Jett was pacing again. He had already done his part of the plan. He was merely meant to start the Alpha meeting and then tell Roger and Nir a little bit of information to keep them satisfied. He couldn't go with Shiro to the actual fight. That was a law that was put in place a long time ago.

Challenges were simply between the Alpha and the challenger. Nothing and no one could stop them once they started. There was no set time frame. It only ended when one of them died. A challenge like this could last a whole day if anything. But Jett thought it would have ended by now. He thought that he would have gotten a call from Alex or something saying that it was all over and Shiro had won. After all, he had trained with Shiro for that whole month. Shiro was skilled, that was for sure. He could win through his resilience alone. No matter how many times Jett would knock him down, he would always get right back up. Nothing fazed him.

But now here he was, pacing outside his house while the moon moved as quickly as ever through the sky. He was supposed to stay here, along with all the Alphas at their respective pack house, in case Sakdah tried to use this as a means to strike the other packs. Everyone's guards were raised more so now than ever before. All of them were worried about the Reverence Pack and what would become of it.

Because if Shiro failed the challenge, that meant that they would go to war with Sakdah. If Shiro died, Jett was going to be the one to murder him. That was all there was to it. As much as Jett didn't want to hear Shiro say it, it was good that he came up with a plan for in case it happened. If Sakdah won the battle, Jett would be the first to know. Then he would charge in there at the same time that the Noble pack would to hit them by surprise on both sides.

A good chunk of his warriors were in the city right now, though, which led to another issue. The Black Cloaks had made an appearance as the Mercy Waters group were walking. Alex told him about how they were going after Geo. He sent warriors down there immediately, gaining the aid of the Dynamic Pack, since they were at a disadvantage for getting to the Reverence Pack anyway. They took charge of getting all of the Black Cloaks locked up. They would get their own justice after this was all over with.

"Jett," Bree came out. He had ordered all of his pack to stay inside for the night. It was too dangerous for them to be wandering around at the moment. "You really need to calm down."

"How the Hell am I supposed to calm down, Bree?" Jett looked at her with astonishment. "He's fighting to the death right now, and there's nothing I can do to help."

"You're doing all you can," she told him. The door opened again to show his dad coming out. "All we can do now is wait."

"I know, Bree," Jett sighed and rubbed his face. He didn't like this situation he was in. He was so worried for Shiro, he could have had at least five heart attacks by now. It was starting to eat at him.

"We all saw how he fought when you two were training," his father told him. "He'll win, Jett. You can be sure of that."

Except for he wasn't sure. He didn't like the feeling that he was getting in his gut. Something was off. But he couldn't connect to Shiro at the moment. He had closed himself off to him while in battle. He hadn't been able to talk to him since the Alpha meeting. And that was just the surface of what he wished he could have said. He wished that the night before could have just stayed on loop for the rest of their lives. A night of just making love and saying as many things as they could to one another. Jett could have died right then and been happy.

But now all he could do was pace outside the house and be worried. He wished he could have done something, anything, to help him rather than just the politics. He wanted to fight with him. There had to be some reason why they both equaled each other in strength. But he had let himself be convinced by Shiro that this was something he had to do on his own. He hated it. Because the worry in his heart was enough to cripple him, and his legs were begging him to shift and make a run for it.

But he couldn't. He had people to lead and make sure were safe. He had to take care of his people tonight, in case Sakdah did a surprise attack. He had to put his faith in the Moon Goddess that all would go well.

Follow.

Jett stopped pacing and looked out to the trees. The fog was glowing in the moonlight again. It seemed to be a new common theme for it. Maybe it was just because it was summer and everything was always brighter in the summer. But there was just something about it that called to him. He didn't know what.

"Jett?" Bree asked, worry still in her voice. "What's going on?"

"Did you hear that?" he asked her.

"Hear what?" she looked confused. Even his father looked confused at his question.

"Someone said 'Follow'," he told them, looking back to the fog. "Neither of you heard that?"

"I'm afraid not," his father said. "Perhaps it's the forest playing tricks on you. It happens at night a lot to most."

It didn't seem like a trick. The forest seemed welcoming rather than menacing. It called to the wolf inside him, beckoning him to come to it.

Follow.

"That!" he turned to both of them. "You guys had to have heard that!"

Bree and his father exchanged worried glances.

"I think we should all head inside," his father said. "The darkness isn't good on the stressed mind."

Great. They both thought he was going insane. He probably would have thought so too if he hadn't gotten such a strange feeling from it. He could have sworn that he heard it another time to, a time when he was a wolf. It was only a tiny whisper though. He couldn't even make it out back then. But he could hear it loud and clear now.

"I'm staying out here," he told them.

"Jett, I really think-!"

"Something's not right, Bree," he looked at his sister. "Can't you feel it? Something's happening that's not supposed to happen."

That's why he had been so worried. There was something going on that he wasn't able to see or hear. And the way the fog beckoned him was enough to drive him mad.

"I feel it, Jett," Bree told him. "But we don't even know where it's coming from. Running blindly into something is foolish. We have to wait for some sort of direction at least."

As if on cue, his phone rang. Jett pulled it out of his pocket to see Alex's contact.

"What's up, Alex?" he answered the phone. He was too far away to mind link with him at the moment, which was why he still had his phone on him.

"They got Hiroko," Alex told him. "It was sometime during the fight when they were trying to get Geo."

"How long ago was that?!" he asked. "You told me about that fight when you were still able to share the link with me!"

"I've been up to my elbows with these annoying Black Cloak pests!" Alex said. "All Geo said that we could do was get to that pack house. That's the only place they would take her."

Fuck. He wished he would have fucking told him something before. They needed to come up with a back up plan and fast. Because if Hiroko was gone, that meant that she was at the will of Sakdah.

"How long ago was it when you lost her?" Jett asked.

"About four hours ago," Alex told him. "It was an hour into the march."

"And you couldn't call me at all during that time?!"

"I was trying to, man!"

Jett rubbed his forehead. This was why he had a bad feeling. What the hell could he do about it, though? They were doing all they could by watching the city and guarding the people marching. The Mayor had even put the city on lockdown for the night just in case something happened. With all those Black Cloaks around, Jett was glad that he did.

Follow.

He looked out to the trees again. That fog was still glowing in the moonlight. It was eerie, but also comforting. That voice came with the wind, sounding ever so soft, but clear as can be. It called to him, weirdly enough. It was the first time he had experienced something like this.

Could it be a trap? He didn't know. All he knew was that the pull from it was getting stronger.

"You still there, Jett?" Alex asked over the phone. He snapped out of his thoughts for a second and back to reality.

"Yeah," he said. "Send me your location. I'm going to be sending more warriors your way. I'll notify Nir and Roger so that they can do the same. Just-!"

His words were taken from his mouth when he heard a familiar growl. The ferocious sound bounced through the trees, reaching every ear that it could.

That's when he felt it. The wave of pure rage that washed over him like a storming wave on a beach. He couldn't hold back from it. It was so powerful that it could have so easily took control. But it didn't. It didn't because he knew why it was there.

"Rage is blind," Shiro talked to Hiroko. "It does not see who it hurts or the consequences of it's actions. Yet it is the most misinterpreted emotion. Most people think that it is a beast in which does not care for anyone or anything. Those people are wrong. Rage does care. And, when it is nurtured, and given direction, it will work with you. When you work with the emotion, it will work with you."

Jett had no idea just how powerful Shiro's rage could be. It was white hot as it surged through Jett's blood. It was animalistic, yet cunning. For it had one thing on it's mind from what Jett could tell, and that was revenge.

"Jett!" Bree tried to run up to him, but he put a hand in front of him.

"Stay away," he told her. He didn't want to accidentally hurt someone. He had to decipher what his mate was trying to tell him. If that rage was powerful enough to travel to him from so far away, there had to be a reason. He wanted to figure out if he was hurt or what was going on. But all he could feel was rage. It was overwhelming Shiro. It was losing it's direction as it went on.

Shiro was losing to it.

Follow. He heard the voice again. It was louder than ever now, sounding urgent. Then it said the one word that made Jett forget about all and any responsibility that he had.

Shiro.

He changed into his wolf form and ran into the forest, forgetting about the voice on the phone or the people who were calling out his name. The fog glowed its own path for him to follow, and he was going to follow it. He was going to save his mate if it was the last thing he did. He wasn't going to have him die under the hands of Sakdah. He still had his own revenge to get for the man that had almost killed his mate the first time.

Crossing over the borders, he had a group of his strongest warriors come with him. Surprisingly, no one was watching the borders. And he was sure that no one would feel him crossing over since the Alpha was distracted by the challenge. Jett had to find it. He had to get to Shiro. The rage wasn't just trying to get revenge, it was calling for help. It trusted him, for some reason.

It felt like another being almost. Like it was merely a beast that lived inside of Shiro. But it knew Jett. He could feel that. For their bond was still strong with it. This beast remembered him, but it couldn't talk. Jett wished that it could. He wanted to know what was going on. But all he could do was let it carry his legs to the destination that the forest was taking him.

The forest? Was that what that voice was? The rage that he felt from Shiro seemed to think so. But it couldn't focus on Jett that much. It was too busy with something else that Jett didn't know.

It wasn't until he got to the pack house of the Reverence Pack that he saw what was truly happening. The first hint he got towards it was the smell of something burning. Then he saw the blinding fire. As soon as he reached the clearing he saw it all. Shiro was fighting Sakdah in a ring of blinding flames, his eyes as black as the night. How Sakdah was matching his blows, Jett didn't know. It looked like Shiro had gotten wounded on his chest, but it was healing quickly. Jett guessed it was this beast that was helping him with that.

One thing that he didn't know about was why he had all these markings on his chest. They were blue, and they glowed even with blood covering it.

Jett then saw another issue. Hiroko was tied to a pyre that had been lit on fire. Her beautiful cloak was already set aflame as she fought and struggled against the silver chains that had her. She looked desperately at Shiro in the ring. It looked like she wanted to help him. She looked like she wanted to say something, but her mouth was gagged as she continued to struggle.

He didn't have time to be sneaky about this. There were too many things happening for the rest of that pack to notice them anyway. Jett told his warriors to go for the Black Cloaks that were surrounding the pyre. He ran up there as fast as he could, leading them all towards it. All it took was one jump and he got the pole that Hiroko was tied on to the ground away from the fire. It would still burn her if she stayed on it, but he had gotten her away from it for the most part. As his warriors distracted the men who were fighting, he shifted into his human form and took off Hiroko's gag.

"Jett!" Hiroko coughed a bit at the smoke. "We have to get that sword back to Shiro! Sakdah's going to kill him!"

"One thing at a time!" he told her. He wanted to help Shiro. That was the main purpose of him running all this way. But he also needed to make sure that she didn't die from being burned alive.

The chains were tight and strong. It was already painful as it was to touch them, let alone try and break them off from her. He at least put out the fire that had caught onto her cloak. That bought him some time.

"Here," a man came up to him. Light blue eyes and brown hair greeted him with familiarity. He smiled politely and handed him a small device. "It's a laser. It can break the chains."

Jett took it gratefully. It had been a while since he had seen Shiro's servant. He hoped that nothing bad had happened to him over the time that Shiro had been away. Shiro talked quite a lot about him. He loved all of his people.

He broke the chains and freed Hiroko. Her skin burned wherever that silver touched her. Nikita immediately went into a nursing mode as he tried to dress her wounds the best he could.

"Get her to the doctor," Jett told Nikita. "If you don't trust your's than my warriors will escort you to my pack."

"No!" Hiroko shook her head. "I'm not leaving Shiro here!"

"Hiroko, you need to get-!"

"I've already left him too many times," tears were in her eyes as she said that. "Can't you understand? He's the only family I have left!"

Jett looked over to where the two alphas were fighting. As much as Sakdah was countering many blows, the battle was a toss-up. No one knew who was going to win.

Shiro's hair was down completely, moving with him as he gracefully fought against his enemy. Those pitch-black eyes looked so full of hatred, Jett wasn't sure that there was anymore left in the world. He felt that rage through his whole being. He knew that it was the rage that was fueling him to continue going. Even though he didn't have a weapon and Sakdah did, he was still a formidable foe.

Jett forgot about Hiroko after that. He saw a shiny blade on the ground. It was right next to the fire. The heat of it could be felt from a mile away, he swore. But he knew that Shiro needed it. Without even thinking, Jett ran towards the flames and grabbed the blade. The fire was so hot with how close he was to it that it could have singed his eyebrows off. But he grabbed the leather handle and backed away from it again, trying to get a good look at where Shiro was at the moment.

"Shiro!" he mind linked with him. The man didn't waver in his fighting at all. But Jett could feel that he understood him. "Go to your right!"

He threw the sword back into the battlefield right when he said that. Shiro didn't even look at him or the shining object that was thrown. He just moved to the right, rolling to dodge another attack. He used the low ground that he now had to grab the sword that Jett had thrown. As soon as he did, he swung it at Sakdah's arm.

A blood curdling scream filled the air as the man's hand fell to the ground. It was the one that had the sword in it. But, instead of pausing for even a second, Shiro took that time to grab Sakdah's hair. He held onto it as he pushed his face into the fire, causing more screaming.

He was winning now. But Jett didn't like this. He was losing himself to that beast again. His rage was going on and on, not stopping for anything or anyone. He was going to scare the people that he was supposed to lead if he kept this up. He could attack someone by accident.

Rage was blind. And it seemed like it was losing its direction.

"Don't forget who you are, Shiro," Jett told him. He threw Sakdah to the ground. The man was still screaming in pain. "I know you want revenge, Prince. We all do, but don't let it consume you."

Those pitch-black eyes met his for a second. He would never look frightening to him no matter what he did. They were mesmerizing all in themselves. They looked behind him to see Hiroko. She had been watching this fight with him. Then they looked back at him, and he slowly saw those eyes gain their color again. The whites returned as Shiro gained control of his being.

"Thank you," he heard him say in his head. Those eyes had grown soft for a split second before he looked at Sakdah yet again. The fire had died down a lot during the battle. Jett's warriors had been working on putting all the fires out, including this one. It might have been some rule that these people had made for this a long time ago, but that didn't mean that Jett had to adhere to it.

"You've gotten your revenge, Shiro!" Sakdah screamed. "You've beat me! I surrender to you!" He sounded so pathetic now. Shiro had taken the golden blade that the alpha had and was now pointing both of them at him.

"I may have gotten my revenge," Shiro said. "You may have surrendered to me and finally given me the title in which was rightfully mine. But you still have to pay for your crimes, Sakdah."

"I've already paid for them!" he cried again. "Just let me go! I'll never come back here again! You have my word!"

"You have not paid for your crimes," Shiro's voice was calm yet precise. "You have murdered a total of fifty-six innocent people. Two of them being the Alpha of this pack and your own wife. You have attempted to kill five hundred and eleven people, all of the Reverence Pack.'

"You must have thought that I was just a silly child when my grandfather died. That I would just listen to every word you said and not retaliate at all. You forget that I was being trained for leadership ever since I was an infant. You forget that I am your son. While I may not enjoy calling you my father, I have been able to use the traits that I gained from you to my own benefit.'

"The fingerprints on my body are to all the ones who have survived the Black Skies Ceremony. All the ones that you, along with the rest of the city, thought to be dead. They lived on under your nose. All because you were too prideful to think that a small child could outwit you. Too prideful to think that a small child could do anything other than cry and mourn over the loss of a family member."