A/N: If you've read Cave Into Your Darkest Desire before, you'd be familiar with this 'verse. If not, the breakdown is like this, in the KPOP world, most of the idols are Meisters, supernatural creatures that are separated into four sanctions, elves, vampires, werewolves and faes. Elves and Vampires require blood to survive but does not mate while Werewolves and Faes mate for life but has to have the love recipocrated or they die. This one shot is slightly less dark as compared to the mother ship but it still plays around with the idea of mating and marking. Please proceed at your own risk. 

I.

The door shut behind her silently, Irene taking care to avoid making a lot of noise. The dorm was quiet, the calm of the night’s air only interjected by the soft breathing of her groupmates, the bunch of little devils already asleep. Hanging her towel on the hook behind the door, she made her way towards her bed tiredly, rubbing out the grittiness behind her eyelids. Pulling the bedcovers off, Irene slipped into bed quickly, unaware of the sudden heat in it until her legs brushed past fur.

Pushing down a scream, Irene scrambled off the bed and fell on her , her eyes widening at the sight of a huge dog-like creature curled up on her bed. Her body froze, terror seizing her control and her breath came out in puffs of white steam, the air around her growing colder as frost started to appear on her fingertips. Seulgi gave a loud snore, the siren turning in her bed and facing the wall, Irene glancing over to her with a silent plea on her lips.

The dog grunted and lifted its head, bright blue eyes shining in the dark and Irene gulped, the ice on her fingers scraping against the carpet. It blinked once, in a very familiar way and Irene felt the cold recede from her bones

She whispered softly into the night.

“S-SeungWan?”

The dog whined, the tips of her ears flicking slightly and a tongue rolled out, the wolf (Irene corrected herself) lowering her head pitifully. She blinked again slowly, cerulean flickering to comforting brown and she whimpered softly, Irene getting to her feet and approaching the bed slowly. Wendy the melting ice from Irene’s hands, the brunette settling into the warm bed and running her fingers through Wendy’s fur. Her body relaxed against Wendy’s comforting frame, the heat from the wolf’s body chasing away the cold from hers and Irene settled into a comfortable position, the younger girl curling around her protectively.

Irene murmured softly.

“Goodnight, SeungWan.”

Wendy growled softly, Irene’s cheek gently and they both fell back asleep, Irene feeling as though she was cocooned in her own personal cloud.

When she woke up the next morning, Wendy was nowhere to be seen, just the lingering warmth of Wendy’s unnatural body heat accompanying Irene’s pull from sleep.

*

Irene thought it was ironic that she got the frost sprite genes from her parents considering how much she disliked the cold. She hated it when frost clung to her skin like a second coat and when the cold would seep into her bones like an old friend, when she would cry and the sky would cry with her, creating her own personal snowfall above her head. She especially hated it when she got upset and the entire room would know because they’d all be pelted by hail, Seulgi once mentioning that it was as though nature was taking revenge for Irene.

Joy had cheekily stated that she was their real life Elsa -conceal, don’t feel, don’t kill the Satanic member- the fox sprite often playing pranks of her just to incite different snow reactions from Irene. When Yeri joined, Irene had a hard time keeping her temper in check because, of course, she’d be the one in charge of the two most mischievous Meister species on Earth, a fox and a satyr, and as a result, buffeted their dorm in a constant state of winter wonderland.

Seulgi used to sing her to sleep just to get the ice to melt, Irene going down easily under the power of the siren’s voice. However, it soon proved to be detrimental to their career because Irene soon became conditioned to fall asleep every time Seulgi sang, their manager pulling them aside and stating that this method would not work anymore.

And then they found a solution.

Wendy’s unnaturally high body temperature somehow managed to chase off whatever chill that Irene could summon, the werewolf acting as the perfect buffer whenever Irene decided to play Elsa for the day. They had been dubious about it when Seulgi suggested it but after several tries, they found that the usually blank girl was right.

With that, Wendy had become her personal heater, for a lack of a better term. The girl knew instinctively when Irene’s frost would take over and she would be by Irene’s side in a heartbeat, her palm heated against Irene’s frozen one, drawing away the coldness that followed Irene and calming the storm within her.

And over time, it just became a comforting habit, Wendy taking refuge in an Irene that would never overheat and Irene pulling the warmth that she would never feel.

(But there was nothing like this, nothing that would foretell Wendy curling around Irene in her wolf form, protective and silent and pulling the heart from between Irene’s ribs.)

II.

“Thank you for coming today!”

Irene bowed to her fans, each of them waving back tiredly as they held their cameras steady. Moving towards the car, she frowned at the sight of the front seat being filled with things. She looked towards the manager who was getting into the driver's seat, the older woman shrugging and pointing to the back, Irene pouting and opening the back door. Clambering inside, she shuffled into the back, the gloom of the car enveloping her when the door closed with a click, the manager signalling for her to buckle up.

She reached over to the back to pull the blanket off of it, remembering that she had left it there earlier in the week and brushed past a sleek carpet, Irene pulling away quickly and staring into the backseat. Even with her enhanced vision, she could barely make out the shape of the thing at the back, her eyes meeting with her manager’s in the rearview mirror. The older woman chuckled and whispered softly, as though she was speaking in a room where someone was sleeping.

“Wendy came to pick you up as well.”

Blinking, Irene turned back towards the unknown creature, the passing lamp post shedding some light onto the wolf, the sleek brown fur of Wendy’s glimmering as the wolf slumbered on. She unbuckled her seatbelt and moved to the very back, the canine lifting her head to accommodate Irene’s sudden appearance. Chuckling, Irene bopped the girl on the nose, Wendy shaking her head in protest before laying it back down, the warmth of her fur spreading up Irene’s thighs and into her heart.

Irene scratched the back of Wendy’s ears lightly.

“Why are you in your wolf form, dummy?”

The wolf growled low, Wendy stretching her legs out, turning on her side and rubbing her head against Irene’s jeans clad thigh affectionately.

Irene chuckled.

“I thought you didn’t get cold?”

Wendy huffed, her breath brushing over Irene’s free hand and the frost sprite drew her fingers back slightly, the hot air already condensing over her cold skin. She shook her head, moving her thumb to the middle of the wolf’s head, Wendy practically humming in delight when Irene massaged the creases between her eyes.

“For me? You didn’t have to do that.”

Wendy didn’t respond, merely pulling her legs in and balling her body beside Irene’s, the fire from the wolf’s body burning just right by Irene’s chilled body. Irene shook her head and laid her head back, her eyes closing in a brief respite that would last the whole way home.

(For a moment, she wondered how it would be to cuddle with Wendy in her human form.)

*

They say that sprites only mate once.

That amongst all the Meisters, sprites suffer from the curse of only loving one the worst.

That the sprites would break down internally, painfully and slowly as their bodies failed them, as Earth claimed them back for its own. Earth sprites would join with the ground, wind sprites would break apart and follow the whistling atmosphere and fire sprites would engulf themselves in a huge blaze, razing the ground with their heartbreak. The tree sprites would grow roots and join their brethren in the woods and the water sprites would return back to the ocean, taking place amongst the many others that had gone on before them.

And Irene would melt away into nothingness, dripping and dripping until there was not a trace of her.

Which was why Irene was very glad that she had not met the person meant for her yet.

And she didn’t want to.

She would rather live a loveless life than to go through that pain.

(She has seen it happen more than once through her long, long life.

Seen it happen to good friends and people she looked up to.

Seen it when SoonKyu walked through the halls with an ashen face and half a heart, body failing and the world calling for her.)

But lately, when Wendy smiled at her and took her hand (carefully, gently) between hers and rubbed their palms together, Irene could feel the faint tugging in her heart.

Lately, when she looked at Wendy, it was as though her soul had found its missing piece.

Lately, when Wendy stood by her side, she could see this being forever.

III.

“Enough! Just how much more weight do you want me to lose!?”

Wendy practically flung the diet plan back at the trainer in front of her, the paper hitting the solemn man on the face loudly, the tall man flinching away from the force of it. Wendy’s eyes were swirling blue now and her fingers were crooked in a position that warned Irene of her impending transformation. The older girl stepped forward, the trainer making things worse by speaking commandingly.

“Your comeback is soon, you need to lose the weight you’ve gained during the rest period. You have at least four weeks until-”

Wendy growled, a low animalistic noise that betrayed her other side and she stepped forward, easily bearing over the man even though she was about a head shorter.

“I’ve been losing weight since the announcement of the new promotion and you want me to lose more?”

The room was tense, Joy’s nose twitching at the scent of anger and fear swirling in the room and Yeri’s horns were peeking out from her hair, the satyr unusually sensitive towards negative emotions. Beside Irene, Seulgi was humming a song under her breath, the siren desperately trying to calm the room down with her voice but Wendy’s snapped patience overpowered any attempts at reducing the crackling energy around her. Irene shuffled on her feet, knowing that if the argument was prolonged, Wendy will be upset and she will shift, losing the control she had such a precarious grip on.

“We need to maintain the image that we’ve-”

“This is utter bull! We’re not dolls, don’t treat us like one!”

Wendy’s ears were already in its canine form, the girl’s bared teeth taking on a sharpened edge as she glared at the trainer menacingly. For the first time since Wendy lost her patience, the man looked scared, his eyes lowered away from the terrifying cerulean that seemed to burn. Feeling the temperature of the room rise, Irene stepped forward, speaking up loudly for the first time since the management had barged into their practice room with diet plans aimed towards ant like waists and fat trimmed bodies.

“SeungWan-”

Wendy’s head snapped towards her, a snarl escaping from her lips and Irene flinched back at the sound instinctively, her eyes closing quickly. There was a gasp and then a whispered apology, Irene opening her eyes to find that Wendy had ran out the door, leaving in her midst a crumpled piece of paper and a trainer who was about to wet his pants. A moment passed before Joy spoke up, the fox sprite already heading towards the door.

“We should go find unnie.”

Irene swallowed tightly, nodding at the younger girl’s words and exited the room quickly, wishing that she had Wendy’s sense of smell so that she could track her easier.

But she didn’t so she had to make do with what she had.

(With a beating heart that went along with the rhythm of someone else’s beat  and the longing tug in her soul.)

*

The ache in her chest continued to grow, her feet taking her up yet another flight of stairs. Irene had already cleared two floors of their company’s building, earning weird looks from the staff when she asked about a dog instead of Wendy, her gut feeling telling her that Wendy had already changed into her animal form. But no one had seen such a creature, leaving Irene to walk the halls alone, checking empty rooms that were too dark for her liking and storerooms which were too small.

She followed the periodic tug in her chest and towards yet another dimly lit corridor, spying Wendy’s shirt by a row of shelves. She hurried along the hallway and stopped by a partially opened door, her ears picking up the faint sounds of breathing from behind it.

Praying that it was Wendy and not some extra hardened ghoul that preyed on weak frost sprites, Irene entered the room quietly, sighing in relief when she spotted Wendy curled up in a corner, the wolf’s bright eyes glowing in the dark. Wendy let out a soft whimper and seemed to curl in on herself, practically shrinking away when Irene came close with her hand outstretched. Frowning, Irene curled her fingers into a fist and sat by Wendy’s prone form, the sudden caving in the middle of her chest leaving her breathless.

(It hurts.)

They sat in silence for a long while, Irene’s relief at finding Wendy and the hard to ignore ache in her chest showing out physically when snowflakes began to fall around them. Wendy lifted her head and her tongue flickered out experimentally, the wolf whining at the coldness on her tongue when several flakes were caught on it. Irene giggled, the snowfall dancing around them like tiny fairies in the midst of her mirth. Wendy blinked and then suddenly the air around Irene was hot, the flakes melting away into water.

Wendy’s tail curled around her waist and the girl nudged at Irene’s crossed legs patiently, waiting for Irene to fold them in a way that could accommodate Wendy’s snout and the canine wrapped herself around Irene, the snow falling and falling before disappearing into nothingness. Emboldened by Wendy’s closeness, Irene twined her fingers between Wendy’s fur, her chest feeling lighter than before.

Wendy sighed and closed her eyes, a low rumble starting in her chest that soon grew in volume, Irene shaking her head and just knowing what Wendy was saying.

“You don’t have to apologise. I was just startled.”

(Of course.

Of course Wendy would’ve felt guilty for scaring Irene.)

One blue eye peeked at her, the ocean receding and SeungWan coming back in burst of brown, Wendy whimpering slightly. Moving one hand down the length of Wendy’s snout, Irene placed her cold palm against the side of Wendy’s muzzle, the tooth that was peeking out pricking into skin slightly.

“You’d never scare me. Startle me, surprise me maybe, but you’d never scare me. Because I have nothing to be afraid of around you.”

The rumble started again but this time it was lighter, a deeper version of Wendy’s comforting hum in human form and Wendy at Irene’s hand, her nose pushing into Irene’s wrist and staying there.

They stayed in the dark room for a long time, Irene’s heart slowing to match Wendy’s and the tug in her soul growing stronger.

IV.

“Unnie