"It wasn't a mission, but more like a warning," Hunter said, playing the words over and over in his head. "The voice said for Jacota to brace himself and be ready for conflict."

The God climbed to his feet slowly. A storm brewed to keep his nerves calm, and the thunder rumbled in the distance, like a growl to warn off his predators. Without a word, he walked to the back of the garden and jumped over the fence, marching up to the tear and standing next to Jed and John with crossed arms and a stern face.

"They'll be angry at Cordelia. Her mother killed their ancestors," he thought to Hunter. "We befriended Cordelia, and they won't be happy."

"If that's the case, surely they would have expressed their concerns sooner?" Hunter replied.

"You okay?" John asked, introducing himself as Oliver's father and Jeduthun's soulmate.

"Yes. I'm just making sure that nobody can get through. The God's are coming."

"Oh..." John wanted to ask more, but he looked distracted. "Should we be worried?"

"I don't know."

Scott climbed over the fence and stood with his son.

"When will the God's arrive?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"You could be stood here all day."

"Dad," Jacota said, lowering his voice. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Me neither, but you have to be calm when they arrive. You're their leader, they can't disobey you."

"They can, and they will. Something's telling me the Gods are angry," Jacota ran a hand through his hair, trying not to panic.

There was a loud bang behind them, and the garden fence fell down, crushing the grass underneath the wooden planks. Anthony was revealed on the other side with a big hammer. William stood next to him, unable to get himself over the fence, and the werewolves were sick of climbing over it in the first place.

"There you go," Anthony smiled, patting the human's shoulder.

William, with leaden steps, made his way to his father and brother, not wanting to be left out of the discussion.

"You okay Jay?" he asked, eventually reaching them.

"Yeah." Jacota sighed heavily, wishing the air wasn't so dense. "I'm not much of a leader dad, I-"

"Stop," William said pointing his stick at Jacota's chest, shushing him. "We're all here to defend you if they try to take advantage of your kindness. They haven't met you, so don't give them a reason to doubt your leadership. I've seen you give speeches at the city meetings, you can be confident."

"I can be confident when I feel like it." Jacota started to fidget, a habit he thought he had grown out of until faced with challenging situations.

"And you don't feel it?" Scott asked, putting an arm around his shoulders and turning his head to watch all the new faces.

"People are coming from other worlds to meet you. You're not Jacota Jones for no reason. I've said this to you before, but you wouldn't have the powers and authority if you couldn't handle them. Don't lose faith in yourself when you've come so far."

"He's right," Jed said, and John nodded. "I don't even know you, and I can tell you're a compelling person, whether you intend to give me that vibe or not." Jed tapped his head. "I'm an angel you see, we know an admirable person when we're faced with one."

Jacota exhaled a slow breath, feeling a little more at ease.

"I'm nervous."

"We'll all be right here with you. We are in this world for you Jacota. You're on the side of the angels, and so are we."

* * * * *

The sky was covered in pink clouds, reflecting the sun sitting low in the sky. All day, Jacota Jones stood by the tear, waiting patiently for the unknown conflict. So far, there was no sign of the other Gods.

"He'll stay out there all night if he has to," Hunter sighed, watching his mate through the kitchen window. His pack stood around their Alpha, feeling anxious too.

"If he wants to stay up all night, I'll stand with him. I'm sure those who don't need to sleep will be with him too," Veronica said to reassure the worried werewolf.

"It shouldn't be this way." Hunter turned around, searching her cold eyes. "He shouldn't feel this scared to meet the other Gods."

"He just needs to show them who's boss, that's all."

Hunter shook his head. "He's already feeling vulnerable from meeting so many people today. He'll crumble if they hate him."

"That water Goddess will be on his side, and probably the Goddess of wisdom. You don't know what the conflict will be or if-" A tremendous crash interrupted her words, and the force of the impact shook the ground.

Everyone turned to see a line of fire across the grass, heading towards the tear to where Jacota no longer stood but was tackled to the ground almost twenty metres away by another man.

Jacota screamed when the man's flame-infested hands burnt his neck. No pain could compare to the feeling of burning flesh, melting and splitting apart.

Hunter pushed everyone aside, accidentally knocking William into the wall as he sprinted through the garden and across the field.

"FIGHT BACK!" he yelled, just as Veronica flashed next to them and jumped on the stranger. She tackled him to the ground, digging her nails into his skin and pulling his head until his neck cracked.

Hunter dragged Jacota away. His wounds healed with every passing second.

The stranger emitted a burst of flames and Veronica was flown back towards Jed and John, who rushed to her aid. The man stood, smirking at Jacota.

"You fulfil your rumours. They say you're weak and not fit for a God. I say you're not even fit to be a werewolf."

Hunter charged towards him when his anger took over. His fist raised but it never met the stranger's face, being held up by an invisible force. Instead, his own cheek was punched, and the strength was phenomenal. It felt like Hunter's brain shifted in his skull as he fell onto the floor.

It didn't matter how scared Jacota previously felt, his mate was getting attacked and nobody hurt Hunter Jones unless they wanted to expose the wrath of his husband.

A deep boom of thunder cracked in the air, loud enough to block everyone's thoughts. Electricity bolts appeared much brighter than ever before as they twisted furiously around Jay's palms. The God lifted both hands. His eyebrows deepened, and his eyes were wide with fury. Jacota roared, and an explosion of electricity ruptured from his hands, shooting into the stranger's chest as lightning came from the clouds, zapping the ground all around the field.

The man was wiped off his feet and the breath stolen from his lungs. He was powerless, flying through the air, over Jed and John's heads and into the woods, knocking down trees from how fast and how hard he hit them.

Jacota took a breath, and his powers retreated back to his hands. He was too aggravated to put it away and rushed to Hunter's side. He didn't have time to help his mate when someone else landed on the ground. Just like with the last intruder, Jacota's fingers tingled, letting him know that it was another God.

The man lifted his hand, and a rose appeared, floating above his palm. The stalk was covered in thorns, twisting like a snake.

"Jacota Jones. Rumoured to be the coward of the Gods," he said with eyes so green, they looked like little headlights. "But what I just witnessed proves that rumours are never facts."

"Who told you that? Why are you here to hurt me?" Jacota stayed with Hunter who managed to sit up, holding a broken jaw. His head felt like it spun so much, he had to rest it on the back of Jacota's shoulder to stay up.

"We don't want you in charge. The Gods fear you're on the losing side of the war, yet the angels trust you with their lives. Why is that, I wonder?" The man played with the rose in his hands, picking off a petal and watching each one turn into glitter and sprinkle to the ground.

"Who made you doubt me?" Jacota could see the other man appearing from the woods with a fire burning up his forearms.

"That's not important, but what you should really worry about is the other Gods. They're coming for you."

A woman crashed to the ground next to him. She had unique marks all over her skin as the man who Jacota assumed was the fire God stood on his other side. Then, another woman landed next to him, and then another person next to her. Jacota's fingers tingled to the point where they hurt. The Gods were here, and they were not happy.

"Pathetic," a woman mumbled, holding up her hand to reveal a tiny tornado, hovering above her palm.

"That is our leader?" a man asked, staring down at the God of electricity with an unimpressed frown.

"Now now, you just missed him take out the God of fire, isn't that right?" the man with the rose turned to the man with the flames, grinning with satisfaction.

The God of fire stepped forwards, delusional.

"He got lucky. It won't happen a second time." The fire intensified, and everyone took a step back when they felt the heat.

Jacota looked at the faces of the most powerful werewolves in the world. For years he has thought about what it would be like to meet people like him. He never thought it would be this disappointing.

"Who told you I wasn't a good leader?" Jacota asked, feeling a little more afraid under the gaze of such judgement. It mattered to him what the other God's thought. He was hurting to know they had as much faith in him as he had in himself. None.

"All it took was one hit to your mate's face. Look at the state he's in," the fire God said, and the other's laughed.

"He's just a werewolf, you're a God. Of course, you'd be stronger. You're the pathetic one for being proud of picking on a lesser being. Does it make you feel strong huh?" Veronica had returned to Jacota's side as Hunter's pack reached their Alpha. Veronica's demon soul showed through her eyes. "I pity you."

Jacota and Hunter's family made their way to the God and stood behind him, including all of the vampires, werewolves, hybrids, angels, and demons. The God's were quickly outnumbered, but their powers and strengths would be tough to beat.

"What's this? Need other people to fight your battles?" The God with the tornado laughed, and the wind picked up around them.

Panuleon crouched by Hunter and used his healing abilities to fix his jaw and life-threatening concussion.

"My son has done nothing to provoke this kind of anger!" Scott yelled.

"The old Jacota," the fire God grinned at Scott. "Or should I call you a traitor? Our ancestors died because you ran and hid. Your mate died for nothing, and that's on your hands."

Jeronah held Scott's arms to stop him from retaliating.

"This is why you're angry? Because of what Reyana did thousands of years ago?" Jacota asked, relaxing now that Hunter was healed.

"That, and someone has been observing you for a while now, reporting your every mistake back to us."

Anthony counted the God's, realising there were two missing.

"Cordelia?" he asked.

"Hah." The God with the rose snorted. "You think she'd dare come close to us after what her mother did?" He looked down at Jacota, his eyes glowing brighter. "Guess again."

"Wait," Sam said, kneeling by his Alpha. "The white wolf?"

"She said you had started to grow suspicious," the God sighed, bored that nobody was fighting. "We thought you'd forgotten."

"Who is she?" Sam asked, pulling Hunter and Jacota to their feet. Jacota felt the support of everyone behind him, and he slowly built up his courage.

"Not important."

"How can you come here with these assumptions about me and attack my mate, then have the nerve to keep your secrets?" Jacota asked, stepping forwards. The other God's braced themselves, and the God of fire lifted a hand. Jacota stared him down, ready to protect those he loved with all the energy he could give, even if it used his last breath.

The fire God's palm burst into flames, and he bared his teeth, about to shoot a fireball at him, but a blinding light shot from the sky and exploded in between them. Everyone was forced to cover their eyes or look away. The fire God backed into the others and the light dimmed, just as Cordelia arrived a few metres away, close enough to make it rain only above his head.

The fire on him sizzled and burnt out, but he was more focused on what caused the light.

Hunter dared to look through the gap in his fingers. He gasped, and his hand fell to his side, his eyes were wide and suddenly immune to the brightness. The glow was caused by another person, clearly, another God.

"Nana?" he whispered.