Alpha's mate is a male?!?-Chapter 121: Jun being Jun

Later that day in the evening,

Ace stands on the sidelines, arms crossed, watching as the witches throw themselves into training.

Their movements are sharp, their magic precise, the air thick with the scent of power.

Rika and Max take charge, guiding them through exercises, correcting their stances, and pushing them harder.

He doesn’t interfere. This isn’t his world.

Yes, Ace has supernatural powers, he can manipulate them do whatever, but it’s totally different from what the witches are doing.

That’s something entirely different. He wouldn’t even know where to begin.

So, he stays back, watching, observing.

When he catches someone hesitating or looking discouraged, he offers a few words of encouragement, a nod, a reassuring look.

It’s not much, but he hopes it helps.

Jun, on the other hand, is a completely different story.

Unlike Ace, Jun doesn’t know when to sit still. He doesn’t know when to leave things alone.

So instead of watching from the sidelines, he throws himself right into the middle of it, without knowing a damn thing about magic.

The witches don’t seem to mind. In fact, they love it.

"Like this?" Jun asks, trying to mimic a stance he’s seen someone take. But he has zero magic to manipulate.

He just make them laugh, even Rika herself can’t help but laugh at Jun’s determination even if he isn’t doing anything, really.

"No, no, you’re all wrong," one of them laughs. A girl, almost his age, only she’s younger. "You look like you’re about to fall over."

Jun scoffs, adjusting his position. "Hey, I have excellent balance. Watch this."

He shifts his weight, trying to prove his point, but the moment he lifts his foot slightly off the ground, he wobbles, and then nearly topples over completely.

Laughter erupts around him, a few witches giggling while others shake their heads in amusement.

Ace pinches the bridge of his nose. Of course.

"Ace, you said Xiao Jun is your brother? How comes you are this different from each other." Max asks, he couldn’t help, his curiosity taking over him. novelbuddy.cσ๓

"We don’t really share personalities. And even if I did, I would try with all I have to change that." They laugh, while Jun rolls his eyes at him.

But he doesn’t stop there.

He tries to copy their hand movements, their footwork, everything, meditating.

Every time he messes up, he just grins and tries again. And the witches? They encourage him, laughing with him, guiding him through the movements even though he has no real reason to be here.

Ace sighs. Striding over, he grabs Jun by the collar and tugs him away.

"Alright, that’s enough," Ace says firmly. "You’re just distracting everyone here."

Jun protests, trying to dig his heels into the ground. "No, I’m learning!"

Ace rolls his eyes, not buying it for a second. "You’re not learning, you’re making them laugh. They won’t concentrate if you are here to entertain them."

"Laughter is important for training," Jun argues. "It boosts morale and it breaks monotony."

Ace ignores him.

Jun twists in his grip, pouting. "Come on, don’t be like this. I was actually getting the hang of it..."

"You were not, and you don’t have their power of magic, so come on." Ace cuts him off.

Jun insists. "You’re just jealous that am trying while you can’t do a thing."

Ace snorts. "Right. That must be it."

Eventually, Jun gives up struggling, letting Ace pull him away from the training area.

They walk a short distance until they spot Elira sitting on a large rock, watching everything with a small smile.

She looks at them as they approach and shakes her head fondly. "My babies," she murmurs.

Ace stops in front of her, raising a brow. "Babies?"

Jun, ever the dramatic one, flops down next to her with a huff. "Ace is seriously bullying me."

Ace scoffs. "I saved you from humiliation, freak."

Elira chuckles softly before reaching out and placing a hand on both their heads, patting them at the same time.

"I’m so proud of you," she says.

Ace doesn’t react at first. It feels overwhelming to him to be told that he made someone proud. But he just made his parent proud.

After a second, he relaxes under her touch, letting himself feel it.

Jun, on the other hand, leans into it completely, eyes closing as if he’s savoring the moment.

Ace watches the training continue in the distance. The witches are giving it their all, their movements sharper, their energy more focused.

Rika and Max are handling things well. They are reliable.

-

After a while, Elira speaks, her voice calm yet thoughtful.

"Guys, I’ve been thinking," she begins, glancing at Ace and Jun. "Since Rika and the others are worried about the witches that Hunter made their enemies, and we don’t know if they’ll show up or not... or when they will, what if we try to stop a conflict before it starts?"

Ace shifts his gaze to her, intrigued. "What are you suggesting?"

Elira meets his eyes. "How about this? We send them letters, each one telling them we want peace. We apologize for the conflict, invite them to a discussion. A chance to fix what was damaged."

Jun blinks, considering it. "You mean... instead of just preparing for a fight, we try to prevent one first?"

Elira nods. "Yes. If they don’t respond or refuse, we’ll be no worse off than we are now. But if they listen... we could avoid bloodshed."

Ace leans back slightly, thinking. The idea is so simple, yet so powerful.

"That’s actually the greatest idea I’ve heard since I was born," he finally says.

Elira’s eyes widen slightly before she laughs, pleased. "You dare tease your mother?!"

Ace smirks. "No, am actually serious. It’s a lot better than just waiting in the dark, wondering if an attack is coming."

Jun grins, nodding. "I agree. But don’t you guys think we should talk to Max and Rika first?"

"Of course," Elira says. "They need to be on board before we send anything."

Ace pushes himself off the rock, stretching his arms. "Then let’s do this right away."

They make their way back toward the training area, where Rika and Max are still overseeing the witches. Training has wound down slightly, the group pausing for water and a brief rest.

Rika spots them approaching and raises a brow. "You’re back already? Jun, don’t tell me you want another round of training?"

Jun scoffs. "I think I’ve embarrassed myself enough for today."

Rika smirks. "Good to know your limits."

"Rika, Max, can we talk for a moment." Ace says.

They walk to where they are, Max leans in slightly. "We’re listening."

Elira clears her throat. "We were thinking, we don’t want fights, conflicts, so rather than just sitting here, waiting for the enemy witches to come after us, we could try communicating to them trying to solve things instead."

Max raise a brow slightly. "How?"

Elira answers. "We send letters to each of them. Apologize for what happened. Explain that Hunter was the one who created the conflict between them and us. Offer them a chance to talk, to end this before it escalates."

For a moment, there’s silence. Rika and Max exchange glances, clearly processing the suggestion.

Max is the first to speak. "And what if they don’t listen? What if they see it as weakness?"

Ace crosses his arms. "Does it matter? As long as they will leave you alone. But if they are determined to fight, then we’ll fight. But at least we’ll know we tried. We won’t be acting blindly, assuming the worst. If they ignore us, or if they do take it as a weakness and want to fight, we’ll know where we stand."

Rika looks at Ace carefully, then Elira. "I have to admit... this isn’t what I expected, but it makes sense."

Jun nods eagerly. "Exactly! No harm in trying, right?"

Max rubs his chin, thoughtful. "The tricky part is how we send these letters. We can’t just have someone walk up to them unprotected."

Elira smiles knowingly. "That’s why I already thought of that."

"We send the letters through magic," Elira explains. "A secure spell that ensures only the intended recipient can open it. That way, if they do reject us, they can’t use our letters against us."

Rika exhales, nodding slowly. "That’s... actually brilliant."

Max chuckles, shaking his head. "I’m starting to believe Elira is the smartest one here."

Jun dramatically places a hand on his chest. "I object. Clearly, I..."

Ace clamps a hand over his mouth. "Clearly, you need to shut up."

Jun doesn’t argue.

Rika looks around at everyone before nodding firmly. "Alright. We’ll do it. But we need to draft the letters carefully. We don’t want to sound weak, but we also need to be genuine."

Ace nods. "Then let’s not waste any time. Let’s get started."

They gather together, sitting in a small circle near the edge of the training grounds. The cool evening air settles around them as they begin discussing the exact words they’ll use.

The future is uncertain, but for the first time, they have a chance... a chance to change things before war comes knocking.