"Don't let anyone come in," Estan told his mate as he followed Jae into the prince's room.
Yejin nodded in acknowledgment as he stood watch by the door. The alpha looked back and forth from the theta to the delta standing beside him and knit his brows. 'Ehhh. I'll ask about it later.' Yejin thought to himself as he spotted the healing marks on the two's necks.
"So, what happened?" Yejin inquired of the delta. "Jae was holding Syri pretty close, so I didn't see what was going on. Is Syri's wound bleeding again?"
Haikon and Xander looked at each other before Xander answered in an unsure tone, "We're not too sure. When we got there, the omega had already been marked."
Yejin's eyes widened. "He marked Syri?! That bastard!"
The theta and delta nodded their heads slightly in agreement. They all wished to send the alpha to a special kind of hell. "Well, since Jae is safe and Syri is getting checked on, we will take our leave," Xander said to Yejin as he took Haikon's hand. "Keep us updated?" The delta asked of the alpha as he began leading the theta down the corridor. "We have some things to discuss," Xander said bashfully in apology for leaving suddenly.
Haikon quickly bowed his head in goodbye as he was dragged off by the delta. Yejin shook his head and let out a light chuckle. "Something definitely happened between those two. It's about time." The alpha found himself smiling as he watched the delta drag the theta down the hallway with a wide smile on his face.
<3<3<3<3
"Well, good news is that the wound in his side is gone," Estan said as he looked at the sleeping zeta. "Bad news is that the alpha didn't even set the mark. Bastard."
"What does that mean? What will happen if the mark isn't set?" Jae inquired of the gamma.
"It won't heal properly."
Jae's heart sank. 'Not this again.'
"But...it may take your set," Estan revealed. Jae immediately brought his gaze to the gamma.
"What do you mean?"
"The alpha did not mark him on his scent gland, so, technically, his scent hasn't been imprinted on Syri permanently. Which means-"
"The mark isn't permanent."
"Correct. This also means it may accept a set from a wolf who is not its owner, especially if the wolf is stronger than the original marker."
"If it accepts my set, will it heal?"
"Yes. It will still be the alpha's mark, but it will heal due to your set. However, I am not a hundred percent certain that it will work. No one has done this before. It is just speculation as of now."
"It's worth a shot. I will ask Syri when he wakes up."
"Okay. Good luck."
Jae nodded in response, his eyes turning back to the sleeping male.
"I've cleaned the mark and stopped the bleeding as much as possible, but it won't heal properly without a set. I hope it works," Estan said as he began gathering his supplies and returning them to his medic kit.
"I hope so, too." Jae let out a breath as he sat on the edge of the bed and pressed his hand to Syri's forehead to feel the zeta's temperature.
<3<3<3<3
Despair filled Syri the moment he opened his eyes. The dull pain of the mark immediately reminding the zeta of the events that happened the night before. Tears threatened to fall freely before a strong arm turned the zeta over in the bed and pulled him to a broad body. Syri clutched onto Jae as the true blood pet his head in soothing strokes. The true blood released calming pheromones and made sure all Syri could smell was his scent.
Jae held Syri until the zeta was calm enough to sit up. The prince nudged Syri into a sitting position and had the two males face each other.
"You trust me, right?" Jae asked after a moment.
Syri looked deep into the true blood's eyes and nodded his head.
"Would you be opposed if I set the mark?" Jae asked cautiously. Even though it was clear that Syri did not want the alpha's mark, he was not completely certain that the zeta's wolf instincts would allow a mark to be set by a wolf other than the mark's owner.
Syri released a short breath before quickly shaking his head.
Jae nodded in acknowledgment. "Okay." With Syri's consent, Jae cupped the zeta's neck in one hand while using the other to tilt Syri's neck to expose the mark. Syri remained still as the true blood leaned down. Jae crinkled his nose at the smell of the alpha oozing out of the mark, and he fought the urge to pull away at the scent of a marked wolf. Syri let out a soft gasp as Jae began to carefully lick the mark. He was trying his best to set it. Jae did not know if the mark would accept a setting from a wolf that was not its owner, but he had to try.
"Jae-" Syri said between breaths. He wanted to say that the mark already felt better, but he could not seem to form the words.
"Hold still. This is going to hurt," Jae warned as he turned his neck and began rubbing his scent gland over the zeta's fresh mark.