Donghae watched carefully as some of the servants from the gisaeng house lifted Seungri onto the makeshift stretcher that the city guard captain had ordered be found. A few of the guardsmen broke off from the rest, one coming up to him and saluting. “Young master, we will accompany you back to the Lee house.”

Donghae nodded, the horse Seungri had been riding hadn’t been found yet, but he worried more for his cousin than the horse at this point. Seungri hadn’t woken up, and it was bothering Donghae. The captain came up to him, bowing low. “I will report what happened to the magistrate with your leave, Young master.” He said. “I’m sure that this is not an isolated case, especially with the rumors of wolves in the forest.”

Donghae cleared his throat, playing the perfectly aloof yangban towards the captain. “That sounds like there have been other reports of people being attacked at night?” He asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice. He made himself sound like he was appauled that the magistrate hadn't reported any previous attacks to Minister Lee.

The captain shook his head quickly. “Oh no Young master!” He exclaimed. “We’ve not seen or heard of any other reports of people being attacked, but the wolves…well, the number of wolves seen outside the city walls is reported to be increasing and I assumed that this might be related…” The man broke off, obviously embarrassed to be caught speculating towards a member of the noble class.

Donghae caught the captain’s eyes, piercing him with a commanding stare. “I will expect to see a full report from the magistrate on these wolf sightings, along with any other reports of attacks on my father’s desk in the morning.” He commanded.

“Yes Young master! I will personally hand them over in the morning!” The captain stood straight, his armor clinking.

“Good. Now if they have my guard ready, I will be heading home.” Donghae dismissed the man, frowning as he took note of the men ordered to protect him home. They were a sorry lot, and Donghae intented to speak with his father about this. If the city guards were incompetent in any way, it reflected badly on the leadership skills of the magistrates in charge of each section of the large capital. If the magistrates were lacking in their disipline of the city guards, then it fell back to Minister Lee's skills in controlling the magistrate. Any discrepencies in the handling of the protection of the citizens would eventually be heard by the King, who was not forgiving in any way of mistakes made under his rule.

The time it took for Donghae to arrive home meant that his mother and the head servant of the Lee household would be up waiting for him. He took the time to reflect on his own goals and to formulate a plan of action in case his father wanted him to personally handle the case as the successor and heir to the Lee family.

Seungri's complexion had paled during the half hour it took to get from the attack site to his quarters in the Lee house. As Donghae had predicted, his mother and the head servant had fussed over how late they were getting back to the house, and then grew alarmed at the fact that Seungri had been attacked.

"I think we need to up your guard detail." Minister Lee told Donghae the next morning when it was reported that Seungri's condition hadn't changed and he was still unconcious. The doctor had arrived in the middle of the night, slightly disheveled and completely unnerved that Seungri had not regained consciousness after being thrown from his horse.

Donghae shook his head. The promised reports had arrived at daybreak by the captain, who looked exhausted. Nothing from the reports suggested that Seungri's attack and the increase in wolves were related. "No, father, I don't think that it's necessary." Donghae replied. "It could be that it was a random attack." His father had decided Seungri being attacked meant that Donghae was in danger from asssasins or someone from one of the other political factions in the city.

"Master, there is a young man here to see the injured servant." A household slave announced from behind the door of Minister Lee's office.

"Who is it?" Minister Lee asked, putting the magistrate reports aside. Donghae also turned, and pulled out a new cushion for the guest to sit on. He turned himself to the right side of his father's desk.

"His name is Kang Daesung. He came to replace the other doctor treating the servant." The slave replied.

"Send him in." Minister Lee said.

Donghae felt something odd as Kang Daesung came into the room. He bowed low to them and then waited until Minister Lee nodded for him to sit down. "So, have you seen him?" Minster Lee asked, getting straight to the point.

Daesung nodded. "The patient is still comatose, but his wound was treated well, so there should be no scarring." He said. "I would like to treat him at my clinic so I can keep an eye on him when he wakes up."

Donghae felt the tension rise in the room. Was he the one who was tense, or was it the Dr? Donghae decided it was himself who tensed up as Minster Lee nodded. It must be because he worried for Seungri. What if his cousin didn't wake up?

Daesung took his leave of the Lee's after answering some questions for the Minster. He crossed the yard toward the family quarters where Seungri had been placed. After arranging transportation for the patient, Daesung wrote a quick message that he sent off with his trusted assistant.

Kwon Ji Yong would not be happy to hear that they had another additon to the Clan. It meant that someone within the cat clan was attacking random people and infecting them with the shifter virus. The reply came back from the Clan faster than Daesung expected. Seungri was being placed within the Clan's specialized shifter house. Daesung expected that Seungri would be starting the shifting process sometime before midnight.

Donghae came over to see Seungri before the young guard was to be moved. "Take good care of him Doctor." Donghae surprised Daesung with how concerned he was for the younger man. Daesung was acustomed to yangbans being aloof toward their servants and guards, showing no concern or emotions toward the non-nobility.

Daesung bowed to Donghae. "Do not fear Young master." He replied. "I will be with him the entire time to ensure he is getting the best care possible. I will send word once he wakes up." He reassured Donghae, sensing the other male’s need for comfort.

Donghae visibly relaxed. His eyes grew soft as he gazed over at his cousin. "I leave him in your care." Donghae walked by the palaquin and placed a hand upon the sleeping Seungri's shoulder before straightening and leaving the area.

Daesung spoke once more to the Lady of the house, and assured her that Seungri was in good hands. As they left the house, his assistant, Lee Sungmin walked beside him. The only animal Daesung used was the horse that pulled the palaquin. "Do you think he has a high chance of surviving the shifting?" Daesung asked his assistant.

Sungmin looked down at Seungri. “Right now it doesn’t look good because he is just barely past puberty, but he is healthier than most others who were infected at his age, so that may boost his chances of success.” Sungmin assessed, his tone thoughtful and almost distant as he contemplated the rates of a shifter success.

Daesung sighed. “It will be a miracle if this one survives the shifting where others have died.” He said. “Ji Yong will be having a fit when we arrive.” He told the older man. Age didn’t mean much in the cat clans. Much like with the wolf packs, there were dominate cats and submissive cats. Sungmin might be much older than Daesung, but Daesung was stronger with his feline form than Sungmin, which made the older one more submissive.

Donghae couldn’t shake off the feeling that something bad was coming. He went about his duties as the dutiful son of a Minster should, but in the back of his head, something nagged at him. He chose not to visit the gisaeng house in favor of quiet contemplation in his study. Others mistook his contemplation as guilt over Seungri being attacked, but Donghae dismissed those thoughts.

By the time Daesung arrived at the Clan’s shifter house outside the city, Seungri had already started showing signs of shifting. His body was covered in sweat, and lay in a semi-fetal position as much as the palanquin would allow him. “Get him quickly into the house.” Daesung ordered, an unnatural feeling of worry settling into his stomach. “Sungmin, go inform Ji Yong we’ve arrived, then go get the wolfsbane.”

Sungmin raised an eyebrow at the mention of wolfsbane. The potent herb rendered most shifters incapable of movement or shifting when ground into a wound, or kept most wolves away when spread out in a barrier around a house. Sungmin bowed quickly, not questioning Daesung’s orders.

“How is he?” Ji Yong’s voice quietly asked a time later as Daesung wipe the sweat off of Seungri’s brow.

“He’s fighting the change.” Daesung replied. “He’s a strong one.”

Ji Yong sat down next to Daesung. “This makes the fourth one this month. I wonder who’s been turning people.” He said, staring at Seungri’s face.

“We need to catch whomever is doing this.” Daesung said. “I’m all for the clan growing, but not like this.”

Ji Yong nodded. “I just got a missive from the Wolf packs.” He said, changing the subject. “They’re calling a conclave meeting in 3 days.”

Daesung’s eyes widened. “But the wolf packs have never included the Clan in their conclaves before!” He exclaimed, all formalities gone.

Ji Yong sighed, his shoulders slumping. Being the alpha of the Clan was taking its toll on the young feline. “The coven from Gaeseong is sending a scout ahead to move a portion of the witches from that city to the capital.” He said. “One of the cats sent word about a month ago that Japan is attempting to infiltrate the capital and the coven wants to prevent any issues from happening.”

Daesung tensed as he wiped Seungri’s brow again. The young man was sweating less as his body succumbed slowly to the change.  He said nothing as he felt Ji Yong move.

“Shhh.” Ji Yong placed a hand on Seungri’s forehead while placing his other hand on Daesung’s shoulder. “It’s past time we guided him into the change.”

Daesung nodded silently, settling back and closing his eyes. He felt the gentle tug from inside his mind as Ji Yong delved into Seungri’s mind. His feline purred quietly as they appeared in with Ji Yong in the subconscious part of Seungri’s mind. The private inner sanctum of a shifter’s mind was sacred to most shifter, only letting certain people in, such as mates, or on occasion, the leader of their pack or clan.

‘He seems pretty calm for being in the beginning stages of shifting.’ Daesung’s feline, named D, observed as he waited for Ji Yong to sense where Seungri was hiding in the sanctum. It wasn’t uncommon for the animal side of a shifter and the human side to talk to each other, it was just not as noticeable with feline shifters.

“Found him.” Ji Yong said, grabbing a hold of Daesung’s arm.

Daesung closed his eyes, feeling Ji Yong moving at what seemed a break-neck speed. The fast, supernatural way Ji Yong was able to move inside a mind was astounding and usually made Daesung nauseous both mentally and physically. He’d woken up on more than one occasion during a first shifting to find he’d vomited at some point during the process. He felt Ji Yong slow down finally and opened his eyes.

Ji Yong pointed down into an area that obviously was newly formed from the condensation on the dense foliage. This was where Seungri would be hiding, his feline counterpart not far from him. Daesung nodded and took a deep breath. “Seungri?” He called softly, crouching down to peer into the foliage.

Ji Yong took a few steps back to show that he didn’t want to intimidate the new shifter. A rustling sound came from their right as Daesung spotted a dark black panther stick his nose out, sniffing the air.

“Who….who’s there?” In front of Daesung the voice called out, obviously frightened and shaky.

“My name is Daesung. I’m a doctor.” He said, careful to keep his tone as neutral as possible. He felt more than heard the panther silently creep up to sniff cautiously at Daesung before backing away and changing angles to sniff Ji Yong.

“Where am I?” Seungri asked from inside the foliage. “I remember riding down the street with Young master Donghae when my horse reared.”

Daesung relaxed. Seungri sounded in control of himself despite the scared, predatory way his feline prowled around them. “You became unconscious when you fell of your horse. Someone attacked you and now you are at my clinic.” He calmly explained. “Do you feel ok to come out of the bush?”

Shuffling sounds echoed around them as a disheveled and obviously frightened Seungri came out of the foliage. He froze at the sight of Ji Yong sitting calmly petting the panther next to him. “That panther has been here stalking me.” He said, his voice rising an octave as he started to shake.

“Shh.” Daesung soothed him. “It’s ok. He won’t hurt you.”

‘The panther says Seungri has been hiding from him, and won’t let him speak.’ D informed him.

“How do you know he won’t hurt me?” Seungri had begun to back slowly into the foliage.

Ji Yong cleared his throat. “If he were to hurt you, he would also hurt Daesung, and me. But as you can see, he is pretty tame.”

Seungri narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?” He asked.

“My name is Ji Yong. I’m a shape shifter and so are you.” Ji Yong replied smoothly, his eyes staring into Seungri’s frightened ones. “Don’t be frightened.”

Seungri snorted. “A shape shifter?” He looked at Daesung. “Is he crazy?”

Daesung shook his head. “No, he’s not crazy. None of us are crazy, but all of us have a feline counterpart.” He gave D a mental pat as his feline materialized next to him. “Seungri, we are inside your mind because you are resisting the change. You are resisting that beautiful panther next to Ji Yong.” He continued, seeing Seungri’s eyes widen at the light spotted leopard that now sat next to Daesung. “This is my animal counterpart.” He said.

“How…?” Seungri dropped to the ground, his legs finally giving way under him. The panther next to Ji Yong stood, a worried huff issuing from the animal before it started slinking toward Seungri.

Daesung placed a hand on D, feeling comfort and warmth radiating from the feline. “Don’t be scared.” He soothed, radiating comfort and acceptance as Seungri’s panther crept closer to him.

Seungri tensed, but did not back away as the beautiful animal slid up to him. It seemed seeing D had helped calm Seungri and had been a tactic they’d not done before with a first shift. The panther sat in front of Seungri, seemingly patient as Seungri stared at him.

Daesung held his breath as he saw Seungri’s hand twitch. It took a long moment before Seungri placed a tentative hand on the panther’s head, the tension melting as the panther’s long tail started to move back and forth.

The panther practically climbed into Seungri’s lap, the young man’s face slowly transforming from scared to curious to delight as they bonded. D pushed at Daesung, seeking some affection as they waited.