Alpha's mate is a male?!?-Chapter 93: Breaking Down!

The words settle in the air like a death sentence.

Ace stands frozen in the middle of Rey’s room, the walls closing in around him.

His chest rises and falls in sharp, uneven breaths, but no matter how much air he drags in, it isn’t enough.

It’s never enough.

His mind won’t stop. The realization is hitting too fast, too hard, and he can’t keep up with it.

His lips part, but no sound comes out.

He sways slightly on his feet, the weight in his chest pressing down harder, and before he can stop himself, he stumbles back, his legs giving out as he drops onto the edge of the couch.

His fingers curl into the fabric, gripping hard, but the pressure does nothing to ground him.

Kieran left.

Why?

Why does it always end like this?

Why is it always him?

A sharp, bitter laugh rips from his throat, but it dies just as quickly, swallowed by the suffocating silence.

His hands drag through his hair, tugging hard, as if that will somehow stop the storm in his head.

He feels empty.

Rey exhales softly, shifting, but he doesn’t move closer. Doesn’t speak.

Ace’s voice is raw when he finally forces words past his lips. "What was the point?" His hands shake. His breath shudders. "What was the point of everything, if he was just going to run?"

Rey doesn’t answer immediately. He watches him carefully, his expression unreadable. "I don’t think he ran."

Ace lets out a sharp breath, his head dropping forward. "Then what do you call it?" His voice is hoarse. "He left. He left. No explanation. No warning."

His stomach twists violently, the ache spreading through his ribs, deeper, deeper_

He grips his chest, pressing his palm against it, but it doesn’t ease the pain clawing inside him.

Did he do this? Did Kieran fall apart because of him?

The thought makes his stomach churn.

-

He should be relieved. This is what he wanted, isn’t it? For Kieran to finally take responsibility, to face the consequences of what he did?

But this_ this wasn’t supposed to happen.

Not like this.

Not like he doesn’t care anymore.

The silence stretches, heavy and suffocating, before Rey speaks again. "Ace."

Ace doesn’t move.

His hands are still clenched in his hair, his shoulders hunched forward. He feels like he’s unraveling, like something inside him is fraying at the edges, coming apart piece by piece.

What if he never comes back?!

The room is too small. Too tight. Too suffocating.

Ace can’t breathe.

His chest heaves, his vision blurring at the edges. The pressure inside him is building, burning, twisting into something he can’t contain. His fingers twitch at his sides, heat licking at his skin, but he barely notices.

All he hears is the echo of his own voice in his head.

Kieran is gone.

His breath shudders. His body trembles. The weight of it crushes him, steals the air from his lungs, makes everything around him feel unreal.

A sharp pain snaps through his palm. His nails have bitten into his skin, but the sting is distant, drowned beneath the wildfire raging inside him.

The mark on his chest starts to burn.

"Ace," Rey says, cautious, uncertain.

Ace doesn’t hear him. His breath stutters, his flames sparking wildly as his control frays.

"What if he never comes back?" The words spill out of him, shaking, breaking.

Rey steps forward. "Ace, you need to..."

"What if I never find him?!" His voice cracks, raw with something too big to hold inside.

Ace winces at the burn at his chest, the heat is uncontrollable, and so it’s hurting him.

Rey flinches back, his arms coming up against the sudden heat. "Ace..."

He’s losing himself.

Then, suddenly, Jun burges in, his steps falter when he sees Ace’s condition, and how Rey is startled.

Ace barely registers him. His body won’t stop shaking. His breath is shallow, fast, uneven.

The flame is starting to burn out, even though it doesn’t consume him, or leave physical injury.. it still hurts him, it’s unbearable.

Jun doesn’t hesitate.

"Ace!" He tries to reach him, but the heat lash out, forcing him back. His pulse spikes.

"Ace, stop!" Panic bleeds into his voice. "You’re hurting yourself!"

Ace doesn’t respond.

His lips part, but all that comes out is a broken whisper.

"What if he never comes back?"

His hands shake harder, fingers curling into fists.

"What if I never find him?!"

His voice is wrecked, desperate.

Jun’s chest tightens. This isn’t just grief. This is something deeper, something raw and all-consuming, something Ace has been holding back for too long.

He isn’t just afraid of losing Kieran.

He’s terrified of being left behind.

Again.

Jun’s heart pounds. He can’t reach him like this.

Without thinking, he fumbles for his phone. His hands shake as he dials, pressing it to his ear.

"Come quickly, at the mansion," he says the moment the line connects. His voice is urgent, breathless. "Ace is... he’s losing control. He isn’t stoping his powers and they seem to be hurting him too."

A pause. Then a sharp inhale on the other end.

"We’re on our way."

Jun hangs up, his grip tightening around the phone. His gaze snaps back to Ace, and then at Rey who is startled to even speak.

All the ideas in his head are gone, all he can do is stare in terror.

Sitting on the floor, all Ace can ask,

"What if he never comes back?"

Jun swallows hard, his chest aching.

He doesn’t have an answer.

,,, Moments later, Marsel enters breathlessly, followed by Elira. They don’t have time to take in the scene of their son.

Marsel ignores the heat, he holds Ace’s shoulder, persevering the heat, "Ace! Look at me?! Look at me! If you don’t control your powers they might flare and cause so much damage! You are stronger than this! Kieran is not dead, and as long as he is alive, you can still be together! He left because he wanted to respect Your decision, but it won’t be long until he disrespects it and comes back to you! He loves you as much as you do, and he can never stay away from you forever, not even as long as you are thinking he will. So get a grip of yourself!" Marsel says, his voice booming.

Suddenly the heat disappears. Ace looks like he was unconscious and now_ conscious.

"He loves you, and as long as he is alive, he will not stand the distance between the two of you, the distance you had asked him for." Marsel adds.

After some time, Ace breathes more steadily.

Kieran is not dead. He is alive, and as long as he is alive,, I can still be with him.

He thinks to himself..