sorry. I’ve hurt you again, even when I promised that I wouldn’t."

Ace’s breath stutters. A cold feeling creeps down his spine. "Kieran... what happened?"

Kieran swallows hard, his chest tightening. His voice is barely above a whisper. "Your dad... he was injected with silver."

Ace’s brow furrows, his mind scrambling to process the words. Kieran hesitates before finishing,

"Silver is poison to us. It kills." His voice cracks slightly. "So...."

But Ace has already heard enough.

His entire body tenses. His heart stammers in his chest, a sharp, painful throb. He stares at Kieran, his breath coming faster, shallower.

"No." He shakes his head. "No. What the hell are you talking about?!"

Kieran’s expression doesn’t change. He doesn’t argue, doesn’t try to convince him. And that, more than anything makes Ace’s stomach drop.

His hands tremble, his nails digging into his palms. "He can’t be too... He can’t be dead, Kieran!" His voice rises, raw and desperate. "You were supposed to protect him! You said you would! You asked me not to go along and said you will protect him! I listened to you because I trusted You!"

His breath catches, his chest tightening so much it hurts.

"Ace..." Kieran’s voice cracks, his vision blurring.

Anger surges through Ace, hot and uncontrollable. He takes a step closer, shoving Kieran’s chest hard. "Mom must have died suddenly because of dad! Isn’t that the case!?" He yells.

Kieran doesn’t move. He takes it.

"Both of them?! Just like tha..."

His throat closes up before he can finish. His breaths come in sharp gasps, his body trembling violently.

He grips his hair, tugging at the strands as if trying to hold himself together, but it’s useless. The weight of it is too much.

A choked, broken sound escapes him. His legs feel weak, but he doesn’t collapse.

He won’t.

Because if he does, if he lets himself fall, he’s not sure he’ll ever get back up again.

Instead, he turns away, his whole body tense, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. His nails dig into his skin, but he doesn’t feel it.

He doesn’t feel anything except the gaping, unbearable emptiness swallowing him whole.

Kieran braces himself as he watches Ace’s reaction. freёwebnoѵel.com

Kieran takes a step closer, his chest tightening with something far worse than physical pain.

He can see the torment in Ace’s eyes, the unbearable weight of another loss pressing down on him, suffocating him.

"Ace it happened too fast, I... I tried," Kieran finally says, his voice hoarse. "I tried."

"Not hard enough!" Ace snaps.

Ace’s entire body tenses, his face twisting in pain.

A soft glow pulses from his chest.

Kieran’s stomach drops.

The mark.

Ace’s mark flares to life, pulsing a deep, eerie blue, illuminating the room with an otherworldly glow.

It spreads, flickering like embers before igniting into roaring blue flames. The fire engulfs Ace in an instant, swirling wildly around him, feeding off his emotions.

It hurts himself, every time he looses control, the fire hurt him, even if it doesn’t consume him or leave open wounds, it hurts him from inside.

Kieran’s breath catches. He’s seen this before, when Ace used his powers. But this is different. This is uncontrollable.

"Ace!" Kieran moves toward him, his instincts screaming at him to do something, but the fire surges, pushing him back with an unbearable heat.

Ace barely hears him. He pushes him away when Kieran ignores the fire and tries to reach him.

Kieran really tries, entering through the fire regardless of the heat, but Ace pushes him away every time he tries to get to him.

Memories flood in Ace’s mind, crashing into him all at once.

The first time he met Marsel, the way he had taught him everything.

The way Ace always ran to him and Elira whenever things got hard in his life.

The meals they shared. The quiet moments where they listened to him, truly listened, as if his words mattered.

The way Elira had held his hand, the gentle reassurance in her touch.

The pride in Marsel’s eyes whenever he spoke of him. The way he always praised him when he did the little thing correctly.

He had just started to know them. Just started to understand what it meant to have parents. And now...

They’re gone.

Something in Ace snaps.

The fire explodes outward more. The heat is suffocating, the sheer force of it making Kieran stagger back.

Kieran clenches his jaw, shielding his face from the blaze. He should step in, do something, say something, but what right does he have?

He failed Ace.

Again.

This is his fault.

He has been telling himself that since the moment he failed to protect Marsel.

"Ace!"

A new voice cuts through the chaos.

Jun.

Kieran turns just as Jun rushes into the room, Rey right behind him.

Jun doesn’t hesitate. He moves straight toward Ace, the heat of the fire not stopping him. His eyes glow slightly, his own energy rising to meet Ace’s.

Kieran watches, helpless, as Jun reaches out and grips Ace’s arms firmly. "Ace, look at me!"

Ace’s breathing is erratic, his pupils blown wide, boxing with blue fire, lost in a haze of grief and rage. He doesn’t seem to hear Jun at first.

But then, Jun’s hands tighten.

"I know it hurts," Jun says, his voice calm, steady. "But you have to stop this. You can’t lose yourself like this. Look! Am here, remember? We got each other, we always have! You got me and I got You, in our worst days we got each other!" Regardless of the heat, Jun hugs him. His own tears flowing nonstop. "Remember? You told me that yourself!"

The flames waver.

Ace’s eyes flicker, something shifting in his expression.

Jun doesn’t let go. "You’re not alone. You still have us. You still have people who love you. You have always had."

For the first time since Kieran spoke the words, Ace’s body stills. His breath catches, his face crumpling with something fragile and broken.

The fire sputters.

Then slowly, it starts to recede, pulling back into the mark on his chest until only the soft glow remains.

Ace sags, his body trembling violently.

Ace clutches Jun’s shirt, his shoulders shaking. He takes in a breath, then another ,but it still feels like he can’t breathe, like there’s a hole in his chest where his heart used to be.

Kieran watches, frozen.

He should be the one holding Ace. He should be the one pulling him back from the edge.

But maybe, maybe he doesn’t deserve to.

Jun tightens his grip around Ace, his presence grounding him, keeping him from slipping too far into the abyss.

And for the first time since his mother fell to the floor suddenly, and since hearing the news about his father, Ace holds himself together.