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| Jackson—Aegisguard, Dor-Sanguis, The Caederian Temple |

The idea of heading back to Greykin made Jackson feel a little on edge, but he wouldn't let it consume him. He was doing what he knew Daimon would do; anything that could help them fight against the cadejo had to be obtained. Leaving Daimon behind, though...that made Jackson feel sick. But there wasn't anything he could do but wait. He'd saved him from the virus, and although he'd turned him into a forbidden creature, there was a way to save him.

And maybe...maybe what he'd done to save Daimon could become a way to save other people. But he didn't want to get ahead of himself. He wasn't a scientist, and he didn't know all the rules of the Caeleste world, either. All that mattered was that he hadn't lost the man he loved—he wouldn't lose him.

"Everyone ready?" came Raphael's voice.

Jackson and the pack turned to face the door to the round room they waited in and watched as the orange-haired man approached the table.

"Yeah," Jackson said with a nod.

"All right," Raphael muttered, placing a file on the table. He opened it and spread out several photographs. "These are the drone images we received of the hybrid pack's last location. They were seen here just an hour ago, and they're heading east, away from where we last saw the phantom."

Lance held up his hand. "Just uh...curious here, but...shouldn't we also be going after the phantom? Isn't that thing patient zero? You need him to—"

"We already have a team on the phantom's trail," Raphael interjected.

"Who?" Jackson blurted.

"Cyrus," the orange-haired man replied. He tapped the table. "This is Luan. He assumed control of the pack when all eligible lycans died. He's very skeptical; his time with Cyrus left him believing that we wish to do him harm. Sadavir, a wolf much like Kane, convinced Luan that we wanted to feed him to an angry god to make all the wrongs right, the wrongs being the cadejo virus and the divide between humans and Caeleste. Jackson, we believe that he'll listen to you because, like him, you're a hybrid. Albeit you're not exactly the same, but it's enough," he explained firmly.

Wesley crossed his arms and stood beside Jackson. "What should we expect from these lycans?" he asked with a cautious frown. "We saw videos, and the Zenith told us that they have powers."

Raphael sighed and reached across the table, taking the file that Lord Caedis had given them. "If you'd read the file, you'd know."

"We haven't had time," Brando muttered. "We literally just finished getting our gear together. We haven't had time to rest or grieve or wrap our heads around any of this, either. Our Alpha's being kept from us, and all we've been told is that they're debating whether he gets to live or die."

The pack murmured and nodded in agreement, making Jackson feel guilty.

"Look," Wesley said firmly. "Whatever happens, we're not going to lose Alpha Daimon." He looked expectantly at Jackson. "Right?"

Jackson nodded. "Like I said, I'll use my reward to save him."

The pack murmured again.

Raphael sighed irritably. "Okay, listen," he called over the quiet mumbles. "Subjects 111, 114, and 117 are dead. Subjects 110 and 119 are being held at Cyrus' packhouse. The remaining subjects all have different abilities, and it's fairly easy to tell them apart because not only are they all different types of lycan but they also all have different moon symbol birthmarks on their heads." He pointed to each photograph as he explained, "Raith, 112, muto jubatus, can control fire, but she can't create it. Judith, 113, muto panthera, can use her venom to control whatever and whoever she bites. Feray, 115, muto jaguar, has the ability to compel weaker-minded people. Mani, 118, and his twin, Tarkik, 119, both muto lyncis, could transform their black fur into scaled armour and join together to become one huge, scaled lycan, but since Tarkik is at Cyrus' packhouse, Mani alone can only transform his black fur into scales, armouring half his body."

"Woah, that's kinda freaky," Julian drawled, pulling the photograph of the massive, scaled beast closer.

Raphael tapped the last two photographs. "Lusine, 120, muto nix pardus, can control ice, and Deimos, 121, muto album tigris, can invoke incredible strength." He glanced around at everyone. "Luan, 116, wolf walker, is particularly dangerous because he can summon the Hell Demon Raum."

Uneasy murmurs circled the pack.

"Who's Raum?" Jackson asked.

"An Earl of Hell. He steals treasures, and Luan, in a way, I suppose, is considered a treasure to Lyca Corp.," Raphael explained. "We don't know whether Luan controls Raum or if Raum controls Luan, or if they have some sort of agreement going on. Either way, he has Raum at his disposal. Whatever happens out there, we should do well to avoid making Luan summon him."

"Can Jackson summon demons?" Julian asked.

Raphael shot Jackson a half-stare. "I don't know. Maybe. But there's no time to find out. We're leaving."

As Raphael hastily led the way out of the room, Jackson and the pack said their farewells to Remus before following. When Raphael shifted into his wolf form, so did everyone else. In the middle of the hall, a portal much like the one they'd escaped through earlier appeared, sizzling and spinning, and Raphael stepped through.

Jackson glanced around the hellish plane as he and his pack trailed behind the orange wolf. A massive, crimson moon-like mass absorbed the space above; winged creatures screeched and raced around like startled birds, and the smell of sulphur burned the insides of Jackson's throat. He spotted a huge crystal mass in the middle of the crater-like area, and crimson and golden streaks pulsed inside, emitting a loud, rhythmic hum.

"What is this place?" Julian asked.

"Strămoş Luca's realm," Raphael answered. "This way."

He took them through another portal, which led to the snowy tundra. Greykin's dark, towering mountains were just visible through the light flurry of falling snow, and the smell of pine began overwhelming that of sulphur.

They were back in Greykin Valley.

The pack grouped up around an old ruin, and once everyone left the portal, it closed behind them, leaving only a wide crater of melted snow where the spinning, sizzling edges had been.

"Why's it suddenly dark again?" Julian questioned.

"Ascela is eleven hours behind Dor-Sanguis, which is where we just came from," Raphael said. "It's almost midnight here."

"Oh...that makes sense," Julian replied.

"Everyone, keep your eyes peeled for cadejo," Raphael then commanded. "Jackson, make sure you have the inimă close."

Jackson nodded.

"Let's move," the orange wolf said and began leading the way again.

The pack did as they were told.

But Jackson quickly grew...conflicted. He knew that he should be following Raphael—he knew where Luan's pack were heading, right? Did he, though? Jackson's instincts were suggesting otherwise. Something urged him to turn right and move deeper into the denser part of the woods, it insisted that Raphael's path through the tall, thinned-out trees wasn't going to get them where they needed to be.

And Jackson didn't want to risk wasting time or losing track of the hybrid pack altogether. "I think we should head this way," he said as he slowed and halted.

Raphael stopped and looked back at the pack as they stared at Jackson. "No, we're going this way."

Jackson shook his head and nodded towards the deeper woods. "My instincts are telling me that we need to go that way."

"You're sure?" Wesley asked, ignoring Raphael's aggravated scoff.

"Completely," Jackson replied firmly.

"The drone images clearly showed that they were heading this way," Raphael growled impatiently. "Let's move. We're wasting—"

"Jackson's instincts have never really been wrong before," Dustu said.

"Yeah," Ethan agreed.

Jackson glanced at the tiger. He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about him and the fact that he seemed to have gotten over their argument already. The miserable look that had clung to his face was gone, and Jackson couldn't help but wonder...was Ethan hoping that Daimon would be executed? Did he think that Daimon being removed from the picture would make Jackson change his mind about him?

The idea made Jackson feel sick. But it was only speculation. Ethan was sometimes very good at hiding his emotions, and it could very well be that his friend was just doing a good job disguising his despair. There were more important things to focus on right now, though.

"We're going this way," Jackson said firmly and turned right—

Raphael pounced and landed in front of Jackson, blocking his path. "Did you not just fucking hear me?!" he roared angrily. "We're going that way!"

Jackson couldn't stifle his snarl. He was angry—the aggravation brewing inside him was thickening, and as he glared into Raphael's green eyes, he gritted his teeth. "If you wanna go that way, then by all means, go. But I'm going this way." He walked past the orange wolf—

"You little—"

"Hey!" Wesley snapped, barging between them before Raphael could swipe Jackson with his paw. "We're not here to argue or fight like this. We need to find those wolves; the entire fucking Caeleste world is relying on it, so let's just..." he paused and exhaled deeply. "Alpha Daimon trusts Jackson, and so do we. We're going with him. And like Jackson said, if you're so sure that Luan and his pack are that way, then go," he said firmly, glaring at Raphael.

The fact that it wasn't Daimon protecting Jackson made his heart hurt. It reminded him that his mate was in critical condition, locked up somewhere in that temple awaiting a decision on his life. It was enough to make him cry, but he wouldn't. He had to be strong.

"You're all a bunch of fucking idiots," Raphael snapped, backing off.

"We're the idiots?" Ezhno asked with a scoff. "Those drone images were like...what? An hour old? You do know how far a lycan can travel in an hour, right? And out here, changing course isn't odd."

Raphael snarled—

"Come on," Wesley urged Jackson, nudging him. "Lead the way."

With a nod, Jackson headed towards the deep woods.

"Hey!" Raphael growled and pounced again—

Wesley, Ezhno, Lance, and Leon shoved the orange wolf away. Raphael snarled again, but he didn't follow. He stood there, watching as the pack walked off, following Jackson's lead.

Jackson worried that he might have just broken another demon law. Was he allowed to disobey the orders of a superior, or did that only apply to packs? He wasn't sure, but what he was sure about was that he needed to go the way he was going.

"I don't like him," Lalo muttered.

"I don't think anyone likes him," Julian replied.

"He's so like...full of himself," Leon uttered. "Oh, look at me, I'm demon royalty, so I can do whatever I want, I'm an asshole, I have no friends," he mocked.

Some of the pack laughed lightly.

"You're sure it's this way?" Wesley asked quietly.

Jackson nodded. "Yeah. I just...know that we need to go this way to find what we're looking for."

The Gamma nodded. "All right." He then huffed and looked at Jackson. "Look, I'm sorry for snapping in the hall. We're just all worried about Alpha Daimon."

"I know, it's okay," Jackson said, glancing at him. "But he's gonna be okay. He's Daimon. He'll pull through...one way or another," he said. Not only was he trying to assure his packmate but himself, too.

Ethan and Julian appeared on Jackson's left.

"So...what's the plan?" Julian asked.

Jackson hadn't thought that far ahead. Daimon would have a plan, wouldn't he? "Well...from everything we've learned, I feel like the best approach is to try and level with Luan. We're both hybrids, we've both been through a lot, and we both just wanna protect our packmates."

"What if they think we wanna hurt them?" Lalo asked. "You know, like...lure them in to be experimented on."

The fear of being poked and prodded was a familiar experience. Jackson knew too well what it was like to be afraid of waking up on an operating table with his guts cut out. "Well, I can level with him on that, too. I thought the Venaticus and Nosferatu were gonna wanna experiment on me, but they didn't."

"You got this," Ethan said firmly.

Jackson glanced at him and smiled as best as he could through his uncertainty.

"All right, let's travel in silence for a bit," Wesley called. "Remember, keep your eyes peeled. Any movement, you announce it."

Everyone nodded.

Jackson led the way in silence. He wasn't sure what he might be heading towards, and leading the pack admittedly felt a little unnerving, but...it was also exciting. Knowing that they trusted him enough to follow his lead made him feel relieved and content; he had to concentrate, though. He had to be ready for what they might face once they moved deeper into the woods. And whatever that may be, he'd deal with it. He'd protect his packmates, and he'd do whatever was necessary to convince Luan and his lycans to go with them back to the temple.

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