“That is all. You may leave.” The old grey wolf said. Kai let out a sigh of relief and walked towards the exit of the cave they were in. He felt like the meeting had gone on forever. The elders had kept asking them questions about their latest journeys, and what they had seen and found. All three of them had problems with matching their stories and make them sound trustworthy without telling them about you.

He tried to walk as fast as he could without seeming stressed or desperate to get out. He could almost see the opening when the voice of one of the elders cut through the air like a knife. “Kai.”

He froze in his steps. He could pretend not to hear, but he had already stopped at the sound of his name. He let out a sigh and realized that he was stuck in the cave for what could be a few minutes or a couple of hours. Sehun and Chanyeol smiled weakly at him as they walked past him. “Just clear your thoughts and take a deep breath. It will be fine.” Chanyeol said and placed a hand on his shoulder before he disappeared outside with Sehun.

“Please come back.” The old wolf spoke. “We would like to speak some more with you.”

He let out a silent sigh before he filled his lungs with air and walked back inside with his head held high. Everyone else had left the cave. He was alone with the elders.

The elders were a group of the oldest and wisest wolves, not just in their pack, but also in most of the packs around the forest and in the mountains. Speaking to them was an honor that not many wolves received. Kai was more than aware of that, but now he just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.

He had wanted to tell Sehun and Chanyeol about the situation you were in, but it would be too risky. They were in the heart of their den, and every person inside it had an over humanly sense of hearing. He could not take that risk. It would be too easy to hold the three of them back while they sent scouts out to kill you or bring you back to the den.

Kai stopped in front of the old men and women in front of him. They all looked calm and worn out by all the years they had lived; still there was something about them that created an aura of wisdom and honor around them. They were all majestic, even though none of them belonged to the Alpha-family.

“What do you want to speak with me about?” Kai asked while trying his best to seem calm.

“Kai.” One of the women, named Athanasia, said. “Are you certain that you told us everything you wanted to?”

Kai nodded his head. He did not want to use his voice. He knew some of the elders had some sort of ability to tell when people were not telling the truth.

“Do remember, young wolf, that if you are indeed hiding something, we are sure to find it out sooner or later.” A man, Amantius, said. “Not much happens in these woods of which we do not know about.”

“I know, Amantius.” Kai said and forced himself to smile a little. “You are rumored to have eyes that can see the entire forest all at once.”

Decimus, another one of the men among the elders, let out a slight chuckle. “Well that certainly is just a rumor.” He said with a small smile in the corner of his mouth. Decimus was one of the youngest members, and therefore the one that most of the youngest people who spoke with the elders were most comfortable with. “We do indeed have eyes and ears in most corners of the forest, but not even the sharpest pair of ears and eyes can know everything that goes on around them.”

The members gave a slight nod of agreement, but remained silent.

“Do remember young wolf, that it is better to confess your secrets when given the chance, than to get them ripped away from you when you hold them the closest.” Athanasia said calmly. Kai almost bit his lip as he let the old woman’s words sink in.

She was actually offering him a chance to come forward with the secret of keeping you hidden, without being punished for it. It was tempting, but he knew he could not do that. He knew that they would either let you go, or bring you back to the den and get rid of you in more traditional ways. The chances were too big, but the outcome would be the same either way; you would disappear. And that was something he could not let happen.

“I will remember your words, Athanasia.” He said and gave her a small bow. “But there is nothing for me to hide from you.” He said and made a small gesture to include all of the members in front of him.

“Then you may leave.” Athanasia said. Kai bowed in front of them once again and turned around to leave.

“Just remember,” he could hear Athanasias voice from behind him, and stopped. “It is never too late to come back in case you should remember something.”

Kai nodded and walked out of the cave. He did not look back as he walked further away from the cave. He had just reached the outskirts of the den when two voices called from behind him. He turned around and let out a sigh of relief as he saw Sehun and Chanyeol coming towards him. They stopped in front of him, and Chanyeol was just about to open his mouth before Kai spoke up.

“They know about Avry.”

“What?!” Sehuns voice was shocked.

“Shhhh! Not so loud!” Chanyeol hissed at him.

“Did you tell them?” Sehun said his voice a little lower this time.

“Of course not!” Kai said with a voice filled with annoyance and frustration. “They don’t know her name or whereabouts, but they know she’s in the forest. They even gave me a chance to tell them everything, and let me get away with hiding her from them.” He let out a sigh as he pulled his fingers through his hair.

“This is bad.” Sehun mumbled.

“Of course it is!” Chanyeol snapped at him. “We don’t even know how much they know about her!”

Chanyeol and Sehun started hissing and snapping at each other. Kai bit his lip, a habit when he was nervous or unsure about something. He hardly noticed their presence, as all his thoughts swarmed around the scent he had picked up earlier that day. He was almost about to just leave the two of them bickering and go to the cave to check if you were fine.

“Kai?” Chanyeol snapped his fingers in front of his face and he blinked a few times as he came back from his thoughts.

“What?” He asked and looked at his tall friend.

“What are we going to do now?” Chanyeol asked and looked at him with his arms crossed over his chest.

“I have to get to Avry.” Kai said without thinking. “I have to know that she’s still safe.”

“But how are you going to do that? They already know that you are connected to her. It will be easy for them to track you down and find her.”” Sehun said and stood beside Chanyeol, his arms crossed over his chest as well.

“Distraction.” Kai said as his brain started working. “You two will cover for me and work as a distraction. Just like we did a few days ago.”

“It might work…” Chanyeol said while he thought it through. “They will be looking after me and Sehun as well in the next few days since we are your travelling companions. So if we take their attention away from you, you will be able to not just sneak out of here, but also get to Avry without being noticed.”

“Yes!” Kai said with a smile. “It will work right?”

“It will.” Sehun said. “But you can’t stay for long. Remember that the longer you stay there, the easier it will be to know that you have been there with her. In addition, you have to remember to find another place for her to hide. She is not safe in that cave anymore.”

Kai nodded. “Then what are we waiting for.” He said as a smirk formed on his lips. Chanyeol and Sehun both smiled before they changed into their wolf forms and set the plan to action.

You looked out at the sky. It was almost sunset, and Kai had still not returned. It made you worried. You knew that something had happened when he did not return after an hour. You bit your lip in thought as you looked out. You knew you could not go out to look for him, but the good part, was that Lay would probably be out of the cave before Kai returned.

You had talked with him during the day when he was not sleeping. He was actually a very nice person. He was polite, sweet and he even helped you with your injured ankle. You were very thankful for that, and that was just another reason for you to want him to get away from the cave before Kai returned. You did not want Lay to get in trouble, and especially not after he even helped you with your ankle.

You let out a sigh as you turned back and went inside the cave again. You sat down and leaned against the stone behind you. Your worries where growing with each passing minute. You had so many thoughts in your head about what could have possibly happened to him.

“Where are you Kai?” You said to yourself as you fumbled with a rock.

“I am right here.” You heard a familiar voice say, and your head immediately shoot up.

You looked straight at him. He smiled at you. A warm smile, as he met your eyes with his own warm and deep brown eyes. He had been running. You could see how his breath was quicker than normal. He had already changed into his human form, and now he stood there in the opening of the cave. Bathed in the orange rays from the setting sun.

You quickly got on your feet, and despite the pain in your ankle, you dashed towards him before you flung your arms around him in a big hug. You face was buried his chest as you felt his strong arms wrap safely around your shoulders.

“Where did you go?” You said muffled into his shirt. “You said you would be back in ten minutes.”

“I know.” He said and leaned his head on top of yours. “I am sorry. I was on my way back when another wolf stopped me. He said that all the wolves were being called back to the den. Then I was stuck there until recently.”

“Why? Why did you have to go back?” You asked as you started to relax in his embrace.

“It’s nothing important. What matters is that I am back right?” He said with a smile and looked down at you. You smiled up at him and nodded.

You had almost forgotten about Lay, when you heard his footsteps coming from deeper within the cave. You cursed yourself for forgetting something as important as that, and hoped that Kai would not do anything stupid.

Kai looked up and narrowed his eye as the silhouette coming out of the shadows. He had his suspicions that he would be somewhere around the cave, but inside it was more than he expected. A growl emitted from deep down his throat, and you saw a flash of yellow wash over his eyes.

“Kai.” You said and looked up at him. “Before you do anything stupid, I want you to listen to me.”

You looked up at him and waited for him to respond, but he had given all his focus to Lay who was coming closer to them each second. You grabbed both sides of his head and forced him to look at you. He hesitated a little, but looked at you.

“Listen. I know he is another wolf, and I also know that he is not from your pack, or from this territory, but I need you to listen to me when I tell you not to hurt him.” You said with a calm, but stern voice, not letting go of the eye contact you had with him. “He have not done a single thing to hurt me, actually he helped me. He made my ankle better.” You continued, and smiled at him, though it did not seem to help.

“I know who he is.” Kai said before he looked up at Lay. “And I do not like him.”

“Then allow me to say that I am not very fond of you either.” Lay answered coldly.

You looked at the two boys. They were staring at each other, as if they were already fighting a fight against each other inside their minds. You let out a sigh. This was not going to end well.

* * * * * 

Hello everyone. I am sorry for updating so slowly, I really am. I promise to try my best to update more often from now on. It's just that I've been having these really important assignments at school, and I had to focus on them instead.

Since I'm going to have a sort of 'test' exam this week, I won't be able to update before the weekend. I actually hadn't planned on updating before after the exam, but I wanted to give you guys something to read while in the meantime ^^

Please do comment, and tell me what you think so far, and give me some ideas on what to write further in the story. I've already made the plot, but I'm open for ideas to fill in some empty spots ^^ And also, if there is something you think I could have done better or something you want to read more about in the story, then leave a comment and tell me about it!