"I'll be back," Den promised as he stood in front of Kace.

The dinner had concluded; the sun had risen, and it was time for the order of Eternal Dawn to return to their pack. Kace nodded in response before Den leaned down and gently pecked him on the forehead. Den's father and mother watched their son say his goodbyes to his mate with sad smiles. They were glad Den had finally found his mate but were sad Kace could not join Den just yet.

Both Den and Kace had duties they must tend to before they could commit to each other fully. Understanding the other, Den and Kace's parting was mutually sad but lined with the knowledge that they would be together forever one day. And Kace needed some time to sort through everything that had happened in the past few weeks as his world had been turned upside down many a time.

"Be safe," Insea bid her mate as Tora prepared to set off with Gen.

"I will, love. Thank you." Tora kissed Insea's cheek sweetly before turning to his sons. "You two behave, alright?" Tora could only hold a stern expression for a few seconds until his lips curled into a smile and he let out a light laugh before bringing Aki and Syri into a warm embrace.

"I'll make sure Syri doesn't cause any trouble," Aki teased. Syri and Tora smiled at Aki's raillery. After a moment, Tora focused on Syri and affectionately placed his hand on the zeta's shoulder. "Visit often, hm?"

Syri smiled up at his father before smiling and answering, "Ae, I will."

Tora gave one gentle pat on Syri's cheek before turning and joining his Alpha and Luna in preparing to set off. Syri watched his father finish getting things ready until Kace stopped by to collect him. Insea and Aki went to stand to the side of the scene. They would be following their pack in a few days, but for now, they were remaining in Crimson Night to spend some time with Syri. As such, they would not be taking part in the farewell tradition between packs.

Kace and Syri went to stand by Jae as the orders from both packs lined up to face each other. Den and Tora lined up with Gen, Leera, and the rest of Eternal Dawn's order while Amina came to stand next to Jae and Syri and Crimson Night's new order. Once everyone was positioned, the two orders bowed to each other in a final bid of farewell.

The order of Crimson Night remained just outside the palace gates until their visitors from Eternal Dawn could no longer be seen over the horizon. Once Eternal Dawn had been successfully sent off, the remaining wolves headed back inside to resume either their day or much-needed sleep.

As much as Jae wished he could crawl back into bed with Syri and rest until the sun was high in the sky, he knew he needed to get to work. There was lots to do. Crimson Night was still adjusting to their new leader, and he was getting used to leading as Alpha.

The next few days were filled with Jae finishing up meeting with the packs one by one and sending them off before meeting with the next pack to complete negotiations and treaties. No matter how busy he was, Jae always made sure to spend as much time with Syri as he could even if it was thirty minutes in the morning to do absolutely nothing except be with each other.

Syri was equally as busy as Jae. He was occupied learning all he could about leading a pack, politics, treaties, contracts, managing the palace, caring for the workers, everything he would need to know to successfully lead Crimson Night with Jae. Luckily, he had a very capable Luna to help and guide him as well as his mother who knew many things about managing the guard, which was the Beta's duty, and, as mate to Eternal Dawn's Beta, Insea definitely knew a thing or two.

Although Armina had known Syri longer and had interacted with him more, she did not in the slightest compete for his time with Insea. And Iliya respected Syri's time with Armina. She knew her son was in a difficult and exhausting time in his life where he needed to catch up on lots of things he did not know.

There were times when Insea would join in on Syri's lessons with Armina whenever it pertained to something for which she could provide her expertise, but, for the most part, Insea would wait patiently for Syri to be done for the day to spend time with him.

Whenever Syri was busy, Aki spent a lot of time working with Yejin as they would be working together very soon as the Betas of their respective packs. And Aki was always up for learning how to be better at his duties and responsibilities. Estan oftentimes joined Yejin and Aki to observe their work as Syri was busy and he had no patients. Dinner was the one time everyone was able to gather together and spend time with those they had missed throughout the day.

Black Moon was the first pack to be sent off after Eternal Dawn. Jae made sure of it; he wanted Seth out of his pack and away from Syri as soon as possible. And soon, it was just Crimson Night and Red Claw left. The dining hall had gradually grown emptier, and after Red Claw would be sent off, those in Crimson Night would begin using the smaller, more personal dining room. The grand dining wall was only used for large banquets and to host visiting packs from time to time.

To be honest, Jae was ready to get everyone out. He was excited to bond with just his pack and dive into removing that damned law. He had enjoyed the company of the four packs and getting to see many of the wolves he had known since young, but it was time to be with only his pack and set up Crimson Night's new order. He had realized he was not able to spend time with Yejin outside of meetings and could hardly see Syri. He never even saw Estan except for dinner.

But, no matter how much each pack wanted to be in their own respective lands, Crimson Night still did everything in its power to make Red Claw feel appreciated and welcomed. This was Red Claw's last dinner at Crimson Night, so Jae had called for a delicious feast. Rose and Rubi were grateful to the true blood for not showing how burnt out he was and for making them feel just as special as all the other packs had. Each pack ate and drank to their hearts' content and was up and ready to either send off or be sent off at the crack of dawn.

After bowing to each other, Red Dawn's order set off for their land. And thus concluded the conference and banquet that had been called by Fachan and ended by Jae. Each pack that had left Crimson Night felt better regarding their relationship with the southern pack...with the exception of one pack.

Black Moon attended the banquet with the expectation of mating one of their heirs to Crimson Night's then-prince and left the conference with no such thing happening. Needless to say, they were sorely disappointed with how the banquet turned out.