It had taken a lot of time for Vivaan to reach the dining area. And when he finally managed to enter after lots of groans and grunts of pain, he saw Nihal pulling Hritika away.

He was certain that the reason would have been Hritika's eyes which clearly showed that she cried last light.

Gasps were heard as he moved towards the dining table. Except Alpha and Luna, everyone was shocked seeing Vivaan in such a condition.

"Who did this to you?" Gamma roared, ready to fight anyone who dared to touch Alpha's son.

"Vivaan, what...what happened?" Yara questioned, standing up from her seat.

"Sit down, I am okay." Vivaan comforted Yara and then announced loudly to the whole table, "Please don't panic. I just went overboard with my training."

Everyone visibly calmed down after hearing him and resumed eating.

Beta's family and Gamma had too many questions but they waited for other pack members to leave before asking them aloud.

"What's going on, Alpha? I don't remember any training method that would cause so much harm," Beta asked concernedly.

"The training that would help him refuse to abide the Alpha's command " Alpha Aarjav informed.

"What?!" Beta, Beta's mate and Gamma exclaimed in disbelief while Yara looked at Vivaan with a loss of words.

"But..but why? Nihal already promised that he won't be taking over the pack," Yara asked, little upset by the whole ordeal.

Vivaan bowed his head, unable to meet her eyes. Seeing that Vivaan could not answer, Luna took over.

"What will we do if he suddenly changes his mind? We cannot be at his mercy."

Luna's words felt like stabs to Yara. Sachi too felt the trauma. Her Luna, the one who was like her own mother didn't trust her mate. Logically, it was understandable but their hearts had already started trusting and loving Nihal unconditionally and hearing this was so painful.

Vivaan saw the changing expressions of Yara's face and he knew that he had to act fast and stabilize the situation.

"I am not training just because of that, there's more to it," Vivaan said hurriedly.

"More? What is it?" Yara questioned, readying herself for more attacks on Nihal.

"Even if Nihal doesn't change his mind and acts according to his promise, there's no guarantee that other Alphas would believe his act. He was able to fool them once but what if he can't do it again. After all, the Alphas aren't stupid," Vivaan explained.

"Vivaan is right. We all know that whenever Hritika is in trouble, Nihal commands out of instinct. What if something like that happens on the day of council? Vivaan needs to be ready for everything." Beta added, agreeing with Vivaan's reasons.

Juhi kicked her mate's legs, while gesturing towards their sad daughter. Beta cursed himself mentally. While thinking everything as a Beta, he forgot to think as a father.

"Yara..." Beta started to speak in a soft voice but Yara interjected in between.

"I understand," she whispered, focusing on her plate, deliberately trying to avoid everyone's eyes.

"I would also like if you keep this fact a secret from Nihal," Luna stated slowly.

Yara's head sprung up in alarm.

"Wh...what? Luna, please understand. I can't." Yara pleaded, her sentences coming out as broken words.

"I know we are asking too much but—" Luna started explaining but Gamma interrupted in a stern voice.

"Your duty as a future Beta will cross many a times with your responsibility as a mate. This is going to be hard, very hard. Now, it's your choice, either try to find a balance between both or just give up on one."

"Gamma," Juhi shouted, knowing his words would have hurted her daughter immensely.

"Let it be mom. Don't shout at him for saying something you all were unable to tell me. He is right, it's not others responsibility but mine alone to find a balance between my work and personal life," Yara said with a small smile.

"No, it's not your responsibility alone. Yes, you will have to work it out but we all need to be understanding as well." Vivaan disagreed.

"We cannot keep being selfish and jeopardize her life without any care. I can't believe you elders. I haven't found my mate, Yara is new to this mate thing yet we understand its fragility more than the one's who have already gone through this phase.

"Is it so easy to lie to your mate? Keeping secrets from your mate is something we frown at. One secret would turn into two and then many, thus destroying their already faltering relationship. And we all have already seen what happens when the trust is broken." He added the last part, looking directly at the Alpha.

Vivaan's words were like a tight slap to everybody.

"Yara, you don't have to do anything forcefully. I won't held it against you if you can't keep my training, a secret." He assured Yara, who smiled at him gratefully.

"Vivaan, I understand your sentiments but this can cause...." Luna stopped abruptly as she sensed Hritika and Nihal coming.

Looking at everyone's face and their unusual silence, Hritika commented, "If you are speaking about something that needs to be stopped as soon as we entered then you should consider talking about it in a soundproof office and not an open area."

Nihal chuckled, seeing everyone's flabbergasted look after hearing Hritika's comment.

They quickly took their seats, ignoring everyone as hunger took over all their senses.