"What are you reading?" Shiro asked. He had been clinging to him all of that day, barely moving at all from the position that Jett helped him get into the night before.

They both slept for a long time that night. Jett would have slept for longer if Bree didn't come barging in thinking that they had a runaway patient. Bailey was pretty upset with him as well. She had already alerted the guards to start looking again.

"Just a romance book," Jett told him. He was so cute when he first woke up. When Bree woke them both up all he did was groan and curl into him some more. It didn't make things easier when he had to pull him away so that Bailey could check up on him.

Bailey, of course, wanted him back in the infirmary. But right when they tried to move him, he seemed to get in more pain. It worried Jett. He didn't vocalize it, but they could tell because he would have a heavier breathing and his heart rate would go up. Bailey moved him back into Jett's bed and he had calmed down again. None of them really wanted to cause him anymore pain, so she begrudgingly agreed to allow Shiro to stay in Jett's room and do check ups there. He guessed that it was his scent that was calming for him.

Shiro was in hibernation mode for the most part. He could get him to eat at least. His appetite was coming back little by little. Jett just worried about when he would have to get up for work. He didn't know if Shiro would be okay without him being there. He hadn't exactly tested that out yet. All he knew is every time he got up to use the bathroom, Shiro clung to him tighter when he came back.

"What's it about?" he asked, bringing him back to the present.

"A shepherd and a werewolf," Jett told him. "It's a classic book that was passed down for centuries in my family."

"I've never heard it," he said, his voice was still quiet, almost dreamy. He talked like this all day now. It wasn't like him to talk that way. His voice was usually strong, even when it was quiet.

"Yeah, most people haven't."

"I knew you'd be into romance books," Shiro huffed a little laugh. He liked that he seemed a little normal at least.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're sappy."

"What?" he nudged him a little. "I'm not sappy."

"Yes, you are," he laughed again. Jett was half tempted to keep this going just to hear him laugh some more.

"I think you'd like this book," he told him, continuing to pet his head. His poor hair had been so tangled from his trek through the woods that it took Jett at least an hour to brush it out.

Then he found blood in it, and a whole new wave of rage washed over him.

"You should read it to me," Shiro said. His eyes were still closed as he talked. He had been catnapping all day.

Jett read it out aloud. He had read this book a thousand times over. It was one of his favorites, so it was easy to read out loud for him. It was one of the books that taught about hate and love and all the in betweens, and he found himself rereading it over and over again.

He only stopped when he heard light breathing coming from Shiro. He fell asleep so easily now, it was so different from the last time he was with him. In that apartment, he was always antsy, ready to get up and move. It was obvious to see that he wasn't used to laying around all day back then. But now he just seemed like an old cat who had found a nice sunny spot to sleep in all day. He only really moved to snuggle up to him more. And, as adorable as it was, it also wasn't like him.

It wouldn't be too long, though. He would heal and be right back to his energetic self. He may have not talked as much as someone who's energetic usually does, but he was always moving and doing things. Maybe a little bit of rest was good for him.

"Jett," Bailey mind linked with him. "I need to talk to you about something. It's important."

"Does it involve Shiro?"

"Yes," she said. "His metabolism's showing some really strange signs."

That didn't make him feel any better about his mate. He wished that this could be as easy as everyone else when it came to getting better. Just a few days of resting and he should be good again. Instead, it seemed like they were getting more and more issues. The transfer back to the infirmary showed that. Bailey had taken that time to do some more tests on him and see if they would give them any answers.

Jett sighed. He liked being close to Shiro. He liked how he clung to him and talked about random things when he was awake. It was going to be painful to pull away from him. He hoped it would just be a few minutes.

"Does the story have a happy ending?" Shiro asked, startling him out of his thoughts. He thought that he would still be asleep.

"It's a love story," he pet his hair again. "Of course, it has a happy ending."

"Some don't."

"Well, this one does."

"That's good," he smiled a bit. He had such a gorgeous sleepy smile. "I like happy endings."

"Good," Jett said. He didn't know how he was going to tell him that he had to leave for a second. "I'm glad, because those are the only books I have."

"Hey Jett?"

"Yeah, Prince?"

"Do you think we're going to have a happy ending?"

That question threw him off guard. He looked down at Shiro to see that those brown eyes were finally open. They didn't have the same shine to them that they used to. They were dull, like an old man who was one breath away from death.

"Of course, we will," Jett told him, holding that face to stay looking at him. "You just got to get better first."

Shiro just nodded and rested his head back down on him. He seemed so out of it. He didn't know why. He was just fine yesterday, when he had first woken up. Now Jett didn't even want him to have any visitors. He wasn't even sure if Shiro wanted them to see him like this.

"I've got to check on something, Shiro," Jett told him. "I'll be back soon, alright?"

"I don't want you to leave," he nuzzled under his chin again.

"It'll only be for a little bit," he said, hugging him before moving the man off him. "I promise."

He was so light to pick up. He had always been light. Jett was surprised that someone with so little weight would still have as much power as he did. It definitely caught him by surprise when he was challenging him in the community center.

He kissed him before grabbing some pants and walking out of his room. As soon as he did, he practically ran all the way to the infirmary. He really didn't want Shiro to have to wait for too long. The promise of someone to hold was making it all the more tempting to just forget the meet up and have Bailey tell him through mind link alone.

"Alpha Jett," Jin popped up just as he was about to get to the infirmary. He bowed respectively. "How is Shiro?"

"He's been resting most of the day," he told him. "Actually, I need you to do me a favor."

"What is it?"

"Can you keep an eye on him while I'm doing something?" he really didn't like the idea of Shiro being alone. Knowing him, he would most likely try and get up and hurt himself. "It shouldn't be too long."

"Of course, I will," Jin smiled. "I was just going to ask if he was alright to have visitors anyway."

"Not that many," Jett said. "He's really tired. But Geo and Miki can come with you at least." Some company from his friends would probably be best for him at the moment. He really didn't like the look in his mate's eyes when he finally opened them for him.

"Thank you," he bowed again, before leaving. Jett was relieved that he had thought of something to keep Shiro occupied.

He finally got to Bailey's office to see both her and Bree there. Bree still looked slightly annoyed at him. But as soon as she saw the look in his eyes, that annoyance disappeared.

"Bailey," Jett said. "I really hope you have some answers."

"How's Shiro doing at the moment?" she asked.

"He's sleeping on and off," Jett told her, sighing in frustration. "He seems off. Like he's worse than he was yesterday."

"How?" Bree asked. "Everything we're doing should be helping him. How could he be getting worse?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out all day," Bailey sighed. Then she handed Jett a folder. "He's still healing from the looks of it, but it's at a much slower pace than when he was asleep. I'm guessing whatever was in control of him when he first woke up was what had given him enough energy to heal that fast."

"And now that it's gone, he's healing slow?" Jett asked, skimming through the papers and test results.

"Not just slow," Bailey shook her head. "A snails pace. His healing has almost come to a full halt. And as for why, I have no clue."

"What about that poison?" Jett asked. "Could this be a side effect of it?"

"I looked into it," she told him. "But, after the blood test results came back, I had to trash that idea. There's not a single ounce of that poison left in his body."

"How?" Jett asked. "Poison usually takes forever to get out of someone's body."

"His kidney's must have filtered it out of his blood while he was asleep for those two days," Bailey told him. "That's the only explanation I can give. While doing more research on that poison, I found that it is one of the most deadliest, especially to werewolves. I don't, however, know why he would be immune to it."

"Great," Jett sighed, "So, we're back to square one."

Why did it seem like anything to do with the Reverence Pack just left you running around in circles? He just wanted to figure out how to make Shiro better. He wanted Bailey to tell him that he would be alright in a couple of weeks and leave it at that. He wanted to at least have some time frame for this.

"There is something that I found interesting, though," Bailey interrupted his thoughts.

"What is that?"

"His healing gets faster when he's around you," Bailey told him. "I don't know whether it's because he's your mate and he felt more comfortable around you, or something else. But he does better when he's with you."

Jett could tell that. But it still worried him. The look in his eyes didn't sit right with him. But he was going to be damned if he didn't try his best to help Shiro.

"Keep working on those tests," Jett told her. Then he turned to Bree. "I need you to ask dad if he'd take over the paperwork for a while." He wasn't going to have any reason to be away from him again. Knowing his father, he would do that for him if it meant Shiro getting better.

He was about to leave the room when Alex popped inside.

"Jett!" he grabbed his attention. "Bailey! Something happened with Shiro!"

He didn't think his heart could race as fast as it did. He didn't think his legs could move as quickly as they did without bumping into someone. He got to his room at lightning speed, opening the door with such force he thought it was going to fly off the hinges.

"In here!" Jin's voice came from his bathroom. When he ran in there, he found him and Geo standing by the bathtub with Shiro in it. His face was pale, eyes not able to focus on anything. His head rested on the edge of the tub while he gave shallow pants.

"What happened?" Jett asked. Bailey was right behind him. She zoomed to his side and began examining.

"He tried to get up," Geo said. "We tried to stop him, but he fell before we could even get to him."

"He's got a fever," Bailey told them. "It was a good thing that you put him in an ice bath. But I'm going to need to bring him down to the infirmary."

"No," Shiro all but whispered.

"He doesn't need medicine, Doctor," Jin told her. His face was serious as he spoke. "Medicine won't do anything for him."

"What do you mean?" Jett asked him. Was there something that Jin knew about this?

"It's the curse," Jin told him. "These were the effects of the curse right when they started for him. And, if it goes on, it's only going to get worse."

"How do you know that this is the curse?" Jett asked.

"Because we were there the first night that it took it's tole on him," Geo explained. "These were his exact effects: fever, heated body, dizziness. The only way to get him out of it was to put him in an ice bath until it had taken its course."

This is what he had to go through back then? Jett had no idea that the curse could punish someone so greatly. He looked so helpless.

"If you don't believe us," Jin said. "Then touch him. It should lessen the symptoms."

Jett walked up closer to the tub, motioning for Bailey to move for a second. They didn't have that much information on the curse or it's symptoms since they hadn't dealt with it for so long. He remembered when Geo told him that Shiro had taken all the pain on himself. He was a fool to think that it was just what he had seen in the apartment.

Shiro sacrificed his own health and well-being just so that Jett wouldn't have to deal with the curse. When that realization hit him, he almost froze in place.

He wiped the stray strands of hair from his face. Shiro's forehead was extremely hot. But it seemed that as soon as he touched him, those eyes regained their focus. Those arms went around his neck immediately, lifting himself up from the tub in the process. All Jett could do was wrap his arms around him and hold him tightly. What was once light pants soon became shivers as the heat began to leave his body.

Thirty days and thirty nights, until the very second strikes. That is when you will learn to love the one that was given to you. If you don't accept your mate, you will suffer a worsening fate.

Could this be the worsening fate? He didn't know anymore. All he knew was that Shiro was now freezing in his arms. He grabbed a large towel and wrapped it around him quickly as Jin unplugged the tub.

"This could be the missing piece to the puzzle that we were looking for," Bailey said. He looked to see her holding her chin, thinking. "That would explain why he can only seem to heal around you, at least."

"The curse's symptoms flare up worse then before after the first cycle," Jin said. Jett had no clue how he knew so much about this curse. "If he's not healing like normal, then it's the curse that's keeping him from doing so."

"How?" Jett asked.

"It feels like a weight," Geo chimed in, his eyes full of worry. "One that get's heavier the longer you wait. It was bad for me even two weeks in. I can only imagine how heavy it must feel for him."

"How is it just affecting Shiro, though?" Bailey asked Geo. "Shouldn't Jett be having some of these symptoms as well?"

"There's a way in which some of us learned to thwart it getting to our mates," Jin explained. "By denying your mate in your mind, and to the moon, you take on the symptoms of the curse solely on yourself."

Shiro denied him? That hurt just thinking about. He knew it didn't mean anything now, but it still hurt. Shiro didn't really say anything at the moment. But he did hold him a little tighter after Jin said that, as if to apologize.

"If that makes the symptoms worse," Bailey said. "And he's already in this condition, it could be deadly."

"Deadly?!" Geo looked at her.

"His condition was critical when we first found him," she explained. "With his healing rate getting lower, it could wind up killing him."

Jin and Geo both looked terrified when she said that. Jett didn't blame them. He was scared himself. He didn't want to have to mark him like this. Usually marking was something that mates did when they were making love. It made it easier because it didn't hurt so much when the mates marked at that time. Any other time, there would be a bit of pain.

He didn't want that. He wanted to be able to mark Shiro when they were both wrapped in each other's embrace. He wanted it to be when Shiro was actually alright and wasn't sick and potentially dying.

Now, it seemed like he had no choice.

"I need you all to leave," he told them. "You won't be able to visit for the rest of the night. I don't want anyone coming in here until I say so."

Jin and Bailey nodded in understanding. Alex had been in the doorway, listening in to all of this. He helped grab Geo and get him out of the room. He heard the door to his room shut, but waited a few seconds after just to be sure.

"I really wish you told me some of these things, Shiro," he whispered to him. He turned the bath water on, trying to get it hot.

"I didn't want you getting the symptoms," Shiro shivered more in his hold. "I'm sorry."

"You think too much of others," Jett lowered him into the warm water, quickly taking off his clothes to get inside with him. "Do you ever think about yourself, Shiro?"

"I did in the apartment," he smiled a bit. "And when I escaped."

"You're going to wind up killing yourself like this," he slipped in the water with him, quickly wrapping him in his arms. The warm bath worked on warming him back up quickly. Soon he was the same as when he was on the bed just an hour ago. His head was tucked under his chin again, arms wrapped around him tightly, like they always were.

He let him stay like that for a little bit, enjoying relaxing feeling that having Shiro cuddled up to him gave. He hoped that he never had to go through something like this again. No, it wouldn't ever happen again. He would make sure of it.

"Come on, Prince," he nudged him a bit with his shoulder. "Don't fall asleep yet."

"Why?" his voice was dreamy again.

"We're ending this curse, Shiro," Jett told him. "And you're going to be the first one to do it." He knew that if he marked him first, Shiro was just going to fall right to sleep. He didn't have enough energy to withstand the effects of being marked. But this is what had to happen.

"Are you sure?" Shiro asked.

"I've been sure from the second I met you, Shiro," Jett kissed the top of his head, using his hands to coax his head up.

Shiro didn't say anything to that. Instead, he slowly lifted himself up to his neck. He couldn't help but love the feeling of him latching onto him. He kissed up and down it, looking for the right spot. At first, it was really slow. Jett rubbed his back to coax him some more. He had been wanting this for so long.

Then he seemed to gain some energy. His lips started moving faster, almost as if they were hungry for him. Jett leaned into every kiss they made, slowly losing himself in the feelings that they gave.

Shiro surprised him, though. Instead of staying by his neck, he traveled to his collar bone, starting to attack that area next. He didn't know just how good it would feel to have him do this to him. Every kiss heated his skin up. Enticing him, they made him want more.

He didn't have time to feel his fangs come out before they pierced into his collar. It hurt worse than he thought it would. It took all that was in him to not scream from the pain. He didn't think he could tear Shiro off from him even if he wanted to. Those fangs were sharp and went deep into him. But his lips soon went to work, soothing the pain that he had created. In just a second, the pain was gone, replaced with the soothing feeling that those lips gave him as he closed the wound.

He felt like he just died and went to heaven. Jett sank back in the tub, his mind so close to shutting off entirely. He heard Shiro's heavy breathing as he finished his task and laid back on his chest. He wished he could enjoy that moment. He could feel his lover relax even more on him.