A month later,,
The meeting room is charged with tension, a palpable weight that makes every breath feel heavier.
The long table, carved from dark oak, stretches between the pack elders, Kieran, Ace, and Jun.
The elders murmur amongst themselves, their voices a dissonant blend of confusion and frustration.
At the head of the table, Kieran sits with his back straight, though his knuckles whiten as they grip the armrests of his chair.
His dark eyes scan the room, but every so often, they flicker toward Ace, who sits stiffly on the opposite side of the room.
The distance between them feels like a chasm.
Ace's arms are crossed tightly, his gaze sweeping across everyone except Kieran.
He hasn't looked at Kieran once since it began, and the indifference eats away at Kieran's composure.
One elder clears his throat, silencing the murmurs. "Xiao Jun," he begins, turning toward the young man leaning against the wall, his stance defensive. "How sure are you that the ones who attacked you weren't humans, but wolves?"
Jun's jaw tightens, and his hand instinctively brushes the faint scar along his neck. "I'm sure," he replies, his voice sharp and unwavering.
The elder narrows his eyes. "How?"
Jun pushes off the wall, his posture tense. "Because no human's eyes glow in the dark," he snaps. His words hang in the air, and the room falls deathly silent.
He continues, his tone edged with bitterness. "When they attacked, I didn't see their faces clearly. But as they pinned me down, their eyes…" He hesitates, the memory flashing in his mind. "Bright. Gold. Glowing. That's not human."
Another elder shifts uncomfortably in his chair. "Glowing eyes. That's a trait of wolves under certain… influences."
Jun's expression hardens. "Influences, or orders?"
The implication sends a ripple through the room. The murmurs start again, louder this time, until one elder raises her hand to quiet them.
"And when did this attack happen?" she asks.
Jun's lips press into a thin line. "Two nights ago."
The room grows colder.
"Two nights ago?" Another elder leans forward, his brow furrowed. "And since then, we've had two more fights within the pack. Wolves turning on each other for no reason."
"Not to mention the food stores," another chimes in. "Supplies disappearing faster than we can replenish them. Theft, within our own ranks."
Ace sighs heavily, unfolding his arms. By now everyone in the pack knows him as a powerful member of the Lunar Crest pack who was chosen by the moon goddess to work together with the alpha to help solve chaos in the wolf world.
"If all of you think carefully , remembering well, these chaos started again after those two wolves came back." Ace says.
Kieran's expression lights up as if hearing Ace's voice have made him alive again. "What are you implying?" he asks, eager to hear it again.
Ace doesn't look at him as he answers. "I'm saying that everything began falling apart after those two came back. From what I have heard, Alpha Kieran didn't want shame on his pack, that it is disgusting for male to be with male as mates." Ace emphasizes that, not even caring to look at Kieran's expression. "So they went away, but after they came back, it's like everything is falling apart gradually. One more thing, if really those two attacked Jun then I think they are working with with Lila, because there is no way ,,, suddenly they went to attack him when they barely know him, Lila has a grudge on Jun too and we knew for sure she would come for the three of us!"
The tension in the room thickens.
"That makes total sense," Xiao Jun points out.
"It could be , or it be could not." One elder says.
A murmur spreads through the room again, and one elder speaks up, her voice tinged with curiosity. "Alpha Kieran, we have actually been wondering, Why did you allow those two back in the pack? Surely, you haven't changed your stance on them."
Kieran's jaw tightens, and his grip on the chair deepens. He now knows that really the goddess can mate male and male, she did it with him, and lately he has been think of a man more than he should and would ever admit, so fighting it would only be unfair to those two wolves, and maybe make the Moon Goddess even more angry with him.
He exhales through his nose, his tone clipped. "That's not important right now."
"Is it not?" Jun challenges, his voice rising. "Because just as Ace has said, I think they're the reason for all of this. You may want to ignore the connection, but the facts are right in front of us."
The room erupts into murmurs again, voices overlapping with tension.
"Ace..." Kieran starts but Jun cuts him.
"Jun isn't wrong. The answers are right infront of us. Now it's like I can't leave his side until we figure out this, because if It wasn't for the car that passed at that moment, we would be talking another story right now, am not sure if I can take that, so let's take what we have and act before it's too late."
Kieran stays quiet, Ace's words pulling something tight in his chest. But Ace doesn't meet his gaze, and the indifference twists the knife deeper.
"Even if they are connected," Kieran says, addressing the room rather than Ace, "we don't have proof. I won't accuse anyone without evidence."
"And what if we wait too long?" Jun presses, stepping forward. "What if Lila's behind this, and they're her pawns? She's out there, plotting. You think she wouldn't use them to weaken us from the inside?"
"We will investigate. But until we have proof, no one is to act against them. Understood?" Kieran commands.
The elders exchange wary glances before nodding reluctantly.
Jun steps back, but the tension in his posture remains. As the elders begin to file out, their whispers fading into the hall, Kieran watches Ace rise from his seat.
It takes all he got to walk away from Kieran , without even a glance, his movements stiff and deliberate.
Kieran's gaze follows him, but before they could walk out, he calls out. They stop at the doorway.
"We should meet tonight to investigate those two, we really have no time." He says.
Jun answers but Ace resumes walking out.
Kieran sinks into his chair, running a hand down his face. The weight of the past month presses down on him, suffocating.
The pack's unrest, Lila's looming threat, his punishment—it's all too much.
And then there's Ace.
Ace, who hasn't spoken to him in weeks. Ace, who barely looks at him anymore. Ace, whose coldness feels like a punishment.
And yet Kieran keeps telling himself that it's part of goddess's punishment.
He clenches his fists.