There was much work to be done. So much that it would easily overwhelm the one who was unprepared. But she was prepared. She had been prepared for something like this for a long, long time. It was her duty to protect her people, even if it was against her own father, her own Alpha.

"Are we going to the pack house first, Madam Hiroko?" her servant asked from the driver's seat. She had been her servant from a young age, and helped raise her when she no longer had a mother to do so. She was one of the few that she could trust her secrets too. She couldn't tell her all of them, but it was nice having someone to talk to.

"No," she told her. Sakdah would catch onto the scents that she collected from her visit if she went home right away. She could barely call it home anymore. "Take me to the Inn, Tasha."

Her servant nodded and started driving in that direction. She was going to need someone to catch her up with all that had happened. Her mate had done a decent job at telling her their side of things. But she had been gone for a little over a week at that point. And a lot could happen in one week.

She also needed to perform her last task for her brother. She looked at the strands of hair that she still had in her hand. She couldn't believe that it had come to this. In chess, a single move could completely ruin you if you let it. This might be their checkmate, but it wasn't over yet. Many people could get out of a checkmate situation, and many have. Both in the game as well as in real life situations.

She knew something was going to happen. She could see from the look on her father's face before she left for her next trip. She had tried to postpone it, using the paperwork as a means of prolonging her stay at home. But her father wouldn't have it. He practically pushed her out the door. It hurt being away from her people for so long. She rarely saw most of them nowadays. She missed her brother and all of the people in which she grew up with. Most of the council was younger than her, but they were still her close friends. The days were only going to stretch out with all of them not there to help her.

They got to the Inn rather quickly, in her opinion. It took so long on any other occasion, as it was on the outskirts of the city, but it was as quick as a blink of an eye to get there that time. When she saw the cars outside, she rushed to get out.

"Detective Jim," she smiled at the old man as soon as she was let out of the car. He had been a close friend of her grandfather's before he passed, and had been trying to look into his death for a long time. "It's been too long."

"Miss Hiroko," he smiled politely and shook her hand. Mr. Ling was right there in front of his Inn. The detective had been talking to him right before she pulled up. "It's good to see you again. Did you just come back from a trip?"

"I have, detective," she said.

"What is he questioning you about?" she asked Mr. Ling.

"Some disappearances," he told her. "Did anyone tell you about Shiro?"

"I'm aware of his situation. Is that what he's talking about?"

"Unfortunately. Him, along with Teddy." He said. "The fool just had to start making friends with the Valor Pack."

"We all did."

"You sure missed quite a fiasco, Miss Hiroko," he told her. Of course, he was suspicious of her. Hiroko sighed internally. Everyone was always suspicious of her it seemed. If they truly knew all that the man she's been forced to call father had done, they would not be suspicious of her at all. No one would blink an eye towards her. For she knew all the vile things that demon had done.

"I was told just yesterday," she put her head down and sniffled a bit. She couldn't have him see her true sorrow, but she could show a little of it. "That was why I rushed back home to help." Then she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Have you found anything, detective?"

"Unfortunately, not," he sighed. He was never the type to seem that threatening to anyone. He was much too old for that. "Perhaps you could tell me why the ones from your pack in the city have disappeared, though."

"Disappeared?" Hiroko asked. "I don't know why you would think that they disappeared. They are helping my father search for my brother at the moment. There are search parties going around the clock to look for him."

"I see," he frowned. "Why do you think he ran?"

She knew that the Valor pack would have told them that. They were always the best at communicating. It was a good thing in some circumstances. But she was glad that Alpha Jett hadn't told them about Shiro being with him. He was probably too occupied with making sure that he was going to get better. She was glad she could trust him to take care of her brother. He truly had a kind heart.

"I honestly don't know, Detective," she sniffled again. "Since I was on a trip, I have no clue what could have happened."

"For all we know," Mr. Ling showed the same worried expression. "He could have eaten something that was bad for him in that forest that made him so delusional that he ran."

"I see," Detective Jim sighed and then pulled out a piece of paper. "Perhaps you might be able to help me with this then," he handed it to her.

She didn't have to read anything other than the name of the chemical to know what it was. Her heart sank to her stomach as she forced herself to maintain regular breathing. She had to look oblivious to it. But just seeing the name of it was enough to make her panic, as well as send her into a mad rage of her own.

"What is this, Detective?" she looked at him in mock confusion.

"It's a new type of poison," he told her. "Dr. Bailey of the Valor Pack discovered it in one of her patients just earlier this week."

He gave Shiro the poison. Hiroko almost wanted to laugh at that thought. Sakdah truly thought that he could try and kill him with something that already failed the first time. She showed no emotion other than her mock confusion and worry as she looked back to the detective.

"I'm sorry, Detective," she shook her head and handed the paper back. "I've never seen this in my life."

"You should keep an eye out for it," he handed her his card. "Dr. Bailey said that it was one of the deadliest werewolf poisons out there."

Oh, she knew that for a fact. It was the thing that truly killed her grandfather. He could have survived the gashes and torturing that Sakdah gave him if he didn't have that poison on every blade he used on him. She had to control the rage inside her. It threatened to spill over.

"I'll try and ask our doctor if he's ever heard of such a thing," she nodded at him. "Be sure that you will be the first to know if we find anything."

"I'm afraid this goes deeper than that, Miss Hiroko," Detective Jim said. "I'd like to talk to those members from the city sometime soon."

Interesting. He never said anything threatening towards them in all the instances in which they interacted with the man. But this time his face had hardened and his shoulders squared. He may have been an old detective, but in his prime he was a strong Beta with a sharp mind and powerful strength to go with it. It seemed as if he was going to try and use a bit of an intimidation tactic to finally get answers.

Hiroko was almost proud of him. After all the times they had ran him around in circles, it seemed like he was finally ready to put his foot down. Unfortunately for him, this wasn't the best time for that.

"What's going on?" Shin slammed the door to his car shut and walked over to the detective. Shin may have been a Gamma, but he was a formidable foe when angered. "What are you doing here?"

"Shin Tung," the Detective straightened himself even more so when he saw him storming over to them. "I'm glad you're here actually. I have some questions for you."

"You can get your answers when I'm dead, Jim," he scowled at him. "Quit harassing us. I don't care if you have direct orders from the gods themselves. I'm not telling you anything unless our Alpha tells us to."

"Why?" Jim frowned at him. "Is there something you're hiding?"

"The Reverence Pack can handle it's own problems," Shin glared at him. "We always have kept to ourselves, and we always will. And we have enough problems than adding your shenanigans to that list."

"I would hardly call it shenanigans."

"We'll consider that a difference in opinion," he told him. "Now, if you would be so kind as to leave, Detective. There are too many things to do rather than deal with you sticking your nose in everything."

"Perhaps we can discuss things when there isn't such a prominent issue, Detective Jim," Hiroko told him. Shin was always the best at playing Devil's Advocate. She absolutely loved him for it. "You have my word that we will get back to you."

"It seems I have no other choice than to trust that you'll keep that word," Jim sighed, backing down quickly. "Just know that Alpha Roger isn't going to be happy to hear that you aren't willing to work with us."

"Perhaps your Alpha should come here and talk to us himself then," Shin threatened. "Better yet, he should ask Alpha Sakdah, if he's so curious to know every single direction in which we breathe in."

"I'll take that into account," he frowned. When he turned to Hiroko and Mr. Ling, however, he bowed in respect. He always gave Hiroko this fatherly smile whenever he saw her, one that reminded her of her grandfather. That was what kept her from being truly harsh to him about his snooping. "Farewell for now, Miss Hiroko. I wish the best of luck to your searches."

"Thank you, detective," she bowed back at him. "I look forward to seeing you again. Hopefully, it will be over a cup of tea rather than in a parking lot."

"I look forward to it too, then," he told her.

They waited until he drove out of site before they so much as moved an inch.

"How many times has he come to ask questions?" She asked Shin. His angry demeanor changed as soon as the car disappeared. Now he merely looked exhausted and overworked.

"Too many," he told her. The three of them quickly walked into the Inn. Tasha, her servant, followed behind them. "They're getting more suspicious of our activities."

"It doesn't help that they found the location for the Black Skies Ceremony," Mr. Ling said. "That was possibly the worse thing that they could have found."

"Or the best thing," she told them. When they gave her curious glances, she continued, "We need them to be suspicious of Sakdah. If all else fails, we're going to need their help in taking him down."

"All else has failed," Shin said. They walked into the Inn, following the same route in which they always went in. No one was there, so they didn't have to worry about raising suspicions as they all walked down those halls. All eyes were on the Reverence Pack at the moment, which made this even more of a delicate task. "We don't even know where Shiro is. And Geo and the rest of them left as soon as Kenji was about to send him to the dungeons."

She was told about that. Kenji was the only one in that pack who was so devout to the Alpha so as to even throw his only child to the lion's den. She was sure that his brother was probably in tears to hear that his nephew had disappeared. He loved him dearly.

They walked up to a door that looked as though it was to a storage room. It was a simple one, made to not draw attention to it at all. Most people never saw anyone even walk through it, or look at it. It was designed to look as discreet as possible. It took three keys of different lengths and designs to open the door up. Once it was opened, it led into a single gray room. They waited until the first door was shut and locked back up before opening the next door that was there. It was a process that they had done every time they went. As soon as they walked through the second door, chaos came.

"Luna Hiroko!" so many people ran up to her, all with worry on their faces and tears in their eyes. They had been without leadership for close to a week now. It saddened her to even think of such a thing.

"Greetings, Mercy Waters," she projected her voice over the entire room. It was underground and soundproof, so that no one could hear anything from the outside. They had to keep their privacy if they wanted to remain undetected. "Meet me at the center for a pack meeting."

Shuffling of feet enveloped the room as people rushed to follow through with her order. There were roughly five hundred people in this quiet rogue pack. All of them were past members from the Reverence Pack, survivors of the Black Skies Ceremony. It took quite a lot to make Sakdah believe that all of these people were dead, but they had been doing it for five long years.

"This is ridiculous," Gamma Shin shook his head at Shiro. "Faking a death is difficult as it is. Faking as many as he's got set up for the next ceremony is impossible!"

"Anything is possible," Shiro told him. He was so young, but he reminded her so much of their grandfather already. He took command of the situation so easily. "We can trick him. We can save all the ones he wishes to kill. And we will do it together."

"Shiro," Shin sighed. "I want to stop the bloodshed just as much as you do. But there's so many factors to think about. Where are these people that we save even going to go? They can't stay in the pack anymore after their deaths are faked. We'd have to separate them from the pack and turn them into Rogues, and that could be more dangerous than imaginable."

"We can use charms to hide their scent," Hiroko told him. "Once they become rogues, not even an Alpha will be able to catch a whiff of them with the strong ones that we found."

"But where will they go?" Shin asked. "At that point, they'll be forced to run off and hope that another pack will take them in."

"No," Shiro shook his head. "They are our people. We will take care of them."

"How?"

"We will set up a new pack," he told him. "A temporary one, for the people who are in danger. When the time comes for me to take my fathers place, that is when they will come back and return to their homes once more."

"That's crazy," Shin said. "That's absolutely insane. You realize that a pack needs an Alpha and a Luna, right?"

"Hiroko and I will be their leaders then," Shiro said, determination shining in his eyes. "We will lead them, just like it is our right to lead this pack."

They had no idea just how large this little rogue pack would become. They had no idea just how many people Sakdah would try and kill. The first year they saved all of those prisoners through sheer luck alone. She had no idea how Sakdah could believe that those people were truly dead, but he did. She guessed it was the Spirit of the Moon who was on their side the entire time. She guided them through so many things over the past five years.

The people from the Mercy Waters pack stayed hidden in the city for the most part. No other member from the Reverence Pack lived in the city. They all were forced to live in the pack house, whether they wanted to or not. It made creating a rogue pack all the more simpler. The other packs had no clue as to them even being around. During the fight with the hunters, they simply thought that they were Reverence warriors and left it at that.

"Luna Hiroko," one man stood out in the crowd. He was the last one they had saved from that horrible ceremony. With bleach blond hair that was curled now, he looked at her with the same worry that all the others had. "Please tell me you know where the rest of them are."

Hiroko looked at all of her people. They were all worried about their council. Geo, Miki, and her mate were all active council members for this rogue pack. Even with their age being significantly lower than most other packs, they still led with strength and resilience. They kept this pack working together, in the hopes that they would be able to finally be free from hiding.

"They are safe, Teddy," she told them. The whole pack sighed in relief as if in unison. She looked over at Mr. Ling and Shin. "Along with your children. They are all safe."

"Is Miki okay?" Ling asked. He always worried so much about his daughter. "Is Tammy with her? Her parents called me wondering if I had seen her."

"She's with Miki," she told him. "Both of them are doing just fine."

"And Alpha Shiro?" Teddy asked. He may have just been officially added to the Mercy Waters pack, but he had been helping them teach the warriors of this pack for a long time before becoming a member himself. Ever since his brother had been saved from the Black Skies Ceremony for being mated to a she-wolf who was stronger than him. Shiro trusted him before any of them did. But he proved his worth time and time again.

"He's recovering," she told him. Then she looked back to Ling and Shin, holding out the hand that had her brothers strands of hair in it. "He told me to tell you that The Silver Serpent has struck, coiling around the heart with green fangs."

Ling and Shin immediately knew what that meant. They hadn't been the ones who were told all of the plans in which they had made in case something went wrong, but they had known the most important ones. They couldn't help lead these people, for they were too busy dealing with leading the Reverence Pack, and the many members that they had there still. But they helped out in dire situations such as these.

Ling walked up to her and put his hand out for the strands of hair. All of this had been planned out as a safety measure. They all knew what they needed to do.

"It'll take some time to get it ready," Shin said.

"We don't have time," she told him. "We need it finished by tonight. If you have any tasks you need to do, I will take care of them for you. But this is the only way to end the search parties."

"It'll also raise the other pack's suspicions even more so," Shin said. "We're charting into dangerous territory, Hiroko."

"We will do what we must," Hiroko said. Then she looked out to her people. "We will prevail, no matter what happens. We will survive, just like we have for all these years. We will bide our time for the Alpha to become strong again. We will do this together. For alone we are strong, but together we are mighty!"

The pack roared as she spoke, a new wave of hope going through them. There were some members that had been there the whole five years that it had started. They had trusted her and Shiro from the moment that they saved them. Shiro was so young and small back then, but he had a look to him that screamed leadership. They trusted him because of that. Since then, no one had ever questioned it. Age never mattered when it came to this. This was all that they had wanted. This was the freedom for which they fought for. The freedom to love who you choose and to be happy.

She walked through the crowd, greeting as many as she could. They had all been so worried about all of them. And they were so happy to hear that they were all okay.

"I wish you could have at least brought Geo with you," Teddy came up to her. He was smaller than Shiro, yet he was a formidable opponent when fighting. Most people underestimated him. Most people underestimated all of them, for that matter. "I miss him."

"You just miss teasing him about his mate," Hiroko smiled.