Black Pearl

~Prologue~

                Taemin walked along the path by the river. He could hear the yips and howls of the wolf clan as their pups went about playing. He wished he too could experience parenthood. He would, soon enough, after he and Siwon were married.

                He and Siwon hadn’t gotten together the way he had hoped. Sure, Siwon saved him from being killed by the wolves, and he did tell him later that he had always loved him, but he had had a prior commitment.

                Siwon had marked the human, Kyungsoo, who later was turned into a wolf after he wed the leader, Kai. Kyungsoo was heavily with child by the time Siwon had found him, much to his disappointment. But at the time, he didn’t care, and was willing to take him as he was.

                As for Taemin, he had been quite jealous. He had loved Siwon for years, how could he let that little half breed come in, after all this time? He was thinking out of malice and jealousy when he had thought these things, but nonetheless, they frightened him. He could have lost Siwon forever.

                After Kyungsoo gave birth, he was reunited with his husband, Kai, and they all lived happily ever after. But what about the Lycans?

                After their adventure (or misadventure, as Taemin would say) with the wolves, the Lycans tried to settle back down. Like the wolves, they too could not conceive children until the leader of the clan had done so. So until Taemin was married and with child, no other Lycan could have pups either.

                To be honest, he was quite frightened of the concept of giving birth. Key had said it was one of the worst things he had seen in his entire life. There was a hole, and blood and fluid poured out as you gave birth, which was painful in itself; the whole clan heard Kyungsoo’s cries as he pushed out seven puppies. Ouch!

                Taemin shrugged as he kicked a pebble. So, birth would be painful. From what Onew had told him, the first time he and Siwon would…you know….it would hurt like hell’s fire. He wasn’t looking forward to that unpleasant pain either. He sat down and looked out at the river.

                He was having many doubts. What if Siwon were only doing this to make Taemin happy, and not because he loved him? Or that there weren’t any other available Lycans nearby? Or because he felt pressured to have children? He put his head in his hands.

Life had become seeming much more complicated since Kyungsoo had come. It’s not that he didn’t like him, they were great friends. At least he knew now why Siwon had held back all those years. But, now he felt like something was awry. Something…was missing. But, what could it be?