In another area of the city, a man dressed in black crouched low along a wall. His breathing almost betrayed him as the city guards rushed past the wall in a frenzy. “Find him!” One yelled, pointing a spear towards the entrance to the city. “Do not let him get away!”

The man waited until the group of guards passed before he peeked around the wall and sighed in relief, his body sagging against the wall. He knew, however, that the danger wouldn’t be over with until he was safe back in his quarters in the merchant district. He cautiously checked each way before standing from his hiding spot and stepping from behind the wall. He walked quietly, cautiously, alert to his surroundings. If he was caught now, the pack would be decimated.

It took longer than normal for him to get back to his quarters this time. The rumors of a wild pack of wolves in the forest beyond the city had sparked fear into the commoners and the poor people nearest the city gates. The fear had sparked petitions to the current King of Joseon to double up on the city guards around the gates and on patrol. But the wolves wasn’t the sole reason for the city guards in the poor district trying to catch him. No, tonight he’d been careless in his hunting and had been spotted changing back into his human form.

“Master, where have you been?” One of his slaves hissed at his door as he dropped in from the secret entrance of his residence.

Kim Yesung sighed. His shop specialized in clothing for the male yangban’s of Hanyang, especially the aristocratic older nobility. “I was out.” He snapped, stripping off his black clothing quickly and putting on his house robe. The slight stench of blood on him wouldn’t be noticeable to his normal clientele, so he hoped that whomever had shown up at his shop wasn’t one of the 3 packs in the area.

His slave bowed low to the ground. “Forgive me Master!” She practically wailed.

“Never mind that now. Who is it?” He softened his tone, trying to show the girl that he wasn’t really mad. He swept his house robe on over his clothing, tying the chest loosely.

“It’s Merchant Kim Heechul, Master.” The slave replied, hurrying along behind Yesung as he strode quickly from his bed chamber to the front where his shop was located. The name of his shop was Jongwoon, his former name before he’d become a shape shifter.

Yesung frowned. Why would Heechul be at his shop in the middle of the night? The other merchant was a shape shifter, but he affiliated with all 3 packs because he sold herbs and potions. Unless something had happened to one of the other packs? No, he would have heard about it from his pack leader, or there would have been a conclave summons for a meeting between the remaining packs. No, whatever it was that brought Kim Heechul to his shop near midnight wasn’t dire pack business but something else supernaturally related.

“Merchant Kim!” Yesung saw the older man and bowed respectfully. “What brings you here at this ungodly hour?”

Heechul smirked. “I can smell the stench of blood. You’ve been out to hunt?”

Yesung frowned. “Yes, why?”

Heechul sighed. “We have a new problem in the city.”

Yesung signaled for his slave to fetch drinks for them as he frowned. “New problem?”

Another slave brought a low table and some cushions for them to sit down. Heechul tapped a finger on the table. “Remember how we got that missive from Park Kahi in Gaeseong?” Hee-chul said, his hand stilling. “Those magick users are on the move and they’ve chosen our grand capital as their next destination.” Heechul grimaced as if he’d had something bitter.

Yesung sighed. He’d known the magick users would be coming. He’d smelled their scent on the winds. “This will not settle well with the packs.” He said. “Have you said anything to the other 2?”

Heechul nodded. “All 3 actually. It seems that the magick users are sending a scout ahead to root out what other supernatural elements are in the area before they chose a place to settle.”

Yesung tapped his finger once to signal to Heechul that one of the slaves was entering the room, thus pausing the conversation until the slave had placed the drinks and cups on the table and bowing while silently backing out of the room. Yesung was unique in his pack as he refused to let any of his slaves know about shape shifters, nor would he use other shifters as slaves in his shop. He’d told his pack leader once that using normal people kept up pretenses in Hanyang and the less suspicion he attracted the better. Shape shifters were not immortal, but they did live longer than average lives for the time period. Yesung knew eventually he’d have to give up his shop to another member of the pack, most likely one of the new kids that had just survived his first shifting.

Yesung poured Heechul a cup of tea. Shifters usually refused to drink anything but tea or water, but on occasion would have an alcoholic drink to satisfy social requirements. Yesung hated the taste of alcohol, so he rarely had it on hand after the shop closed. It was mostly for the non-shifter yangbans who chose to buy from his shop. Many seemed to expect alcohol in some form when shopping. “So we need to welcome this scout or are we going to scare her away?” He asked after pouring his own cup of tea.

Heechul took a moment to savor the brew. “You got this imported from China didn’t you?” He asked, an eyebrow raised.

Yesung looked at Heechul over the steaming cup and snorted. “And why would I not treat you to my newest and most precious tea?” He asked lightly.

Heechul laughed suddenly. They heard the soft footsteps of the head slave moving away from the door into one of the back areas of the house. They both took slow sips of the tea, savoring the aroma and flavor. “I think we will have to personally greet this scout and turn him or her away from Hanyang.” Heechul said softly, peering into his cup.

“Is that what the pack leaders think we should do?” Yesung asked, lifting the teapot and pouring another cup. He usually drank 2 pots of tea after a hunt, but he had a special brew for such occasions as it sated his bloodlust during the full moon periods.

Heechul shook his head. “No, just my personal assessment. We should have a conclave to inform the packs of the news.” He heard Yesung’s soft disgruntled sigh. “I know, I know. You hate the conclaves. But this is a potential threat we don’t need, especially after the packs were spotted outside the city.”

Yesung nodded. “We will need to discuss that issue as well. I know Kangin has already spoken to the rest of Pack Kim that any pack member caught shifting within easy sight of the city walls would be used for the next hunting target for the new shifters.”

Heechul nodded. “Pack Lee has already issued a similar decree, but the pack I’m most worried about is Pack Cho.”

Yesung tensed slightly. Cho Kyuhyun led the smallest and most diverse pack of shifters in the area. Most packs were made up of shifters who bore the same family surname as the pack leader, no matter the true blood relation to him. Pack Cho was the exception. Originally there had only been two shifter packs in Hanyang providence until Kim Kibum had challenged Kangin for leadership of the pack. Kibum had lost, and broke off from the pack, his tail tucked between his legs. Yesung sighed again, thinking about it.

Heechul knew from the sigh that Yesung was thinking about the events that lead to the formation of a third pack. Yesung had been there through the entire thing, a newly turned pup thrown into the chaos of a leadership successor challenge and being forced to choose between his loyalty to the pack who’d taken him in, or tuck his tail and side with the man whom he’d thought of as a close brother. Heechul cleared his throat. “Anyway, I will be talking with Kyuhyun tomorrow and will pass the word on about the scout.”

Yesung snapped out of his thoughts. He swiped a stray piece of his dark black hair away from his face. “I don’t know if Pack Cho would accept guidance from the other two packs.” He said, pouring Heechul another cup of tea. “Since succeeding Kibum for Pack leader, I’ve heard rumors that some of the pack members have been breaking the code of the Pack.”

Heechul leaned closer. “That is not rumor my friend.” He said, after sipping appreciatively of the brew. “Kyuhyun doesn’t have the iron fist that Kibum had, and its reflecting badly upon the other Packs.”

The pot of tea went quickly. Heechul stood and stretched, the tea had lasted throughout their conversation. Yesung saw Heechul out, waving off one of the slaves who guarded his shop and home at night before making himself a pot of his special tea. After finishing his tea and cleaning up, Yesung lay in his bed, but sleep refused to come for him. He was sure the next few days would be full of pretense and posturing once the Conclave was called.

His mind drifted unbidden to the last image his memory had of Cho Kyuhyun, which lead to the painful reminder of Kibum. Yesung tossed in his bed, frustrated that he couldn’t force his mind away from his former friend. He finally drifted off into a fitful sleep, his dreams full of the past.