A:N: The Character guide has been updated.
A|N: This one has a lot of moving parts. Necessary evil to make the "calamity" I've been talking about a THING; of course questions are always always welcome. There will be an more in-depth AN at the end! Lots of STUFF and SECRETS revealed. Every character is important. Enjoy!

The High Eunuch slithered along the outside wall of Prae, watching the sun sink below the horizon. The Mating Festival officially has started. Most of his duties would not start until the sun rose again and he was thankful for the cover of night so that he could do his job. His real job.

Lee Gikwang had the story most had, an impoverished youth surviving off scraps in a small outlier outside of Ves called Wykka. Most of Wykka was impoverished. Those were the spoils of living on what was considered feral land. But Gikwang was different than most feral wolves. He would often visit Durkhai, catching a ride with those who traveled there to barter and sell their crude weapons. He would stay for a day or two and leave with a satchel full of stolen books. There he would take them back to Wykka and learn. 

One day he was caught with a book. He remembered the title as clear as day; “Court Etiquette and the Rules of Servitude.” There were two punishments for outsiders caught stealing in Durkhai: lashes or death. They’d decided to be “kind” to the skinny underfed shifter. So they kindly tied him to a post and removed his shirt. Lashes was the benevolent option. Gikwang remembered squeezing the pole for dear life and clamping his eyes shut, so hard he saw stars as he waited for the first lash.  

“I’ll take responsibility for that boy.”

The voice was deep, authoritative and lined with a hard sense of honor and something else Gikwang couldn’t explain. That voice was like a thick layer of protection between Gikwang’s back and the stiff leather of the whip.

“Untie him.”

The owner of the bookstore protested, stating what the law was, his face red with anger. Gikwang didn’t dare open his eyes. There was a stretch of silence before the sound of coins hitting the ground reached Gikwang's ears. The rope was cut away from his wrist and slowly, slowly Gikwang opened his eyes. The man standing above him didn’t have kind eyes, but they were honest. 

“Stand up. Pay him what you owe him.” 

Gikwang didn’t hesitate, backing up from the pole and his bindings and the harsh punishment he was seconds away from receiving. He scooped up the coins, a rope of 50 bronze dragons, and scuffled over to the owner bowing deeply before dropping them into his hands. When he finally looked up, the store owner wasn’t glaring at him.

“Xiah will hear about this, Yoon!” the store order huffed before turning on his heels and walking back into his shop. 

Gikwang turned his head to thank his savior was but he was gone. He wouldn’t see the man for many years.

When he was sixteen, he was given an opportunity a lot of young omegas dreamed of–to be appointed to court at The Fortress. He would serve Yunho and Boa as a eunuch. It was a prestigious honor and he could only thank all of his studying and the books he’d stolen to do so. As he was traveling to Prae from Wykka, he met another man traveling in the opposite direction. 

That meeting would change his life, much like that faithful day in front of the bookstore. 

The man’s name was Yoon and he was headed back to Durkhai after unsuccessfully trying to repel a judgement that could get him possibly exiled from his village. The same Yoon who’d saved him so long ago. The meeting was short, just a few minutes but Gikwang made a pledge to the man to repay him back.

“If you ever need me, please come find me,” Gikwang said just before they parted.

And Yoon held him to that promise.



Gikwang approached the main gate and walked through a door that led to the barracks. Once there he counted the rooms off, stopping when he reached a large door with two pyramids and the sun carved into it. All of the visiting village Alphas not connected to the Magnus couple stayed in large Captain Quarters in the barracks. It made sense to have the leaders near the soldiers. Thunder, as the new Alpha of Durkhai was stationed in his. 

After Gikwang knocked, the door opened to Mir, Thunder’s First. He had a sly grin on his face, one that sometimes reminded Gikwang of a sneaky meerkat. 

“Thought you weren’t coming,” Mir said as he pushed opened the door to let the High Eunuch in. 

“I had things to attend to. What was so important that you had to call me on the night the Mating Moon Festival starts? There are eyes everywhere.” Gikwang looked back where Thunder was lounging on a wide wooden chair, his legs dangling over the arms. “And why did you send for me by messenger? That’s why I created a signal. Messengers leave trails.”

“Shut yer yapping, already, would you?” Thunder drawled. “Come sit down, we need to talk.”

“Obviously,” Gikwang replied. He made his way deeper into Thunder’s room and took a seat across from him. “Well, what is it? I don’t have all night.” 

Thunder rolled his eyes, and Gikwang reminded himself why he didn’t like the younger man. He was arrogant, surreptitious and foolish. He didn’t deserve a great man like Yoon as his father. He should have stayed in the forest with those barbarians. 

After a stretch where Thunder did nothing but rearrange himself in his seat for comfort, he eventually reached into his shirt, withdrew a small birchwood container and held it up.

“What’s that?”

“A…helping hand of sorts…or better yet a clue from Jungmo.”

Jungmo. He’s spoken to Jungmo once, the day the senior member of the Blue Crescents was released from their jails and allowed to leave. He didn’t say much to him other than ‘Yoon will send you help.’ Unfortunately that help had been Thunder and Mir. 

“Well, unless that gift is for me you’ve wasted my time, yet again.” Gikwang stood to leave. He should have known better. 

“I mean it can be a gift for you, High Eunuch. You are an Omega, aren’t you?”

Gikwang turned back to the Durkhai Alpha, his face colored with annoyance. “What does that have to do with anything?” he bit out.

“It has to do with everything. What you can do with that beautiful Omega body, what all Omegas can do with their bodies, is exactly the point. This,” Thunder said as he placed the container onto the table between them, “it is the turning point, the stepping block, the spark that sets this place ablaze.”

Gikwang picked up the container, squinting at it. “What does it do?”

Thunder smirked. “Wrong question. The real question is, what does it stop?”





Day of the Mating Moon


Minho woke as if he’d slept on a cloud. His body felt euphoric, like he could do anything. When he opened his eyes and automatically glanced at the foot of his bed. He was greeted to a scene he’d only heard about in the history annuals. A vial, a wooden slab with an all-white outfit laid carefully on top of it, and his weapon.

The Mating Moon hunt.

There had been something peaceful about the time he’d taken a step back to the recesses of his mind and let Caleo out but truthfully, this was the most excited he’d ever felt in his life. 

He’d let Caleo out. Let. Allowed. Minho laughed internally as he carded his hand through his hair and he sat up in his bed. Who would have ever thought he would willingly let Caleo out? He’d pushed Caleo so far back into his mind that he thought his wolf was lost forever. He wasn’t. He hadn’t. He was there, he’d been there all along and Minho knew it the moment he first spoke to him. And Caleo told him simply to rest, to think of nothing but himself.

In the back of his mind, Minho has spent time, unmeasurable time, getting reacquainted with feelings he hadn’t felt in years. He felt the harsh sadness of his father and sister’s death, the anxiety of having to watch his back day in and day out, the joy of Kibum’s friendship, the warmth of love, Jinki’s love, the love that had always existed in him through Onew. He felt the serenity of his mother’s touch...

He remembered everything about his mother that he’d tried so very hard to forget. Her height, her long flowing hair, her loving smile. Her favorite flower. How she’d told him how she’d mated with his father surrounded by sunflowers. How it was tradition–the Old Way. He remembered how sometimes when he was hurting or upset, all she had to do was whisper a few words, words he never understood and hold him close and the pain would disappear. He remembered the day she disappeared. He remembered the whispers of her death.

Minho shook his head. He didn’t have the time to fall into his emotions, no matter how they seemed louder and more persistent than ever. It wouldn’t be long before the sun rose and Minho needed to be ready. 

Before he could open his mouth to call for someone, his door was pushed open and a tall youth he instantly recognize walked through.

“Oh!” Chanyeol said as he closed the door behind him. “You’re awake!” 

“So you’re my assistant for today?” 

“Just to prepare you for the hunt. For all of that mushy stuff tonight, Sooyun,” Chanyeol answered. 

Minho closed his eyes again and leaned his head against his palm. “Out of the ones that requested, who is actually participating?”

“Out of the ten?” Chanyeol the end of his finger and held it up. “Let’s see. There is of course, Jonghyun and Kibum,” Chanyeol started. 

Minho hummed and nodded. “Who else?”

“The Lower Lord, Tiger and Countess Mirae. Jessica and her intended from Salt Kys…”

Minho nodded again. “What about Hamis of Ves?”

Chanyeol shook his head. “His mate ran off.”

“Goodness, that’s terrible.”

“Yeah, you should have seen the letter. Hm…who else. Oh! There is Yifan and Yixing–“

One of Minho’s eyes opened. “Wait, what?”

Chanyeol rushed to finish, taking one step back. “–And the heir of Old Se’hai and Sehun.” Minho opened his mouth, confused, to protest, but Chanyeol held his hands up. “You signed off on it.”

“I did,” Minho asked, his brow raised. 

“You did. Although I’m not entirely sure it was you, if that makes any sense because you were partially and wearing a flower crown when you told me about it…” 

Minho grimaced. He knew he should have kept some cogitative awareness. The quick paced run down Caleo gave him as they switched places sounded fishy to him. That damn–

Minho noticed something that paused his inner rant in his tracks. “What happened to my room?”

Chanyeol’s brow rose. “You…tore down the wall?” 

“I tore down the wall.”

“Yep. Tore it right down. Well more like…took an axe to it. We had to put up a sheet so you and Jinki wouldn’t technically be in the same room. Oh, you also,” Chanyeol said as he pointed at the ceiling. “Painted that.”

Minho tilted his head back, squinting in the low light of the candle lit room. “Flowers.” Minho sighed as he looked at the rose and sunflower mural. “Caleo was in charge.”

Chanyeol blinked. “Cala-who?”

“My wolf.”

That seemed to surprise Chanyeol which didn’t surprise Minho. The only people who knew his wolf’s name in Wheph had known him when he was younger or were…dead. “Don’t worry about it. How much time do I have until the hunt starts?” 

Chanyeol seemed to relax as they returned back to his task at hand. He moved to the foot of the bed and grabbed the large vial. “As soon as you’re dressed I’ll accompany you over to the Wall of Divine Light so that you may deposit the vial and oil for prayer. Once you’re done there, we can head to the hunting site. Your position is marked with a frog.”

“Good,” Minho said as he swung his feet to the side of the bed. “Good.” 

The ground was cold under his feet as he stood but the energy of the day and the anticipation of tonight warmed him considerably. 
He reached for his outfit, all white with a triskelion embroidered across the width of the back in golden letterings. He wore the sigil of Wheph in his mate’s colors. 

His mate. Tonight it would be official. Finally. Minho blushed and ducked his head. 

“I see you’re excited,” Chanyeol said good naturedly. 

“Ecstatic,” Minho answered back, grinning. 





“I don’t need it,” Jinki rumbled, his voice deep. 

His assistant, a young Beta wolf by the name of Yerim, quickly lowered the squirrel tail drench in his mate’s scent. It was a common thing, during political matings, for the Alpha to need a reminder of their mate’s scent. Political matings tended not to be founded on the most romantic of notions. 

But Minho and Jinki were different. Jinki could recall Minho’s scent, his natural and his artificial one even if he lost the ability to smell. Even Caleo’s newer headier, stronger scent was burned to Jinki’s memory. He didn’t need a reminder. He would be able to find the hare covered in Minho’s scent with no issue at all. He lived for Minho’s scent. 

The Mating Moon hunt was the child of the Blood Moon and normally only reserved for The AlphaPrime and AlphaBeta. This year, the Magnus couple extended the hunt to all of those who been selected to participate in the Mating Moon Festival in Prae. Politics.

From his spot on the stretch of flatland that bordered the hunting grounds, Jinki could see the faint outline of the other Alphas. The dawn was approaching but the sun hadn’t crested over the Salt Kys mountains, leaving the sky a gradient of pinks and purple. 

There wasn’t a winner, just a point to prove. 

The deep bellow of a hunting horn gathered Jinki’s attention as he looked back towards the sky. 

“The sun is rising, my Lord,” Yerim said, her voice layered in awe and anticipation. 

“Ready the bait.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Oh, and Yerim?”

Her eyes were locked on the forest line, but she looked over just as the last note of the horn died off and the first rays of the sun crested over the mountains.

“Don’t call me, Lord.” Jinki smiled. “Let’s go.” And together they took off for the forest.





“High Steward!” Seohyun hissed as Kibum turned another corner headed for the kitchens. “You have to get ready! The other Omegas are already at the Springs!”

“In a minute! I have to make sure the Magnus Couple’s meal is perfect,” he said over his shoulder as he approached the door to the kitchen. “This doesn’t happen every day.”

“Yes,” Seohyun sighed as she followed Kibum into the kitchen, “but it is also your mating day.”

Kibum stopped in his tracks. Slowly, he turned to Seohyun with what was probably a dumb look on his face. “It is, isn’t it?”

“Precisely! That’s why I need to get you to the Springs. You need to be rubbed down with the Moon Oil and dressed and fed and prepared too!” Seohyun took a step closer to him, pushed a lock of his bright hair behind his ear. “You get to be special today too, Kibum.”  

Pleased, Seohyun her heels, her hand wrapped around Kibum’s wrist and began to pull him in the opposite direction when he shook her hand loose. 

Groaning, she turned around. 

“Just give me five minutes…no two! Two minutes to check on their hare soup. There is something that the AlphaBeta needs in his.”

Seohyun watched him backtrack into the kitchen, his hand deep in the folds of his vest. They approached the Zhou Mi, the head cook who pointed them in the direction of where the meals where being prepped.”

“Zhou, who is in charge of the Magnus Couples’ meal?”

Zhou Mi looked up and searched through the throng of pages and assistant cooks in the kitchen. “I don’t see Wonsik, probably in the storage room gathering the radishes I asked him for. Ah! There he goes!” 

Seohyun turned and saw a tall, tanned boy dressed in kitchen attire approaching them. In his hands was a large burlap sack of what Seohyun assumed were radishes. 

“Wonsik! The High Steward has been looking for you. When you’re done bring me those radishes,” Zhou Mi yelled over the noise in the kitchen before he turned back to his work. 

The young man bowed to the High Steward. Seohyun could smells the scent of a Beta from him.

“You were looking for me?” he asked as he set the radishes down.

Kibum withdrew his hand from his vest, holding up a brown cylinder that looked like it was made of tree bark. “This is very important. This is for the AlphaBeta’s hare soup. It must, I repeat it must go into his meal exactly one hour before it’s served.  Must. And don’t ask what for. Just remember. One hour.”

Wonsik took the container and looked at it before placing it down on the AlphaBeta’s tray. “Absolutely. His food should be done within the hour, I will personally make sure that his food is prepared correctly, my Lord.”

Kibum stared at the container for a long moment before he inhaled and exhaled in a huff. “Good. I’m trusting you. There will be a world of trouble for everyone if he does not get that.”

Wonsik’s answering grin was slow, inching up on one side of his face. Seohyun thought it would be attractive but something about it unnerved her. “I understand.” 

This time it was Kibum’s hand around Seohyun’s wrist as he dragged her from the room. She gave Wonsik on leaving glance before he disappeared behind the rapidly closing door.

“What was that,” she asked at the walked through the doors of Kibum’s quarters. She quickly moved to gather his things so they could head to the Spring. “And how is it going to help with the AlphaBeta’s mating?”

“It’s going to help”, Kibum started as he slipped off his vest and shoulder his way into the thick robe he would wear to the Springs, “by making sure it’s just a mating and nothing else.” With that Kibum was heading towards the door and out of it. 

Seohyun shrugged and followed him. It wasn’t the first time Kibum said something she didn’t understand. 





The Mating Moon


The smell of the festival grounds were savory with the smell of anise and lavender. It wafted around the ground in a thick fog, seeping out of large cauldrons filled with the mixture of seed and herb. Joonmyun again, found himself sitting on the high rostrum in the center of the festival grounds. Unlike before for the Blood Moon Mating, Joonmyun took center while Changmin, Elder Magistrate of Prae sat to his right. The seat to Joonmyun’s left was traditionally held by the mother of the AlphaPrime, but seeing as no one had seen Iseul in decades, the seat was left vacant. 

Joonmyun watched carefully as people gathered around outside of the red rope to serve as witnesses for the only part of the ceremony they would be allowed to see. People were usually well behaved during the ceremony, reverent even. There were a few in the crowd who were drunk, using the day to celebrate any way they saw fit. But still, Joonmyun wasn’t worried about the crowds. He wasn’t worried about the liquor and ale being passed around, he even wasn’t worried that it seemed Yifan and Tao had swapped mates. 

The only thing Joonmyun worried about was the one secret that he and only a small number of people knew. 

Minho’s true nature. 

Jinki had explained it to him ad nauseam, so had Kyungsoo and Minseok. Then came the visit from Victoria, which was really more frightening than enlightening. By the end of that night, Joonmyun felt as if he had no choice, none whatsoever than to accept what those around him had already accepted. Minho would stay an “Alpha” and no one, not one soul was to ever know it was in name only. 

“Fine,” Joonmyun thought as he shifted in his seat. He watched distractedly as one of the attendants dutifully fussed over the Magnus Couples’ ritual setting on a raised dais. I have a duty to honor the prophecy. I have a duty to honor those who I serve. 

Which was true. Kyungsoo and Minseok had only…calibrated the prophecy to begin with. It wasn’t wrong. It was just…very peculiar that the Blood Moon wanted that. However, Joonmyun’s greatest fear wasn’t that disaster would come–it would definitely come–and Joonmyun’s greatest fear wasn’t that Jinki and Minho’s mating wouldn’t bring peace. His fear was that their secret would get out and prevent the prophecy from fulfilling itself. People’s anger and bigotry were sometimes stronger than any army. He didn’t want that for his new leaders. 

Joonmyun sighed and shook his head. Tonight was not the night for worrying! Tonight was a celebration. Maybe one of the last celebrations they would have before calamity reared its ugly head. 

When he stood, the crowd, tucked safely behind the red rope that separated the festival grounds from them, quieted to complete silence. 

It’s time.

“Tonight marks the second Blood Moon Mating Bond ever recorded in Prae history. The emergence of the blood moon, the same moon that filled us with light as Heechul and Han Geng before they led five villages to peace and created Prae, foretells the same prophecy. Calamity before peace. Tonight, we honor that bond set before us by that very same moon.”

Changmin raised a hand and the drummers situated on a high platform began their song, a tantalizingly slow rhythm that spoke of a thing deeper than lust–a bond that would last forever. As the drums echoed into the night, two sentries ran to the front gate of The Fortress, their hands clutching the ever present ring fixed in the snarling wolves’ mouths. With a powerful tug, the door began to creep open slowly.

Many in Prae had elected not to mate this year. Since the Blood Moon fell in what was considered the summer heat, most Omegas who were not mating had traveled to the other side of Toleran to wait it out. Jinki hadn’t thought that was the greatest idea with random rouge mages affiliated with the Blue Crescents running around but the eunuchs had put his worries to rest. They would have a guard, he said. 

For the Omegas who’d stayed, because of their duties or inability to travel, they were given a strong heat suppressant–they couldn’t serve if they were heat crazed. Joonmyun glanced at the High Eunuch out of the corner of his eye before giving his attention fully to the gates of The Fortress. 

The procession was short, just five couples. The couples walked through the gate in pairs of two, their wardrobe plain all except for the sigil of their mate’s house, roughly drawn across their backs. The Lower Lord and the Countess were from Lark’s Nest, Minho’s suggestion. They had a budding alliance with Dignitary Amber Lui and had accepted her request to allow her cousin Mirae to mate during the festival. Jessica, an owner of a ”cathouse” in Morocco Song and her intended had also been accepted. Of course there was Yifan and Yixing, Tao and Sehun. 

A step behind them was Jonghyun, First Captain of the Magnus Couple’s Bonepack, and Kibum, the High Steward. They weren’t as solemn looking as the other couples. Kibum had slipped his pinky into Jonghyun’s and the former Dinfire Alpha had a goofy smile on his face. As long as those two have been together, this ceremony was just a formality. Hell, he’d be surprised if Jonghyun didn’t take Kibum the minute the ceremony was over. Joonmyun smirked. He couldn’t wait for them to be joined officially–and privately. They deserved it. 

As the four couples took their seat, the drum beat slowed to a broad and even beat, the sound akin to a slow leak at the well. Two rows of pages appeared from inside of The Fortresses’ walls. In their hands raw-wood dipped in tar and pitch, the blazing end lighting up the night sky. They raised them high above their heads, creating a canopy flames. A sentry at the top of the gate, turned to face the crowd and bellowed out over the festival grounds:

“THE MAGNUS COUPLE HAS ARRIVED.”

Joonmyun stepped down from the rostrum and stood just shy of the gate’s entrance. He peered down the orange tinted walkway as the Magnus couple approached. 

They were dressed in all black from head to toe. Minho wore formfitting pants that seems almost painted on, tucked inside a shining pair of black leather boots. A black shirt made of the same material as his boots molded to his chest and a long sleeveless vest covered his shoulders, sweeping the floor with every step he took. An embroidered symbol of two pyramids and a sun was affixed to the sleeves. Joonmyun had to admit he looked amazing.

Jinki was just as beautiful as he’d always been. His long black hair was plaited to one side. He wore a thick leather band around his neck, a triskelion branded into its surface. He wore a very thin transparent shirt that did nothing to hide his wonderfully crafted physique. Loose fitting cotton pants stuffed into leather boots finished the ensemble.

Both were wearing their headdresses, perched on their head as if they were crowns. On their ring fingers were a matching set of wooden rings.

They approached him slowly, and Joonmyun grinned when he caught them stealing glances at each other. It seemed all was well between the two of them, despite everything he’d witnessed in Wheph, he thought as they rolled to an even stop in front of him.

In their hands was a box, which Joonmyun accepted gratefully. Before the ceremony, they were required to bathe their bodies in Mint Moon Oil under the strict eye of the ladies who guarded that Wall of Divine Light behind the Moon Mosque. In the box where the crushed remains–half to be thrown into the fire, and the other half to be stored in the vaults inside of the Dongbang Library. 

“The ceremony will be sweet and simple, my Lords,” Joonmyun said quietly. “The location of your mating has already been set up as well and we will lead you there afterwards.” Joonmyun leaned in towards the two, mindful of those watching him. “Is there anything else you need to tell me before this gets underway?” he said, meaningfully.

Minho looked at Jinki and Jinki returned it, with a raised brow. 

“Nothing. We are ready,” Jinki said, his voice thick with surety. 

Joonmyun nodded and turned back towards the festival grounds. “Then let us begin. Your pack is eager for you mating,” he finished with a wide smile.