He didn't want to have to do this. He wanted to finally relax and get some sleep now that all the chaos that was the past two weeks were over with. He had been so worried about Shiro and his wounds from those hunters that he hadn't been getting that much sleep. Surprisingly the man actually started answering his phone to him, though. They had a bunch of late-night conversations the past few days. It was calming just to hear his tired voice over the phone, even when he knew that they should both be sleeping.

It seemed like night time was best to call him. He kept himself busy throughout the day. Jett didn't like that he had still decided to work after getting those wounds. Dr. Bailey said that he needed to stay in bed for at least two days. Jett was half tempted to go over to that pack house of his and force him to stay down. But he knew he couldn't.

Which brought him back to the present. Where he was somehow supposed to convince two other Alphas to do an investigation on the pack that his mate was supposed to lead soon. It felt like he was betraying him by doing this. But he couldn't deny what Alex had said. Both Shiro and Geo were acting like they were afraid of mating. Jett could understand Shiro's reaction to it. As the next leader of his pack, they might think that he belonged to the Valor pack and then he would never gain his title. Jett didn't want that.

But Geo shouldn't have had the same reaction that Shiro had. He should have been able to accept it. They were both two betas, and seconds to their respective alphas, but that didn't mean that they were seen as a bad pairing. It was typically up to the Alphas to decide what should happen in instances like that. And, since Shiro was the one in charge of Geo directly, it would be his duty to come to an agreement with him about what should happen to their seconds.

"Alright, Jett," Roger sat down at the long table. "What's this about?"

Since this was supposed to be about the Reverence Pack, Jett decided to host the meeting at his pack house. They might be suspicious of them if they decided to use the community center again.

"I need Alpha Nir as well," Jett rubbed his face. "This isn't exactly a light topic."

"It never is when a meeting is called," Roger sighed. "Especially when it's at a packhouse rather than the community center."

Before they could say anymore, the door opened and in came Alpha Nir as well as Alex and Bree. Bree was his Luna, and he needed her for meetings like this. Alex was just the best person he could think of to convince these two that this was right. They each took their place on the long table.

"Thank you both for coming on such short notice," Bree started the meeting off. "I know that you're both really busy with all that's happened."

"It's definitely been a chaotic month," Nir sighed. "I'm assuming since Sakdah isn't here that this meeting is about the Reverence Pack?"

"Yes," Jett said, straightening his back to prepare for the chaos ahead of him. "I called this meeting because I have reason to suspect that he's either breaking, or not enforcing the laws in which we all put in place long ago."

The two other Alphas straightened when they heard that. They knew what that meant. Jett wasn't entirely sure whether these two packs were ready to deal with the potential war that it could cause. Something like this was not to be taken lightly under any circumstances.

"Which one?" Nir asked.

"I don't think they're allowing mates to accept each other," Jett said. That was the greatest law that their ancestors had made. That was the law that had caused wars and battles that almost destroyed them as well as the town. But it was crucial to them surviving. If they didn't enforce allowing mates to be with each other, then they would forever undergo the curse and their packs would grow smaller until they all but diminished.

"What's your evidence?" Roger asked. Both of them were getting straight to the point.

"I found out that my mate was from that pack just last night," Alex spoke up. Jett gave him a curious look, but he winked at him. "Instead of wanting to mark me or letting me do it to him, he told me he wanted to wait."

"Wait?" Nir raised his eyebrows. "Wait for when?"

"For Shiro to gain his title," Alex said. "And if that doesn't say something about Sakdah as a leader, I don't know what does."

Nir and Roger looked at each other. That really didn't sound good.

"We have reasons to believe that it's same sex mates," Jett said. "Miki Ling has found her mate, but hasn't marked her yet."

"Miki found her mate?" Roger asked. "That girl is almost always with her father in the Inn. I can't believe he didn't say anything about it with how much he talks about her."

The owner of that Inn really was a kind soul. He loved talking about everything, but especially his daughter. He was the Delta of the Reverence Pack. But he acted much more diplomatic than the Gamma could ever be. Everyone knew of him.

"We met her at the carnival," Jett said. "It was with a human, but Miki seemed far too protective of her for there not to be a mate bond between the two." He didn't want to tell them that Shiro had told him. Because he was supposed to be keeping that as a secret. So, he merely spoke of it as if it was something he had figured out.

He really hoped Shiro didn't hate him for this afterwards.

"Do you know how long they've been hiding it?" Roger asked.

"No," he said. "The longest could be six months, though. The human was in the same year of school as Shiro, and she most likely just turned eighteen this year."

"If she's going against the curse, that's something that needs to be addressed," Nir said. "And, since Alex's mate said they wanted to wait until Shiro's reign, it could be that she is as well."

"Sakdah should know what's going on in his pack," Roger shook his head. "It's up to the Alpha to enforce these laws. The fact that there are two people that are trying to hide their bonds until the man's reign is over isn't good."

"I knew Sakdah was hiding something," Nir said. "But this curse is too important to ignore. And I don't exactly like the fact that they already potentially have people undergoing the curse."

"Especially not when its going to take all four of us to get rid of the damn thing," Roger said. "You know how difficult it is to try and force parents to let their kids be themselves?"

He wasn't too happy about that idea either. The Valor Pack had been the leading example of how to live without the curse. They accepted their mates easily, with no one interfering. And Jett thought that it was that way, for the most part at least, with all of their neighbors as well. Until he met Shiro, that was.

What if he was apart of this? What if this was his doing as well as his fathers? If evidence was found that he was playing part in breaking these laws, he could wind up punished as well. But Jett couldn't see Shiro doing something like that. He couldn't see him not allowing people to mate each other. He remembered just how happy he was seeing those two girls together at the carnival.

"There's one more thing I'd like to point out that adds to my suspicion of this pack," Alex said. "If I may."

"What is it, Alex?" Nir said.

"During the battle in the city, with all the hunters," he said. "There was a point where Kenji, the Beta, came to help out, right when we got caught in an ambush. But, when I was following one of your warriors, Luke, to where you were when you were caught at gunpoint, I witnessed him running in the opposite direction."

What?!

"You didn't tell me this!" he berated his Beta. Alex was supposed to brief him on everything that happened, down to the miniscule detail.

"I might have forgotten it after the explosion," he told him. "Sorry."

"I remember you mentioning him when you two found me," Nir said. "How close was he to my location?" Those ocean blue eyes looked pissed after he said that. Jett would be too.

"I'd say with how fast the Reverence warriors typically are," Alex said. "He could have easily gotten to you way before his son did."

Jett remembered that night when Kenji had come over. He immediately came to yell at his son for not following orders. If it weren't for Shiro sticking up for him, Jett was sure that the man would have continued to embarrass him right in front of him.

"You said that it was Geo who saved you, right?" Jett asked Nir. When he nodded, Jett continued. "When Kenji came here to pick Geo up, he yelled at him for not following orders. Geo argued with him and told him that he was ordered to kill all the hunters, and when Kenji asked who gave him that order, Shiro spoke up."

"What did Shiro say?"

"He told him that it was him who gave Geo those orders," Jett said. "I don't know what Kenji's orders were during the battle, but Shiro's orders superseded it somehow."

"That would make sense if he was the Acting Luna," Bree finally spoke. "The Luna's word goes above all except the Alpha."

"It seemed to me," Alex said. "Like Kenji was trying to retreat from the battle, and it just so happened to be right when you were getting cornered by those hunters."

"If that's the case, then I truly do owe Geo my life," Nir said. "You're right, Jett. This is too suspicious to refrain from an investigation of some sorts."

"But what of Shiro?" Roger asked. "If we perform an investigation, it could very well go past Sakdah's reign and fall under his title."

"Then this will be for justice only under Sakdah's reign," Nir said. "Even if he is not in power by the time that everything is revealed, he will need to be punished for his crimes."

Breaking a law about mates was one thing. When you mixed that in with a possibility of mutiny then it set of every alarm imaginable.

"They're too good at hiding," they all turned to see Jett's father coming into the room. He had been curious about Shiro ever since he came over that night. "Shiro's perfected Munni's craft, Nir."

"Munni's craft?" Jett asked his father. He didn't exactly like that he just came bursting in, but at least he had some valuable information for all of them.

"Really?" Nir looked at him curiously. "That would definitely explain why his scent is so faint."

"What do you guys mean?" Jett asked. If they knew how Shiro could hide his scent, that would be fantastic. He had been dying to know every since he realized that he did it.

"The Wang family," his father started. "Had mastered The Art of the Mind. It was a saying that once you can control yourself, you can control anything."

"Even a scent," Nir said. "They passed their teachings onto their children as well as some of their warriors who were strong enough to do it. It helped with things like blocking out pain or certain emotions as well. But it required lots of concentration."

"And years of meditation," his father continued. "It was the main advantage that the Reverence Pack had over all of ours. That was one of their greatest strengths."

"That would explain the scent thing, at least," Bree mind linked with him. "Maybe you should have asked Dad about this when you were pacing on the roof."

"If I was thinking correctly." He told her. He was glad to be getting some answers about this. It wasn't easy to get all of these people in the same place to discuss this mysterious pack. Jett wanted to know so much more about them.

"Munni only used it when he felt he was in danger," Nir said. "And I remember him saying that it took him into his thirties to perfect that."

"Shiro was always a bright one," Roger said. "I wouldn't doubt if he had perfected it. His whole demeanor changes when he's around his father too. It doesn't settle right with me."

So, they weren't the only ones who noticed it. But Shiro couldn't be hiding himself using that craft just when he thought he was in danger. He had that look almost every time he saw him. That would be like saying he thought he was in danger all the time.

The more he thought about this, the more suspicious he became of Sakdah.

"There's also the fact that we never see his sister, either," Nir said. "She should have found her mate by now."

"There's plenty of werewolves that take a while to find their mate," Jett said. He wasn't so worried about her, although he was curious as to where she always went off to.

"Not when she's been traveling to as many packs as she has," Nir told him. "Sakdah told me that he had been sending her to different packs across the globe in order to find her mate. And I never once was asked to allow her to visit my pack to search for hers."

"Come to think of it," Bree said. "She never came over to this pack either. And usually, the neighboring packs are the first ones that the mateless visit in hopes of finding their second half."

"I can start the investigation," Roger said. "Most of my men are still in good shape after the battle. We can start the first wave."

Jett was surprised that he had been able to convince them both so easily. This topic is as serious as the plague. It's not something that is discussed lightly. Which meant that these two had been just as suspicious of Sakdah as Jett had been. They were quick to begin their search.

"As long as it's done discreetly," Jett told him. "The last thing I want is them knowing what we're doing. That would cause chaos with Sakdah, and it's possible that they could destroy some evidence."

"That can be done easily," Roger nodded. "The main thing that I'm curious about is just how much involvement Shiro has with whatever this is. That boy seems like he's had to grow up fast."

"He doesn't have the eyes of a selfish man," his father spoke up again.

"He was the one who told me about Miki," Jett said. He didn't want to tell them that, but it was the only thing he had as evidence as to Shiro being innocent in all of this. The other two seemed to like Shiro. He had a gift for being able to gain people's trust easily. Maybe it was because he had been with Munni when he was little. Munni was always a trusting man.

Or maybe it was the fact that those eyes looked far too soft to be apart of something evil like stopping people from mating.

He missed those eyes.

"He seems to trust you a lot, Jett," Roger said. "If it weren't for you two becoming close, we would still be blind to anything suspicious about that pack."

"It's just strange," Jett shook his head. "Everyone I've talked to from that pack always talks about how excited they are for his reign. They don't talk about his father at all. Just him. It doesn't seem right."

"He's got to be the innocent party in this," Nir said. "I'd try to stay as close as possible to him. You never know what information you might be able to get out of it."

"I don't think that will be a problem," he smiled. He still hadn't told anyone about Shiro being his mate other than the ones closest to him. Luckily his father agreed to keep it a secret from his mom. She would go crazy if she found out. Mainly because she'd want to invite him over for dinner and introduce him to everyone. You know, all the stuff that moms always do.

They ended the meeting after that. The sky was nice and dark when they departed, each knowing what they needed to do in order to help with the investigation. Roger was their manpower for scanning out areas. Nir would take the evidence and decipher it. And Jett was supposed to get close to the pack and see if he could get them to talk without it raising suspicion. Which was easy enough for him since he talked to Shiro so much.

"You should get some sleep, Jett," Bree told him. She gave him a motherly look. "You look dead tired."

"I've been up since 5am, thanks to this bone head," Jett elbowed Alex.

"I could have woken you up at midnight when I first found out," Alex grinned at him. He probably didn't get any sleep at all. They had all been planning out this meeting and getting everything ready for the Alphas coming over.

"I'm glad you didn't," Jett muttered. He told them goodnight and headed to his room. It felt like he was going to fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He should have tried that, if he was being honest with himself. But he was a bit more distracted than normal.

Because even when he was tired from only getting a few hours of sleep, his mind whirred back to life as soon as he glanced at his phone.

"Hello?" he answered it.

"Hi," Shiro's shy voice came through. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Not at all," he smiled. This was the first time Shiro had called him rather than the other way around. "How are you feeling?"

"You act as if I don't have fast healing," Shiro chuckled a bit. "The wound has healed completely now."

"You were still supposed to be in bed for the past two days, Prince," Jett said. "And those were doctor's orders."

"I just did paperwork," Shiro told him. "I haven't been moving around much."

"I don't believe you."

"Why do you think I called you tonight?" he asked. "It's been rather boring here."

"So, you're only going to call me when you're bored?"

"No," he sounded sad when he answered him that time. Like he was guilty for saying it. "I just..."

"You just what?"

"I missed you," Shiro almost whispered through the phone. The way that he said it made him want to run all the way over to him just to hold him.

"I missed you too, Prince," he told him. It seemed like he wasn't the only one that was getting used to their late-night phone calls. Talking to him before bed had a lulling affect on him. He was starting to get addicted to it.

They talked a little bit about their day and little stories from their past that they remembered. He liked all of Shiro's stories. He talked a lot about hanging out with his friends and some of the crazy things that they would do. Jett would always find stories like his from all of his dumb friends, Alex included.

"You know about him and Geo, right?" Jett asked.

"Yes," Shiro laughed. "Geo's been whining all day about it. I think they make a good match for each other, though."

The more he talked to him, the more he wished he had him in his arms. There was no doubt in his mind that Shiro was innocent in all of the things that the pack might be doing wrong. He loved his people too much to hurt them in anyway.

"Can I ask you a question?" Jett asked.

"Anything."

"Do you ever feel that you're in danger?" he knew he wasn't supposed to seem suspicious, but he worried about him. If Shiro felt like he was in danger the whole time he's around his father, and even Geo is worried about him being left to the man, like he was when he mentioned him after the party, then he was going to have to figure this out a lot sooner.

"No," Shiro said. It was difficult to tell if he was lying over the phone or not, but his tone was certain. "Other than a few times in battle, that is. Why do you ask?"

"Maybe I just worry too much for you," he smirked. "You are a Prince after all."

"I don't see how I am."

"You are. There's no denying it," he laughed. It was too fun to tease him like this. "Just know that if you ever feel in danger, you can always come here, alright."