[BL] Alpha, You've Got the Wrong Mate!

Chapter 132 — Was This Really Raniel?

— Sometimes when I dream, I see the two of us together. Happy. But when I open my eyes, all I feel is the void left in my heart by your absence. —

He didn’t realize how long he had cried, but when he came to himself, he was lying on a soft mattress. He blinked, jolting awake.

Where am I?

His eyes darted around the room, analyzing his surroundings. But before that, the faint scent of rose and citrus filled the air—Loti and Henry’s pheromones—drifting through his nostrils.

When he stirred, the faintest rustle of fabric made Loti glance up from her chair. Her eyes were swollen, the same as his.

Henry sat nearby, half-asleep with his arms crossed, but even in that state, his brow furrowed when Ren moved.

"Are you alright?" Loti asked, her voice hoarse.

Ren nodded and poured water from the jar on the night table. His throat burned as the liquid grazed his pharynx, yet he forced it down.

"What time is it?" He searched for a clock in the hall. The room was well organized and clean, containing multiple pieces of furniture that didn’t pique his curiosity.

"How long have I been here? If the General notices I’m not in my room—"

Henry and Loti furrowed their brows.

"What?"

"You work under that man? Really?" Loti asked, disbelief lacing her voice.

"I thought I was mistaken..." Henry hummed.

"I didn’t have a choice..." Ren’s gaze flickered toward the window.

It was still dark. He must have slept for at most two or three hours. Zayden wouldn’t go looking for him in his room right now.

"Didn’t have a choice? What happened to the money we gave you?"

Ren’s teeth sank into his lips, drawing blood, but he didn’t notice.

"Raniel!" Loti gasped, rushing toward him. She leaned down, closing her eyes and whispering a few words. A golden light flickered around her fingers, and the small wound healed instantly.

But now Loti’s lips were bleeding.

"Loti!" Henry sprang to his feet, grabbing a handkerchief to wipe the blood. "Why would you—?"

Loti shook her head. Henry hesitated, then nodded. He shouldn’t scold her now. Their focus had to be on Ren and what had happened after he and Ilyan left the Temple.

They wanted to ask, but didn’t dare. Not after witnessing their friend weep as if he might lose his sanity at any moment. How had he endured all this time? The pain of losing a mate, a fated one at that, was unbearable—enough to crush the soul of the one left alive.

Ren’s hands still trembled from the pain he had barely noticed, and the golden glow of Loti’s healing magic lingered faintly in the air.

He noticed the way Henry and Loti were watching him, their eyes wide with concern. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to say more. His throat closed up before words could form.

"Raniel... you need to be careful."

Loti’s voice broke the silence. She knelt before him, her expression heavy, as if what she was about to say might shatter what little calm he had left.

Ren frowned, tilting his head slightly.

"Why?"

"High Priest Charles is here..." Her head lowered.

The words struck like lightning.

Eyes wide, Ren sprang to his feet.

"Raniel?" Henry whispered, startled by the sudden fear in his face.

"W-Why is he here too? I-I thought it was only you two and a few of your disciples," he stammered, pulse quickening. The air felt heavy, pressing down on his lungs until each breath came shallow.

"Raniel," Henry called again, his voice lower this time. He reached for the young man, but Ren stepped back immediately, eyes wide as if a shadow had fallen over him.

"Calm down," Loti said softly, rising to her feet. "I doubt he noticed you. He hasn’t stepped out of his room since we had dinner together when he arrived yesterday. You’re safe—for now."

"For now," Ren echoed. At this point, those words felt less like comfort and more like a curse.

For now, he was alright.

For now, he was safe.

For now, he could breathe.

Yet his heart pounded violently, as if trying to escape the confines of his chest.

The room fell silent for a moment. None of the three uttered a word.

Ren’s blood ran cold as the memories of the Temple flickered through his mind—shadows, voices, the echo of his own screams swallowed by stone walls. Sometimes, a mere name was enough to awaken them.

"But even if he sees you," Henry finally said, breaking the heavy quiet, "he won’t know for sure."

Both Loti and Ren turned toward him, their gazes narrowing.

"I mean... your eyes," Henry added, clearing his throat. "You always had to hide them. Right?"

Ren hesitated before nodding. He had almost forgotten what that used to feel like—hiding the monster within him with nothing but a strip of cloth.

"Well, he never saw them," Henry continued after a pause. "That was also why we weren’t sure if it was really you."

"You were unsure," Loti countered softly. "I wasn’t."

Henry exhaled, glancing at her before turning back to Ren.

"I thought if—" he began, hesitating, unsure if he should mention Ren’s powers.

"The Temple feared I would have killed everyone, so they did this. But Ilyan... he searched day and night, finding a spell to hide those monstrous powers," Ren explained, his voice low, carrying the weight of memories he’d buried for so long.

Henry and Loti exchanged a quick, silent glance.

"Alright... but why are you with the General? And that child—why does he call you Papa?"

"Exactly. That confused me as well," Loti added.

"H-He is my son," Ren admitted, smiling bitterly.

The two frowned in confusion.

"What?! How? He looks too old to be only six years old."

"Like a twelve-year-old," Loti murmured.

"Well, he is my and Ilyan’s child," Ren said quietly, his lips curling slightly, a shadow of both pain and pride crossing his face.

"The one you were pregnant with when you left?" Loti gasped.

Ren only nodded. Did he need to explain how and why all this had happened? Wasn’t it enough information for one night?

"I should head back before the light breaks outside," he said, stepping toward the door.

Unwilling to hold him back and risk his safety, Loti and Henry simply nodded.

"Be careful on the way."

Ren offered them a brief, curt nod, then exited the room.

"Was this really Raniel?" Loti murmured, still in disbelief.

"Of course. Weren’t you the one who kept insisting it was him? Why are you doubting it now?" Henry raised an eyebrow.

"Yes... He looks like him. But... he’s grown so cold. The Raniel I knew... he was so full of life," she mumbled, her voice trailing off as she stared at the closed door. "And this person..."

"The only reason he was like that was because of Ilyan. He had always been like this, if you have forgotten."

"... Maybe I did forget that side of him."