Chapter 2. A Pack of Brothers

Luhan stumbled through the snow, his mind blank as he wandered on without knowing where he was or what he was doing. The snow fell as white as the great wolf's fur, the red of Luhan's blood that stained the snow reminded him of the boy he had met. The one face that had been on his mind, the one name that had stayed on his lips, Minseok. Luhan continued to wander without purpose, without feeling, why had this stranger caused Luhan to feel like this? He had only briefly met him and yet he had this strange effect on him that he couldn't explain. Luhan fell to his knees, he was lost... He lost his brother then Minseok and now he had lost his way, it seemed to be time to give up. He lay down and ignored the chill of the snow stinging his face, his vision started to go blurry and he saw a figure run up to him before he was plunged into darkness...

Did you fall down? Did your heart give in? Was everything you had gone again? What does it feel like to be in love with him? Does it hurt the same way that my heart filled with pain? Because I'm missing him and his scent still lies with me, dying inside I will find one more way. Yes I'm missing his smile and heart beat with mine, deep within I know it was just love at first sight. So smile one more time for me, my curiosity, I'll lead you to destiny, just one more smile...

Luhan weakly opened his eyes and was greeted by a cheerful face, "Luhan's awake guys!" He grinned.

He frowned, "where am I?"

"You're in the good wolf territory hyung, don't worry" he said with a bright smile.

"Why are you calling me hyung?" Luhan scoffed.

"We're all brothers here and it turns out you're the oldest, I'm Chen nice to meet you," He smiled.

"Hi i'm Luhan, but apparently you already know that," Luhan looked at him questioningly.

"Yep, Kris hyung told us!" Chen smirked, his tail wagging happily behind him.

"Kris? He's here with you?!" Luhan leapt up from where he was sitting.

"Sure! Kris hyung! Luhan's awake!" Chen called out.

My eyes widened as I saw Kris walk through the doorway of the room I was in, his sandy ears and tail very visible. "Y... You're a wolf?" Luhan spoke with shock.

Kris looked at the ground with shame, "I... I..."

He looked at him with hurt, "you never told me?!"

Kris shook his head, "I never told you in case you would hate me, I... I was wrong."

Luhan frowned, "but... your ears and tail?"

Kris pulled a necklace out from his pocket, it had a Dragon on it, "this is enchanted to hide my wolf features in human form, I had no choice since my father's pack had been destroyed, I had nowhere to go... then I met you and well..." tears were b in his eyes.

Luhan walked over to Kris and hugged him,  "I understand, I... I'm just relieved to see you safe."

Chen got to his feet and grinned at them both, "you guys hungry or what? DO caught some food for us and even cooked some special for Luhan."

Both heads snapped in his direction and they both nodded eagerly, Chen led them into the kitchen of the cabin they resided in and the male Luhan assumed as DO had a pig lying on the counter. The other pack members Lay and Tao were already fighting over which piece of the pig was theirs but were silenced by the alpha entering the room, "ah Luhan hyung welcome, we are the Ice Claw pack, I am Suho the alpha."

Luhan bowed his head in respect and Suho did the same, DO handed a plate of well cooked ham to him and he immediately began to feast hungrily on it, "seriously I could mistake you for a wolf by the way you eat that meat!" Kris joked.

Chen laughed and turned to Luhan, "so what happened to you Luhan?"

Luhan tilted his head, "what do you mean?" 

"Well, we saw you get carried of by enemy wolves and quickly rescued Kris hyung before they could come back for him so, where were you taken and how did you escape?" Chen smirked.

"Well I got a bit of help from..."

 Stay alive for me, I want to see you again someday...

"... Just another wolf who was stuck with me."

"Oh! Was it anyone we might know? Describe them!" Chen jumped up and down like a small child.

"Lets see... he had a roundish face, kinda like a Baozi actually, he was quite short but his arms were really strong," Luhan scratched his chin.

"What was his fur like?" Chen asked dreamily.

"Soft... like feathers, and as white as the snow outside, his eyes were an amazing purple, I've never seen anything like them."

Chen froze, "w...white fur? Purple eyes? And you saw him in human form?"

Luhan nodded, "yeah why?"

"It can't be the great snow wolf Chen, no one has ever seen him in his human form," Suho shook his head.

"The enemy wolves caught him?" Chen spoke nervously ignoring Suho's remark.

"Yeah, he was really weak it seems he'd been beaten somehow." Luhan winced as he remembered Minseok's cuts.

Chen gave a sharp breath, "I... is he ok?" 

"I don't really know, we just parted ways," he shrugged, "...what's the great snow wolf?"

"You're telling me you've never been told? Never? Not even once?" Suho raised a brow.

Luhan shook his head and Suho sighed, "well, how should I begin?..."

It began long ago with a seed, a small seed that was planted in snow...

Small pawprints in the snow followed the tiny orphan wolf as it stumbled through the white plain, tears still falling endlessly down its cheeks. It whimpered and collapsed beside a small sapling just emerging from the ground, in that moment the two shared their life forces and the power of the tree and the wolf merged as one. the small sapling grew into a large elder tree with vibrant colour bursting from its leaves and markings glowing on its bark, the wolf's dull grey fur became a pure white like the snow, and its brown eyes leaked into a beautiful purple. The small wolf became stronger as its pain dulled from the comforting power of the tree, and thus the tree of life and the great snow wolf were born into the world. 

The sun shone down on the tree and reflected off the wolf's eyes, they were bonded together and shared their strengths, weaknesses, pain and happiness. The wolf and tree could live forever but they could be killed, if one died so did the other and they were needed to bring balance to the world. Many envied the wolf's power and as years went by they tried to kill him but as the wolf grew wiser he grew ever stronger and was unmatched... That is until one day.

The tree grew weak as its life energy drained slightly, which took its toll on the great snow wolf, he grew weaker and was unable to fight. The tree became stronger again though and the great wolf who hid from the enemy wolves was able to come out of hiding. The legend was forgotten though, many wolves and humans forgot about it and the wolf was left to wander as a lone wolf forever...

Luhan listened intently and felt something gnawing at the back of his mind, in his dreams he had seen a tree of the exact description, The Tree of Life. Minseok's voice echoed in his head and his heart rate increased as he remembered the condition of the tree and how weak Minseok was... "MINSEOK!!!" Luhan yelled and jumped up from his seat.

The others stared at him confused, "Minseok? Who's that?" Chen tilted his head.

"He's in trouble! I've got to go!" Luhan panicked.

"You can't go, I'm not losing you again Luhan!" Kris growled.

Luhan turned to Kris with a fire blazing in his eyes, "you cant stop me..." He muttered darkly.

Chen placed his hand on Luhan's shoulder, "I'll go with you hyung, you can ride on my back."

He nodded and Kris looked at Luhan with apologetic eyes, "I'm sorry just... be careful..."

Luhan smiled slightly, "I'ts ok I know you're just looking out for me."

Chen followed Luhan out of the house and he spoke quietly, "Minseok is the wolf you were stuck with wasn't he? The great snow wolf..."

Luhan nodded, "he's weak and alone, I need to help him."

Chen saw a glint in Luhan's eye but he kept quiet knowing to leave fate flowing on its natural channel, he hid and undressed then shifted into his chocolate brown wolf form, throwing his clothes at Luhan to put in his backpack. He climbed on Chen's back and spoke softly into his ear, "just look for my scent in the distance," Luhan recalled Minseok still wearing his hoodie.

Chen nodded and charged across the snow covered land in pursuit of the wolf that Luhan so desperately needed to find. He followed the distant scent as Luhan said and his brown eyes searched eagerly for a sign of the wolf... it took them about an hour to find anything. They halted when they saw tracks leading off into nowhere, Chen followed them until they came upon a tree, a large frozen tree. Luhan slid off his back and ran up to a figure lying beneath it, "Minseok..." He breathed.

He was pale and weak, his eyes shut and still wrapped in Luhan's hoodie. This time Luhan had brought a blanket and wrapped the wolf boy in it, he lifted him up and carried him in his arms. Chen saw that glint in Luhan's eyes again and smirked, "come on let's get him back."

Luhan nodded and looked at Minseok in his frail state, "I'll help you don't worry..." He whispered.

He felt Minseok's tail wrap around his arm and smiled at the movement, he climbed on Chen's back and they ran for home where the others awaited their return. Meanwhile, Kris had been worrying over how long they were taking, Lay had been ranting on about how he had definitely seen a unicorn, DO was throwing pies at Suho for saying they tasted bland, Tao burnt the bathtub (don't ask) and then Lay started eating DO's pies off the floor.

Chen walked in the house and was immediately hit with a pie, "what are you?!...is this chicken pie?... hmm hmm... tastes good."

Luhan slapped him over the back of the head and carried Minseok carefully upstairs, "we found him! And pie apparently!" Chen cheered.

"Chen, you do know you don't have any clothes on right?" Lay smirked while wiping his mouth.

Chen stood there blank faced, "LU!..."

Before he could finish Luhan threw his clothes at his head and temporarily knocked Chen unconscious, "you're welcome!" He yelled from upstairs.

Luhan walked into his room where Minseok slept, he touched his cold cheek, "you fool, you could've frozen to death..." He whispered.

"I knew... I knew I'd see you again Luhan," Minseok spoke weakly.

"Minseok!" He hugged the wolf.

His purple eyes were flashing happily and he patted Luhan's head, "you're such a strange human," he laughed.

Luhan smiled and Kris walked in, but he began to tremble as he saw Minseok's eyes. He felt the intense power behind them and bowed slightly, "you are Minseok correct?" He asked.

Minseok nodded and smiled, "Kris I believe," he shut his eyes as if in pain, "born in this tundra, formerly the Snow Stone pack alpha's pup. You moved to Beijing and met Luhan, the rest of your story I will not look into further." Minseok spoke with wisdom in his eyes.

Kris fell to his knees, "you are the great snow wolf aren't you?"

"I prefer Minseok," he shrugged.

Luhan stared at him with shock, "how... how old are you?"

Minseok smiled, "I lost count."

Kris got to his feet, "when you are well enough to stand I hope you will meet the others."

Luhan watched Kris leave and looked back at Minseok, "so... you never age?" He shook his head, "you can't die?"

"I can die if I am killed or the tree of life is killed," he explained.

Luhan nodded and smiled at his new found friend, "I better let you rest..."

"Luhan... can you... Stay... I've spent so many years alone... I just feel like it would be nice," Minseok mumbled quietly.

Luhan grinned and sat beside his bed, "I'll stay for as long as it takes."

"Promise?"

"Promise..."