Ace stands in his room, clutching a piece of fabric—the shirt the stranger left behind in the forest that night.
The scent has mostly faded, but Ace swears he can still feel the faintest trace of it, a whisper of the man who ignited this chaos in his life.
Days have passed since the pull started consuming him, and no matter what he does, it won't relent.
He has tried everything—retracing his steps in the forest, asking questions around the neighborhood, even using the stranger's discarded clothes as some kind of guide, as though sheer desperation could will the man to appear.
But there's nothing. No sign of him.
Ace collapses onto the bed, his chest heaving with frustration and despair.
Every night, his dreams are plagued with visions of glowing eyes, a deep voice calling his name, and his own body shifting into something primal. He's losing himself.
○•○
Elsewhere, Kieran isn't faring any better.
He paces the perimeter of his pack's territory, fists clenched tightly at his sides.
The pull to Ace is becoming unbearable. He wishes the mating season ends , maybe it is the primary reason why he can't shake off the so called his mate.
He has tried to keep his distance, to resist the mate bond the Moon Goddess cursed him with, but the wolf inside him refuses to yield. It claws at his control every time he thinks of Ace.
And he thinks of him often.
More often than he cares to admit, Kieran finds himself drawn back to the human's presence, lurking in the shadows as Ace moves through his days.
That's why Ace sometimes feels the pull so intensely—because Kieran is there, watching him. Wishing to go closer to him, even as he denies the bond
But it isn't enough.
The Moon Goddess isn't making this easy, either.
Her warnings have started haunting him in dreams, cryptic messages filled with fire and shadows.
Each time, her voice rings out, commanding him to "make things right before it's too late."
Kieran scoffs at the thought. What is there to make right? He has no intention of accepting a man as his mate. He can't. He won't.
He mated and marked him unconsciously, and that's what has been angering him so much about the whole thing.
And yet...
The visions are relentless.
At night, Kieran wakes in a cold sweat, his wolf howling inside him, demanding he go to Ace.
The bond is pulling them closer, unraveling the carefully constructed walls Kieran has been trying to built around his heart.
Desperation drives him to a new plan.
If the Moon Goddess insists on Ace, then perhaps there's a way to have him without fully surrendering to the bond.
The idea comes to Kieran in the dead of night: a soul swap.
If Ace's soul can be transferred into Lila's body, Kieran could have the mate bond without the reality of being mated to a man.
It's a dangerous, morally questionable solution, but Kieran clings to it as his last chance to reclaim some control over his life.
That morning, Kieran makes his decision. He will find Ace and make him understand.
○
Back to Ace,,,
Ace sits alone in the apartment, claiming to Xiao Jun that he isn't feeling well so he'll not go to work.
It's not entirely a lie.
Ever since his birthday, his body has been betraying him in ways he doesn't understand.
He's never been sick before—his health has always been unnaturally perfect. Now, he feels like he's falling apart.
So Xiao Jun goes ahead alone.
Ace stares at the clock on the wall, each tick echoing in the silence.
The ache in his chest grows stronger with each passing moment, and he knows something unusually is happening.
He sometimes feel this stronger pull, what he doesn't know is that When that happens, Kieran is usually close to him.
A knock at the door makes Ace jump.
His pulse quickens as he walks toward it, anticipation and fear swirling in his chest.
When he opens the door, there he is.
The stranger!
The man Ace has been desperately searching for stands before him, his presence commanding and overwhelming.
For a moment, neither of them speaks.
Ace's breath catches in his throat as his eyes lock with Kieran's. The pull between them is tangible, like an electric current crackling in the air.
"You," Ace whispers, his voice trembling.
Kieran steps inside, his jaw clenched tightly. He looks as if he's fighting a war within himself, his expression torn between longing and restraint.
"I had to talk to you," Kieran says, his voice low and rough. "This... this bond between us is destroying is destroying me."
Ace's emotions spill over. He wants to yell, to demand answers, but instead, he moves closer, his body acting on instinct.
All that he knows he wants now is the touch. The feeling he felt that night he was with him.
Kieran takes a step back, his resolve visibly cracking. "You're my mate," he says, the words heavy with reluctance. "We're bonded by the Moon Goddess. You and I were... fated. Am the Alpha of a pack called Lunar Crest, I don't know which pack you are from , which not that important , to me anyway."
Ace stares at him, his mind reeling. "Mate? Pack ? Alpha? What does that even mean?"
"Mate__ means we're connected. Forever. But I can't—" Kieran breaks off, his voice strained. "I can't accept this."
Ace's heart shatters at the words. "Hold on a second , I turn into an animal, and am human, what the hell is that even?"
"Who are your parents?! Is it that they didn't tell you , hiding from you or why don't you know what you are at this age?!" Kieran asks his voice and face unreadable.
"I don't have parents, the ones I was leaving with said they picked me by the roadside." Ace says for the first time feeling the weight of this words.
"Werewolf, you are a werewolf, a shifter from human to a wolf, there's nothing wrong with that because you are way far better than a normal human. You are more privileged__" kieran says but Ace finds himself cutting him sharply.
"I don't see the privilege in being rejected by someone I uncontrollably want , someone I want his hands to be all over me all the time and when they are not I feel tortured , it's like I don't have control over myself anymore!
I don't see the privilege of turning into an animal suddenly without anyone who understands to tell me what is happening with me! I don't see the privilege in anything! Why? Why don't you want me? I sure bet don't want you too but it's like something is pulling me toward you. So what about you? Why don't you want me? What's wrong with me?" Ace asks his voice pained.
"There's nothing wrong with you," Kieran snaps, his voice sharp. "But you're a man, and I—" He stops, his hands trembling. "I can't be mated to a man. It goes against everything I've ever known."
The room falls silent, the weight of Kieran's words pressing heavily on the air.
Ace's hands ball into fists, his chest heaving with anger and pain. "So you're just going to reject me? After everything you've done to me—this mark, this pull—you're just going to walk away? Like you left me in the forest helpless?!"
Kieran's gaze hardens. "No. I've found a solution."
Ace frowns. "What solution?"
"I'll find a witch, there is a powerful one I know , she can transfer your soul into a woman's body. That way, I can—"
"No!" Ace's voice cracks as he interrupts. He unbelievably looks at Kieran. "You know what?! You are a psychopath! I'm not letting you do that! Am not going in a woman's body! You can't just... take my soul and put it in someone else! Do you even hear yourself?"
Kieran's resolve falters as he sees the tears streaming down Ace's face.
"I'm not some problem for you to fix," Ace says, his voice breaking. "I didn't ask for this. I haven't even understood what is happening to me and you are here talking about some bullshit , adding to my confusion and stress. You are a heartless prick! Just go away from me!" Ace cries even more.
Kieran's chest tightens at the sight of Ace's pain. He wants to look away, to harden himself, but he can't.
When Ace collapses to the couch, sobbing, something inside Kieran snaps. He moves to him, pulling him into his arms despite the war raging within him.
The moment their bodies touch, the bond flares to life, an overwhelming surge of heat and longing that threatens to consume them both.
Kieran closes his eyes, his wolf howling in triumph, and for a brief moment, he lets himself feel it—the connection, the pull, the undeniable rightness of being near Ace.