I've been waiting to write this chapter for so long. Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Chapter 38

Walking home from school Suho was surprised to find Sehun by himself. He was usually glued to Lay's side. He hurried to catch up with him.

“Hey, where's Lay?”

Sehun was jolted out of his thoughts and took a moment to answer. “Oh, he's in the library, studying.”

Suho frowned. From the maknae's tone it was clear he wasn't incredibly happy about that.

“You're not helping him?”

He shrugged and kept walking. If he was trying to hide the miserable look on his face he was failing at it superbly.

“Where's Tao?”

“Basketball practice and we're not talking about Tao. Is everything okay with you and Lay?”

Sehun sighed and seemed to deflate even further. “I don't know. Things have been different since he got sick.”

“Why? You took such good care of him.”

“Yeah and it was fine then but then Jeonghan healed him and then I got jealous because he's so much better looking than me and Lay thought it was cute at first but...” He swallowed hard, embarrassed by what he was going to admit next. “We haven't slept together since before he was sick. I tried last night but he said he was tired.”

Sehun sniffed loudly. Admitting it out loud brought back the horrible feeling he had had the night before when he had pressed up against Lay in bed, peppering kisses down his neck and letting his hands roam under his shirt only to have his advances gently but firmly rejected. Lay had never said no to him before. Surely he should want him even more than usual after all this time?

“Oh,” was all Suho said for a moment, and then, “Maybe he was just tired.”

Sehun gave him a disbelieving look.

“Did you talk to him about it?”

“No. I don't want him to think that I'm being… childish. I know there's more to our relationship than that but...”

“But it's a healthy part of a relationship, I know. Don't worry about it though, Sehun, I'm sure it doesn't mean anything. And this Jeonghan guy, he would never want him over you. Lay's not like that.”

Sehun shook his head. “He's really good looking.”

“That doesn't mean Lay wants him. They're just friends. I haven't noticed anything but friendship in the way they are together and trust me, I'm the first one to get protective over you.”

That brought a little smile to the younger wolf's face and Suho was silently relieved.

“Just talk to him about it. I'm sure everything will be fine.”

Sehun bit his lip before saying, “But what if it's not exciting with me now that we're not sneaking around any more?”

“What?” Suho actually laughed. That was one of the things he had been worried about when Lay had first started dating his maknae but he had long since gotten over that fear. “Lay isn't like that Sehun. He would never risk breaking the rules and pissing off another pack by starting something anyway.”

“He did before,” Sehun said softly, “with me.”

Suho sighed heavily as they reached the doors to the dorm. “He loves you, Sehun. Just talk to him about this. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about.”

He didn't add that if Lay was stupid enough to betray Sehun's trust or hurt him in any way then Suho would personally punish him worse than he had ever punished anyone before.

“Xiumminie!”

Chen caught up to his packmate as they neared the dorms, practically bouncing up to him and throwing an arm over his shoulder.

“You're in a good mood.”

“Aren't you, too? I spoke to Luhan before. He told me that you two talked yesterday.”

He gave him a smile that clearly said he wanted to know more.

Xiumin couldn't help but grin back a little before looking away. His cheeks felt a little pink at the memory of being under Luhan's body again.

“So how are things between you two? I take it you're talking again.”

They had done a little more than just talk. “Yeah, we are. It's still going to be difficult until we sort everything with Changmin and I get why but… he said he still loves me.”

Chen made a high pitched noise and hugged him tightly. “I'm so happy. Once you two get back together everything will be good again.”

Xiumin opened his mouth to answer but didn't make a sound. His eyes widened and he froze immediately at the sight of the wolf standing not far ahead of them.

“What's wrong?” Chen followed his gaze, confused. “Who's that?”

“We should go the other way.” Xiumin gripped his arm hard before he could protest and turned him away from Minseok to find that another two wolves were blocking their escape route back to the school.

As he stood, frozen in fear, a fourth appeared and began walking towards them.

“Xiumin?” Chen asked warily. “W-who are they?”

They took a few steps back towards the mouth of a small dead end. There was no where else to go.

“Aww, Xiumminie,” Minseok said in a dangerously playful tone, “you haven't told your friend about us? But we shared so many good times together.”

“What are you doing here?” It was an effort to keep his voice steady as he and Chen were herded out of sight of anybody passing by.

Minseok's dark eyes turned hard as he came close enough that Xiumin could recognise his scent clearly. It sent a shiver down his spine. Changmin had been right. His pack were back in town. He never should have doubted him.

“We hear you have a pack now.”

Xiumin swallowed but didn't answer, even when Minseok's eyes flicked to Chen. His back bumped against the wall as the other wolves formed a semi circle around them. He recognised one but the other two were new. Minseok had recruited new members.

“But from what we've seen your precious Changmin still has a thing for you.”

His knees turned to water and the only thing that kept him upright was the fact he had Chen by his side.

“What would he do if his little Xiumin got himself into trouble?”

A soft chuckle came from one of the wolves behind him and Xiumin shivered at the sound of it.

“Why are you here?” he asked again, breathless.

“To see our old dorm mate, that's why?” The bright smile on his face immediately disappeared as he leant in close and added, “And to get a little revenge on your master?”

Panic shot through him and left him weak. “What do you mean?”

“Did you really think we wouldn't find out when he came back from Japan or that we would let him just win?”

He grabbed a fistful of Xiumin's hair so hard it made him yelp.

“And what is more precious to him than his little pet? Even if he has become a little for his new pack?”

“Xiumin!” Chen tried to grab him before Minseok through him to the ground but found himself quickly restrained by two of the other wolves. He struggled in their arms but they were much stronger than he was.

On the ground Xiumin cowered as Minseok stood over him.

“Funny how you kept your legs so tight shut with us but you'll open them as soon as you get to play pet for someone else.” He grabbed him by the shirt and half pulled him up off the ground. Xiumin whimpered.

“Well let's see if you beg as much for me as you do for all the wolves you in your new pack.”

The absolute fear in Xiumin's eyes at that moment was what made Chen snap. He stamped on the foot of one of the wolves restraining him and the second his grip loosened he shifted. In a second he was nothing but fur and fangs, tearing at everything within his reach.

For a few seconds Minseok's pack was too startled to react and in that moment Chen had barrelled into Minsoek and pinned him to the ground. For that moment he actually thought he might win. But then the rest of them transformed.

Teeth met in the scruff of his neck and he yelped as he was dragged off their leader. A heavy weight hit him so hard that the air was knocked from his lungs and a weight pinned him down. Wildly Chen twisted back and forth, teeth and claws grabbed at anything they could reach. He didn't notice as he wriggled out from beneath the other wolf how much he was already bleeding.

“Chen!”

Only one of the other pack had remained in his human form and now he was holding Xiumin back. He punched him hard enough to leave him dizzy enough that he couldn't fight back.

Chen yelped loudly, the sound echoing off the walls as Minseok's teeth clamped down in his shoulder. He stumbled as he tried to stand on that leg and was smashed into the wall, his head ricocheting against the brick. The world tilted dangerously and stars exploded behind his eyes.

It took a second for him to recognise the sound of shoes and realise they had all shifted back. As blackness crept into the edges of his vision he realised that he had shifted, too.

“Chen!” Xiumin feet skidded as he tried to dig them into the ground and stop himself being pulled away. “Chen!”

The world spun as Chen tried to lift himself up. He was still on all fours when someone grabbed his hair and jerked his head back. He shouted at the sudden pain.

“What about this one? Are we taking him, too?”

Minseok curled his lip in disgust. “No, he's ing ugly. We got what we came for, let's go.”

The hand released Chen's hair and he dropped to the ground. The wolf kicked him sharply in the stomach and he crumpled completely. As his vision began to swim the last thing he heard before everything turned black was the sound of Xiumin being dragged away.

OMG, Xiumin! Chen!

What's going to happen to them? Why am I so cruel???