Alpha's mate is a male?!?-Chapter 72: Kieran’s Bare Confession.

The air is thick with expectation, the gathered wolves silent as Kieran steps forward.

The ritual grounds are bathed in silver light, the full moon hanging high, a silent witness to what is about to unfold.

All eyes are on him. The Alpha of Alphas. The one who is meant to lead the presentation, to set the example before others who have newly found their mates follow.

Kieran’s steps are slow, deliberate, as he moves through the crowd.

The tension in the air crackles like a storm about to break. Wolves shift, whispering among themselves as they watch their leader approach Ace and Rehan.

Ace stands rigid, confusion flickering across his face as Kieran stops in front of him. Rehan remains still beside him, unreadable, but his presence is an irritant Kieran can’t ignore.

Then Kieran does something no one expects.

He holds out his hand.

The collective gasp from the crowd echoes through the night, but Kieran doesn’t waver. His voice is steady, raw with emotion.

"Ace, please. Will you be my mate once again?"

Ace’s breath catches. The world around him stills, his pulse thudding against his ears.

Kieran’s voice breaks through the silence, carrying across the gathered wolves, a confession laid bare for all to hear.

"I’m sorry it took me so long to realize how much I really love you, and even longer to accept it. I’m sorry I mistreated you. I’m sorry that all I’ve ever done is hurt you since the moment we met. I’m sorry I tried to replace you with Lila."

Gasps ripple through the crowd at that admission, but Kieran doesn’t stop.

"Ace, please. This might sound selfish, but I don’t want to see you with anyone else. I only want you with me. I’ve said unforgivable things to you, and I’m begging for your forgiveness. I want to be better for you. I don’t care what anyone thinks, and if my position doesn’t allow me to love you, then I’m willing to give it up. You..." Kieran’s voice tightens, his hand still outstretched. "You are the only one I want."

The silence is deafening. The weight of his confession lingers in the air, thick and suffocating.

Ace’s heart pounds, his body frozen as he stares at the man before him.

Kieran looks like he is struggling. He is baring his soul in front of everyone, his pride stripped away, standing with nothing but his raw, desperate truth.

Ace swallows, his lips parting, but nothing comes out.

And when they do_ they are not the words that Kieran hopes for.

"You’re only saying this because you’re afraid of losing me." Ace says in a murmur.

The murmurs around them swell, but Ace doesn’t stop. His voice doesn’t rise, but the hurt in his tone slices through Kieran sharper than any blade.

"You’ve always treated me the way you feel like, come to me when you are in need and after you’re done... you walk away. You’ve always thought you owned me, and now that I’m standing here with someone else, I know you feel like that privilege is being ripped away from you, that’s why you don’t wanna let go!"

Kieran flinches. His outstretched hand falters for the first time, his fingers curling slightly.

Ace exhales shakily, his eyes burning, his emotions warring within him.

"Am sorry but I can’t stand you anymore." His last words kills all the hope in Kieran.

Ace turns to Rehan, his voice quieter.

"I’m sorry." He shakes his head, taking a step back. "I think I was acting on impulse. I have a lot to figure out on my own."

Rehan watches him for a moment, his reaction unpredictable, he doesn’t say anything else as Ace storms away through the crowd.

The moment his back is to them, Kieran’s body jerks forward instinctively_ It takes him all he has not to go after Ace, to grab him, to not let him leave. To tell him how sorry he is. How much he really loves him.

But he doesn’t.

His feet remain planted, his body stiff with restraint.

Because Ace needs space.

And now, everyone knows the truth.

Wolves are whispering, the realization washing over them like a wave.

"Ace was always his mate from the beginning."

"The Moon Goddess bound them together before, as male and male mates."

"He tried to replace him with Lila because he didn’t want a male mate, and now he loves him."

The truth is out.

Kieran clenches his jaw, his nails biting into his palms as he watches Ace walk away.

For the first time in his life, he doesn’t know what to do. Either with Ace, or the truth he just laid out.

A heavy silence blankets the clearing.

The ritual ground, once filled with expectant energy, now crackles with tension as Kieran’s words hang in the air.

His confession_ his admission that Ace was always meant to be his mate, that the Moon Goddess herself had bound them together

,shatters everything the pack thought they knew.

For a moment, no one moves. No one breathes.

Then the whispers begin.

"The Moon Goddess... had already mated them?" someone finally breathes, voice laced with disbelief.

Shock ripples through the wolves like a tidal wave. Their alpha_ the alpha of all alphas_ had been bound by the Moon Goddess herself... and he rejected it? He tried to replace it?

A low murmur spreads, growing louder with each passing second. Confusion. Doubt. Anger.

"He knew? All this time?"

"He had a fated mate, and he_ he still brought that devil into our pack?"

A wolf growls under his breath, eyes narrowing. "And we followed her. We trusted her."

The weight of it crashes down on them.

Lila_ the disaster she brought, the damage she caused. They had accepted her, fought for her, treated her as their leader’s mate because Kieran made them believe it.

A deep frown carves itself into the face of an elder as he steps forward. "Alpha," his voice is low, edged with something close to betrayal, "tell us this is not true."

Kieran doesn’t speak.

And that silence speaks for him.

The murmurs turn into something heavier_ anger, doubt, unease. Wolves who once stood proud beneath Kieran’s rule shift uncomfortably. Some look away, unsure. Others glare at him outright.