Mated to A Rival Alpha-Chapter 159: The Unexpected Guest

[JIHOON]

"If you don’t stop pacing, you will dig a hole in the ground, dude," Daehyun said for the hundredth time in the past thirty minutes.

Ever since the mating festival Jihoon had been acting strange. It was almost like he wanted to go back to the festival, but there was no festival for him to be going back to.

The Calindra alpha knew that he had no chance with Rania but that didn’t make him understand the reality that was facing him.

Kim Rania was back in Obren and she clearly hadn’t left despite the festival ending.

Yanna had gone back into hiding while everyone else was trying to lead their everyday lives. Well, this right here was Jihoon’s normal.

"I need to see her again. I need to make sure she is fine. I need to find a way to see her," Jihon ranted, and Daehyun sighed.

He wasn’t sure how much longer he would be entertaining this. They may have been back home, but clearly, Park Jihoon was cooped up somewhere else. His parents were taking care of the pack despite him being available.

"She wouldn’t want to see you. You hurt her so bad and there is no way she would forgive you," Daehyun recalled in the politest tone he could muster, though he was about to throw Jihoon in the dungeons until the man came to his senses.

Kim Rania may have been back in Obren but Daehyun was smart enough to know that Rani hadn’t come to watch the butterflies with them. She hadn’t come to see how peaceful their lands were and she certainly hadn’t come to appease Jihoon.

"Thanks for the reminder, but this doesn’t mean I can’t try, no? I just want to see her even if it is from a distance. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"I know she is somewhere in this realm and I will find her," Jihoon said, the determination on his face making Daehyun feel like this was just another long cycle of the endless night that he had had over the weeks before the festival.

He didn’t want to discourage his friend even more, especially now that Jihoon had decided to mute the voice of reason.

"Fine, you go ahead. I’ll be on the sidelines watching alright?" Daehyun said as he got up, having had enough of his best friend making a fool of himself for a woman who wouldn’t hesitate to point the swords at him.

Maybe love made people blind, but Daehyun had been thinking of all the stories Jihoon had told him about Rania, and he was calling it all bullshit. It just didn’t make sense, and there was a chance that Jihoon wasn’t even in love with Rania.

It was all too far-fetched but he wasn’t going to try and tell his best friend.

If this was some sort of game for Jihoon, then Daehyun could only hope that Kim Rania didn’t break his heart more than possible, because one thing Lee Daehyun was sure of, was that Kim Rania hadn’t come back to Obren to collect more losses and heartbreaks.

"You’re my best friend, it’s your responsibility to come along," Jihoon stated like it was the most normal thing. However, before Daehyun could give his friend an answer, they heard a commotion outside the pack house.

"Something is wrong, let’s go check it out," Jihoon said and Daehyun instantly followed his alpha. They weren’t sure what it was, but from the busy traffic in the pack mind-link, it was obvious that something was amiss.

Outside, a crowd had formed and they could see Jihoons’ parents standing there with shock on their faces. That in itself didn’t mean anything good for Jihoon because he had never thought he would see anything that would surprise his parents.

Surely there wasn’t a mess he had made, right? Or had he whispered to anyone in the mind links that he was in love with Rania? But that couldn’t be a cause for all the commotion.

"What is going on here?" Jihoon asked the nearest pack member and she pointed to the crowd, which instantly gave way to the alpha and the beta. But the sight that met them was one Daehyun could have prayed a hundred years not to witness.

Then again, the universe worked in mysterious ways, right?

"Hello, alpha Park Jihoon," a voice that Daehuyun had hoped he would never hear, greeted Jihoon and Daehyun resisted the urge to facepalm.

Yanna Park was back in Calindra.

The former Luna had come during the day, and a time when everyone was hanging around the pack house. She had shown up looking worse than a ghost and she looked like she had taken quite the beating.

Her hair was tangled in mud, her arms were covered in dry patches of blood, her neck had a slit, her shirt had so many holes and her legs looked broken. She was linking when she walked towards Jihoon and when she got to him, she struggled to stand up.

At first, Daehyun thought that Yanna had faked her injuries, but the stench of open wounds coming from her was insane. Anyone would think that she had been attacked brutally before she had even reached Calindra.

Oh, how Yanna was determined to be here.

"What?" Jihoon voiced as he looked at the woman he had once been mated to.

The excitement to see her was no longer there. In fact, she looked like just another regular pack member in calindra. The urge to protect her and be there for her, went no further than an alpha’s desire to protect his people.

He felt bad for her, and wanted to take her to the physician, not because he would be sick with worry if she stayed hurt, but because it was the only thing he could do as a good alpha.

He felt nothing for her, and that was the first realization in a long time. It was making him question what he had believed all those years.

No mate bond would ever be broken completely no matter what happened between the mates. Magic could only dampen the bond, but it would never sever it completely, no?

However, standing here Jihoon didn’t even feel the tiniest bit of attraction towards her. Instead, the only notable thing he had for her, was pity.

The words that Yanna had spoken at the festival came back to the Calindra alpha, while he stood there and watched the woman who had greeted him slump to the ground, and close her eyes.

And even then, Park Jihoon had stayed in his position.

"Fuck it Jihoon," Daehyun said as he looked at his best friend who wasn’t even making a move to help Yanna.

It was like he had nothing to do with the woman anymore.

It hurt, for those who were watching them, but Park Jihoon was done. So he looked at his parents, silently asking them if they were okay, before looking at his people who were staring at him with open mouths.

He understood the shock on their faces but this time, Park Jihoon was done being played.

"Get her to the pack clinic. And make sure to cuff her up. My luna is dead and we must know whatever the fuck this woman here is," Jihoon said dismissively, shocking Daehyun who had instantly made way for the warriors.

’Who is he, and where is my dumb friend?’ Daehyun asked himself as he went after the alpha.