"Oh, the beta? Yes, he came a few minutes before you and your mentor arrived," the gamma informed the zeta as Syri sat up and swung his legs off the bed. "His pain was something I couldn't help him with, so I sent him to the sigma. She should be able to tell him what had happened," Estan added as the zeta slipped off the bed and stood to his feet.
Syri looked over to the other patient's bed to make sure Kip was still fast asleep before turning to the gamma and revealing, "I think I know what happened." Estan raised his brows at the zeta's words and waited for Syri to continue. "I felt the same way when my fated died."
"Ahh, I see," Estan sounded as he slowly nodded his head as he went deep into thought. "So, you believe the breaking of the bond was the cause," Estan concluded in assumption. Syri nodded in confirmation. The gamma leaned against his desk and folded his arms across his chest as he let out a breath. "Thank the moon goddess that Jae had been rejected. I know it's an awful thing to be rejected, but it made the passing of his fated one much easier than it would have been had he not been rejected." The gamma's voice was low as he talked about the recent news regarding the prince.
Syri turned his gaze to the floor and slowly nodded in agreement. The rejection was brutal, but Syri was relieved Jae did not feel the pain he had when Jisue was killed. And Syri's connection with Jisue was unwanted, so the zeta could not even imagine the pain of losing a fated one who was loved. In that moment, Syri was grateful Calix had not yet met his mate.
"I should go find Calix. He may need my help," the zeta told the gamma as he stepped away from the bed.
"Okay, you are cleared to begin work again. I'll continue to monitor your mentor. I will release him when he wakes up. The lacerations were small and shallow since the perpetrator wasn't very strong, so he should not have too hard of a time recovering as a beta," Estan informed the zeta to ease Syri's worry.
"Thank you, Inso," Syri smiled as he began toward the door. "I'll come to check on him once I find Calix."
"Okay, be safe, Little One. Don't do anything too drastic for a few days. Your wounds are still closing."
"I'll keep that in mind." Syri gave the gamma one more smile before slipping out of the door and beginning his hunt to find the green-eyed beta.
<<<<<>>>>>
Jae was making his way down the corridor that housed the gamma's clinic when he caught a whiff of the sweet scent he had been craving. 'Syri?' It had to be Syri. The scent was too potent for the true blood to mistaken have it. The prince broke into a run down the hall until he came to the clinic where the scent was the strongest.
Estan whirled around as the door swung open and a frantic true blood entered. "Jae," the gamma greeted the prince with slight confusion to his hurry. Then Estan recalled Syri leaving just a few minutes prior and realized the prince must have picked up the zeta's faint scent through all of the servant and workers' scents that intermingle throughout the entire castle. Estan had hoped there would be enough variation in the scents that it would mask the zeta's scent. Apparently, it was not.
"Is everything okay, Jae?" Estan inquired as he attempted to hide the fact that he knew exactly why the prince was there.
"Was Syri here?" Jae inquired as he fervently searched the room.
Estan shook his head as he answered, "No, I don't think so. I haven't seen Syri since he left with his cousin." 'Okay, control your breathing. Hopefully, Jae is too occupied with finding Syri that he won't notice.'
"He's here somewhere. I am sure of it," the prince declared as he scanned the room once more to find only the gamma and a beta lying in a patient bed. "I have to find him," was all Jae said before he rushed out of the clinic and began following the trail of the zeta's vanilla and roses.