"Will he be okay?" Syri inquired as Jae led him to one of the many wide, stone sills of the outer wall of a corridor that opened to a small courtyard through an arcade in the wall.

"He will be alright if Den can get him to stabilize," Jae answered as he came to lean against one of the arch's columns.

"Why was he unstable? If you don't mind me asking," Syri furthered his inquiry as Yejin and Estan came to stand beside him and Jae.

"Kace is a binate," Estan answered while leaning into his mate.

"A binate?" The zeta's confusion was displayed through his raised brow as he stared at the gamma with a face of curiosity.

Seeing as Jae showed no intentions of blocking Estan from telling Syri Kace's secret, Estan explained, "Kace has two wolves. You met Zale, the alpha, and I am sure Den has met the delta, Axel."

The zeta's eyes widened when he heard the gamma's reply. Two wolves?!

"Unfortunately, Zale and Axel clash with each other, causing Kace to be constantly in pain. As long as they are at odds, Kace will never be at peace."

"And you are hoping Eternal Dawn's prince will be able to calm them and bring them to harmony," Syri completed Estan's thought.

"Ae. We are fortunate Den is Kace's fated one."

"But Zale did not seem to want the prince to mark him..." Syri's observation brought silence to the four until Yejin spoke, "He is afraid Den will hurt them." The zeta's brows furrowed at the alpha's response. "But the prince seems to be a good man."

"It is due to trauma from the past," Estan explained. "Kace...went through a lot."

"I see," Syri sounded quietly, drawing in silence once more.

"Shall we go check on them?" Yejin proposed after a moment had passed. Estan shook his head as he replied, "No, we should let them be. They have a lot to figure out." The other three nodded in agreement and returned to stalling time; they did not wish to return to the banquet, so they remained in the corridor exchanging small talk and funny stories to lighten the mood.

>>>>>>

"You must be Axel," Den said softly, so he would not startle the highly confused delta.

"Wh-where am I?" Axel inquired quietly. His voice was barely above a whisper, and he kept his eyes locked on the true blood in front of him.

"You're in Estan's clinic," Den replied before asking, "How do you feel?" To Den's dismay, the delta remained silent in response to his inquiry, and it did not seem as if he would answer anytime soon. Den was about to resign to the fact that the delta would not speak another word to him until a tear rolled from the corner of Axel's bright blue eyes.

"Why didn't you come to us sooner?"

Axel's sudden question struck Den deep in his heart. He did not know how to respond, so all he could do was remain silent. "We wouldn't be like this if you had...if you had found us sooner." Fresh tears accompanied Axel's sad statement that shattered Den's heart into a thousand shards.

"I'm so sorry." All Den could do was apologize. He too wished he had found them sooner. That way they would not be so broken. Den felt as if he had failed Blue. He had failed him as his mate. He was supposed to protect him and keep him safe, but here he was sitting before him in pieces. "I'm so sorry."

Before Den knew it, he had reached out and brought the blue-haired into his arms. Axel stiffened when the true blood wrapped his arms around him, but the delta quickly fell into the prince's embrace. "I should have found you sooner. I'm so sorry."

The relaxing of the blue-haired caused Den's worry to lessen, but it was short-lived. Pained grunts filtered from the delta's lips as the two wolves began to clash once more. Den brought the delta to arm's length to see his eyes flashing from blue to red drastically. Axel curled his fingers in the true blood's shirt and shut his eyes as pain assaulted him. Blood began to seep from the wounds once again and was soon trickling down the delta's arm onto the bed.

"Axel," Den voiced in an attempt to steady the conflicted male. Den's brows furrowed in concern, and his grip on the delta tightened when Axel let out a pained moan and grit his teeth. Frantic to stabilize the male, the true blood once again released his alpha voice in a low hum. His voice, however, only seemed to trigger more pain in the blue-haired as a cry ripped from Axel's throat and the delta clutched the sides of his head. Den's heart broke at the man's cry, but he continued to sound his voice as he knew it was the only way to get Axel and Zale to become stable.

"Axel, focus on me. Focus on my voice," Den told the delta as he held the sides of Axel's face. The blue-haired opened his eyes in response to the true blood's words, revealing eyes fading and melting from red to blue and back to flaming red from shining blue. The true blood pressed his forehead against the delta's when the blue-haired grimaced from a fresh round of pain and shut his eyes before letting out a groan. "It's okay. I'm going to help you," the true blood promised with an infusion of his alpha voice as he, too, closed his eyes and focused on stabilizing the tormented male.

Den strengthened his voice until it encompassed the entirety of the clinic and filled the delta's senses. The smell of blood was strong as the blue-haired's wounds continued to bleed and stain the bed. Smelling the fresh blood caused Den to strengthen his voice in hopes of calming the two wolves and allowing the blue-haired male's wounds to heal. With the new dose of the prince's dominance, the pained cries eventually turned to whimpers, and the delta began to relax. The blue-haired brought his head away from the prince's once he had calmed and slowly backed away from the man in front of him as Den opened his eyes. A smile of relief came to the prince's lips when he saw royal blue eyes staring at him in shock.

"Blue."

Kace's chest began to rise and fall quickly, and he prepared to flee his fate once more now that he had come to his senses. But the moment he stood from the bed, his head swooned. He was faint from lack of blood and would not be fleeing anywhere for the time being. The true blood quickly caught the binate and brought his fated one into his arms. "I've got you," the prince said to the blue-haired as he caught him. The prince's voice was deep and soothing, and Kace could do nothing except stare up at the man holding him.

The smell of blood once again overwhelmed the prince's senses, and he quickly set the binate in the bed before springing into action. The wounds were finally healing, but they were deep and gruesome; they would need some help in order for the binate to have a speedy recovery. It was not long before Den was carefully wrapping the binate's wounds while the blue-haired watched him with cautious eyes. Kace remained silent while Den finished tending to his wounds, never taking his gaze from the true blood while the prince worked diligently.

"There, how does that feel?" Den inquired as he tied the last bandage and perched himself on the side of the bed. The binate inclined his head slightly in thanks before turning to look at the bandages that covered most of his left arm and shoulder, both of his wrists, one side of his jaw, and the wounds that had been dealt to his head and chest. Kace could not stop the tears that formed in his eyes as he looked at his torn body. More scars. More trauma. More pained memories. More damage.

The binate's eyes widened when he realized he was bare from the waist up and immediately covered his exposed neck and chest with his hands as best he could. The blue-eyed's desperation to cover his scarred body pained Den, and the true blood was quick to say, "It's okay; you don't have to hide from me."

Kace stared up at Den silently for a moment or two before slowly retracting his hands and allowing his scars to show. The binate's eyes were glued to the prince as Den turned and walked over to the gamma's desk to retrieve an extra blanket. Upon his return, Den carefully wrapped the blanket around Kace's bare shoulders before saying, "I'll go get Jae. You should try to rest in the meantime." As much as he wanted to stay and care for his fated one, Den knew that Blue was uncomfortable around him and did not yet trust him. So, the prince thought it wise to get the one whom the binate trusted and decided it was best if he left.

The binate lowered his head in thanks as the prince stepped back from the bed and turned toward the door. Den released a silent breath of relief at the binate's wounds finally healing as he started toward the clinic's entrance, but a small sound from the man in the bed stopped him in his tracks. It was quiet, but Den's sensitive hearing picked up the blue-haired male's words, "Thank you." The two words from Blue warmed Den's heart, and a small smile came to the true blood's lips as he continued out the door without looking back.