I opened my eyes slowly, feeling too hot for some reason. I tried to sit up, but found I was pinned down by a large arm across my waist. I felt more pressure on my arm and legs, and I looked up. The sound of snoring, and I rolled my eyes at the wolf pack.

Chanyeol’s arm was looped around my waist, Sehun’s head was on my leg and Tao was laying on my arm. I shifted impatiently, and he made a sleepy noise of protest and cuddled closer. Everyone else was asleep, apparently on top of each other, and snoring soundly. I pushed Chanyeol away, only for him to wrap his leg around mine and mumble.

"Guys, wake up." I said, nudging Tao. He frowned, wrapping his arm around me, and I growled in frustration. The more I tried to move them, the closer to me they got. I finally disentangled myself from everyone, careful not to step on any hands-or tails in Jongin’s case.

I got a drink of water from a nearby stream and straightened, checking for danger. I woke up Suho and Kris, and they helped me kick the rest of the wolves awake. Chen stretched sleepily, two little wolf ears flicking back and forth on his head. I paused, staring, and he covered them with his hands self-consciously.

"Sorry." Chen murmured, his ears flicking rapidly. And somewhat cutely.

"I thought you only changed on the full moon." I said, frowning. Suho and Kris were rounding everyone up, Sehun being the last to wake. Yixing rested a gently hand on his shoulder, smiling.

"We do. But the full moon is tomorrow night. All of us are feeling the effects-you couldn’t have missed Jongin’s tail." Yixing smiled, his dimple deepening. I nodded, still kind of confused.

"What do I do when you guys...change?" I asked, frowning. Yixing nodded towards Sehun, who was sleepily eating breakfast.

"Hun-ah hasn’t changed yet, so you’ll stay with him. Although, his first change could happen any time." Yixing said. I nodded, and Yixing got me some breakfast.

Luckily, Jongin and Chen had gotten rid of their wolfy parts by the time we started walking towards San Francisco. We walked for about an hour uneventfully, stopping for a drink and some snacks.

"When was the last time you’ve been to a human city?" Chanyeol asked quietly, his cheeks flushed with excitement. I saw Kris listening quietly, and told him it had been three years.

"That’s so long! Isn’t it, Sehun?" Chanyeol asked, nudging the youngest gently. Sehun’s eyes didn’t leave the ground, staring blankly into space. His cheeks were flushed and his face was coated with a slight sheen of sweat even though he was only wearing a tank top and some shorts.

"Sehun?" Baekhyun half-stood, looking over. I saw concern in his eyes, and he trotted over with Yixing.

"Hun-ah, are you okay?" Baekhyun asked gently, touching Sehun’s shoulder softly. Sehun nodded, jerking out of his trance and his lips.

"I’m fine, don’t worry about it." Sehun said softly. Yixing nodded, still looking concerned, and Baekhyun sat down.

"Hun-ah, why don’t you wash your face over there?" Yixing suggested. Sehun looked over at the stream dully, nodding.

"Okay." Sehun stood, walking slowly over to the water. I turned back to answer a question Chanyeol asked me, and out of the corner of my eye saw Sehun start to fall.

"Sehun!" I yelled, jumping up and running forward. Jongin beat me there, catching Sehun softly, and Baekhyun jumped in between us.

"Get away from him!" Baekhyun snarled at me, and I dropped my gaze. I backed away, feeling Chanyeol rest his hand gently on my shoulder, and flinched.

"You’re scaring her!" Chanyeol rumbled, taking his hand away. The three of us were ignored as Suho and Yixing ran forward. I pushed past Baekhyun, looking at Sehun. Jongin had laid him gently on the ground, and his head was tipped back.

Tao held me back gently, and I saw Lu Han watching anxiously as Yixing gently started going over Sehun. After a few seconds, he called Kris and Suho over, whispering to them hurriedly. Kris turned around a few seconds later, pointing to me.

"Take the human away." Kris said softly, gesturing to Xiumin and Chen. They nodded, gesturing for me to follow them away from everyone else.

"Chen, what’s going on?" I asked, tugging on his sleeve. He shook his head secretively, and I felt my worry for Sehun grow.

"Is he hurt? Is he going to be okay? Can I help?" I asked, feeling panic slowly consume me. Xiumin looked down at me with a small smile the same time a blood-curdling scream sounded.

"Was that Sehun?" I asked, and Chen sat me down on the ground. He joined me, and Xiumin did the same.

"Listen, you can’t tell anyone we told you." Chen said gravely. I nodded, hoping Sehun would be okay.

"Sehun...is changing!" Xiumin said excitedly, looking proud. I looked from Xiumin to Chen, and found myself smiling back at their grins.

"Our Hun-ah, all grown up." Chen said, sniffing dramatically. I smiled, and we all winced when another scream tore through the clearing.

"I wish there was a way to make it more comfortable..." Xiumin murmured. Chen rested a comforting hand on the older’s shoulder, giving him a small smile.

"Yixing is doing all he can. We should be grateful we have him." Chen said. Xiumin nodded, his head jerking up. I tensed, seeing Chen also straighten, and frowned as a drawling voice came out of the shadows.

"Touching." A man’s voice snarled. Chen and Xiumin stood, shielding me, and I looked around for a weapon.

"Who’s there?" Chen asked, his voice deepening into a growl. Xiumin’s eyes flashed, his lip curling in a snarl.

"We just hate to break up this little family, don’t we boys?" A tall man stepped into view, holding a rifle loosely. Four more men stepped forward, each carrying a different weapon. I eyed everything from electricity sticks to crossbows with a sinking feeling. Hunters, more of them.

"Skye, run." Xiumin whispered, holding me behind him. Chen growled, rubbing his hands together. A long string of electricity formed between his hands, crackling and zapping.

"What about you?" I whispered back, not budging.

"Run and get the others." Chen hissed, looking back at me. The man with the electricity stick-something once used to control unruly cattle-stepped forward and hit Chen with it. I winced from the force of the blow and the blue flickers of electricity that s over the metal rod.

"You’ve got to do better than that..." Chen sang, shooting the man with a bolt of his own. The hunter jerked back, looking surprised, and dropped the weapon. Xiumin twisted to the side, and crossbow bolt flying past him and to the side. He shot a current of ice at the man with the crossbow, freezing him in his place.

Xiumin jerked when the electricity rod struck his ribs, falling to the ground and curling up. He groaned, and Chen immediately stepped in front of him, blocking a cut from a knife. The man with the rifle swore, and I saw the mechanism had been frozen in place. I lunged forward, dispatching the hunter with the knife and taking his knife. The man with the broken rifle and the one who had the electricity stick were the only two left, and I let Chen take care of the latter.

I lunged forward, knocking the man backwards, and landed a punch to his temple. He slumped down, and I wondered at how easy that was. Looking up, I saw Chen had shocked the hunter again, making him also collapse. I stood, helping Xiumin stand, and looked back at Chen.

"Wasn’t that a little-" I was cut off by a gunshot, and I saw Chen fly backwards. He hit a tree behind him, dropping on his stomach and laying still.

"Chen!" I screamed, setting Xiumin down and running to him. Blood trickled from a gunshot in his chest, and Chen coughed.

"Skye, get away from that thing! I’m here to take you home." Luke’s voice made me freeze, and I turned. He stood there with a wide smile on his face, holding a handgun, and then quickly shot Xiumin.

"No! Luke, what are you doing?" I screamed as Xiumin slumped down. Luke gave me a confused look, and I shook Chen slightly.

"Skye, it could still be alive, get away from it." Luke warned, stepping forward. I ignored him, touching Chen’s shoulder. He was still breathing slightly, blood trickling from his mouth. I prayed Xiumin was also still alive, and shook off Luke’s hand when he touched my shoulder.

"Luke, you shot them." I whispered, looking up at him. He still looked confused, and I pushed him away. "They saved my life!"

"What are you talking about?" Luke snorted, looking at me like I was crazy. I pointed to Xiumin, then to Chen.

"I would’ve drowned if he wasn’t there, or been eaten by a water snake! And he protected me from someone else!" I said. Luke shook his head, pulling me to my feet.

"Come on, before the rest of their pack comes." Luke said. A low snarl interrupted us, and I turned towards the sound almost gratefully.

Suho, Kris, Jongin, Tao, Baekhyun and Chanyeol all stepped forward slowly. Baekhyun and Tao’s eyes were already glowing, and Baekhyun released a low snarl. I pushed Luke away from me, but he still hovered by me, holding his gun.

"Suho, get Yixing!" I said. Suho looked at me, his eyes full of sadness. "Suho, he shot Xiumin and Chen, you need to get Yixing!"

"You...I trusted you." Chanyeol’s deep voice sounded, and I looked over at him. His shoulders were slumped, new wolf ears drooped, and he gave me a heartbroken look.

"Chanyeol, I didn’t do this! He did!" I said, pointing at Luke. Luke shook my arm hard, giving me an angry look.

"Skye, shut up! Let me handle this, don’t speak to it!" Luke said, giving me another hard shake.

"Don’t tell her to shut up!" Suho snarled, looking protective. Kris and Tao slowly stepped forward, and Luke raised his gun. Tao flinched, looking scared, but he met Luke’s eyes strongly.

"Don’t do that, you could hurt them!" I said, knocking the gun down. Luke slapped me across the face hard, and I fell down. Chanyeol immediately jumped forward, covering me with his body, sprawling next to Luke.

"I told you she was trouble." Baekhyun hissed. Tao and Kris slowly picked up Xiumin and Chen, Kris and Jongin taking them and disappearing.

"Where did they go?" Luke asked, looking around. I shook my head, and he turned his attention to Chanyeol.

"Get away from her!" Luke snarled, kicking Chanyeol in the side. Chanyeol yelped like a puppy, flinching, and Baekhyun snarled.

"Don’t touch him!" Baekhyun yelled, at the same time I cried, "Don’t hurt him!"

"Don’t speak, I said!" Luke yelled at me, trying to pull me up. Chanyeol clawed at his hand, and Luke stomped down on Chanyeol’s spine. Chanyeol yelled, curling up, and I blocked Luke from touching him.

"Come ON, Skye." Luke ripped on my arm, but I pulled back.

"No! I’m not going back with you!" I said, shaking my head. Luke ripped at my arm again, but I staggered back and Tao kept me from falling.

"What?" Luke said, tilting his head to the side. I shook my head, backing up further with Tao. He kept his arm protectively around my waist, shielding me from any harm.

"I’m not going back. Living with you was great, but these are my friends. They saved my life, kept me safe, and you hurt them. I’m not going to live with you anymore. If they’ll have me, I’m staying with them." I said. Suho gave me a small smile, and I nodded.

"Nonsense, you’re coming!" Luke said, lunging forward. Baekhyun leapt on his back, sinking his claws into Luke’s shoulders and ripping back.

"Don’t touch her!" Baekhyun snarled, throwing Luke down. Tao jumped on Luke with a snarl, punching him in the face.

"Stop!" I cried, stepping forward. "He did raise me for three years, don’t hurt him. Let him go." I said. Tao looked back at Suho, and Suho nodded. Tao backed off, looking back, and Luke suddenly rocketed up with a wicked-looking knife out. He buried it in Tao’s side, making the younger wolf yell. Baekhyun knocked Luke back down, his claws buried in Luke’s collar and teeth centimeters away his neck.

"Tao!" I rushed over to him, touching the knife gently. Kris appeared, picking up Tao and disappearing again. We all were watching Kris and didn’t even notice Luke get away.

Lots of action in this chappie! Tell me, will everyone live? Remember, Xiumin’s already maybe dead...I’m sorry fellow fangirls! I will try to update soon!

Saranghamnida, please comment!

-Sujin

<3