"Will he be okay?" Syri inquired as Jae led him to one of the many wide, stone sills of the outer wall of a corridor that opened to a small courtyard through an arcade in the wall.
"He will be alright if Den can get him to stabilize," Jae answered as he came to lean against one of the arch's columns.
"Why was he unstable? If you don't mind me asking," Syri furthered his inquiry as Yejin and Estan came to stand beside him and Jae.
"Kace is a binate," Estan answered while leaning into his mate.
"A binate?" The zeta's confusion was displayed through his raised brow as he stared at the gamma with a face of curiosity.
Seeing as Jae showed no intentions of blocking Estan from telling Syri Kace's secret, Estan explained, "Kace has two wolves. You met Zale, the alpha, and I am sure Den has met the delta, Axel."
The zeta's eyes widened when he heard the gamma's reply. 'Two wolves?!'
"Unfortunately, Zale and Axel clash with each other, causing Kace to be constantly in pain. As long as they are at odds, Kace will never be at peace."
"And you are hoping Eternal Dawn's prince will be able to calm them and bring them to harmony," Syri completed Estan's thought.
"Ae. We are fortunate Den is Kace's fated one."
"But Zale did not seem to want the prince to mark him..." Syri's observation brought silence to the four until Yejin spoke, "He is afraid Den will hurt them." The zeta's brows furrowed at the alpha's response. "But the prince seems to be a good man."
"It is due to trauma from the past," Estan explained. "Kace...went through a lot."
"I see," Syri sounded quietly, drawing in silence once more.
"Shall we go check on them?" Yejin proposed after a moment had passed. Estan shook his head as he replied, "No, we should let them be. They have a lot to figure out." The other three nodded in agreement and returned to stalling time; they did not wish to return to the banquet, so they remained in the corridor exchanging small talk and funny stories to lighten the mood.
<<<<<>>>>>
"You must be Axel," Den said softly, so he would not startle the highly confused delta.
"Wh-where am I?" Axel inquired quietly. His voice was barely above a whisper, and he kept his eyes locked on the true blood in front of him.
"You're in Estan's clinic," Den replied before asking, "How do you feel?" To Den's dismay, the delta remained silent in response to his inquiry, and it did not seem as if he would answer anytime soon. Den was about to resign to the fact that the delta would not speak another word to him until a tear rolled from the corner of Axel's bright blue eyes.
"Why didn't you come to us sooner?"
Axel's sudden question struck Den deep in his heart. He did not know how to respond, so all he could do was remain silent. "We wouldn't be like this if you had...if you had found us sooner." Fresh tears accompanied Axel's sad statement that shattered Den's heart into a thousand shards.
"I'm so sorry." All Den could do was apologize. He too wished he had found them sooner. That way they would not be so broken. Den felt as if he had failed Blue. He had failed him as his mate. He was supposed to protect him and keep him safe, but here he was sitting before him in pieces. "I'm so sorry."
Before Den knew it, he had reached out and brought the blue-haired into his arms. Axel stiffened when the true blood wrapped his arms around him, but the delta quickly fell into the prince's embrace. "I should have found you sooner. I'm so sorry."
The relaxing of the blue-haired caused Den's worry to lessen, but it was short-lived. Pained grunts filtered from the delta's lips as the two wolves began to clash once more. Den brought the delta to arm's length to see his eyes flashing from blue to red drastically. Axel curled his fingers in the true blood's shirt and shut his eyes as pain assaulted him. Blood began to seep from the wounds once again and was soon trickling down the delta's arm onto the bed.
"Axel," Den voiced in an attempt to steady the conflicted male. Den's brows furrowed in concern, and his grip on the delta tightened when Axel let out a pained moan and grit his teeth. Frantic to stabilize the male, the true blood once again released his alpha voice in a low hum. His voice, however, only seemed to trigger more pain in the blue-haired as a cry ripped from Axel's throat and the delta clutched the sides of his head. Den's heart broke at the man's cry, but he continued to sound his voice as he knew it was the only way to get Axel and Zale to become stable.