Uruha opened his eyes and sat up with a yawn. He stretched out and popped his back before looking down at his sleeping mate. He smiled and leaned down to give him a kiss before cuddling up next to him. Ruki didn't budge. Uruha laughed quietly. He knew he could be a handful during his heat and Ruki was always exhausted afterwards. He gently rubbed Ruki's hair out of his face before pressing a kiss on his forehead. Ruki moaned out a little before opening his eyes slowly.

"Hey sleepy head." Uruha said happily.

Ruki gave a small tired smile. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Great actually. I'm ready to take a bath." Uruha smiled. Ruki gave a slow nod before sluggishly raising up to his knees. Uruha watched with a loving smile as his lover stumbled over to his pants and struggled to pull them on. Ruki leaned up against the wall and took a deep breath before unlocking the door.

Ruki shut the door behind him and walked down the stairs to find a bunch of futons and blankets laying together in the middle of the foyer. He scratched his head and continued to walk towards his and Ruki's private room. He pulled out some items and stepped back out to find Tsuzuku and Toshiya setting down a pile of blankets.

"What's going on?" Ruki mumbled.

"A snowstorm is about to hit. We're getting the foyer ready and everyone is spread out around the factory boarding up the windows and doors. We have a group out getting supplies and boarding up the businesses." Toshiya said. "The storm will probably last a few days or so."

"Okay…well we're going to take a bath and probably go back to sleep." Ruki said and started walking away before they could answer. He stumbled up the stairs and stepped back into the room to find Uruha standing up eating a banana with a big smile on his face. Ruki gave a soft smile in return.

Kai was at his café with Hitsugi boarding up the windows like every other business around them. They had been there all morning securing the place and was finally finishing up with the door. Kai wiped the sweat from his brow and stepped back with a satisfied smile. He and Hitsugi grabbed their left over things and started walking towards the clinic. They had trouble walking through the already knee high snow. Kai looked up at the sky to see the dark clouds coming in closer.

As they made it up to the clinic where they found Kyo and Kaoru hammering wood planks on the windows. Aoi was standing next to Kaoru holding a box of nails. They walked up to them as a mother and daughter exited the clinic doors.

"Need some help?" Kai asked lifting his tools. Kyo nodded towards the window next to him that needed to be worked on. Kai walked to the window and lifted plank from the pile sitting next to him. He looked inside to find Reita sitting in front of a small girl in the waiting room. She was sitting on her father's lap wiping her eyes. Reita was waving his hands around and everyone around them started laughing. He reached over and wiped the girl's cheeks off. He stood up and offered his hand to her which she gladly grabbed. He led her to the back with her father following close behind. A cough caught his attention and he looked at Hitsugi who was standing there with his arms crossed. Kai apologized before getting to work.

Reita was putting a file away when Hide walked in from the back leading a patient out to the exit. He smiled at Reita and Shou before grabbing another file. He skimmed through it and placed it back down then did the same for the last of the stack. Reita stood up and grabbed the next file in line and walked to the door to call the next patient back. A young woman fidgeting in her seat followed him back to exam room two where he dropped her off. He went to the break room to tell Byou his next patient was ready, but found other familiar faces instead. Kai smiled as he held a cup of coffee.

"All we have left is the main door and we'll be done." He said taking a sip of his drink. Kyo was sitting at the table drinking from his cup with Shinya standing behind him massaging his shoulders. Aoi was standing behind Kaoru who was leaning against the wall. Reita walked over to them with a smile.

"Aoi, how are you feeling today?" He asked hoping to finally get a word out of him, but the man just hid more behind Kaoru's body. The alpha sighed and shook his head. Reita took the hint and walked away. As he passed Kai he rubbed his hand against the alpha's arm. Kai smiled in return and watched the blonde walk out.

Reita went on his hunt to find Byou, but when he stepped into the hall he found the fidgeting woman standing outside of her room. He walked up to her with a smile.

"It will only be a few more minutes and you'll be seen by a doctor."

She looked up with wide twitching eyes. She lifted her arm and in her hand was a pocket knife. "Give me drugs. Give me all your drugs."

"W-wait a second now. We don't actually carry medicine here. The doctor prescribes them as needed. You get them at the pharmacy." Reita tried to explain. She swiped the knife and Reita lifted his arm on instinct. She grazed his hand with the knife before stepping back. He looked sadly at her. She yelled as she stabbed the knife directly at Reita's chest.

Kai felt a sting in his hand and he felt a wave of sadness flow through his chest. He stood up right and sat his cup down. He walked towards the door when they all heard a woman scream. Kai darted out the door and looked down the hall to see Reita's back and woman in front of him. They all ran down towards him to find something surprising. Reita was holding the woman's wrist as she had a knife an inch from his chest. She tried pulling her arm from his grip, but he didn't budge. He looked at her with sad eyes. He reached is hand out and patted her head. Her eyes welled up with tears and she fell to her knees crying.

"Just give me the drugs!" She shouted. She slumped her body and let go of the knife. Reita let go of her so she could curl up on herself.

Shinya had called the cops and had the woman arrested. Reita had sat with her and kept calm until the police arrived. They finally found Byou who was outside smoking at the time. He was now bandaging up the small cut on Reita's hand. Shinya and Hide continued to help the last of the patients. Byou had joined them after he was done with Reita. The blonde sat quietly in the breakroom. Kai walked in and sat next to him.

"Hey what's wrong?"

"That woman…"

"Don't worry about her. Those types of people try that stuff all the time."

Reita sniffled and placed his head on Kai's shoulder. "She reminded me of an old friend. Riza. She was a fighter like me. But then my master did something to her. He injected her with something different one day and she became just like that. Begging for her next hit until she…"

Kai rubbed his lover's head. "I'm sorry."

"I tried to save Riza, but my master…he wouldn't let me."

"Well you saved this one. She's going to get help now." Kai said lifting Reita's face. He placed a soft kiss on the blonde's lips. Kyo was standing in the doorway listening in silence. The lights flickered and thundered rolled. The lovers looked at each other, then at their leader.

After the last patient was gone, Kyo and Hitsugi boarded up the door and the group headed back to the factory. They trudged through the high snow as the wind started to blow hard against them. Reita looked up at the dark sky as flakes of snow started to fall. He held his hand out to catch the flakes. The group stopped in front of him and looked back at him.

"Reita." Kai spoke. Reita looked at them and started to walk but something caught his foot. He fell face first into the cold fluff. Kai trudged to his lover, but the omega raised up and started laughing. Everyone started laughing with him. Kai reached down to help him up, but was pulled down instead. Reita has a huge smile on his face as he threw a ball of snow on Kai's head making the others laugh more. Kyo shook his head with a small smile as the two pushed snow onto each other. However, thunder stopped their movements and reminded them of the upcoming storm.

The group finally entered the factory foyer a little late to find everyone huddling in some blankets. Kyo spotted Uruha talking with Tsuzuku while Ruki slept on his lap. The honey blonde was rubbing his lover's head. Yoshiki was talking a couple of his pack as they approached him. Tora and Saga looked over at Kai, then at Kyo.

"We need to talk in private, Kyo." Yoshiki said and started to lead the other pack leader away. Once they were away from everyone he continued speaking. "Kyo, we have a problem."

"What is it?"

"Nao."

"Did he get out?" Kyo asked worriedly.

"No, but he can't stay in that room during the storm. He'll freeze in there if the electricity goes out."

"I can't risk him attacking Reita again."

"Tora said he would take full responsibility for Nao and watch him during the storm." Yoshiki watched as Kyo scowled and crossed his arms. "Don't you think it's time that pup came under my wing?"

"Yoshiki…I'm not sure if he's ready to change packs. To change his lifestyle."

"Well you have to do something. Why not try this? I promise to take great care of him."

Kyo thought for a moment and shook his head. "Very well. Tell Tora to let him out. I'll inform my pack."

Tora opened the door to the dark room where he found Nao sitting in the same spot as last time. He walked up and sat next to him.

"Nao." He whispered grabbing his friend's shoulder. "You can come out now."

"What?" He mumbled and looked at Tora with tired eyes.

"You'll have stay with me the whole time, but a storm is coming and we can't leave you in here. So if you promise to behave then you can leave the room."

Nao looked at the wall for a minute before slowly rising to his feet. His knees popped and he stumbled when he started walking. Tora caught him and held him against his chest making him blush. Nao pushed off him and slowly walked out of the room to see Saga smiling at him. He felt Tora walk up behind him.

"What?" Kai's growl echoed in the foyer. Nao looked down to see his ex-mate and Kyo talking to each other. Reita had his hand on Kai's shoulder. The alpha looked up at Nao and let out a growl but Tora stepped in his line of sight. Nao grabbed the back of Tora's shirt and Reita pulled at Kai's arm to tug him away.

Everyone could feel the tension rise in the room from the moment of Kai's outburst. Tora made sure to keep Nao on the other side of the room from Kai. Reita forced Kai to sit and give the blonde a massage. Hitsugi and Uruha were laughing at how Kai was so easily calmed by Reita. Kaoru was peeking outside the door to see the wind picking up and the thunder was becoming louder. He sighed and shut the door and locked it up. He turned to see Aoi standing there smiling.

"Let's head back to the foyer." He said and started to walk, but Aoi grabbed his arm.

"Kaoru…"

"What is it?"

"I need to talk to you." He mumbled pressing his head against Kaoru's shoulder.

"I'm listening."

Aoi gripped the alpha's sleeve tighter. "Earlier. When we were working on fixing up restaurant's windows I saw him."

"Who?" Kaoru asked.

"My…my master." He whimpered. "He smiled and waved at me then left."

The alpha pulled away, but gipped Aoi's shoulders. "Why didn't you say anything?"

His eyes watered up. "I was scared. I didn't want Kyo to force me to leave. I didn't want to cause any trouble for you all."

Kaoru rubbed the omega's cheek gently and stepped closer. "You won't cause any trouble for us. Kyo won't make you leave because I want you to stay. I said it before and I'll say it again, I'll protect you."

Aoi froze as the alpha came closer to his body. Kaoru leaned in grazing his lips against the raven's chapped ones, but Aoi quickly turned his head away and stepped back to hug himself. Kaoru closed his eyes as he turned and started walking back towards the foyer. Aoi bit his bottom lip as he ran up behind him. They entered the large room just as the lights flickered. Thunder shook the factory silencing the pack. Kyo clapped his hands bringing everyone's attention to him.

"Let's get ready to rest for the night." He announced.

Soon the room was dark and everyone was huddled together on the futons. Kai held Reita in his arms as they shared a blanket. Uruha had cuddled up beside Ruki who was still knocked out from earlier that day. Tsuzuku, Hitsugi, IV, and Takeru were piled up on each other. Some of Yoshiki's pack were piled up in a similar fashion next to them. Miyavi was curled up in a ball under some blankets as Melody slept next to him, using Toshiya's thighs as a pillow. Shou and Hiroto were both using Byou as a pillow. Kyo had fallen asleep leaning against Yoshiki's back while Shinya laid on his lap. Hide was mirroring him and using Yoshiki as a pillow as well. Tora and Saga slept quietly with Nao in between them, but the young wolf wasn't asleep like the rest of them were. His eyes opened up and he slowly sat up. He was silent as he stood up and waited to see if anyone was awake before moving. Unknowing to him, eyes across the room followed his movements.

Nao carefully stepped over the sleeping bodies and made his way to the opening of the hallway. He crept his way down and turned right to go towards to the kitchen. He walked in and headed straight to the counter where the knives sat. He grabbed the large chef's knife and pulled it out. He stared at the blade through the darkness. He squeezed the handle and turned around. He walked back to the foyer and scanned the room once more before proceeding to his target. He stepped over the bodies in the room. Eyes followed him, but the owner didn't make any movements from his spot against the wall. Nao stood over the lovely couple holding each other as they slept.

'Kai was supposed to be mine. If I can't have him, no one can.' He thought glaring at the alpha. He raised the knife in the air. Before he could move to strike a hand wrapped around his mouth and one grabbed his hand. He felt the body behind him press against him.

"Let it go." Tora whispered. Nao closed his eyes and let the alpha take the knife from his hand. He dropped his arm and tears rolled down his cheeks. "Nao, look at them. They're mated. They're in love. Reita has Kai and you will never get him back. But you have me. Let me be a part of you. Let me take Kai's place and let me love you."

Nao whimpered and fell into Tora's embrace. Tora looked over at the wall and saw Kaoru standing there halfway through changing into his wolf form. He was reverting back into his human form looking at them.

"Thank you." Tora whispered and Kaoru moved back down to sit next to Aoi's sleeping form. Tora pulled Nao away and forced him to lie down. The pup began to cry, but warm arms surrounded his body. Saga pulled him in close as Tora moved down wrap his arms around the both of them.

Kaoru petted Aoi's face and continued to watch over the pack. Thunder continued to roll throughout the night and soon it began to grow cold in the building. The electricity had gone out so the heat was no longer available. Aoi shivered on the floor and curled up. Kaoru moved down and laid next to him hold him close. Kaoru closed his eyes finally allowing sleep to take over his body.

A particular loud thunder startled a few of the pack members awake including Reita. The blonde sat up from his spot and looked around the room to see a few others sitting up too. The doors at the front began to shutter as the wind continued to beat against it. He sighed and laid back down. He closed his eyes with a deep breath and relaxed his body.

When Reita opened his eyes again he was sitting under the leafless oak tree. He quickly looked around to find himself alone. Even his inner wolf was nowhere to be found. He stood up to find the normally green forest around him was now brown. The sun was covered in grey clouds. He walked to where his inner wolf usually laid to find only the roots of the tree. Reita pressed his hand against the tree and found it warm. A wind blew hard and pushed him into the tree. He turned to find a familiar man standing behind him. Reita gasped but before he could move chains wrapped around his body. Dogma was smiling as he raised his arm up. A black slime shot from his hand and wrapped around Reita's mouth silencing him. The chains pulled his body down to the ground. Dogma walked up to him and pressed his foot on his head. He dug Reita's head into the ground making him whimper.

Kai felt off. Something was wrong, but he couldn't quite place it. He shook it off as being in the place between awake and dreaming. As he fell into his dream again he felt a pull at his chest. It was familiar. It was Reita. Kai opened his eyes, but he wasn't back in the foyer. He was looking up at a cloudy sky. He heard a moan and turned to find Reita chained down and being consumed into a man's body. Black slime was covering his body.

"Reita!" Kai shouted, but found his voice silent. He tried shouting again, but nothing came out. The man smiled towards Kai as Reita tried to break free from his bindings. Kai moved to step forward, but slime wrapped around his body and forced him to the ground. He struggled and glared at the laughing man.

Kai took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He concentrated on his owner inner self. Brown eyes opened up and the figure walked up the hill. The black wolf looked over at his own human form. He charged forward and jumped into the air. Kai growled out and tackled into the slime figure. Reita's eyes grew wide when he saw the wolf.

'Kai.' He whimpered to himself. He pulled at the bindings and forced himself to lift up. The slimed leg shook as it was pushed up. A green leaf floated in front of him and a gust of wind hit them. Reita blinked only to find a white wolf sitting in front of him. It was still thin and sickly. It faced the man and let a low growl. The man swung and threw Kai off toward his human form. When the wolf collided with him, it burst into a hundred rose petals. Kai's human eyes opened up and he looked up at Reita struggling to stand up.

"Don't touch my Kai!" Reita yelled breaking a few chains. The man's whole body had turned into a pile of moving sludge with only half his face still showing. Sludge moved out forming into three thin spikes. Reita's inner wolf growled. Two of the spikes stretched out aiming towards Kai's body.

"Kai!" Reita screamed out and the wolf darted past him. Kai watched as the white canine ran in front of him and was impaled by the two spikes. He heard a gasp and looked back to see the third spike sticking out of Reita's chest. He felt himself scream, but everything became silent. The white wolf turned into leaves, but instead of floating away they moved over to Reita and wrapped around the spike in his chest. The sludge harden and broke apart letting Reita fall to his side. Kai watched as the sludge spikes and the whole ball harden then break apart.

He felt his the slime around his body fall off allowing him to move freely. The cluster of leaves floated to the tree roots and took the form of the white wolf once more where it was chained to the roots. Kai stumbled over to Reita's body and knelt beside him. The blonde laid motionless as Kai lifted his body into his arms.

"Reita?" Kai he whimpered. His face began to crackle and take the shape of leaves. He watched as his lover turned into leaves and a wind pulled them away. "Reita!"

"Kai! Wake up!"

Kai's eyes shot open and he was looking straight up at Kaoru and Kyo's faces. He jumped up and turned to find Reita on his side vomiting with Uruha rubbing his back. He crawled over and pushed Uruha to side. He lifted Reita's teary-eyed face and pressed his head against the blonde's own. He pulled Reita into a tight hug and let him cry out. They ignored the stares they were getting and just embraced each other. Kyo waved his hands signaling everyone to disperse, but Saga sat next to them.

He whispered. "Calm down. Take a few breathes and get a hold of yourselves. When you're ready you need to talk about it."

Meto walked up to them holding a bucket of water and a rag. Uruha stepped over and grabbed it from him and sat next to Reita's mess to clean it up. Kyo watched from a few feet away with a worried expression