"You completely missed the part where the lights went down," Alex smiled. "That was, by far, best part of the night."

"And then he disappeared again?" Blake asked. They were taking a walk around the downtown right then just so that they could all collect their thoughts. Manny didn't have to open the bar that day, and all his kids were with their mother at the moment. Alex would have thought that Bree wouldn't have been able to come with all her baby duties, but she was walking with them too.

"Into thin air," he told him. At least Jett looked like he was enjoying this story. Blake just rolled his eyes.

"You're fallin' too hard for someone you're not going to get," he said.

"I'm not falling for him," Alex told him.

"Never would've thought that he would be the one to tame you," Blake shook his head. Jett and Manny laughed as he said that.

"Will you shut up," Alex said. "I don't need to be tamed."

"Oh please," Manny chuckled. "You need to be tamed more than Blake needs to stop spending so much on his daughters."

"Hey," Blake pointed at him. "There's no point in money if you can't spend it on the ones you love."

"So, he was headed over to the garden?" Jett asked.

"Yup," Alex said. "The only way I found him was because I had a hunch on where he was going."

He still couldn't get over that. Geo had somehow managed to find a way to disappear three times on him. He wasn't even sure how he found him the first time. He just had this way about him that Alex caught onto quickly, even in a crowd. He enjoyed the little game all the way until they got to the edge of that garden.

"I wonder why all the secrets," Manny said. "I mean, that's always been the Reverence Pack for as long as I can remember, but I just don't get it."

"What I want to know," Alex said. "Is why they wanted to wait on marking. You think that pack has a problem with not accepting mates or something?"

"They better not," Jett frowned. "Sakdah knows the punishments for that. If he cares about his life, I doubt that he'd want to jeopardize people's mates."

Alex got a bad feeling when it came to that. There was something in Geo's tone when he was questioning him about it that didn't settle well with him. Alex knew that his father, Beta Kenji, was an asshole, but it was still strange that Geo seemed to hide his sexuality from everyone.

"Then why does Shiro want to wait?" Bree asked. It was the first time she had said anything that morning. She had a long night of dealing with crying babies. The first place they hit up when they came into the city was a coffee shop for her.

"He said he didn't want to deal with any political issues right before he became Alpha of his pack," Jett sighed.

"I mean, that makes sense," Manny said. "Knowing Sakdah, he would probably just try and say that he belonged to our pack."

"As much as I would love to have him in our pack house," Jett said. "That would also mean that Sakdah would probably stay Alpha until he died."

Everyone groaned at hearing that.

"He does seem like a great leader," Bree said. "Him and Hiroko make a great team if they were the ones who got the party all set up and organized. And I'm pretty sure they greeted all the guests that were there that night."

"His Betas great at hiding things," Alex said. "That's not a good sign."

"What do you mean?" Jett looked at him curiously. "What did you find out?"

"There was a weird smell coming from his room, for one," Alex said. "Also, his room is sealed off when the doors closed. I couldn't hear a thing of what went on in it, and I couldn't smell anything until he opened the door."

He looked so annoyed and stressed when he got out of that room. It had to be his though. Who charges their phone in a random room?

"What was the smell like?" Blake asked.

"I only got a second to smell it," Alex said. "All I know is that there was some sort of incent smell along with something else. When I asked him about it, though, he denied there was even a smell and tried to distract me with food."

"Well," Bree said. "That's more than what we were able to figure out. But I doubt that it means he was trying to be too secretive to you. It was probably just something he wasn't comfortable with showing off."

"Yeah," Alex said. "Along with denying that he was gay, or bi, and trying to distract me so he could keep Jett from marking Shiro."

"What?" Jett asked.

"Man," Blake muttered. "We should have been trying to get answers from that beta all along."

"Overheard him fighting with an ex," Alex said. "That's when I first found him. The ex was obviously a dude, and an asshole at that, but when I tried to ask Geo about it, he looked like I had just summoned a damn demon."

"Maybe he didn't want to talk about it?" Blake asked.

"Except for the fact that he literally referred to the guy as a chick?"

"Hold on," Jett stopped them. "Enough with your theories on your newest crush. Was the whole reason Shiro was having someone guard that garden because of me, or because of the rest of the people there?"

"I'm going to say both," Alex told him. "He looked like he was going to try and throw you off right when you two were hugging. And I really didn't want to have to fight the guy."

He'd much rather fight him for a whole other reason. He was interesting to talk to, that was for sure. Out of all the people there, Geo seemed like the most normal in that pack. Honestly, Alex wouldn't even mind if they simply became friends. The guy was a great talker. Although, he would admit to himself that he would probably keep hitting on the guy until the end of time.

He would cave eventually.

"Jett, what did you expect?" Bree told her brother. "After what you did when you first realized that you two were mates, of course he would have brought someone to back him up."

"Great," Jett groaned. "I made myself seem like a damn fool."

"It would have been interesting to see that small fellow try and throw you around," Blake chuckled.

"Maybe we should teach Shiro's dad a lesson on how to treat his son," Alex said. He saw the way that the guy looked at him. Sakdah didn't like him. Throughout all the conversations that the both of them were in, the only time that man smiled was when someone gave him a compliment. Shiro was the one who smiled at everyone otherwise.

"Do you want to start a war?" Jett asked. "Because I definitely don't."

"It would be three to one," Alex said. "Considering Sakdah never did anything to actually strengthen relations with anyone. And we're the closest."

"I'd rather not go up against those warriors," Blake said. "Remember how they fought when we were taking down those hunters?"

That was true. As much as they were stronger than the Reverence Pack, those warriors used their speed and agility to make up for their size. They killed at least a dozen of the hunters that way. That and by the art of surprise.

"We aren't starting a war!" Jett said.

"I'm telling you Jett," Alex gave him a serious look. "Sakdah is the problem here. I can feel it."

He might have been trying to flirt with Geo throughout most of the party, but he also knew that the event was for business purposes as well. This was their first look into their neighborhood pack, and Alex wanted to gather as much information as he could. Since Jett was too busy staring at his newly found mate like a lovestruck buffoon, Alex took it upon himself to try and take in all the sites and people of the place.

"None of us like Sakdah, Alex," Jett said. "But it's not going to be too much longer until he steps down from his role and lets his son take over. Then all of this will just be a thing of the past."

"When is it going to be, anyway?" Bree asked.

"The first day of summer," Jett sighed. He looked so frustrated by all of this. Alex felt a little bad for him. Not that he would show it, though.

"Isn't that cutting it a little close?" Bree asked. She was getting all sassy again. It must be all the coffee she had drank that was getting her in this mood.

"Oh, I heard from Sophie that it's a normal thing to do over at her old pack," Manny told them. "They almost always welcome a new leader on the first day of a season."

"It's not like I exactly have a choice here, Bree," Jett said. "The last thing I want to do is force this stuff on him."

"Eh," Alex shrugged. "You've lasted this long without sex. I'm sure you can last a bit longer."

"Thanks Asshole," Jett rolled his eyes. Alex was glad he got him from being all sad at least.

"No problem," he smiled.

The conversation died a little as they walked down by the community center. Some huge storm had ravaged through the city the day after the party and there was still some debris from it on the streets. Alex remembered when him and Jett were teenagers and they got in trouble. Jett's dad had punished them by making them pick up trash in the city all day for three days. It was almost just as bad as the trash that littered the streets now.

"GyuHyoung!" they heard from the other side of the street. "Put that shirt back on!"

Alex didn't see anyone on the sidewalk. But he recognized that voice. That sounded like Kenji. He looked at Jett to see if they could all get a bit closer. He nodded his response.

"It's soaked with sweat, dad!" another voice yelled. "What, do you want me to get a rash?"

"Your being immodest!"

"Oh please!" the voice argued. He hadn't ever heard anyone yell at Kenji like this. "It's a shirt, and I'm a guy! You act as if guys don't do this all the time."

"You don't, GyuHyoung!" Kenji's voice boomed through the air. They finally looked up to see workers on the roof of the community center. The storm must have finally got to the old thing. "Go and put on a shirt!"

"I don't get it," the voice said. "First you tell me to do this fast, then I have to stop everything just to put on a shirt?!"

"That's an order, GyuHyoung!" Kenji said. "Do it, and be quick!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the voice said.

"I wonder who the hell is getting away with yelling at Kenji," Blake pondered.

"I don't know," Alex smiled. "But I like him already."

"You guys talking about the fight up there?" one of the workers asked. When they all nodded, the man laughed and shook his head. "That's him and his son. They fight like cats and dogs whenever they work together."

His son? Alex raced over to the back of the building before anyone could stop him. Of course, they were right behind him either way. They were all curious about this.

Kenji owned a roofing business in the city. Although his wife was the main one who took care of all the paperwork, they saw Kenji up on the rooves making sure that everything was going smoothly. He was a hard worker at least.

"I can't believe this is all over a damn shirt," the boy muttered. Alex recognized that voice now. It was one that seemed to make him smile every time he heard it. "Because immodesty is the top priority, even though everyone takes off their damn shirt when it's hot out and they've sweat in the damn thing so much I could ring it out. Oh, but we have so much to do today to prepare for the storms tomorrow," he mocked his father's voice as he said that last bit. "But you need to have a damn shirt on!"

Alex gave Jett a look.

"Watch this."

"That does seem pretty dumb."

Geo jumped right when he heard him. His eyes were wide for a second as he saw them all behind the building with him. He looked like a puppy that had just gotten caught tearing up a pair of shoes. Blake and Jett were trying to hold back some chuckles. He could tell by the way they held their breath.

He didn't actually look that bad topless. He wasn't that tan, but he looked pretty hot. There didn't seem to be an ounce of fat on him.

"How long have you all been standing there?" Geo asked.

"Long enough to realize why you guys don't ever have a tan," Alex smirked at him. "Also, what the hell was your dad calling you?"

"GyuHyoung," Geo said, walking to his car. "It's a mouthful. That's why I usually just go by Geo."

"And your dad makes you wear a shirt?" Blake asked. "Doing what you do? I'd at least ask for a raise for having to deal with all that yelling."

"Oh, I'm just the free labor," Geo laughed. He opened the door to his car and pulled out a neon orange shirt. It was a long sleeve one too.

"That's not right," Blake said.

"It's just how it is sometimes," Geo shrugged. "There's always a need for more workers. It's a family business anyway."

"He definitely is the easiest one to talk to," Jett mind linked with him.

"Oh yeah" Alex answered. "He's a blast to try and catch, too."

"So," Geo looked at them all curiously. "Is there a reason you guys came here? Did you all want to ask me something? Or are you just here to hang out in the community center?"

"What happened to it?" Bree asked. "Did the storm get to it?"

"Oh yeah," Geo told her. "It wasn't anything too bad. It was just getting worn. One of the workers noticed a small leak and decided to call us before the week of storms hit."

"Well, that was nice of you guys to come and help," Manny said.

"We do it all the time," Geo shrugged. "What, you guys don't see all the orange shirts on the rooftops?"

"That's all your father's company?!"

"Not all of them," Geo laughed. He had a great smile. It was the kind that just made you feel comfortable, rather than all the respectful smiles and bows that everyone else in that pack did. "But a lot of them are."

"GyuHyoung!"

"I'm coming!" he yelled over to the roof.

"Bring more supplies!"

Geo just rolled his eyes at that. Then he looked back at them.

"Looks like I gotta get going," he pointed his thumb back towards the building. "Before my ears fall off."

Alex snickered at that.

"It was nice meeting you," Bree said. "Besides at the party, of course."

"Of course, Luna Bree!" Geo smiled. Then his gaze wavered. "Uh, you guys don't mind me not doing all the formalities right now, right?"

"It's better you didn't," Blake shrugged. "We're all in the city anyway."

"I'm guessing your dad would kill you for that too?" Jett asked. It was the first time he talked since they came up to the building.

"Kinda," Geo said. "A lot of the elders tend to think that you should be formal everywhere you go, so that you represent the pack correctly."

"I think your elders need a reality check," Blake laughed. "How the hell can you manage to be formal with everything?"

"I'm kind of hoping that it'll change soon," Geo said. "Oh," he grabbed some of the supplies that his father had told him to. It looked heavy, but he picked it up as if it was nothing. "You guys should come to the carnival, by the way. It's coming to town in a couple days, as long as they don't get rained out."

"Sounds like fun," Bree smiled at him. "Are you and Shiro going to be there?"

"Along with Jin, and Miki," Geo said. "She wasn't able to stay long for the party last weekend, so I don't know if you guys met her yet. But you'll love her. She's a blast."

"Huh," Jett muttered to himself. "I wonder why Shiro didn't text me about it at all." He was looking at his phone frowning.

"Oh, yeah," Geo's face fell a little bit. "Shiro's been a bit busy with his father lately. I'll tell him you were asking for him, though. He probably hasn't had time to look at his phone."

Right after a party and he's busy with his father? Alex didn't like that. He also didn't like just how tense Geo got when he talked about it. It felt off.

"Alright," Jett said. That was probably why he seemed so frustrated at the moment. Alex knew he was going to be a clinger when he found his mate. Of course, he had to be mated to the one person who doesn't use their phone that much, and makes him wait to do anything.

"I'll see you guys later," Geo smiled at them. Then he started walking towards the latter by the side of the building.

"Hey Geo!" Alex got his attention. When Geo turned around, he couldn't help but smirk. "You looked better without the shirt, just so you know."

The look on his face was priceless. From shocked to annoyed in a matter of seconds. But there was something in those eyes that showed him that he was enjoying this at least a little bit. He bet the guy didn't get complimented that often.

"Thanks," he smirked back. "You look better with it on, just so you know."

Blake and Manny cracked up with that. Alex just took it with stride. He liked this game.

"How would you know?"

"Just a hunch," he shrugged and started to climb up the latter.

"I can prove you wrong!"

"Keep dreaming Hound dog!"

"Hound dog?" Jett laughed. "He called you Hound dog?!"

"I already like him," Bree laughed with him. "Good luck chasing his tail, Alex."

"He's going to be a poodle in no time," Blake said.

"Shut up!" Alex shoved him a bit. He looked back over to the latter to see that it was empty now. He didn't hear anymore yelling thankfully. All that he could hear were the sounds of electric tools being used and some people talking about what they needed to do.

"I wish that more of them could act like this," Jett said. "Now I know why they always seem so serious."

"They're a strange bunch," Bree said. "Hopefully we'll get to see more of them at the carnival."

"I know I'm looking forward to it," Alex said. There was no way in hell that he wasn't going. Not when there was a promise of someone as interesting as this puppy.