I am sorry everyone. I know I had kept you all in suspense, but I had to stop for a while just so that I didn’t finish the story the way I wanted. Believe me I sat in front of the laptop so many days and resisted the urge to end the story in this chapter, but I always hated when authors ended my favourite stories in tragedy. So I willed myself not to give in.

 The minutes were ticking by while Yixing waited for some news on his brother. There was very less activity going on while the high council members just spoke softly among themselves. The sweltering heat of the midday sun had driven people outside the building for refreshments. Kyungsoo and Yukimaru had stepped out to buy lemonade while Yifan was discussing the trial with one of the council officials. Yixing just held on to his husband’s arm and tried not to think at all. More people were filing out into the open garden as officials were getting more active outside, it meant only one thing. Yixing had potentially lost his last living blood relative.

Kyungsoo tried to distract himself with anything and everything, but his stomach churned in apprehension. He was returning with two glasses of lemonade closely followed by Yukimaru who carried two more. There was a buzz around them and Kyungsoo felt physically ill. As he wove his way into the court house, the sight of Yixing gave him new strength. The poor omega was shaking in his mates arms, while the alpha tried to soothe his mate.

“Hyung, Jongin will be back, please have faith.”

“I can’t Soo-ah, I will die if something happens to my baby. Chen! What have they done to him? Why isn’t he back? I want my brother back.”

Chen hugged his mate close and rocked him back and forth. Kyungsoo’s eyes watered too and soon both omegas were crying. Yukimaru stood silently holding on to Kyungsoo not knowing how to help the wolf pack deal with their grief.

“I do not care for your laws. Why is your trial designed to kill people? Are you so sure about their guilt that you would let them die?”

Kris was slowly losing his patience and his frustration was making him question even the council members. Jongin was his pack and his alpha blood pushed him to do something to protect his pack member. But there was no information given and no news on Jongin or Suho.

Just then a bell sounded in the distance.

The bell pushed the crowd to a frenzy for it marked the end of the trial period. It also marked the time at which the tide rose and flooded every nook and cranny within the caves and tunnels lining the coast.

Yixing shriek tore through the babble of the court house.

“Jongin! My baby! Where are you? Come to me pup, come to brother, please come back to me…” The wails of the omega brought tears to so many people.

“Jongin! Jongin! Baby come back…”

Chen was openly crying unable to console his mate and giving in to his own grief. He had met the brothers almost a decade ago in a fair. The alpha kid and his omega brother had fascinated him right from the start. He was manning a food counter when the pair had come by asking for a plate of fried chicken. They had looked nothing alike but still they had a connection that had brought s smile to Chen’s face. The older boy had placed a gentle hand on the younger’s head while the little boy started at the Chicken getting fried in the huge vat of oil. His life would have taken a different course of action if he had not opted to sleep in the open near the stall that night. Thinking that it would be easier for him to open shop in the morning if he just stayed back in the fair’s ground rather than going home, Chen has spread a blanket on a bench and fell asleep until he was woken up by a young voice asking for help. Tiny hands and shaken him until he sat up rubbing his eyes.

“Mister, can I have more chicken?”

“What?”

“Can I have more chicken? I am hungry and I love chicken, so can you make some for me please.”

“Do you know know what time it is?”

“Yes, around midnight.”

The boy seemed to think that time when it comes to fried chicken time didn’t matter.

“Go away kid, come back in the morning.”

“Nuh huh, I want chicken now.”

“I don’t have any chicken to cook, if you are that desperate for chicken go catch a chicken and come back” With that Chen had rolled over and had tried to get back to sleep. He heard the kid walk away as he dozed off until once again heard frantic footsteps. Someone was calling out for a Jongin and the ruckus once again woke him.

“Excuse me, have you seen…”

“Argggh, WHAT NOW?” Chen had shouted back and instantly regretted it. There in front of him stood the most beautiful omega ever. Despite the bed head and watery eyes, the boy looked like an angel.

“I am sorry, my brother is missing and I was just wondering if…”

“Was he the kid with you in the morning?”

“Yes, he is this height…”

“I know, he came asking for chicken”

In an instant, the angelic boy had become a demon. He caught hold of Chen collar and shook him.

“What have you done to my brother? Where is he?”

“Woah, hold on I sent him away.”

“Sent him where?”

Chen thought of his last words to the little boy and narrated it word for word to the older boy. He received a smack on his head before getting tugged to his feet.

“He is just a child. How can you? If something happens to my baby, you are dead. Now help me find him.”

“Uh, alright, but can you please tell me your name?”

“Yixing”

They had spent the whole night looking for the boy until at dawn they saw him sleeping soundly under a cart. As the tired pair walked back to the fair with Yixing protectively holding a still sleeping Jongin, Chen had decided that the omega will be his mate no matter what. He had courted Yixing only to be turned down until one day, he realized that Yixing was refusing him in order to raise Jongin. Chen had not given up and their courtship continued until one day a grownup Jongin had dragged his brother to Chen, pushed the omega onto the alpha and walked away as if he had accomplished something great.

 Kris had sat down cradling his head in his palms, feeling a sense of loss that overwhelmed him. He turned when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. It was Seyon, one of his father’s friend in the council.

“I am sorry for your loss Kris.”

“Sorry, what is the use of sorry? My packmates are probably dead and you are sorry. I don’t care for it Seyonshi.”

“I know you are angry Kris, but believe me, nothing in this trial was unfair.”

“What do you mean?”

“We don’t think they, Jongin and Suho, are mated Kris. Their answers did not match in some places nor did they mate in the two days they spent here. Their scent had not mixed and despite the alpha being all over the little omega they were not close enough to be mates. You understand we have to be strict with these cases right?”

“They are bonded, no matter what you all think. But it’s too late now. Can you at least help me look for them?”

“Of course, but nothing can be done now. Let the tide recede and I will ask the council to allow you and your pack to search for the pair of them.”

Eventually, the council had deemed it safe to search for Jongin and Suho. No one said it but they all knew that the search is for two dead bodies. The whole village searched with Kris and his pack for Jongin and Suho had made an impression on the whole village. Unfortunately, the tide had washed away any possible tracks and Yixing was no help as he had to be sedated. Kyungsoo was the only one who was close enough to Jongin who can sense his bond and at thehis link was curiously blank. Normally if Jongin was nearby, Kyungsoo can feel him, but now there was nothing. Chen and Kris had turned every rock and tunnel but there had been no trace of either Jongin or Suho. Heart broken, the search party had returned back to the village at midnight.

Kris, Chen and Yukimaru had washed up on numb feet and had each crashed next to an omega. Kris had hugged a sniffling Kyungsoo, murmuring comforting nothings until the omega slipped into a fitful sleep. Chen had curled up against a still sedated Yixing and had fallen asleep instantly. Much later in the night, a distant howl woke Yixing up. The omega rolled out of his mate's arms his thoughts chaotic and filled with pain.

“Jongin…”