"L-Luna, of course, please," Syri answered as he stood and bowed while gesturing to the now-empty bench. A small smile came to Armina's lips as she gazed at the pink-haired softly. "I asked if I could join you, not force you to leave. Please, sit."

Syri blinked at the beautiful alpha as he processed the Luna's words before bowing and sounding, "Ah...ae..." in response before cautiously taking a seat once the Luna had lowered herself onto the bench.

The Luna released a small sigh and observed the entrancing scene surrounding the two before addressing the pink-haired, "I did not expect to find you out here...?"

Realizing the Luna was inquired about his name, the zeta was quick to answer, "Syri."

"Ah, Syri. What a beautiful name," the queen complimented the zeta before saying, "It is nice to meet you, Syri. I am Armina."

"The pleasure is mine, Luna," Syri replied respectfully with a small bow of his head.

"I can see why Jae fell for you, Syri. You are quite the omega," Armina commented as she observed the zeta's beauty. Not knowing the proper response to the Luna's flattery, Syri merely dipped his head in thanks, causing Armina to smile at him softly. "Not every wolf would have the courage to love a prince especially if they are not of royal blood."

The zeta fell silent at the queen's words, hanging his head and letting out a quiet breath as he responded, "Jae is the brave one, Luna. I am not worthy of his love, nor am I even half as courageous as the prince."

"Nonsense," Armina responded quickly before adding, "You knew the consequences that could have been bestowed upon you for loving Jae, and you chose to stand by him and support him. That takes more courage than you realize, little Syri. And I am grateful the prince found love. I hated seeing him be heartbroken," the queen sighed while turning her head to face the garden. "So, don't discount your love, omega. You are by no means a weak wolf; you will make an excellent luna."

Syri nearly choked when he heard the Luna's concluding sentence. Me? Luna?? Syri had not yet considered becoming luna of Crimson Night was a possibility once he became Jae's mate. The reality of Syri's situation struck the zeta like a ton of bricks. He would possibly one day be luna of Crimson Night and would aid Jae in heading the entire pack.

"I sense something special about you, Syri. You are no ordinary wolf, and whether that be good or unfortunate, we shall see. But I know there is more than meets the eye with you, omega, and I am excited to see how everything will fall into place."

Syri remained silent while the Luna concluded the conversation with, "I am rooting for you, Syri. And I am hoping for the best for you and Jae. Stay strong, young one," before rising to her feet and turning to smile at the zeta once more. Syri was quick to his feet and bowed in farewell to the Luna as Armina turned from the arbor and continued down the way she had come, leaving Syri alone with his thoughts once again.

>>>>>>

Yejin looked toward the entrance to the dungeon as the sounds of approaching footsteps reached his sensitive ears. The alpha sat up straight, pressing his back against three of the cell's rough iron bars before standing to his feet and nodding to the captain of the Alpha's guard as the group of four neared him.

"Captain," the leader of the Alpha's guard greeted Yejin respectfully with a nod. The captain was a beta and was thus lower in rank than Yejin, but Yejin still greeted the beta respectfully by returning the nod and saying, "Captain," as the beta was wiser with age.

"How is the prince faring?" The beta inquired as he swiveled his head to look at the unconscious form lying in the cell behind Yejin. Yejin let out a breath and joined the beta in turning to check on the true blood before answering, "He'll pull through."

The beta nodded his head in agreement. "If anyone could pull through, it would be the prince. He is one tough son of the moon."

"Indeed he is," Yejin stated with a nod.

"How much longer does he have?" The beta inquired as he returned to facing the alpha. "Seventeen hours," Yejin answered after turning away from the cell.

"Mm, let me know when he wakes," the captain of the Alpha's guard requested of the blue-eyed alpha.

"Ae, I will," Yejin answered with a nod of his head.

"Then, I shall leave you to it, Captain," the beta said in farewell before turning on his heel and making his way back to the entrance of the dungeon. Yejin was about to bow to the beta in farewell until he realized only two of the beta's guards were leaving with him; two were remaining behind.

"Erm, Captain, shouldn't you train your soldiers to follow your orders?" Yejin inquired after the beta who had just reached the bottom of the stairs that led up to the ground level of the palace.

The captain of the Alpha's guard stopped in his tracks and turned to Yejin before answering, "Oh, but they are, Captain. We need to make sure the prince does not receive any aid before his seventeen hours are up. Don't you agree?"

Yejin lifted a brow at the beta's response, but there was no way he could dispute the captain's reasoning for leaving two of his guards stationed before the prince's cell. So, Yejin grit his teeth as he answered, "Ae, we certainly do. I appreciate your concern for the prince, Captain."

A side smirk came to the beta's face when he heard the alpha's reply. "I thought you would. Good work, Captain!"

Yejin watched the beta leave with clenched fists and a curse under his breath. Once the beta was out of sight, Yejin released a pent-up breath before resuming his position of leaning against the cell in which his prince was lying unconscious. The alpha had been on the verge of dozing off before the arrival of the beta, but now that two of the Alpha's guards were standing right in front of him, there was no way Yejin was letting them out of his sight.

>>>>>>

Syri's thoughts were filled with the conversation he had with the Luna while in the garden as he aimlessly wandered through the palace. The directionally-challenged zeta had gotten himself lost once again due to his absent-mindedness while attempting to find his way back to the prince's chambers. Unfortunately, the door the zeta entered the palace from was not the same door through which the zeta had exited the palace. This was the cause of the zeta's failure to find the path that would have led him to his desired destination.

But Syri did not mind being lost at that moment. He was preoccupied with the thoughts that filled his mind of the likeliness of becoming luna while worrying for Jae and wondering if the prince was alright. The zeta's thoughts were so busy jumping back and forth from the daunting idea of being luna to his concern for the prince that he did not sense the commotion happening at the opposing end of the hall he was currently wandering down until a cry rang out.

The zeta immediately snapped himself from his thoughts and frantically looked around until he saw a maid cowering before a male whose hand was raised in preparation for dealing a second strike. No matter the situation or peoples involved, Syri hated seeing workers be mistreated by royalty. Not only had he experienced such cruel treatment first-hand, but he had been forced to watch while Kip was ruthlessly assaulted.

Therefore, Syri's blood boiled at the sight, and before he knew it, Syri raced toward the epicenter of the commotion and placed himself in front of the maid right as the man's hand fell. The zeta's eyes squinted shut as a fierce pain struck his cheek.

Silence immediately filled the hall when the man realized he had not struck the maid. Several workers had gathered at the maid's cry, and they had all grown quiet at the appearance of the pink-haired.

"Oh?" The attacker voiced when he saw the subject of his strike. It was not long until he released a dry chuckle and said, "Well, well, look who we have here."

Syri's brows furrowed; he had heard that voice before. After a short moment, the zeta slowly opened his eyes to see the crown prince of Black Moon standing before him. Not being the best at hiding his emotions, Syri openly glared at the prince before turning to check on the maid.

"Are you alright?" Syri inquired as he made sure there were no severe wounds.

"Ae, thank you, sir," the girl replied with a bow.

"No need to bow to me; I am not royalty," Syri told the female kindly extracting a shocked expression from the maid. "Please continue with your day, miss," the zeta said to the maid before turning to face the prince who had been watching Syri's interaction with the maid with a smug expression. The maid heeded the zeta's words and quickly bowed to Black Moon's prince before hurrying away from her attacker.

"Who gave you the right to stop me from correcting a maid, omega?" Seth inquired of the zeta with a raised brow.

Still being fired up from watching a wolf of royalty mistreat a worker, Syri did not watch his tongue when he responded. "Who gave you the right to abuse your power and hurt another? The Moon Goddess surely did not."

Seth gazed at the zeta through steel eyes before saying, "That's some spirit you've got there, pretty thing. I like it."

The prince's tone of voice did not sit well with the zeta, and it took Syri's all to not gag when Seth took a step toward him and leaned down until his lips were next to the zeta's ear. "Want to come to my chambers pretty thing? I'll be sure to bring out more of that feisty spirit of yours."

Seth's whisper caused Syri to burn with rage. "Get away from me, you disgusting dog."

A growl resonated from the prince's throat in response to the zeta's insult, and soon the zeta was pinned against the wall with Seth's hand around his throat. "Don't be so quick to turn me down, omega. I'm afraid I might make you regret it."

The workers that had gathered immediately disappeared at the prince's burst of displeasure, leaving the zeta alone with the angered alpha.

"There is nothing I could regret less, Prince. And it is you who will be regretful if something should happen to me," Syri returned coolly. The zeta was too furious to feel fear at that moment, and he knew Jae would not let Seth live if he hurt him.

"Are you talking about your true blood? Do you think Jae will save you? Ha! What can he do to me when he's currently fighting for his life?"

Syri's heart dropped at Seth's words. "What-what do you mean?" What happened? Why is Jae fighting for his life?!

The prince's brow raised at the zeta's inquiry. "Oh? Don't tell me you don't know, pretty thing." When the zeta remained silent with evident worry covering his face, Seth's lips curled into a smile, and he answered, "Jae was punished in place of two of his friends who mated with each other but weren't fated to be together. He is not allowed any aid for the next...oh, sixteen or so hours. I don't even think he will make it. It was pretty severe even for my standards."

Syri's chest felt as if it was being ruthlessly squeezed and all his breath was being sucked out. "Jae..." How could a true blood be on the verge of death? How could Jae, the strongest wolf Syri had ever seen, not survive? Tears formed in Syri's eyes when the thought of losing Jae consumed his entire being.

Syri was near to allowing his fear to take control until Jae's words "I'll be back" echoed in his heart. After recalling Jae's promise, Syri reminded himself to be strong. Jae would not be defeated so easily, not when he promised to return. So, Syri regained control over his breathing and said, "No, no, he'll make it. He'll come back to me." However, no matter how much Syri tried to control his racing heart, he could not stop the tears that flowed down his cheeks, causing Seth to smile smugly.

When Syri turned his eyes up to the prince, they were flaming with rage. Syri hated that Seth was finding joy in his tears and strained breaths. And he hated that he could do nothing about it.

The prince of Black Moon's lips curled into a smirk when he saw the tears that wet the zeta's eyes and stained his cheeks. "Oh, did I break your little heart, omega?" Seth inquired with a mocking tone. "Well, maybe I can help you forget him. Let me make you my mate, pretty thing."