Not wanting to expose Syri to his father more than necessary, Jae turned to Den and requested, "Will you see to it Syri reaches the gamma safely? Yejin and Estan will make sure he remains safe."

The prince of Eternal Dawn inclined his head slightly as he answered, "Ae. I will."

Jae bowed his head to Den as he turned to the pink-haired behind him. Jae gave a small squeeze to Syri's hand before saying, "I'll come back for you once I tend to what is going on in the hall." Jae's words spurred concern within the zeta, but Syri knew it was Jae's duty and that he could not stop the prince from doing what he needed to do. Masking the swirling concern, Syri put on a small smile and nodded up at the prince. "Stay safe, Jae," Syri voiced quietly while Den came to stand next to him.

Jae smiled down at the zeta softly before reluctantly releasing Syri's hand and nodding at Den. Taking the prince of Crimson Night's cue, Den stood in front of the pink-haired protectively while Jae started toward the beta who was waiting at the mouth of the corridor. Jae stopped, however, when he caught the crown prince of Black Moon staring at the zeta behind Den. "Don't you want to see what all the ruckus is about?" Jae inquired of Black Moon's prince.

Seth lifted a brow when he heard Jae's question and slowly turned from the zeta to face the prince of Crimson Night. "Not particularly," Seth answered with a sly smirk. "I don't think it necessarily pertains to my pack, so why should I? If I was needed in the hall, someone from Black Moon would have come to fetch me. Seeing as only a wolf from Crimson Night has arrived, I do not believe I am needed." With that, Seth returned his gaze of intrigue to the pink-haired being hidden by the tall true blood.

Knowing Seth was set in his response, Jae turned back toward the mouth of the corridor and neared Yehwa, who bowed to her prince upon Jae's arrival. The prince gave a small nod to the beta who then turned on her heel and began leading the true blood toward the hall. Jae hated leaving Syri under Seth's gaze, but the prince had been summoned, and there was nothing he could do to change that, so Jae was forced to leave the zeta behind and hope Seth would not try anything that would put Syri in danger.

Resorting to trusting Den to care for Syri and make sure he reaches Yejin and Estan, Jae focused on the task at hand. Yehwa was tense the entire walk to the hall, so Jae knew it was no light matter, but what met Jae when he entered the hall shook him to his core. Yehwa did not react to the two, bloodied forms on the ground as she passed them, but the clenching of the beta's hands and the tensing of her shoulders showed her disgust and worry. Jae stopped in front of the two while Yehwa continued into the hall until she came to stand behind the Luna.

"Haikon...Xander..." Jae's jaw clenched when he smelled the distress and blood oozing from the two wolves tied on the ground. The prince flicked his eyes up to see his father standing before the theta and delta. Fachan's face was solemn, and his voice was low when he spoke. "I just lost my best tracker and my best assassin because they could not follow the law. This is what happens when you let 'love' get in the way, Jae."

Fury flamed within the prince at the Alpha's words. "No," Jae voiced in disagreement. The prince's expression was furious when he lifted his head to address his father. "No, this is the result of a cruel law that should not be."

Gasps filtered throughout the hall at the prince's disagreement with Crimson Night's Alpha. "Do not question the law! It is a fundamental value that has stood strong since the beginning of the eastern packs!" Fachan roared as he glared at his defiant son.

"And it is high time that was changed!"

"Do not dare give orders to your Alpha! How many times must I punish you before you understand that?!" Fachan motioned for his guards to subdue the prince of Crimson Night, but Armina was quick to stop them. "Halt your step!" The Luna's expression was hard when she turned from the guards to face her mate. "You have been sworn into a dual and must not bring harm to the prince until such dual takes place."

Silence filled the hall as the Alpha glared at the Luna. "This is a law that has stood strong since the beginning of the eastern packs," Armina declared when she felt the Alpha's anger grow. "Unless, you are willing to change the law..."

A growl from Fachan echoed from the Alpha in response to the Luna's prodding. "Very well. I am a man of my word; I shall respect the law," the Alpha then turned from the Luna to address his son, "which is what I expect you to do as well, Prince."

Pain struck Jae's heart when he heard Fachan's warning. How could he respect the law when it had killed so many? The prince clenched his fists and was about to respond in disagreement once more when a groan sounded from the theta on the floor. The true blood was quick to look at the bloodied werewolf to see Haikon's brown eyes open slowly. Jae immediately rushed toward the theta but was blocked by several guards upon Fachan's command.

"Xander..." The call of his mate's name was extremely weak, but Jae heard it, and Haikon's broken expression at seeing the torn body of his mate lying before him broke Jae.

"Let them go, please," Jae pleaded to his father when he saw a tear fall from the corner of Haikon's eye. Fachan lifted a brow and turned to face his son at the prince's plea. "And in return?"

"Punish me. Do to me what you did to them. Just spare them, please."

Jae's answer impressed his father; never did Fachan perceive his son would beg for him to spare a lowly theta and delta. "You'll take on both their pain in exchange for their lives?" Fachan inquired, his expression growing serious.

"Ae," Jae answered solemnly. Fachan grew silent for a moment before he nodded his head in agreement, "Very well; I will spare them."

"Alpha Fachan, you cannot seriously wish to punish your son for the sin committed by another," the Alpha of White Fang, spoke up in concern for Crimson Night's Prince.

"It was the prince's choice, and the exchange was fair. I do not see any reason for concern, Alpha Gen," Fachan responded before addressing his guards. "Take the theta and delta away, but do not administer aid to them until the prince has fulfilled his end of the deal."

Four guards bowed to their Alpha in response and collected the theta and delta from the floor before carrying the two unconscious werewolves out of the hall. Jae released a breath of relief when he caught the faintest trace of two heartbeats when the guards passed by with the two.

"Now," Fachan voiced, drawing Jae's attention to his father. "When shall you take their punishment?"

>>>>>>

"Is everything okay?" Estan inquired of the pink-haired when Syri and Den entered the infirmary. "Where's Jae?"

Syri shook his head as he answered, "I don't know. Jae was summoned to the hall." The gamma knit his brows as he took to wondering what in the moon goddess's world could have happened.

"Did he send for me?" Yejin inquired while he rubbed circles into his mate's lower back to calm the gamma.

Den shook his head and replied, "No, he hoped you could care for Syri."

"I see," Yejin responded with a nod of his head before turning to the zeta and giving the pink-haired a kind smile. Once Den had completed his duty of escorting Syri to the gamma and alpha, the true blood immediately began looking toward the figure in the bed. Estan noticed the focus of Den's attention and approached the true blood. "He's asleep; you can go to him."

Den turned his eyes to the ground at the gamma's words, and a sad smile came to his lips. "I don't think I should. Thank you for caring for him, Estan." Realizing the true blood was about to leave the infirmary, Estan sought to have the crown prince stay and said, "I don't think it would hurt to sit next to him for a bit. He doesn't have to know you were here." The gamma knew the prince felt sorry toward the binate, and he sought to change that.

The prince hesitated when he heard the gamma's words. As much as Den did not want to distress the blue-haired, he also did not want to leave the binate to wake up alone. Noticing the prince's pause, Estan took that as his opportunity and softly inquired, "Why don't you stay until you know his name?"

The gamma's suggestion struck Den to his core. He still did not know his mate's name. Yes, he had asked, but Blue had been too wary to answer. The prodding from the gamma encouraged the crown prince to nod his head silently toward the physician before leaving the three to approach the sleeping male and sitting on the stool positioned next to the bed.

Syri watched silently as Eternal Dawn's crown prince carefully brushed a fallen stand of hair from the binate's face before pulling the blanket up to cover the sleeping male's chest and shoulders. A small tug on the zeta's sleeve brought Syri's attention to the gamma standing next to him. Estan smiled down on the pink-haired before leading Syri to a chair positioned next to his desk and grabbing the zeta a blanket.

"Syri," Yejin addressed the zeta as his mate laid the blanket over the pink-haired. Syri looked up at the alpha patiently as he waited for Yejin to continue. "Did Jae say anything before leaving?" The alpha inquired through knit brows; his concern was apparent.

"No," Syri replied with a slight shake of his head. "He just said he'd come back once he figured out what had happened."

"I see," Yejin voiced with a small nod of his head.

"Why, babe? Is everything okay?" Estan inquired as he walked to his mate and interlaced his fingers with the alpha. "Mm," Yejin sounded in response before giving a small squeeze to the gamma's hand. "I just don't have a good feeling about this."

"Mm, me neither," Estan agreed before bringing Yejin's hand interlaced with his up to his face and pressing a gentle kiss to the back of the alpha's hand. "We'll just have to-"

The gamma's sentence was cut short by the opening of the infirmary's door, immediately drawing the three's attention to the entryway. Estan's eyes widened when he saw the crown prince of Black Moon standing beneath the doorway supporting an injured werewolf. Yejin instantly stepped in front of his mate, and footsteps sounded from behind the three indicating the true blood had arrived. Den stood with his arms crossed over his chest and glared at the two wolves from Black Moon.

Seth's eyes trailed over the infirmary until they landed on the pink-haired zeta sitting beside the physician's desk. The prince's lips curled into a smirk as he turned his attention to the pack's physician and said, "Don't you think it's time you tended to my wolf, Gamma?"