An array of twenty four animals of all kinds were sprinting and flying through the thick forests of Felondor, they were headed up North, where Kangin had said they would get shelter and food. They had been running for the whole night. They were moving at a fast pace, sounds of hooves, paws and wings fueled their ambition as they made their way to their destination. Hyukjae had only heard about how notorious The Northern clan of Werewolves was, so it was a surprise when Kangin had claimed actually being on friendly terms with the werewolf alpha. Fortunately the mansion’s location was near to the intangible boundary from where the werewolf territory started and as Kangin lead them in over the border Donghae felt eyes on them. Well atleast the werewolves had not considered them invaders and attacked, Donghae’s amber eyes darted to the round white form of Kangin who had shifted to his bear form and lumbered through openings within the forest, the polar bear had obviously notified the Werewolves about their arrival.

A strong howl pierced through the silent night and Kangin raised his round head, his strong front paws rising up as he stood on his hind paws, sniffing the air while the two wolves, Donghae and Hyukjae, began to check for the source of the sound.

The rustling of leaves from up ahead caused them to tense up, no matter what, they were in Werewolf territory and under any other circumstances this would have been a dangerous situation but when they witnessed a shadow appear from behind a tree, they strained to make out who or what it was.

“Jongwoon.” Kangin boomed, letting his front paws down with a thud, a smile tugging at the bear’s black lips “Good to see you, friend.”

“Youngwoon.” Was a husky response as the figure closed in, arms outstretched and curling around Kangin’s stretched out nape, Hyukjae narrowed his eyes in concentration once the figure got close enough.

Dark messy hair, hooded eyes and the slyest smirk that Hyukjae had ever seen. He felt Donghae pressing his furry body to his side and Hyukjae turned his muzzle to softly nip at Donghae’s ear tip, he felt the slight anxiety that currently floated in the air too.

“Tell your fellow shifters they have nothing to fear, as long as they behave they shall not be harmed.” The werewolf named Jongwoon announced as he pulled back from the hug. Kangin turned his large head around to cast a reassuring glance at the rest of them.

“Come then, let’s talk over dinner.” Joongwoon spoke and Henry the falcon was the first to shot across the sky, screeching about how damn famished he was.

--

“It sounds like you guys want war.” Jongwoon commented as he yanked off a large piece of meat with his sharp canines.

They sat on a large rectangular table in the dining hall of Jongwoon’s house. He had called it his humble abode, Donghae had muttered how the place was nothing less than a ing palace. On their way they had seen just how werewolves guarded their piece of large territory with vigilance/ Hyukjae noted how some werewolves stood on their hind legs, the term humans had given them was of ‘lycans’.

“We don’t go looking for trouble.” Leeteuk chewed on celery as he held jongwoon’s intense gaze “One reason why our kind is probably one of the largest when it comes to population.”

Jongwoon grunted with a nod “It’s not a concern of mine really, Kangin here once helped save my clan, this is a perfect opportunity to return the favor.” Smacking his lips he reached out to take hold of a roasted lamb steak.

“We need to settle some issues, plus the next time they see us they won’t be welcoming us back warmly.” Sungmin nodded at Jongwoon, “ you would know, what a manipulative and cold thing gain is, once she feels you are of no use, you are to be discarded. She had plans to harm us, we were lucky enough to get away sooner and now we are ‘traitors” Sungmin rolled his eyes as he spat out the last word.

Jongwoon growled lowly as he recalled the incident some years ago “She had the nerve to threaten my clan once.” He unconsciously gripped the coocked bone too tight, the sound of cracking was heard by everyone.

Donghae looked around; the table was filled with their fellow shifters and werewolves, the vast room had four doors, on each stood an alert guard. Suddenly one of the doors flew open and a shaggy haired girl walked in “ My Lord, the Fae have arrived.”

Leeteuk’s brow raised in surprise “ Fae?”

Jongwoon grinned slyly “ The Queen of Elfs have already arrived, when I heard that you all were coming over, I thought I would invite other friends too, believe me we all have a common point here.

Hyukjae was wiggling excitedly in his seat next to donghae “I can’t wait to see them.”

Jongwoon grunted and shook his head “no can do kid.” Hyukjae grumbled don’t call me kid under his breathe “Who is the leader amongst you? Tsk if only you guys had Alpha-system too, or atleast royalty, oh well, since I like you better.” He pointed casually at Leeteuk who paused in taking a sip of the oddly sweet water “I’ll take you and Youngwoon along. Come.” He got up, the werewolves in the room got up as well, slightly bowing as their Alpha departed along with Kangin and Leeteuk.

Hyukjae huffed, disappointed, Donghae smiled sweetly and wrapped his arms around him “I wanted to see Fae, I’ve heard so much but never seen one. He called me a kid!” he grumbled once again and Donghae tried to coax the other by softly kissing his temple.

“You all are requested to follow me.” They heard the same girl speak; she had this strange smile on her face. “For all we know you’re leading us into a death-trap.” Donghae joked.

The girl let out the most mischievous laughter, eyes glinting as she simply twirled around, signaling them to follow. The shifters grouped up and wearily followed her.

--

The place did indeed turn out to be a Palace, the amount of guest rooms made Donghae feel as if the Werewolf alpha knew he would be getting loads of guests. All the shifters settled in to different rooms on the third floor. They were sent out notices that after two nights they would launch an attack on Gain’s mansion.

Donghae had spotted sungmin passing something on to Hyukjae, but he could not exactly tell what it was, he sat in the room they were sharing along with Kyuhyun and Henry. His gaze following how sungmin’s hand clamped over Hyukjae’s and then he walked past, leaving Hyukjae to walk in the room and towards a very curious Donghae.

“hi”

“what did Sungmin-hyung just pass on to you?”

“Hyukjae stared at him blankly before mumbling “ Lube.”

“Hyukjae!!” Donghae hissed frantically, casting a weary glance towards Henry whose sleeping form flinched a little. Hyukjae snorted at the tiny spark of hope in Donghae’s eyes and grumbled “ you’re not getting lucky tonight mister.”

Donghae pouted a bit, his voice entirely serious as he scooted aside to make room for Hyukjae “You know what I call ‘getting lucky?’ “

Hyukjae lay onto his back, shirt having been peeled off “what?”

Donghae proceeded to shuffle over and lay down on his side, arms and legs around Hyukjae’s waist as he snuggled into his side, feeling the warmth and reveling in Hyukjae’s scent. He beamed and closed his eyes, sighing  “ This. Being able to feel this is lucky.”

Hyukjae gazed down at him fondly, choosing to not respond to that comment, pressing a soft kiss to donghae’s forehead he nuzzled his face into the other’s hair “Sleep.”

“ I’m going to win your trust Hyuk, I will...help you bring down those walls..” Donghae hummed sleepily, a smile still on his lips which Hyukjae watched all the while till Donghae fell asleep. He could not ignore the different voices in his head, most of them were alright with how things had progressed between him and Donghae, and he did have feelings for Donghae so being with him made complete sense. Then again this same guy he had harvested feelings for had lied to him, several voices from within warned him to keep his guard up, while the rest simply did not approve of this at all. His eyes traced the calm features of Donghae, sure he had lied, he could still be lying, but what would donghae get from still playing Hyukjae? Nothing, was he answer that echoed in his mind, even though it was hard to be able to fully trust a person who had shattered it, Hyukjae had always proved to himself how he was a generous fool.

So he was going to be generous this once but also remain cautious and see this to the end. He did not like living with ‘what ifs’ so he decided to stick around and see, whether he would be able to trust Donghae once more, like he used to.