He swore he was this close to having a heart attack. If it weren't for the anger that fueled him and his determination to keep him focused, he didn't know what he would be doing right now. Just seeing all of Shiro's friends in front of his pack house, and how scared they all seemed, it brought out his own Alpha instincts to protect. They might have been rogues at that moment, but he knew who they were. Two of them still seemed like kids. And, considering what had just happened with Geo, from what he overheard on the phone, they needed help. It took quite a lot to convince them to accept it, but once Geo said that he trusted him, he knew he couldn't let any of them down.

He couldn't let himself down.

As soon as their guests had found their respective rooms, he looked to Bree. They had a lot of planning to do before he went out into that forest.

"Tell the pack what's going on," he told her. They would want to know why there were rogues there. And they wouldn't know who the strangers were until they already barged into their rooms. "The secrets are over, at least, on our side. Tell them about everything, including me."

"Are you sure?" Bree asked. "What if they all get mad that you're under the curse?"

"Then they'll be mad," Jett said. "But I'm done keeping things hidden. And I'm sure they'll all be angrier at the fact that the Reverence Pack isn't allowing their members to mark each other."

He knew his people. They were all taught to accept their mates immediately and mark them as soon as possible. Even the one's who weren't quite sure at first wound up living happy lives. They lived in peace by accepting each other for who they were. And Jett was sure that when they heard what they had found of the Reverence Pack, they were all going to be furious.

The parents the most.

"What's going on?" his father came into the room. "Why are their rogues here, Jett?"

"They're runaways from the Reverence Pack," Jett told him. "They were going to get killed for their sexuality."

His father's eyes flashed with anger at the sound of that. His own parental instinct kicked in it seemed. He had seen that look plenty of times from his father when he was taking care of him and Bree, as well as a few instances where he was defending some of the children in the pack.

"Munni would be turning in his grave if he found that out," his father shook his head. "Is this the end result of the investigation?"

That reminded him, he still hadn't called Nir and Roger. Instead of answering, Jett pulled out his phone. He had already sent out search parties, even the ones to sneak into the Reverence territory. As much as he wanted to start the search himself, he needed to get some things squared away. And he needed help.

Bree talked to their father, getting him up to date with all that they had found. He would love to have Alex there right then, as he was always logical when it came to instances like this and he had a knack for pointing out things that they hadn't noticed before. But Alex needed to take care of his mate. Just hearing over that phone what Geo was going through with his own father was enough to make Jett's blood boil. He didn't blame Alex for running out of the pack house to go and grab him. He even stopped Bree from trying to hold him back. He let Alex go, because it really sounded like they were going to kill Geo.

And that's what scared him about Shiro.

"Hello?" A familiar voice came over the phone.

"Nir, it's Jett."

"Jett, I'm glad you called," his voice sounded urgent. "Did you hear that growl?"

"Yes," he told him. It was probably the loudest growl he had heard in his life. The worst thing was that he could feel it too. He could hear all the pain and anguish that was in that noise. "That's partially why I called. I need your help."

"Does it have something to do with the Reverence pack?"

"How did you know?"

"Besides the fact that I'm sure the growl came from there," Nir told him. "Roger had to back his men away from their search of the territory. Their guard is raised more than it ever has before, and there's some interesting characters out."

"Are they cloaked?"

"Yes," Nir sounded a little confused when he said it. "Have you seen them before?"

"We just got intel on them," Jett told him. "They're the enforcers of the pack. Why they haven't been seen by anyone else before is still a mystery."

"That doesn't sound good," Nir said. "I'm guessing that you found out more information?"

"Let's just say I have solid evidence that Sakdah isn't letting his members mark each other," Jett said. He almost growled at saying that man's name. "And it only gets worse from there."

"Perhaps it would be best to schedule another meeting to talk about it," Nir said.

"I wouldn't trust the Reverence Pack at the moment," Jett told him. "You should stay in your territory for the meantime."

"Do you know what happened?"

"Vaguely," Jett sighed in frustration. He wished he knew more. But there was no way he could get any more information out of Geo at the moment, not with how upset he already was. And the rest of them were almost the same way as him. They all looked completely lost now that they were rogues. "I'll explain what I know later, though. I need your help with something."

"What is it?"

"I need you to send out your patrols," Jett said. "Search the borders of the Reverence Pack. There's a member that's escaping. He could be hurt."

"Do you know why he's escaping?"

"I'm afraid I don't know much," he said. It hurt him to say that. He really wanted to know what was going on. He really wanted to know where Shiro is.

"Do you have a description of the member?"

Jett took in a deep breath. He was done keeping secrets, especially when it was about this. He knew he could trust Nir. The man had been worried about Shiro the more that they started digging into that pack.

"It's Shiro," he told him.

"Shiro?" Nir sounded alarmed now. "Jett, why is Shiro escaping? What happened?"

"He was completely missing from even his own pack for almost a day," Jett said, relaying what he had found out from Geo. "I don't know what happened during that time, Nir, but I know that the growl that we heard was from him. And the others who escaped that pack said that he could be hurt."

"A hurt werewolf is a dangerous one," Nir said. "Especially an alpha with a growl like that. I'll keep my guards posted, but I'm not sure what we can do as far as catching him if we do find him."

"Leave the catching to me," he told him. "I just need more eyes out for him. I don't know whether he'll be in his wolf form or human, but we have to help him."

"I'll tell Roger to watch the city for the meantime," Nir said. "Just in case he winds up heading over there."

"Just tell him not to hurt him," Jett said. "He's our key to figuring out what's really going on in that pack."

He was also his mate, but that was a discussion for another time.

"Understood," Nir said. "I'll be keeping in touch with you on any updates."

They hung up after that and Jett tossed his phone to Bree.

"Answer it whenever anyone calls," he told her. "I'm going out there."

"Jett, do you really think that's a good idea?" Bree asked. She looked so worried. "What if the Reverence pack warriors see you or something?"

"They've already started this war," Jett said. "We finally found out what it was against. And I'm not going to let this shit go on."

He would be the first to take Sakdah down. Sakdah started this mess, and he was going to be the one to finish it. Because none of this was right. And the deeper they dug into this pack, the worse it became. It was like looking into the past almost. The past of all of their packs. They had all worked so hard to try and make sure that things would never get that gruesome again. And the fact that one of their allies did something like this, hurting so many people, was a blow to everything they had worked so hard to change.

"Don't fight them." He turned his head around to see Miki standing in the archway of the room. "None of those warriors want to do what they are doing right now." Her eyes were glossy and slightly red, and her thick braid was ruffled a bit, hair sticking out of it here and there.

"Then they need to go against their Alpha," Jett told her. "If none of them want to do it, then they would revolt against their Alpha. That's what packs do."

"Not mine," she put her head down, sniffling. "Please, Alpha Jett. If you start a fight with them, they won't be able to stop battling until they're dead."

"Why?" Jett questioned. "Why is Sakdah like this? He wouldn't want to preserve his own warriors?"

"I don't know why," she shook her head. "All I know is that he would do anything to make them listen to him. And, without Shiro to guide them, Alpha Sakdah is going to take charge."

"Miki," Bree looked at her with motherly eyes. "How long has this gone on? How long have you all had to live this way?"

"About five years," she told her. Her shoulders were squared as she talked to someone who was a higher rank than herself, but she still kept her head down. "Ever since Elder Munni passed."

"What happened when he passed?"

Miki just shook her head at that, biting her lip to stop the tears from falling again. She looked so traumatized by it all, Jett immediately felt for her. She must have been really young when it happened. Jett himself had only just been in leadership of his pack for a year when Munni died.

"How long have you undergone the curse, Miki?" Jett changed the subject. If she wasn't able to answer one question, he wasn't going to force her to.

"Eight months," she almost whispered.

Jett looked at Bree in shock. Eight months was way too long. By that time, the mated couple would have gone through a lot of pain. The curse weakened you the longer you were under it. It weighed you down more and more. And the need to mark would become more and more stronger the longer that you kept yourself from it.

"How many people in that pack are under the curse right now?" Jett asked.

"I don't know the specific number," she shook her head. "Some of them are those warriors that are out on patrol right now, though."

"Have they all lasted through the curse for a long time, Miki?" his father asked her. His face softened when he talked to her. And his voice was gentle.

"Some," she said. "Most got caught before it was too long. They were too weak to fight against it."

"How long has someone lasted under it?" Jett asked.

"Three years," Miki said. "And counting."

"What?!" Jett looked at his father, completely shocked. They hadn't heard of anyone lasting that long. The longer it went on, the stronger it got and the weaker you were against it.

"And counting?" Bree looked as shocked as he was. "You mean that they still haven't marked each other?"

"No," Miki shook her head. "It's really painful for them to even be around each other, from what I hear. But they still haven't marked each other after all this time. We were all waiting..."

Jett knew the rest of that sentence. They were waiting for Shiro. He was going to let them all mark each other. He was going to release them from the curse. But that was so much pressure to put on someone so young. Jett understood why he always acted so serious now. He understood why he hid himself now.

He was going to absolutely slaughter Sakdah the next time he saw the man. He didn't care what the others thought of him. It was easy to see that he kept his power through fear and pain. His own pack suffered because of him. But what he didn't get was what happened to the curse? When an Alpha doesn't allow their pack to mark their rightful mates, they wind up suffering. The curse affects them in a much worse than anyone else. That was how the Moon Goddess made the curse. Because she knew that it wasn't their fault for not marking their mates like they should.

Why wasn't Sakdah in pain, then?

Jett looked at his father and Bree. Both seemed to have the same questions that he did. But now wasn't the time to try and find more answers. Jett was on borrowed time as it was. They still hadn't found anything on Shiro as more search parties mind linked with him updates.

"Alright," Jett sighed and looked at Miki. "We'll stay peaceful for now. We need to find Shiro first anyway."

"Thank you," Miki's shoulders immediately relaxed as he said that.

"I need you to do something for me, Miki."

"Anything," she nodded.

"Mark your mate," Jett told her. "Free yourself from the curse. You're in the Valor Pack for now, and we don't let people go through that."

"Yes, sir," she nodded, her head was still down as she talked to him. It reminded him of her father, the Innkeeper. He would always do that with guests, out of a sign of respect. Of course, he was always friendly, no matter what. And he really did love talking about his daughter. He was probably so worried about her right now.

Jett nodded to them all and walked out. With everything all figured out, and their next course of action planned, it was time to get moving. He had a promise to keep. A promise from both the small group that came from the Reverence pack, as well as himself. He was going to find Shiro if it was the last thing he did.

He transformed into his wolf form as soon as he got outside, not caring about his clothes tearing as he did it. The forest was dark, but the moon was bright that night. He sent a prayer to the moon, hoping that she would listen. He needed to find his mate. He needed to make sure he was okay. Everything else could wait. Nothing was more important than Shiro.

"A good Alpha never leaves their pack unless it's for something important," Shiro said. His eyes looked like it was trying so hard to hide his emotions. Jett didn't want him to, though. He wanted this, even if it was bad.

"Are you saying that you aren't important?" he asked him. Shiro put everyone else before him it seemed. Did he ever just let himself enjoy something? Did he ever do something for himself?

"I'm saying that I'll be fine," he shook his head, that long hair dancing with him. "And you need to leave."

"I'm not leaving until this is over, Shiro," he told him. He didn't think he could at that moment. It would hurt him too much to do that. "I'm not going to let you go through this alone."

"Why not?" he asked. "I've practically lived alone my whole life. I don't need someone coming in to save me. I don't need help."

He wished that he knew everything he did now back then. It was only a week ago that they had that conversation. So much had happened within a week. Just the other day he had Shiro in his arms, complaining about being hungry again and squirming in his hold. It was fun seeing that side of him. But now it seemed like it had been years since he had seen him.

He shouldn't have left him in that apartment. He should have convinced him to let him drive him home or something of the sort. Maybe then, he would have at least been able to save him before all of this. Maybe, if he had held onto him for just a little bit longer, he would have kept him from all of this.

He started running through the trees, not going in any specific direction. He used it to calm his mind as he searched for their bond again. He had found Shiro once, and he would do it again. He didn't know what had happened to Shiro when he went home, but he wasn't going to let him be on his own. He wasn't going to let him be alone through this.

This time was different from the city, though. It was difficult to find the bond this time. It was strong, just like before, but it felt different. It was confusing, making him run in circles as he tried to follow it. And there were instances where he would feel waves of rage in his being. It was so intense that it made him lose focus, leaving him to try and find their bond all over again.

He had no clue what was going on. He didn't know how long he had been running, but it was slowly driving him mad knowing that Shiro was missing. What was this bond doing? What was Shiro doing? He thought he had finally gotten some answers, but they just gave him more questions. Shiro was the only one who knew what was really going on, and he couldn't find him.

Shiro was nowhere to be found. Not even the search parties that snuck into the Reverence territory could find him. The Reverence warriors even looked nervous and lost. They were so nervous that they hadn't even noticed his warriors sneaking past them. And that wasn't like them at all. They were usually the best at sneaking around and noticing when anyone entered their territory.

They were all wondering the same thing, he supposed.

"Shiro," he thought to himself. "Where are you?"