Ikuto's P.O.V

Light streamed through the window and if I hadn't been lazy and warm than I would have made sure this room stayed dark even if the damn sun fell out of orbit and was hurling our way. I roll over, taking the warm bundle next to me and pulling it closer.

When I started drifting off again, a knock comes at the door. Amu groans into me, burying her face into my neck sending shivers up my spine as her lips grazed my mark.

"I will give you five thousand dollars if you get them to go away for a week."

"I'd prefer something more…personal…" I say, sitting up, putting my hands on the sides of her head.

She looks up at me with empty eyes.

"You have time to think of such things when you have barely slept in who the hell knows how long? What are you, a teenage boy?"

"A bigger version of one, yes," I say with a cheeky grin. She smacks me on the arm and rolls onto her side, curling into my arm and closing her pretty eyes.

The knocking continues and gets louder and louder and faster.

Her eyes snap open and she growls at the door.

"Why don't you do that for me? It's pretty hot." I whine. She glares at me as she pushes back the covers and stars to sit up.

"Ikuto, you are going to move so I can get up or are you going to get the door?" she asks in a neutral tone.

"Hmm, I have to say that I find this position very pleasing. Let's stay like this."

She narrows her eyes, then tries to duck under my arm. I wasn't having any of that, and immediately block her from going under.

"Kiss me, and I'll let you go." I say with a smirk.

She looks at me like I grew a second head, and before I know it, I am curled up in a ball clenching my groin in agony.

"That was low." I groan out, glaring at her. "There goes our chance of ever having children."

She rolls her eyes as her feet hit the floor and she sways over to the door and opens it. Next thing I know, Amu is on the ground with a figure hovering over her. A growl escapes my lips and suddenly the pain I felt was completely gone.

Before Amu could so much as tell me everything is okay and to calm down the intruder is against the wall and I am hovering over Amu as I was before except all the playfulness is gone.

Amu's hand reaches up and comes to rest on my mark and I start to feel my body untense.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Yaya says slowly, her big eyes holding a spark of fear. "I-I just wanted to have a chat with Amu and wake you guys up. I didn't mean any harm."

I can feel Amu's eyes bore into me, but I don't dare meet them. I was being a possessive asshole, I knew that, but the thought of someone so much as touching her… it filled me with an a rage that I had never felt before.

It needed to only be me touching that pretty little figure of hers.

Because it was mine.

"Now get off me, you asshole." Hisses Amu. My gaze flickers lazily to her, and before she can so much as argue I capture her lips in a rough kiss. She lays there with a dazed look on her face as I get up before grabbing her hand and yanking her to her feet.

"Sorry about that, Yaya. Take care of her and she needs her coffee. Tell her I will be making some phone calls in my office." I say as I turn to the slightly less scared girl.

"Hey!" Amu says indignantly. "I am right here."

I give her a sly smirk as I wink at her, before walking out of the room. I loved that girl, there was no doubt about that.

I enter my office right as my phone starts to ring.

"Alpha Ikuto, how may I help you?" I say politely. I hear a snort on the other side of the line.

"Where is Amu? I need to talk to her. Now." Yoru says rudely.

The sole reason I remembered this little maggot of a boy was because of the way he held Amu the last time I had left. That spark of assumed victory in his eyes burned in my head on the nights that I laid in bed alone.

It drove me crazy and I wanted nothing more than to rip his throat out. What a little dick.

"My mate is preoccupied at the moment, can I leave a message?" I say in a sickly sweet voice. He snorts again.

"Cut the bullshit. She would rather be mated to a rock then to you. Now let me talk to her. This is pack business. This is about the move." He says, his voice fluctuating from sarcastic to formal. I know I should just give in, but the green monster of jealously creeps up and I find my mouth opening before I can control it.

"Amu is preoccupied. She said something about video chatting last night before we went to bed." Yes, I know I was only saying that to rile him up, but the asshole tried to steal her from me and I am sure that he won't stop now. "I can ask her when she is done with whatever she is doing with Yaya and she can shoot you a text or something."

He is silent for a moment. "You will never have her, I hope you know that. And if you so much as think you have some type of grip on her, I promise I will steal her away. You cause her nothing but pain."

"Tough luck, pup. She is already mine."

"We will see." He says before hanging up the phone. Any good mood I had in me was immediately gone. She was NOT his and he would certainly NOT take my Amu away from me unless he pried her from my cold, dead hands. Maybe, just maybe, he might have fared before I marked her, but now there was no chance.

Amu was mine for forever and always, and no dumb, know-it-all punk was going to change that.

And I would fight to make sure it stayed that way. To make sure she could stay with me for forever and we could live the life we are just starting to piece together.

No matter what.

…

Amu's P.O.V

Yaya finally seemed to ease up after a few minutes, and went on babbling happily like she used to. That light that I had missed in her eyes was slowly coming back, and it filled my heart knowing she was coming back to her regular self.

"Amu." She says, the smile fading from her lips. "If this doesn't last between him and me…I hope you know my wolf will go dormant. And that will mean that I.."

"Don't even start. It isn't going to happen. I know that he knows he screwed up, and I know he is trying as hard as he can to pick up the pieces. Don't worry baby, this time it is going to be okay. You have to trust him." I say, stroking the side of her cheek lovingly. She gives me a small smile and hugs me as tight as her bony frame can without breaking. We stay like that for a while until I hear a phone vibrate.

I knew that tone. It was my phone. During all this chaos it had went MIA (missing in action) and I just assumed it had gotten broken. But the familiar tune of some tacky dance song played and I hurried toward the source of the sound. I found it sitting nicely on top of one of the shelves in the living room and I mentally face palmed. Of course I would leave it here. But I was still grateful, because my phone held a majority of my life.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Hey, it's me. Are you ready to video chat? I can tell you have still managed to miss Yoru considering the expression on his face. Looks like he has a crab pinching his ass." Tadase says with a humorless snort.

"Yeah, I can video chat whenever, just get everyone ready. I just need to make sure I have my coffee before I do anything. Sleep isn't a luxury I have had recently."

"Alright. Keep your phone on you, please, so I can get a hold of you, and don't be too pissed at Yoru's reaction. He is being…Yoru." He says.

I snort, and we say our goodbyes.

Yaya looks at me curiously, tilting her head to the side like a confused puppy.

"This house is going to get much more crowded soon." I say, and her eyes widen but she doesn't say anything.

Knowing she won't have a reply, I go ahead and make a big pot of coffee, knowing my oh-so-lovely mate would come the second the scent hit his nose. I was correct. I felt him nuzzle against my neck as he took the cup out of my hands and took a quick sip, before putting the cup back and giving my cheek a light kiss.

"That asshole called. Something about a video chat. I pissed him off."

"Shocking. I didn't think you were capable of ever doing anything like that." I say sarcastically as I take a huge gulp, the coffee scalding my throat in the most pleasant way. Guess now I know why he was in such a bad mood.

Who could blame him? Ikuto was hard to deal with.

'I can hear that, little mate. And you should have thought of that before you let me mark you.' He says in my head. I can feel him smile against my neck. What an ass.

"Come on. You have things to do, and I have things to do. If we stay together then we won't get nearly as much done. We are both Alphas and have lots to do. I'll see you later?" I ask, turning towards him.

The expression in his eyes was unreadable, and I knew he hated the idea. It would have been different if we were like most couples, who marked each other and mated right after to seal the deal. This let the other know where they were, if they were in danger, if they cheated, and made sure that other wolves knew that they were already claimed, bound by almost certain death if they tried to touch what wasn't theirs. But a marking could go away. That cord could be cut and if I were to run (again) there would be nothing he could do to find me unless he could physically hunt me down. It was a risk he didn't want to take, and though he knew I wouldn't run away he didn't trust anyone else not to try to steal me away.

Before he could even open his mouth to protest, I covered it with my own. His reaction is immediate. Hands coming up to grip my hips and he takes a step forward so we are closer. I pull away before he gets too used to it, and give him a grin.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm doing this so we have a chance at more than three hours of sleep tonight. Please, Ikuto." I beg, looking in his eyes.

"If any male tries to hit on you or touch you or even think about you, he is going to die." I nod. "And I will check up on you hourly through our mind link." I nod again. "And you have to give me another kiss."

I go up on my tip toes and drag his neck down so our lips meet. I have a feeling that this comfort and regain in balance will be gone soon, and I need to make sure that I remember this feeling for when it gets bad.

"I'll see you in a little bit. Okay?" why did this goodbye seem like so much more than a simple 'see you later'?

Why did I feel like the man standing in front of me in all his glory wouldn't be crawling in bed with me tonight?

'Don't even start thinking that way,' my wolf snarls.

"Be safe and don't work too hard." Ikuto replies, and I stare at his back as he walks away.

'Everything will be just fine, I'm sure. Probably just need to wait a little bit longer before the coffee kicks in.

Everything would be fine.

….right?

…

I sat in front of the screen as I waited for Tadase and/or Yoru to pick up. The first thing I see is the scowling face of Yoru.

"Before you say a single work, I want you to know that the past few days have been the most traumatizing and ridiculously challenging days of my life, I just found my cellphone less than an hour ago, and I have barely slept. So before you start yelling at me, reconsider and take into account my side of the story." I say.

His mouth opens, then closes, and his scowl slightly lessens.

"I have walked through hell to get a hold of you, and the only two people I talk to tell me that they will tell you, but you still never got back to me." He grumbles.

I cock my eyebrow. "Ikuto is the only one that told me you called and that was just a few minutes ago. I was up all night last night calling Alpha's, and I tried to call the pack phone but no one answered. Plus, I don't have your cellphone numbers memorized, besides Tadase's because he kept her number, so he was the only one I could successfully get a hold of."

He lets out a big sigh, and backs away slowly. I see the whole pack packed together in the room, and they wave. All of their faces look worn and tired, but I still see that spark of life in their eyes.

"Hello everyone." I greet cheerfully. "I know that the past few days have been hell on everyone. I know that I am needed back, but I cannot come back."

"What!" Yoru cries, coming close to the camera again and blocking my view of the pack. I can still here their cries of protest.

"Let me explain." I say in an authoritative voice, and Yoru scowls at me and backs up again.

"We were attacked here too. The Rouges are attacking both packs because they are trying to split Ikuto and I up so we are weaker." I admit.

I didn't think Yoru's frown could deepen, but I was wrong.

"That's why we realized that having a two front war against the same enemy with a huge gap between us could be dangerous. Communication could be faulty, and that could be the downfall of us all. Plus, if one gets attacked singularly then that means we have more of a distance to travel to back them up. The time we waste trying to get there could be the difference between life and death. That is why you are all being relocated here."

The whole pack is silent as I finish.

"But, Alpha, why don't they just come here? It's bigger here and the terrain is rougher, giving them more of challenge." Says a voice in the crowd. I nod my head.

"I understand that, but it is almost completely surrounded by No-Man's Land. That means the Rouges could attack from every angle successfully. Here, you have immediate backup and it is much harder to penetrate because we have bordering packs." They nod their heads in agreement.

"Amu, are you sure this isn't just about Ikuto? Because he has a way with words and he could just be playing you like a puppet, and I-"Yoru starts before my harsh growl cuts him off.

"This isn't about me and Ikuto, and you will stop bringing him into this. I have led you and done what I think is right for this pack since I became Alpha, and you aren't going to start doubting me now. Feel free to leave if you think you can find a better leader." I bark out angrily. His eyes widen, and I see hurt flash through his eyes before he bows his head.

"I am sorry, Alpha. Forgive my rudeness." He says in an empty voice.

I sigh and nod my head tiredly.

"I want all of you, my loyal pack members, to pack your things as soon as possible. At the moment, we don't know exactly when you will be leaving, but I can promise you that it will be soon. As in, you could be here by tomorrow. We don't get the option to dilly-dally. Make sure to pack light. We are talking the essentials. I don't want five bags per person. It's not like we aren't coming back." I say, trying to lighten the mood. "This is our home, and this is only short term. There is no need to worry. Once the threat is exterminated, and trust me, it will be soon, we will all go back to living out normal lives happily."

I see everyone nod.

"Thank you, Amu, for everything. I will be sure to stay in contact with you, so try to make sure you have your phone on you at all times, okay?" Tadase says as he appears in front of the screen, a small, fake smile on his lips. He looked tired, mentally and physically worn out, but the biggest change was seeing him sober.

He was really putting his all into this.

"Thank you so much for your hard work, Tadase. I will see you soon. I expect everyone to be on their best behavior, and I will be there to meet you before you reach this pack territory. Goodbye." I say with a small smile and wave. I hear a chorus of farewells before I hang up the call.

I release a sigh and close my eyes. I felt like I had so much to do and not enough time to finish it. It was like I was being pulled in so many directions, but all I wanted to do is go my own way. I heard a rustle behind me, and arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer to their owner. I nuzzled my nose into Ikuto's neck, kissing his mark lightly and making shivers go down his spine because, let's face it, I loved knowing I was the only one who would ever be able to get that reaction out of him and I couldn't get enough of it

"All of this is going to work out, you know? We are going to defeat the enemy, and our packs are going to be just fine. Then, when this is all settled of course, we are going to finish mating. Then we are going to get married, and I am going to see you get walked down the aisle by your father, and I am going to put that ring on your tiny little finger and know it is never coming off. Then I am going to kiss you every morning and every night, and I will be there when your stomach bloats, and you crave weird food combos as three in the morning, and when you give birth to my 8 sons. This will all work out. We fought so hard to finally get together and have faced so many trials already that I am sure after this it will be pretty smooth sailing. So you can just get rid of all the worries in that pretty head of yours." Ikuto murmurs. He was acting so un-Ikuto like, but I have to say, I needed to hear that.

I didn't believe a single word of it, hell, I don't think he did either, but it was nice to hear hope in the darkness that seemed to be ascending all around us.

And I would have those words to hand onto when hopelessness drowned me.

And that would be coming so much sooner than I thought.

So much sooner.

I hummed in agreement to him, pulling myself impossibly closer to him.

"It's all going to be alright, you know that right? As long as we are together."

Now that…. I believed.

…..

Saaya's P.O.V

"I DON'T THINK I ASKED YOU WHAT YOU THOUGHT, DID I?" Lulu screeched at the top of her lungs. She throws anything she can get her hands on around, glass shattering all around. Fear welled up in the pit on my stomach as the poor, scrawny rouge cowered away in fear, trying to dodge her attacks.

"I-I-I'm sorry…I j-just thought t-that you might wa-want to k-k-know," he whispered.

"Why would I care what a nimrod like you had to say about ANYTHING!?" she bellows angrily. Lulu sighs, rubbing her temples and closing her eyes as if she were about to make a life or death decision.

I didn't know how right she was until I heard the resonating BOOM throughout the room. His body hit the floor in a heap, crimson flowing from the small whole in the forehead and its splatter coating the walls like a red mist.

She shot him. She shot him as if it were nothing. As if she were just brushing dust from her coat. He had no value to her, and he dared to speak his opinion, so she simply took his life. It didn't matter to her. She didn't care about whether or not he had a family. Whether or not he had met his mate, or if he would be mourned. He was just another body she was willing to sacrifice to get power. To get glory. To get revenge on who she think wronged her.

She was sick. She was vile. She was crazy.

And I knew that there was no going back. From the second that I had taken her hand, it was far too late. Every happily ever after that I had ever imaged as a child was gone, ash in the grimy fireplace in the corner of the room.

That's what happens when you want things that aren't yours to have. I sacrificed all the good things in my life that I ever had any chance of having because I was a selfish, childish little girl instead of the adult I should have been.

I had tried in vain to get love in any form, and let it rot my personality away until I was nothing more than a love depraved skank.

Now I had a mate, but I had no chance of a future with him. I had no doubt that Lulu knew about our hot lip locks while she was gone, and I knew that she would rather have him then me, so I probably had a few weeks at most.

Which means that my plans had already started. Every time Lulu was out of the house and I could manage to pull myself away Jinx and the wonderland that was created every time our lips touched, I was quite busy. I had managed to find a few…Nomads. Packless wolves that hadn't lost their minds and just wondered around. They could join a pack if they wished, but most just traveled around, a majority of which were searching for their mates. I used them to gather outside information, and gave them subtle hints about what was happening. Not enough to fully give things away, but enough that it would give some wariness to the packs.

I was cornered in what I could do, but I knew that if I did more I would be killed. And though I had accepted death, I was going to wait to help their packs. These attacks weren't nearly as serious as they could be. Lulu wasn't even showing them half of the army she had built up, and I knew once she truly attacked them, they would be in much more trouble. I was going to see how much info I could gather before I met my inevitable death.

Because if I could correct even one of the wrongs I had committed, then I would gladly be torn to shreds.

The princess was finally learning selflessness. If you had told me I would care for anyone but myself two years ago, I would have laughed my ass off.

I was snapped out of my daydream when a fist came flying towards me, and next thing I know I am on my ass on the cold floor looking into Lulu's blazing, angry blue eyes.

"Listen to me when I am fucking talking to you. I asked if you knew if there was a snitch among us. Info has been leaking out and it has been fucking pissing me off. Do you have any names you would like to give up?" she asks. Her golden hair was tousled, and in a few spots I could see matted with blood. She used to always look like she had stepped out of a fashion magazine, now her clothes were wrinkled and torn, her skin sweaty and smeared with dirt and blood, and she looked like a homeless prostitute. There was nothing left to respect.

"I don't know who it would be. There are far too many people with names and nicknames and codenames to keep track of, Lu. But I will keep my ears open to any gossip and if I hear anything I will report back to you." I say, my voice soft and even. I can feel a bruise blossoming on my cheek, and from how hard Jinx was biting his lip, I could tell it was noticeable.

"You know, a little bird has been chirping in my ears that you and my soul mate have been snooping around together. Sticking your dirty little tongue down his throat. Which leads me to believe that the snitch is either you, my long time childhood friend, or Jinx, the man who promised to spend the rest of his life with me. Who do you think I will chose? Who do you think I will believe?" she screeches, her voice hysterical.

I look into Jinx's eyes, falling into the beautiful abyss as I give him a small smile. This was going to be the last time I would ever be able to see him in all his beauty. My beloved mate. At least if I died right now he would…

He would be the last thing I saw. A tear made its way down my bruised cheek as I hear the familiar click of a gun. His eyes look at me, desperately searching my face for something, or maybe just trying to memorize it. I try to show him just how much I love him with just my eyes, but when I hear Lulu click off the safely, I have to say it. I can't let myself die without saying it.

"I love you." I say. His eyes widen, and he opens his mouth to reply, a faint smile on his corners of his lips when a loud bang resonates through the room. My eyes snap shut and I wait for the pain to hit, but it never does.

It wasn't until I heard a husky, pained gurgle that I realized that I hadn't been the one who got shot. My eyes snapped open.

"NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO." I cry as I crawl over to him. Red is staining the front of his shirt. And he is choking on his own blood. Why the hell did it have to be him? Why. Why. Why. Why. Why.

"I love you, Sai." Jinx says, reaching out a bloody hand and wiping away the cascades of tears coming down my cheek.

"Don't leave me." I beg. His cracks a small grin, one of the only ones I have ever seen on his face.

"I have never been... an honest person. I'm finally free of this mess. Goodbye." He croaks. Those beautiful eyes start to close, and I grasp his hand with all my might.

"Please…" I beg. "Please don't leave me."

But he coughs one last time, body convulsing forward, and when he comes back down he isn't breathing.

"NO!" I scream out, grasping his dead body and shaking it.

"That's what you get, Sai Sai. You fucked around with him, and now neither of us can have him. Feel good, huh? Tell me, Saaya, are you going to be a good girl now that you aren't distracted?" she said. I could hear the tears that she was trying to hold back in her voice, and it took everything in me to no lash out on her, cursing every breath she takes and telling her what a crazy bitch she is and how I will stop her if it is the very last thing I fucking do.

But I bite my lips, because I know that Jinx wants…would want me to finish this. He wouldn't have wanted me to be the bad guy in the end. I lean down and kiss his still slightly warm lips one last time. I close those beautiful glazed over eyes, and close my eyes too.

"Yes. I am sorry it had to come to this." I turn to look at her, a small smile on my lips even though the tears are still coming down in waterfalls. "We have a mission and that I won't stop trying to achieve until I am dead."

She bows her head, her long, matted blonde hair covering her face as I see a single tear slip down her chin even with that evil smile still on her lips.

"Good." She says, before Turing briskly and walking to the doorway.

I look around the blood coated room, wondering how the hell I got to this point when she stops. She tilts her head to the side, looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

"And be ready in an hour. We have something very important to do tonight. If you aren't there you will be meeting that cheating lowlife you called a mate," she spit out the word. "Sooner then you thought."

And with that she leaves me in a room filled with blood, dead hopes, and a breaking heart that I didn't think could break anymore.

…

Unknown's P.O.V

I splashed the near freezing stream water on my face, hoping to erase the odd dream from my memory. For as long as I could remember, I had these dreams.

I always woke up so confused, but inside I felt empty.

What I really needed to do was find my mate, then I am sure my life would make so much more sense. My wolf howled inside of me, a broken howl, at the thought of us having a mate. I was in my mid-twenties, and I still hadn't found them yet. It confused me to no end.

Usually if people didn't find their mates by now, they were dea-

'HE IS NOT DEAD. DON'T EVEN THINK IT.' my wolf hisses forcefully into my mind. There was a ferocity to her that scared me at times like this. Sometimes I felt like I didn't really even know her, because she seemed so violent. So empty.

So full of fury that seemingly came out of nowhere.

And sometimes that is why I felt so empty. Because I felt like I didn't belong in my pack, I felt like there was a piece of me, somewhere deep down inside, that was missing in a way that was more than my lack of a mate, and my wolf didn't and I seemed far too different to ever be the same person.

It was like the world and the Moon Goddess just wanted me to be perpetually confused. It was frustrating never knowing who you were.

It was a loveless world, especially for someone as scarred as me. I let out a sigh, walking back over to my fellow Nomads.

"Come on, De, let's go," said one of the guys. I twisted the ring on my ring finger around, the crimson stone twinkling back up at me and grazed it with my lips. I didn't know where it came from, but I assumed it was something that was my mother's once upon a time. It was something I treasured more than anything.

"I'm coming."

I didn't have time to think of such things. I had people that I needed to keep alive.

Who really cares, what you feel inside? Last time you felt something, somebody died.

…

Amu's P.O.V

It surprised me when I got a phone call that evening saying they were all ready to go. A surprise would be a light term. They had managed to pack up, and were planning on arriving in the territory around sunrise the next morning. Pride swelling inside of me knowing just how serious my pack could be when it was for the safely of everyone. Knowing the risk made it safer for everyone.

I walk into the kitchen, making another pot of coffee. I didn't know precisely now many cups I've had, or pots for that matter, but I did know that if this wasn't my last pot for the night, then my bladder was going to burst.

I looked out the window, seeing the crescent moon shine its light above us, I always love looking up at the moon. I felt as though the Moon Goddess was shining her light down onto me, filling me with the strength I needed to get through this.

I hear footsteps, and a familiar musky scent invades my nose, relaxing my already lax body even more.

"You are not going by yourself to meet up with your pack. You would be going over the border and our marks would be severed." Ikuto murmurs behind me. He has yet to touch me, and I know that that is his way to show that he doesn't agree with what I am doing. No touching means he is mad, touching means trying to persuade me to agree with him.

He was just too easy to figure out.

"No, you know that since you know where I am going it should be fine. I am not trying to run away from you. My wolf and yours are connected, therefore giving us more leniency when it comes to distance." I reply, turning to face him. My breath nearly gets caught in my throat seeing him, shirtless, bathing in the moonlight. It gave his eyes a mysterious glint that took my breath away.

God you sound hormonal, Amu, cut it out.

I see his lips almost quirk into a smile, before they go back to their poker face. He was remembering he wasn't happy with me.

"With all that is happening, it isn't safe for an Alpha to go alone anywhere."

"It also isn't safe for a pack to be Alphaless in a time like this. You stay, I go, and come straight back. I am not even going that far away, just meeting them halfway. There isn't room for argument." I counter.

"What if something happens, huh? You might be strong, but you are only one person, Amu," he growls out.

"I will be just fine. Have some faith in me," I stay sternly, daring to meet his angry gaze.

"Please." He grits out, fists clenched. "At least take someone."

"I am an Alpha, I am fully capable of doing this on my own. My pack has been without me for far too long, it is the least I can do. I am simply going to run to meet them, then shift back and ride here with them. It's not that big of a deal and you are making this much more dramatic than it needs to be. Everything will be fine." I say, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

"Fine! Sorry for worrying." He growls out, before stomping back upstairs. I listen to the sound of his office door slamming, and let out a deep sigh. I shake my head at his childish behavior. Hopefully, he would have his head screwed on the right way when I get back.

I make my way upstairs, changing out of my clothes into some black pants and a black tank top and tying my hair into a high ponytail. I make my way towards Ikuto's office warily, and raise my hand to knock, before just setting my hand on the door.

"Goodbye Ikuto, see you when I get back." I say softly, but I know he hears me. I wait for a response, but when I get none, I just turn and leave. I walk into the black night, and start to undress. I fold all my clothes into a roll, holding them together with my pony tail holder, before shifting into my wolf. Damn, this felt great to be able to run. I take my time leaving the territory, telling myself it was because I want to enjoy the night, but I know it was because I was hoping Ikuto would come after me. I was hoping he would come and kiss the hell out of me and admit to me that he was being a big fat asshole.

But as I reach the boarder, I realized that he wasn't coming. Fine. Be a fucking asshole. And I knew he could hear what I was thinking. That's what made the sting even worse.

I crossed the border, and immediately felt a chill overtake me. My mark stung a little bit, but I reminded myself that I was going to be back. I was not going to abandon my mate ever again. Because I loved that piece of stubborn shit. He might be an asshole…. But he was my asshole.

I kept on traveling, quickening my pace as time flew by because, in all honesty, I was excited to see my pack. I loved all of them, and it had been too long of me neglecting my duties as an Alpha, and it was time for that to stop.

As I get closer and closer to the meeting point, the sun starts to peaks up inside the skies, painting it the colors that made my hand itch to replicate on some ceiling somewhere so I could look up at it all day long.

When I reached the destination, I stop, looking up at the sky, admiring it in my wolf form. It wasn't quite time for my pack to meet up with me, so I know I have time to sit here. To bask in the beauty of this morning. To forget that my mate, though I know he means well, is acting like an overgrown man-child. It's okay. This is just silly and when I get home he will be so happy to see me, that none of this will matter.

Because we weren't going to be torn apart by some dumb fight. We were together, and we were going to be for a long fucking time whether that possessive bastard liked it or not.

With a wolfy sigh, I slink back behind a tree, shifting back to my human form and getting dressed as fast as I could.

It was when I was braiding my hair that the smell hit my nose and I heard the twig snap. I lifted my head slowly as I saw a figure come out of the woods.

"Hello, Amu-san." I hear the girl coo. She looks like a walking disaster. A fucking serial killer.

"I'm sorry, last time I checked I didn't know anyone who would let themselves be caught coming out a bloody fucking battle looking as terrible as you do."

"I am here to collect you, you ugly bitch." The girl hisses.

I roll my eyes, but I feel terror sneaking up.

'Ikuto? Ikuto are you there?' I ask, reaching out mentally and begging that he will respond. But I meet nothing more than a wall. He closed me out because I was being such a bitch.

I needed him and couldn't get ahold of him because of my own selfishness. Because I couldn't see from his point of view.

"I won't go without a fight." I say, muscles tense and ready to fight.

"Oh, honey, I would be disappointed if you hadn't at least threatened it, but I am sorry to say that you won't get that opportunity to do so." She says. My knees bend and I get ready to pounce when I feel it. I look down and see that thin metal blade sticking out of my stomach before I feel it. I choke, blood coming out of my mouth as I fall to my knees.

"You bitch," I spit out, hunched over and a small, choked cry escaping my mouth as whoever was behind me pulled it out.

"I am so sorry, Amu-Chan! I know it hurts a little bit, but you will be okay, baby girl!" she coos at me.

Before another word can escape my lips, she kicks me as hard as she can in the stomach. My vision starts to get splotchy, but I can see an evil sneer make its way onto her lips. I feel another smaller poke in my neck, and my already blurry vision starts to go black. I fall onto my back, looking up at sky.

The colors looked so beautiful, and I bet if I could see the blood leaking out of me, it would fit in perfectly.

I look up as a figure hovers over me, light green eyes filled with sadness and….pity? It didn't really matter that it was Saaya, honestly. Her betrayal meant nothing at this point. But I stared back up at her, almost begging her to do the right fucking thing for once, but she just simply shakes her head, so subtly that the other chick didn't seem to notice.

And as the lights start to flicker from my world, I see her mouth move slightly.

And I think she mouthed the word: 'Wait.'

But she didn't really realize something. I had something that I needed to go home to, no matter what. He needed me, just as I needed him. I couldn't wait.

Our love had waited for far too long to get to this point, and it didn't need to be patient any longer.

Wait.

No. Please.

But before I could reply, I was gone in a world of infinite blackness, nothing to break the emptiness.

No dreams. No nightmares.

Just blackness.

….

The Moon Goddess's P.O.V

I watched down with sadness brimming in my heart as I saw Amu once again being ripped apart from her mate. They tried so hard to be together, and Fate seemed to want them to be torn apart. I wanted to interfere, I really did, but there was only so much I could do.

The Fates were mine to read, but they certainly weren't mine to control. It was a force, a beautiful wonderful force, but it was wild. It wasn't meant to be tamed.

But I know that the world needed Amu and Ikuto to be together. And I trusted that things were going to work out, even if the equation wasn't adding up right now. I needed to have faith, even if it was hard.

Because to have this job, I needed to have faith in many things. Faith that there was a reason for everything done. Faith that the couples were paired up for a reason. Faith that everyone lived, and died for a reason and a cause even if I couldn't see it at the moment.

Just as I had to have faith in my own life.

I saw my mate, my love, my life barely ever. Only when the sun and the moon finally met in an eclipse and shared a kiss so powerful it made the world, the galaxy, and the universe shake, could we be together for nothing more than a few minutes. We were as star-crossed, literally and figuratively, as they come.

Because the Sun God dies every night to let me his 'Luna' breathe.

And if I went years and long, lonely nights, believing and trusting that he still loved me, then I had to trust the Fates that, with a little of my help, Amu and Ikuto could be together in the end.

And then it clicked. It all clicked into place. It all made sense.

The equation couldn't add up if you didn't have the right variables. Amu could be ten, Ikuto could be ten, and I could be a two, but that still doesn't equal thirty.

When the moon and the sun 'kiss'; when me and my mate are reunited, we are so much more powerful.

This was all going to end when my mate and I met. When the solar eclipse happened, the final results would be shown.

Either there was going to be a happily ever after, or two beautiful people were coming to see me far too soon.

And I knew that though I could try and try without and with my mate to make them both live, it wasn't up to me.

It wasn't up to me.

The Fates had their reason to killing them (because I know that once one died, the other would surely follow), or a reason to let them live.

And either way the sun would keep shining, the world would keep turning, and life would move on, just without those two beautiful souls.

I just needed to have faith. Faith. Faith. Faith.

A small smile crept up onto my face. I understand that I couldn't tell them exactly what was going to happen, but I surely could give them hints. I grab my ink pen, dipping it softly into the darkest of inks and drawing the phases of the moon from now until the eclipse on my arm.

'The phases they show,

The time, the trail.

Time to step up,

See through the denial.

Until the day comes,

Until death do your part,

It will show you,

The Fate of your heart.

Like a clock's swinging pendent,

You don't always have a choice.

Like Fate's fickle hands,

You don't ever have a voice.

Let this prepare you,

A connection through time.

Love will live or die,

Because it's all part of the climb

Better to have loved and lost

But it'll hurt either way.

Time is ticking, be wise,

Before Fate chooses its day.'

I chant out. I felt the ink melt from my arm, falling into the watery surface that shows me the world, the future, past, and present.

It was done. Both Amu and Ikuto would get the mark so they would see how much time they had left.

They had three months.

Three months until we got the results.

Three months until the truth came out.

It was all ending in three months.

…

Third Person's P.O.V

The world was quiet. Quiet in the way that you know that everything is falling apart then. Because hearts don't break loud enough for you to hear. Marriages don't shatter for the world to hear. People cheat with nothing more than hushed moans, and parent's hit with hissed threats of hell if they make noise.

You know when the world is silent, that everything is going wrong.

And a loud scream broke through that silence, but that simply doesn't mean that the pain was ending.

In fact, that means it was simply just beginning.

The young, Azure-haired Alpha was on the floor, pain contorting his handsome face in a way that hurt your heart to look at. His eyes flung open as his mouth gasped for breath and his hand clutched his stomach.

"Amu." He breathed out painfully, his eyes searching for something that wasn't there. Something that wasn't going to be there, or should I say someone.

You can see the mark on his neck growing dark.

As people rush into the room, his eyes stay darting around, still searching for his mate even when there was no one in sight. He is searching around his head to find her, but instead of just meeting a wall, he finds nothing.

Amu isn't there.

Amu's wolf isn't there.

He is alone in his head again, and that's when he starts fighting.

Kicking, punching, screaming, and trying to get away from the people trying to hold him down.

His Amu, his mate, was gone and he needed to find her.

Because he couldn't live without her. He needed her, and he knew she needed him.

And until the darkness seeped into his world, he fought.

Because he had made a resolution to never stop fighting for her, and he was not stopping until he was dead.

But for now, his body stopped moving, and his mind shut down, both mates stuck in an abyss of blackness void of light, dreams, nightmares, and worst of all, each other.

…

I am sorry. I am so so so sorry. Life has been hell and I have been so busy and I am sorry. I tried to make this chapter super long to make up for it. WHEN YOU GUYS REVIEW AND PM ME I AM MORE PUSHED TO UPDATE! IT HELPS! PLEASE ENJOY THIS AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK AND I AM SORRY AGAIN.

Lilikoikoi-I am still alive, just super late. Thank you very much for waiting so long, my dear, and I hope its long enough to ease your anger. Enjoy!

Nekolover2001- To be honest, I hope you don't hate me for the wait even if I deserve it. I will not stop this story until it is finished, and I love writing it, but if I spend all my time doing this I will fail at all the tihgsn that need to be done. I think I will start a notebook and write in my spare time at school and such, but when I'm typing, I always change the story and reform the plot. Ugh. Anyways thanks for waiting and enjoy this and its longer length.

marthehaagensen-I am so glad you like my story, and I am sorry for the wait. I totally believe in the whole soul mate thing, but I think people just end up settling. Don't settle for less then what you deserve sweetheart! Enjoy this chapters!

Hannah L-Sama- Thank you for reading, and I am very glad you liked the poem! I really take pride in them. Enjoy this chapter honey, and tell me what you think.

missemokitty20-I am very happy I could gain another lovely person to read my stories, and I am sorry you had to wait for such an unacceptable amount of time. Enjoy this chapter to its fullest, and I hope there is more soon.

Dragongirl2319- I do think the same as you when it comes to Yoru needing Miki. I can't wait to write about his freak-out when he finds out Ikuto marked Amu. And Miki will come eventually. I promise!

Magical girl4- The happiness can never last for too long in this fic, as you will see by the end of this chapter. Everything is happy and things are seeming like they are going to work out, so I had to make something bad happen. Don't hate me too much! And thanks for your encouragement sweetheart!

XxHoshiHikarixX-I am so sorry you had to wait so long. It is awful of me, and I apologize for the inconvenience! Hopefully Yoru will get his happily ever after. Hopefully. Maybe. And is Tadase really getting over her death or just trying to do a last ditch effort to do well before he dies? Enjoy this chapter, Starlight-Chan!

en fleur isabelle- I am so so so so so sorry for the wait. You have waited too long. I really appreciate that you take the time to tell me how you feel about my story, and that you are willing to put yourself under anxiety to write this during school (I have anxiety, I get it) warms my heart. Feel free to PM me whenever, I would love to have a chat with you! You are such a doll and I can tell me will be great friends. Do your work and have a great week honey!

turtlegirl945- Thanks for reading and sorry for the long wait! I hope you enjoy this chapter

OneDream123-I am really proud of Tadase's character development as you are, even though I am not that fond of him in the anime. I figured you all needed and deserved some Amuto moments! I am so glad you like my poems, because when you guys like them it literally makes my heart swell inside my chest. You guys don't even understand what it does to me. If you ever feel comfortable and would like to send any of your poems to me, I would love love LOVE to read them because I just know they are amamzing! I am so sorry for the wait and I hope that the length of this chapter makes up for the fact that I suck as an author and need to get my shit together for your sakes! Thanks for reading! Bye!

jenshugochara1011-Saaya has a mate, though that can be confusing. He was briefly introduced, but she was in denial about it. if you might need to reread to understand it, especially since it has been so long. So sorry about the wait and enjoy!

Lyztratianna- Baby Girl I have neglected you and haven't talked to you in forever! I am so sorry! I suck! I hope you are doing well and thank you for reading and supporting me! Sorry for the wait and hope to talk to you soon!

Guest- Writing the letter hurt my heart! I was so sad! But hopefully there will be a happily ever after. Thanks for reading! Sorry for the wait!

So, I have a question. Would you rather have short chapters more frequently, or super long chapters less frequently?

Please tell me so I can plan accordingly! Thank you for your patience.