CARNAL DESIRES | | NCT

Chapter 59

The silence between the two males was deafening. Mark felt as if the ground beneath his feet had somehow slipped from under him as he watched Haechan's chest rise and fall rapidly. The word Mate seemed to echo and lay heavy between the hunter and the fae. Unable to take the silence any longer, Mark croaked "your mate?"

He didn't mean for it to sound like a question. Like he was accusing the fae prince of something. Haechan's face said just as much as he seethed "yes Mark. That pull of desire you feel whenever I'm around or that inkling of possessiveness? It's because you and I are mates."

At that, Mark thought of all the moments him and Haechan had shared up until this point. He wasn't surprised to realize that some part of him just instinctively knew that Haechan was telling the truth. And yet that wasn't what bothered him. It was the fact that Haechan kept this from him. Something that should've been discussed the moment he fully let Haechan in. Which is why he then asked "how long have you known?"

Haechan balked briefly at the question and responded tightly "that doesn't matter" as he turned to try and hide the shame that coated his face. It was Mark turn now to gripped onto his mate as he exclaimed "of course it matters! You should've told me the moment-"

but Mark's words were cut short once again as Haechan shouted "WHEN EXACTLY COULD I HAVE TOLD YOU MARK?!" as he forcefully ripped himself from Mark's grasp.

"It didn't matter then and it doesn't matter now" the fae prince continued coldly. Mark felt something crack in his chest at the words and he hurriedly said "what exactly are you saying Haechan?"

Dread now pooled in Mark's core as he took in Haechan's cold expression. "I'm saying that it doesn't matter whether you found out then or in this moment. I no longer want you here."

"You don't mean that..." was all Mark could've managed to say as his chest ached uncomfortably. He tried to reach for Haechan but the fae prince only pulled himself further away as he said darkly "your very existence is an inconvenience to me, why would i not mean it?"

Mark scoffed at that but still the fae prince remained as an impenetrable wall of ice. Gone was the tender hearted male whose eyes seem to spark whenever he looked upon his mate. In his place was a Fae whose threatening aura rivaled that of his Mother.

Mark attempted to close the distance between him and Haechan once more. Just to close the invisible chasm of despair that had somehow opened between them. But Haechan slipped further away and said "Leave Mark, or the guards will make you do it," in a tone so menacingly that it sent shivers across Mark's body.

The hunter had then notice the subtle shift in the guards. A tension that wasn't there moments before now riddled each Fae on duty and Mark knew with certainty that Haechan wouldn't even need to give a command in order for the guards to act. Mark then looked at Haechan and took note of the determination and desperation on his face and said distastefully

"Okay, I'll leave."

The words struggled to leave his throat and his body seemed rooted to the spot he now stood but somehow he got his feet to move. Mark didn't dare looked back as he begrudgingly made his way to the palace. Not even as he heard one of the guards break formation to follow him up the path or when he heard Haechan's rapid breathing turned into gasping sobs.

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haechan clutched his chest in an attempt to calm himself down. his heart continued to sink with each passing second, but he knew telling mark to leave was the best decision for the hunter. he couldn't bare the thought of losing his mate when they had finally started to meet each other halfway. he weighed the pros and cons, even tried to find a different way to approach the situation, but in the end, it was a losing battle between his heart and his royal duties.