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Thunder staggered back as the blow connected to his face. Pain radiated across his cheek and his nose and his hand rushed to cover.

“You don’t show your damn face for months and this is what you bring me? A powerless Omega?” Yoon raged, pointing at Gikwang. He rushed forward and yanked Thunder from the ground, hauling him up in the air by his shirt. “I asked you for the Alpha Beta’s head. I asked you for Xiah’s head. I asked you to bring Iseul back here. I asked you to burn Durkhai to the ground,” he snarled.

“We tried, Father,” Thunder cried. “You underestimate–” Thunder’s head snapped back as Yoon’s fist connected with it again.

“You’re gonna kill him,” Toggo muttered as he watched the entire scene play out from his dinner table. He the meat off a bone before tossing it away. “You’ve got a real issue with families, you know?”

Red bled into Yoon’s eyes as he threw Thunder away from him. “Shut up.”

Toggo didn’t. “Be honest. You never expected him to succeed. You gave up on him the moment they stripped him of Alpha. What’s funny is you never expected Jinki to succeed either and now we are fighting an entire ing war with against him.” He laughed, although it was devoid of humor.

“Shut up, Toggo,” Yoon snarled between clenched teeth as he threw Thunder away from him.

“Sir!” Gikwang squealed before racing to Thunder’s side and placing his head in his lap. “We tried really hard, I swear it. Thunder infiltrated Durkhai on every level and was preparing to start gathering men amongst the Durkhai fighters but the night before we began implementing the plan, the Alpha Prime and Beta showed up. So we shifted, tried to show the world about Minho’s status. And it worked! They began distrusting the Magnus couple! Brea, one of their most respected, rallied against them! That’s why we didn’t come straight here. We’ve been sowing that discord in the territories Prae still has. The rebellion against Jinki’s status as Alpha Prae is our doing!” Gikwang looked down at Thunder and tried to blink away his tears. “He was trying really hard to impress you,” he whispered.

“Be quiet, Gikwang,” Thunder muttered, turning away from Yoon.

A tall man dressed in white flowing robes entered the room, eying Thunder and Gikwang pitifully before taking a seat next to Toggo. “Greetings,” he sang.

Toggo grabbed another piece of meat and blew on it before shoving it in his mouth. “Greetings, my ,” he said around his food. “Why are you still here, Domonkos?”

The man barely moved his lips but it was easy to tell he was trying a smile. “Thus the greetings. Salutations were to follow. I trust you’ll be able to handle other things in my absence?”

Toggo raised a brow. “You mean your gang of demons? Yes. Just get there and do what you’re supposed to do. And do it right. Apparently, failure makes Yoon very angry.”

“It should make you all angry!” Yoon yelled, his gaze piercing Thunder again. “I am this close, this close to regaining everything I’ve lost! I’m not going to accept failure from anyone. Son or not,” he raged.

“Father,” Thunder tried but Yoon was not hearing a word.

“Don’t take it too hard, pup. We’re all frustrated. This place has management issues and someone is taking their sweet time in our preparations to march. Won’t be much longer. You’ll get your chance to prove to him what I’ve known all along. You’re a good man, Thunder, dependable, strong, and loyal. Toggo gave him a lopsided smile. “Let’s get a warm meal in ya and get you and your…” he eyed Gikwang.

“Mate,” Gikwang said quietly as he helped Thunder to his feet. Yoon growled and began to pace.

“...mate something warm to wear. These Old Se’hai people don’t believe in keeping it warm.” Toggo snapped his fingers and two Old Se’haian guard came forward and led them to a guest suite at the far end of a long cool hallway.

Thunder looked back at his father and was unable to discern if it was anger in his father’s eyes…or hate.

There was one bed, which Thunder looked at, before his eyes jutted to GiKwang, and then away. Gikwang helped him to the bed and gently laid him across the sheets. With furrowed brows he glanced over Thunder’s bruised face with look of tenderness. “You can fight back, you know,” he urged softly. “You don’t have to let him do that to you.”

Thunder scoffed. “I remember you telling me he was a great man and I didn’t deserve a father like that. Now you want me to fight him.” Thunder tried rolling over but Gikwang stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder. “What?”

Gikwang was silent and Thunder’s anger and embarrassment rose. “And why did you tell him we were mates. We aren’t. You said no.”

Gikwang sat back. “It was selfish. I thought he’d kick me out.”

“I don’t think that was his top priority. He was pretty busy beating the out of me.”

“True,” the Omega murmured. Silently, he crawled into the bed and slipped his arms around Thunder’s waist. “I’m sorry. He’s right. You should have been concentrating on your goals. I got in the way.”

“It’s because I picked you up and put you in the way. Don’t blame yourself. I told you I had a father and I knew one day you’d see it. I’m used to it. He was like that when I was younger. Tried to make it seem like he was proud of me, but let that woman send me away and–” Thunder exhaled loudly and pulled Gikwang closer. “You’re the one thing I wanted and I got.”

“I cost you Mir.”

“Yeah...I know. But that’s his problem. He never held any loyalty, any true loyalty. He always did what he wanted to do. That’s why we were friends. I admired that about him.”

Silence enveloped them again, and exhausted, Thunder began to drift off to sleep. Right before he could, he felt Gikwang shift to sitting. Thunder opened an eye. “What’s the matter?”

“You don’t have to fight in this war, Thunder. I don’t want to. What connections do you have to it, other than two father figures who have been using you to advance their agenda? What connection do I have other than a connection to a clan I don’t love or miss, and a man who only sees me as some worthless Omega he could only use inside the Fortress? We don’t have to fight this war. It isn’t ours to fight.”

“We can’t become enemies of everyone, Gikwang.”

“So we become enemies of no one. We disappear,” he sat up, his eyes dancing with passion. “Run away with me. All we have to do is keep moving. If we keep moving, past the villages, past the clan collective, past any allies and enemies of Prae or Iutus, we can live.”

Thunder, not really understanding what he was feeling, placed a hand on Gikwang’s chest and pushed him to lie down before leaning over him. “You’d run away with me?” he asked softly, staring down at the smaller shifter.

“You’ll annoy the hell out of me but I don’t care. You’re home now,” Gikwang responded and Thunder smiled.

Thunder softly kissed him before lying down on his chest. “That’s right...home.”

“I wasn’t attached to the hip with you when you tried this sneaking out the first time, but I can tell you Jinki was mad enough to spit. And as someone bound to protect you from being a , I’d ask you to take five seconds to reconsider.”

Minho glared at Onew as he scoped out the Ves compound. Ves was as complicated as the shifters who lived there. He’d never been to Toleran but his mother had told him enough stories for him to have felt like he lived there. As complex as a community built off of feral shifters, meek shifters and regular shifter immigrants was, nothing was as complex as Ves.

“This can’t be considered sneaking out unless I told someone I was never leaving. Obviously, as some point, I planned on leaving. I’m just leaving earlier than they expected.” Minho peeked around a corner and frowned. “I just wish I knew how to leave.”

Ves was a maze like citadel with high wooden walls and flags that obstructed the view from anyone high enough to look down on it. It made sense. No one really knew anything about Ves and it was because they didn’t want anyone to know. Unfortunately for Minho, unless you were being guided through it, it was really, really hard to navigate.

Undeterred, he kept at it, moving forward towards his goal and moved forward, rounding the corner. It led to a fork in the path, one hallway going towards a dark corridor and the other one leading somewhere so bright he couldn’t see on the other side. Minho began towards the enlightened hallway when Onew grabbed his arm.

“Why are you so sure that’s the correct way?” he hissed.

“I don’t,” Minho hissed back, “but why would anyone head into the darkness when a path has already been lit for them?”

Onew rolled his eyes. “Save that introspective bull for Jinki. If it’s lit that means someone lit it. If someone lit it that means someone might be on the other side.”

“Which is fine. This is a city, not a dungeon,” Minho said as he shook Onew’s arm off and headed towards the light. “Even if we run into someone, it doesn’t mean–”

“INTRUDERS!”

“–that someone will think we are intruders.”

“Good job. Great. Perfect. Wonderful,” Onew muttered. “Dumb .”

Minho frowned. “Run?”

Onew looked around and nodded. “Yep. Run.”

Minho continued forward towards this light which apparently made no sense to Onew but Minho was running too hard to hear which curse words he was using to describe his decisions. They ran down the corridor, stopping short of another set of hallways that led left and right. Minho’s eyes jutted back and forth and he tried to make a decision, but that decision was made for him when Onew grabbed his wrist and turned right.

The sound of the guards footsteps were everywhere so Onew keep leading them through the citadel, left and right, right and left, away from the sound.

“Where are we going?” Minho yelled.

Onew shook his head. “Hell if I know! I figured if we kept running, we’d eventually run out of this place. There has got to be a door or–there!”

The door looked like a regular door to Minho, but then again, they hadn’t seen any doors, just open entryways, so his objections were zilch. Onew barreled through it, splintering the wood and knocking it off the hinges. Suddenly, Onew came to a stop and Minho collided with his back.

“I don’t think you had to break it down. Did you try the handle?”

Onew spun on him. “Oh, really? We are running for our lives and you wanted me to try the handle? Want me to knock next time? Send an invitation two days in advance?” he yelled. “Good thing your babies are in Prae because your decision making capabilities are real right now, my friend.”

Minho’s mouth dropped open, scandalized. “What do my children have to do with–“ he trailed off as he noticed where Onew had led them.

They’d entered a ground level apartment that was warm and fragrant. The walls were decorated with Ves tapestries, an ode to their Toleran roots. Jade vases and sculptures sat atop shelves and tables and sapphire jewels accented everything else.

Leaning over a heavy tome was the owner of the home. Yeon Bi-So.

She stared at them and they stared back at her. When neither Minho nor Onew made any movements, she rolled her eyes. “I know I told you that if you needed help getting around this place, I would be more than happy to serve you, but I didn’t mean knock my door down to request it,” she intoned as she closed her book.

“Told you,” Minho grumbled under his breath.

There were shouts outside of Bi-So’s apartment and her eyes lit up in understanding. “My Lord, I believe I also told you that the Meek of Ves hold power here but we do not assume to control the Tameless. And the Tameless are the guards. You are Natsuvi royalty, not Ves royalty. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill an intruder.”

“We’re not intruders,” Onew whined.

“They don’t know that.”

The silence stretched for another long moment before the sounds of footsteps and guards’ voices got closer. Bi-so growled an exhale. “Follow me and don’t say a word.” She led them to a closet and whispered a few words. A stone round her neck flashed a bright turquoise before dulling to a dark blue.

She looked through the crack and eyed them. “Not a word.” She disappeared from sight, her footsteps leading away from them.

“Oi!” she yelled from somewhere in her apartment. “What’s all the damn ruckus?”

“Intruders,” came a voice, wet and slithery. “Intruders in the city.”

“I got that,” Bi-so said. “You’re ringing every damn alarm we have. What do they look like?”

“Dark, like you. Tall, dressed funny.”

“You ever stop to think that if they look different and are dressed different, they might not be intruders, but dignitaries or ambassadors? We do have guest!”

“Outside of our walls like flies! A whole infestation of them! And ain’t no Prae vermin any dig'nee'aries of ours!” the voice said loudly.

He sounds fun,” Onew muttered.

“Fine! Continue to look! I hope the infestation cuts your head off for being stupid!”

“Bah!” the guard said. “Stupid woman.”

Bi-So slammed the door shut with a growl before she appeared again, obviously annoyed. “The dumbest group of nose to mutts I’ve ever encountered in my life,” she muttered. She opened the closet door and Minho and Onew made a move to exit it but Bi-so held a hand up to Minho’s chest. “Explain,” she demanded.

Minho frowned. “Explain what?”

“Where the hell you think you’re going?”

Minho stood tall, hoping to cower her although he’d only known her for a few days, a week at the most. When she glared back at him he concluded that he wasn’t sure she was capable of being intimidated. Still he tried. “I don’t think that’s any of your–”

“You’ve got a goddamn army stationed outside our northern gates and you have a guide who would get you safely to them if you needed to leave your quarters. Yet you’re on the southwest side of the citadel, lost as a dog without a bone, so it’s obvious you aren’t headed to them. Where are you going?”

“Told you your plan was stupid,” Onew said under his breath before he began whistling and looking everywhere but at the two of them.

“I’m…” Minho exhaled noisily, annoyed. “I’m headed to Prae. My mate...he’s trying to solve a problem that I told him I would solve my damn self. If I knew he was sequestering me here to keep me safe from the people  I’m supposed to lead well...I wouldn’t have accepted it!

“You seem to think that this is only about you. That you are the only one with some kind of bid in this war. That you are the only one hurt by the enemy.”

“Stop putting words in my mouth,” Minho gave back. “You don’t know anything about what I think.”

Bi-so took a menacing step closer. “I didn’t almost kill your mate for you to up our plans by running off.”

“I don’t see how this is “ing up your plans.” You think I’m running off to stop my mate from what? Embarrassing me? No. What if he can’t convince them? What if they declare me an enemy? Then we lose the Artic North and The Meek of Ves! We’ll lose the willingness of the Wanderers! This has to be done right! Because if it isn’t, this war is lost to us. You don’t want to see a Blue Crescent occupation any more than we do.”

“Lord Minho. It is my duty to protect you.”

“Oh, now it’s about me again?”

Bi-So glowered at him.

“If it’s your duty to protect me, then protect me because I’m leaving here one way or another. I’m going back to Prae…whether you help me or not.”

Bi-so glared at Minho and Minho glared back. She eventually broke eye contact with him to look at Onew. “You’re his wolf. Talk some sense into him.”

Onew shook his head. “He doesn’t listen to sense. None of them do, not Jinki, not Caleo and most certainly not Minho. I gave up a long time ago. Plus,” he shrugged. ”I kind of agree with him,” he muttered.

Bi-so cursed under her breath as she began to pace. “This is so stupid. This is so stupid,” she huffed. She him, blue fire in her eyes. Both Minho and Onew took a step back. “We are taking the Oracles because heaven knows if I have to hear that big-eyed one complain again about going home, I’m going to scream. We are also taking the Artic Wolves with us, you hear me? If it takes the entirety of the ing North marching up to Prae , looking as if they are about to declare war, then so be it. Your idea. Makes sense anyways. If they turn on you, The Artic North might kill everyone there and then a lot of my problems are solved.”

“Let’s hope to ing avoid that!” Onew said, looking slightly horrified. “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what Jinki was hoping to prevent!”

“I don’t care. These are the people you love. I hate Prae, but I serve you,” Bi-so stated. She grabbed her staff, her heels and marched towards the door. “We can be there by tomorrow night if we hurry.”

Jinki stared out over the crowd slowly gathering around the twin statues of Heechul and Han Geng. They’d constructed a staging area; pieces of it dragged from Prae and set it in front of the likenesses of the two Prae founders. With no real knowledge of why they were present, representatives of each clan Prae still held were on the stage with him, along with his Bone Pack, Changmin, and Kyung, his captain of the Guard. Kyung had placed guards hidden in the crown to be in position if things got ugly. And Jinki was sure they would.

Among the representatives were Hyungwon from Morocco Song, who simply didn’t believe anything, a true sceptic at heart, a self-proclaimed prophet by the name of Insendei from Dinfire who didn’t believe the Oracles unless she saw the same visions they saw, and Brea from Durkhhai.

Jinki knew what was at stake. He knew what he could lose if he wasn’t able to convince these people. He tried not the think about the consequences. He had to keep his head on straight.

He looked back at his Bone Pact and each of them gave him an encouraging look. He exhaled deeply and drew strength from them before taking center stage.

“Good people of Prae. I hope that your travels here were well.” The crown quieted down.” I know that in times of war, it is uncommon to gather as we have tonight but I’m afraid in times of war, things must be done that are uncommon.” He paused. “Uncommon. I want you to remember that. As a clan we keep falling into the same habits, the same disagreements, the same wars. We have grown, but there are still prejudices that we must rid ourselves of to move forward. We have to be united in this war. We have to think past our differences to win this.”

“What prejudices do you speak of?”

Jinki turned and wasn’t surprised Brea was the first to speak up. He smiled sadly. “There are people in this clan collective who love and respect me. They are willing to do things, unspeakable things to protect my honor. Brea...you are one of those people. I appreciate you for your unwavering loyalty.” Brea looked surprised by the compliment. Understandable as the last time they spoke, he was calling for the death of his mate. “Can I tell you about the loyalty of another man?”

There was a murmur of curiosity from the crowd. Jinki hoped to play off of that.

“In one of our villages, there was an Alpha, no...a family of Alphas. Being an Alpha was the pride of their family. They fought hard for their clan, they fought hard for Prae, forging alliances that we are able to use today.”

“What village?” came from one voice in the crowd. “What Alpha?”

Jinki pressed on. “There was also another faction of this family, one that–”

He paused when a familiar smell wafted towards him and his forehead pinched in confusion.

“Jinki, stop.”

His heart dropped in his chest and his eyes widen. No. No! “Yifan!” he yelled, looking for his 3rd in command. Yifan seemed to know what Jinki was saying without an actual command and left his seat, running to the edge of the staging area where the stairs where. He pulled up short.

Onew pressed forward, glowing, his agitation visible as he began edging Yifan back to his seat. At the edge of the stage he could see Flora, their wet nurse, fidgeting nervously, her head bent low as she spoke to someone.  Bi-so and Kuouvi, her second in command, stepped past Flora and followed Onew on the stage, the mage sparing the crowd the most unimpressed frown. Trailing in their wake was his mate, holding a precious bundle in his arms and another cradled safely across his back. There was an audible gasp from the crowd once he stepped into the torch’s light.

Brea’s face blanched and recoiled like he’d seen a ghost. “What–what is this? Am I seeing things?” His voice was shaking and so were his hands. He reached for his weapon and his sudden movements caused Nichkhun, Jonghyun, Yifan and Kyung to react, each reaching for their own.

“Everyone,” Minho bellowed, his head swiveling between his Bone Pack and Kyung. “Put your weapons down!”   He could feel the tension and deadly intent in Jinki through their bond and he turned to him, pleading. “Please.” His mate narrowed his eyes, umbrage for Brea’s actions rolling off him in waves. Onew, sensing it, surreptitiously moved closer Minho, angling himself between the Durkhai Alpha and Minho.

“No, Brea. You’re not seeing things,” Minho said calmly.

“How...how can that be? You’re dead! I saw your body! They buried you!” Brea exclaimed. Minho opened his mouth to explain but Brea cut him off, looking at Jinki. “I saw you carry his body!”

Jinki frowned, his fist clenched. “It was–”

“A lie, Brea,” Minho finished for him. “That’s what I am. I’m a liar.”

A dangerous mummer from the crowd, once curious, was now fevered, quick and harsh. Jinki didn’t like where this was going. He wanted this to be a moment to calm their fears! Minho had only heightened them! He tried approaching his mate, but Onew pivoted, his rumbling growl full of warning. Minho shook his head and the look in his eyes was a searching one, a one asking for something, Jinki didn’t know. He eased Jinki’s questions with a soothing touch to their bond. Trust me, it said.

That was a very hard thing to do right now.

“He’s a witch!” was thrown from the crowd and the murmur rose to a fever pitch. “Look at the demon he brought with him! He looks just like our Alpha Prime!”

Onew bristled and Minho could see there wasn’t much more he was going to take from the likes of them. Minho rushed to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, sensing that he and his mate were very close to snapping. Onew held Minho’s stare for a long moment before gnashing his teeth and turning towards the crowd.

“SILENCE, YOU IDIOTS!” he roared. “Your leader is speaking to you! Keep still before I start snatching tongues!”

Minho sighed. He supposed that was as kind as Onew could get.

It worked as a command, however. One of Kyung’s guards repeated Onew’s wishes, asking for silence, and it  was echoed by the other guards throughout until the crowd calmed down enough for Minho to be heard.

Minho took careful steps towards the edge of the stage, choosing to ignore how some of them took a fearful step back. “I’m offering you a chance to make me pay for my crimes, Prae.”

“Death!” was shouted from the crowd.

Minho stood tall and nodded. “If that’s what you want.”

“Minho!” Jinki snapped.

Minho didn’t move to acknowledge Jinki’s anger, nor did he back down. “I am…” he paused and cleared his throat. “I was your leader. I know the laws of this land. I chose to break them. I deserve punishment. However, I love Prae. Apparently more than my own life because I am here when Prae needs me the most, knowing that it could be the end of my life. I am offering you a chance to make me pay for my crimes but it will cost you as well.”

“How dare you,” Brea seethed, his knuckles white from his tight grip on his sword.

Hyungwon, who’d watched mostly in silence, made a noise of disgust. “Brea, I know you liken yourself to some kind of brute who thinks with his sword first, but for the love of the gods shut up!” he hissed. “What more do you want? For him to fall on his sword right here and now? Let him explain!”

Brea sputtered and turned away, his face red with embarrassment.

“Thank you,” Minho mouthed.

He only shrugged. “I’m a curious fool. Go on, tell us.” He took his seat and dramatically motioned towards the crowd.

“The man the Alpha Prime spoke of was my father. We’ve all heard rumors about the Savage Moon, how Yunkyum, the former Alpha of Wheph and Minjung, his successor, were both killed. Nobody knows how or why. It’s because I sealed the records the moment I ascended. Not out of an act of secrecy or desecration to their sacrifice, but...to survive.

“Our enemy is Iustus. You’ve heard of the dark mages, and the Vampyres and the mercenaries. Some, not all, should know the name Blue Crescent by now.” He shifted the bundle in his arms. “Does anyone here know who they are?”

“Mercenaries,” came a younger voice from the crowd. Jinki recognized it coming from Jungkook, another one of Siwon’s sons that met them in Prae at Taehyung’s urging.

“Yes,” Minho confirmed. “But what kind?”

His answer was met with silence.

“The ruling line must be clean. The ruling line must be pure. The ruling line must be untarnished.” Minho chuckled darkly. “That’s the maxim they live by. Ancestrally, the Blue Crescents weren’t a mercenary group, but a set of advisors to the first Alpha of Wheph, Tomio Choi. They advocated that an Alpha should sit in the ruling seat of Wheph, a village known for hereditary rule, which was understandable. All leaders of the other clans were Alphas and we had to protect ourselves. Then the advice changed. Next they wanted the mates of ruling Alpha Chois to be Alphas. Years and years passed and their advisement became stricter, harder and crueler and as they lent the clan more and more money during the Shifter War, they gained more power in Wheph. Centuries later, advisement morphed into requirement, and the rule began to affect the entire ruling Choi line. Mates and children who didn’t fit their “ruling line” stipulation were stolen in the middle of the night and murdered or forced out of the village. Beta and Omega Chois feared for their lives every single day. The Blue Crescents became something of a dictatorship in a town that was too weak to fight against it.”

Insendei stood next to Jinki, her lovely dark features marred with a frown. “Excuse me for my...disbelief, my Lord, but if something that vile was going on in one of our villages, we would have known about it.”

Minho laughed, one devoid of humor. “You were too busy fighting your wars. Dinfire and Mott Argan, Durkhai and Morocco Song, Ves and Toleran…with Wheph’s land and people used as some kind of collateral. Done because you knew we could not fight. It’s not that you weren’t informed...it’s that you didn’t care.” He turned back towards the crowd. “You never cared.”

Silence greeted Minho from the crowd. Jinki looked at the strength his mate was displaying, calling Prae out on its , and he felt his affection grow in ways he couldn’t even understand.

“I see,” Insendei said. She exhaled loudly, obviously troubled. “Please continue, my Lord.”

“When I was sixteen, my family found out that I was different. I wasn’t like my mother and my father or my sister and her mate. Different isn’t bad, it’s just...different but to the Blue Crescents, that difference was enough of a reason to call for my assassination. And they tried. They tried to kill me because I was an Omega. My family wanted me to live. You must know what that feels like. To want a son or a daughter or a mate to live no matter what? They didn’t want me to live as the leader of Wheph or...Alpha Beta of Prae! They just wanted me to live. So they hid my status, helped me live to see another day, strived to protect me. And for that...they were assassinated. In my place they were assassinated. That...that is the truth of the Savage Moon. That is the truth of how I, an Omega, loved by my village and the alliances they’d built, became the Alpha of Wheph. It’s how I was present for the Oracles translation of the prophecy. It’s how I became the Alpha Beta of Prae...because my family wanted me to live.”

“No! That doesn’t explain how you became the Alpha Beta of Prae,” Brea said, finding his voice again. “That proclamation had nothing to do with your family! Nothing to do with your sad tale! You can’t fool the gods.”

“We didn’t fool the gods,” Minho said, proudly. Minho reached behind him and called him forth. When Jinki came abreast of him, he handed him a bundle. Jinki looked down and wasn’t shocked to find Min Soo looking up at them. Minho turned towards the edge of the staging area and beckoned with his head. Jinki’s brows went up when the Oracles appeared. They couldn’t be here for what he thinks they were here for! He’d begged them for weeks to tell the truth, but their brief stay with the Iustus armies had made them deathly afraid. I wonder what Minho said to them?

Kyungsoo stepped forward and just as he’d done on that night in the heart of Wheph, told the crowd of what they’d actually transcribe from the gods wishes. “It’s true. The gods truly, truly, picked Minho as your leader.”

“How do we know you’re not lying?”

“Why would we lie, Brea?” Junmyeon said. “Kyungsoo and Minseok have been nothing but faithful to their practice and the messages they receive from the gods. Not once has a translation from them been wrong or inaccurate or tainted by greed or ambition. To say that they are lying now is disingenuous.”

“No one fooled the gods, Brea,” Minho repeated softly. “Come here. I want to show you why you are wrong,” he instructed patiently, calmly.

“You’re tricking me.”

Hyungwon sighed hard. “I am losing my patience with you, Brea.”

Grumbling, the stocky shifter did as he was told and came to stand beside Minho. “Before I give you this proof, I want you to know that I trust you. You may not trust me, but I trust you, Brea. I know that you care about this clan, about your Alpha. I know that you are only trying to protect him.”

Brea’s face hardened but he didn’t reply.

“I want to give you a gift. You too, Hyungwon and Insendei,” Minho turned towards the crowd. “A gift to all of you.” Delicately, Minho held his bundle out and placed it in his arms.. Minho peeled the soft covers hiding the sleeping babe’s face away and smiled. “Brea, meet Min Sun.”

Brea frowned until he looked down. His eyes widened and his mouth parted open. “Who is this?”

“These,” he said as Jinki placed Min Soo into Insendei’s arms with Hyungwon looking over her shoulder, “are our children. Remember, I “died” while I was pregnant. Do you remember discovering it that night?”

“They survived?” he asked, incredulously.

Minho laughed. “Yes, because I did. Brea…” he looked at Jinki and Jinki’s brow rose, but the feeling of trust brushed against their bond again and face relaxed. “Would you like to be Min Sun and Min Soo’s godfather?” Minho turned towards the crowd. “Can I count on all of you to protect these children regardless of what you decide to do to me? They are the children of your  true Alpha and they depend on you to keep them and this clan safe.”

“This is...absolutely beautiful, Jinki,” Insendei gushed, looking down at the baby in her arms with wonder. “They are absolutely beautiful but...how is this the fulfillment of the prophecy?”

“Bi-so. Lower the barrier,” Minho commanded gently. Bi-so nodded and closed her eyes briefly, the dark blue stone around her neck glowing. “Everyone,” Minho said pointing to the hill to the southwest of them. The crowd gasped when they turned and saw what Minho was showing them. The sky was lit under the azure of blue lit torches as an army stretched in both directions. “I introduce you to King Toghon and Queen Gi Jao, rulers of the Arctic Wolves of The North and our newest allies. King Toghon and Queen Gi Jao who claim these children as their grandchildren.”

Brea blinked as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was right then and there that Jinki knew  Minho had accomplished what he planned on doing at Prae’s mercy–make believers out of non-believers. “You’ve forged an alliance with the...Arctic North?”

Minho looked at Jinki and to the weapon at his hip. Jinki stepped forward and raised the symbol of their new alliance, Toghon’s Dragon sword.

“Yes, we have.”

They weren’t getting anything accomplished and it was driving Taemin crazy.

From the border of Prae and Nihil, it had taken them two days to get to Toleran. Danye was like a local celebrity and was welcomed back to fanfare to Iseul’s chagrin. This led to them getting accommodations that were way better than what Danye described as a dusty, musty dressing room in a fighting pit, which was fortunate because the place the fighting pit was located was flooded. Taemin really was amazed. He’d never been to Toleran, his mother’s lands, the birthright of his and Taeyeon’s powers.

He’d dreamed of it, thinking of what the land looked like, the people, the buildings. It was nothing like he imagined. It looked like any town he’d ever been too. His mother had reminded him, as she’d always done, that Toleran was a town like any he’d ever been to, except for the populace were comprised of feral wolves and mages. Jackson muttered there was nothing normal about the Den. Luckily since Jungsoo’s rescue, no one from Toleran was allowed anywhere near the cave.

The subject of Jungsoo’s rescue, however, was why they were fourteen hours into a meeting that was going absolutely nowhere.

“Just explain why you didn’t notify someone to what you were up to? They blame all of Toleran, you know that? They blame us all.”

Taemin looked the Chief Mage and resisted rolling his eyes. It could be because Taemin had never really taken to leadership well. His brother had always been a leader and before him, Xiah, so he’d never had to answer to anyone else because of that.

Or it could be because the Chief Mage was like… twelve.

She snapped her head towards him. “You want to know why they made me Chief Mage, Taemin?” she said, leaning on her elbows. “It’s because I can read minds. Take back what you were thinking.”

Taemin curled his upper lip and crossed his arms. “Okay, so you might be an adult, but you still LOOK twelve. Better?”

The Chief Mage stared at him, and then began to laugh. “They always fall for that! Idiots!”

Taeyeon leaned sideways towards her brother. “Light mages can’t read minds, no matter how powerful we are Tae. You know that.”

“You would think he would but obviously not,” Bong Song retorted.

“Bong Bong, please.”

“Bong Bong” rounded on the tall, fair mage next to her and smacked his shoulder. “Don’t call me that in public!”

“Can we please–” Iseul tried.

“You usually don’t mind when I call you that when we’re in public. Is it because of strangers? Are you shy?” he teased, bopping her on the nose.

“Minhyuk!”

“Bong Soon!” he threw back, mimicking her.

Iseul stood and slammed her hands down on the table. Both the Bong Soon and Minhyuk and the forty other mages in attendance jumped. “I wasn’t born downwind of that stupid, stinking cave to come here and be treated like this! I know your tricks okay! You can’t annoy us out of here! We are going to stay and that’s–”

Danye slapped a hand over her friend’s mouth. “Excuse her. She’s...tired.”

Minhyuk scoffed. “Is that another word for rude?”

“I’m sorry?” Danye said, her eyes narrowed. “You know that there is a WAR going on and you nincompoops are using some outdated tactics you learned from a MONK on us? Did you forget we are from here?”

Taeyeon stood, wrapped a hand around Danye’s shoulder and hugged her closer. “What they mean is–”

“You need our help,” Minhyuk finished. “And you see why it is very hard for us to offer it?”

“I do see. But I also see a group of very powerful people who are afraid. We’ve been here for hours, begging and pleading with you for help. Evasion tactics,” Taeyeon scoffed. “ Prae has sent message after message, asking for your assistance. Silence! You signed into our treaty, which provides you protection under Prae’s armies and alliances, but when we turn to you for help, which we could rightfully demand, you treat us as foreigners? Danye is right; these are two mages who grew up here, who came back here, directly to you, for help and you’re denying them!”

“We are not denying them, per say. Our hands are tired. And you are right. We are scared. Domonkos is a very powerful dark mage and he has recruited other powerful dark mages, as you can imagine. Yet, they are no more powerful than we are,” Bong Soon informed. “The issue we have here is not one of power, but of balance. We have always left The Den to its own devices, no matter how vile or despicable they are. For us to just...step in now, would start a mage war! Unfortunately, I think they counted on that to begin with.”

Jackson stood at Taeyeon side and Taemin looked on curiously. “I know it is not my place to speak here but…I grew up in the Den, Chief Mage. I was an orphan. Do...do you know what they do to non-mage orphans there?” Jackson paused. “They torture them–us. They tortured us. They experimented on us and carved pieces of our skin off our bodies to test spells, and starved us and beat us. No one ever came to help,” Jackson accused, his voice breaking. Taeyeon slipped her hand into his. “That’s the problem with this place. Balance. It’s...it’s not balanced. You think balance is turning a blind eye so you run Toleran how you see fit. That isn’t balance.”

“So you’d have us upheave it for a war that isn’t ours? The alliance we signed didn’t call for us to fight. It spoke of trade and mage discovery schools and a call to end tributes and to consider Toleran a sanctuary city. It didn’t call for us to destroy everything.”

“Everything will be destroyed!” Iseul yelled. “You think they won’t come after you once they’ve leveled Prae? What makes you think you’re so safe? Even Lark’s Nest has more courage than you and they are a bunch of ing scientists with no army!” Iseul pushed away from the table and muttered something vile and angry in formal Toleran tongue that had everyone’s mouth dropping open before marching out.

Jackson glanced around, bewildered. “I don’t have any formal training. I just know Pprunevai slang. What did she say?”

“She said,” Taemin sighed. “She hopes demons drag this place to hell and she also cursed their descendants. Nine generations of them.” Taemin’s head came down on the table.

“Taemin,” Bong Soon tried. “I know your mother is angry but we are–”

“–in a tight predicament. I know. We are, too. But my mother has a point. What is going to stop The Den from turning on you once Prae is gone? Who is going to help you once we no longer exist?” Taemin stood and gave his respects to the Chief Mage. “Think about that.” He took his leave, with his sister and her intended following him out of the door.