"So," Alex leaned in from the back seat. They had decided to share cars for the drive up there. "How do you think the foods going to be?"

"If I can eat anything at the moment," Jett said. He was nervous. This was possibly the only chance he got to actually trying to talk to Shiro about all of this.

"Why are you so worried?" Alex asked. "You got his number at least. Now he's a simple phone call away."

That was nice to think about. He wasn't expecting Shiro would give him his personal number on that invitation. He had no idea that he even had a phone. He never looked at it any time that he had seen him. He sent him a few texts at least and had gotten some replies, though. That made him happy.

"I'm worried because I don't know what he's going to say," Jett sighed. "This little party is where he plans on telling me why he wanted to hide this from me."

"I still can't believe he takes care of the Luna duties for that pack," Bree shook her head. "A kid shouldn't have to deal with all of that work. How he did that and kept his grades up in school is astonishing."

That was another thing that shocked Jett right when he heard it. He knew that the pack didn't have a Luna at the moment. They hadn't for quite some time. But when that happens it's typically up to the Alpha to take on those tasks, not his kids.

What Alpha forces their kids to do all of that?

"No wonder he's so uptight," Alex said. "He's basically had to lead that pack before even graduating."

"He said that he shared the responsibility with his sister," Jett said. "And I didn't even know he had a sister."

Why was this family so secretive? There were so many things that he wondered about when it came to them. He felt like the things that he found out about this pack were just the crumbs. They always left him hungry for more.

"I think I've met her before," Bree said. "I completely forgot her name, though. She was nice, but a bit closed off."

"Sounds like that pack in a nutshell," Jett said. "I'm surprised that they're even letting us come over here to celebrate with them."

The drive wasn't long at least. They had to drive through the city to get there, but it wasn't that far from their home. The Reverence Pack had never been far. He remembered his dad talking about visiting them all the time at one point. When Munni was the Alpha of that pack, he welcomed all visitors. Jett wished he was Alpha for that time. It would have been nice to be welcomed to visit that pack every now and then. Sakdah didn't want to have anything to do with any of them.

The trees cleared to show what looked like a mini town almost. Small houses were spread out in a circle with lights strung up to connect them all together. There had to be hundreds of them. But they all were nothing compared to the house that centered around them.

The large house looked like it had been made centuries ago. It had the old style that the Reverence Pack loved to keep. It looked like it had four stories. The roof came out further at the corners, forming a wolf head howling in every direction. Lanterns lit the main house up from every story, giving it a warm glow as the sun set in the sky.

"Dad would have loved this," Bree said. They had slowed down to get a better look at it before trying to find a parking spot. "I remember him telling me about what this looked like a long time ago."

"He had his chance to see this place," Jett told her. "Now it's our turn."

It was about time, honestly. They had already visited the other pack houses. The Dynamic Pack house was boat themed to honor their ancestor's who traveled by sea. Every bit of it was sea themed.

Speaking of which. Alpha Roger was the first person he recognized when they found a parking spot and got out. The man was looking at the house with a smile. It seemed like he was lost in a sea of memories at the moment.

"Hey Roger!" Jett got his attention. The red-head snapped his head around and looked at him. "Long time, no see!"

"It's good to see you again, Jett!" Roger's voice boomed through the street. He always had such a loud voice. "I'm glad to see you for something other than a meeting."

"I'd say the same," Jett said. Then he looked at the house with him. "What do you think?"

"It's been a long time since I've been here," Roger said. "I'm glad it's just as beautiful as I remember it."

"You're lucky," Jett said. "Sakdah never invited me over to see it."

"Oh, you know Sakdah," Roger shook his head. "That man enjoys his privacy. The whole pack does."

Nir walked over to visit them as well. It seemed like they had all decided to come early. Then again, even at the meetings, they all came earlier. Sakdah was always the late one.

"I'm surprised they invited us," Nir said. His dark blue eyes looked over to the house with curiosity. "It's not like Sakdah to think of this sort of thing."

"I think it was his boy's doing," Roger smiled. "He always was one to make friends wherever he went when he was small. I'm sure he misses that."

"That reminds me," Jett said. "Did you know that he was acting as Luna for the pack with his sister?"

"What?" Nir asked. He looked a lot more alarmed hearing him say that. "That's too much work to be placing on some kids."

"No wonder I didn't see Shiro around much after Munni died," Roger said. "His sister and him must have had a lot of work on their hands."

Nir stayed silent, eyeing the house of the Reverence Pack. As much as Jett wanted to go in there and see Shiro, he couldn't stop himself from being curious. Nir was the oldest of them. With how much experience he had with leading, Jett always liked to ask for his opinion on things. At the moment it just seemed like he was cautious.

"What's the matter, Nir?" Jett asked.

"There's something off about this place," Nir said. "I can feel it in the air."

He felt something in the air too once he started to look for it. The whole place had a heaviness to it that he couldn't exactly pinpoint. And the fog surrounded the house now that the sun was setting, making it look all the more mysterious.

"Good evening, Alpha's," they all were interrupted by a man with medium brown hair and a stoned face. "Welcome to our home."

Shin was the Gamma of the Reverence Pack. Jett didn't really like him all that much, as he wasn't that diplomatic, but he was a lot better than Sakdah's Beta. That man could break bricks with his stare alone.

"Nice to see you again, Shin," Nir smiled politely. "And I'm assuming the one next to you is your son?"

"Yes," he motioned over to the tall man that Jett had seen just the other day. "I believe you all met him earlier this week. He was the one delivering the invitations."

"Jin," the man bowed at all of them. He looked much like his father, only his eyes were soft and warm. "It's a pleasure to see you all again."

"So, Manny was right about him being the next Gamma," Alex mind linked with him. They had all caught up with him at this point. Bree and Alex were giving Blake and the rest of the gang instructions on getting there. Blake's car was the next one to pull up, carrying his wife and Bree's husband in tow.

"I guess so," Jett said. "Why does it seem like the new council that's going to take power here is kinder than their parents?"

"I'm not going to ask questions," Blake thought as he came up. "I'm just glad that we might actually have friendly neighbors rather than how they are now."

"It's said that the council represents the Alpha," Bree mentioned. "How they act could be exactly how Shiro wants to rule this pack when he becomes the leader."

Shiro. The name sounded like whispers in the wind. He wondered what he wanted to talk about that night. Well, he knew that it was about them, but he didn't know what he was going to say. He just wished he could hold him, but it seemed as though he was very much like the wind himself.

Jin and his father led them all inside. The first thing he noticed wasn't the beautiful artwork painted all over the walls, or the warm lights and conversations that were happening. The first thing he noticed were the two men that stood at the base of the stairs. They both wore kimono's that looked as if there were a hundred layers to them. While Sakdah wore a red and black one, with a black belt and even a matching cover over it, the one next to him wore a gold one with a matching belt. It was a much simpler design than the Alpha's, but it looked amazing on him.

Shiro had his hair completely down. It flowed down his back like a dark sheet of silk, and stood out in comparison to the bright gold that he had worn. And those eyes shined with pride as he looked out to the rest of his pack. Jett liked that look on him. He looked so happy.

Then those eyes finally fell on him. He must have felt him looking at him. Those eyes mixed into a bunch of emotions. Jett wanted to decipher every single one of them. He wanted to know what lie behind all those walls that he had built. But it had been hidden just as fast as it had shown itself. And the man had quickly put up his defense. It was as if he had just put on a mask. Instead of the man that Jett had seen in the woods last, he was a prince of his people, taught to do everything a specific way.

Shiro definitely was a prince. He acted just like one, even with how he sounded over the phone last. Everything he said was precise and to the point. Everything except when Jett asked him about the phone number. He still chuckled to himself when he remembered Shiro's reaction. He couldn't even be mad that the guy hung up on him. The fact that he had heard him get all nervous about answering that question was enough to make his day.

And, yes, it was absolutely adorable.

"You probably shouldn't be staring at him in awe, dude," Alex interrupted his thoughts. "I know you're already whipped by him, but Sakdah is going to decapitate you if he sees you stare at his son like that."

"I'm just looking over there!"

"Yeah, like you just saw the holiest being on all planet earth!" Alex laughed. "You're going to need to take it down a couple of notches if you want to survive this night."

"Okay," Blake popped into their conversation. "Manny and Sophie just popped up. So, where do we start with the plan?"

"Mingle," Jett told him. They had to act normal before all else.

He walked up to Sakdah and talked a little. His whole council was there, and they were having a blast showing off their kids. The ones who were going to be taking their place here soon were all being proudly introduced to all the visitors. They were also the ones that they would have to keep distracted so that he could talk to Shiro alone.

The one thing that shocked him the most was Shiro's Beta. He never would have thought that the calm man that Jett had seen with Shiro at school was the son of Kenji. That guy was so pissed off all the time. His son at least knew when to give respect. They all seemed happy to have visitors at least. The look on Shiro's face was the best to see whenever he looked out to the crowd. He had this small smile that looked like a proud parent watching their children play happily in the yard.

But whenever Sakdah would say something, that smile would go away. It would be replaced with that mask over and over again. Jett hated it.

"Crap," he heard Alex in his head again. This was the best way to talk since they were in different areas at that point. "His girlfriend's here."

Jett almost growled at that. He swore if Shiro was going to reject him for her he didn't know what he was going to do. Every time she even got brought up, he saw a flash of red. But he didn't see her go up to Shiro at all. He guessed that Sakdah scared her off or something.

He was good for one thing at least.

"Make sure she stays distracted above all else," he told him. The worst person to come and interrupt them would be her. He could only imagine the drama that would ensue.

"It's nice to meet you, Alpha Jett," a woman bowed from next to him. She was pretty tall with short black hair and a beautiful kimono that was the same gold color as Shiro's.

"Nice to meet you too," he looked at her confused. "I'm afraid I didn't catch your name though."

"I am Hiroko," she told him. "Daughter of Alpha Sakdah."

Ah. So, she was his sister. He thought that she looked familiar. Those dark eyes must have been a family trait that skipped a generation. While Sakdah's were brown, they weren't as dark as his kid's. Hiroko also seemed to have the same mysterious aura about her that everyone in this pack had.

"I'm glad that we could meet then," he smiled at her. "This is a really gorgeous house you have."

"Thank you," she smiled at him. "We do maintenance on it faithfully. It is the one thing that has withstood the test of time."

"I see," he said. He couldn't help but let his eyes wander back to Shiro. The prince was mingling with all the guests. He stood out like a sore thumb compared to everyone else.

"I hope that you're also here to celebrate my brother's birthday," she snapped him out of it. "The whole pack is excited for their next leaders reign."

"Why does he celebrate his birthday the same time you guys are celebrating your pack members' graduations?" He had been curious about that. It seemed like it was an easier thing to do, considering his birthday was so close to graduation. But he didn't think that an alpha should have his eighteenth birthday shared with anything else. That was the most important milestone in an alpha's life. At least, in BlackCreek, it was.

"Shiro doesn't like celebrating his birthday," Hiroko's face grew sadder as she said that. "I haven't been able to get him excited about it for a long, long time."

"Really?" he looked at her in shock. "Why?" Why would he not want to celebrate his birthday? That was the one thing that every kid loved to celebrate. And the one time of the year that's focused solely on you.

"It's a bit complicated," Hiroko sighed and looked towards her brother. "But it all started with our mother."

"Your mother?" He hadn't heard that much about Sahdah's wife. All he knew was that she had been out of the picture for quite a while now.

"Yes," she told him. "She died the day that she gave birth to Shiro."

Ouch. That would explain it. Jett couldn't imagine not having his mother around when he was younger. She was his comfort as a child, while his father was his wall to lean on when he needed it most. Without either, he would have been a completely different person.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "That's horrible."

"There's no need to be sorry," Hiroko shook her head, her short hair dancing with her. "I merely thought it best to explain it better."

"Why did you tell me at all?" he asked her. It wasn't like anyone from this pack to simply tell them anything. Everything was usually beating around the bush or giving some complex answer that had to be solved like a riddle.

"In hopes that you would understand a bit more about my brother, Alpha Jett," Hiroko answered. "Perhaps you can be the one to help him get that excitement back."

He looked at her for a minute or two. Her face showed a joy to it and he didn't know what for. And there was a sparkle in her eyes that reminded him of Shiro.

She totally knew.

She had to. There was no way that she would have gone up to him otherwise. To everyone else, it could easily be her trying to court him or seeing if they were mates. But her voice held such a hint of giddiness to them when she spoke of her brother.

"And how do you think I can do that?" Jett asked. He was a little warry of this one. She seemed like she was planning something. He had half a mind to call Alex to get over there, but the guy would probably laugh at him for thinking anything of this fragile looking woman.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Perhaps a tour of our garden could help a little. We have plenty of beautiful flowers that love the nighttime just as much as we do. And Shiro loves strong smells."

"He does?" he didn't think that any werewolf would like strong smells like that. Their senses were so strong that it could overwhelm them. Like putting on too much perfume or cologne could wind up being nasty rather than making the person smell nice.

"He does," Hiroko nodded. "I think that might be the best way to get inspiration, Alpha Jett."

This was...weird. What kind of game was she playing? Jett wasn't sure whether she was trying to help him or test him at that moment. Maybe he would ask Shiro about her when they finally got to talk at this thing.

Speaking of which, where was he? After talking so long to Hiroko, he couldn't seem to find her brother anywhere.

"Where is he?" Jett asked her.

"Shiro likes his alone time," she smiled at him. "As I said before, Alpha Jett, I think you'd find the garden to be a very inspiring place." She walked away after that. Jett wanted to follow her, but instead he let her words sink into his mind.

The garden would help Jett get Shiro's excitement back?

Wait...

He was a damn idiot.

Jett quickly slid through the groups of people to get to the backyard. There was only one short haired woman that he could see weave through the dancers out there. He followed her until they both got to a secluded part of the yard. The backyard connected to the forest, giving them all a bunch of space to grow their pack. But the place that Hiroko had led him to was far away from all the party lights and the dancing and laughing. It was lit by fairy lights to bring out the flowers that were growing there. It was truly a piece of art all in of itself.

But the true piece of art was the man in gold that stood in the center of that garden.