::Chapter One::

The full moon shone bright overhead, illuminating the clear night sky with a luminescence that was unmatched, urban lights shielding the atmosphere from the blinding light of the stars. The night was peaceful, or at least would have been had it not been for the shrill howls piercing the tranquil night air.

If one had an extraordinary sense of hearing, they would be able to listen to the paws that smacked the asphalted harshly, and the panting breaths of the fit running bodies. If one had extraordinary sight, they would be able to see the unified way muscles and tendons worked together in harmony, propelling forward in haste, the pumping of blood through bodies, strong and proud, muscles straining as they ran through concrete jungles.

The chill of the night had hit and seemed even cooler with the chilling howls ringing through the air, clear and sharp as shards of broken glass. Those still awake shivered in their beds, some even getting up and checking the locks on their doors and shutters when the howls rang out again, cringing in fear and disgust.

Children began to cry and grown men cringed; those howls held maliciousness within them, the primal instincts of those who could hear acting up and telling the mind to stay afraid and stay back, self preservation kicking in automatically even as their consciousness told them to hunt, to kill the abominable, unnatural creatures.

Darkness was parted, silence broken by quick, agile bodies cutting through the chilled night, heart and lungs receiving heady exercise. Ears and interest was perked when in hearing range of a certain townhouse, those laying around springing into action, leaping forward from lazy positions and through doors, rushing to their home's entrance, frowns marring the faces of those gathered, wondering what caused such distress to their other pack members.

A man swooped in suddenly from the dark skies onto the veranda, holding a limp, bloody body in his arms, just as four wolves skidded to a stop inside of the house, rushing from the back entrance.

Wolf forms shifted in the moonlight that poured in from the sky roof and various windows, revealing sculptures of men in their places, their faces paling and eyes widening in fear as they froze in place a few short moments in shock, taking in the deep, red gashes on one of their own, before coming back to their senses and reality and springing into action.

Yixing immediately ripped off the cloth he was using as a shirt, wrapping it around Junmyeon's-the wounded member's- torso, attempting to stanch the bleeding. Their other leader, called for automatic water, but then cursed himself as he realized Junmyeon was the one to control the substance and was currently out cold and grievously wounded.

Minseok generated pure frost in impulsive desperation and Chanyeol melted it into water in a basin, soaking strips of cloth and bandages in the steaming liquid. As they worked, they moved further inside, Luhan locking, bolting and practically welding every open crevice shut with his mind. Jongin and Sehun set up a makeshift bed on the closest couch for Junmyeon to be placed in, layering soft blankets and pillows.

Another pack member named Baekhyun made sure that their residence was bathed in bright light, orbs of light illuminating the crystals hanging from the chandeliers and lights, making sure nothing from any shadow could sneak up on them. The rest of the members were on high alert, yet standing far enough away to not disturb those who were nursing.

“Zitao, freeze the wound's progression,” commanded Yixing, his calm trance breaking as Junmyeon's wound would not scab. The said dark eyed male closed his eyes and took a deep breath, brow creasing in concentration, the large, bloody gash on Junmyeon's side glowing faintly, bleeding stanched temporarily. Yixing immediately leaned over Junmyeon, his hands hovering over his patient's torso and glowing brightly, skin closing over the wound.

The eleven conscious men released a collective sigh of relief as Junmyeon continued to breathe, his breaths finally unlabored (Sehun forcing a little bit of air into his nostrils just in case), regaining a little bit of color again as he wasn't losing any more blood. They all stayed huddled near Junmyeon's bedside for a while.

Tiredly, the rest of the pack washed up a little later, mopping up droplets of blood and washing stained hands, Yixing quickly rubbing disinfectant ointment to prevent any infection on Junmyeon's now scabbed torso, and wrapping the cloth bandages tightly around Junmyeon's abdomen. When the last bandage was bound did Zitao release the breath he was holding and finally opened his eyes.

They moved Junmyeon gingerly to the master bedroom, Yifan laying him softly on the bed, settling in next to him, curling around him protectively.

All soon went into their rooms in an uneasy, light sleep, doors and ears open, only one staying awake a little longer than the rest, keeping a close visage over the wounded and resting Junmyeon, not falling into his own restless slumber until late, beside his mate's side.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Begin Flashback of Previous Night:

Night in the city was a dangerous place, one never knew what was hiding in those dark, damp alleys, and one could never predict if they were the next victim ready to be robbed, mugged, . No one knew or could possibly know. There were just too many buildings to run too, there were just too many shadows to shroud malicious souls.

And yet, despite all this, people still went out at night. I mean, just because there are evils in human nature, doesn’t require people to live in fear and stop living their lives- their social ones especially. Nobody stops driving a car just because someone dies in an accident, nobody stops swimming just because someone drowns, so why should the night crowd stop going out and partying even if its dangerous?

Well, most people out at night, I’ll admit, aren’t partying.

Mothers rush home from work to set dinner on the table, fathers try and race against the street lights just to be able to say goodnight, factory workers, teachers, laborers, just about everybody is finally being released from work or school and is attempting to distress and finally return home.

That’s the uniform routine every night. Guess fate wanted to break it.

Kim Junmyeon, known affectionately by the rest of the student population as Suho, was having one hell of a week. They were barely a month into school and everybody it seemed wanted their opinions (complaints) heard by the school board about blah, blah, blah, and blah. Being one of the most kind, caring and known students, Junmyeon was able to sort through all the students and their complaints with one of his trademarked angelic smiles.

Junmyeon questioned his past sanity at why he decided to run for student body presidency, even as he met with fellow students who either just complained or were just there to ogle him. And he put up with all of it with a patient smile on the outside, never belying the groaning, growling beast on the inside that just wanted to rip apart every person that came up to him limb by excruciating limb.

But of course as an unofficial ‘Angel’, everything was handled with grace and decorum...and with a smile. Ugh, that name made Junmyeon’s blood boil, only Yifan could call him ‘Angel’, nobody else.

So tonight, Yifan thought he’d take Junmyeon out and they’d have dinner and watch a movie or probably just hang out in their wolf forms most likely. The thing is when he told the rest of EXO these plans, he thought that they knew that he and Junmyeon would be together, oh I don’t know, ALONE.

But of course not, Yifan should have known when his plan was met with excited smiles that something was amiss.

So when school ended and they were finally dismissed, Yifan grabbed Junmyeon by the hand and dragged him downtown, into one of EXO’s favorite cafes. What Yifan didn’t notice (he was too busy staring at Junmyeon) was that the rest of the pack followed them and only did notice when Junmyeon asked the waitress for a table of twelve.

Yifan glared at his fellow pack members, his face multiplied by fifty. However, before anyone could shiver from the intense glare upon them, Junmyeon grasped his arm and led him to their table, smiling softly at him all the way, causing his dour mood to instantly vanish.

Everybody ordered and ate and talked the stress of the week away. When it started to become darker the sun falling beneath the horizon, half of the pack decided they wanted to rest and went home, the rest of them staying with the leaders.

Yifan sighed to himself. ‘Can’t they leave?!’ He wanted some alone time with Junmyeon before they had to return to their pack of ten rambunctious children.

As they left in a pack, Yifan sighed his acceptance, smiling when Junmyeon grabbed his hand and pulled him along.  

It was a beautiful night, crisp and cloudless, the night sky being illuminated by the city street lights, that shone so brightly you could see their sparkle across the town. But every light has a shadow, and that’s what the rest of the pack came across tonight.

They were walking back home, noisily of course, the younger wolves fooling around and running out in front of them. Junmyeon and Yifan were strolling behind the group at a more sedate pace, holding hands and looking on with the expressions of fond parents.

The pair was just passing an alleyway when the hair on the back of Junmyeon’s nape stood up and his body instinctively moved, an arm reaching out in the place where he had just stood. Out of nowhere they and the rest of the pack were surrounded by several brawny looking men, holding various knives and or pipes in their hands.

The burliest man approached Sehun, frowning in discontent when he was met with a bored expression and cold, hard eyes. But that didn’t stop him either way, his head turning to his accomplices and then back to the several EXO members. “It’s pretty late for flower boys like you all to be out, it’s very dangerous at night...”

Not one of the pack members were affected, except maybe Yifan who glared at what he supposed was the leader when he got termed a ‘flower boy’ with the rest of the group.

“So,” the burly man continued, his lips at the thought of the riches he could take, not subtle at all. “If you give us all a ...very generous tip, I’m sure me and my boys here could you safely home, it really is dangerous at night, you know?” The man said, he and the other stepping a bit closer/

Yifan had an ‘are you serious right now’ expression on. He and the rest of the exasperated pack just wanted to go home and sleep. “Look, we just want to get home without any trouble-”

“Exactly. We could you away from trouble, all for a little...tip.”

“And if we don’t?” The rest of the pack huddled together, not to close that they couldn’t move, but not too far to be separated.

“Look, we’ve tried being nice, but since you’re being difficult, I guess we’ll just have to take by force,” said the burly man, the other’s behind him coming closer, swinging their weapons intimidatingly. The man nodded his head to another, who without any more prompting swung his crobar, aiming blindlessly at the pack.  

The other men followed his lead, coming up to the pack and blindly attacking them, uncoordinatedly attempting to beat them up. The pack just rolled their eyes and tensed accordingly, their heightened senses and reflexes easily giving them a very unfair advantage.

Sehun just punched the guy coming at him in the face, effectively knocking him to the ground, sneering haughtily at his now tainted knuckles.

Baekhyun dodged two incoming attacks, narrowing his eyes and Brazilian kicking a man just about to grab him around the middle, satisfiedly smirking when he heard the tell tale crunch of the man's neck. He smiled when he felt Jongdae come up next to him after placing a well aimed kick at a man with a cut-off muscle shirt and multiple tattoos. “Crooks are so sad these days,” he said, staring at the men groaning on the ground, entertained.

Yifan just raised an eyebrow at the men charging towards him. They quickly ran to attack someone else when they saw his dragon-you-dare-to-even-think-about-coming-to-me face. He was unamused.

Junmyeon’s element and power was water, making it easy for him to fluidly avoid getting hurt while making sure his ‘kids’ were alright, his brow furrowed in worry even as he knew they could handle themselves. Now people would assume because Joonma was too busy worrying, he would get surprised attacked, right?

Wrong.

The men had been shocked when the pack could defend themselves, practice of professional self-defense wasn’t really needed as police stations internationally held a division termed Situation Control, or the SC for short. These were the cream of the crop, highly trained officers. They were dispatched especially for werewolves. The SC were trained in taking them down, each individual officer carrying sleep-serum darts and multiple high-voltage tasers on their persons. The major problem with them though: they went unmarked. Sure they would help out citizens in danger, hence people feeling safer and not even bothering with self-defense, they had the SC undercover and protecting them.

So it came as immense shock to the group of lowly thieves when uniformed, teenage boys could more than hold their own outnumbered. The burly group of men were so stunned, that when the boys left quickly but calmly after handing them their asses, they could do nothing but stare dazedly in shock.

One man, watched on with hard eyes, distrust and avid suspicion on his face.

The pack finished up quickly because they heard several people approaching. Not wanting to be caught nor questioned, they left, cutting through the alley the group of muggers came from and speed walking away from the scene. They were just entering a sidewalk to avoid suspicion when a broad shouldered man appeared, slashing at the closest person, which just happened to be Junmyeon.

Sehun pulled his Umma’s arm to haul him backwards, but it was too late, the tip of the man’s blade was pressed against Junmyeon’s stomach and dragged across his abdomen when he was pulled back.

Yifan and the rest of the boys wanted nothing more than to rip the man’s guts out but with the copper smell of blood in the air, their first priority was Junmyeon. Besides, before any of them could react a car screeched up to the alley and the man hastily climbed in. They couldn’t stop that car if they wanted, when tires were heard, the pack quickly retreated to the shadows, not wanting Junmyeon hurt anymore.

Regret could only claw at their nerves for a few minutes before Junmyeon fainted from bloodloss. Eyes wide as they didn’t know how serious Umma’s wound could be, they all shifted to wolves and ran out into the more darker streets, Yifan flying with Junmyeon in his arms to save time as they rushed home.  

End Flashback

~*~*~*~*~*~

Morning came swiftly, the pack awaking in groans, stretching out worn, tired bodies, cringing as they heard the tell tale sounds of bones cracking.

Zitao groaned at the...whatever was digging into his stomach, attempting to turn away and bury into his comfortable pillow, but was stopped by something holding on too tight and a person pulling themselves up higher onto his chest. He groaned again and cracked an eye open, his stare landing immediately on the light haired head snuggling into his chest.

"Taozi, stop moving...I'm still sleepy..." Sehun mumbled, his body somehow able to move up even more and pressing his nose into Zitao's neck. Zitao squirmed, trying to maneuver himself and Sehun into a more comfortable position.

Suddenly a large hand literally came out of nowhere and managed to smack both of them on the head simultaneously. "Ow!" "Ow..."

"Both of you stop moving, now."

That was when Zitao and Sehun realized they were using Yifan's stomach a pillow. Both of them rubbed their eyes and looked around. Zitao and Sehun were lying on Yifan, Yifan was curled next to Junmyeon, and Baekhyun was curled on the other side of Junmyeon, hugging onto his arm with one hand, the other tangled in Jongdae's hair whose head was placed on his abdomen.

Kyungsoo, Jongin and Yixing were at the foot of the bed, sprawled across on Junmyeon's and Yifan's legs horizontally. Chanyeol's head was on Kyungsoo's stomach and his legs were on top of Minseok. Minseok was curled around Luhan, whose own head was laying on Jongdae's legs.

Zitao and Sehun smiled, a little bittersweet. This always happened. Their family always ended up like this: twisted up like a pretzel into each other whenever someone got scared, sick or wounded. They would always end up in Appa and Umma's room, placed all together like mismatched puzzle pieces that would oddly fit together in the end.

Their shifting caused the rest of the pack to slowly awaken, all gazes automatically turning to a wounded Junmyeon, sleeping in the middle of all the twisted bodies.

His unblemished, sculpted face held a look of discomfort, his body stirring slightly from slumber. A low groan echoed from his throat as Junmyeon sleepily snuggled closer to Yifan, the older man pulling the younger closer.

All eleven of them held their breaths, not wanting Junmyeon to wake up from his much needed rest. The silence was broken when a few of the pack's stomachs growled.

Jongin tried to hold it in, he really did, but he couldn't help nor stop the giggles from bursting from his mouth.

---------------------------------

 

lol This isn’t the rhetorical analysis I was supposed to be doing...oh well *shrug* I’m not sorry.

lol I don’t know how to write fight or suspense scenes /sobs in dismay in a corner/ I’m sorry! >/////<

So umm...yeah this is late...really late...and is rushed, really rushed lol kekeke~ so I apologize for my tardiness in posting! At least I got it out before the new year! lol

I hope anyone (still) reading enjoyed...and um don’t expect a quick update...I’m sorry for that too and thank you to everybody who read, subscribed and commented! \(^0^)/ Hugs to you nice people! xD

P/S Haven’t edited. Too lazy. Will check at later date. (Probably not though). Please excuse my horrible grammar/spelling mistakes. Thank you~ <3