Chapter twenty one:

"My… Leader….?" Jay questions in shock at the sight of his leader crying his eyes out.

"I'm sorry!" The leader repeats with a rather heavy sob with his shoulders shaking so badly. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't be honest from the start!"

"What… What do…. You mean…..?" Jay is doing everything he can to hold onto life to hear what it is that the other needs to tell him.

"I never wanted to be with someone else." The leader pauses to sniffle before continuing what he is trying to tell him. "I've only wanted you."

Jay stares at the leader he looked up to for so long. He never in his life had ever thought that he'd hear his leader tell him that he wants him to be his mate.

"If I was only honest from the start then maybe we wouldn't be here now." The leader closes his eyes tightly as if he cannot believe how stupid he had been.

"Why…?"

The leader's eyes blink open upon hearing the question being spoken. His eyes flicker to lock with the other who is in his arms.

"Why… Didn't… You say…. Anything…?" Jay asks what has been bugging him. He just wants to know why his leader wasn't honest from the start. He wants to know why his dearest leader wouldn't let them become a thing like they both had wanted so badly.

"My sincerest apologies." The leader begins the explanation with yet another apology that Jay is starting to get tired of hearing from the other. "I just felt like I had too many enemies. I was scared that if I made you my mate then you'd be targeted. That I'd lose you to death or that you'd get hurt. I didn't want that to happen to you. So I thought if I found someone I didn't care about as much as you to take as my mate then you would be safe. I was going to put you on a safer job until I realized that it might seem suspicious if I wanted you to stay out of all of this. So I gave you a job away from the main fighting. I've seen how you can lose anyone off your tail. I believed you could do it. I just couldn't stop myself from worrying though. So finally I came to find you. And if I had come looking sooner… Or if I had put you on a different job… If I had just told you the truth…." He finds himself starting to lose his ability to finish his own sentences as if words are now begin to become lost for him. He blinks a few times upon hearing a weak request from the other.

"Kiss me."

So he did. He leaned down closing his eyes as he seals his lips over the others. He can feel the other returning the soft and gentle kiss communicating feelings of love and passion in a simple kiss. He slowly stops when he can no longer feel the other kissing him back. He raises his head opening his eyes halfway looking down to the lifeless face of his love. He knows that the others eyes had closed when they had shared their first and final kiss together. "I love you. I promise to never forget about you."

"Kaoru?" Hikaru speaks up keeping his voice down causing Kaoru to turn to him. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." Kaoru confirms softly. "Should be safe soon." He peers back around the corner just in time for the leader to look up. He is sure that the other must figure that he has just peered around just now.

The leader brings Jays body up into a bridal style of carrying. He tilts his head in a gesture to come.

""Lets go." Kaoru leads Hikaru around the corner as he helps him do so.

Hikaru glances to the leader in confusion and slight fear. His eyes drift to the blood and bodies of the wolves.

"They're friends of mine. Well these two are." Kaoru gestures his head to the leader when Hikaru glances to him as he speaks. "They are some of the ones who agreed to help me out."

"We need to move." The leader tells the twins who nod in agreement.

Hikaru glances to Jay then his eyes flicker up to the leader in worry.

The leader turns away sadly making Hikaru's heart sink.

Hikaru clutches Kaoru and presses close to try to help comfort him of losing a friend. He swears he's never met these people before however if Kaoru declared them to be friends then they're his friends too. He feels a soft pang of loss and wish he hadn't been captured so Kaoru wouldn't have to lose a friend of his.

They all get going as they hurry along through the building to try to get out of here.

The leader leads them around a corner and they slow finding a large, even for werewolves, wolf standing there like a guard to some doors.

The wolf snarls spreading its feet ready to attack as it bares its fangs.

The leader gently places Jay's body down then after placing a kiss on his cheek he stands up. He looks to the wolf with a smirk dancing upon his face. "You wanna dance little wolf?" He questions making the wolf snarl even angrier now. He shifts one foot back and lowers his shoulders arching his spine out backwards. He moves his arms and hands out a little.

It becomes a tense few seconds as they wait to see who will be the one to move first.

Finally the wolf can't seem to handle it anymore and begins dashing at a rather quick speed towards the leader.

The leader also charges towards the other also at quite the fast speed. He slams into the wolf meeting it halfway.

Kaoru tries to keep Hikaru behind him as best as he can to protect him just in case. He stands there having understood that he is to wait here with Jay's body and with Hikaru. His eyes remain on the fight as the two are tumbling around on the ground fighting to kill each other. His focus is on his clan's leader waiting for any sort of signals or secret gestures. He can't even fight the need to do this not even wanting to in the first place. His instincts to follow his clan leaders commands has just taken over and he is ready to follow them down to the last detail.

Hikaru does notice the very intense focus Kaoru has on the one that had been holding the corpse of their friend. He turns away figuring that it's just because he's watching to see if the other needs help or something. He wonders if he should tell Kaoru that he can go to help his friend though he thinks it over again. He isn't sure if Kaoru would even go because it would leave Hikaru and the corpse defenceless and they're trying to win to escape. If Hikaru was captured again the friend's sacrifice would not only have been for nothing however it would set them back in progress. He keeps his mouth shut and lets Kaoru and his friends figure out what to do. He is ready to move to follow through with whatever his dear brother tells him to do.