Maya had expected a call from Dante after the party. At the very least, a message. He had texted him already—asking if he had a conversation with Taiga—but there had been no reply.
Taiga hadn't reached out either.
Strange.
Taiga was the type to immediately text after any kind of event, usually to rant about his experience—how someone dressed, how annoying the music was, how he wanted to sleep for ten hours straight. But now? Nothing. Not a word from either of them.
Maya's fingers tapped anxiously on the edge of his bed. The silence was beginning to settle like a weight on his chest. He opened his phone again and sighed.
Fine. He'd try Dante again.
"Hey, no reply. Did something happen?"
He waited. Minutes passed. Still no reply.
His chest started to tighten. The more he thought about it, the more pissed off he became. They were clearly ignoring him. Why?
He saw the read receipt pop up beneath his message.
That was it.
"I see you reading my text, what's the problem, reply me damn it."
He hit send without hesitation.
Finally, his phone buzzed.
"He, sorry darling, I was in the bathroom, and yes we talked, but the conversation didn't last, he didn't give me a chance to talk."
Maya barely had time to absorb that before a second message came through:
"Also it's been confirmed Maya, Taiga's a Luna, a high-ranking one, Elite Prime, told me himself, before he walked away."
He kept staring at the reply, his fingers frozen on the screen. His heart beat faster. He couldn't believe it.
Taiga was a Luna.
An Elite Prime Luna.
"I was right…" Maya whispered to himself, lips curling into a slow smile. His plan—everything he hoped—could actually work now.
"Oh my gosh, that's great, now all we have to do is get him on board."
He was already grabbing his phone to call Hido, barely able to contain himself.
The moment Hido picked up, Maya burst out—voice loud and full of excitement.
"Oh my gosh, you won't believe it, Taiga is an Elite Prime Luna."
"Holy shit! Are you for real? That's fucking cool. Shit, I've never seen one. Fuck, Maya, that's fucking cool."
Maya was literally bouncing where he sat, one foot tapping rapidly against the hardwood floor. His entire body buzzed with nervous joy.
"On to stage two, Hido," he said, grinning like a lunatic.
"And what's stage two?" Hido asked, now completely drawn into the energy.
"Get Taiga to admit he wants us both," Maya said.
"Dante already admits he wants in on it. All that's left is Taiga."
"If your plan has to work," Hido said slowly, "Dante has to be the one chasing."
"Yes, I know~" Maya whined, the excitement dripping from every word. "If I'm the one pushing it, Taiga might have the wrong idea. Dante has to show him he wants him just as bad."
"You're gonna have to speak to Dante about this."
"You do. He has to act like an Enigma to impress Taiga if he wants him. Or Taiga won't submit. If Taiga doesn't submit, you three can never be together."
Maya nodded along, thoughts racing a mile a minute.
"Read more on their anatomy," Hido added before saying his goodbyes.
The call ended, but Maya was still spinning.
He'd lied about his cold. Sneezed right on the call to make it believable. Claimed it was airborne. Said he didn't want to infect anyone.
Taiga had believed him.
Now, he figured it was time to text him too.
"Hey baby, you okay? Didn't get a text from you yesterday."
Normally, Taiga replied instantly.
But five minutes passed.
Still nothing.
Unbeknownst to Maya, both Dante and Taiga were locked in a heated call, trying to piece together the best story to tell him.
---
"I already told him your secret. He knows you're an Elite Prime Luna now, love," Dante said, his voice low on the phone. He leaned back against his pillow, the corner of his lips curled into a smug smirk.
He had to beg one of the benchwarmers for Taiga's number. The bastard had actually charged him 500 for it. Desperate, he'd paid.
"Why the hell would you tell him that?" Taiga's voice cut through the line, sharp and frustrated. "You weren't meant to let him know we even spoke."
"It's fine, love, don't fret. I didn't tell him we had sex—unless you want me to."
"One, don't call me that. And two, you better keep your mouth shut, 'cause Maya mustn't know about that. 'Cause it would never happen again."
Yeah… that stung.
Dante's heart sank slightly, though his expression didn't show it.
He actually thought he was getting somewhere. Thought this whole poly relationship thing could actually work. But the way Taiga said it—with such finality—shoved him back into reality.
"You definitely don't mean that," he said after a pause. "You've given me a taste of you and you think I'd just give up just 'cause you said so—"
He didn't even finish the sentence.
The line went dead.
Taiga had hung up.
Dante stared at the screen in disbelief.
"Fucking brat," he muttered under his breath.
This wasn't over.
His Enigma instincts were flaring—Taiga had lit a match inside him. One taste wasn't going to satisfy him. Not now.
He was going to get him.
Through any means necessary.