Happy New Years Guys! It's still New Years Eve for me when I'm writing this! 

I took some time to give a moments of silence for Jonghyun, but I will not be stopping this story as a request from many of you when I asked! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Key adjusted himself next to his aunt as best he could without destroying the covers she was so carefully wrapped in. Quietly. She was always quiet now. He missed her morning breakfasts. The way she always leaned into his room to see if everything was okay because he was constantly obsessed with a proper camera. His camera. It’s been so long since he’s actually had it around his neck, or even thought of using it. It was his damn obsession with that camera that got him into this mess in the first place.

No, it was his fault.

And he knew it. It was his fault for being so freaking carefree about the stuff everyone else was so worried about.

Key, the non-believer.

Key, the risk-taker.

He caressed his aunt’s hair, watched as a hint of a gray strand started to make its way into view. Was that possible? Gray hair? In all the years he’s grown up with his only means for a parent, he’s never seen her with gray hair and now, here it was. This strand lurking out of the roots, shouting itself into view. He covered the rest of her hair with it and let it get lost once again.

“When’re you gonna wake up?” He whispered. “We need you. I need you.”

But she didn’t answer.

She never did.

He caressed the edge of her hair again, letting his fingers lightly sweep across her face. How soft and light in touch her skin was. Like a feather. Not a of stress in the lines of it.

“Aunt Kim,” he continuously whispered, “How could you let yourself get caught like that? Who were you going to meet? Why did it end so badly?”

Still, no reply.

He in his lips, letting his fingers fall down to her hands crossed on top of one another like she was in a coffin. Like this was her coffin. Her grave. He intertwined his fingers into hers.

“I know you, Aunt Kim. No one can beat you at anything, not even this. What happened? Who was the man? Who was the monster.”

Still no answer.

And this time, he chuckled, because a memory surfaced while he played with the tips of her fingers.

“You know, I remember the one and only time I ever scared you. You said you heard me come in but didn’t know-“

His laughing stopped.

His eyes widened.

“The one and only time,” he repeated and rushed up in quick strides, leaving the room.

***

Taemin lay on his bed, bare-chested, arms crossed behind his head, staring at the ceiling. Though his bed was somewhat far from the window, facing the east, the moon still beamed through it like a beacon and made shadows dance across his floor—some of them hitting his covers. He couldn’t sleep. Not after the—well, what he would call a day spent with Onew—more or less. Every time he closed his eyes, his face popped up and with a face always popping up when you sleep, it’s hard to actually get to sleep. It was an aching insomnia by now, but not something he entirely hated.

Onew.

Taemin smiled at his name. The sound of it, even in his thoughts, how it echoed, how it sounded right on his tongue. He pictured Onew’s face on the ceiling, staring at it like there was anything interesting to look at. There wasn’t. Just a blank cream wall. Not even a crack. And then he heard it.

A creeeaaaakkkkk.

But it was so slight, so—careful, that if he were sleep, his Cerberi hearing wouldn’t even have picked it up. The sound caused him to shoot up from his bed and turn towards his bedroom door, a nice long walk away from his mattress. Taemin got up, making sure to make small subtle sounds with his feet, as every Alpha is taught to do in their training—become stealthier than their opponent, even their Betas. He made sure his feet were like feathers and glided across the hardwood floor in slow, easy strides. When he came to his door, instead of opening it, he tilted his head to its thick wood. And that’s when he heard it again.

Another creeaaakkkkk.

But this time, it was the sound of footsteps.

Two—no, one. There was one person, with footsteps that were trying to mimic two. His brows scrunched together. One person? Pretending to be two? If it were two people, he would have accused it of being the only two troublemakers he had in the house. But it was one. He was sure of it. Unless his Alpha training was finally starting to fail him, that was definitely one person.

When they were far enough away, he turned the knob of his door slowly.

His first instinct was to wake up the Uncle Heechul. Of course, it was. Compared to what Minho did think of him, he was somewhat of a rule follower himself when it came to speaking with his uncle. His body was still so used to informing him, it almost forgot that Uncle Heechul was just one of many that didn’t make the trust list. His second instinct was to wake Kai and bring him along to investigate, but when he checked the scents in the hallway, he realized that Jackson was still there—in the room provided for him, fast asleep. His scent was still present in the house. Strong.

But Eunhyuk’s wasn’t.

So, he went by his second instinct, just altered it a bit. Taemin went to wake Kai, but as soon as the boy stirred his eyes open, Taemin put his hand over his mouth, eager to make the transition as fast as possible before Eunhyuk’s scent was completely gone. As an Alpha himself, it was an easy trick for Eunhyuk to fool enemies, confuse people. But they were both Alphas, and it was hard to trick each other.

Taemin put his free finger up to his own lips and bent down next to Kai’s ear.

“Make sure Jackson stays asleep. There’s something I need to investigate,” he whispered.

There was surprise in Kai’s eyes, but he nodded and asked no questions.

“And tell no one I left the house,” Taemin added.

“No one,” Kai repeated.

***

He watched him, Eunhyuk. He had caught up with the scent of the man while sneaking, but that was troublesome, even for an Alpha. Eunhyuk and the others were different. More experienced, ready for the unexpected. He and Minho were just school seniors, nothing special. If Taemin caught heed of his scent, the boy had to be wary that Eunhyuk could have easily done the same.

But where was he going?

The night was already hard to see, even for Cerberi. And the woods only made the night more suffocating.

They were a little deep in, neither far nor close to Taemin’s cave. That was something he could take note of. The trees seemed to be a little bit taller over here and skinnier. But other than that, the bark was the same, the grass and the eerie essence of the night. Had he been in this part of the woods before? It’s hard to say no seeing as protecting the woods was something they were taught to do since they came here but…it was something that was also hard to confirm with the suffocating night.

Eunhyuk stopped in the middle of a gap. Little trees covered the area. It was mostly thin grass blades. He looked around, cautious and in reaction, Taemin moved his body behind a tree that could best cover him.

Heechul cleared his throat and for a second, Taemin assumed he’d failed in hiding himself successfully.

But then more footsteps came.

“You sure your Beta doesn’t know you’re gone?”

Taemin wasn’t looking, still trying to hide, but he knew that deep, sly voice anywhere.

It was Siwon.

“He’s a beta,” Eunhyuk responded, “why would he notice if I didn’t want him to. What about yours and the other one?”

Siwon scoffed.

“I’m not an amateur. I think I know how to derive my Beta and mere high school senior.”

“He’s still an Alpha. Alphas are smarter.”

Siwon scoffed again.

“Yeah, an alpha who’s had little to no experience.”

“But their uncles—”

“Are also stupid which is why they’re not a part of this meeting right now. Isn’t it.”

Taemin peeked around the corner and caught glimpse of the two. Siwon stood in a long frame of himself, posture set straight and attentive like always with his hands in his pockets. But he wasn’t in a suit, rather silk pajamas in one solid color that looked like a gray or a silver. It was a hard to tell. Either way, it was a weird touch to his usual suited up self. Eunhyuk, on the other hand, was nothing new. A long-sleeved shirt, his fake glasses, and long scraggly pants. But what were they meeting for? Rather—the way they were standing.

The two of them, apart, like…

Taemin narrowed his eyes.

A third person came into view. Long stride, careful, hand in his pockets.

“Boys, there isn’t time for arguing right now. What have you found out?”

Taemin’s eyes widened. He knew that voice before he saw the person.

Immediately the two turned around and bowed simultaneously.

“We apologize.” They said in unison.

“It’s fine,” he sighed.

Donghae?

Taemin hid back behind the tree.

Why was Donghae here? Didn’t he stay in the Hallasan Mountains? When did he get back? How was he back without anyone knowing? Why did this meeting seem…familiar to Eunhyuk and Siwon? Almost like it was normal for them. Planned.

He looked again.

Donghae waved his hand dismissively.

“You can apologize later. Now, answer my question. What have you found out about him? I suspect that you have something after the amount of time spent here.”

“The Onew-boy definitely has a different smell to him. It’s not something we’ve picked up before,” Siwon answered, “but the same goes for that Key-boy too.”

Donghae waved his hand again.
“Trust me, I already got my fill on his scent. I already told you about him. I needed information on Onew. There’s something different about him. He definitely harbored our abilities in his own way, but he was faster than the boys.”

Siwon scoffed.

“I doubt he’s faster than us.”

Donghae shot him a glare and he immediately stopped.

“I think what Siwon meant to say,” Eunhyuk cleared his throat, “is that even though Onew’s scent is weird, I don’t think he’s a problem. He’s weak at best. If anything, we have to watch out for Key because—”

“Onew was the one in the way!” Donghae screamed making both Siwon and Eunhyuk jump.

He sighed.

“I didn’t mean to yell. You two are just doing what I told you.”

“If it helps,” Siwon swallowed, “that time we told you about. We smelled them but we couldn’t see them. Couldn’t find them. But they smelled so close. It was almost as if—”

“They were invisible,” Donghae finished. He pulled in his lips. “I was afraid you might say that.”

“Why?” Eunhyuk asked.

“Because it just confirms my suspicion.”

“Of what?” Eunhyuk asked again.

Donghae waved his hand again.

“That’s for me to know. But it does mean one thing. We must get rid of him if I’m going to get to Key.”

“I-If I may ask,” Siwon stuttered, “why do you want to get to Key so bad?”

Donghae pulled his hands from his pockets and walked closer to the both of them. Taemin could see their posture stiffen. Their muscles strain.

“No, you may not ask.”

“When you say get rid of—” Siwon began.

“I want him gone and however you decide to make that happen is up to you two. I can’t be helping the both of you with everything now, can I? How will that help you strive towards the status you wish to be?”

“Then believe me when I say these two are better off not apart of our society. But I need Key alive. Onew
They both nodded.on the other hand…like I said, it’s up to you two. Just make sure it happens. And make sure you don’t get caught. We don’t need a riot on our hands.”

“Why would the supernatural world be in an uproar about it?” Eunhyuk asked.

Donghae sighed again.

“The supernatural world…the human world…it’s all the same really where he’s concerned. The only difference is, no one but this tribe of Cerberi know about Key and Onew. And we need to keep it that way. If you want to rank up beyond Alpha, become above Heechul and Shindong, then I need to see your loyalty to its true test. You don’t want to go back to Hallasan do you?”

“No sir,” they both said.

There was a surety in their eyes. Lust. Resilience.

“Our world is a competitive one,” he continued, “even though we Cerberi are at the top. We must fight to make sure we stay that way. And trust me when I say, you don’t want Key and Onew around if you want that to happen.”

They nodded.

There were sinister smiles on their faces.

“Um…if I may ask,” Eunhyuk placed his finger into the air just as they were about to disperse. Donghae raised his brow and nodded. “I’m guessing the Uncles don’t know about you.”

There was that sinister smile again. But this time, on Donghae.

“Of course not. It’s a rarity that I show myself to anyone, as you two may already know. It took a while to persuade the others, but I assured them that if we wanted ultimate respect from our inferiors, then we needed to show trust. And the only way to do that is through face to face communication. Don’t you agree?”

They nodded again.

“Yes, Elder Donghae.”

“Good. The Uncles are too naïve to understand our plan. You two will be taking their places when it all pans out. Remember that.”

“Yes, Elder Donghae.”

And for the first time, Taemin felt his heart skip and drown in his throat.