Alpha's mate is a male?!?-Chapter 134: "Are you still in love with Ace?!"

Ace’s pulse pounds against his skull.

"What the hell does that mean?" His voice is sharper now, demanding. "If it’s about me, I have a right to know. Let me see it."

Kieran doesn’t move. His grip tightens around the crumpled paper, fingers curling as if the words on the paper might escape if he loosens his hold.

Ace steps closer. "Kieran."

No response.

His frustration spikes into something hotter.

He reaches forward, but Kieran takes a step back.

Ace stills. His voice drops lower, more dangerous. "Are you really doing this?"

Kieran’s jaw clenches, but his expression remains unreadable. "It’s not worth reading, not important, so ignore it."

Ace lets out a short, humorless laugh. "Ignore it?" His fingers twitch at his sides. He’s shaking. He doesn’t know if it’s anger, fear, or something worse. "Well, am sorry I can’t ignore it! Not when it’s about me and definitely not when it’s about Jun!"

Kieran’s wolf growls in frustration. "And what exactly do you mean by that?! Don’t make me to start thinking otherwise too." Kieran says, controlling his emotions because he would rather die than yell at Ace.

Behind them, Rey watches. His own heart still aching at the fact that unfolded to him days ago.

He hasn’t been able to rest when he found out about this, only when Jun mentioned Ace’s name when they were making love_ that’s when it all went down, he tried to find out more. Ending up with Jun’s journal that made him regret ever trying to snoop and try to find out more.

Jun finally exhales, rubbing a hand over his face. His silence has been unnerving, but now, when he speaks, his voice is softer than usual. Almost hesitant.

"Rey..."

Just a name. And yet, it carries too much weight. Rey doesn’t react. Jun wants to say Something, just anything, maybe explain himself, but he can’t seem to.

Meanwhile, Ace is just going more crazy. He feels something tighten in his chest. His stomach churns. After Kieran’s words...

He turns to Jun instead. "Jun." His voice is quieter now but just as sharp. "What’s going on?"

Jun doesn’t answer. Instead, his vision blurs.

When Jun doesn’t answer, Ace inhales sharply, shaking his head, his fingers curling more into fists. Why does it feel like he’s the one trapped here?

Ace steps forward. "Jun, talk to me Goddamnit!"

The room falls really tense, thick with unspoken.

"Jun?"

Jun still doesn’t answer, his vision blurring.

His breath hitches, his chest tightening in a way that’s almost painful. There are too many emotions crashing inside him, too much he can’t untangle.

Ace is looking at him, waiting.

Jun knows what Ace means to him. He always has.

Ace has been his anchor for so long, his presence alone is enough to steady him when everything else feels uncertain.

There was a time when Jun thought that feeling was love, the kind that could last forever. Maybe he even wanted it to be.

Even just last night when he was here with Ace alone, he wanted those moments, he wanted to shut everything and everyone out so that it’s only him and Ace.

He thought for hundredth time that he is still in love with Ace.

But Rey... Rey standing here now with even Ace, Jun knows what he feels for Ace is not the same as what he feels for Rey.

He knows he loves Rey, even if it’s the moon Goddess’s bond influence, he still knows he loves Rey now and he wants to be with him.

But then why does he always feels like Ace should always be the one to come first, why does Ace sometimes consume his thoughts like that?!

Jun swallows hard, his fists clenching at his sides.

His heart is racing, not because he doesn’t know what he wants, but because he does, and yet, somehow, he’s still here.

Still standing between the past and the present. Between Ace, who was once his safe place, and Rey, who is his safe place now.

And yet, no one else seems to see it.

The silence in the room is unbearable. It presses down on him, thick and suffocating.

He drags in a breath, but it doesn’t steady him.

He can feel Ace’s eyes on him, sharp, questioning. But more than that, he can feel Rey.

Rey, who hasn’t said a word.

Rey, who stands just a little too still.

And it’s in that stillness that Jun feels the weight of it all.

This isn’t just about him. This isn’t just his confusion, his mess to sort through.

Rey is hurting.

And it’s because of him.

Jun’s stomach twists. His fingers curl tighter into fists, nails pressing into his palms.

He wants to fix this. He needs to fix this. But how does he explain something that feels so tangled inside of him?

Ace is important to him. He will always be important to him and it seems like he is still holding into the past. Still holding to those moments he felt like him and Ace were meant to be.

Or maybe it is because he had already set his mind already that him and Ace belonged and they would end up together, but that changed abruptly.

Or maybe it’s the fact that he still can’t believe and accept the fact that Ace just fell in love with someone else without even hesitation_ does that mean he didn’t mean anything to Ace?!

Is he not that good for someone to desire to be with?! To stay with? Didn’t he play his role as a boyfriend? Is he that undesired for one to just leave and go for someone else?!

What if Rey one day just fall in love with someone else and stop desiring him, and leave him. Just like Ace did?!

Is he worth anyone?

Does Ace still see him as important? Or he was never important after all.

Now he knows what his problem is; It’s fear_ fear of being left behind, abandoned, fear of being the only one in love.

He never got a proper closer, that’s why Ace is still tangled in his mind. Or so he thinks.

Maybe he’s been wanting for Ace to_ one day go back to him , just to make him feel like he is not worthless. To make him feel like he can miss him even if he is with someone else.

To know that Ace still think of him as important to him. But he hasn’t, he didn’t even tell him yesterday night when they had that moment.

And that_ that _is what breaks him.

The emotions crash into him all in him: frustration, guilt, desperation, fear. His breath shudders as he forces the words out, his voice rough, unsteady.

"You all misunderstood it... Maybe I even misunderstood myself." His chest heaves, his gaze flickering between them. "It’s not like that."

Silence stretches between them, thick and suffocating.

Ace’s fists remain clenched at his sides, his pulse hammering as he stares at Jun. Now all he knows is that Rey and Kieran think Jun is still in love with him.

Is he though? The moment yesterday night when Jun looked at him like that, into his eyes, could it have been communicating something?

But Jun says they all misunderstood it... Maybe he even misunderstood myself.

If it’s not like that... then what is it?

Ace exhales sharply, running a hand through his hair, frustration and confusion battling inside him.

Rey stands frozen. His heart tightening. A cold realization creeps over him.

What if he really did a mistake telling this?!

He thought he was uncovering a truth about Jun, something undeniable. But he never stopped to ask Jun why.

He never stopped to think about what Jun was feeling, what he was fighting inside himself. Instead, he exposed him, avoided him, and left him to deal with it alone.

Now, looking at Jun, he sees it, the pain tightening his features, the turmoil in his unfocused eyes. It’s not just frustration or embarrassment. It’s real pain.

Rey swallows hard, guilt twisting inside him. I should have asked him. When we were alone, when I had the chance, I should have asked.

Even Kieran looks at him, worry crossing his expression.

Jun’s hands tremble slightly at his sides. His head is tilted down, but his eyes flicker between them, raw and defenseless.

The longer he stands there, the worse he looks, like someone who is barely holding himself together.

The anger in the room fades, replaced by something else. Concern.

Ace shifts uncomfortably. "Jun..." His voice is softer now, hesitant.

Kieran exhales through his nose, glancing between them. His usual sharpness dulls. "If something is bothering you then let us help, let it out, let’s talk about it," he mutters.

Rey steps forward instinctively, but he hesitates. He doesn’t know what to say.

He thought he understood everything. Thought he had Jun figured out. But now... now he realizes how little he actually might be knowing.

No one speaks for a moment.

Then...

A sharp buzz cuts through the air.

Kieran stiffens slightly before blinking down at his pocket. His phone screen lights up.

Marsel.

He stares at the name.

The moment shatters. The tension in the room shifts, but no one moves.

"It’s Marsel..." Kieran mutters before picking up the call. He cannot ignore a call from them.