Chapter 44

By Monday nothing had changed. Chen was glad that he didn’t share lessons with any of Kris’s pack because at least it meant he could distract himself with schoolwork. He also had Chanyeol and Baekhyun to stop anyone asking why his arm was bandaged up. He was wearing a long sleeved hurt to cover it but a couple of people had noticed anyway. He was fairly certain he overheard someone saying Kris had been abusing him when they noticed him avoiding his mate in the corridor. Wolves could get carried away with their mates sometimes, alphas especially. Maybe he should have said something to clear Kris’s name but he just lowered his head and kept walking.

After his first class Suho had found him and apologised for his part in the fight and the things he had said to Chen but Chen just brushed him off.

“It’s fine,” he said. “I understand you were angry.”

“It wasn’t an excuse though. If you need any help controlling your wolf again then I’ll still help you.”

Chen nodded but he didn’t even want to think about that. Even alphas like Kris could lose control and hurt the people nearest to them so what chance did he have of learning to control his wolf side?

His last lesson of the day was biology and he sat through it alone. It was one of the few classes he didn’t have with his friends in the Exo pack. No one else bothered to talk to him and he copied down notes without really even understanding them. As soon as the bell rang he hurried to find Baekhyun who he knew was only down the corridor.

“Hey, Chennie Chen!”

He stopped in surprise even though he knew he really should have kept moving. jIhoon and Kyung were right behind him and before he could escape they positioned themselves to block him against the wall.

“We heard you broke up with your big guard dog.”

Chen’s jaw clenched. “You shouldn’t listen to gossip.” He tried to move away but Kyung placed a hand on one shoulder and pushed him back against the wall.

“The thing is,” said Jihoon, “Zico told us to stay away from you since you belonged to someone else but if you don’t now…”

A couple of younger students glanced at them as they passed, the corridors emptying quickly, but Jihoon’s glare sent them running.

“Who says I don’t.”

Jihoon grabbed his injured arm and made him shout out. Where the was Baekhyun? Why hadn’t he come out yet? He glanced down the corridor and saw that the door to the room he had been in was open. Had he just passed right by him?

“Did Kris do this to you?” Jihoon asked.

“None of your business.”

Jihoon laughed. “If you can’t even handle him then how did you expect to manage Zico?”

Finally Chen’s irritation at their stupidity got the best of him. “For ’s sake, I don’t want anything to do with your stupid leader. We only met once, it’s not my fault you’re paranoid about him leaving you, not that I could blame him if he did.”

Jihoon growled and grabbed Chen by both shoulders, pressing hard enough to probably leave bruises. He leant close into him so their faces were almost touching. Chen should probably have felt scared but all he felt was anger bubbling up inside of him. He was sick of being pushed around.

“Take that back, you little .”

“No.” The word came out as more of a growl.

“Fine, then how about we take you back to our dorm and see how tough you are there.”

“Jihoon,” said Kyung warningly. Chen knew his eyes had turned red but all sense had just left him and he shifted with a growl. For a second he saw Jihoon’s shocked expression as he knocked him back but then he had shifted too and they were together in a rage of teeth and fur. Something tore Chen away from him – Kyung – and sent him rolling across the floor.

His front leg hurt badly where Kris had bitten him and he couldn’t stand on it properly so it was easy for Jihoon to knock him over while Kyung leapt on his back. Wild with anger and fear and the fact that his wolf was free again, Chen tore at anything he could find. There was a shout of something that sounded like his name down the corridor and then a third body piled in. This wolf was big but he snapped and tore at its fur anyway.

Suddenly there were more bodies than he could count. He panicked and clawed and snapped at everything, unable to work out whose scent belonged to who. There was space around him as bodies were pulled away but he leapt after them, not wanting to stop, not wanting it to end until he collapsed.

Teeth met on the back of his neck and he was pinned to the ground. A warning growl rumbled against his skin and his scrabbling stilled. His body was still tense as Suho’s scent drifted to him. He glanced back to see the white wolf standing over him, holding him until his body began to relax. He gave in to the alpha and felt the teeth release. A rough tongue lapped the back of his neck in case he had hurt him, which he hadn’t.

One by one the other wolves shifted back into humans around him. Jihoon and Kyung were pressed together, panting, with Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo standing between them and Chen. Suho shifted beside him and ran a hand through his fur.

“Come on, Chen,” he said soothingly, “time to change back.”

Chen closed his eyes and tried, he really did, but nothing happened. He glanced up at the alpha and whined. A gentle hand the brown-grey fur between his ears as Suho continued to coax him but it just wouldn’t happen. Now that the wolf was out it didn’t seem to want to leave again.  Never mind the fact Chen didn’t really want to explain what happened.

“Suho,” said Chanyeol, “we need to get going before a teacher comes.” As if on cue they heard the voices of two approaching teachers, deep in conversation just around the corner.

“I’ll take him,” said Suho. “Follow me.” He shifted back in a wolf in a flash and nudged Chen to his feet. Chanyeol and the rest of the pack ran with them to a side door and opened it for then. Chen’s leg burnt with pain as he ran after Suho out onto the grass but it felt good to run on all fours. It didn’t take them long to reach the edge of the forest. The area didn’t belong to the school but it was seen as a safe place for young wolves to burn off steam in their wolf forms. Chen had never been there before.

He hurried after Suho deep enough into the trees so that no one in the school would be able to see them and then stopped. The others, now all in their wolf forms too, came to a halt beside him. They all shifted back except for Chen.

“Check they didn’t follow us,” said Suho.

“I doubt it,” said Baekhyun. “They’re already in enough trouble for fighting and bullying people. They want to get caught even less than we do.”

“Just check,” Suho ordered.

Without any more argument the other three went to explore the area and left Chen and Suho alone.

“Ok, Chen,” he said, “you can change now.”

Chen tried again but couldn’t seem to let go. Suho tried to soothe him and get him to relax but as the minutes went by Chen quickly became more and more frustrated. What if he was stuck like this forever? He whined and danced around nervously before lowering his ears and creeping towards Suho. He nuzzled under the alpha’s arm, wanting his comfort. To his surprise Suho turned and cupped his face in both hands, giving him a stern look.

“Jongdae, stop it. You’re going to shift back right now.”

Chen began to whine but Suho cut him off.

“No. I’m telling you this is what’s going to happen. Now take a deep breath-“

Chen did.

“-and shift back.”

He closed his eyes and tried. He felt something that made him tremble.

“No one is mad at you,” said Suho. “We’ll take care of you.”

Chen shifted and almost collapsed onto Suho who caught him just in time. Eyes full of tears, Chen crawled onto the leader’s lap and buried his face against his shoulder.

“Shh,” Suho soothed, “it’s okay. You did well.”

He pressed his face against Chen’s hair and rocked him gently. The other boy clung to him, sniffling, and wondering if he would ever be able to shift like a normal wolf or if he would just keep causing trouble for everyone around him.

Thanks to the lovely kakashilover I've pretty much worked out how to end this so I'm planning to get it done by chapter 50. We're on the home stretch guys!