Outside, the air was thick and silent, the sky bleeding soft pink and silver as evening crept in.
Yu Jun stood at the edge of the yard, just beyond the low stone wall that separated the garden from the stretch of woods. His back was to the house, shoulders tense, arms folded so tight across his chest it looked like he was trying to keep himself from tearing apart.
He could still feel it.
That presence—the boy.
The boy from the hotel.
The boy whose scent had haunted him for days, warm and strange and not-wolf.
The boy who now had a name.
Ye Jun.
Ari and Hana's child.
He hadn't known. Hadn't guessed. Of all people…
His head bowed, eyes clenched shut.
He couldn't get the image out of his mind: Ye Jun crumpled on the floor, eyes wide with confusion and pain, body trembling violently, every sound he made cutting deeper than it should've.
Yu Jun had felt like his soul was being flayed open.
And when they touched him—when they touched his mate—his lycan had nearly torn free.
The anger had been instinctual. Not jealousy. Not rage.
Possession.
It had taken everything in him not to snap. Not to push everyone aside and shield Ye Jun from every hand, every glance.
But he couldn't.
Because Ye Jun had no idea what was happening to him.
He didn't even know they were mates.
And worse… Yu Jun wasn't sure he wanted him to.
Not like this.
He leaned against the cold bark of a tree, exhaling hard, gripping the trunk until his knuckles turned white.
"I can't do this."
The words left him quietly.
"I wasn't made for this."
He had always hated the idea of mates. Thought the concept was a leash—a weakness disguised as love. People worshipped the Moon Goddess like she was benevolent, but he knew better.
The bond wasn't a gift.
It was a curse.
And now she'd cursed him too.
With someone so fragile. So clearly unprepared for what being tied to someone like him meant.
And yet…
His scent still lingered on Yu Jun's skin. His voice—his scream—burned in his ears. That delicate figure standing in the elevator, now burned into memory with every fragile line of pain in his eyes.
The pull wasn't going away.
It was intoxicating.
Yu Jun dropped his head back, staring at the treetops, jaw clenched so tight it ached. He didn't know if he was mourning or unraveling.
Behind him, the back door opened.
Hyeon-u emerged, quiet steps crunching over the grass as he approached.
"You okay?" his Beta asked softly.
"No."
Hyeon-u didn't press. He knew better than to ask Yu Jun to lie.
Instead, he glanced toward the house. "Ye Jun passed out. He's resting now."
Yu Jun said nothing.
Hyeon-u waited a few seconds longer, then added, "I found the others. Told them what happened."
Yu Jun shifted slightly, brows furrowing.
"I didn't tell them he's your mate," Hyeon-u said quietly. "But they know something's off. The entire pack—everyone inside—they all looked at you like…"
"Like I was going to explode?" Yu Jun asked bitterly.
Hyeon-u's eyes didn't waver. "No. Like they didn't know what was happening… but still trusted you."
Yu Jun scoffed, glancing away.
"I'm serious," Hyeon-u said, voice firm. "You think they fear you, but they don't. Even now—after everything—they stood by. Not one of them moved against you. Not one."
Silence stretched between them.
Then Yu Jun whispered, "He's… not a wolf."
"I know."
"Not even a hybrid."
"I know."
"I don't even think he knows what he is."
"That's probably true too."
Yu Jun turned to face his Beta, voice hollow. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Hyeon-u looked at him for a long moment, then simply said, "Start by breathing."
Yu Jun gave a dry, humorless laugh. "Hilarious."
But he did breathe.
Slowly. Sharply. Like dragging air through smoke.
Hyeon-u let the silence sit before adding, "Yul's already running to you. Thought he was going to knock the gate down."
Yu Jun closed his eyes.
"He's worried," Hyeon-u said. "And turn's back to the house going back in to tell Hana and Ari about them leaving."
Yu Jun's head tilted back again, gaze lost in the stars beginning to bloom above the treetops.
He didn't want to leave.
Not now.
Not with Ye Jun inside, unconscious and hurting.
But staying… meant facing what the Moon Goddess had done.
And he wasn't ready.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Absolutely. Here's the continuation of Chapter Eleven, still part of the same long sequence. We shift naturally from Yul and the others meeting Yu Jun outside, then transition smoothly to Hyeon-u's sudden, intense moment with Kwang in the hallway near the kitchen—setting up the second mate bond clash in this chapter.
---
Chapter Eleven – Tethered by Fire (Part Two)
The sound of feet on grass pulled Yu Jun from his thoughts.
Yul was the first to reach him, storming toward him with shoulders tense and eyes searching.
"Yu Jun," his voice snapped like a whip, but the worry was obvious behind it.
Yu Jun didn't speak.
"You should've called us the second something happened," Yul growled, halting just a foot away. "Hyeon-u told us everything."
Min and Hyeon-ju joined a moment later, slightly winded but clearly trying to hide it.
Min gave a low whistle. "You look like a ghost, Alpha."
Yu Jun didn't respond, his face unreadable.
"Seriously," Min said, eyes narrowing slightly. "You've looked bad before—but this? You look like you've been set on fire and told to smile."
"I'm fine," Yu Jun said quietly.
Hyeon-ju scoffed. "Liar."
Yu Jun finally turned his head, looking at them—really looking.
"You don't have to stay," he said to them. "Not for this."
"We're not leaving you," Yul said, voice suddenly gentler.
Yu Jun's throat worked as if to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, he nodded once and looked away.
---
Inside the house…
The party had cleared. Guests, sensing something had gone wrong, had respectfully left after Hana offered gentle apologies, assuring them it was just a "little health scare." But her smile didn't reach her eyes, and her hand had never left Ari's.
Now, in the kitchen hallway, the house had grown quiet again—too quiet.
Hyeon-u made his way through the narrow corridor, intent on finding the mothers and letting them know they were heading out. The weight of the day clung to his shoulders, a dull pressure right between the eyes.
He turned the corner sharply—
And collided directly into someone.
Water splashed over his boots, a bowl hit the floor and rolled away, and then—
His eyes locked with him.
Kwang.
Tall, sharp-boned, storm-eyed Kwang.
The air shifted violently.
Something primal cracked through the space between them.
Mate.
The word slammed into Hyeon-u's chest like a boulder.
But it wasn't coming from him.
It was Kwang's eyes that widened, wild and unblinking, lips parted slightly as he just stared. Shock turned quickly to something deeper. The kind of realization that only came once in a lifetime.
Hyeon-u stiffened.
He hadn't expected this—not him.
Not now.
Kwang stepped forward—tentatively, cautiously—as if approaching a wounded animal.
His hand lifted, soft, almost trembling.
"Hyeon-u," he said, voice like wind, "you…"
But he didn't get any closer.
Because Hyeon-u took a single step back and shoved him away.
Firm.
Decisive.
The air crackled from the force of the rejection.
Kwang staggered back a step, eyes wide in disbelief.
The bowl clattered to a full stop somewhere against the wall, water spreading across the tile.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then Hyeon-u turned sharply, not sparing a second glance. "Don't," he muttered low, almost too quiet to hear. "Don't follow me."
Kwang stood there, frozen, his wolf screaming in his head—Mate, mate, MATE—but his human heart caved under the weight of Hyeon-u's rejection.
Behind the door at the far end of the hall, the soft murmur of Ari and Hana's voices broke through, but Kwang couldn't hear anything except the roaring in his ears.
Everything was unraveling faster than anyone had prepared for .
---
Kwang stood still, his boots wet from the spilled water, but he barely felt it.
Of all people.
Of all people.
His mate was Hyeon-u.
And the look on his face—that controlled, unreadable calm—Kwang had seen it before. Too many times. But it never hit like this.
He had felt something at the hotel. The same quiet pull. The strange flutter in his chest. But now he knew.
Now he was sure.
And Hyeon-u had known too.
Long before today.
The rejection in that one shove echoed louder than any scream.
It wasn't confusion.
It wasn't fear.
It was choice.
Kwang's jaw clenched, his chest tight, his wolf snarling like a caged animal inside him.
He had found his mate.
And his mate… didn't want him.
Not now.
Maybe not ever.