The pack was walking down a gravel road, the sun was making its way up to the middle of the sky as they sauntered on under its heat. Kaoru had taken the lead with Kyo following in the rear keeping watch on everyone and the surroundings. Kaoru stopped for a moment seeing a familiar rusty black gate, but continued forward with Aoi in tow. Kaoru pushed the gate open and stepped in, but stopped. The pack walked up next to him stopping as well. Even Kyo took a minute to look at the two story, white, decrepit house. The windows were boarded up, but some had a plank or two missing, probably fallen off over time. The white paint was chipped, wood rotted on some areas, and the roof had a few spots with holes in it.

Reita, who had been riding on Kai's back, slowly lifted his head with droopy eyes.

"Are we here?" He whispered.

"Yeah, we made it." Kai said.

"That's good." Reita said before dropping his head again.

Uruha rubbed his stomach as he looked at his mate and gave him a tired smile. They finally made it. Kaoru took a deep breath squeezing Aoi's hand before taking the first step forward. He led the way up to the house, but then he stopped and looked at the porch. The wood was broken in some spots while rotting in other spots. Kaoru let Aoi go and knelt down to crawl under the porch.

"Kaoru?" Aoi asked.

"He's getting the spare keys." Kyo said. "You didn't think he'd keep this place unlocked this whole time did you?"

Aoi looked at the ground with a blush. Kaoru crawled back out with a small red tool box rusted and covered in dirt. Kaoru opened it up and pulled out a ring of keys as he climbed up the creaking porch steps. The keys jingled as he unlocked the dead bolt and doorknob lock. He took a deep breath as he pushed it open to show the dark room. The pack started walking forward, but Kyo raised a hand to stop them. Kaoru needed a minute to himself.

The alpha took a few steps in looking around the room. There was no electricity, so the only light was coming from the windows that had the broken planks. The air was dusty, what furniture was there was covered in white sheets, and the floor was covered in a layer of dirt.

Aoi was outside watching and he looked to Kyo waiting for permission to go forward, but pack leader just raised an eyebrow and Aoi realized he didn't need that permission. He was Kaoru's mate after all. Aoi ran forward and joined the alpha inside the house. He grabbed Kaoru's hand catching his attention, and the alpha looked at him with a smile. Kaoru looked back at the pack and nodded at Kyo. The pack leader gave a curt nod in return and led the remaining pack inside too look for themselves.

"Kai." Shinya said waving his hand for the alpha to follow. The beta walked to a couch and pulled the white sheet off of it. Reita groaned as he was nudged by the other blonde. "Come on Reita, you'll feel better laying down."

He let out a mumbled 'K' before moving to put his shaking legs down. Shinya helped him stay up until Kai was able to turn around and help Reita stay upright. They moved him to the couch and he slowly laid down on his side. Kai knelt down next to him and started rubbing his head, making him smile.

"Okay, listen up." Kyo caught everyone's attention. "I know you're all tired, but we need to start fixing up this place. Histugi, Koichi, Ryoga, Miyavi, Tsuzuku, Kai, and Ruki: you all start getting the boards off the windows. The rest of you, start cleaning up all the rooms and get them ready to sleep in tonight."

"Ruki," Uruha mumbled rubbing his eyes.

"Kyo," Ruki said. "Uru needs to rest."

The pack leader nodded. "There's a room down the hall to the right. You guys can take that room, but once he's settle I need you helping around the house."

"Of course." Ruki said and grabbed Uruha's hand. "Come on."

Kaoru only listened a little to Kyo's orders before heading upstairs towards the master bedroom. His old bedroom. Aoi was walking up behind him as they entered and he watched as Kaoru pulled the white sheets off the bed. The alpha grazed his fingers on the wooden bedframe, his eyes and mind were lost in memories. He looked up, spotting Aoi standing in the doorway watching. Kaoru cleared his throat as he walked over to the omega and led him back out of the room closing the door behind them.

The pack started on their assignments, working on the house without complaint. Kyo had dug through the bags they brought and finally found a flashlight. He and Kaoru went to the back of the house towards the laundry room. By the doorway was a bookshelf to the right wall. The two alphas pushed it out of the way revealing a door in the wall. Kaoru unlocked it and opened it up showing the stairs going down into darkness. They turned the flashlight on, walked down the stairs, and shined the light around the dark room. It landed on a large metal box with a combination lock on it.

They walked to it and Kaoru spun the lock right, left, then right again hitting the desired numbers. There was a click and the alpha grabbed the handle to open it up. They shined the light inside, revealing the two black bags sitting at the bottom. Kaoru pulled them out, opened them both up showing the money that filled the both of them. He looked up Kyo and nodded before they each grabbed one to carry up the stairs.

Reita was in a deep sleep, but something was starting to pull at his mind. He opened his eyes, finding the room he was in lighter than before. He sat up enough to look around but plopped back down on the couch. Something felt weird in his stomach. He rubbed his hand down his torso and abdomen. He let out a soft grunt as the feeling grew like a cramp, but something about it was different. Before he could process it, he felt a sharp pain go through his stomach as if he was being stabbed by knife. He curled into a ball and bit his lip whimpering, trying not to scream.

He couldn't hold it in much more and let out a loud cry burying his head into the cushion. He was so lost in his own pain it took him a moment to register the warm hand on his shoulder and he slowly looked up to see Shinya beside him. Reita whimpered out gripping the beta's hand. He let out a deep gasp as the pain started to subside.

"Here." Byou said walking up with a rag and a half empty bottle of water in his hands. Shinya took the wet rag and wiped off Reita's sweaty face. The blonde hummed at the cool feeling and looked at the two doctors. Shinya took the water from Byou, who had uncapped it, and lift Reita's head up. The blonde gladly drank the water down before pulling his head away, signaling he was finished.

"Feeling better?" Shinya asked, and Reita nodded his head. "Good, now tell me what happened."

Reita took a steady breath before explaining the pain in abdomen, and Shinya had him lay on his back. The blonde ignored the uncomfortable feeling in his backside as Shinya felt his stomach to check for any obvious signs that caused the pain. He couldn't find anything, so he helped the blonde back on his side.

"Tell me if it happens again. Once I get access to some equipment, I'll give you a proper examination okay."

Reita nodded. "I'm tired."

"Alright, we'll leave you alone for now. I'm going to give you some more medicine in a couple of hours. Yell for me if you need anything." Shinya said. Reita gave them another nod as his eyes slowly closed. Byou and Shinya were quiet as they slipped out of the room. Shinya glanced back into the living room though.

"What's wrong?" Byou asked.

"Normally, when Reita's in pain, Kai would be by his side in seconds, but…"

Byou caught on to what the beta was saying. "Do you think…Kai caused the pain and doesn't want to see Reita because of it? Like before?"

"I don't know. Keep cleaning up, I'm going outside." Shinya said.

Shinya slipped passed Reita, who had drifted off to sleep, and went outside. He walked around the house until he spotted the alpha pulling off another plank at the back. Beside him was a rusty ladder with Ruki at the top working on the window to the second floor. Shinya cleared his throat catching Kai's attention.

"Shinya." The brunette nodded.

"Kai, did you…" He hesitated, but decided to be straight forward. "Did you feel Reita a minute ago?"

"What do you mean? He's sleeping right now. Right?"

"Do you feel him right now?"

"Yeah of course." Kai said. "Why are you asking? Did something happen?"

"Well… yes. Reita had a bit of pain a few minutes ago. We thought you'd come, but don't worry." Shinya added seeing Kai's eyes widen and his lips dropped to a slight frown. "It was probably just something minor. If it's not serious an omega's body won't alert the alpha."

"A-are you sure?" Kai mumbled looking to the ground. "It wasn't something I caused…right?"

"No of course not." Shinya said with a smile, but deep down he himself wasn't sure what caused Reita's pain. For all he knew it may have been caused by Kai, but the alpha didn't need that on his conscious as well. "I'll keep an eye on him."

Kai gave a slight nod. "Do you think…I should go sit with him?"

"That's for you to decide." Shinya said. He watched as Kai moved to leave, but then he must have changed his mind. Kai turned back to the window to start working again. Shinya let out a soft sigh as he walked away. Making it to the corner, Shinya looked back to see Kai staring at the wall with tears rolling down his cheeks.

Kyo and Kaoru sat the bags down in the kitchen as Shinya was walking through. He stopped short and looked at the bags with wide eyes.

"We're going into town to get the water and electricity running." Kaoru said.

"There's a stop I'm going to make while we're out too. We'll be gone for a few hours, so Melody is in charge. Find Toshiya and Die, tell them to go get us some dinner and have Kai cook. It'll be a good distraction for him."

Shinya nodded his head before walking to his mate and kissing him. "Be safe."

"We will." Kyo said before kneeling down and placing a kiss on his mate's stomach. Shinya gave him a big smile as the alpha stood back up.

Kyo walked out with Kaoru and stopped at the porch steps. Kyo dropped his bag and walked around the house. He spotted a few his pack work on the windows and the one he was mainly looking for.

"Ryoga."

The blonde looked at the pack leader and stopped what he was doing. "Yeah?"

"Come here." Kyo ordered and the alpha walked over. "I want you to patrol the woods around the house."

"Do you think we're in danger?"

"I can't say. Kaoru and I are going to do some investigating in town. For now, stay alert."

"Will do." Ryoga said changing into his wolf form and took off into the woods.

Kyo and Kaoru walked out of the bank slipping their new debit cards in their wallets. They had to open a bank account in order to get accounts with the Electric and Water Company. Which were the next things on their list to do. They went to both companies, set up appointments to turn everything on. They would both be turned on sometime that evening or at the latest in the morning. The two alphas had scouted the town checking to see if there were any wolves there, but they only found a few harmless strays.

Kyo turned down a familiar road and Kaoru's eyes widen as they approached a rundown building. The glass panes had been broken, the tables and chairs inside were mostly broken and tossed around. The walls and floor were filthy, and the name that was once on the top of the roof had fallen away. Kyo pushed the broken glass door open and walked inside. They inspected the room to find most of the equipment stolen or broken. Kyo let out a deep sigh, but Kaoru patted his back.

"We should have enough to fix this place up again." Kaoru said.

Kyo nodded. "Let's get the house repaired first, then we'll get this place running again."

"Yeah, speaking of which. Let's find a hardware store and get some stuff to patch up the roof."

"Right, shouldn't be too hard to find one." Kyo mumbled scratching his head.

Aoi was going through the rooms helping clean the beds off, dusting, airing out the rooms, and so on. It wasn't too long before he made it to the room where Kaoru had gone into earlier. It was lighter inside now that someone removed the planks from the window. Aoi started removing the sheets covering the dresser, bookshelf, vanity, and nightstands. Aoi's eyes widen when he had pulled the sheet off the second nightstand. Sitting on it was small lamp, an alarm clock that probably didn't work anymore, and a black frame with a photo inside.

The photo was of Kaoru standing in front of the house with a pretty woman with long black hair. She had black eyes and a narrow face and she wore a blue dress that showed her very pregnant stomach. A young boy probably no older than seven was hugging Kaoru's leg, as a girl who looked about ten with curly brown hair was hugging the woman. Kaoru was holding another girl, who looked about two, in his right arm. They all had the biggest smiles on their faces.

Aoi rubbed his fingers on the woman's face then he looked over at the mirror on the vanity. His eyes widen seeing the similarities between himself and the woman. He glared at his own reflection and stood up. He grabbed at his hair, which has grown back down to his shoulders, and whispered.

"I'm…not a replacement."

The sun was setting when Kaoru and Kyo returned to the house. The windows were all plank free, and the ones that were broken had tarps over them. They made it up the steps and walked inside the house to find the house cooler than before. Reita was still sleeping in the living room, so they were quiet as they slipped past him and into the kitchen where they found the lights on and Kai cooking at the stove. Shinya was helping at the counter, chopping up ingredients for the alpha. He turned when he smelt his mate.

"Where's Aoi?" Kaoru asked before Shinya could greet them. The beta frowned for a second.

"I figured you'd asked. He was acting a little weird when he came down earlier. He grabbed some scissors and went back upstairs." Shinya said. "I tried to follow him, but he wanted to be alone."

Kaoru didn't need to hear anymore before he headed upstairs. He sniffed the air and followed his mate's scent to his bedroom door. He opened it up and saw Aoi sitting on the bed facing away from him. Not only that, but his hair has been chopped off.

"Aoi? What's going on?" Kaoru asked as he walked closer. "What did you do to your hair?"

Aoi didn't respond as Kaoru moved around and he gasped. On the floor were the scissors and pieces of the omega's hair. Aoi was holding Kaoru's family photo, and tears were running down his cheeks. Aoi looked up with a teary glare.

"I'm not her."

Kaoru sat next to Aoi and took the photo from him. "I know. I never thought you were. Misaki was my wife, my mate, and she is dead. You're Aoi, my new bonded mate, and you're alive. It's still painful to think about my past and her because I still love her, but that doesn't mean I don't love you. She was my past, but you're my present and my future."

"I don't want to be a replacement." Aoi sniffled.

Kaoru lifted Aoi's chin and grabbed the omega's hand to place it on his chest. "You're not a replacement. You're very different from her. Trust me, when I saw you, I didn't see Misaki, I saw a young man needing help and a warmth in my heart formed. Thanks to you, I started smiling again and I remembered what it felt like to love and be loved."

Aoi sniffled, leaning his head on Kaoru's shoulder. The alpha slipped his fingers through Aoi's shortened hair as they both looked at the photo. Aoi sniffled and rubbed his finger on the woman's face again. "Tell me about her."

"Misaki? Oh she was kind, brave, hardheaded, outspoken and she refused to quit until she won even if it was a board game. She was a good mother, and an even better protector. She was an omega who could have been mistaken for an alpha."

Aoi rubbed Kaoru's cheek. "You smile when you talk about her"

"Yeah, I smile when I talk about you too."

Aoi's face burned a little. "And the children? They're yours?"

"Yeah. The oldest daughter Ryoko, my son Yuichi, and my youngest daughter Sayuri. Misaki was seven months pregnant in this photo."

Aoi looked at his mate closely. Kaoru was smiling, but there was something about his eye that made him seem sad. "Kaoru, what happened to them?"

Kaoru closed his eyes, wetness forming around his lids. "I couldn't protect them."

"Kaoru?"

"It's a long a story." Kyo said walking into the room. Aoi turned and spotted the alpha along with Shinya walking in. Shinya grabbed his own arm, refusing to meet Aoi's eyes.

"It was my fault." The beta said quietly.

"No." Kaoru stated sharply. "It wasn't and you know it."

"What happened?" Aoi asked once more.

"They were killed," Kaoru finally said. "Along with the rest of my pack."

"Kaoru, Shinya and I were the only survivors." Kyo said. Shinya whimpered a bit, still holding himself.

"There was a time," Shinya started, "when I was in a different pack and I was Kaoru's enemy."