The next day I woke up in my bed alone and I didn’t like that at all. And I really didn’t like that previous thought at all. I didn’t like what I was feeling right now and I rubbed my eyes in frustration only to immediately stop because of the wetness. Had I been crying or… was I crying? 

Suddenly my door slammed open and I was in a pair of arms “Shh it’s okay I’m here and Zhou Mi is right in the other room.” I clung to his shirt as I settled down. After a while he picked me up and brought me to where Zhou Mi and the others were.

He tried to set me down but I wouldn’t let go, he said he needed to call into work and set me on Zhou Mi’s lap which I immediately cuddled into his embrace. I faintly heard Leeteuk and Heechul talking.

“And so it begins”

“It’s about damn time”

“We’ll need to talk to her once she calms down enough.”

They called HyunJoong and later that day I found myself calm in my room with L, Hoya, Jungmin, Heechul and Leeteuk.

My brothers and Jungmin were there to keep me calm while not being near Eunhyuk and Zhou Mi. Heechul and Leeteuk were explaining that what I was feeling was part of the bonding process and that the feeling of not just being near them but needing some sort of physical contact wouldn’t last.

“I don’t like this I feel like I’m being torn apart. There’s that part that needs to be with them at all times and then there’s this part that’s practically screaming begging for space but the first part overshadows it.”  I told them leaning against my twin.

“That’s probably the Alpha in you speaking. We know how you hate showing any weakness, how stubborn you can be and how much you dislike relying on anyone else’s strength but your own. You’re probably afraid that you’ll lose yourself but that won’t happen if anything you’ll gain something” Hoya said.

“I hope you’re right.”

--

Kangin, Hangeng, HyunJoong and Sunggyu were explaining what was happening, to Eunhyuk and Zhou Mi.

“The process will be a bit different since she’s an Alpha so if she suddenly pushes you away just leave her be and let her have her space. It’s kind of like mood swings but not. She could be in a really good mood and still push you away” HyunJoong explained.

“Mood swings eh?”

They turned to see Sai standing there arms crossed. Sunggyu asked how she was as she fought with herself to refrain from openly staring at her mates in front of everyone.

“As fine as I’ll ever be considering… it helps that I understand what’s happening.” She stood composed and rooted to her spot until Zhou Mi came to stand behind her which she then leaned back slightly so that her back was touching him and everyone watched as she visibly relaxed.

Sunggyu saw the question in her eyes before she got a chance to ask it.

“KyuJong said that your ankle should be mended enough by week’s end that you can go without the wrap but he’d like you to keep wearing a brace and to take it easy: meaning no dancing or running yet. Also that by then it should be mended enough that you can shift and it won’t hinder the rest of the healing but that you’d need to take it easy in that form as well.”

Hearing this Sai had one of the biggest grins on her face, even though she still wouldn’t be able to run or dance. Being allowed to shift again was good enough. This fact also made the entire household happy because even though Sai had told them multiple times that it wouldn’t bother her if they shifted form around her but they refused to out of respect.

- A couple days later - 

It’s been half an hour and probably the longest I’ve managed to stay apart from them. I’ve been up on the roof hiding from them and now currently watching the sun set. Well not really hiding they know where I am and are being really good about giving me my space. However if the bond would finally just settle I’d be able to figure out how to hide.

There was a yip to my right and I had company, it was one of the smaller wolves. He was tan with a few light russet markings, he nudged my hand “Hello Donghae” and he grinned as only wolves could grin before nudging my hand once again.

And I laughed “Are they being unbearable?” he nodded then lightly tugged on my wrist “Alright, alright I’m coming” I chuckled “I don’t see why they didn’t come up here themselves” at that he shifted back.

“Because they know you need your space at times and don’t mind letting you have it.”

“But it’s coming close to an hour now.”

“I know, everyone is a bit surprised you hadn’t come back in yet. Do you need help getting down?”

“Nope I’m good; you can shift back if you want.” Two more days and I can shift myself. He nodded and shifted before hopping off the roof.

 As soon as I stepped foot inside “Where were you?!” almost everyone in the room shouted I was so startled that I could only point up.

“You’ve been up on the roof this entire time?” Siwon asked.

“Yeah…” my face scrunched in thought “Wait why are you all yelling at me? They knew where I was the entire time” I said pointing at Zhou Mi and Eunhyuk before rounding on the two other mated couples “And the four of you should’ve remembered that. So why…was I …ow.”

“Ow?” they questioned and I was holding my head. Eunhyuk and Zhou Mi were by my side in an instant.

They saw me biting my lip to keep the tears away. Gah it hurts so much.

Zhou Mi took hold of my face “Hey, hey what did I say about doing that?”

I slowly released the pressure on my lip I had been close to breaking it open again. “It hurts” I told him.

“Tell us what you need.” The rate at which the pain was increasing was almost too fast.

“Bed. Call Sunggyu. Call Eli” I managed to croak out before passing out.

--

Once the others arrived Eunhyuk and Zhou Mi were banned from the room while Eli and Hoon worked on healing Sai, so they stood sentry at the door. From where they were standing they could hear clearly what the others were saying. Everyone else was gathered in the living room along with Sunggyu, Hoya, and KyuJong.

“You mean to say this is normal?” Kyuhyun asked.

“Normal no. That it’s happened before? Yes.” Sunggyu started to explain. “Something like this has happened to her every year around her birthday since our parents passed. It’s always her head. And before you ask the reason Eli and Hoon are in there with her and not KyuJong is that it has something to do with the fae part of her. So they know how to treat it better than we could.”

Eli and Hoon emerged from the room “You may want to join us with the others before you go to her.” Eli said to the two at the door in which they complied and followed them to the living room.

“Everything is fine and she is sleeping now. This time she was bleeding from her ear but it wasn’t anything too serious. She is wearing a necklace with a crystal on it, she needs to wear it for a few days and don’t be surprised if she sleeps for a couple of days. There is a possibility that this will also speed up the healing process on her ankle.” Eli reported to everyone.

“Thanks again Eli” Sunggyu thanked him.

“This means she’s going to sleep through her birthday again” Hoya commented. Eunhyuk asked when her birthday was.

“It’s tomorrow” Sunggyu answered. “Don’t be surprised if Myungsoo drops by for a bit tomorrow.”