After a long walk of silence, the lot of them apparently made it to the area. The sky was near to a dark cloud creating the night, while branches upon branches loomed over their bodies. Minho and Taemin stared at the building in front of them. A monument—if a simple yet intrinsic structure could be called that. The building was wide, yet circular, a tree sprouting from its center with a swirling concrete ceiling. There were windows instead of walls lined with black borders and stairs that seemed to be combined with mahogany and cherry wood. Bushes and flowers encompassed the base of its settlement. The way this structure sat in the middle of the forest, was like the trees themselves were hiding them from human eyes.

“Come on boys.” Shindong gestured towards the stairs.

They followed with no argument, but Taemin watched as Kai began to oddly squint his eyes.

“How has no human found this building?” He asked as they walked into the glass structure.

Their feet tapped against the polished floors as they walked, creating an echo throughout the empty hallway. Taemin noticed there were barely any lights aligning the ceilings or the black borders of the windows. The hallway was long and the floor was built with enough luster to see one’s reflection. There were a few beige couches straight ahead that created a perfect square and a small coffee table made of glass with mahogany legs. But that was all. The rest of the walls with no windows had doors connected to them. The natural light created by the sun hiding behind the clouds made the area appear even more open than it looked from the outside. The Uncles walked them towards a somewhat tall dark wooden door. Heechul turned around to Kai.

“Cerberi always have their ways of concealing themselves. You should know this by now.”

Taemin rolled his eyes. Of course, it didn’t answer Kai’s question. He turned his head towards Minho who was silent. The man’s eyes were solidly focused on the door, his attention was too attentive. Taemin wondered what he was thinking. The way he talked during their conversation…he wore this same expression. He remembered the way Minho seemed to snap in the forest when they were alone, when all Taemin was trying to do was talk to him. A small feeling emerged in the depths of his stomach, an unfamiliar leeching in his abdomen. His hand lightly touched the middle of his body. What was this feeling? Pity? Sadness? It was hard to tell, but watching Minho only made the feeling grow stronger.

Shindong opened the door and told them all to get inside. Whatever room this was, the natural light could not find its way in here. There were no windows, and definitely no lamps or lights of any kind. It was pitch dark. So dark they couldn’t even tell how big the room was. Again, they asked no questions. The Uncles followed them thereafter and closed the door behind him.

“Can’t get any weirder than this.” Taemin mumbled.

“They’re a little more secretive than us.” Heechul commented in which the boy rolled his eyes. Of course, no one could see.

“Didn’t think that was possible.” He retorted, though he wasn’t sure who the ‘they’ was that Heechul seemed to be referring to.

Suddenly, there was a jolt from the floor. A small vibration reverberated from the wood beneath them. Taemin’s body rocked a bit from the sudden movement and his arm lightly hit someone else’s. From the firm, tight skin, he’d guess either Donghae or Minho. But the small rocking only lasted a small while. It stopped about a minute after and a sudden light hit their eyes.

Another hallway.

This one looked just like the last; polished floor, bright, mahogany and cherry wood. Only, there were no windows. Instead, there were tall concrete walls and small balls of lights that stuck on the sides to brighten the pathway down. Wherever down led them to. The Uncles were the first to approach, but they lengthened one of their arms each and gestured for the group to follow. Donghae meagerly walked through without much thought. The way he moved, the way his feet stepped into the hallway… Minho squinted his eyes. It was like his cousin knew this place. But should he be surprised?

He began to move, tagging behind his cousin, but not closing in too much space. The rest of them followed. Though this place seemed to be filled with concrete, their steps still echoed. The hallway ended in a wide-open area with a grand ceiling, the size impossible to be beneath the building he just saw from the woods. Then again, he wasn’t sure how far down they were given their mysterious room ride. Minho tilted his head up towards the ceiling, but of course, only more concrete. There was a beautiful chandelier that emitted a yellow glow around the room just slightly, but other than that, there was nothing outstanding. He huffed, then turned around towards the group.

“Alright. There’s been enough secrecy, don’t you think Uncles? What’s this all about?”
“You have been patient.” Shindong sighed.

“I’m with Minho.” Kai spoke.

Taemin nodded along. Shindong gestured his head towards Heechul.

“I suppose I can go first.” Heechul stated.

He cleared his throat.

“Taemin and Minho, as you know, because of your incident in the woods and ongoing attitudes towards one another in the past, the Elders assigned that your leadership be postponed until you showed better character.”

The boys nodded their heads.

“Don’t worry, your dedication to becoming Alphas have not gone unnoticed, but that doesn’t mean it is the end of your tests.” He nodded towards Shindong.

“Well,” Shindong began, “the Elders request that you solve another ongoing issue. As you both have a heavy leadership that’s going to be in your hands, it is crucial that you understand an Alpha’s responsible for solving problems occurring in the packs, not just your own.”

“I will go get them.” Heechul answered before walking away.

“Them?” Taemin cocked his brow. “What, them?”

“As I said,” Shindong continued, “you need to be ready to resolve any issue. As you both know from your teachings, many packs share land with other species of our world. Well, over here we have three packs occupying this space. A lot when you think about it. The two Cerberi packs of course and the Griffons, unfortunately today known to the humans as the-“

“Mountain lions.” Minho finished.

This time Taemin cocked his hip.

“Wait…two Cerberi packs are sharing land with the Katclans?” He exasperated. “In no means do I mean to sound disrespectful, but don’t the Griffons have somewhere else they can go? I know these lands are big, but they don’t even originally live here. This isn’t a really a place for them.”

Shindong wrapped his arms behind him like a sergeant and slowly walked back and forth in front of them nodding his head again. Kai listened to Taemin and agreed with a slow nod as well.

“The circumstances are…difficult, which is where you boys come in. These three packs keep batting heads and some…humans are starting to take notice. There have been sightings of mountain lions and a shadow of what people are calling, giant wolves.”

“Wolves?” Minho questioned. “But that would mean that they-“

“Yes Minho, they do not wear their bands.”

“And why not?” Taemin sassed.

“Previously, when they went through with their ceremony, their old leaders believed that it was time. They were of age and they had shown great character. They are about a year or two older than you two, but since the Katclans have come, there’s been confrontation and the three packs cannot live in harmony. They expected better from the two Cerberi packs but because of their actions, they have been called to be reformed. As they no longer wear their bands because of their ceremony-“

“We’re being called to fix them as they are.” Minho finished.

“Precisely.”

“Are you joking right now?” Taemin flapped his arms in the air. “Look, again, no disrespect. I know we’re supposed to be Alphas in the future, but don’t they have their own Alphas. Why is this our responsibility?”

“Their Alphas,” Shindong stated, “are also a part of the problem and because of that, their status has been pushed back down into Beta until shown otherwise.”

Kai’s eyes widened and his mouth slowly transformed into a wide ‘o.’ Back to Beta. None of them even knew the Elders could do that to an Alpha. Even Minho seemed shocked, but tried not to show it on his face. It was just another thing on his list he didn’t think possible, only for the Elders to show him otherwise.

“The women of their pack have been transferred to another pack as well to learn their lesson. We didn’t want you boys to get too much work. Don’t worry, each of you will be getting two Cerberi to be in charge of.”

“But they’re technically Alphas still.” Taemin retorted.

“Trust me when I say you boys’ status as Alphas will be more important. You know well enough that I and Heechul do more than the normal Alpha.”

“Yeah, but you guys never told or tell us why.” Taemin snapped back.

“Because you weren’t ready and you’re still not. Not until you fix this problem.”

“So, we’re required to deal with these Alphas and their packs.” Minho repeated.

“You gotta problem.” Came a sudden voice.

They all turned. A man, tall and firm, like Minho but slimmer yet sharp, walked up. There was a curve running across his lips, a snicker. His skin was somewhat pale but held a small flesh of heat, a faded beard and mustache covered the bottom of his face. He squinted, piercing his leering gray eyes in their direction. The raven tresses of his hair bounced with his movement, gelled back and slick with a soft volume.  He wore a dark, dark blue suit and light sweater.

“A year older?” Taemin scoffed.

“Two years for me, to be exact.” The man scoffed back.

“You look thirty.” Taemin retorted.

The others walked behind him then stood side by side to one another, their sizes varying with each person. On the right of him was a shorter, paler man whose lips puckered out and held a soft pinkish tint. His hair could almost match Taemin’s with the light gray streaks; whereas Taemin’s hair was a pure silvery-white, this man had a dull coffee color that somehow still had some luster to it. He eyes were a regular deep brown. So deep it was hard to make out the pupils.

“Jonghyun.” The man said as Minho stared.

“Nice to know.” Taemin commented.

“Siwon.” The taller, sharp man answered.

“And the other two?” Taemin looked at the ones on Siwon’s left.

One was also tall, but a little shorter than Siwon and slender. His walnut hair was ruffled as if he’d just gotten out of bed and his deep brown eyes were uninterested and tired. He wore round glasses with no lens and every so often bit on a nail or two on his right hand. With the sagging of his oversized navy fuzzy sweater, the man wreaked of someone who could care less about being here.

“Eunhyuk.” He answered in a soft subtle manner, but not shy. His voice lagged and dragged as if he were forcing himself to speak. He sighed a bit afterward and bit another nail.

The other one beside him was a little bit shorter but almost the same height. He was definitely taller than the Jonghyun guy. But he dressed a lot like the kids at their school on the weekends; long shirt, long beady black necklace, and hanging rounded diamond earrings. His chestnut hair was slicked to the side and covered by a snapback on his head turned backward. He was the only one out of the group that looked like a typical teen, even more so than Taemin and Minho themselves. He puckered his bottom lip every once and a while, then finally shrugged his shoulders.

“Jackson.” He commented.

“Good, you’re all well acquainted then.” Heechul nodded.

“I’m sure introducing our names is far from being well acquainted.” Taemin snickered. He crossed his arms over his chest and eyed the men one more time.

“Well, you all can become acquainted. You’ll be here for a minute anyway.” He continued.

“And the two Alphas are?” Minho curiously asked.

Of course, the smirker, Siwon was the first to step up and after him, Eunhyuk.

“Of course, it’s the two main guys who look like they’re a lot older than a year or two.” Taemin retorted.

“You know, I really don’t like your tone,” Siwon stated, wiggling his finger. “But, since we put ourselves in this unfortunate predicament, I’ll let it go.”

“Unfortunate, huh…” Taemin scoffed. “Trust me, we don’t feel like pockets of sunshine about this either, but you all just agreed to it?”

Eunhyuk shrugged his shoulders.

“We are negotiable creatures after all.” He stated.

It was a statement that echoed in Minho’s eardrums. It was the same thing told to Key and Onew in the cave, but it was a statement slowly fading just like the trust he had built with his family and the Elders.

“Only to fellow Cerberi I guess then.” Minho commented, lifting his brow.

“The Griffons are different. Their annoyance is on another level of ridiculous. I mean, those guys don’t take anything seriously.” Jackson replied.

Without another word, Shindong, Heechul….and even Donghae began to walk away. Minho realized instantly and stopped them by walking ahead and cutting them off.

“And where are you all going? Doesn’t at least Donghae need to stay here? He is a part of my pack after all.”

Taemin caught hold of that statement. Where was Donghae going? He was just like the rest of them, what made him so special? In fact, what was the weird vibe emitting between him and Minho? He was sure he wasn’t reading it wrong, but then again, their expressions were blank while talking to one another.

Donghae smirked and clasped his hands together.

“Well, there’s some good news then. I’ll be staying here for a while, while they’re with you. I have some things to accomplish specifically given from The Elders. I’ll be back though, don’t worry.”

The Elders? There they go being mentioned again. It was something both Minho and Taemin noticed, but Taemin noticed, even more, the peculiar way Donghae spoke to Minho. As if his authority was a little different from theirs? He talked like one of the adults. Like their Uncles.

“Why is he talking like we’re leaving soon?” Minho looked towards the Uncles.

“Oh Minho, Taemin,” Shindong turned to the both of them, “that’s what we forgot to add. I knew there was something. We’re not staying here. They’re coming home with us. To an unfamiliar environment to experience a different atmosphere in hopes to reform them.”

“Wait!” Taemin exclaimed, making all eyes turn on him. “You want us to bring un-banded, potentially unstable Cerberi to our home! With humans! You all do realize that our home is much smaller compared to this with more humans compared to this.”

“Hey!” Both Eunhyuk and Siwon exclaimed.

“And that’s why as the leaders, it is both you and Minho’s job to make sure nothing goes wrong.” Shindong replied.

They turned and continued to walk away, giving the boys some room.

“They’re not a part of our family in any way! How can they just waltz into our packs!” Taemin hollered.

“You’ll figure it out!” The Uncles yelled back and then they were gone.

Minho stood where he was, watching as the two disappeared into another room probably with another long, unnecessary hallway. Donghae still stood there, hands in his pockets, watching his cousin watch him.

“Well, I’ll be seeing you guys soon.” He tipped his head towards the two packs, then Taemin and Kai, then Minho. As he walked away, Minho almost raised his hand to stop him and get an answer, but quickly realized that Taemin and Kai were watching. The two packs were watching. Everyone was watching. He placed his lingering hand down and turned to everyone else.

“So…” he said looking at the lot of them, “what exactly did you guys do to make the Elders this angry?”

Siwon smirked again and opened his mouth to speak, but Taemin quickly raised his hand to interrupt. As one of the new leaders now above him, Siwon was obligated to shut up.

“Questions later. Minho,” Taemin eyed the man across from him, “I need to talk to you privately for a second.”

It was a command that no one else could argue since the two of them were the leaders now. Kai pursed his lips though, watching as Taemin went and grabbed Minho by the wrist and guided him towards the hallway they came through. He walked and walked and walked, until he thought they were far enough in where the others couldn’t hear at least the whole conversation.

“The perks of trying to talk privately in a Cerberi environment.” Taemin joked.

“Right. Taemin, what’s wrong?”

“Minho, you really haven’t thought about all of this? Key and Onew…the problem.” He emphasized with a wave of his hands. “They aren’t going to trust us any more than they do now if we come waltzing back with new…recruits.”

Minho paused. He looked down towards the floor while Taemin’s words echoed in his head. No, for some reason he hadn’t thought about it. Hadn’t crossed his mind. He just wondered what was going on with Donghae. Why wasn’t he coming with them? Why later? Why had the Elders really requested this and why didn’t the Uncles seem bothered when they knew there were Tribeless back home?

There it was again…more questions…more…secrets.

“Minho.” Taemin snapped his fingers, bringing the boy back to reality.

Minho blinked his doe eyes a couple of times then stared back at Taemin.

“Y-You’re right.” He focused. “To be honest, I don’t trust these trigger-happy packs either. It makes me nervous for our home.”

“Then I guess you must ‘reform’ us after all.” Came now, an all too familiar voice.

They turned to find Siwon and soon behind him the others, including Kai, walking up. Kai ran to Taemin with an exasperated look.
“I told them to leave both of you guys alone while you were talking. They said you were taking too long.”

“Already dismissing orders.” Taemin scoffed. “No wonder the Elders want you guys fixed.”

“So, who’s Onew and Key?” Jonghyun asked. His smirk was an echo of Siwon’s. “We couldn’t hear everything but we heard those names. Friends of yours? Lovers? I mean, we kind of deserve to know. We will be in your packs after all.”

There was a moment of silence between the lot of them. Minho eyed them suspiciously and Taemin narrowed his eye into an almost cat-like expression.

“And that’s the problem, isn’t it.” He mumbled.

Hey guys,

As we get deeper into the vast storyline of The Blood of Us, romantic relationships are starting to grow. So look out for that. We have characters who are slowly starting to develop feelings. This will be a long story, or I will attempt it to be. With that said, who are you guys thinking will fall for one another? (And yes, I am done with this semester of school, so I can dedicate my time into my writing!). 😄👏🎉

-KpopGeek