Chapter 22

Please read the author's note at the bottom

Elana's mouth hung slightly open, her brows furrowed together as she eyed the man Suho lead from the Stone room. His almost limp body leaned into Suho's for support as he staggered out of the room. He had been a wolf, she had seen it. The proof of his transformation still evident on his skin. His face, streaked with crusted blood, was yellowed and dry from exhaust. His hair, although soaked with sweat and plastered across his forehead, was the same as the wolf's fur had been. But more than anything his eyes were what truly convinced Elana. As he had stumbled passed his half-lidded eyes had met with hers, flickering briefly from Zircon black to the eyes of his wolf; golden gray. 

Elana was absolutely silent, absolutely still. The air surrounding her vibrated with the excitement of the pack. Some pranced around Suho and Kai as they headed up the hallway, much like how a dog acts when his master comes home. Lay followed happily behind, smiling brighter than Elana had ever seen. Xiumin even left Elana's side to go up and greet Kai, but Elana didn't move. She couldn't, she honestly had no clue how to react. In her head, she had imagined that there would never be any proof. She had not prepared herself for what to do if in fact werewolves truly existed, she had been so sure that they didn't exist, but now they did. While she had not seen his transformation she knew that the man walking away from her was the wolf that had attacked her on her first day in the fortress, and that confused her. She didn't know what to think, or what to say, she didn't even know how she should feel. Exhilarated that werewolves actually existed, confused, scared? A voice of nihilism whispered at the back of her mind that none of this was real, it was just an elaborate dream. As much as she wanted too, she would not let the denial win. Instead allowing herself to feel numb in acquiesce.

 Her body and mind as blank of a slate as on the day she had been born. Elana stood watching the packs interaction, living breathing, but not existing. Her mind had never been so empty. It was Xiumin that pulled her out of her daze. He had her hand, his tail wagging low across the ground. He gazed up at her in concern, his head tilted slightly to the side as if to ask if she was 'okay'. As Elana stared down at him, it finally hit her. They were werewolves. Xiumin was a werewolf, one that had claimed her has his mate. Would it be appropriate to faint in a situation like this? Maybe not, seeing as how Elana didn't feel faint. Though she wished she did, fainting would temporarily remove her from the situation. She wouldn't have to think, she wouldn't have to be here standing in front of a wolf she now realized could, at some point, turn into a man, but she hoped not.

Xiumin walked around her once, her hand again. Beckoning for her to follow after him. She, absentmindedly, followed after him, her mind full of Xiumin and what him being a werewolf might mean for her. They went towards the large kitchen one level up. Lay was there directing Chen and Chanyeol around the kitchen in last minute preparation for the celebration Chen had briefly mentioned to her previously. Elana moved to a wooden stool watching as they moved around her in a hurried fashion. They piled food onto platters, pulled out dried fish, fresh breads, simple cheese and the remainder of the apples and berries that were stocked in the large pantry - located down a short flight of steps just off to the side of the large fireplace used for cooking. Chanyeol was gutting a large bird that had the resemblance of a goose, and lay was carving a large chunk off the smoked lamb that was hung from the rafters. It look thoroughly unappetizing, the meat stuck to the bones of the skinned animal; but like most of the foods Elana had tried it tasted much better than it actually looked. She could easily say that the smoked lamb was simply divine.

 Except none of that mattered to Elana. She sat watching the fuss the three men and Xiumin made as they raced around the kitchen, excited banter being tossed between them as they worked. Suho and Kai were nowhere to be seen, and it was one of those two people Elana wanted to see. She needed to see Kai again, to make sure it wasn't a dream. She needed to feel that he actually existed, because as she sat watching the wolves work before her. She found herself looking back to the same one, and she knew that if she wasn't forcing herself to hide it, she would be smiling, and with