He didn't know why Shiro was cut off from the mind link. It terrified him. But he had to remain calm so that he could focus. He needed to find him. This must have meant that Alpha Sakdah had found something out. He hadn't seen the Alpha all day. He didn't even want to ask. Instead, he walked around the pack house casually so as to not bring any attention onto himself.

He had asked Nikita, Shiro's servant, to no avail. As soon as he started talking to him about it, the man started bawling his eyes out. He was freaking out as much as Geo was in his head. He was sure that a lot of the pack was that way at the moment. Shiro had always been there for all of them. Whenever someone needed anything, he would be there. He would help, even if it meant sacrificing what little free time he had.

He saw the anxiety on so many pack member's faces as they slowly started to realize that he had been cut off. There was only one person who could cut off someone's link to the pack, and that was the Alpha. The man that they had been fighting against for so long.

He didn't know what he was doing to Shiro, but it terrified him the longer he looked. He had been born and raised in this house, yet it seemed like a maze to him at the moment. Nothing added up as to where he would be.

But he knew he was there. He had to be. There was nothing in his mind that could tell him otherwise. He could still feel that Shiro was in the house. He just had to figure out where.

There was one place that he hadn't looked in all day. He didn't want to draw too much attention to it. It was the one secret place that fair few knew of, to be used in instances like this one. But he had to wait for night to check there. So, he waited. He clued Jin and Miki in on what was going on and told them to wait outside of the pack house. If the Alpha had gone after Shiro, then he would most likely go after them all next.

And he wasn't going to let that happen.

Why did this always have to happen when Hiroko wasn't there? It always seemed like the worst of the worst happened when she went on her trips. He knew that she hated it. She worried so much about Shiro and all of them. She wanted to protect them as well. That's why she tried to learn from the other packs she went to. So that she could teach them all how the other packs fought so that they could be stronger.

"Together, we will be strong," Shiro said. They were all there: Miki, Jin, Hiroko. They were all there, looking at the bloodbath that had been the first of a ceremony that they had all witnessed the night before.

"How can we fight this?" Geo asked him. "We're only thirteen, Shiro! There's no way we can keep him from slaughtering us all!" Fear rose in him. Because he knew these pack members. He knew why they were dead. He knew that if he wasn't careful, he would be one of them, simply because of his sexuality alone. And that terrified him to no end.

"We will fight by working together," Shiro said. He was just as young as him, but his face looked like he had aged at least ten years. It was hard, like a General's. "My father thinks that we are weak. He thinks that he has weakened us all by making us witness what had happened. He thinks that we will bow down to his every whim and watch as our people die. He is a fool for thinking that."

"What can we do, though, Shiro?" Hiroko asked. She was crying into Jin's shoulder while he comforted her. "Not even Grandpa could stop him!"

"We do the one thing that he has done," Shiro told them. "We will trick him, just like he has tricked so many others."

"How?" Miki asked. Her face was stained with tears.

"We will make a plan," Shiro said, his eyes more determined than they had ever been. "But first, I need you all to be with me on this. A leader is nothing without a council, and that is what all of you will be. You are my brothers and sisters. And together we will be strong. Together, we will prevail!"

He was everyone's strength after Munni died. He was what kept them all going. Even at age thirteen, he had even the elders listening to his every order. It was through that, that they had started to plan out everything. They had a plan for every situation.

Even this one.

His thoughts snapped back to reality as his phone went off for the millionth time. Alex and Alpha Jett had been calling him nonstop for updates. He hated answering the phone. Not because they were annoying. He felt like they had a right to getting an answer. He hated it because it was a reminder that he had still found nothing.

"Still nothing," he answered the phone.

"You sure you don't want us to head over there and help?" Alex asked. They all seemed just as worried as he was on that side.

"That would raise suspicion," Geo told him. He was just out front at the moment. "I needed to wait until nighttime to look at something anyway."

"What?" he heard Jett ask over the phone. "What are you trying to look for?"

"It's a bit hard to explain," Geo said, walking towards the cars parked in front of the house. "It's just something that he had planned for emergencies like this. If he used it, it means that he's in trouble."

"He planned for this to happen?!" Jett asked. "What the fuck is going on in that pack of yours?!"

"You really, truly don't want to know," he sighed. He really hoped he wasn't the one that had to tell them everything. He pushed that thought aside for the meantime, though. He needed to focus on the mission.

Everyone had been inside. It was a rainy day, which meant that everyone was either inside playing games, or hanging out in the city to get out of the house. No one would notice Geo walking through the cars.

He almost dropped his phone. He saw the first and only hint he had found that day to Shiro being there. His car was there!

"Geo, talk to me," Alex said. He always said that if he stayed quiet over the phone for too long.

"I found his car," he whispered to the phone. He didn't dare even breathe his name at the moment. With how anxious people were about Shiro, they probably had supersonic hearing when it came to that.

It was hidden under some trees. It was probably the shadiest spot that they had. The reason why no one had picked that spot was because when it rained the leaves all decided to fall on top of it, leaving the car a mess.

"Any clues in it?" Alex asked.

Geo walked around it, looking in all the windows. The longer he looked, the more anxious he got.

"Nothing," he told him. "Everything's been taken out of it."

"You think this was Sakdah's doing?" Jett was quick to blame the Alpha. He was smarter than the rest of the alphas in that forest. Geo had to hand it to him.

"No," he answered. "That's something that he, himself would do." Then he walked a little bit away from the car, over to one of the many trees that surrounded the house. They all looked just about the same, but one had some more leaves at the base.

Leaves that looked like they had been moved.

Geo leaned down and wiped the leaves away, showing a small safe attached to the tree. They had all been told that if they thought they were going to get in trouble, to put all of their personals in the safe. That way Alpha Sakdah wouldn't have any evidence of anything. They had used it a few times, mainly out of paranoia. Geo had used it plenty of times when he started dating Jimmy. But Shiro had never used it. He had fooled his father into thinking he was the perfect puppet for him.

He opened the safe slowly to find a bunch of things in there. There were a few things that Miki had forgotten to take out from years ago, and a few pictures that Jin had thrown in there to keep safe, but most of it were Shiro's. His necklace that had a charm from Tammy, the gem that Geo had given him, and the enchanted stone from Jett was the first thing he pulled out. Then there were his car keys, his phone, and a few other miscellaneous things that he always kept on his being.

His phone was the first thing he checked. It had all the missed calls from Jett, along with a few texts from other people. The whole pack seemed like they were trying to get ahold of him. Everyone was expecting him to be home by now. It was already strange enough having him gone for a week.

"I found his phone," Geo said. "They're in the spot."

"What does that mean?" Alex asked.

"It means-!"

"Well, well, well," a voice came from behind him, scaring him half to death. "This is a fun surprise."

He turned to see his dad with someone he didn't expect right next to him. Jimmy was looking rather shyly towards him. He didn't like where this was going. Geo quickly hid his phone behind his back as he looked at them.

"Hey dad," he faked innocence. "What's up?"

"What did you find, GyuHyoung?" his face was unrelenting. He crossed his arms like he always did when Geo was in trouble. And, with all this worry about Shiro, it left him more on edge.

"Just some lockets that the kids were hiding," Geo shrugged and held the necklace up. He had untied it behind his back so that the scent charm that Jett gave him was off it. That would give this away in a heartbeat. "They had been crying about it all day."

"Anything else?"

"Some toys," he shrugged again. Acting nonchalant about things was the easiest way to get his dad to actually believe him. He had always seemed to smooth talk his way out of things with his father before.

Just not now it seemed.

"I don't believe you, GyuHyoung," his father frowned. "Perhaps you should explain yourself a little better. Better yet, you should explain why you decided to abuse one of our own."

"One of our own?" Geo furrowed his eyebrows. He looked at Jimmy, who was keeping his face at the ground at the moment. "What do you mean? I didn't abuse anyone."

"That's not what this one said," his father nudged the little omega again. "Weren't you the one who was arguing about protecting every member of the pack, GyuHyoung? It seems very hypocritical of you."

"I didn't do anything of the sort," this was confusing. What did his dad think he did to Jimmy? He was glad that the topic was off from the items that he was holding, but he was still so confused as to what all of this was.

"H-he's lying," Jimmy spoke up. He looked nervous, and leaned into Geo's dad as he spoke. "He hurt me a lot when we were in school together."

One look into those doe eyes and Geo knew exactly what was going on. He knew Jimmy enough to know when he was lying. He had that same look in his eyes that he did when he was talking to Shiro about that lie that Geo wanted him.

He couldn't even be angry about this. He was just shocked that he would go to such great lengths to get back at him. Why would he want him to suffer this much? Just because he didn't want to go and run away with him? Because he thought that Geo was secretly in love with Shiro? Even if he got his heart broke, Geo would never do something like this to Jimmy.

"I didn't hurt you," Geo shook his head. He tried to look at his father for some kind of understanding. That's what people always did when they had issues like this: they looked to their parents and their families. But his dad just looked at him with cold eyes, as if he didn't even know him.

"I won't make you repeat what you told me," His father told Jimmy. Jimmy just nodded, pretending like he was still scared. Another glance up at him and Geo could see the hatred in them. It hurt to see that. Geo had cared for him through basically all of high school. He loved him as best as a teenager could and never cheated on him. But those eyes showed hatred towards him.

"I wish to know what I'm being accused of," Geo said, looking at his father with hard eyes. Did he really believe that he would hurt Jimmy? Would he really believe Jimmy over his own son?

"Sexual abuse," his father said, his eyes as hard as steel. "And homosexuality. You know what that means, GyuHyoung."

He couldn't believe this. He was getting outed, not because of Shiro or Alex or anything, but because of the one person that he had dated in high school who wanted petty revenge. Jimmy was sentencing him to death because he broke up with him.

Fear rose in his chest as he saw the black cloaks come up to them. He was actually going to die. He didn't want to die. Not now. But he couldn't run, his feet wouldn't let him. He was frozen by his own fear.

He still needed to find Shiro. He was the only one who could save them. Together they were strong, that was true. But Shiro was their leader. Shiro was the one who gave the orders when they didn't know what to do. He always knew what to say, even when they thought the worst was going to happen.

A growl interrupted the black cloaks grabbing him. It was the loudest growl he had ever heard, and it shook him to the very core. The power of it alone was enough to overcome even the strongest willed warriors. And that growl alone was enough for him to know exactly who that belonged to.

Shiro.

He wanted to go over there and try and find him. It had come from outside. But his father was still there, telling the black cloaks to try and assess the problem. He was still cornering him by that tree where he had Shiro's belongings.

He thought he was a goner then, with his father backing him into a tree. But another surprise popped up out of the blue. Jin dropped down from one of the trees right behind his father. With a quick jab at the neck, the man was unconscious. Jimmy was next, as he wasn't to be trusted with anything. He had turned into their enemy, along with a small group of the pack that was in power.

"I thought I told you to stay in the city?" Geo asked him.

"We don't have time," Jin shook his head. "I had a feeling this would happen and you would need back up. Don't worry about me. Just get as many things from your room and let's go."

He nodded, booking it to his room. They had to get out of there. It seemed like even Shiro was leaving the area. Which meant that Sakdah really was in on their plans. They all needed to get out of there before shit really hit the fan.

The main thing that he grabbed was his backpack. He stocked it full of extra clothes and other things that he held near and dear to him. The rest he didn't care about, other than the savings that he had collected since he was a kid. It would probably come in handy after this. They were all going to need to get off the grid for a while.

"GyuHyoung!" his father yelled. He could hear him marching over to his room. He had kept the door cracked open just in case his father would wake up. He quickly swung the backpack over his shoulder and ran towards the window. With a quick jump, he was on the ground outside again. The whole place was swarming now with black cloaks everywhere. They saw him quickly, blocking him from his car.

"Jin, get out of here!"

"I don't want to leave without you, Geo!"

"One of us has to get out of here alive, Jin!" he argued with the Gamma. "Go! I'll call you when I get out of this mess!"

He knew that Jin would have to listen to him. Jin was the easiest to leave with all the black cloaks focused on Geo at the moment. Geo wouldn't be able to get his car, so he'd have to run for it. Looking at the road, he let his legs take him as fast as he could. He couldn't shift right then. He wouldn't be able to carry all of his things if he did. And he wasn't just going to leave them there. He had put all of Shiro's things in his back pack too.

He was a goner. There was no way he was going to be saved this time. With that many people on his ass, there was no way that he wasn't going to get caught. Using his fear, he pushed himself a little bit farther. He had to try, no matter what.

If he died, he'd want everyone to know that it was an honorable one: trying to protect his people and trying to save his Alpha. He knew no one would know the true reason, but he would in his heart. That was good for something, right?

The moon was bright that night. It lit up the road that he ran down. But it didn't help him stay hidden from the cloaked figures that were following him.

A yelp escaped him as one of them put him in a headlock. He could see his short life flash before his eyes. Fear was overtaking his body. But before he could fight them, he heard an engine roar and headlights shining on them. The cloaks were probably going to just try and run off with him, but it seemed like the car knew what they were planning. It quickly swerved around them as they held him. One of the circles that it made got so close to the cloak that was holding him that he loosened his grip. Geo used this to elbow him in the gut and get the guy to let go of him completely. Then he ran into the car, not caring who was driving at the moment.

"Geo!" Alex grabbed onto his hand as he started driving the opposite way. "Who the fuck are they?!"

"Black Cloaks," Geo said. He didn't have time to calm his heart down. "You just fucking saved my life."

"I would slaughter them all if they even took a hair off your head," Alex looked way too serious when he said that. But, for some reason, it comforted him. "By the way, you never ended the phone call."

"Fuck," he grabbed his phone from his bag. "You heard everything, huh?"

"Yup," Alex said. "I'm going to murder your dad."

Geo shook his head. It still hurt that his dad wouldn't even hesitate to accuse him of such things. He was too eager to just kill off his own son. What kind of father does that? He still remembered all the good times they had, even though they were few and far between. He might have been annoying at times, but he had always been his father.

Now Geo didn't know what he was.

"Give me your phone," Geo told Alex. He had taken the battery to his phone out. He didn't want to risk anyone tracking him down like that. As soon as he handed it to him, he punched in a number.

"We need to plan for everything," Shiro told them. "Every situation that could possibly happen. Because if it can happen, it most likely will happen."

"That sounds ridiculous," Miki shook her head. "How can we plan for every single outcome?"

"By working together," Shiro told her. His eyes shined with determination. It rubbed off on all of them. Geo didn't know how he did it, but he had somehow brought back the confidence that they all had before.

"Hello?"

"Jin," Geo said. "It's Geo."

"I'm glad you made it out of there alive," the man sighed in relief. "Did you hear that growl?"

"Yea-" his voice was cut off by a pain in his chest. Another growl came from the trees that they were racing past, this one different from the rest. This one he knew was still Shiro's, but there was something different about it.

"Geo!" he could barely hear Alex yell his name. All he could do was focus on the pain that had permeated his whole being. "Geo, talk to me!"

"Shiro," Geo hardly got the words out. His voice cracked as he spoke.

"What about Shiro?" Alex asked. "Was that him?"

Geo just nodded his reply to that. After a few more seconds of focusing on his breathing, he spoke again.

"He left the pack."

He had never felt so alone in his entire life.