Hey guys, I'm so grateful for all the new subscribers and I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to you all for being so patient with my chapter uploads. My life has been extremely busy lately and I really try to get to these edits as fast as possible. With that said, sometimes AsianFanfic's format does mess with the structure of some of my sentences (I've realized), so if you see a sentence that looks weird or out of place, let me know. It means the system reformatted some of my structure. 

ALSO AS A BIG THANK YOU! I UPGRADED ELEMENTS OF MY ACCOUNT AND HAVE ADDED THE CHAT FEATURE ON THIS STORY! I THINK I'LL ALSO MAKE THIS STORY COVER IF YOU GUYS WANT IT, AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD?!

“Key!” Onew screamed.

Just as Key leaped his way for Donghae’s throat, the three of them were forced out of Paradise’s protection like unwanted guests. Without Key’s presence, they didn’t have the ability to stay.

And Key…

He wasn’t there. His teeth had grown longer; sharp-pointed ivory fangs that somehow didn’t poke from his mouth. Salvia drooled and dripped from his lips like a seething fox hunting its prey. His bloody claws were now sharp poisonous daggers. Daggers he stabbed Donghae with, right through the chest.

No matter how tall or intimidating the man looked, Onew, Taemin and Minho could tell that he didn’t see Key coming. Most likely because he didn’t know where the boys were in the first place. But just as Key stabbed him, Donghae clasped his arms around the boy’s shoulders and flung him outward.

Key’s body jerked left in one swift, single movement and his back hit a nearby tree, causing the leaves to shake and shutter under his weight. Both Taemin and Minho growled at the same time and tried to attack him from both sides as well, but Donghae was faster and swifter. His movements were like water, flowing in the air through waves of silk. Like Key, their backs were thrown against nearby trees in a hard BANG!

Donghae chuckled, the raspy hoarseness of his laugh trembling in small vibrations. He turned his eyes towards Onew, alone—standing in the clearing with nothing to back him. His friend was trying to get up but stumbled and the two Cerberi were grunting in pain. Even with his chest bleeding from punctured holes, it seemed as though Key’s acute fingers did nothing but tickle the Elder. There were—what Onew could faintly tell from his night vision—tiny veins that looked as though they were infected, but it didn’t matter. The holes started to heal up.  They were nothing to the Elder, just pinches against his skin.

Onew almost stumbled stepping back as Donghae got closer. Excuse any hint of cowardice he had, but the first thing he wished for was the protection of Paradise. While Onew was Key’s protector, there was no fighting or attacking instincts anywhere in his body, especially not at this moment: terrified and almost frozen.

“Key!” He screamed; Donghae moved closer.

“Your little mommy couldn’t stop me,” he chuckled, “Ripping into you will be like slicing butter.”

“Key! Taemin!”

Minho and Taemin grunted up to their knees. They caught each other’s eyes at the same moment.

“The-the band-“ Taemin grunted.

Minho nodded at his friend’s words. He was thinking the same thing too. The bands. If they took it off there were two things that could happen. Either they turn into their wolves and protect Onew or turn into their wolves and get too excited from their freedom, only making things worse. But they were Cerberi. And they were Alphas.

Taemin pushed himself off the ground and eyed Minho, brows raised. Were they going to do this or not? Why was he hesitating?

It was that split second, that moment they gave for pause, that was their failure. The two heard Onew scream at the top of his lungs and they looked to find one large hand belonging to Donghae wrapped around the boy’s throat. 

“I’m throwing it off!” Taemin yelled and in one abrupt wave of his hand, he pulled the band off his wrist. Almost immediately you could hear the bones in his back pop and stretch. There was a tingling sensation running throughout his body, like a jolt of lightning striking every bit of nerves and every corner of stimuli. His fingers contorted outward and side to side. His jaw pinched in then pushed out, fangs elongating past their usual height. Minho watched in fascination and almost on cue, Donghae heard it as well. He turned around to see the boy’s limbs stretching and cringing together, white fur rising out of his arms and piercing out the sides of his neck. Onew, struggling and wiggling in the man’s grasp, was dropped like an afterthought and his body slumped hard against the grass.

He coughed. His skin around his neck could breathe again. Automatically, his hand lightly rubbed the bruised skin and more coughs followed. A deep, grudging laugh came from Donghae’s throat. Onew looked up to see a large, looming back. He pushed himself backward as to distance himself from their torturer.

“You really think your puny wolf can stand a chance?!” Donghae roared.

When Onew looked, Taemin was a full-grown wolf. Only…bigger than a natural one. Not as big as Donghae but certainly two feet taller than a normal wolf would look. His fur was a shade transition of dark grey and fierce argent. The root grey moved and formed up to the peak of his nose as the white acted as a balance of accent, somewhat long but especially shimmering at the tips. Onew couldn’t take his eyes away. And perhaps it was because he couldn’t take his eyes away that he didn’t see what came, to be coming at all. Donghae was tackled—hard. He hit the ground with a loud thump. Onew was sure he could feel the soil shake under the man’s weight. Almost immediately, he moved back. There was no part of the Elder he wanted near him. He was a protector but not so much a fighter. Maybe it was the human in him, he wasn’t sure. His mother sure wasn’t like him. She was brave and fearless but he…he couldn’t do it. His nerves struck and so he moved his body backward some more until he was a few feet away from the two furry bodies on the ground.

Donghae was a being beyond their strength, yet this animal, this…this thing, was his exact height, maybe even exact weight. When the Elder’s body thumped against the ground, the second body stood over him, back craned and jaws sneering back. They glinted in the moonlight. Long, threatening fangs that dripped oozing drool over the Elder. The thing growled, half the height of the tall trees it was next to. Like Taemin, it’s fur was white, but…longer and shinier as the hairs hit the moon’s glow. The pure color of snow. It was like watching silk sway. And when Onew looked back…that wasn’t a tail. Those were tails. How many, he wasn’t sure at first. It had to be at least five…or six…or nine. Nine tails. Impossible. Only…the body that had tackled the Elder wasn’t Taemin. Instead, this body was just as big as Donghae.

Like the fox.

That’s when he noticed the paws were a bloody crimson that shifted upwards and stopped midway the fox’s ankle. Like both Key and Aunt Kim. And the claws were sharp, matching the color of the red that moved up the fur—like both Key and Aunt Kim.

It was a Gumiho.

Even Taemin—or rather wolf Taemin, stopped growling. His glowing white eyes moved upward along with his head. Even his wolf was amazed and stunned. Minho pushed himself completely off the ground, mouth open, jaw-dropping. The sight was…incredible. There was a weird sway in some of the trees. They created a cracking sound that Onew noticed. Like something was moving—or rather bending. There was a rustle as well, that could only be explained as the sound of leaves moving through the grass. Or was it more like something was slithering through the leaves?

The Gumiho’s fur began to glow while it hovered over the Elder. Whatever it did when it tackled him, it had hurt Donghae. The creature—that despicable Elder—was limping in its attempt to get back up but the more the Gumiho growled, the more the Elder was etched into the ground. It’s nine tails lifted, and they too began to let off a subtle blue glow. You could almost miss it if you weren’t paying attention. But Onew was. To everything, in fact. Like how Donghae wasn’t falling to the ground, but there were vines, something only Onew could possibly see because of his night vision, that tightened themselves around the Elder’s ankles. And he paid attention to the fact that Key…his best friend, his brother, was nowhere in sight. That this large, looming creature right in front of them, this creature that was injuring an Elder and causing fear in his eyes, was his brother. It was Key.

He’d thought it was Aunt Kim, coming back just in time. Really, with the amount of strength Key was showing right now. There was no hesitation in his glowing red eyes. Red. Like the color of his paws. Like the color of his nails that seethed themselves further into the ground so Donghae had nowhere to go. Each time the Elder tried to force himself free, Key growled something fierce, pulling the man’s body back down.

But there was something else. A glint? A shine? What was it?

Onew narrowed his eyes towards the ground again exactly where Donghae’s paws were being forced down by the vines. And there was the source of the strange light. It was a free claw from one of his paws, glinting against the moonlight not shaded by Key’s Gumiho frame. Donghae looked Key in the eye, keeping his focus. Right…Keeping his focus, so he wouldn’t see-

“Key!” Onew yelled, outstretching his arm towards his brother.

The Gumiho turned to him and in that exact frame, got scratched near the lower end of his ankle as the Elder’s claw dug across. Key went down, back leg failing him first. With his attention suddenly unfocused, the vines slithered away, and the sound of rustling and cracking ended just as it began. This time, in a mere two seconds, it was Donghae looming over Key. And the Elder was going in for a kill, straight to the boy’s neck.

“Key lookout!” Onew screamed again, hand still outstretched.

But before the Elder’s teeth could even get a graze of Key’s flesh, something fast and blurry flashed by and hit the Elder in the stomach. It was…another wolf. The same size as Taemin, but the fur a different color. It was a mixture of some sort of light brown, black, a little hint of amber. This wolf was also thicker in weight and fixture. His claws were in-depth, rounding at their ends.

Unfortunately, it only made a small impact against the Elder’s body. And the large creature dusted it off quite quickly, irritated. When he saw the wolf, he did what he’s been doing this entire time. He chuckled and went to grab the thing around its neck like he was about to do Key, but suddenly—he let out a deafening cry the screeched against Onew and Minho’s eardrums. Even Taemin’s wolf whimpered a bit, body lowering a little towards the ground. The Elder turned its body to find a long knife etched into it’s lower thigh.

“There you go, you ,” Aunt Kim breathed, coming into light and before he could frantically look for her, Min-seo—Onew’s mother—was right behind her. The two women were breathing heavily, scratches and blood seeping down their arms and across their faces. It looked like the wounds were healing but nowhere near as fast as Donghae’s.

“Still think I’m too naïve,” she retorted.

He was about to attack again and unconsciously, Onew outstretched his hands again about to scream to the two of them to watch out, but a slight smoke started seeping from the blade’s impact and Donghae wailed again. Aunt Kim smiled.

“It’s enchanted you . One of those scripts you stole show you how to heal from that?” Her tone was cocky and victorious.

The way Donghae narrowed his eyes, it seemed as though he was going to knock off the pain and attack anyway but every time he was about to, the smoke enhanced.

“Donghae stop!” Came another voice. Minho looked straight and Onew turned around because it was coming from behind him. Great, who now? More trouble?

But it was Heechul with both Eunhyuk and Siwon by his side. He held both by the neck with his hands slightly formed into claws so that the nails sunk into their skin just a bit but enough to keep them in check. The Elder turned. His glowing eyes looked back and forth amongst everyone. He seemed…reluctant or confused or rather…over powered.

“Min-seo, you have another knife?” Aunt Kim asked hair ruffled, and voice exasperated.

“I don-“ Before she could finish the sentence Donghae dashed away. Taemin’s wolf attempted to follow, but the other wolf blocked the boy’s path and growled. Taemin growled back, but the thicker wolf stayed his ground and growled louder, this time in a deeper and different tone. It was commanding yet subtle. Hard to explain. But whatever the growl entailed, it forced Taemin back into his human form. Minho ran up behind him, placing his arms around the boy’s shoulders.

“Let it go Taemin. We’ll fight another day,” He spoke softly.

There was defeat in the boy’s eyes, but he knew his friend was right.

“We apologize, Uncle,” Minho responded to the thick wolf.

Uncle.

Onew looked at Heechul standing behind him and slowly pushed himself off the ground, forgetting that he was the only one still on it. If that was Heechul, then the wolf in front of them was Shindong. So, this is what he looked like in full form. It wasn’t much of a difference than Taemin, but truly he expected a little more.

And then there was the beast in front of him. Not a beast, his brother, his best friend, Key. Key seemed frantic, his fox, jittery or something. It was like Aunt Kim had forgotten he was there for a second and when she did her eyes were astonished. Heck, even the Uncles forgot for a minute. The thick wolf looked up with wide eyes and the others (Heechul, Siwon, and Eunhyuk) looked up in awe. Key was so-so-so large. He was of a stature that not even the Cerberi could touch. Aunt Kim raised her hands at the Gumiho, but its feet skittered around, its head moving around as if it were looking for someone. Or something. The fact that Donghae was gone now, probably irritated it, but how much of the fox was Key really in control of?

“Kim, he wasn’t supposed to transform so early,” Min-seo cautioned as the aunt stepped closer.

Her hands and arms still raised she nodded in response, “I know.”

“Key—sweetie,” she cautioned.

“Key?” Heechul, Siwon, and Eunhyuk said in unison.

Every time Aunt Kim stepped closer, the fox became a tad bit angrier, growling like an animal protecting its territory.

“Key, I know you’re in there. You have to calm down sweetie. Don’t let the fox get the best of you. It’s just excited,” she continued.

“I think it’s a little more than excited,” Taemin mumbled, getting glares sent his way.

The Gumiho was still frantic, moving around in a circle, then stopping and looking east, then going into a circle again. It lifted its head up towards the stars as if it sensed something, then lifted its tails in response. They started to glow again, but brighter this time, a saturated blue hue illuminating the area they stood in.

“Kim-“ Min-seo worried glaring at her friend.

“I know, I know,” Kim mumbled, arms still in the air. “Key~”

Her voice was wavering. Why was her voice still wavering?

“Wh-What’s wrong with him?” Onew stuttered.

“He’s worried. Still worried,” she answered, “He’s not supposed to be able to change this early. Something triggered him, and he hasn’t let it go. He’s still scared.”

“Scared? What’s he doing?”

“ He’s signaling the forest, but he has to stop. It’s going to take all his energy, but he doesn’t care because he’s so worried right now. He could kill himself. Key~ sweetie, I need you to calm down. What triggered him,” she whispered the last part and looked down for a second trying to think.

“It was Onew,” came his dark voice.

Minho stood up away from Taemin and stepped into the light, so everyone could see him.

“Onew was getting chocked by Donghae and he screamed. That’s when Key turned,”

“Don’t talk to me Cerberi,” she said pointedly.

The stern tone surprised the man and he hesitantly stepped back.

“He’s just trying to help,” Heechul sneered, tightening his grasp on the boys by accident.

“Well, I don’t need help from your kind,” she retorted.

“Kim,” Min-seo spoke softly, eyes turned towards her son while she touched her friend lightly on the shoulder, “look at him. What if it is Onew. They’re connected, remember.”

Kim looked at Onew just then and bit her bottom lip.

“Onew,” she slightly sighed, “You have to tell him you’re okay. You need to reassure him. He’s there, but not really.”

“Me? But he can look and see that I’m fine,” he replied.

His mother shook her head.

“Sweetie, you need to say it while also being okay. You’re still scared. I can tell. But we’re all safe, there’s no need.”

He heard his mother’s words, but his hand still touched the bruise on his neck and he still remembered the pressured feeling of having Donghae squeezing the life out of him. Quite literally. And just as his hand touched his bruise, it was like Key felt it, because the Gumiho went frantic, moving around but still looking up as if he was still in search of the source. Or the culprit.

“Onew,” His mother’s voice went darker, her eyes narrowing. “You’re still scared.”

This time he bit his lower lip and at the same time moved his body closer to the large creature.

“K-Key,” he cautioned, raising his arms and hands into the air like Aunt Kim did. The sound of his voice seemed to startle the Gumiho and it moved back but looked down as it found the source.

“Key,” Onew continued, “I’m-I’m alright. See? He was hurting me but he’s not anymore. You need to turn back.”

Key moved back again, falling a bit because of his injured ankle.

“Key, you have to stop. Look at me!” He screamed.

The resounding echo of his voice permanently caught the Gumiho’s attention.

“You saved me Key. I’m okay. I’m safe,” this time his heart wasn’t beating fast when the words came out his mouth. This time, there were no wavering jitters in his throat or stutters coming from his lips.

The Gumiho lowered itself just then, kneeling in front of Onew until it sat on the ground. There was a small cry in the tickle of its throat. Its red eyes stared at Onew right through his own.

“You’re okay Key,” he mumbled, “We’re okay. You got me this time.”

Another cry came from the Gumiho’s throat and slowly the boy’s furry body changed back into the boy they were all used to seeing. It was more graceful and less painful than the Cerberi’s transformation that Onew witnessed. The Gumiho looked upward towards the moon and his whole body began to glow. The leaves shook like there was a wind no one else could feel but the trees alone, and a bright glow wrapped around the Gumiho’s body to reveal Key curled up on the ground, body ruffed up with dirt and scratches from the fight and a bloody ankle. How he had missed the bright transformation the first time, Onew wasn’t sure, but Key was safe, and he was okay. Instantly, when he saw his brother’s human body, he rushed up to it, along with Aunt Kim and his mother.

Just when they thought they were all safe, they heard rustling in the background, but the creatures together knew this sound too well. These weren’t claws, they were footsteps.

“Whose out there!” Came a strange voice.

A strange voice, but human. The group looked at each other, then at the area of the source.

“We know there’s someone out here!” Another voice sounded.

“Humans.” Aunt Kim cursed under her breath.

“Worse,” Heechul added, “Police. The lot of us would be safe back at the common ground. It’s where we let the kids train. It’s a nice building and there are plenty of rooms.”

Aunt Kim scoffed.

“I’m not going to any area that includes your kind’s scent.”

“Kim,” Min-seo angered, “we don’t have time.”

Heechul raised his brow waiting for an answer.

“I know you hate us and for your reasons, I understand fully, but like your friend said, we can talk about hatred later.”

His brow stayed raised and though she didn’t like it, in fact, it chilled her bones, Kim nodded her head.