Jewel was confused as to why Mason was upset, because she could feel it loud and clear in their bond. After they figured out that Betty, too, was taken by the witches this afternoon, Mason had been upset and Jewel had no idea why. She had some guesses, though. It might be because he felt disappointed in Betty, or because he was disappointed in himself that he didn't recue Betty in time.

At last, they finally realized there were only three of them, and the faster they got to that coven's place, the better. So, they started to run. Dylan ride on Mason's back while Jewel just used her magic.

The coven's cave was very near, just a few metres away. It didn't look like a cave at all, though. It was decorated like a house, like the witches at Crescent Moon's place. It seemed witches had things with cave, even Jewel did to. Perhaps, it was because it was close to nature? Jewel would like to live in a treehouse.

They decided to stop for a moment to eat dinner. It was still evening, but they usually eat dinner at five o'clock. After that? Well, they hadn't decided what they would do, so yeah. They could either go to sleep, or go to the cave that night. They might still be able to reach it.

It had only been two days since Mason left home, but it seemed that everything was going to quickly. Three out of six members were taken by the evil witches in just two days. That was horrifying. At least they were pretty close to the witches' coven's cave, as Jewel had told them.

Mason was a bit worried that he was not receiving any mindlinks from Dony or Lala. He wondered if anything happened, but he was still in the pack's territory and he saw no explosions, so he believed they were alive. 

Mason was so disappointed that he couldn't take care of his search team nicely. Of course, Betty didn't really mean those words that came out of her mouth about Jewel. Mason wouldn't believe that. It must be because of the witches.

However, Mason couldn't pick between Betty and Jewel because he loved both of them, as family. He wasn't sure he loved Jewel as more than a friend yet, but he sure loved her as family. She had been nothing but kind to him and that was enough for him.

Mason was just upset that he lost his beta, his third-in-command, two warriors, and a pack member, all in less than a week! He was definitely not going to be a good alpha, he was so careless! Mason was extremely disappointed in himself. He was starting to think he couldn't be the alpha his father had always wanted. He couldn't even tell that Ron was acting differently.

"Mason, are you okay?" Jewel asked him softly. She looked a bit worried. Then, Mason realized that she probably felt his mood from their bond. Wow, again, he was definitely not going to be a good alpha. 

Mason nodded and looked away, avoiding Jewel's gaze. Dylan was a metre away from them. He seemed to looking around for no reason, or he might just wanted to leave the two alone. Mason couldn't even tell his intentions. 

After they ate, they decided to sleep first and go to the evil witches' place tomorrow. Because it was said that witches tended to be stronger at night, so they decided to come at day. Perhaps it would help them, but all they could do now was pray to the Moon Goddess because there was nothing else they could do.

Fortunately, the witches hadn't moved places since the last time Jewel saw them. She knew this because she smelt them. They were there, dangerous as ever. But Jewel had always been known as the smartest and most clever witch in her old coven, and she was the only person who was able to use the very old magic tricks and mantras.

These days, witches only knew how to make fireballs and stuffs. Only some gifted witches were able to use the old mantras. Jewel didn't tell anyone that she was able to do those, because if they knew, they would never kick her out of the coven, and she really wanted out, because they kept saying bad things about werewolves that she know wasn't true.

Jewel was still worried about Mason, though. His upsetness had reduced, but only by a little bit and that was almost as bad as before. She also felt disappointment, though. The question was, who was he disappointed in?

Maybe he was disappointed in Betty for listening to the witches. Maybe he was disappointed in Ron because he got taken away so easily. Maybe he was disappointed in Darren for not taking good care of Ron. Maybe he was disappointed in the two warriors that they brought because they were kind of useless in this searching. Maybe he was disappointed in himself because he was not good enough. Maybe he was disappointed in Jewel because she didn't take them to the coven's place soon enough.

There were so many possibilities, and even though some did seem pretty ridiculous, anger could make you do stupid things. 

Jewel wanted to ask Mason what was wrong, but after she asked the first time, she was hesitant. What if Mason suddenly decided that she was not good enough for him? That might not make sense at a time like this, but again, anger could make you do stupid things.

Mason might think she was stupid for running away after Betty accused her of pretending to be Mason's mate. He might think that she was just trying to take his time. Soon, he might as well believe that she was siding with the witches.

She would ask Mason now, but Dylan was with them and that would be very uncomfortable to Dylan. 

They laid out their sleeping bags as usual. If you are wondering who brought the sleeping bags, well it was the three of them. Mason took two in his mouth, he managed to stay alive and healthy even after running. Jewel and Dylan brought some with their hands, you know, like normal people usually do.

---

"Happy birthday, Darren!" Ron said. It was finally the twentieth of November, Darren's birthday. Ron managed to wake himself up very early. Actually, nevermind, he managed to stay up until very late. It was a few seconds past twelve. 

Darren woke up, his eyes were still blurry. "What?" he asked, his voice groggy. He was still very much asleep, only half-awake. Actually, nevermind, he was just a quarter awake.

But then that was when it just snapped inside of Darren. His vision suddenly got clear and his heart beat faster. His nose smelt the most amazing scent on earth and there it was. He knew Ron was his only one when his wolf started shouting inside his head, "Mate! Mate, mate!"

"What's wrong, Dar?" Ron asked. He seemed to not notice anything was wrong. Then, Darren remembered that Ron's wolf was kind of asleep right now. 

Yeah, the wolf part in them had naps once in a while, and once they did, they usually did it for at least two days. Thankfully, Ron already started two days ago and that meant his wolf was definitely going to wake up soon, especially now that his mate was near him.

"Uh, nothing. Thanks for the congratulation, though you don't really have to wake up that early to congratulate me. I would've been happy either way," Darren said. He asked, "Hey, Ron, when is your wolf going to wake up?"

Ron shrugged. "I have no idea--Hey, look!" he told them. The guard was sleeping soundly near them and Ron couldn't be more excited. 

Stupidly, Ron went near the guards, no matter how burning the silver was. Quietly, he took the key from the guard's pants. Calmly, he put the key on the cage's lock. Darren was surprised. It was unlikely for a guard to just fall asleep on them like that. The witches were usually very stern or something and they never slip up. Never. So why this so suddenly?

The witch looked like of pretty. Darren would've said she looked nice, but he didn't know much about witches. They might be two-faced. 

He looked around at the others' faces and they were, too, surprised. His heart almost broke at the sight of their hopeful faces. He wanted to cry. He hoped the key would actually work because he would die if all those hope in their eyes vanish and was replaced with disappointment. He couldn't imagine the guilt he'd feel even though it wasn't really his fault.

Ron twisted the lock to the right. It didn't work, and almost everyone's faces were showing disappointment. Darren just wanted to kill himself then and there because their disappointment hurt him so much.

"The left," Darren whispered as quiet as possible. Ron nodded, trying it again, and it worked.

---

"I haven't seen you for too long," the woman in white said. She was wearing a long white dress. Her figure was visible but blurry from the waist down. A halo was visible above her head, and it looked pretty real.

The woman smiled sadly as the person in front of her. She was a bit sad that she didn't get to meet him that often anymore.

"Where are my parents? Where are Betty's? Where are Ron and Darren? Tell me. I kept my promise and I'm sure I've been doing it very well just as you asked me to. Now, please. Where are they?" Mason asked, a bit frustated. It was true. The amount of sleep he got was almost none. He trusted Jewel and Dylan, of course, but he just didn't want to burden them and make them take shifts. 

The woman sighed, already guessing he wanted to talk about this topic. "You are going the correct way, Mason. Don't worry. But I came to tell that Silver Moon is in danger. It's open to any enemies because you're gone now," she assured.

"But there are Ron's parents there," Mason protested. He trusted Ron's family with all his heart, and he knew they would take care of the pack as good as he did.

The woman in white shook her had sadly. "No. Unfortunately, Silver Moon is in chaos right now. Lily got kidnapped by the people that kidnapped your parents, too, but she managed to escape. However, she went into another pack and currently she's a bit lost. She's safe now."

Mason, not knowing how to react to all that information, nodded slowly before shouting, "What?!" But then his head got a headache so he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down.

She nodded in response. "Yeah, Lily is gone and everyone is searching for her, kind of. Some of the warriors are sent to search for her, and that's why I said Silver Moon is in danger right now."

"And why didn't anyone mindlink me?" Mason asked, crossing his arms. All this information just didn't make sense to him, but it might be just him who didn't want to believe it.

"They're scared you're going to be angry at them and not focus on your current task, which you should be. I should go now. Goodbye, Mason. Until we meet again."