Alpha's mate is a male?!?-Chapter 157: What to tell him ||

More punches...

The impact sends a deep crack through the concrete. Dust and debris scatter around him, but he doesn’t stop.

Another punch.

And another.

Blood smears against the wall, dripping from his knuckles.

"Kieran!" Rika grabs his arm before he can do more damage. "Stop!"

He jerks away, chest heaving. His eyes are red, wild, unfocused.

"What am I supposed to say to him?" His voice is barely above a whisper, but the pain in it is suffocating. "I did it to him again, I hurt him, I promised never to hurt him ever again! But I did it!"

Rika swallows hard. She doesn’t have an answer.

Rika shakes her head. "Kieran..."

"No," he cuts her off. His breathing is sharp, ragged. His expression is twisted with something between grief and fury.

Rika’s throat tightens. She knows how much Marsel meant to Kieran. How much Ace’s family had started to become his family too.

And now they’re gone.

But Ace is still here.

Rika takes a deep breath, then presses the call button on Kieran’s phone.

The dial tone barely rings before Ace picks up.

"Kieran... thank God..." His voice is hoarse, rough like he’s been crying. "Please come back. Wherever you are, please."

Rika exhales slowly, steadying herself. "Hey, Ace. It’s me."

There’s a pause. "Rika? You are fine, thank God. Where is Kieran? Why isn’t he picking up my calls, is he alright? How about my dad? Why isn’t any of them fucking picking up my calls!"

Rika swallows, gripping the phone tighter. "Hold on, okay? We’re on our way back."

Before Ace can say anything else, she ends the call.

She can’t bare to hear anything else from him.

Kieran clenches his jaw, forcing himself to breathe, but each inhale is shallow, each exhale is laced with guilt.

He keeps replaying every decision he made, every step he took that led to this moment.

If he had been faster. If he had been smarter.

Would Marsel still be alive?

Would Elira?

"Kieran," Rika’s voice is soft, careful, like she knows he’s close to breaking. "We need to go. We can’t stay here forever."

A shaky breath leaves Kieran’s lips.

He swallows hard, then moves.

Bending down, he slides his arms under Marsel’s body and lifts.

The weight is heavy, not just physically, but emotionally, and Kieran feels like he’s carrying the weight of his own failures along with Marsel’s corpse.

His muscles tense, his grip firm, but his soul feels weak, hollowed out by grief.

Rika and Max watch him, waiting, neither daring to speak. There’s nothing they can say. Not when the air around them is thick with the scent of blood and death.

Kieran walks toward the car, his steps slow, deliberate. Every movement feels unnatural, his body moving on autopilot while his mind spirals.

Guilt claws at his throat.

Ace’s face flashes in his mind.

The thought makes him falter for a second, but he forces himself to keep going. He places Marsel gently in the backseat, his hands lingering for a moment before he finally pulls away.

Then, he turns to Rika and Max.

"Track down Blake," he orders, his voice rough, strained. "Find Jack and the others. I want every alpha searching for her, she is dangerous right Now, and it will require a lot of force to get her down. Thank you for your help from the start."

Neither of them argue. They know better.

Rika nods. Max clenches his jaw and steps back, already preparing to leave.

Kieran doesn’t wait for anything else. He moves to the driver’s seat, grips the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turn white, and drives.

The road back to the pack house is long, but Kieran barely registers the distance. His mind is a blur, thoughts chaotic, grief suffocating.

The silence in the car is deafening, filled only with the sound of his own breathing, heavy and uneven.

After like an hour, the pack house comes into view.

As soon as he stops the car, he doesn’t even have a second to process before Ace appears, Jun and Rey behind him.

Kieran barely gets the chance to step out before Ace crashes into him, arms wrapping around him, holding him so tightly it almost knocks the air from his lungs.

Kieran stiffens.

Ace buries his face against Kieran’s chest, his whole body shaking. "Thank god... thank god... you got me really worried, why haven’t you been picking up my calls? Are you Okay?" His voice is hoarse, broken.

Kieran doesn’t answer.

He can’t.

Because the moment Ace pulls back to look at him, the moment Kieran sees the desperation in his eyes, the weight of what he has to say slams into him all over again.

And suddenly, he isn’t sure how to breathe.

The mood around the pack house is heavy, suffocating. The usual chatter and warmth are gone, replaced by an eerie silence that presses against Kieran’s chest.

He doesn’t need to ask to know that everyone feels it... the weight of grief, of uncertainty, of something dark looming over them.

Ace looks at the car then back at him... his heart pounding, a sinking feeling settling in his gut. His throat is tight, his voice rough from everything that has happened.

"Where is everyone else?" His eyes scan the vehicle, searching.

Kieran in front of him shifts uncomfortably, avoiding his gaze. "Uh... umh... I don’t know if you’ve heard, but..." He pauses, his fingers twitching at his sides. "It seems the pregnancy affected Blake. She’s... she’s one of us now. She’s out of control."

Ace’s breath catches in his throat. His heart pounds so loudly it drowns out everything else.

He clenches his fists, trying to keep himself steady, but the weight in his chest is unbearable.

"Yes, I’ve heard... it’s all over the city. And I figured it couldn’t be anyone else but her." His voice is tight, restrained, like he’s forcing himself to stay calm. "Did they go to find Blake?!"

Kieran nods, barely meeting his eyes.

Ace exhales sharply, dragging a hand over his face. The tension in his body only grows, his thoughts spiraling.

"What about Dad?" His voice wavers despite his effort to hold it together. "Did he go too?"

Kieran shifts uncomfortably, his posture rigid.

Ace’s chest tightens. He forces himself to keep speaking, even as a sinking feeling settles deep in his gut.

"Does he... does he know that Mom is dead?"

Silence.

Kieran swallows hard, his jaw clenching as if he’s trying to force out an answer, but nothing comes. His throat works, his fingers twitch at his sides, but there’s no response.