– Ye Jun
By the time the car began winding through familiar streets, the mood inside had shifted from excitement to peace. Ryung, Kwang, Hanjae, and Jin had been dropped off one by one, each goodbye loud and full of inside jokes and dramatic fake tears. Now, it was just Ye Jun, his two mothers, and the soft hum of tires on pavement.
Ari glanced at him through the rearview mirror. "So.... twenty-one."
Ye Jun groaned. "Don't start."
"Oh, we've started," Hana said, twisting in her seat to grin at him. "It's a milestone, baby! You're officially an adult."
Ye Jun rested his head against the window. "Why does everyone keep saying that like I just got crowned king of the wolves?"
"Because we're your mothers and we're excited," Ari replied, not missing a beat. "We've been planning this for weeks. Hana even found a bakery that makes moonflower-shaped cakes."
"I did," Hana confirmed proudly. "And we already put in a custom order. White chocolate and blueberry."
Ye Jun turned to look at them with exaggerated pain in his eyes. "What if I don't want a party?"
"Then we'll still throw one," Ari said sweetly. "And you'll survive."
"Barely," he muttered.
"You'll thank us later," Hana said. "We invited people already."
Ye Jun blinked. "You what?"
Ari laughed. "Just a small group. The twins. Jin. Hanjae. You know—people who love you."
Ye Jun sighed, but a small smile tugged at his lips. "You two are relentless."
"We love you too much to let you hide from joy," Hana said, reaching back to squeeze his knee. "Deal with it."
As the car turned into their neighborhood, Ye Jun felt a wave of familiarity wash over him. Trees he knew. Cracks in the sidewalks he'd walked a thousand times. The scent of home—warm, soft, a little floral, and completely his.
He closed his eyes, letting it soak into his bones.
He didn't know what was coming next.
But right now?
He was exactly where he needed to be.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
---
– Yu Jun
The conference room was silent.
Yu Jun sat at the head of the table, back straight, eyes fixed on the folder in front of him. The papers were full of reports—territory surveillance, rogue patrols, training schedules—but his eyes didn't move.
Around him, Beta officials, warriors, and advisors waited. No one dared to speak out of turn. Not when their Alpha looked like he was one wrong word away from snapping.
But the truth was—Yu Jun hadn't heard a single sentence since the meeting began.
His thoughts were elsewhere.
Back in that hotel.
By the elevator.
The scent that had flashed by too fast.
The delicate figure cloaked in shadows.
The tug deep inside his chest like a magnetic pull that never quite connected.
He didn't know who it was. He hadn't seen the face. But the image was burned behind his eyelids like an unfinished puzzle.
His wolf was restless—pacing beneath his skin, growling every time someone else dared to speak. Where is he? it asked, again and again.
"Alpha?" a voice finally said, cautious and low.
Yu Jun slowly raised his eyes.
The room stiffened.
Hyeon-u, seated near the end of the table, didn't flinch. His voice remained steady. "Do you want us to reschedule the rest of the agenda?"
Yu Jun stared at him for a beat too long.
Then, with a nod that dismissed everyone, he stood and left the room in silence.
No one followed.
No one questioned.
Because when an Alpha walked with a storm behind his eyes—
—you don't ask about the thunder.
-----
– Ye Jun (Back Home)
The moment they stepped inside, Ye Jun let out a soft sigh. The house smelled exactly the same—like jasmine tea, lemon-scented cleaner, and a faint trace of whatever incense Ari had been burning recently. The wooden floors creaked in all the familiar ways. The furniture was still pushed slightly off-center from the last time Hana rearranged everything and forgot to fix it.
Home.
He dropped his duffel by the hallway closet and immediately slipped off his shoes, wiggling his toes against the cool floor.
"I'll start unpacking the food," Ari called from the kitchen. "Jin's mom sent a whole tray of dumplings."
"I'll light the warmer," Hana added. "Junie, put your laundry in the basket and come tell me what this mystery dream was about."
Ye Jun froze halfway to the stairs. "I never said it was a mystery."
"You didn't have to," Ari said smoothly. "You've been frowning since you got in the car."
"I always frown."
"Not this particular one," Hana said from behind the fridge door. "This one looks like moon-prophecy-and-impending-doom kind of frown."
Ye Jun groaned. "Can't I have five minutes of peace before I get interrogated?"
"We just missed you," Ari said, appearing beside him with a gentle smile and a handful of neatly folded dish towels. "But you don't have to talk. Not until you're ready."
He smiled faintly and took the towels from her. "Thanks."
Upstairs, his room was exactly the same—sunlight spilling through the sheer curtains, bookshelf packed too full, the soft sheets on his bed already rumpled by his earlier nap. There were framed photos of all of them on the walls, and one of him as a toddler with chocolate all over his face that he had tried multiple times to take down. His mothers always put it back up.
He flopped down on the bed with a long exhale.
The dream hadn't left him.
It sat heavy in his chest like a second heartbeat.
The Moon Goddess. Her voice. The way the stars bent around her shape. The feeling of… being known. And the words she left behind still echoed in his ears:
"When the world tries to hide you, I will reveal you."
"When the wolves turn their backs, he will not."
Ye Jun stared at the ceiling, uncertain, unsettled.
Because he had no wolf.
He hadn't shifted.
And yet… it felt like something had begun.
From downstairs, he could hear Hana humming and Ari lecturing the microwave.
He closed his eyes.
At least, for now, he was safe.
And maybe—just maybe—whatever was coming next, he wouldn't have to face it alone.