There was a lot about Jinki that Minho didn’t know. Small things. His favorite color for one. He wanted to say gold for all of the golden trinkets he had in his room but if he had to truly guess, he would guess turquoise or a pearlescent blue.

Espada, the name of Jinki’s sword, was the first thing Minho noticed when he’d entered his room. It was anchored above his bed in a set of golden brackets. The sheath was ornate, a rich cherry wood, shined until it gleamed with golden lace work along its body. For the sword, the hilt was pure gold, save its leather wrapped grip. The guard was a lion’s head with an inlay of pearlescent blue stones for the eyes and centered in the pommel was a gleaming pearlescent blue stone with golden rays like the sun spanning from it. Minho didn’t know the history behind it. It wasn’t new so he wondered if it had been handed down to him.

Yet this was something he should know.

He knew superficial things about his past because it was one of the first things newly ascended Alphas did; learn the background of their peers. It hadn’t been in an effort to gain information on new friends. It was always a defensive tactic. Keep your friends close, potential enemies even closer. The War had taught them that. Even with all the information he’d learning with his time with Onew he didn’t know the little things, things you learned from a close kindred and lasting relationship. To Minho, things like that mattered.
Things like Jinki having another brother. A half non-blood brother, but a brother none the less.

The man that stood next to them was Thunder, the new Alpha of Durkhai. To his right was a man with shoulder length deep auburn hair, long bangs framing his baby face with the rest pulled back. He had an infectiously wide smile. One Minho didn’t particularly like. His name was Mir and he’d been named First of Durkhai.

Minho glanced at Thunder. There were things about his face that he could see in Taemin and Taeyeon’s. It was faint but it was there. However the stark differences between him and Jinki were distinct. Jinki’s entire aura exuded authority, filled every corner with it–his presence was something to be feared, to quiver and quake under. Yet…the people looked to him with love and respect, a kindred connection with their leader. Jinki’s reputation as Alpha of Durkhai preceded him, it was never a question that he would be chosen to lead them. People found strength under his banner.

Thunder, on the other hand, seemed…green. As if the feeling of high authority was something he wore like an ill-fitting suite of armor. His aura screamed off beat, a roar in the wrong direction. His steps were planned, precautious, overly gregarious yet guarded even as he watched over his sister.

They were in the healer room, standing next to Taeyeon’s bed. She was tucked in, the covers pulled to her chin. The healers had concocted a brew of herbs and medicine, but Taeyeon responded to no stimulus, not sound, light or touch, so their attempts to feed her failed.

“What happened?” Minho asked softly.

Yixing’s face was ashen. The healers had found that seven of Yixing’s fingers had been broken, so he supported a large white bandaged banded to his fingers. He would go through a painful healing process later this evening to mend his bones. Still, even with the amount of pain he was in, he looked at both Minho and Jinki and then Taemin before he dropped to a knee. “Forgive me,” he said, his voice contrite and full of remorse. “As mission leader, I take full responsibility.”

“Yixing,” Minho said patiently, “No one is blaming you. You are a victim of this. Just…tell us what happened. It’s okay.”

Yixing worried his lip between his teeth and took a moment to visibly collect himself before he stood. “The plan was to observe from afar and as quietly, so I chose the forest canopy, an aerial approach. We’d spent a few hours camped in the branches above their compound observing as clandestinely as we could. It was nearly impossible for them to know we were up there. However, in our last hours, Chanyeol and I received a distress call from Taeyeon and Sehun. We raced to them as fast as possible but…it was a trap. They’d already taken Taeyeon and Sehun hostage and used their distress call to draw us in.”

“We were captured, tied up and blindfolded,” Sehun continued. “We were transported somewhere by wagon, although with the blindfolds, I couldn’t tell you where. Even in our escape I couldn’t get my bearings to pinpoint our locations. It wasn’t far from Blue Crescent lands that much I know. It only took an hour to get to our new location.”

“Can you remember anything about the new location?”

“No. The trees had no specific region markers. It looked like they took us to the middle of unsettled woods. The scent was nonexistent so I know they were using an olfa. Once we got there, the blindfolds were taken off and we were placed in a mass holding cell. We joined five other men but they had shrouds over their heads. They would take us out, rough us up, ask us questions about Prae, questions they knew we wouldn’t answer. Every time we didn’t they would…” Sehun paused and took a seat, the exhaustion evident on his face.

“You don’t have to do this right now,” Minho stated.

Sehun shook his head. “No, it’s okay. You need to know this.” He took a deep breath and continued. “When they realized they weren’t getting any information out of us it began…

Jinki’s brow dipped. “What? What began?” Jinki asked, urging Sehun on with an expectant glare.

“The screams. Taeyeon’s screams.”

Jinki curled his hands into a fist, his nails digging into his palm.

“Other than dragging her from the holding cell they never actually touched her, if that’s what you are worried about,” Chanyeol rushed to say, ”But they didn’t have to. They had a mage, one more powerful than Taeyeon, if you can believe it. He had some kind of…spell. I don’t know what it was called but he would whisper “ovladaci prevek” and then you could hear Taeyeon’s screams across the entire encampment.

Jinki inhaled sharply beside him and Minho noticed Jinki’s heart racing in his chest. “You know what that means?” he asked cautiously.

“Its…its Olde Toleran.”

“It means ‘control’” Taemin whispered, haunted. “They were using Toleran magic against her. Our mother’s magic.”

Jinki looked sharply at the other three former hostages, red bleeding into his eyes and Minho could feel his anger, his rage. “What did they make her do?”

“They made her–“ Yixing paused and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “They made her execute the other hostages.”

Jinki’s knees seemed to give way and he plopped down hard on the end of Taeyeon’s bed. “Jesu.”

“You sure it was an execution?” Minho asked, his thoughts running crazy in his head. “This wasn’t simply murder? Execution is an act of judgment for a crime. Did they say anything about a ransom for those killed?”

“They made no mention of a ransom,” Yixing answered. “They explicitly stated they were executing the captives and that we were to serve as witnesses.”

“Minho…there’s more,” Chanyeol added quietly, so quiet that Minho almost missed it. He looked up at him, cautiously. “Right before they would take a hostage from the cell, they would take their shrouds off.“

Minho responded with a raised brow.

“I…I recognized them.” Chanyeol sighed. “They were–“

Suddenly Kyung appeared at the door and faintly, Minho felt Jinki’s irritation match his own.

“Please excuse my interruption, I know today has been heavy with them but it would be negligent of me to not inform you immediately. “

“What is it, Kyung?” Jinki asked, his fingers rubbing away at his temple.

“I believe you two are needed on the festival grounds. I’ve never seen mage magic in my life but I have for the first time today.”

“Appeared?” Taemin asked with a raised brow. “Mage magic doesn’t work like that. Things don’t just appear.”

Minho narrowed his eyes. “Then maybe we are dealing with something more powerful than mage magic?” Minho bent low and wrapped a hand around Jinki’s calf, massaging the tense muscles soothingly. ”If you want to stay with Taeyeon, I can handle this.”

Jinki rubbed his tired–and gratefully brown–eyes and stood, slowly, his shoulders heavy. “No,” he sighed. “I need a distraction.” He turned to a healer. “Let me know the moment she wakes up. You three stay with the healer. We will be back to continue this conversation after we’ve investigated this. ” With a firm nod to Kyung, Jinki led the way out of the healer’s room with Minho right behind him. The rest of the Bone Pack fell in line behind him.

Kyung led them out of the Healer Alcove located at the back of the Moon Mosque behind the Wall of Divine Light and onto the stone path. They continued through The Fortress courtyard until they reached the gates. Once out of the gates they made their way to the festival grounds that lay in the shadows of The Fortress. When they arrived, Kyung went to stand by a line of chests sitting on the festival grounds. Five of them in total.

“One moment there was nothing here, I know because I was discussing a change in patrol patterns. I was standing right here and they just…appeared.” Kyung glanced down at one before he reached out to touch it. Quickly, he drew his hand back, wincing in pain. “They are frozen to the touch.”

“Mage ice,” Taemin murmured, his brow wrinkled in thought. “I’ll have to break seal to open them.”

“There was also this letter. It’s addressed to The AlphaBeta and the new High Steward.”
Jinki threw his hands in the air. “I’ll give the Gods thanks when I am rid of these infuriating letters!”

Minho walked to Kyung and accepted the letter. When he unfolded it, it was blank. Taemin who was standing next to him, grunted. “They sealed everything. Fold the letter back up and stand back. Once I break the mage ice seal, the letter should reveal itself.”

As Taemin got to work, Kibum approached him and stood by his side. “What do you think this is?”

Minho shook his head. “I don’t know. This doesn’t feel right. The Blue Crescents getting a group of thugs to do their dirty work? They are arrogant and self-righteous. They aremercenaries. Why would they contract out another group of mercenaries? And in the company of mages? They detest mages, Kibum. They are considered beast…unclean to the Blue Crescents. ”

“And to use mage magic against a mage? That’s a declaration of war.”

“Yes it is and now we have to make moves towards that declaration. Send a message to your father to see if there has been any suspicious activity in Wheph. If anything, we can at least have Siwon take a look around on the outskirts of town. If there has been any movement, Siwon will let us know.”

Kibum nodded.

“It’s done! Taemin declared, taking a step back from the chest. His forehead was covered in a sheen of sweat and Minho remembered that the Mageis worked better together. He couldn’t imagine the physical and emotional toll not having his sister by his side was having on Taemin. “Try the letter before we try the box,” he said breathless, “If it’s a trap, the strength will be next to harmless with the letter.”

Minho folded back the edge of the letter and at first nothing happened. However, where the paper was blank it suddenly began to fill with words. He took a step from Kibum just in case any magic was woven into the letter.
 

Minho frowned.
 

A fear so powerful snatched the air out of Minho’s lungs as he reread the names on the letter over and over and over again. With his eyes wide with dread, he cautiously looked up, counting five chests. Slowly letters began carve themselves into the thick wood of the chests, one by one, until they began to resemble names.

Kibum glanced at him, his gaze lowering to the letter gripped in Minho fingers. “Min,” he frowned. “You’re white as a sheet.”

Minho began to shake. He looked at the last name on the list. Park Jungsoo. Park Jungsoo. Park Jungsoo. He couldn’t let Kibum find out this way.

Kibum reached for the letter and Minho reacted almost violently, snatching it away from him. “Jonghyun!” he searched the festival grounds for the 1st seated Captain. “Jonghyun! Get the High Steward out of here!”

Kibum looked up at his best friend, worry and stealing the color from his face. “Wh–what? What are you talking about? I’m not going anywhere!” He glanced at the letter. “What does it say, Minho?” he yelled.

Minho remembered. He remembered the night his sister and father died. He remembered Kibum’s face, his tears as he tried to break the worst news Minho had ever heard in his life to him. He had been Minho’s rock that night, even if he didn’t remember most of it. But even with all the blank spaces, the patches of fuzzy memories plaguing him, he remembered that Kibum was always, always there for him.

There was no way in hell he was about to let Kibum see his father’s head stuffed in a chest like he was some sort of outlaw. But one thing Minho kept forgetting. Kibum hated not knowing something. Even if it would cause him pain, he needed to know.

Jonghyun, his confusion mounting with every second that passed, ran to Kibum and tried to pull him away, but before he could get a firm hand on his wrist, Kibum spun away and lunged for the letter, seizing it before Minho could react.

“Kibum, no!”

His eyes scanned the page until two words made him stop in his tracks. “Why…why is my father’s name on this?” he whispered in horror.

There was a cacophony of thunks and everyone watched as the locks holding the chest closed fell open and the lids creaked open. Jonghyun moved fast, obviously connecting the dots to pull Kibum into him, turning him away from the chests.

Minho couldn’t look away. He couldn’t look away.

In the first box, just as the letter read, was the head of Choi Siwon nestled in a pile of chipped ice, his eyes an inky black and his mouth open to reveal a black tongue; the sign of a mage sourced execution. The next chest held Kim Ryewook’s head, his eyes and tongue the same, black. Lee Donghae was next, his black eyes staring back at Minho. Memories hit him, ones of his summers with these three men, these three surrogate father figures who stepped in and taught him the things his father couldn’t. Why would someone do this?

He heard a sob behind him, recognized it as Kibum and he inhaled before he moved on to the next chest.

He exhaled.

He did not recognize these two men. They were strangers to him.

“Kibum,” he breathed, stumbling back from the line of chests. “Kibum, he’s not there…he’s…he’s not there.”

In his horror, in his shock, Minho hadn’t realized Jinki was standing behind him, his hand low on his back, comforting amidst the confusion. He felt the pressure on his back, keeping him from falling over. He felt Jinki’s eyes on him.

He could feel his heart beating out of his chest, he could feel his hands shaking, he could feel his stomach lurching.

Faintly, he felt Jinki move away from him, heard him begin to doll out instructions in this crisp commanding voice of his–take these chest and burn them, take the heads to the moratorium, lock down the gates, double the security, contact the ambassador for Toleran.

All of it,all of it was just too much. His trembling hand came to his forehead and he tried, he tried so hard to retain some semblance of control, to not look like he was about to explode in the array of emotions he was feeling–surprise, nausea, relief, fear, fear fear.
He forced his back to stay straight, breathed out of his mouth, kept his eyes staring at something far out in the distance as Jinki had the festival grounds cleared.

Then he felt the hand on his back again, leading him down the path, past the Moon Mosque, the Dongbang Library, up the steps to the Magnus Pavilion, over the bridge, through the doors. He heard the door to Jinki’s room close behind him and he fell apart.
He couldn’t stop shaking, not when he hit the floor, not when he felt the tears stinging his eyes, not when Jinki pulled him into his arms, Minho’s back weak and bowed against Jinki’s hard chest.

“Minho–Minho!” Jinki began to rock him back and forth. “Talk to me.”

Minho couldn’t get his mouth to work. His tongue felt slick, his stomach rolled.

“Please,” he pleaded. “You look like you might faint.”

Minho tried again, getting the words past the lump in this throat. “That was Choi Siwon. Kim Ryewook. Lee Donghae. They were killed. Jungsoo…Julien they–they…”

Jinki eyes slid closed, a sense of understanding coloring his tone. “They were from your village. I remember Siwon. He was the first to greet me when I visited you for the first time. ”

“They took care of me. They helped me. Why…why did this happen to them?” Minho exhaled, shakily.

Jinki bent forward and laid his chin on Minho’s shoulder. “I don’t know, Minho. But I’ll find out. We’ll find out.”

“They aren’t enemies of Prae. I don’t care what that letter said!”

Jinki continued to rock him. “I know.”

“They were good men. They were good men, Jinki.”

“I know, Minho. I know,” Jinki said soothingly.

“They can’t do this. I’ll kill every last one of them. I promise on my father’s grave I will kill them when I find them. They can’t terrorize us because of what they–“ Minho forcibly stopped himself from talking.

Jinki’s slight sway paused and he craned his head around to look at Minho. “Do…do you know who did this?”
Of course I do. How can I not? He blinked. Felt his jaw clenching before he forced himself to relax. “Of course I don’t.”

There was a beat of silence that stretched to the corners of the room before Jinki said quietly, “Are you lying to me?”
I’ve been lying to you since I met you. “Of course not, Jinki. Of course not.”




Before Jinki retired for the night, he took a trip back to the Moon Mosque, finding his way back to the Healer’s Alcove. So far he’d been checking on his sister every hour, but there had been little change since her return.

The healers said she was in an endless sleep, but Taemin, as always, knew better. He knew his sister better. “Her body is fighting the ovladaci prevek, fighting to gain back control. I can still feel her spirit. It’s fighting. She’s not gone, Jinki. We just have to wait.”
Still, despite the fact that she wasn’t waking up for quite some time, he found himself gravitating to her room, just to watch over her.

Between Taemin and Taeyeon, Taeyeon looked the most like their mother. He knew the twins were identical, but there were things about Taeyeon that screamed Isuel: the way her lips quirked when she knew she was right, her quick temper, how magic supplicated to her will. Taeyeon was the stronger of the two Mageis, only by a slim margin, but it was probably because she was more her mother’s child than anything else.

Jinki approached Taeyeon’s door and nodded to the guard who moved to let him in immediately. When Jinki arrived this time, he found someone hovering over her.

Thunder.

Jinki cleared his throat as he entered, drawing a small jump of surprise from the new Alpha of Durkhai.

“My apologies,” Jinki said as he closed the door behind him. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Thunder shook his head. “It’s fine. I wasn’t expecting anyone to catch me here. Thought I could slip in, check in on her, and leave before anyone suspected it.”
Jinki stole a chair from the healer’s table and brought it next to Thunder’s, setting it down and taking a seat beside him. “I never got the chance to thank you.”

Thunder shook his head again. “No, thanks necessary. She is my sister as well.”

That was true.

Jinki glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye.

He remembered Yoon bringing him around for a few summers before Isuel decided she couldn’t take having him at her house. Jinki never understood his mother’s decision to send Thunder away, but Jinki never pretended that his mother was without her faults. But still, he remembered Thunder. The twins absolutely adored having another older brother around and those few short summers were filled with laughter and games.

The relationship between Thunder and Jinki was a bit different…

Favoritism happens over siblings in every family, but with Thunder, the chasm of affection was so wide between him and Jinki it was a wonder they didn’t hate each other. Yoon adored Thunder and while this was before Yoon because abusive, every time he chose to praise Thunder and chastise Jinki for the same things over and over again, Yoon’s words and actions became as painful as the punches he would send Jinki’s way years later.

Jinki tried not to let that affect the way he felt about Thunder. He was always ready with a smile for him, even brotherly advice seeing as he was the eldest, but he still couldn’t find a way to bridge the gap that kept him and Thunder from becoming close.

That gap felt wide as ever today.

“You never told us how you came to know about their captivity. We just came across that information recently.”

Thunder pressed his lips together in a hard line. “Honestly I was hoping that question came a little later, when you’d warmed up to me,” he said lightly.

Jinki opened his mouth to refute that but the white haired man stopped him.

He laughed. “It’s no secret. You barely tolerate me so I didn’t want to lay way this sort of information to cold reception.”
“That’s…not entirely true,” Jinki said, grimacing.

Thunder waved the sentiment away before turning in his chair to face Jinki. “It’s about father.”

Jinki’s jaw clenched.

“I know, I know. But it needs to be said. You remember how the pitching ceremony worked?”

“Of course.”

“Yet, here I am, the new Alpha of Durkhai.”

Jinki sat back. Thunder was right. There was no one in Durkhai who would have been able to pitch his name. “How?”

“Father. He walked back into the clan he was exiled from and pitched my name. The only reason he wasn’t executed for defying his exilement was the fact that I won…and the fact that I overturned his exilement once seated.”

Jinki resisted the urge to flinch at the news. “That exilement was there for a reason, Thunder. He tried to overthrow the entire clan in a grab for power!”

“I know…I know. But he’s too old to try that now. Trust me, I won’t let him get in the way again. But that wasn’t the news I wanted to give you. I just felt you needed to know that. The real reason I was so reserved was...I used be a Blue Crescent,” he finished quietly.

Jinki went still. “Explain,” he ground out slowly.

“It was the only way to survive! I ran away and Father came to track me down and we were ambushed. I escaped into the forest. For days I hid, terrified that I would be found. I almost starved! Out of sheer desperation I hid away near their encampment until I was discovered during a routine inspection. I thought they were going to kill me.”

Jinki watched some unknown emotion wash over Thunder’s face. “Yet you are alive.”

“I am. The thing with Blue Crescents is if you accept their food, if you accept their shelter, you accept their creed. I did, with my mouth, but those people are barbarians. The moment I found a way out, which was to become Alpha of Durkhai, I grabbed onto it with all my might. So I have to thank you, really. When you rose to AlphaPrime, you secured my freedom.

“Because of that, however, I can sometimes access what they call a Venit, a sort of secret line of communication. The code changes often so there isn’t a way to decode it unless you know, but still I was able to decipher some of it. I heard the word mage, a woman mage, and I could only think of two things: Taeyeon or Isuel. So I went and found them. But…I lied to everyone. I wasn’t able to barter anything, I damn sure didn’t pay any ransom, I’m not some great negotiator. Mir and I snuck them out by killing a few guards. Simple as that.”

“Simple as that,” Jinki asked, his brow cocked.

“Simple as that.”




“And that’s what you told him? And he believed you?” Mir said with a raised brow. “You may not be a great negotiator, but you sure are a great bullter.”

Thunder rolled eyes and continued to toy with the small knife in his hands. “It wasn’t a complete lie. I understand my father is an insufferable but to use my sister in his deplorable schemes was too much for me to stomach. I had to get her out of there. The others could have stayed but that wouldn’t have looked good when I bought her back.”

“You’ve always been too softhearted. That’s why when Toggo decides he wants Sulli, he’ll have her and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Thunder shot Mir a deadly look, but the younger shifter shot back an apathetic one.

“So,” the First of Durkhai said as he leaned back in his chair, his arms cocked behind his head, “how long do you think it’ll take you to get Brother Dearest to believe you actually are here to help him?”

Thunder sat forward in his seat, the knife clutched between his fingers before he drew his wrist back and flicked it forward, the knife sailing through the air and impaling the wall. He grinned devilishly. “What makes you think he doesn’t already?”




“We’ll be there by first morning light. Will you be okay?”

Kibum nodded from atop of the horse. “I was shaken up before but now I’m just angry.”

“Does Jonghyun know?”

Kibum snorted. “About this?” He slanted his eyes towards Minho. “Does Jinki?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Well, there you go, your answer.”




Minho thought about everything that brought him to this point, staring down at a steel sword inches from his throat. The man in front of him was tall, taller even than him. He was shaped like an upside down pyramid, his wide shoulders and narrow hips giving him the impression that just a slight breeze from the wind would topple him over. But no, the man dug his feet into the soil and sneered.
Some of his greasy black hair had fallen from the top knot on his head and hung limply in his face. Still, Minho could see the beady black eyes looking back at him, a look of knowing that the fight was won.

Yes. Minho remembered what had brought him to this point and he wondered if it had been a mistake.

It was midnight when he’d slipped out of Jinki’s bed. He’d hovered over him, for hours it seemed, watching him sleep. His face was relaxed, peaceful in slumber, and Minho felt his chest go warm.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he lightly kissed him, savoring the feel of his lips before he pulled away and out of the room, closing the door behind him with a soft thump.

Next he quietly made his way towards the moratorium servant’s entrance. It was one of the few entrances into The Fortress that wasn’t heavily guarded, even with Kyung’s new guard rotation. Used as a way for deceased bodies to be moved into and from The Fortress, it used a wide and low wooden gate that didn’t draw much attention.

Getting past the guards was easy, he was the AlphaBeta of Prae and Kibum was the new High Steward. The two guards simply bowed and continued staring off into the horizon.

It had taken them, just as Minho had calculated, until first morning’s light to get to Wheph from Prae on horseback. And the moment they crossed the border back onto their lands, they headed straight for Kibum’s home.

What had happened on the festival grounds was nothing short of emotional terrorism. It robbed the breath out of both Minho and Kibum’s chest and took the antagonistic nature of Minho’s relationship with the Blue Crescents to a new level.

The moment he read that letter, he could think nothing but how Toggo was waging a personal war on Minho and those he loved. Just like in the dream.

Let’s think about the consequences of making and sustaining me as an enemy, Minho,” Toggo said as he turned and faced the moon. “Who will always suffer when a leader goes to war? The banks? Yes, probably. His army? Of course. The councilmen, the stewards, the elders? Most certainly. But who suffers the most?” He turned to Minho. “The people, nephew. The people who have connected themselves with you in the most simplest of ways. By trusting you. But no one can trust you, can they pup? You’re a liar…an abomination…”

Minho closed his eyes. He could still feel his need for Siwon, Ryewook and Donghae at his back. But they would never be at his back, not ever again.

Their deaths and the empty chest that were designed for Jungsoo and Julien left so many questions unanswered. He knew for a fact that although the Blue Crescents were foolish enough to behave like rabid animals within Prae, they were not so foolish as to touch a hair on a direct heir of the Arctic Wolves. That was not a fight any of them could hope to win, not even Prae. Still, he had sent off a letter, in the limited amount of time he’d had, to urge Julien to limit his trips to Wheph. He didn’t want to test his theory on the Blue Crescents self control with his brother in law.

Park Jungsoo was another situation all together. He never, in his wildest dreams, thought anyone would attack Jungsoo. Only a handful of people–twelve to be exact–knew about his involvement in Minho’s secret. His sister and his father were long dead. Shindong died trying to help an Omega who had wandered into their village on the wrong night escape the clutches of a pair of lust-drunk Alphas. Now, Siwon, Donghae and Ryewook were gone. As painful as that realization was, it still didn’t answer the question as to how Blue Crescents came to know about Jungsoo. Being an apothecarist didn’t automatically mean you dealt in suppressant medication.

The awning that led in to their Hakka Village stared back at them from down the long dirt path to the center of town. Although it had only been a short month since Minho left his home, he missed it dearly.

“Do you think it’s a trap?” Kibum asked as they stared at his home.

Minho grunted. Honestly, he didn’t know what to think. He had no idea who this Ogg, son of Ogg was but he did know he was connected to the Blue Crescents in some way. The letter told him all he needed to know of that. And although he had no idea where Jungsoo was, the first place they would start with was his home. Whether it was a trap or not was of no consequence. Jungsoo had done everything he could for him and his family. Minho would not sacrifice him to keep himself out of danger.

They dismounted their horses and walked down the muddy dirt path that led to the front of Jungsoo’s shop. Minho was first through the door, pulling Kibum behind him. He slid a dagger, black hilt with a black and silver blade from a boot sheath. He would have brought his bow and arrow but that would have caused an alarm when he tried to sneak out of The Fortress, so the dagger would have to suffice.

Minho eyed the foyer, found it empty and silently waved Kibum deeper into the house from off the front porch. They had to be silent so they communicated with an odd set of hand gestures they’d come up with as kids. Kibum’s first stop was the shop. The counter was bare except for a pestle and mortar filled with roots Minho faintly recognized. Kibum inspected the counter and behind it before he finally shook his head at Minho. He flashed a finger and a thumb before twisting his wrist. Then flashed his finger again.

Minho understood. He’d spent enough days lazing around here to know that Jungsoo wouldn’t leave his work out, exposed and uncovered for more than a few hours, a day at the most. From Kibum’s observance, it looked like it had been more than a day.

They continued through the house, first checking Kibum’s room, which they found untouched. Jungsoo’s bedroom was empty too and so was the kitchen. That left only one place. Kibum took the lead and walked down the length of the hallway until he reached the door at the end. It had a heavy lock on it, and Kibum grunted as he pushed up on the lever, the lock giving away loudly. Pushing the door back, it groaned but before the door was open, Kibum was rushing into the room.

“Dad!”

Minho watched as Kibum flew to Jungsoo’s side. He was bound and gagged and rolled over on his side away from the door. Kibum took a small knife and worked it through the twine binding his father’s arms together. His arms came free and Jungsoo reached for the gag around his mouth.

“Boys, listen to me. Forget about me,” Jungsoo said in a rush of words as he rubbed his chaffed wrist. “You need to leave.”

Kibum frowned, tilted his head and looked at his father like he was crazy. “You have no idea what you’re asking! They are running around killing people in Wheph. They sent us Siwon, Ryewook and Donghae’s heads in a ing chest. I’m not leaving you.”

Minho came up beside them. “Why do you think we need to run?”

“Because if you don’t, you’ll never make it out of here alive.”

Minho narrowed his eyes and glanced up the hallway.

“Listen to me for once in your foolish lives. Run! I’ll be okay! Just–just get out of here!” Jungsoo yelled as he pushed Kibum away from him. “I’ll just pretend I got out of my bindings. That way if they come back, they’ll think no one has been here. They tricked you, okay? They tricked you into coming here, thinking I was in danger.”

“That’s because you are!” Kibum cried.

Minho made a decision. “Kibum, grab your father.”

“No, just leave me here! Just lea–“

“And leave them another hostage?” Minho looked at Kibum. “Grab him.”

Kibum helped his father to his feet and with them on his heels, Minho raced up the hallway, through the shop and stopped at the front door. He searched outside to see if could see anyone coming. It’s clear.

The moment he took a step off the porch, however, he smelled them. One…five…ten?

He took another step off the porch and looked at the roof. From above him, the sound of applause sounded. Minho whipped around to see a group of people sitting on the roof, their identities concealed by thick hoods that covered their face. The one clapping sat center.

“I can’t say that I’m impressed. All of this,” the man tilted his head. “For you?” He laughed, deep from his belly, the sounding echoing into the open field near Jungsoo’s shop. “For anAlpha of your reputation and supposed caliber, you’re not very good at accessing a situation before jumping into it feet first? Probably that whole Omega thing, huh?”

Minho ignored the sarcasm in the man’s voice, instead concentrating on how he was going to get them out of this mess. Should I keep Kibum and Jungsoo in the house or try to get them to the horses using myself as a distraction.

“There. Your eyes.” The man pointed at him. “I’ll teach you something your oh so noble idiot father and half witted head strong sister didn’t teach you. How to mask your intentions under duress.”

Minho was under duress and he wasn’t going to waste any time trading barbs with a stranger. “Who are you?”

“Does that matter? You’ll be dead long before it matters.”

“We’ll see about that.” He ducked his head back under the porch’s ceiling. “Count to three and run for the horses,” he whispered.

“Is this stupid plan hour? I’m not running for the horses–and stop it!” Kibum whispered back as he harshly brushed his father’s hand off his shoulder. “I’m not leaving you either! We are supposed to be a village of thinkers! We can think our way out of this!”

“Well, what, then?” Jungsoo said.

Kibum looked at the ground, cursing under his breath as he thought. After a moment his head popped up with an idea. “Minho keep talking to them. All I need is two minutes.”

Minho’s mouth dropped open. “What?” he hissed furiously.

“Two minutes!” Kibum grabbed his father and they disappeared back into the house. Minho watched them go with his mouth gaping open and close like a guppy before he took another step out of the house and looked up at the roof.

He said the first thing that came to mind. “You say you are here to kill me. Why?”

The man yawned and rested his head in the palm of his gloved hand. “Do you really want to play this game, Minho? Why have we always wanted to kill you?”

Minho shrugged. “Yeah, I get that part, but why do YOU want to kill me? I can smell it. You are not a Choi, not even faintly related to the Choi bloodline. None of you are.”

The man snorted. “You can smell bloodline essence but you can’t smell five people sitting on a roof like hens in a hen house?”
Minho grimaced and he felt like he could see the man rolling his eyes under the hood. “But you are correct. I am not a Choi.”

“Then why? Why waste your life fighting for an ideology as asinine and logically bankrupt as the Blue Crescents’?”

The man giggled. “What makes you think it’s, as you put it, logically bankrupt?”

“Does it matter a man’s biological makeup if he is indeed a good leader? Or is the fact that he led his village towards prosperity even count. I paid you back a debt that you held over us for four generations. The entire time I was Alpha of Wheph, you left me alone. Why, now, does it matter what I am? Why did it ever?”

“You might be right but,” the man giggled again. “You think I care about all of that?” His giggle morphed into laughter, infectious laughter that spread to the others on the roof. “You could have been the best leader Wheph has ever seen but the Blue Crescents concern is your purity, not your ability. And you want to know why now? I’ll tell you something pup, and you listen, because the only reason I’m telling you this is because it’s the least I can do.” The man pushed his hood back and crossed his arms and. Not that it mattered; Minho had never seen the man before in his life.

“When your father, sister, her meddlesome mate and the rest of Wheph launched that attack on us and your father and sister died in the aftermath, Julien couldn’t wait to get his back to his father. By harming her, to them, we had harmed the Great Son of the Alpha of the Arctic. It’s no secret that most cower under the power of the Arctic. So, we reasoned with him. As Minjung’s heir, no harm was to come to you as Alpha of Wheph.”

For the first time, Minho saw him smile. It was more of a sneer because of the large scar marring the right side of his face.

“Yet, now you are the Alpha of Prae. It’s open season on you. Your relatives want you dead and it is our duty to make that happen. Sorry, kid.” He stood and dusted off his hands. “Okay. Enough chit-chat. Time for you to die.”

Minho tried to remember the very short lesson the man had taught him about masking his intention, so for the entirety of his speech, he didn’t look for Kibum or Jungsoo. But Jungsoo’s unmistakable crop of ruddy hair popped up in the doorway.

“Get down,” he mouthed. Minho frowned, confused before he saw something spark brightly in the storefront window of Jungsoo’s shop. He hit the dirt seconds before an explosion went off. The sound was loud and piercing as wood from the roof of the shop flew towards him. His ears were still ringing when he felt arms hauling him up and pulling him towards the dirt path. He shook his head as his hearing cleared up and his vision stop swimming to see look behind his shoulder.

They’d blown a hole clear through the ing roof of Jungsoo’s shop.

“You can do that?” Minho screeched.

“Well, there are a lot of minerals that will do that, Minho,” Jungsoo gasped as they ran.

They raced for the horses, who had moved further up the path, more than likely spooked from the explosion. Just as they came up on them, a wall of red smoke appeared before. Baffled by its sudden appearance, Minho tried to run through it, but it was as hard as a wall and when he collided with it, it knocked the wind out of him.

He fell back onto Jungsoo and Kibum causing them to fall back as well. They cushioned his fall but the impact with the red wall had been jarring and he tried to shake off the pain and stand up again but a boot on his shoulder kept him down.

“Alliances are great things, Minho. You get to use the resources of those alliances when the time comes. Such as today. Meet Minzy–”

Minho looked up and found the man standing above him. Blood trickled down his temple, probably from flying shrapnel, but other than that, he looked fine. Minho’s gaze shifted to the woman who was now standing at the man’s side. Minzy was short with shoulder length black hair and wide set mouth. More important than her looks was what she held in her hand: an ampoule.

“–Minzy is a Toleran mage.”

Minho groaned.

The man motioned with his hand and two of the men came forward, grabbing Kibum and Jungsoo and hauling them up.

“Get up, pup. It’s time to stop all of this running and just submit to your fate. You should have been dead a long time ago.” Minho felt the boot let up only to be replaced by the sharp point of a sword. “C’mon. Up with you.”

Sighing, Minho grunted as he rolled over, the impact of the wall taking more of a toll on him than he’d previously thought. He took his time standing up, his brain trying to come up with another way for them to escape this.

Yet his mind went blank when the man pointed the sword to his chest. “I’ll make this quick and painless. However before you die, I’ll let you know what I’m going to do with your friends. They won’t be killed, so you can rest assured. The Omega? He’ll be sent to Blue Crescent lands for certain purposes.” He glanced at Kibum. “He’s pretty. We’ll treat him–well we probably won’t treat him nicely, but he won’t be killed, so who cares?”

“He has an intended,” Minho emphasized. “You’ll be inviting war with Dinfire by doing that. Just…just let him go.”

“War with Dinfire?” The man grinned. “You think so small for a man in your position.” The man looked over to Jungsoo. “The apothecarist will be sent to Toleran. Omega… say goodbye to your father.”

“What?” Kibum started, his face stricken as he looked at his father but Jungsoo attempted a smile for his son.

“Don’t worry about me…I’ll be fine. Trust me. Make sure to take care of yourself.” He looked over to Minho, determination in his eyes. “You will not die here today. You are your father’s son and you will survive. You will continue to look after my son as you always have.”

“Gods. Enough of this.” The man motioned to Minzy. The mage whistled sharply and moments later, a horse galloped from behind Jungsoo’s shop and approached Minzy, slowing down to an easy trot next to them. Two men forced Jungsoo on the horse and helped Minzy up as well. She reached into the bag on her wrist and produced another ampoule and smashing it to the ground at the horses’ feet. Instantly the scent of Minzy and Jungsoo disappeared as Minzy took off.

Minho and Kibum watched until they couldn’t see them anymore. Minho exhaled loudly, a shuddering breath as he eyed Kibum. He knew what came next. “I’m sorry Kibum,” Minho whispered. The man stepped closer, the sword almost touching Minho’s chest and Kibum jerked against his captors.

“You don’t have to do this!” You don’t!

“Kibummie…it’s okay. It’s okay. You just find a way to take care of yourself after this? Show them how strong you are. Jonghyun will come for you, trust in that.”

“No! It’s not okay!” He turned his petulant sorrow filled gaze towards the man pointing the sword at Minho. “You don’t have to do this. We can get you money! Lots and lots of money if you just let him go. You can take me… just…don’t do this,” Kibum pleaded, his voice raw with desperation.

The man’s answer to Kibum was a look of boredom before he turned his attention back to Minho. “Any last words?”

Minho set his shoulders looked the man in the eye and bravely shook his head.

The man smiled. “Good boy.”

He had no words, but he did have one thought echoing the sorrow he felt. Jinki. That he’d come so close to loving him and would wouldn’t be alive for the day when it happened.Jinki. He wanted to see his face, he wanted to feel his arms around him, he wanted to hear his voice. Jinki.

The regret rang true and Minho lowered the lids down over his eyes and waited for it, the sound of the sword cutting through the air with the man’s striking blow.

Instead, he heard the galloping of horses and a dying scream of a man.

A dying scream that wasn’t his.

His eyes snapped open to find the man’s sword still at his chest, but the man wasn’t looking at him at all. His eyes cut to the side, very aware of the glinting sword at his neck. A sword Minho recognized.

Espada!

His eyes shifted to the figure standing over the man’s shoulders.

“Jinki,” Minho breathed.

Minho felt his heart thump so hard in his chest it hurt. He tried to calm it; he didn’t want Jinki’s heart to match his, it might throw him off, but then he realized…

My heart is matching Jinki’s!

Behind Jinki, Tiffany and Victoria were finishing dispatching two of the Blue Crescents who’d tried to run away. The barbed end of Tiffany’s whip was wrapped around the neck of one, his fingers tearing at it in an attempt to breathe–an attempt Tiffany ignored from atop her horse. Victoria, as it was famed within her clan the Black Wolves, had jumped from her horse and ran the other man down. She disarmed him with a solid kick to his chest before she used a series of hits to the man neck to render him incapacitated.

Nichkhun stood flank of Jinki, his sword even with the man’s, his arm tense as if he were waiting for him to make a stupid decision. Minho searched the opening for Kibum, hoping he got away and blanched at what he saw. Jonghyun had reached Kibum before either men tried to harm him in any way. Jonghyun caught one of the men by the neck, squeezing then jerking hard, the man’s neck snapping. The crack of his spine was audible and sickening, echoing in the clearing. His boot was down on the other’s throat, hard and unforgiving, the former captor’s face blue and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

That left one man alive.

“You move for anything other than to draw your last breath and I will tear your throat out with my bare hands,” Jinki growled, low and guttural. Minho could tell the man forced himself not to flinch at Jinki’s threat but the terror was evident in his eyes.

“Who are you?” When the man didn’t answer, Jinki barked loudly in his ear, his teeth bared. This time the man whimpered.

“Answer me!”

“I am Ogg,” he muttered pathetically, “son of Ogg.”

Minho watched red bleed into Jinki’s eyes as the name rang familiar in both of their ears.

“You,” Jinki snapped in his ear. “You are the one responsible for kidnapping my sister?”

Ogg hesitated again until he felt Espada pressed closer to his neck in which he had no choice but to nod.

“And now, you dare to threaten my mate?”

Ogg whimpered again.

“Tell me. Tell me how you were planning on killing him for you shall die the exact same way.”

“Your mate brought this on himself! I’m just doing what has been instructed of me. Just let me go!”

“And just what was that?” Jinki said lowly.

Minho could see Ogg’s intent clear as the blue sky above them and he felt his panic rising. He tasted the bile at the back of his throat. “Jinki just–just kill him!”

Jinki’s anger him. “Shut. Up,” he said between clenched teeth. “You’ve caused enough. You could have gotten yourself killed! “

“But–“

“Not another word, Choi Minho.”

Minho’s mouth clamped shut at his Alpha’s tone.

“No, Minho! Don’t shut up! Tell him all about your crimes against your own family bloodline, against the people of Wheph and the people of Prae and your lies! Tell him! Tell him I am innocent!”

Minho bared his teeth, more shocked at the cowardice in Ogg considering his bravado earlier. “Keep your tongue in your mouth!” He turned to Jinki again. “I’m begging you. Kill him! He has been naming enemies left and right! Without reason or cause! You can’t start to listen to him now!”

Jinki looked at him for one long hard moment before his attention shifted back to Ogg. “What lies are you speaking of?”

Ogg was eager to answer. “Your mate lies, to you, to everyone whose crosses his path. Thegreat AlphaBeta of Prae.” Ogg spat. “All of it, it is lies! He is not who you think he is! He was born an Om–“

Minho rushed forward and sank his dagger deep into Ogg’s heart, his lip pulled back to reveal an elongated fang. “When I told you to shut your lying mouth, I meant it,” he bit out between clenched teeth. Ogg looked at him in shock, his eyes quivering, his brows furrowed and his mouth open as the life left his face and he slumped forward. Minho yanked the dagger back and moved out of the way, letting him fall, his body hitting the ground in a cloud of dust and dead grass. The dagger dropped to Minho’s side and he breathed deeply, trying to ease the anger flowing through him.

“Minho.”

Minho bit his lip. Jinki’s voice was hard and authoritative, a non nonsense tone in the way he said his name.
And Minho deserved it. He deserved everything. Jungsoo was off to Toleran, Kibum had been moments away from being stolen off to Blue Crescent lands. He had lied and sneaked his way into his position, lied and sneaked in everything he did. He was sore. He was in pain. He was tired. He was so tired.

“Omega,” Minho said quietly. “The last word of his sentence was Omega.”

“Explain–your–words.”

Minho looked up and saw the confusion on Jinki’s face. As much as he tried to cover it with authority, there was confusion there. Apprehension. Fear.

“I am an Omega,” Minho stated cleanly so there was no mistake in what he meant.

Jinki marched up to Minho, so close Minho could smell him, him and his wonderful wet dirt essence. He could also see the tremors in his hands, could feel the uneasiness in his aura. “Minho, I can smell you. You smell nothing like an Omega. Now, stop ing around and tell me what is going on.”

“You haven’t noticed anything new?” Minho hand’s fluttered to the phial around his neck. “I’ve been wearing an olfa. It’s been blocking my scent ever since the suppressant stopped working.”

“Suppressant?” Jinki asked lowly, “What suppressant?”

“It’s,” Minho sighed. “It’s called Haven. A variant of the herbal mixture Lunest. A stronger version to mask scents instead of highlighting them. Warps it into something else. For me, it was the scent of an Alpha.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jinki said, his voice heavy with dismay, “Make me understand.”

“I have another medication I can take,” Minho continued on, not sure of how to make him understand him, but he wanted, needed to get this out before his courage ran flat. “I was going to take it, wanted to as soon as I got it but…I promised Onew I would talk to you first.”

Shock colored Jinki’s face. “Onew knew.”

“Yes. It was his gift to me.”

“You–you shared this with my wolf and I’m just finding out about it? And like this?” Jinki hissed, exasperated.

“This,” Minho laughed. “This is what I’ve been trying to avoid from the very beginning. This. That–that look on your face. All of this. I tried to prevent all of this.”

Jinki’s face hardened. “You’re lying, which I know you’ve done a lot in the last few hours, but just stop. Stop it. ” Jinki turned to Jonghyun. “Get Kibum on a horse and get ready to leave.” He turned to look at Nichkhun and his Firsts. “You too. We are leaving.”
Nobody moved, their faces a rainbow assortment of shock, so Jinki bared his fangs and roared. “NOW!”

Jinki shouldered past Minho to press his point, marching towards his horse but Minho wasn’t having it. He wrapped his hand around Jinki’s wrist to stop him but Minho felt the tension in his body, felt his touch snap the thin filament of Jinki’s composure. He spun on Minho, snarling in his face.

“Get on your horse,” he exploded, “I don’t have time for this!”

Minho snarled back before reaching to his neck, snatching the phial off the chain and smashing it to the ground. The liquid inside of the phial sizzled as it made contact with the ground before seeping into the earth. Minho watched as Jinki’s nostrils twitched, his pupils dilating and widening.

Jinki stumbled. “Impossible,” Jinki whispered, his hand coming up to his nose. “This can’t be…”

“It’s not impossible,” Minho said, his heart twisting. “It’s just–”

Jinki pulled away abruptly, harshly, to face Nichkhun. “Get a bird to Salt Kys. I want The Oracles here. And I want them here now.” Nichkhun nodded and he, Victoria and Tiffany immediately took off for Wheph in search of a Messenger Bird Keeper.

“Jonghyun.”

Jonghyun looked up from the ground. Minho saw a flash of guilt before he masked it.

“Take Minho into Kibum’s house. Lock him in a room. Make sure he cannot leave. I’ll call for him when I’m ready.”

Jonghyun mouth dropped open. “Ji–Jinki! Don’t be rash! I’m sure there is a–”

“Do it!” he yelled the muscles in his face clenching, “It’s for his own goddamn protection. He ing reeks of Ome–“ Jinki’s fingers came to the bridge of his nose. “Do as I say.” He glared at Minho and Minho almost took a step back under the heat of it. “Do as I say,” he said quietly before he turned for the path.