Taekwoon yawned, rolling over in his bed and shivering slightly as his feet hit the cold part of his bed that his body heat hadn’t been able to touch. He always hated the cold, especially at winter time because it seemed spread to everything. It was especially annoying at bed time when he was trying to sleep. One touch of the frigid blankets and whatever dream land Taekwoon had been trying to enter left him completely.

But this time it wasn’t the cold that woke him up.

“Oh my goodness,” he heard his mother cry from the living room, “someone get him some blankets, the poor boy is frozen.”

Taekwoon opened his eyes and sat up, his previous sleepiness gone and replaced with curiosity. Silently he got up, wincing as his feet it the icy hard wood floor of his room, and entered the hall. Carefully, unsure of what was going on, he made his way to the living room.

Inside were several people he knew. His mother and father. The pack’s beta. A couple lower ranking pack members. All were talking at once and Taekwoon had trouble keeping up with all of it. Especially when his eyes found a new face he didn’t know. Sniffing the air, Taekwoon determined that this new person was lycan like them.

But just what was a young werewolf doing here?

Taekwoon watched the young werewolf boy on the other side of the room carefully. The boy looked so…..small. No, small wasn’t the right word. More like……it looked to Taekwoon like he might shatter at any moment. The boy was covered in cuts and blood, shaking like a leaf while Taekwoon’s mother wrapped third blanket around him.

“He’s from the Northern Pack,” Taekwoon heard his father’s second in command report, “apparently, his father was the alpha and hid him someplace safe with the instruction to come here if anything happened.”

“What happened?” Taekwoon’s father asked, “I can’t imagine that the Northern Pack’s alpha would send his child away unless it was serious.”

“I don’t know,” the other werewolf sighed, “but he said….he said that everyone was dead.”

“Not possible,” Taekwoon turned away from the boy to see his father looking beyond shocked, “how could something like that happen?”

“I can’t answer that,” was the response, “the boy hasn’t spoken since.”

Taekwoon returned his attention to the boy. The kid was a mystery, a puzzle just waiting for someone to solve it. Or maybe he was just a piece of the puzzle and the mystery was what had happened to him. Either way, Taekwoon felt the need to solve it, to come up with the answers for his father. He would be alpha someday after all, figuring out something like this would help him get ready for that.

Silently, Taekwoon made his way over to the boy. However, it would seem he wasn’t quite enough because the boy heard him. The boy looked up and locked eyes with him before tensing, like he expected something bad to happen.

“Please don’t be scared,” Taekwoon’s mother assured the boy, “this is my son, Taekwoon. He isn’t going to do anything to hurt you, sweetie.”

The boy just nodded, looking back at the floor. Every so often, the boy would glance over at Taekwoon as if to make sure the other wasn’t coming any closer.

“What’s your name?” Taekwoon asked after several moments of silence.

“Taekwoon,” his mother scolded him, “don’t pressure him. He’ll talk when he’s ready.”

“S-Sanghyuk,” the boy whispered, so quiet that Taekwoon almost missed it, “Han Sanghyuk.”

Taekwoon nodded, pleased to have the first piece in the puzzle of who the boy was and what had happened to him. But he could wait until Sanghyuk was ready to talk to learn more. For now, he wouldn’t push the boy who had clearly been through something horrible.

“Oh god,” his father muttered, “he…..oh god.”

“Dear?” Taekwoon’s mother looked up, wondering what had upset her husband so.

“He’s indeed the son of the Northern pack alpha,” Taekwoon’s father sighed, deeply troubled by all of this, “His story……of everyone being dead……..I think……..it’s true.”

“We’ll send scouts out at dawn,” the beta said, “see if we can find anything.”

“Yeah,” Taekwoon’s father nodded, mind going hundreds of places at once, “that’s what we should do. Look for any clues about who did this. See if you can find any survivors.”

“What about the boy?” one of the other pack members asked, “what are we going to do about him?”

“He stays here for now,” Taekwoon’s mother spoke up, “we have the room.”

“Yes,” her husband nodded after a moment of thought, “it would be best for him to remain here for now.”

“I’ll set up the spare room.”

Taekwoon didn’t really understand it, still too young to really get what was going on and how serious it was. But he did understands several days later when his mother took Sanghyuk shopping for clothes that Sanghyuk was staying with them. And he understood that Sanghyuk was going to be staying with them when he heard his mother encouraging the young pup to make the room his own.

At first, Taekwoon was ok with this. But then Sanghyuk’s silence started to annoy him. And then he started to get annoyed when the younger couldn’t look anyone in the eye, always hanging his head in submission. Sanghyuk was supposed to be an alpha’s son, right? How could any child of an alpha act like such an omega? It grated on Taekwoon’s nerves, especially when his parents didn’t try to correct this behavior.

Taekwoon started to really dislike Sanghyuk, unable to understand why he acted as he did.

 

--

 

“Taekwoon,” his mother called, “where are you going?”

“To Hakyeon’s place,” the ten year old replied, “I’ll be back in time for dinner.”

“Could you take Sanghyuk with you?” his mother asked.

“Why?” Taekwoon scowled, noticing Sanghyuk peeking around the corner at the end of the hall. The six year old quickly lowered his eyes and ducked back behind the corner when he noticed the older was glaring at him. Taekwoon chose to ignore the flash of guilt he felt over upsetting the other werewolf. After all, it wasn’t his fault Sanghyuk was a stupid wimp.

“He needs to get out and play,” his mother explained, “maybe he can play with Hongbin.”

“Fine,” Taekwoon gave in, knowing his mother wouldn’t let him leave without the younger, “so long as he doesn’t bother me and Hakyeon.”

“Sanghyuk,” Taekwoon’s mother called, “can you come here please?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Sanghyuk slowly made his way over, trying not to directly look at anyone. Taekwoon scowled at the boy, wondering not for the first time how someone like Sanghyuk could survive whatever happened to his pack. Then again, didn’t the beta say that the coward had hid or something.

“Taekwoon is going to a friend’s house,” the woman explained, “his friend has a brother around your age. Why don’t you go with him and play with this boy. Would you like that?” Sanghyuk just nodded before silently following Taekwoon outside.

The whole walk to Hakyeon’s house was silent, neither saying a word. Taekwoon glanced over, feeling a bit of guilt over thinking so low of Sanghyuk. His father said that the younger werewolf had been though something traumatic, right? That his meekness wasn’t his fault and he’d out grow in with time? That Taekwoon really shouldn’t blame him or insult him because he didn’t know what Sanghyuk had gone through?

But Taekwoon hadn’t seen what Sanghyuk had seen, hadn’t experienced the horror that Sanghyuk had. So he couldn’t understand why Sanghyuk was the way he was. All he could do was look at the things he did know and did understand and judge based on that.

“We’re here,” Taekwoon said, walking right up to Hakyeon’s front door and knocking, “behave.”

“Yes, hyung,” Sanghyuk nodded, still not looking at the other. He feared that if he did, Taekwoon would yell at him or worse.

“Taekwoon!” Hakyeon cheered, throwing open the door, “hey, who’s that?”

“Northern pack survivor,” Taekwoon shrugged, “my mom wanted me to bring him. She thought maybe he could play with Hongbin.”

“Ok,” Hakyeon smiled kindly at the young werewolf, “I’m Hakyeon. What’s your name?”

“S-Sanghyuk,” Sanghyuk replied, glancing up at Hakyeon quickly before his eyes returned to the ground.

Hakyeon’s heart broke for the younger. Unlike Taekwoon, he could understand what Sanghyuk had seen. He’d witness some pretty horrible things too before his family finally found their current pack. Hakyeon knew it had to be worse for Sanghyuk though. After all, Hakyeon still had his brother and parents. Sanghyuk had lost everyone he loved.

“Come on,” Hakyeon smiled softly, carefully offering Sanghyuk his hand to lead him inside, “my little brother is in his room. Would you like to meet him?” Sanghyuk nodded, taking Hakyeon’s hand and following him. Hakyeon instructed Taekwoon to wait in the kitchen while to introduced Sanghyuk to Hongbin.

“Don’t take too long,” Taekwoon said before heading off to the kitchen.

“It will get better,” Hakyeon said as the pair walked, “the images will start to fade with time. The nightmares will stop.”

“How do you know?” Sanghyuk asked, looking at Hakyeon with wide eyes. Had he found someone who understood?  No one else seemed to understand him and that made everything so much harder. Especially when Taekwoon got involved.

“I’ve seen some things,” Hakyeon admitted, “I wasn’t born here. I was born in a small pack that was, well…”

“Murdered,” Sanghyuk sighed, squeezing Hakyeon’s hand slightly in hopes of making the other feel better.

“Yeah,” Hakyeon nodded, “I was about your age when we moved here. Everything has been fine since. I mean, at the start I had a lot of nightmares and it seemed like the images of what I’d seen would always be burned into my brain. But now? Things are better.”

“You really think things will get better?” Sanghyuk asked, looking both hopeful and doubtful.

“In time,” Hakyeon nodded, “and with friends you can make good memories with. Now, let’s go introduce you to Hongbin.” Sanghyuk smiled slightly, nodding in agreement because he wanted to, not because that’s what Hakyeon wanted him to do.

“Hyung!” a young boy cried happily when the door opened before is eyes locked onto Sanghyuk, “who are you?”

“This is Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon smiled, leading Sanghyuk into Hongbin’s room, “I thought you two could play together.”

“Alright,” Hongbin nodded, clearly unsure of what exactly to make of this new playmate. Sanghyuk just stood there, waiting for Hongbin to do something while Hakyeon excused himself so he could go check on Taekwoon.

“I’m Sanghyuk,” Sanghyuk finally said, the silence getting a little too much even for him, “it’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m going to call you Hyukkie,” Hongbin decided, grin quickly forming on his face and Sanghyuk felt himself smiling a little bit as well. It was hard not so smile when you saw Hongbin’s adorable smile complete with dimples.

The pair ended up playing with Hongbin’s stuffed toys for the rest of the day, only leaving when Hongbin’s mother called them down for lunch. The whole time, Sanghyuk actually talked and smiled, Hongbin somehow managing to bring the old Sanghyuk out. Sanghyuk liked it, he missed being happy like this. A part of him felt guilty for being cheerful when his pack was dead, when his family was gone, but whenever those thoughts started to pop up Hongbin seemed to know and did something to get Sanghyuk’s focus back on him and the fun they were having.

Hongbin didn’t remember the time before the pack very well, it was just flashes of screaming and blood and hunger in his memory. But then again he was only two when his family came to this place they now called home, so it was understandable. But even with that, he still recognized that haunted look in Sanghyuk’s eyes and knew what had caused it. Hongbin promised that he’d make it his life’s goal to remove that haunted look from his new friend eyes forever.

He’d promised to do the same with his brother after all, so why not his new best friend?

 

--

 

“What’s going on?” Sanghyuk asked throwing an arm around Hongbin’s shoulders as they watched the adults crowding around the alpha’s house.

“Don’t you live there?” Hongbin teased, “Shouldn’t you know?”

“I’ve been in school all day,” Sanghyuk shrugged, “and things were normal when I left.”

“Right,” Hongbin nodded before glancing at his best friend, “wanna get closer and check it out.”

“Um,” Sanghyuk eyed the crowd, clearly not in love with the idea of getting close to such a large group of people, “maybe……maybe I’ll just stay here?”

“Oh,” Hongbin blinked before realization dawned on him, “oh, well…….we don’t have to get closer. We can wait until the crowd thins out a little before seeing what’s happened.”

“Sounds good,” Sanghyuk flashed his best friend a grateful smile.

The pair headed off in the other direction, deciding that they’d rather hang out at Hongbin’s home and fool around like the kids they were. It was on their walk to Hongbin’s place that Sanghyuk spotted a young boy not far away, just sitting silently on the swings of the public playground.

“What’s going on?” Hongbin asked when he noticed that his friend had stopped, “hey, I’ve never seen that kid before.”

“Neither have I,” Sanghyuk replied, watching the kid carefully.

“Let’s go,” Hongbin said, quickly picking up on Sanghyuk’s unease, “come on, my mom probably has cookies waiting for us or something.”

Sanghyuk didn’t respond, he just kept watching the boy. Suddenly, the boy looked up and startled when he noticed Sanghyuk. The boy looked fearful for a moment before looking down, but Hongbin could see that his body was very tense. It was like the boy was waiting for something to happen, for Sanghyuk to attack him.

Sanghyuk just tilted his head slightly, carefully regarding the other. Hongbin watched his friend, not at all sure what he was thinking. When Sanghyuk made his way over to the boy, Hongbin still just watched, wondering if he should follow or get an adult. If this kid became hostile, neither he nor Sanghyuk could deal with that. They were, after all, only eight.

“I’m Sanghyuk,” Sanghyuk said after coming to a stop before the unknown boy, “what’s your name?”

“Wonsik,” the boy glanced up, body so tense that Hongbin knew even the slightly provocation would send him into attack mode.

“You’re new here,” Sanghyuk observed, “you…..came from another pack?”

“No,” Wonsik shook his head, “my family didn’t have a pack. That…..that’s why we’re here.”

“I used to have a pack,” Sanghyuk said and Hongbin watched Wonsik’s head snap up, his full attention now on Sanghyuk, “but they died.”

“You…….you,” Wonsik struggled for words, “you…..don’t have a pack?”

“Not anymore,” Sanghyuk nodded.

“That’s not true,” Hongbin couldn’t help but say as he rushed to hug Sanghyuk, “You’ve got me and Hakyeon hyung and everyone. You became a part of our pack when you showed up.”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded, a silent conversation going on between himself and Wonsik, “I guess you’re right.”

Hongbin could tell the other was lying. He knew Sanghyuk didn’t really mean any of that. It was like when Sanghyuk showed up at school looking tired. He always said he just got to sleep late, that it wasn’t nightmares keeping him up. But Hongbin knew that wasn’t the truth. He knew Sanghyuk had dreamed about his lost pack, that the nightmares had woken him and kept him up al night.

But just like all those times before, Hongbin just smiled and pretended to believe it.

He learned ages ago that sometimes believing Sanghyuk’s lie made things better.

“I’m Hongbin by the way,” he smiled, turning to Wonsik, “we’re heading over to my house, do you wanna come with?”

“I don’t know,” Wonsik frowned slightly, “what if my parents come here and can’t fine me?”

“They’ll smell you and come find you at my place having fun,” Hongbin shrugged.

“We can leave a note,” Sanghyuk suggested, already taking off his backpack and going through it for a piece of paper and a pen, “that why they’ll come here, read it, and know where you are.”

“Alright,” Wonsik nodded after a moment, taking the paper and pen offered and writing a quick note, “How will we make sure it doesn’t blow away?”

“Here,” Hongbin said, digging up a big rock, “use this.”

Wonsik put the rock on top of the paper that he set on the swing before following after Hongbin. The whole way, Hongbin chatted happily about everything he could think of, not at all bothered by the lack of responses from the pair following him. Sanghyuk wasn’t that big a talker and Wonsik was clearly troubled and probably didn’t feel safe enough to talk just yet.

What Hongbin didn’t notice was Sanghyuk grabbing Wonsik’s hand and giving it a quick squeeze before letting it go. Wonsik looked at Sanghyuk and noticed that they had the same haunted look in their eyes. And that made sense if Sanghyuk’s pack had been killed. Sanghyuk had clearly seen some horrible things, just like Wonsik had.

Wonsik knew in that moment that they would become great friends.

The three arrived at Hongbin’s home, grabbed some snacks from the kitchen, and headed up to Hongbin’s room to play. Hongbin had them bouncing from one game to the next so much that they soon lost complete and total track of what they were supposed to be playing. This led to massive chaos and confusion which lead to the three dissolving into laugher. Eventually, all three fell asleep, curled up together like puppies.

And that was how Wonsik’s parents and the alpha found them.

“They look so cute,” Wonsik’s mother remarked, catching her husband’s arm before he could move to pick up their son, “let’s leave them like this.”

“Alright,” he nodded, “these boys….you said that they’re like us?”

“Yes,” the alpha nodded, “Hongbin’s family came here when he was only two. And Sanghyuk……..he came from the Northern pack.”

“Oh dear,” Wonsik’s mother gasped, “he….he really came from there? Poor boy.”

“Yes,” the alpha nodded, looking down at Sanghyuk sadly, “he was the only one. The alpha’s son.”

“Then he survived for a reason,” Wonsik’s father said, “……..I train Wonsik to fight. A couple of hours every weekend. Would it be acceptable for me to do the same with Sanghyuk?”

“Yes,” the alpha nodded after a moment, “I think that would be alright.”

“We’ll start tomorrow.”

 

--

 

“Where is he?” Taekwoon asked, looking around for any sign of Sanghyuk.

“He’s training,” his mother replied, taking his empty cereal bowl, “your father felt it was the right move.”

“Oh,” Taekwoon blinked, “alright.”

It felt weird being home without Sanghyuk there. Given, Taekwoon wasn’t the biggest fan of the quiet and skittish werewolf, but he’d gotten used to seeing Sanghyuk every morning before the younger fled from the room thanks to Taekwoon’s glares and snide comments. And when his mother scolded him for it? Well that was part of the normal morning routine too and Taekwoon felt weird about missing any of it.

“Why don’t you go see Hakyeon?” his mother suggested, “your father will come find you for your training session.”

“Alright,” Taekwoon nodded before heading off to find his friend.

He found Hakyeon with Hongbin, watching as Sanghyuk trained with one of the adults that Taekwoon had met the day before and a young boy he didn’t know. Sanghyuk seemed to know both, though. Same with Hakyeon and Hongbin who were calling out praise for Sanghyuk.

“What’s going on?” Taekwoon asked, “Who is that?”

“Wonsik’s dad is training him and Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon explained, “your dad thought it was a good idea.”

“Training?” Taekwoon scowled, “that will be wasted on him.”

“No it won’t,” Hongbin growled, “you’re a jerk.”

“Sanghyuk is weak,” Taekwoon argued, “there’s no way this training will be able to change that.”

“You’re gonna eat your words,” Hongbin replied, “Just watch. Sanghyuk is be stronger then you one day.”

“Yeah right,” Taekwoon scoffed.

 

--

 

Taekwoon hadn’t expected his view on Sanghyuk to ever change.

It hadn’t taken long after meeting the younger for Taekwoon to decide that Sanghyuk was useless. Given, not many six year old look like they’re going to amount to anything, but Taekwoon was convinced that his prediction would come true. Even as his mother scolded him for making such an announcement with Sanghyuk right there, Taekwoon hadn’t had a doubt in his mind that he would be proven right. That was why he’d kept saying it, kept ignoring everyone who told him he was wrong.

“He’s growing up really well,” Hakyeon remarked as the pair watched Sanghyuk roughhouse with Hongbin.

“He doesn’t have much of an opponent,” Taekwoon scoffed, but a small voice in the back of his head whispered that Sanghyuk was indeed growing up better than expected.

“You realize that’s my brother you’re talking about, right?” Hakyeon growled at the other, “Can you be a little less rude. God, no wonder Sanghyuk hates you.”

“He doesn’t hate me,” Taekwoon bit back a growl of his own.

Yet he knew Hakyeon wasn’t lying. Sanghyuk had started out scared of him – actually, Sanghyuk had started out scared of everything, so that might not count. What did count was that after Taekwoon’s first comment of being useless, Sanghyuk had made a point of avoiding him. As Sanghyuk got older, he started glaring at Taekwoon. Taekwoon hadn’t helped things, always making comments about how weak Sanghyuk was or how he failed at tasks Taekwoon deemed ‘simple.’

Now at age fifteen, Sanghyuk growled at Taekwoon whenever he could get away with it. When he couldn’t get away with growling, he just glared. Taekwoon hated to admit it, but he didn’t like it when Sanghyuk reacted that way to him. For some reason he couldn’t understand, it made him sad. This in turn made him growl or glare back at the younger which just reinforced Sanghyuk’s dislike for him.

“Right,” Hakyeon rolled his eyes, “let’s test that theory, shall we?”

Before Hakyeon could do anything, they noticed another of their younger pack members walking over to Sanghyuk and Hongbin. Taekwoon felt a growl bubbling up in his throat and he clenched his teeth in order to keep it at bay. He couldn’t figure out why he hated Wonsik so much, but he just did. Something about seeing the younger werewolf hanging out around Sanghyuk all the time pissed him off.

Taekwoon had a hard time recalling when it didn’t piss him off. Seeing Wonsik and Sanghyuk together just annoyed Taekwoon for some reason. And not knowing that reason just annoyed Taekwoon even more.

“Let’s go,” Hakyeon said, grabbing Taekwoon’s arm and dragging him over to the three younger werewolves, “I wanna talk to someone who actually talks back.”

“Hyung!” Hongbin grinned when he noticed the older pair making their way over, “what’s up?”

“Hey,” Wonsik smiled slightly, nodding respectfully at Taekwoon.

“Hi,” Sanghyuk smiled at Hakyeon, completely ignoring Taekwoon.

“Not much,” Hakyeon said, answering Hongbin’s question, “Taekwoon here is about as much fun as a rock today, so I thought I’d come hang out with you kids.”

Sanghyuk snickered at that and Taekwoon felt a mix of emotions. On one hand, he found that the sound of Sanghyuk’s laugher was really cute. On the other, he felt embarrassed. He already hated being laughed at, but it felt even worse when that laugher was coming from Sanghyuk. It confused him a great deal because he didn’t feel this way with anyone else in the whole pack. Just Sanghyuk.

“Cool,” Wonsik nodded, “I was just about to help Sanghyuk with his sparing. Do you want to watch, or….?”

“We’ll watch,” Taekwoon answered, trying to ignore the feeling of hurt that came with the glare Sanghyuk sent his way.

“Alright,” Wonsik said, leading Sanghyuk a little bit away from the others so that they wouldn’t get caught up in the fight, “let’s go.”

Taekwoon silently watched as the pair sparred, closely watching every little movement the pair made.

As much as he disliked Wonsik, he had to admit that the other was a great fighter. His own father often praised the younger, something that annoyed Taekwoon from time to time, but Taekwoon couldn’t deny that Wonsik deserved the praise. Wonsik’s father was an impressive fighter too. Since he’d trained Wonsik, it was only fitting that the teen would be just as amazing.

That’s what made it so remarkable to see Sanghyuk holding his own against Wonsik. Taekwoon felt a rush of pride seeing Sanghyuk do so well against Wonsik, even if the fight did end with Sanghyuk defeated.

“You’re getting better,” Wonsik praised, helping Sanghyuk to his feet, “I’m impressed, Sanghyukkie. Dad’s gonna be happy to hear you did so well.”

Wonsik’s father took pride in training both young werewolves, but there seemed to be something more when it came to Sanghyuk. It wasn’t so much pride and it was some other emotion Taekwoon saw on the older werewolf’s face every time Sanghyuk improved his fighting. It was a look Taekwoon’s father got as well when he watched Sanghyuk train.

“Thanks,” the younger grinned brightly and Taekwoon felt a flash of anger and jealously.

How dare Wonsik call Sanghyuk with such familiarity. Taekwoon couldn’t explain why that angered him so much, it just did. And Sanghyuk’s bright smile directed at Wonsik didn’t make him feel any better. He didn’t like seeing that look directed at other people, he wanted that look to be directed only at him. He just didn’t understand why he would want that. Sanghyuk was just the useless little kid his father had let into their home one cold winter’s night several years ago, just a tiny little child who was scared of everything and slept in the room across the hall from his own.

Even as Taekwoon thought that, he realized how hollow the words were. His view of Sanghyuk had changed, he just didn’t know when it had changed nor what it was changing to.

“It’s getting close to dinner,” Hakyeon suddenly said, “best we all head home.”

“Right,” Hongbin nodded, turning to Sanghyuk, “wanna eat with us?”

“Will your mom mind?” Sanghyuk asked and Taekwoon had to bite his tongue in order to keep his big mouth shut.

“No way,” Hongbin laughed, “she loves you.”

“Then I’ll come,” Sanghyuk nodded with a smile, throwing an arm around the other’s shoulders, “let’s go. All that training made me hungry.”

“You heading home?” Hakyeon asked Taekwoon who just nodded, trying to ignore the discontent he felt over knowing Sanghyuk would be absent from the dinner table.

“I’d offer for you to join us,” Hongbin smiled at Wonsik, “but I know your mom wants you home for dinner for once.”

“Yeah,” Wonsik laughed, pulling both Hongbin and Sanghyuk into a quick hug before running off, “see you guys tomorrow at school.”

“Later,” Sanghyuk waved before he and Hongbin headed off.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, too,” Hakyeon smiled before chasing after the pair.

“Yeah,” Taekwoon sighed, “see you tomorrow.”

 

--

 

Taekwoon sighed as he sat at the kitchen table, doodling random things on the paper that he should have been using for his work. Every so often, he glanced up over at Sanghyuk’s normal place at the table. Unfortunately for him, Sanghyuk wasn’t there. Over the past year or so, Taekwoon had started to really dislike it when Sanghyuk wasn’t with him.

He wasn’t about to actually address why he felt this way, though. He wasn’t ready to face the truth about his feelings. Not yet anyway.

“Idle hands are the devil’s play things,” Taekwoon’s mother called out as she watched her son walk out of the kitchen, leaving his work unfinished.

“I’m going to be doing something,” Taekwoon said, trying to defend himself, “I’m catching up on my reading. Those papers don’t need to be finished yet, so I have time.”

“Oh,” his mother blinked, “I thought you were planning to laze about. I was going to suggest going out with Sanghyuk.”

“He’s out?” Taekwoon found himself asking, even as he told himself that he didn’t care. He knew Sanghyuk was out, too. He didn’t need to ask. He didn’t need to find out exactly where Sanghyuk was.

“Yeah,” she nodded, returning her attention to whatever it was that she was cooking, “he said something about Wonsik. Maybe they’re on a date.” She giggled, completely unaware of the frown on her son’s face at such news.

“I’m going to go join them,” Taekwoon announced, feeling more than a little foolish for saying something like that.

He didn’t care what Sanghyuk did. At least, that’s what he was still trying to tell himself even though a voice in the back of his mind was whispering that he was lying, that he really did care about Sanghyuk. He cared who Sanghyuk was with and what he was doing. He cared if Sanghyuk was on a date with someone. Especially if that someone was Wonsik.

Taekwoon found Wonsik and Sanghyuk on the training field, laughing as they lay on the ground covered in sweat and dirt. Taekwoon felt a flash of irritation before making his way over to them.

“Oh!” Wonsik quickly stood up when he noticed Taekwoon, bowing slightly, “Hey, Taekwoon. What brings you out here? Training?”

“What are you doing here?” Sanghyuk questioned, glaring slightly at Taekwoon and not bothering to get up like Wonsik.

“Mother said you were here,” Taekwoon lied, “I thought I should come see how you’re doing.”

“Whatever,” Sanghyuk sighed, getting up, “hey, hyung? I’m gonna head off. Maybe Bin is doing something interesting.”

“Have fun,” Wonsik smiled, “I’ll come find you guys after I shower. You might be able to deal with smelling like sweat, but I can’t.”

Sanghyuk waved as he walked away, leaving Taekwoon and Wonsik alone on the field. Taekwoon watched the younger walk away, feeling a bit like an abandoned puppy. He wanted to be around Sanghyuk, more than he was willing to admit to even himself. And yet Sanghyuk didn’t want anything to do with him. That stung, even if it was his own fault.

“Sanghyuk doesn’t really hate you,” Wonsik spoke up after a long moment of silence, “not really.”

“What are you talking about?” Taekwoon growled, glaring at Wonsik so hard the younger backed away slightly before recovering his nerve.

“Sanghyuk likes to think he hates you,” Wonsik explained, “but it’s mostly just talk. I mean, it’s not like he likes you or wants to be friends, but he doesn’t completely hate you. Just strongly dislikes.”

“Why should that matter?” Taekwoon questioned, tone softening slightly after hearing that Sanghyuk might not hate hm.

“You look at him like a love struck puppy,” Wonsik rolled his eyes, “well, you do when you let your guard down and that mostly happens when Sanghyuk walks away or glares at you. Or when he throws small insults your way. Stuff like that.”

“I do not look at him like a love struck puppy!” Taekwoon snapped, but a part of him wasn’t that disbelieving of Wonsan’s words.

“Sure,” the younger werewolf rolled his eyes, “sure you don’t. You hate him. Have since we were kids.”

“I don’t hate him,” Taekwoon hissed, glaring at Wonsik, “I could never hate him. I have never hated him.”

“Good to hear,” Wonsik smiled, “anyway, I wasn’t lying about needing a shower. See you around, Taekwoon hyung.”

Standing alone in the training field, Taekwoon contemplated going over to Hongbin and Hakyeon’s house. He wanted to see Sanghyuk and knew that the younger would be there. Although Sanghyuk probably wouldn’t be too pleased to see him. Even if Wonsik said the younger didn’t hate him, that didn’t mean Sanghyuk liked him or wanted to spend much time with him.

Taekwoon ended up back at home, lying on his bed doing nothing.

A few hours later, he heard Sanghyuk across the hall getting changed for bed. A soft smile formed on his face and he suddenly felt a lot calmer. Sanghyuk was home, he was only a few feet away. Maybe, just maybe, Taekwoon liked Sanghyuk a lot more then he was willing to admit. Maybe, just maybe, he wanted more than just friendship with Sanghyuk.

Taekwoon needed to talk to Hakyeon about all of this.

 

--

 

“You like him,” Hakyeon smiled after Taekwoon had finished explaining everything, “like, you really like him.”

“No,” Taekwoon tried to deny, “I just…….I……..”

“You do,” Hakyeon laughed, “you so totally do. You want to date him, and kiss him, and be all cutie couple with Sanghyuk.”

“No I,” Taekwoon sighed, “I…….I do.”

“Admitting your feelings is the first step,” Hakyeon said, patting his friend on the back, “just a shame it’s taken you twenty years to do it.”

“I haven’t known him for that long,” Taekwoon huffed, “and I haven’t felt this way for that long either.”

“True,” Hakyeon nodded, “which begs the question…..how long have you felt this way?”

“Not sure,” Taekwoon replied, “but…….I think I first started noticing last year.”

“Alright,” Hakyeon nodded once more.

 

--

 

“Sanghyuk,” the alpha called out, causing Sanghyuk to pause so suddenly that Hongbin almost couldn’t stop.

“Sir,” Sanghyuk bowed slightly, “is there something you need of me?”

“Something I wanted to ask,” the alpha explained, looking rather regretful, “you see, there’s been a…..development and I wanted to talk to you about it before we did anything.”

“Ok,” Sanghyuk nodded, mind going with thought about what his leader could want to talk to him about.

“Come with me,” the older werewolf said before turning to Taekwoon, “son, I want you to come with us as well.”

“Alright,” Taekwoon nodded, just as confused as Sanghyuk about what his father could want from them.

“One of our scouts has come back with some…….information,” the alpha sighed once the three were out of ear shot of everyone else, “information that I feel…….is very important.”

“What did the scout find?” Taekwoon asked, glancing at Sanghyuk with growing worry.

“The scout,” Taekwoon’s father sighed, “he was sent up to the Northern pack’s old territory.”

“What did he find?” Sanghyuk asked, voice a mix of several different emotions.

“He found a scent,” was the reply, “a fresh one, only a few days old. No one has been there for ages outside of our pack. I was thinking…….it might be the one who killed everyone. I wanted to know, Sanghyuk, what you wanted to do.”

“I want to go,” Sanghyuk said, “I want to see for myself. I want to smell for myself.”

“I was hoping you would say that,” the alpha smiled slightly before turning to Taekwoon, “you’re going to be taking my position in a few more years, Taekwoon. I think it would be wise for you to come along as well.”

“Alright,” Taekwoon nodded, “I’ll come.”

“Good,” was the last thing that their leader told him, “We leave at dawn. Pack light, we aren’t going to be gone for very long.”

“Yes, sir,” both nodded before heading for home to do as told.

 

--

 

Taekwoon kept a close eye on Sanghyuk, the younger only a few short feet from him as he walked along side Taekwoon’s father. Ever since they had left on this little trip the day before, Taekwoon had been keeping close watch over the younger. Sanghyuk just looked so empty, his emotions completely shut down, and that worried Taekwoon. Fight about now, he’d give anything to see Sanghyuk show some kind, any kind, of emotion.

Truth be told, Taekwoon didn’t really understand why they were going to Sanghyuk’s old home let along why they were bringing Sanghyuk along. Couldn’t his father see how it would upset Sanghyuk? Didn’t he see how the younger was trying to hold it all together when he said he would come? Heard how he’d cried that night when he was alone in his room? Because Taekwoon had seen and heard it all.

“We’re here,” Taekwoon’s father called, “spread out. Come to me if you find anything.”

“Father,” Taekwoon said, moving to stand beside his father once everyone had gone off and left them alone, “why are we here?”

“I already told you,” his father explained, “our scout picked up a scent and I felt it best to check into it. For all we could know, the one who did all of this could be back.”

“Why would they come back?” Taekwoon growled, “They already killed everyone and destroyed everything. There’s nothing left for them to do.”

“They didn’t kill everyone. There’s still one thing that they haven’t destroyed yet.”

Taekwoon looked over at Sanghyuk, slowly moving through the remains of his old home. He didn’t need to see the younger’s face to know how he was feeling. He was walking through the place that had seen his whole pack killed while he remained hidden under the floor boards of his house, scent barred under a mix of his mother’s perfumes. Taekwoon couldn’t imagine what Sanghyuk had seen when he finally managed to escape from under the floor, but he knew it hadn’t been pleasant.

“Go with him,” his father spoke up, “keep an eye on him.”

“Alright,” Taekwoon nodded, wasting no time in rushing after Sanghyuk before the younger could vanish from sight.

Sanghyuk didn’t acknowledge him, full attention on the ruins around them. Save for a few walls, everything had been destroyed by both fire and time. Every so often, Taekwoon would stumble across something – bones, bricks, personal items. For the most part though, nature had reclaimed the land. Much of what had once been a large werewolf village was now just a clearing with trees slowly encroaching.

And yet, that didn’t seem to affect Sanghyuk.

He still remembered were everything had been. He could remember exactly where his school had stood. He still recalled the exact number of steps between his bedroom and his best friend’s front door. He knew exactly where their favorite places to play were, even though he hadn’t gone to any of them in ages. When he closed his eyes, he could see everything – his pack members laughing and talking, walking to work and home and just going about their lives. He swore he could hear them if he focused hard enough.

It made him want to cry.

“Hey,” Taekwoon said, catching his arm when Sanghyuk stumbled slightly, “are you…..?” he trailed off, knowing that Sanghyuk wasn’t alright and asking was stupid.

“I…,” Sanghyuk wasn’t sure how to say what he was thinking, “I remember everything. Where everything should be, what everyone should be doing.”

“Do you want to go home?” Taekwoon asked, turning the younger to face him, “We can go back right now. Just say the word.”

“I just want to see one thing,” Sanghyuk said, turning away and walking off with Taekwoon right behind him.

The pair came to a stop in front of the remains of what Taekwoon suspected was once a door. Taking a deep breath, Sanghyuk walked into what had once been his house. Without a word, he walked around, passing through the living room, kitchen, and dining room before making his way to the remains of his parent’s bedroom. Taekwoon followed, always a few steps behind and ready to catch Sanghyuk if he needed support.

Sanghyuk needed that support when he saw the skull resting beside a hole in the floor, half hidden by dirt and grass.

Sanghyuk lost it then, looking at the remains of his mother.

Taekwoon rushed to catch him before he hit the ground and the pair sat there for a while, the older holding the younger tightly while he cried.

“I wanna go,” Sanghyuk finally said, “please.”

“Ok,” Taekwoon nodded. He hated seeing Sanghyuk so upset, but couldn’t deny that it felt good to hold him.

Taekwoon helped Sanghyuk to stand and led him away from the remains of his old home. The pair didn’t say a word as the older helped the younger into one of the cars they had arrived in with the others. The drive home was also silent save for when Taekwoon called him father to inform him that they were on their way home. He did notice that when he said that they were going home, Sanghyuk flinched slightly at the word.

Taekwoon frowned slightly at that.

He’d always thought that Sanghyuk thought of their home as, well, home. But thinking back he couldn’t recall a single moment when the younger had called it home. Even when he asked Taekwoon to take him home a few minutes before, he hadn’t actually said the four letter word. He guessed that a part of Sanghyuk had always hoped that he could return to his old pack, that there was still something left of home to return to. This visit had proven to him that he could never go back, that everything was gone.

That he didn’t have a home.

“Hey,” Taekwoon said after pulling into the driveway of his families’ house several hours of endless driving later, making sure that the doors stayed locked so that Sanghyuk couldn't get out just yet.

“What do you want?” Sanghyuk asked, sounding tired and defeated.

“This is your home,” Taekwoon said, thinking over his words carefully, “It might not be like your old home, but…….but it’s a home. It’s……I want you to know that it’s your home, too. You aren’t…….you still have a home.”

“You’re bad at this,” Sanghyuk observed, looking over at Taekwoon with a small smirk, “but thank you.”

With that, Sanghyuk unlocked the door and headed inside the house. Taekwoon watched him go, not sure if he’d managed to get his point across or not. With a sigh, Taekwoon followed Sanghyuk inside.

“You’re back!” Taekwoon’s mother smiled, rushing to hug the pair, “just you two?”

“We’re home,” Sanghyuk smiled slightly, glancing back at Taekwoon, “yeah, everyone else is still there. I just…….needed to come home.”

Taekwoon nodded, the younger werewolf’s words playing over and over again in his head. He honestly wasn’t sure if Sanghyuk meant that or if he was just trying to humor him.

“Well, it’s late,” his mother cut into his thoughts, “or early. Either way, you’ve been traveling for hours, go get some sleep.”

“Alright,” Taekwoon nodded, heading to his room.

Halfway through changing, Sanghyuk knocked on his door.

“Sanghyuk,” Taekwoon glanced down at his shiftless chest and felt a wee bit embarrassed, “is there something you need?”

“I do think of this place as home,” Sanghyuk told him, “I’m not, like, still hung up on what I lost or whatever it is you think.”

“I just wanted to be sure,” Taekwoon said, “I want to make sure you know that you belong here.”

“I know,” Sanghyuk nodded, “but……..thanks for saying it.”

“Someone had to,” Taekwoon replied.

There was a moment of silence before Sanghyuk turned to leave. Taekwoon felt the urge to stop him, to say something, but he had no idea what to say. Before Taekwoon could think of anything, Sanghyuk was gone. With a sigh, Taekwoon decided to just finish getting ready for bed.

Next time he talked to Sanghyuk, he’d know what to say.

 

--

 

“You’re good,” Taekwoon panted, dropping down onto the ground beside Sanghyuk, “very good.”

“I train a lot,” Sanghyuk replied, “more than you do.”

“I train,” Taekwoon huffed.

“Not like I do,” Sanghyuk shrugged, “I train whenever I don’t have school or homework. You spent your spare time reading.”

“I do stuff besides reading,” Taekwoon pointed out, “but you do train more than I do.”

“Which is why I do so well in a fight against you,” the younger smiled slightly.

“But you spend too much time training,” Taekwoon frowned slightly, “when was the last time you did something fun?”

“You’re exaggerating,” Sanghyuk huffed, “I do more than just train.”

“When?” Taekwoon asked, “When was the last time you deviated from your normal school-homework-training schedule.”

Sanghyuk silent for a long moment, trying to recall for himself when he’d last strayed from that schedule. Ever since he visited his old pack’s home a few months before, he’d stuck to that schedule pretty hard. Hongbin and Wonsik had both raised their concerns about this, but Sanghyuk had assured them he was fine. Hakyeon was a bit harder to convince, but Taekwoon offering to train with him and calmed the other.

“Can’t remember,” Sanghyuk finally admitted.

“We’ll do something tonight then,” Taekwoon decided, “we can watch a movie or something. Mother and father are out for the night too, so we have the house all to ourselves.”

“Alright,” Sanghyuk nodded after thinking it over, “sounds like a plan.”

“You pick the movie,” Taekwoon decided, “and I’ll make the popcorn.”

“Get some candy while you’re at it,” Sanghyuk said, “like the stuff you can get at the theater.”

“Done,” Taekwoon smiled slightly, more than a little pleased to be a date of sorts with Sanghyuk.

But then, this wasn’t a real date. It couldn’t be a real date. Sanghyuk was only seventeen and Taekwoon was twenty one. They couldn’t date. Not yet. Not until Sanghyuk was legal. And that was assuming that Sanghyuk would ever want to date him.

Still, thinking of this movie night as a date was a nice thought.

 

--

 

“This was fun,” Sanghyuk commented as he helped Taekwoon clean up the results of their movie night.

“I’m happy you enjoyed it,” Taekwoon smiled, “we’ll have to do this again sometime.”

“I’d like that,” Sanghyuk replied.

“We’re home!” Taekwoon’s mother called out before he could respond

“Welcome back,” Sanghyuk said, moving to greet the alpha and his wife, “did you have fun?”

“Yeah,” she smiled brightly, “it was wonderful.”

“It’s late,” Taekwoon’s father said, “best we all head off to bed for the night.”

“Right,” Sanghyuk nodded, “right after we finish cleaning up.”

“No,” Taekwoon pulled the dishcloth from Sanghyuk’s hands, “you get head to bed, I’ll finish cleaning up here.”

“You sure?” Sanghyuk asked.

“There’s only a little bit more to do anyway,” Taekwoon replied, “should only take a couple more minutes.”

“Alright,” Sanghyuk nodded, “night.”

“I’ll catch up,” Taekwoon’s mother said, waving off her husband before turning to Taekwoon.

“Yes, mother?” Taekwoon asked, turning to face her when it became clear she wasn’t going to say anything until he did.

“I’m proud of you,” she smiled, “getting along so well with Sanghyuk.”

“Yeah,” Taekwoon smiled sadly as he recalled all the years spent fighting and insulting and growling at each other, “I’m happy we’re getting along too.”

“I was worried you’d never get along to be honest,” she sighed, “but now…….it’s a load off my mind. Now hurry up and finish, you need your sleep.”

“I will,” Taekwoon smiled, “goodnight, mother.”

Taekwoon finished cleaning a few minutes later and silently made his way to his room. After getting dressed for bed and curling up under his blankets, he started to fall asleep.

“AH!” Sanghyuk’s scream woke everyone in the house.

Taekwoon didn’t waste any time getting out of bed and rushing into the younger werewolf’s room. He was quick to locate Sanghyuk, pressed up against the wall farthest from his bed and eyes frozen upon the thing that had caused him to scream. Taekwoon followed his gaze and found a young boy dressed in rags and looking like he’s just crawled out of the ground.

Or maybe that was the after effects of watching all of those zombie movies with Sanghyuk a few short hours before.

“Who are you?” Taekwoon growled, quickly putting himself between the boy and Sanghyuk.

“Who are you?” the boy replied. His voice was deeper than Taekwoon had expected, more mature, and it made him question just how old the boy really was.

“What’s going on?” Taekwoon’s father asked, entering the room and turning on the lights.

“This stranger was in Sanghyuk’s room,” Taekwoon explained, “must have snuck in. He doesn’t smell of our pack.”

“Of course I don’t,” the boy – or man? – shrugged, “I’m part of Sanghyuk’s pack.”

“We’re his pack,” Taekwoon growled, backing up a little so that he was closer to Sanghyuk.

“His old pack,” the other werewolf rolled his eyes and Taekwoon realized that that the boy was probably around Sanghyuk’s age, maybe a little older. He only looked young because of his oversized cloths and underfed body.

“Jaehwan?” Sanghyuk breathed, eyes widening as disbelief and hope swirled in them.

“Yeah,” the boy, Jaehwan apparently, nodded, “I’ve been looking for you for weeks, Hyukkie.”

“How did you find me?” Sanghyuk asked, rushing past Taekwoon to hug the other, “How did you survive? I thought everyone was dead.”

“I was back home and caught your scent,” Jaehwan explained, “from there I followed the scouts keeping an eye on the place here since they smelled of the same place as you. As for how I survived, my dad took me on that hunting trip, remember? When we got back, everyone was gone.”

“Wait,” Taekwoon’s father said, drawing the attention of the two hugging werewolves, “are you telling me that other members of the Northern pack survived? It’s not just Sanghyuk?”

“I only know of myself and my father,” Jaehwan admitted, “and he passed away a few years ago. He got sick and…….and yeah.”

Taekwoon simply watched from the side lines, wishing that Jaehwan would let go of Sanghyuk and leave. Taekwoon didn’t want him here, not if he was going to touch and talk to Sanghyuk with such familiarity. Clearly, they had been close and Taekwoon was very jealous of that. He wanted so badly to be the one Sanghyuk was close to, the one he had fond memories of.

Taekwoon wished that it really had been a zombie. If it had been, then he could just rip it apart and be done with it. Maybe Sanghyuk would even hug him, thank him for the rescue. Maybe Taekwoon could have used that as a way to get closer to Sanghyuk.

But instead of a zombie, it was Jaehwan.

“We’ll talk about all of this in the morning,” Taekwoon’s father decided, “for now, I’m sure you’re very tired Jaehwan. We’ll make up the guest room for you.”

“Will all due respect, sir,” Jaehwan asked, “Can I just…..stay here with Sanghyuk?”

“It’s fine with me,” Sanghyuk said, hugging Jaehwan possessively, “so can he?”

“For tonight,” the alpha nodded, “but tomorrow we’ll have to get him his own room.”

“Thank you,” the pair smiled.

“Let’s all go to bed then,” Taekwoon’s mother smiled, “come on, Taekwoon.”

“Yeah,” Taekwoon sighed, glancing over at Jaehwan and Sanghyuk sadly before leaving.

Sleep didn’t come so easily this time.

It was even harder the following night as well as many of the nights after that.

Jaehwan had been given the guest room, everyone deciding that staying under the same roof as Sanghyuk was the best thing for him. Taekwoon hadn’t been allowed into that conversation, he’d been sent out while his father and the high ranking pack members talked to Jaehwan about his experiences. Taekwoon took a bit of comfort in knowing Sanghyuk hadn’t been allowed in either.

Sanghyuk had been more than a little upset over being away from Jaehwan, but once he learned that Jaehwan was being welcomed into the pack he was overjoyed. Taekwoon wasn’t nearly so pleased, but he knew it was better not to say as much to anyone. Hakyeon still knew, though. Thankfully his friend understood why he felt that way and didn’t scold him for it.

“Everything will be fine,” Hakyeon promised as Taekwoon bemoaned Jaehwan’s sudden appearance in their lives, “trust me, ok? It’s all going to work out.”

“I hope so,” Taekwoon sighed.

“Well,” Hakyeon shrugged, “at least we have the summer festival in a couple of weeks. That should be a pretty big distraction.”

“You know I hate that thing,” Taekwoon grumbled.

“I know,” Hakyeon replied with a smug grin, “and I also know that Hongbin signed Sanghyuk up to help out. He’s going to be very busy. So busy that I don’t think he’ll be able to spend much time with Jaehwan.”

Taekwoon smiled brightly at that, his conscious reprimanding him for taking joy in something like that. But Taekwoon didn’t care, he’d take joy out of something like that any day of the week. Especially when he had to hear Jaehwan sneaking into Sanghyuk’s room every night. Especially when seeing the pair hanging off of each other left him feeling like complete garbage.

 

--

 

“This is so stupid,” Sanghyuk sighed, dropping down into the empty seat between Wonsik and Hongbin.

“Don’t say that,” Wonsik said, “the summer festival is an important tradition for our pack.”

“Oh I get that,” Sanghyuk rolled his eyes, “I meant that this dance is stupid. I’m cool with everything else. I mean, that’s why I let Bin sign me up to help with the setup.”

“I agree,” Hongbin sighed, leaning against the back of his chair, “I’m sick of people asking me to dance.”

“Oh,” Sanghyuk joked, “the pain of being you.” Wonsik started laughing beside him, earning himself a slap on the arm from Hongbin.

“So,” the three turned to find Jaehwan standing behind them, “remind me why I’m here? I don’t know anyone besides you guys. Oh! And the Alpha’s family, but they don’t really count, do they? Everyone knows them so…….yeah. Why and I here?”

“You’re part of the pack now,” Hongbin explained, “so why wouldn’t you take part in the summer festival?”

“It’s boring,” Jaehwan replied, shoving Wonsik over so that he could sit beside Sanghyuk. The other through an arm around Jaehwan’s shoulder, letting Jaehwan cuddle tightly up against him.

“You’d be cute together,” Wonsik commented, earning himself a small slap from Sanghyuk.

“We’re brothers,” Jaehwan piped up, “well, technically we’re cousins on our mother’s side, but we were always like brothers.”

“Really?” Hongbin asked, curious to know more about Sanghyuk’s past. Even though they had known each other for a long time, Hongbin felt ashamed to admit that he didn’t know anything about Sanghyuk’s life before he joined the pack.

“Yep,” Jaehwan grinned, “I was born and then Sanghyukkie was born two days later.”

“We were always together,” Sanghyuk added, resting his chin on top of Jaehwan’s head, “our parents said that we were more like brothers than cousins and the title kind of stuck. I think most of our pack thought we were siblings.”

“Hear that?” Hakyeon whispered to Taekwoon from where the pair sat not far away from the group of younger werewolves, “They’re brothers. You don’t have to worry about Jaehwan stealing Sanghyuk. You don’t have to feel all crappy when you see them together anymore.”

“Shut up,” Taekwoon hissed, “I’m not worried about someone taking Sanghyuk.” But, he had to admit, knowing that Jaehwan was related to Sanghyuk did make him feel more than a little bit better.

“Why don’t you ask him to dance?” Hakyeon questioned, “I mean, everyone is dancing with everyone as it is. And you’re our alpha’s son, destined to take over for him one day. You can’t just sit in the corner the whole time and not take part in things like this.”

“I don’t take part in things like this,” Taekwoon scowled, his frown softening before he gave another reason for being reluctant to ask Sanghyuk to dance with him, “he probably wouldn’t say yes anyway. Sure, we’re getting along more lately, but not well enough for me to do that.”

“Then I will,” Hakyeon huffed, getting up and going over to Sanghyuk.

Taekwoon bit back a growl of envy as he watched Sanghyuk accept Hakyeon’s invitation without a second thought. It was true that they were getting along better, had been ever since the visit to Sanghyuk’s old pack. Even Jaehwan’s arrival hadn’t messed up anything too badly. But were they really on good enough terms for Taekwoon to try something like asking him to dance? Taekwoon didn’t think so. He wanted to get to that point so badly, though.

Hakyeon glanced over at Taekwoon, feeling a great deal of pity for his friend. He knew how much Taekwoon cared for Sanghyuk, saw it in the other’s eyes every time he looked at the younger werewolf. It was a shame that he’d spent so many years driving Sanghyuk away. Maybe if he hadn’t, he could easily ask Sanghyuk to dance. Maybe they would even be cuddled up together in the corner looking like lovers. Maybe they would already by lovers.

But the facts were that Taekwoon had spent years trying to drive Sanghyuk away and they weren’t anything close to lovers at the moment.

Hakyeon sighed, deciding that it was his duty to help his best friend out with his love problems. It killed him a little bit, though. Over the years, Hakyeon had come to care for Sanghyuk a great deal. At first, he thought it was simply because Sanghyuk was his beloved little brother’s best friend, a friend who had wounds similar to Hakyeon’s.

And then he realized that wasn’t it.

He realized that he cared for Sanghyuk so much because he loved him.

Unfortunately, this realization came after Taekwoon had confessed his own feelings for the younger.

It would seem that Hakyeon had two rather large flaws in his being; he loved the same boy that his best friend loved, and he was too selfless to try and take Sanghyuk for himself.

“Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon smiled brightly, “why don’t you ask Taekwoon to dance?”

“Why?” Sanghyuk questioned, “Taekwoon doesn’t like stuff like that.”

Even in the dim lighting, Hakyeon could see clear as day that Taekwoon’s feelings weren’t as one sided as he feared. There was something in Sanghyuk’s eyes when he talked about Taekwoon, when he said the other’s name. It wasn’t love, not yet. But it would be.

“Yeah,” Hakyeon shrugged, trying to fight back the pain he felt in his heart, “but don’t you think he looks lonely and bored over there? You could at least go sit and talk with him for a while.”

“What about you?” Sanghyuk asked, not wanting to leave the other alone. Hakyeon was, after all, a good friend and he just couldn’t leave a good friend all alone.

“I was planning to show Jaehwan around,” Hakyeon grinned, “he doesn’t know anyone yet, right? What better time than now to meet new people? The whole pack is here, after all.”

Sanghyuk smiled, thanking Hakyeon before heading off to join Taekwoon. Taekwoon seemed surprised that Sanghyuk was coming over to him on his own free will, but was quick to welcome the other with a small smile. Hakyeon watched as the pair started to talk, a sad smile on his face.

“I never had a chance, did I?” Hakyeon said to himself, “but so long as two of the people I love the most in this world are happy, that’s alright.”

“So you like him?” Hongbin suddenly spoke up, causing his brother to jump and let out a small cry of fear.

“What are you doing?” Hakyeon grumbled, lightly chopping Hongbin’s neck, “and how much did you hear?”

“I wanted to know why you looked so sad,” Hongbin shrugged, throwing an arm around Hakyeon’s shoulders, “and I heard enough.”

“Please don’t tell him,” Hakyeon requested.

“Promise,” Hongbin nodded, “it’s our secret.”

“Thanks,” Hakyeon flashed his younger brother a grateful smile before returning his attention to Taekwoon and Sanghyuk.

The pair were smiling softly as they watched the people moving about the dance floor. If Hakyeon looked closely enough, he was sure that their hands were touching, pinkies linked. He wasn’t sure if they were aware of it either, not really.

“They’ll be a good couple,” Hakyeon finally said.

“Yeah,” Hongbin nodded, “they will.”

 

--

 

Red was everywhere. It was all Sanghyuk could see. The walls were painted in it. The floor was covered in red. And his mother was wearing nothing but red. It took Sanghyuk only a few seconds to realize that it wasn’t just any red substance covering everything, it was blood. Lots and lots of blood.

“Mamma,” Sanghyuk cried, crawling over to his mother and shaking her, “mama, wake up.”

The woman didn’t wake up, no matter how hard Sanghyuk tried. Sanghyuk came to the devastating realization that his mother was dead and he burst into tears, hugging himself and rocking back and forth. The woman’s stomach had been clawed open and her clothes were soaked in her blood. Her eyes were still open and with a shaking hand Sanghyuk closed them, not able to stand seeing the now dead eyes that had once held so much love and warmth.

“Papa!” he screamed, realizing that there was still more for him to see and praying that it was better then what he’d found in the bedroom.

Legs shaking, still cramping from all the time he’d spend hidden under the floor boards, Sanghyuk made his way out of the bedroom in hopes of finding his father. He found the man he called his father laying in the front hall. Sanghyuk fell to the floor, tears streaming down his face, and stared at the mangled form of his father. The only thing Sanghyuk could recognize was his father’s eyes and nose, everything was torn to pieces.

“NO!!” Sanghyuk shot up, eyes wide open and crazed.

“Sanghyuk?” Taekwoon burst into the room a second later, rushing to Sanghyuk’s side once he’d located the younger, “what’s wrong? What happened?”

“Sanghyuk?” Jaehwan came in a second later, looking around for whatever could have made Sanghyuk scream like that.

“Mama,” Sanghyuk cried, pulling his legs tightly against his chest and burying his face in his knees, “papa.”

“Sanghyuk?” Taekwoon questioned, voice losing the initial panic upon realizing that Sanghyuk had just had a bad dream, “what happened? Please tell me.”

“Mama,” Sanghyuk sobbed, letting Taekwoon pull him into a hug, “it…..it killed her. It ripped her open. There was so much blood. It was everywhere.”

“Sanghyukkie,” Jaehwan joined the pair on the bed, taking Sanghyuk from Taekwoon as he joined his cousin in crying, “oh god.”

He knew. He knew exactly what Sanghyuk was talking about. He hadn’t seen the full damage for himself, his father hadn’t let him, but he had smell it. He smelled all the blood. He smelled all the smoke and fire. And he knew. Jaehwan knew what had happened to everyone he held dear.

“Papa,” Sanghyuk kept going, his sobs growing so strong that Taekwoon had problems hearing what he was saying, “he was……I couldn’t recognize him. He was so…..so mangled.”

“Please stop,” Jaehwan cried, “please don’t make yourself talk about it.”

It was then that Taekwoon realized what Sanghyuk was talking about, why he was so upset. He’d dreamed about what happened to his pack. Taekwoon had never heard the full story. In fact, the only people in the whole pack who knew the full story was Taekwoon’s father and a couple of high ranking pack members. All he knew was that something came and killed everyone it could find. As for the actual details of what had happened, his father had never told him and Sanghyuk didn’t talk about it. Hearing it now…….Taekwoon’s heart ached for Sanghyuk.

“Don’t talk,” Taekwoon whispered in Sanghyuk’s ear, wrapping his arms around the other, “for now, just calm down.”

“No!” Sanghyuk pulled away from Taekwoon and Jaehwan, “no! I don’t want to calm down. That….that thing killed them! It killed everyone! It ripped them open and……and it—.” Sanghyuk broke down crying again and Taekwoon pulled him tightly against his chest.

“I know,” he whispered, “right now, you need to calm down. After that, you can tell me everything. I promise, but right now you need to calm down.” Sanghyuk didn’t fight this time, he just nodded and cried into Taekwoon’s chest.

“I want to talk to Hakyeon,” he eventually whispered, voice a little more steady.

“Alright,” Taekwoon nodded, not at all liking the fact that Sanghyuk would rather talk to Hakyeon about everything then him, “Jaehwan, go get Hakyeon.”

“Right,” Jaehwan nodded before rushing off, wiping his cheeks as he went.

“Do you want me to go when you talk to Hakyeon?” Taekwoon asked, starting to rock back and forth slightly. It was something his mother did when he was younger and needed to be calmed down. Hopefully it would make Sanghyuk feel better as it had with him.

“No!” Sanghyuk was quick to shake his head, “I just……Hakyeon has……he’s seen stuff, too. Bad stuff like I’ve seen. I…I want to tell you about it. I want to tell you everything. If he’s here……it might be easier. If….if I can’t finish something, he might be able to.”

“Alright,” Taekwoon nodded, resting his chin on top of Sanghyuk head, “I’ll stay right here, alright? I’m not going to let you go. I’m not going to leave you.” Sanghyuk nodded. It felt nice being in Taekwoon’s arms and he was tempted to fall asleep in them, but he couldn’t do that just yet. No, he needed to tell Taekwoon everything he remembered first, while he still had the balls to do it.

“It’s funny,” Sanghyuk remarked as the pair waited for Hakyeon to arrive, “you’d think twelve years would help. That it would make the memories less……..vivid.”

“Time alone doesn’t heal everything,” Taekwoon replied, “talking about it helps too.”

“Hmmm,” Sanghyuk hummed.

“I’m here!” Hakyeon cried a few minutes later, shattering the silence that had fallen over the room, “what’s wrong?”

“Sanghyuk had a dream,” Taekwoon explained, “about his pack.”

“Not a dream,” Sanghyuk corrected, “a memory.” Sanghyuk took a deep breath, “I just thought……you’ve seen some things. You could…..you could help me talk about it.”

“Alright,” Hakyeon nodded, settling onto the bed across from the pair, “not sure how I can help besides just being here for moral support, though.”

“Hopefully that will be enough,” Sanghyuk sighed before launching into his story, “I……I remember my mother waking me up in a panic. I didn’t understand what was wrong, why she was crying. But I could smell the smoke already and I just…….I know something was very wrong.”

“It’s ok,” Taekwoon whispered when Sanghyuk paused, trying to find his words, “I’m right here.”

“Mama dragged me into her and papa’s room,” Sanghyuk said, eyes vacant as his mind took him back to that day, “it was early, so it was still dark and I couldn’t see anything outside. But I could hear things. People screaming and the crackle of fire. I could smell the smoke, but if I really focused I could smell the blood. I started getting scared and that’s when my papa rushed up to us.

“I didn’t catch exactly what he told mama,” Sanghyuk kept going, pushing past the fear and sadness building up inside of him, “but it made her cry. It made me want to cry. Papa assured me it would all be ok. He said……he said that I needed to stay in the hidden room under the floor for a couple of days. Then….then I needed to come here. He said that the alpha was a friend and that he could help.”

“So that’s why you came here?” Hakyeon asked and Sanghyuk nodded.

“Mama put me in the hidden room under the floor like papa told her,” Sanghyuk said, voice starting to shake as he tried to hold back his tears, “I heard her moving around and then all I could smell was perfume. She…..she knocked things over and got the scent all over everything in the room so that no one would notice my scent.”

“Smart,” Taekwoon couldn’t help but praise the woman who’s action had allowed for Sanghyuk to live.

“I curled up in that hole,” Sanghyuk said, “and I just……listened. I heard someone come in and then…….then mama started screaming. The blood……..I could smell so much of it, but I didn’t leave. I……I was too scared to leave. When mama went quiet, I wanted to call out for her. But papa told me to stay quiet and hidden and I didn’t want to disobey him.”

“What then?” Hakyeon pressed when Sanghyuk fell silent.

“I just stayed there,” Sanghyuk sighed, “I….I don’t know how long, but I think it was more than a couple of days. I was just……I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to see. When I did leave………mama……mama was…..was--.”

“You don’t have to say it,” Taekwoon assured him, hugging Sanghyuk tightly and glaring at Hakyeon for pushing him to talk, “if you don’t want to say it, then you don’t have to.”

“But I need to,” Sanghyuk frowned, silent tears running down his face that Taekwoon was quick to wipe away, “if I……..if I want to heal.”

“Then take your time,” Taekwoon advised, “I’m not leaving any time soon.”

“She was mangled, wasn’t she?” Hakyeon suddenly said, earning a glare from Taekwoon.

“Hakyeon!” Taekwoon snapped, none too pleased with his friend for pressing the issue.

“She wasn’t,” Sanghyuk growled slightly, “she…..she……it ripped open her stomach. It….it looked like her arms had been broken from fighting back and her face was all bruised. But she wasn’t mangled. Not like papa.”

“She was in the bedroom?” Hakyeon asked, ignoring Taekwoon’s glare that kept getting more intense as he pressed.

Hakyeon wanted to let it drop, but Sanghyuk needed to talk about what had happened. He’d kept it all to himself for far too long and it kept him from healing. Until he healed, Sanghyuk could never really move on. His past would always haunt him. Talking about it would help, it had to, so Hakyeon would make him talk even if it made Taekwoon angry with him. Even if it made Sanghyuk hate him for a while, this needed to be done.

He could feel like a about it later.

“Yes,” Sanghyuk nodded, “she…..she wasn’t very far from the secret room. I think…..I think she might have tried to move as close to me as she could before…….before she died.”

“And your father?” Hakyeon questioned, “Where was he?”

“Papa was in the front hall,” Sanghyuk said, curling even closer to Taekwoon then he already was as if that would scare away the memories of his father’s ripped and bloody face, “he’d obviously tried to fight off whatever killed him and mama. But he lost. And he died. Just like everyone else.”

“what about the rest of your pack?” Hakyeon forced himself to keep asking, to keep Sanghyuk talking until there was nothing else to say.

“I wanted to go next door,” Sanghyuk recounted, “but auntie’s house was gone. It was ruined by fire and there was almost nothing left. I cried and I cried and I wished over and over that it was all a dream. But it was all real and I remembered what papa had told me.”

“Come here,” Taekwoon sighed, “he told you to come here.”

“I walked all the way here in the snow,” Sanghyuk whimpered, shuttering at the memory of the cold snow, “it was so cold and I forgot my shoes and coat, but I didn’t want to go back and get them. I just kept walking until I couldn’t smell the smoke and blood and…..and death. And when I couldn’t smell it anymore I just kept going.”

“That was when a scout found you,” Taekwoon finished, “and brought you to father.”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded, tears finally calming down.

“You’ll never have to go through that again,” Taekwoon pledged, “I’ll do everything I can to make sure of it.”

“Thank you,” Sanghyuk mumbled, suddenly feeling exhausted from all the crying.

“Just sleep now,” Hakyeon told the younger werewolf, “everything will be alright now.”

“Ok,” Sanghyuk nodded obediently, eyes slipping shut and soon he was sound asleep in Taekwoon’s arms.

“I wish you hadn’t pushed him so hard,” Taekwoon sighed, “I know he needed to talk about it, but……”

“I know,” Hakyeon sighed, “I know.”

“Go home and get some sleep,” Taekwoon finally said, “I’ll stay here with Sanghyuk.”

“In the morning,” Hakyeon advised, “talk to him about his fear that he’ll lose his pack again. Make sure he knows that won’t happen again, alright? I think……I think that’s a large reason why he can’t move on, can’t heal.”

“Right,” Taekwoon nodded in agreement, “night.”

“Night,” Hakyeon smiled slightly before leaving the pair alone.

“I swear it, Sanghyuk,” Taekwoon whispered into the younger’s hair, “you will never lose your pack again. I will always be here to make sure of that.”

With that promise made, Taekwoon laid down, still holing Sanghyuk tightly in his arms, and drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, Taekwoon did just as Hakyeon suggested. He wasn’t completely sure Sanghyuk believed his promise, but he didn’t mind. He could always spend every day of the rest of their lives proving to Sanghyuk that he would never lose his new pack. That Taekwoon would never allow for that to happen.

 

--

 

“Taekwoon,” Sanghyuk asked, knocking on the elder’s door.

“What’s wrong?” Taekwoon asked, practically running to Sanghyuk’s side when h noticed the troubled look on the younger’s face.

“Nothing,” Sanghyuk assured him, everything’s fine. I just…..I wanted to ask you something.”

“Anything,” Taekwoon motioned for Sanghyuk to take a seat on his bed, “you can ask me anything.”

“It’s about the first change,” Sanghyuk sighed, dropping down none to genially on the bed.

“Alright,” Taekwoon frowned slightly, “what about it? I mean, it normally happens at twenty and, well, you’re nineteen still so…….what brought this on?”

“Wonsik’s twenty,” Sanghyuk reminded him, “and because his change is so close……well, it’s all he, Hongbin, and Jaehwan can talk about. But they don’t really know anything. Just what the adults tell us. You….you’ve been through it, so…….I wanted you about it.”

“Ok,” Taekwoon nodded, “I’ll try to answer all your questions as best I can.”

“What does it feel like?” Sanghyuk was quick to ask.

“Kind of strange to be honest,” Taekwoon sighed, not completely sure of his words, “it’s……it’s not easy to describe to be honest. There’s a bit of pain, especially if you aren’t really prepared for it to happen. But what it feels like……the exact words to describe it……..I don’t know.”

“So it’s something you have to experience for yourself,” Sanghyuk sighed, “that…..isn’t really helpful.”

“Sorry,” Taekwoon sighed, feeling pretty bad about not being able to actually help Sanghyuk like he wanted.

“But that weird feeling goes after the first time, right?” Sanghyuk questioned, “Like, you get used to it?”

“Yeah,” Taekwoon nodded, “the more times you change, the quicker you get used to it.”

“Good to know,” Sanghyuk smiled slightly as he got up to leave, “thanks, Taekwoon.”

“If you have any other questions,” Taekwoon offered, “I’m right here. I’ll answer anything you can think of.”

Taekwoon didn’t know it then, but Sanghyuk already had another question to ask. He wanted to know how it felt when the first change was close to happening. Sanghyuk had been feeling a bit odd the past few days and he was starting to wonder if that wasn’t what it was. If not, then that was alright. But if his first change was getting closer it was best to know before he woke up in the middle of the night in his new wolf form.

But Sanghyuk didn’t know how to ask. He didn’t want to ask either. What if Taekwoon just brushed him off? Or called his foolish for thinking he could be about to go through his first change when he only just turned nineteen?

 

--

 

“Ahh!”

Taekwoon woke with a start as a pained yell rang out. Mind heavy with sleep, it took him a couple of moments to figure out that the pained cry had been followed by several other cries. And a second after he realized that, he realized that the cries were coming from Sanghyuk’s room.

“Sanghyuk!” he cried, rushing out into the hall and banging on the younger’s locked bedroom door, “Sanghyuk!” When it triggered in Taekwoon’s mind that the door was locked and Sanghyuk never locked it before, he felt even more panicked.

“What’s going on?” Taekwoon’s father asked, running from his own room just down the hall, “Taekwoon, what’s happening?”

“Sanghyuk!” Taekwoon cried, frantically trying to beat down the heavy door.

He cursed his parents for allowing Sanghyuk to have such a thick door. Sanghyuk had asked for it when they were much younger and his parents gave it to him with no questions asked. It was the first time Sanghyuk had asked for something from them, so they felt compelled to do it. The door also served as a security blanket for the young child who’d still been coming to terms with his pack’s death. If even Taekwoon’s father couldn’t break it down, neither could the things that went bump in the night.

But now that door was keeping Taekwoon from Sanghyuk.

It was keeping the things that went bump in the night in there with Taekwoon’s beloved Sanghyukkie.

“Window!” Jaehwan cried after he processed the situation, “Try the window!”

Taekwoon was down the hall and outside before Jaehwan was even finished talking. Taekwoon quickly found Sanghyuk’s window and took a wee bit of comfort in seeing it was closed and undamaged. But that was when he heard the sounds of crashing and whimpers coming from inside and he gave into his panic once more.

Taekwoon felt himself shift seconds before he crashed through the window. If something was hurting his Sanghyuk, he’d take its head. He’s rip whatever was hurting Sanghyuk apart. He would never let anything hurt the younger.

But Taekwoon didn’t find anyone standing over Sanghyuk like he expected. No, he found a black wolf curled up on the floor instead. The wolf looked up and whimpered, eyes filled with fear and worry. It took Taekwoon only a few short moments to realize that those eyes were Sanghyuk’s eyes.

Sanghyuk had just had his first change.

Taekwoon quickly moved to the younger’s side, nuzzling him softly in hopes of helping him calm down. Sanghyuk seemed to appreciate the gesture, curling up closer to Taekwoon. Some of the fear and worry left his eyes as well and that made Taekwoon feel better as well.

“Taekwoon?” he heard his father call, “is everything alright?”

Taekwoon contemplated saying nothing, of just curling up with Sanghyuk and staying there for the rest of the night. But he couldn’t do that. There were other people worried about Sanghyuk and he needed to calm them down.

So Taekwoon shifted, trying to ignore the envious look in Sanghyuk’s eyes when he’d returned to his human form, and opened the door.

“He’s alright,” Taekwoon explained, moving aside so that everyone could enter, “he just had his first change.”

“Already?” his mother asked, rushing over to Sanghyuk’s side and looking him over.

“He is an alpha’s son,” Taekwoon’s father shrugged, “it’s normal for the children of an alpha to have their first change a little early.”

“But he only just turned nineteen,” Taekwoon’s mother argued, “that’s so early.”

“Sanghyuk’s always been an early bloomer,” Jaehwan sighed, dropping down beside his cousin, “growing up, he was always the first one to do anything. First to walk, first to talk.”

“Taekwoon,” Taekwoon’s father decided after a moment, “stay with Sanghyuk until he changes back, alright?”

“Alright,” Taekwoon nodded.

Everyone else headed to bed and Taekwoon shifted back into his wolf form. Curling up beside Sanghyuk, Taekwoon kept a close eye on Sanghyuk. The younger had relaxed a great deal since Taekwoon first found him, but it was still obvious that he was far from ok. Eventually, Sanghyuk fell asleep pressed tightly against Taekwoon and the older soon followed.

When they woke up in the morning, Sanghyuk was back in his human form.

 

--

 

“Crap,” Wonsik cursed after Taekwoon hit the ground hard, “are you alright? Crap, I’m so sorry, I didn’t think I it you that hard.”

“It’s fine,” Taekwoon assured the younger, “just means your first change must be soon.”

“I hope so,” Wonsik sighed, “I can’t believe Sanghyuk already had his. He’s nineteen for crying out loud!”

“Sanghyuk is just an early bloomer,” Taekwoon shrugged, “and he’s an alpha’s son. We tend to have our first change a bit earlier then everyone else.”

“Plus he’s Sanghyuk,” Wonsik sighed, “that kid…..he’s always been special.”

“Hmmm,” Taekwoon nodded in agreement, smiling softly as he thought of the younger.

“Hey,” the werewolf they had just been talking about called, “what have you two been doing?”

“Training,” Taekwoon replied, taking a moment to be amazed once more at how much Sanghyuk had changed recently. He’d grown taller and looked older, more like an adult.  While Taekwoon missed Sanghyuk’s youthful looks, he wasn’t exactly unhappy with Sanghyuk’s matured appearance.

“Training?” Sanghyuk frowned slightly, “is that why your face is bleeding?”

“Bleeding?” Taekwoon frowned slightly before running a hand over his face to find that it was indeed bleeding.

“Come on then,” Sanghyuk sighed, grabbing Taekwoon’s arm and dragging him away, “let’s get you fixed up.”

“What about me?” Wonsik joked, “I’m hurt too.”

“You look fine to me,” Sanghyuk smirked slightly, “if you are hurt, I trust you to be able to take care of yourself.”

“So you don’t trust me to look after myself?” Taekwoon asked as they walked.

“Maybe,” Sanghyuk laughed and Taekwoon felt his heart warm at the sound.

 

--

 

“Ouch,” Taekwoon winced as Sanghyuk wrapped the bandages around his arm.

“Sorry,” Sanghyuk rolled his eyes, “geez, are you really our next alpha? I’m not even pulling it that tight and you’re wincing like that.”

“It’s the wounds,” Taekwoon scowled slightly, “they sting.”

“Never would have thought Hakyeon had it in him to rip you open like this,” Sanghyuk sighed, glancing at the used medical supplies sitting beside them, “even he didn’t think he could do something like that.”

“I wasn’t really trying,” Taekwoon said, lying through his teeth because he actually had be trying very hard.

“Right,” Sanghyuk laughed, “you’re going to have one heck of a time finding a mate with this kind of behavior, Taekwoon.”

“I’m sure there’s someone who’ll put up with me,” Taekwoon replied, glancing at Sanghyuk.

“Not on that list your mom is throwing together,” the younger werewolf frowned, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice. The list that Taekwoon’s mother had started putting together of potential mates for Taekwoon was something he hated a great deal.

“I hate that stupid list,” Taekwoon growled, “why can’t they trust me to find my own mate?”

“Your parents just want to find you the best,” Sanghyuk said, “someone who’s strong and a great leader. Someone who can provide you with at least one child who’ll become a great alpha one day.”

“I don’t care about any of that,” Taekwoon sighed, “they aren’t going to find anyone I’ll like.”

“You don’t know that,” Sanghyuk told him, “that list your mom has……so far there are a lot of girls. I’m sure that there’ll be someone you’ll like.”

“I know there isn’t going to be anyone,” Taekwoon said, “they aren’t looking in the right place.”

“I…..don’t follow,” Sanghyuk frowned, turning to look at the older.

“I,” Taekwoon looked down at his hands, blushing brightly, “I already like someone and he isn’t on that list. He’ll never be on that list.”

“You like Hakyeon?” Sanghyuk questioned, trying his best to push back the pain and jealousy swirling inside of him. Of course Taekwoon would like Hakyeon. They’d been friends since before Sanghyuk showed up on the elder’s doorstep. They got along so well it was only natural that Taekwoon would have feelings that went beyond friendship.

“No,” Taekwoon quickly denied, “not him.”

“Then who?” Sanghyuk questioned, wondering exactly what guy had managed to capture Taekwoon’s interest.

“You,” Taekwoon looked down again, blush growing even stronger, “I…..I like you, Sanghyuk.”

“What?” Sanghyuk gasped, repeating the words over and over in his head as he tried to make sure that he had heard right.

“I like you,” Taekwoon repeated, voice growing stronger as he realized he wasn’t about to be rejected, “no, I love you. I’ve been in love with you since I was nineteen.”

“So,” Sanghyuk averted his eyes, “four years. You’ve loved me for four years. How…….why? I….I thought you didn’t like me that much.”

“When we were younger,” Taekwoon hung his head in shame, “I was…..I was an . It wasn’t that I didn’t like you, I was……I was an .”

“I didn’t hate you either,” Sanghyuk admitted, “I wanted to at times, but……..I couldn’t really hate you. And then, a couple years ago, I started falling for you and I thought I was so stupid.”

“What?”

“But I couldn’t stop,” Sanghyuk kept talking, “You just……you’re kind of perfect, Taekwoon. It’s hard not to fall for you, even if you were an when we were little. I……I love you, too.”

Taekwoon smiled brightly before pulling Sanghyuk against him and kissing him. The younger moan softly, eyes falling shut and arms wrapping tightly around Taekwoon’s shoulders. Eventually, the pair pulled apart for air, but kept their arms around the other.

“I love you,” Taekwoon whispered against Sanghyuk’s lips.

“I love you, too,” Sanghyuk smiled.

Taekwoon pulled Sanghyuk tighter against him so that his face was pressed against the younger’s throat.

“Sanghyuk,” Taekwoon said, “I want you as my mate.”

“Are you sure?” Sanghyuk questioned, “Your parents are going to be upset. And I can’t provide you with children.”

“Don’t care,” Taekwoon replied, “I want you as my mate. So long as you want me to be yours, that’s all that matters.”

“I want you to be my mate as well,” Sanghyuk said, “so mark me as yours.”

Taekwoon opened his mouth and bit his mate, marking Sanghyuk as his and his alone.

“I love you,” Taekwoon whispered when he pulled away, moving around so that Sanghyuk could mark him as well.

“I know,” Sanghyuk laughed before marking Taekwoon, “and I love you.”

“And I’m going to throw up,” both turned, startled to find Jaehwan entering the kitchen, “you two are gonna be the sickeningly sweet couple, aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” Sanghyuk replied, “so you best move out if you don’t wanna see it.”

“Or you can move out,” Jaehwan shrugged, “get a house all your own where you can be all gross with each other.”

“You’re just jealous,” Sanghyuk stuck his tongue out at the other, “go find a girlfriend.”

“Maybe I will,” Jaehwan replied, sticking his own tongue out at the pair.

“But for real,” Sanghyuk dropped the playful tone, “are you…….?”

“I’m happy for both of you,” Jaehwan smiled, moving over to properly congratulate the couple, “I had a feeling you two would end up together. Ever since I first saw you together.”

“Thanks,” Taekwoon smiled slightly, releasing his hold on Sanghyuk just long enough for them to both hug Jaehwan.

“Although,” the teasing tone came back, “mating a nineteen year old? Really Taekwoon? Whatever with the people next door think?”

“Shut up,” Taekwoon sighed, playfully swatting the other, “Sanghyuk’s almost twenty.”

“He’s got two months to go,” Jaehwan smirked slightly, “he’s still very much a silly child.”

“I’m not a child,” Sanghyuk huffed, “I’m adult enough to be able to mate.”

“You are,” Taekwoon nodded, nuzzling against Sanghyuk’s neck.

“You’ll have to tell your parents,” Jaehwan remembered, “and the rest of the pack.”

“You’re right,” Sanghyuk sighed, realizing that they might end up in a great deal of trouble for this.

“We’ll be alright,” Taekwoon promised his young mate, “everything will be alright.”

 

--

 

“,” Sanghyuk hissed, trying to get up off the ground.

“Sanghyuk!” Taekwoon tried not to cry out, tried not to rush across the field to help his mate up off the ground.

“You alright?” Wonsik asked, helping his sparring partner to his feet, “what happened?”

“Tripped over my own feet,” Sanghyuk scowled, trying to ignore the small group of girls who’d been watching that were now giggling.

Sanghyuk knew those girls. Very well in fact. They were girls who’d been on the list of potential mates for Taekwoon. After Taekwoon had taken Sanghyuk as his mate, they’d started to take every chance to laugh and mock Sanghyuk. Every little thing Sanghyuk did that they deemed ‘wrong’ was mocked and laughed about and used as ‘evidence’ that Sanghyuk wasn’t worthy of being the mate to the pack’s next alpha.

Heck if Sanghyuk knew why they were so hung up on this. It wasn’t like the mating could be taken back or anything. It didn’t matter what they said or did, Sanghyuk would remain Taekwoon’s mate until the end of time.

Taekwoon noticed the girls and growled. He knew exactly what they were doing and he hated them for it.  They had no right to hurt the one he loved like that. If Taekwoon had his way, he’d rip apart anyone who mocked his mate, who looked down at Sanghyuk and called him unworthy of Taekwoon’s love.

Sanghyuk was more than worthy of Taekwoon’s love.

Sanghyuk was perfect in Taekwoon’s eyes. Even his clumsy moments were cute and perfect and something Taekwoon loved. He just couldn’t understand why those girls couldn’t see how perfect Sanghyuk was. How perfect he was with Taekwoon. How Sanghyuk made Taekwoon perfect.

Thankfully Taekwoon’s parents were ecstatic about the pair becoming mates or else things would be even harder. Heck, it looked like a perfect match to most of the pack, so why couldn’t these young women see that? They were both strong fighters – Taekwoon found no shame in admitting that Sanghyuk might be even better then he – and they were from alpha bloodlines. Add in that Sanghyuk was one of the packs most prized sons, one of only two survivors of the Northern pack, and you had what Taekwoon felt was the perfect match.

Why could those girls not see that?

“Why don’t you take Sanghyuk home?” Hakyeon spoke up, glaring at the girls, “I think we’re all sick of hearing those rats whisper.”

“Right,” Taekwoon nodded, almost sprinting forewords to Sanghyuk’s side.

“Taekwoon?” Sanghyuk questioned as the older wrapped his arms tightly around him, “what’s wrong?”

“Let’s go home,” Taekwoon said, tightening his hold on the younger, “I hate listening to them whisper about you. I want to rip their throats out. I don’t want you to hear their voices anymore.” Taekwoon wasn’t sure he wanted to have said all of that, but his words had a habit of slipping out when he was around Sanghyuk.

“I know,” Sanghyuk sighed, shifting around so that he could hug Taekwoon as well, “let’s go home.” Taekwoon nodded, hiding his face in Sanghyuk’s neck and breathing in his lover’s scent.

Silently, Taekwoon took Sanghyuk’s hand and led him home. Their home.

Taekwoon would be forever grateful for his pack building him and Sanghyuk a house so quickly. Especially because he found that he really needed it as of late. With all the insults being thrown Sanghyuk’s way as of late, being able to go home and be completely alone with his mate made Taekwoon feel a hundred times better.

“I’ll start dinner,” Sanghyuk said, pulling away and moving to the kitchen.

“No,” Taekwoon argued, “I’ll cook. You just rest. After that training today, I know you need some time to collect your thoughts.”

“I’m making foolish mistakes,” Sanghyuk sighed, “I should have no problems fighting Wonsik. And yet I haven’t won a match against him in weeks.”

“We’re both struggling recently,” Taekwoon sighed, deciding that sitting down to talk with Sanghyuk was more important than dinner, “we’re letting those fools into our heads.”

“Why do we do that?” Sanghyuk huffed, “we love each other, the people who really matter know that and they support us. So what makes the opinions of some silly little girls so……..important?”

“No idea,” Taekwoon sighed, “but it needs to stop.”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk sighed, moving to snuggle tightly against Taekwoon’s side.

The pair fell silent, just holding each other tightly.

 

--

 

“Taekwoon,” the alpha greeted, “welcome.”

“Father,” Taekwoon frowned slightly, “what’s wrong? Why did you call for me?”

“We have things to talk about,” the older werewolf smiled, “please close the door.”

“Alright,” Taekwoon nodded, feeling more than a little curious about what his father could want.

“We’ve both known for many years that you would take my place one day,” Taekwoon’s father smiled, “you’re twenty five now. I think it’s time you took the role of alpha.”

“What?” Taekwoon blinked, completely unsure of how to feel about this news.

“I think you’re ready,” the older werewolf smiled, “it’s time for you to take the role of alpha.”

“You’re sure?” Taekwoon asked, “You really think I’m ready?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then,” Taekwoon nodded, feeling more than a little unsure of himself.

He’d been taking on more work that normally was done by the alpha lately. And by all accounts he was doing fine with it. But actually taking the title of alpha was a whole different thing. Taekwoon was suddenly very scared of messing up. He’d always known he would take this role someday, but that someday had always been, well, someday.

Now it was today.

“You should go home,” his father suggested, quickly picking up on his son’s worries because he’d felt the same thing when he received the title of alpha, “go home and talk to Sanghyuk. We can worry about all the official stuff tomorrow.”

“Yes,” Taekwoon nodded, almost sprinting out of the room.

 

--

 

“Taekwoon,” Sanghyuk smiled, looking up from his book when his beloved mate burst into the room, “welcome home.”

“I talked to my father,” Taekwoon sighed, moving to hug his lover, “and he wants to hand his title over to me.”

“That’s great,” Sanghyuk cried, moving to hug Taekwoon tightly, “congratulations, Taekwoonnie.”

“We’ve always known I’d become alpha some day,” Taekwoon pointed out, “there’s nothing to congratulate.”

“What are you talking about?” Sanghyuk scolded the older, “your father thinking you’re ready is a huge deal. He thinks you’re ready to be alpha!”

“That’s just it,” Taekwoon huffed, “he thinks I’m ready. He doesn’t know. And I sure don’t think I’m ready.”

“Taekwoon,” Sanghyuk sighed, cuddling against his mate’s side, “you’re ready for this, I know you are. And everyone will tell you the same. You’re the only one who doesn’t think you can handle it.”

“It’s a lot of responsibility,” Taekwoon pointed out, “I’ll be responsible for our whole pack.”

“I know,” Sanghyuk replied, “my papa was an alpha too, remember?”

“Then you’ll remember that your father wasn’t the only one with responsibilities,” Taekwoon replied, “Your mother had a bunch of responsibilities too.” Taekwoon sighed, “You’ll have a lot of responsibilities.”

“I know that,” Sanghyuk rolled his eyes, “I saw what mama did. I’ve seen what your mother has to do. I know what being the alpha’s mate means.”

“But what about those who doesn’t think we should be together?” Taekwoon pressed, “It will just get worse once I’m named alpha.”

“Oh come on,” Sanghyuk sighed, “you know that they’ve moved on. For the most part anyway. And those who still don’t like us together have learned to keep their traps shut, that saying about me is just going to put them n the outs with the rest of the pack.”

“But,” Taekwoon whimpered, “I’m worried.”

“For me?” Sanghyuk asked, “Or for you?”

“Both.”

“You don’t have anything to worry about,” Sanghyuk assured him, pressing a kiss to Taekwoon’s lips, “you have me here to help you every step of the way. You have Hakyeon, Hongbin, Wonsik, and Jaehwan supporting you as well. And your father will still be around to help you with things, give advice and whatnot. You aren’t doing this alone, so don’t worry.”

“I’m scared,” Taekwoon admitted, “even knowing you all have my back, I can’t help but worry. What if I mess up? What if I--.”

“Shut up,” Sanghyuk sighed, cutting his lover off with a deep kiss, “you worry far too much. Everything will be alright. There’s no way you’ll screw up the way you’re thinking, not with everyone who loves you supporting you. So don’t worry about it, alright?”

“I’ll try,” Taekwoon finally said, “in the morning, I’ll tell my father I’m ready and we can get started switching everything over to me.”

“That’s my alpha,” Sanghyuk praised the older before excusing himself because someone had to make dinner.

The next morning, Taekwoon headed to his father’s office to tell him that he was ready to take the role of alpha. His father was clearly pleased, but Taekwoon was still worried that he would fail as alpha. Those fears only calmed when he returned home to Sanghyuk. His mate hugged him an reassured him that everything would be alright.

Taekwoon decided that so long as Sanghyuk was by his side, helping and supporting him, everything would be fine.

 

--

 

“Morning,” Taekwoon smiled, pressing a kiss to Sanghyuk’s lips.

“Taekwoonnie?” Sanghyuk mumbled, struggling to open his eyes as he fought to free himself from sleep, “Why are you so happy? It’s winter. You hate winter. You’ve always hated winter.”

“Normally I do,” the older nodded, “except for Christmas and the anniversary of your arrival. But I have a surprise for you.”

“Surprise?” Sanghyuk slowly sat up, not at all sure if he should be excited or not. Taekwoon wasn’t exactly good at surprises, so Sanghyuk felt justified in being a little wary.

“It’s customary for mated couples to have a honeymoon, right?” Taekwoon smiled.

“It’s customary for married couples,” Sanghyuk corrected, “and that’s a human custom. Not really a werewolf thing.”

“Well it is now,” Taekwoon shrugged, “it’s a bit late coming--.”

“A few years late,” Sanghyuk teased.

“But I’ve gotten everything all set up so that we can go away for a week,” Taekwoon finished, lightly smacking Sanghyuk on the arm for interrupting him, “just the two of us. All alone. With nothing to distract us.”

“Sounds promising,” Sanghyuk smirked slightly, “alright, I’m in. Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” Taekwoon grinned, clearly pleased that Sanghyuk had agreed to go along with his plans.

 

--

 

“It’s so cold,” Sanghyuk muttered, pulling his coat tighter around himself and hiding his face in his scarf, “Why didn’t you tell me we were going to the flipping Arctic Circle, Taekwoon?”

“It’s not that cold,” Taekwoon assured him, reaching out and pulling his mate closer, “ and we’re almost there so just wait a little longer, Sanghyukkie.”

“Why are we even doing this?” Sanghyuk sulked, pressing himself against the older werewolf, “We’ve been mated for three years already. We don’t need a stupid honeymoon now.”

“You know I put a lot of work into this, right?” Taekwoon raised an eyebrow and Sanghyuk looked down ashamed.

“Sorry.”

“No,” Taekwoon smiled, “I know you don’t like going so far from the pack. I can’t blame you for being so uneasy and lashing out.”

“I shouldn’t worry,” Sanghyuk sighed, moving to kiss Taekwoon, “I know you’ll never let anything bad happen.”

“I love you,” Taekwoon whispered against Sanghyuk’s lips before pulling away, “come on, I think you’re really going to enjoy what I have set up.”

“I know I will,” Sanghyuk nodded and started to follow Taekwoon only to slip on some ice.

“Sanghyuk!” Taekwoon panicked, helping Sanghyuk to his feet, “are you alright?”

“Get me. Inside. Now,” Sanghyuk hissed, glaring down at the snow and ice under his feet.

“Right,” Taekwoon nodded, taking Sanghyuk’s hand and leading him to the cabin he’s prepared for their romantic week away from the pack.

“God dang that wind,” Sanghyuk hissed once the door was shut, “it wouldn’t be so bad out there if it wasn’t for the wind making the temperature feel, like, twenty degrees lower than it really is.”

“I know,” Taekwoon nodded, helping his lover out of his pants that were caked with snow from his fall, “why don’t you start unpacking and I’ll get a fire going.”

“Sounds good,” Sanghyuk nodded, hanging up his coat and making sure his boots were properly put away before grabbing the bags and headed off to the bedroom.

Taekwoon smiled as he watched his lover leave before turning his attention to getting the fire started. He’d worked very hard to ensure that he and Sanghyuk could do this. Many late nights had gone into getting the time to take Sanghyuk on this little vacation. It was more than a little overdo if you asked Taekwoon.

Sanghyuk always worked so hard. He worked to make Taekwoon feel better when he was stressed. He worked to be a strong fighter, one of the strongest in the pack. He worked to keep the pack happy. This trip was both a reward and a thank you for all that work. So Taekwoon planned to do all he could to make sure Sanghyuk enjoyed every minute.

“Taekwoon?” Sanghyuk called, entering the room, “is the fire going yet?”

“Yeah,” Taekwoon nodded, turning to face his lover, “it’s…..done.”

“What’s wrong?” Sanghyuk smirked slightly, playing with the bottom of the shirt he was wearing.

Taekwoon’s shirt.

“You’re so tempting,” Taekwoon sighed, moving to pull Sanghyuk into his arms.

“It’s only tempting if you can’t have,” Sanghyuk pointed out, lightly kissing the elder’s lips, “and you can have me. You already have me.”

“Bedroom?” Taekwoon growled, taking hold of Sanghyuk’s lips and trailing kisses along the younger’s neck.

“Bedroom,” Sanghyuk replied, “and later here in front of the fire.”

“Alright,” Taekwoon nodded before leading Sanghyuk to the bedroom.

 

--

 

Taekwoon silently watched Sanghyuk curled up in their bed. The younger werewolf looked so small, so fragile that Leo couldn’t help but want to protect him. This was kind of funny because he knew Sanghyuk was anything but small. Fragile, however, depended on the day or Sanghyuk’s mood. But then, even those fragile moments were few and far between.

Sanghyuk had grown so much since that snowy night he showed up at Taekwoon’s house. He’d gotten stronger in both body and spirit, over come so much of his pain and blood drenched memories. It was no wonder his pack had sent him away, placed all their hopes and dreams upon his shoulders. They must have known what he was able to do, how great he could become. They must have known that he wouldn’t just survive, but bring pride to the pack name and ensure that no one ever forgot that they had existed.

Or maybe they had other reasons for sending Sanghyuk off, saving him from the bloody horror that befell the rest of the Northern Pack. Well, save for Jaehwan and his father but that wasn’t the point.

Taekwoon had long suspected that Sanghyuk’s pack had wanted more from him then to just live on and carry on their memory. No, he suspected that they had wanted him to rebuild their pack, making it stronger. Maybe they even wanted Sanghyuk to seek revenge upon those who had killed the rest of the werewolves.

But neither of those things were going to happen.

Sanghyuk was him mate and this was their pack. Taekwoon also was not about to let his beloved run off to get revenge upon those who killed his original pack. The Northern Pack was known to be some of the strongest fighters of all werewolf kind. Whoever, or whatever, had killed them all save for Sanghyuk had to be strong, stronger than one lone werewolf like Sanghyuk.

Taekwoon would rather die himself then see Sanghyuk felled by some unknown beast because he was trying to avenge his old pack.

“Taekwoon,” Sanghyuk called out, voice heavy with sleep, “Where are you?” Taekwoon watched with soft eyes as Sanghyuk reached out, running his fingers over the place Taekwoon normally slept and frowning when he realized how cold the sheets were.

“Here,” Taekwoon replied, “by the window.” Sanghyuk rolled over slightly so that he could face his mate.

“Come to bed,” Sanghyuk said, holding out a hand as if to beckon Taekwoon over, “it’s cold.”

“Alright,” Taekwoon smiled slightly, moving over to his side of the bed and curling up beside Sanghyuk.

The younger let out a small sigh of contentment as he pressed himself against Taekwoon as tightly as he could. Taekwoon smiled softly, wrapping his arms around Sanghyuk and placing a kiss on the crown of his head.

No, Taekwoon didn’t care what the Northern Pack’s original plan was for their last hope. The only thing that mattered to him was that Sanghyuk belonged to him. And he would never let his beloved go.

With that thought in mind, Taekwoon drifted off to sleep himself.

In the morning, Taekwoon woke up to his lover’s sleeping face. If he could freeze one moment in time, it would be this one. Or maybe it would be the one a few minutes later when Sanghyuk opened his eyes and smiled at him, murmuring ‘I love you’.

 

--

 

“Are you sure you have to go?” Sanghyuk had asked when Taekwoon first told him about the diplomacy mission to another pack.

Taekwoon has spent hours reassuring his lover that it would be alright, that he would be home after only a week, give or take a day. But he would come home and everything would be alright. Eventually, Sanghyuk had given in, letting him go without complaint.

And now Taekwoon was arriving home after two weeks away, much longer then he’d planned.

He knew Sanghyuk was going to be upset with him. He knew his lover was going to yell. Heck, Sanghyuk had probably spent the last couple of days crying and worrying. Taekwoon should have called, but he’d honestly forgotten, too caught up in his work.

So Taekwoon had decided to make a quick stop at his home before going to his office to file everything away properly. Maybe he’d even take Sanghyuk to his office as well. Maybe they could even make love on his desk, something they hadn’t done in ages. Taekwoon was always so busy with work and Sanghyuk was either playing ‘alpha’s wife’ or training the younger members of their pack.

When Taekwoon arrived home, however, he didn’t find his loving mate waiting for him.

Instead, he found Sanghyuk being hugged by his best friend.

Taekwoon turned and ran to his office, trying to convince himself that it was nothing.

That hug was nothing.

“Taekwoon!” Sanghyuk cried several hours later when Taekwoon finally walked through their front door, “you’re back!”

Taekwoon was almost knocked off his feet when Sanghyuk crashed into him. But that didn’t matter because Sanghyuk was clinging to him, crying softly while complaining about how long he’d been gone.

“I’m home,” Taekwoon smiled softly, holding onto Sanghyuk just as tightly.

“You said you’d be gone a week,” Sanghyuk growled, nipping at Taekwoon’s ear to stress his displeasure, “you lied.”

“I’m sorry,” Taekwoon whimpered, pretending that Sanghyuk’s nips hurt more than they actually did, “things took longer then I realized they would. The other pack……their alpha was hard to deal with.”

“I was worried,” Sanghyuk grumbled, “you didn’t call. No one did. I thought…….I thought something might have happened.”

“Nothing happened,” Taekwoon assured him, “just your mate being an idiot for forgot to call. And apparently, Wonsik and Hongbin are just as foolish as me.”

“Less foolish,” Sanghyuk grumbled, “they came straight here to assure me that everything was alright. You went to your office.”

“Sorry,” Taekwoon hung his head, “I just wanted to get everything finished so I could spend all my time with you.”

“You’re forgiven this time,” Sanghyuk sighed, “but next time I’m not going to go as easy on you.”

“Naturally,” Taekwoon laughed, “come on, let’s cook dinner together.”

Halfway through cooking their meal, there was a knocking at the door. Before Taekwoon could even get to the living room, the person who’d knocked was already inside. That wasn’t an uncommon thing. Jaehwan, Hongbin, Hakyeon, and Wonsik stopped by like that all the time. It wasn’t a probably. Jaehwan was family. Hongbin, Wonsik, and Hakyeon were friends.

But this was different.

The second Taekwoon caught sight of Hakyeon entering his living room, he was on him like a lion on an antelope.

“What the hell?” Taekwoon growled, pushing Hakyeon against the wall, “what do you think you’re doing?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hakyeon said, trying to push Taekwoon away, “I just came in like normal.”

“You were holding my mate,” Taekwoon hissed, “I saw it with my own eyes. What were you doing touching what’s mine?”

“You’re misunderstanding,” Hakyeon growled, clawing at Taekwoon’s arms in his fight to get free, “I was just trying to help.”

“Help what?” Taekwoon hissed, “Help take him away from me?”

“Taekwoon!” Sanghyuk called, rushing over when he noticed the pair about to start fighting in the living room, “what are you doing?”

“He touched you,” Taekwoon scowled, pulling away from Hakyeon so he could hug Sanghyuk tightly to him, “he was hugging you when I came home. I came here before I went to the office. I saw him touching you.”

“He was trying to make me feel better,” Sanghyuk explained, “you’ve been gone for two weeks, that’s five days longer then you said. I.....I was scared you were in danger. Hakyeon was trying to make me feel better. I needed a hug, something to reassure me that you would be coming home. Hakyeon provided that. He’s spent the last few days reassuring me that you’d come back. That you wouldn’t leave me.”

“Oh,” Taekwoon looked between the pair. He wanted to apologize, but couldn’t seem to find the words. He had massed up pretty badly by accusing of Hakyeon of trying to steal Sanghyuk away. How could he make up for that? For letting his possessiveness blind his judgment? How had he even gotten to that conclusion anyway?

He was a foolish, possessive idiot.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hakyeon smiled, “I’d probably react the same way in your position.”

“Still,” Taekwoon hung his head slightly, “I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I should have known you wouldn’t…..wouldn’t do something like that.”

“I said don’t worry,” Hakyeon laughed, “I only came by to make sure you were home, so now that I’ve done that I’m going to leave you two love birds alone. Don’t have too much fun without me, alright?”

Hakyeon left then, but Taekwoon could have sworn the other werewolf had given Sanghyuk a longing look just before the door shut behind him. But that had to be Taekwoon’s imagination. It had to be.

All that night, Taekwoon was kept awake wondering if maybe, just maybe, Hakyeon felt something for Sanghyuk. It wasn’t completely out there either. Hakyeon and Sanghyuk had very similar backgrounds. The nightmares both had mirrored each other very closely. And Hakyeon was the first person Sanghyuk had told about the day his lost his pack. Of everyone, Hakyeon was the very first to hear everything.

Hakyeon having feelings for Sanghyuk was defiantly a possibility.

One that Taekwoon had to confirm or disprove before it drove him crazy.

So the next day he set off to do exactly that.

“Taekwoon,” Hakyeon smiled as the young alpha took a seat at his kitchen table, “what brings you by so early? Can’t imagine Sanghyuk’s happy seeing you leave at this hour after you’ve been gone so long.”

“I wanted to ask you something,” Taekwoon said, “something important.”

“Then ask away,” Hakyeon replied and something in his tone told Taekwoon that he already knew what was going to be asked.

“Are you in love with Sanghyuk?”

Even though he’d known that this would be the questioned, it still made Hakyeon pause.

“I am,” Hakyeon sighed, “not as much now as when we were younger, but……but that just means my heart it healing, ya know?”

“You never said anything,” Taekwoon frowned slightly.

“Of course I didn’t,” Hakyeon rolled his eyes, “you’ve been in love with him for as long as I have. How do you tell your best friend that you have feelings for the same person? And even if I did say something, it wouldn’t have mattered. In Sanghyuk’s eyes, it’s only ever been you.”

“That doesn’t make it better,” Taekwoon huffed, “you should have told me.”

“And if I had?” Hakyeon challenged, “What would you have done then?”1

“I don’t know,” Taekwoon sighed after a long moment, “I just……you spent years loving him. You spent four years watching me be with him. You were suffering for so long. And I didn’t have a clue.”

“No one did,” Hakyeon smiled sadly, “except form Hongbin. No one else in this whole pack knows how I feel.”

“I’m sorry,” Taekwoon apologized, “we’re supposed to be best friends, and yet…..I had no idea of your feelings.”

“Stop apologizing,” Hakyeon huffed, “it’s alright. It’s not a big deal.”

“Still,” Taekwoon sighed, “even if I couldn’t do anything about it, I could have at least realized how you felt.”

“And then we’d probably have had a fight or something,” Hakyeon pointed out, “it’s better if you don’t know. Well, it was better when you didn’t know.”

Taekwoon fell silent. Hakyeon wasn’t wrong. Now that he knew, every interaction between Hakyeon and Sanghyuk would be tainted by this in his eyes. Every time Hakyeon so much as looked at Sanghyuk, Taekwoon would be reminded of Hakyeon’s feelings.

“So what now?” Taekwoon finally asked.

“If that isn’t the million dollar question,” Hakyeon sighed, “look, he’s your mate. Nothing will change that, nothing will change how Sanghyuk feels about you. And I’m getting over my feelings, it will just take some time.”

Taekwoon nodded, completely unsure of what could be said.

 

--

 

“I have news,” Taekwoon said after everyone he’d requested had arrived in his office, “we’ve been selected to host the alpha summit.”

“Alpha summit?” Wonsik frowned, “is that a new thing? Because I can’t remember hearing about it before.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Hakyeon spoke up, “just the alphas from a bunch of different packs meeting up to talk about random crap. Nothing ever really gets done, it’s more of a…….appearances thing. Make it look like we’re all playing nice.”

“Regardless,” Taekwoon sighed, “it happens every eighteen years and we’re hosting the one this year.”

“Eighteen years,” Sanghyuk frowned slightly, mind immediately recalling what else had happened eighteen years ago.

“Hongbin, Jaehwan,” Taekwoon ordered, noticing the look in his lover’s eyes and deciding to wrap things up quickly, “gather a group to set up events. I’ll provide you a list of events later.”

“Got it,” Hongbin nodded.

“We’ll start now,” Jaehwan nodded, glancing at his cousin before leaving. He knew what the other was thinking and he knew that Taekwoon was the only one who could comfort him.

“I’ll head out too,” Wonsik decided, “I’ve got some training lessons to get to.”

“I’ll help,” Hakyeon smiled slightly, quickly moving to follow.

“Hey,” Taekwoon said, grabbing Sanghyuk’s hand and pulling him into his lap, “what’s wrong?”

“That meeting,” Sanghyuk asked, “where was it going to be held? And….was it held?”

“Not sure where they were holding it,” Taekwoon replied, “but after your pack…….they called it off. I think…..I think a large reason why we’re holding it here is you. Well, you and Jaehwan.”

“See how the last of the Northern pack is doing huh?” Sanghyuk huffed, “we’ll more just me. We never really put it out there that Jaehwan is family.”

“True,” Taekwoon sighed, “even most of our pack thinks he’s just a random werewolf.”

“That might be a saving grace,” Sanghyuk scowled slightly, “the less who know the truth, the better.”

“You sound worried,” Taekwoon frowned, “what are you thinking.”

“I think that the times are too coincidental,” Sanghyuk explained, “I’m scared that what happened wasn’t chance.”

“You’re over thinking things,” Taekwoon told him, “so stop being so tense.”

“Maybe,” Sanghyuk sighed.

 

--

 

Sanghyuk knew something was wrong the second he started to wake up. There was this feeling in the air, like how the air feels right before a massive storm hits. No one else seemed to feel any different, so he kept his mouth shut. After all, Taekwoon was on edge enough with that big meeting for all the werewolf pack alphas.

Why bother him with something like this?

It wasn’t until the visiting alphas arrived that Sanghyuk realized that it wasn’t a silly little feeling.

Most of the alphas weren’t anything to worry about. But then there was one who took one look at Sanghyuk and grinned. That grin alone made Sanghyuk’s blood run cold. Then came the scent and he was returned to his childhood. Specifically the time he spent hidden under the floor of his parent’s bedroom.

He recalled everything perfectly – too perfectly to be honest since he’d much rather forget everything that happened.

That scent was one of the things he recalled perfectly.

The only thing missing was the scent of blood.

“Sanghyuk?” Jaehwan whispered when Sanghyuk finally had the chance to get away, “are you ok?”

“That guy,” Sanghyuk whimpered, “he….he’s the one.”

“The one?” Jaehwan frowned, “what are you talking about?”

“He’s the one,” Sanghyuk hissed, “he’s the one who killed everyone. I know that scent! I remember that scent!”

“No,” Jaehwan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, “there’s no way it’s him. I mean……why would he……..he’s an alpha…….”

“I don’t know why,” Sanghyuk growled, “I don’t even know who he is. But I know his scent. I remember it perfectly and my nose doesn’t lie.”

“What are we going to do?” Jaehwan panicked, realizing just how serious things were.

“Right now,” Sanghyuk scowled, “I want you to go home. To my house. I want you to stay there until I tell you it’s alright.”

“What about you?” Jaehwan asked, knowing better then to question Sanghyuk’s orders.

He cousin was not above using his strength or status to make Jaehwan go along with his orders when things were serious enough. Back when Sanghyuk was still being actively bullied by some of the females of the pack, Jaehwan had tried to do something to help. Sanghyuk ordered him to stop. When Jaehwan tried to ignore those orders, Sanghyuk used force.

“I have to go to all these parties and dinners,” Sanghyuk sighed, “the alpha’s mate can’t miss any of it.”

“But if he tries something,” Jaehwan whimpered, “you’ll be an easy target.”

“Not with everyone else around,” Sanghyuk replied, hoping to calm the other’s fears, “he’d never take that risk.”

“I hope so,” Jaehwan said, hugging Sanghyuk tightly.

“Same,” Sanghyuk sighed, “now go. The sooner you’re at the house, safe, the better.”

“Right,” Jaehwan sighed, “be safe, alright? I don’t think I could handle losing you too.”

“Don’t worry,” Sanghyuk smiled, “I’m not about to leave you alone, Jaehwannie.”

 

--

 

“Hello,” the alpha grinned, appearing suddenly behind Sanghyuk, “You’re the alpha’s mate, correct.”

“Y-Yes,” Sanghyuk nodded, trying to keep the fear and anger he felt for this man from clouding his judgment and controlling his actions.

“I must be honest,” the alpha remarked, “I never would have guessed that Taekwoon would take someone like yourself as his mate.”

“Because I’m a male?” Sanghyuk snapped, quickly regretting the tone he allowed to slip into those words. He glanced at the other, worried that he’d angered the alpha.

“No,” the alpha laughed, “Not because of that.”

“Then what?”

“You’re life is going to be cut short, little pup,” the alpha smirked, careful not to let anyone else hear what he was saying, “you were already living on borrowed time thanks to that mother of yours hiding you so well, but now that I’ve found you........”

“You plan to finish what you started,” Sanghyuk summarized.

The alpha nodded before walking away, telling Sanghyuk that they would meet again.

Now alone, Sanghyuk realized that he felt totally calm.

Even though he knew that he should be scared out of his mind, he didn’t feel scared. He guessed that he always kind of knew that this would happen. That he would cross paths with the man who killed his pack and meet his own end. If he felt anything about the matter, it was sadness. Sadness that he would be leaving Taekwoon. That the other would blame himself.

Without saying anything, Sanghyuk made his way over to Taekwoon, hugging his mate tightly before pulling back.

“What was that for?” Taekwoon questioned, taking hold of Sanghyuk’s hand and entwining their fingers.

“Nothing much,” Sanghyuk said, a soft smile forming on his face, “I was just thinking how grateful I am to you. You’ve made this life so wonderful. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

“Is something wrong?” Taekwoon frowned, pulling Sanghyuk close and leading him away from the party so that they could talk alone, “Did someone say something to you?”

“No,” Sanghyuk lied, “not really. Just listening to how some of this alphas run their packs.......makes me happy I’m here, that you’re the wonderful alpha that you are.”

Taekwoon smiled softly, pressing a quick kiss to Sanghyuk’s lips. He trusted that Sanghyuk wouldn’t lie to him if something was seriously wrong.

He was so very wrong to believe that.

 

--

 

Sanghyuk woke up to find Taekwoon sleeping peacefully beside him. He could hear Jaehwan’s soft snores from the next room, signaling that he was just as dead to the world as Taekwoon. With this in mind, Sanghyuk got out of bed and left the house.

Taekwoon would hate him when he woke up and discovered what had happened.

Jaehwan would be a mess when he found out Sanghyuk had broken his promise.

Sanghyuk couldn’t let himself feel bad about that.

“What on earth are you doing out so late, little pup?” Sanghyuk paused mid-step, slowly turning to find the alpha smirking at him.

“I’m looking for you,” Sanghyuk said, “I’m ready for this to end.”

“Just like that?” the alpha questioned, “no fight? You just give up? What on earth would your family say? After they worked so hard to keep you alive?”

“They’ll understand,” Sanghyuk replied, “this is to ensure no one in this pack gets hurt.”

“So noble,” the alpha sighed, “just like your father. That’s why he had to die, you know? He found out about my work, killing packs unworthy of existing and lying about having a pack to get into meetings like this. He was going to expose the truth about me to the others at the alpha summit that year. I couldn’t let him do that, so I got some rouges and ripped your pack to shreds.”

“Cut the chit chat,” Sanghyuk growled, “I don’t care why you’ve done all of this. Let’s just get this over with.”

“Really?” the werewolf laughed, “you don’t care why you have to grow up without your family? I don’t believe that at all.”

It was true. Sanghyuk wanted to know. He needed to know why it was his pack that had been killed. Why it was his family that had to die that cold night. But Sanghyuk didn’t have time for that. It was only a matter of time before someone came looking for him and he didn’t want them showing up before his killer left.

Once Taekwoon found out he was gone, he’d come looking for him. And Taekwoon had this weird sixth sense for when Sanghyuk wasn’t sleeping beside him. That combined with his sixth sense for when Sanghyuk was in trouble and Taekwoon wouldn’t be too long noticing Sanghyuk’s disappearance.

“Just get it over with,” Sanghyuk growled, “or I’ll make you shut your mouth.”

“Well then,” the alpha laughed, “let us finish this, pup.”

Sanghyuk didn’t even have a chance to react before he felt teeth ripping through him.

All too soon, Sanghyuk was lying on the ground, bleeding to death and completely alone. He found himself regretting going about things this way. He could have told Taekwoon. He should have told Taekwoon. He knew that this would destroy his lover when he found out, but he just……

He hadn’t wanted his new pack to suffer like his old pack had. He hadn’t realized that this alpha hadn’t worked alone. He hadn’t known he’d had rouges helping him. He thought this alpha had the power to take out a whole pack.

Hindsight was twenty-twenty, right?

“Taekwoon,” Sanghyuk whimpered as his world darkened, “I….”

 

--

 

Taekwoon rolled over and reached out for his lover. Instead of Sanghyuk, his hand found empty, cold bed. Taekwoon was up and running through the house looking for Sanghyuk within seconds. Sanghyuk should have been in bed. Taekwoon had to find him. He had a bad feeling growing in his gut with every second Sanghyuk was missing from his sight.

The alpha’s fear only grew when he found Sanghyuk’s shoes missing.

“Jaehwan!” Taekwoon yelled, “Jaehwan get up! Sanghyuk’s missing!”

Jaehwan was running out the door only moments later, the fear in his eyes clear as day. Taekwoon followed, realizing that he wasn’t just being paranoid. There was something very wrong. Sanghyuk was in danger.

And that was when Taekwoon smelled blood.

 

--

 

Taekwoon stormed through the wood, mind filled with thoughts of killing whoever had dared harm his Sanghyuk.

“This could start a war,” Wonsik warned as he chased after the alpha, “just rushing off and attacking him? What do you think his pack is going to do?”

“I don’t care,” Taekwoon hissed, moving through the woods as quickly as he could, “After what that……that monster did, I cannot allow for him to live for even a moment more.”

“Look,” Wonsik sighed, grabbing Taekwoon’s arm and forcing him to stop, “I know you can’t let this slide, I’m not asking that. What I’m asking is that you think this through a bit more. Get some other packs on our side. For crying out loud, we need proof before we do anything.”

“Why?” Taekwoon growled, “They’ll be on our side anyway once they hear what he did to Sanghyuk. And we have proof. This sack of ’s scent is all over where we found Sanghyuk. You smelt it just like I did.”

“But before they hear of that,” Wonsik hissed, “his pack will have attacked ours, killed who knows how many of our people. Is it really worth the war, Taekwoon?”

“But Sanghyuk,” Taekwoon whimpered, knowing that the other was right, “he.....he’s in surgery right now and......and he put him there. He......he could die, Wonsik. I could lose the love of my life and it will be that.....that monster’s fault.”

“You aren’t going to lose him,” Wonsik tried to smile, tried to sounds confident in his words, “so let’s go home. You should be there for when Sanghyuk gets out of surgery.”

“Yes,” Taekwoon nodded, allowing for Wonsik to lead the way, “o-ok.”

They returned to their packs land and were instantly greeted by their pack. Everyone wanted to know what they were going to do, how Sanghyuk was, and if Taekwoon was going to be ok. Taekwoon didn’t know what to say, wasn’t sure if he could say anything at all, so Wonsik took over.

Wonsik told the pack that they would figure out a plan soon.

Wonsik told the pack that Sanghyuk was still in surgery.

Wonsik almost told them that Taekwoon was going to be ok. But they all knew he wasn’t going to be ok. If Sanghyuk died, Taekwoon would be a mess. Taekwoon might very well die too if Sanghyuk didn’t survive. And if Sanghyuk did survive, Taekwoon still might not be ok.  

“I’m going to see Sanghyuk,” Taekwoon whimpered and the crowd parted to allow for him to go.

Taekwoon said nothing until he arrived at the hospital and found Jaehwan and Hongbin sobbing while Hakyeon just held them.

“Hey,” Hakyeon whispered when he noticed Taekwoon’s arrival.

“Where….,” Taekwoon whined, unable to even fully ask his question.

“He just got out of surgery,” Jaehwan spoke up, voice strained from crying, “we can’t see him yet, but…..but they think he’s going to be ok.”

Taekwoon broke down crying then, falling to his knees as he sobbed.

 

--

 

“Sanghyuk,” Taekwoon cried, burring his face in his lover’s hair, “please wake up. Please come back to me.”

Images of how he’d found his lover only a few days before flooded his mind. Blood was......it was everywhere. At first, he thought that Sanghyuk was dead and that was enough to destroy him. Thankfully his lover still lived. How was a mystery since he had been injured to gravely, but Taekwoon was beyond thankful for it.

Now all he needed was for Sanghyuk to wake up and for the one who did this to die.

“Taekwoon?” Hakyeon called out softly as he entered the hospital room.

“What do you want?” Taekwoon growled, cuddling closer to Sanghyuk’s unconscious form.

“We found him,” Hakyeon said, carefully stepping closer, “the one who did this to Sanghyuk.”

“Where is he?” Taekwoon hissed, carefully pulling away from his lover and making his way out of the room, “who is he?”

“He’s one of the alphas that showed up,” Hakyeon explained, following closely behind, “from what Wonsik and Hongbin have been able to find out, he’s the one who killed Sanghyuk and Jaehwan’s pack as well.”

“What?” Taekwoon wheeled around, face twisted in anger, “He...I’ll murder him.”

“Taekwoon,” Hakyeon caught hold of the other’s arm before he could go anywhere, “think about this carefully. Before you—.”

“He hurt my mate,” Taekwoon snapped, yanking away from his friends hold, “not once, but twice. I’m not going to rest until he’d dead, until I’ve made him suffer for the pain he’s inflicted on Sanghyuk.”

“I know,” Hakyeon sighed, “I want to make him suffer as well, “but you can’t go chasing after him blindly. You need to know where he is, what kind of fighting ability he has. Things like that. If you don’t know that.........Sanghyuk will want to see you when he wakes up and you can’t be there for him if you’re dead.”

Taekwoon paused, realizing that the other was right.

“We plan,” Taekwoon decided, “and then we kill him.”

“Agreed,” Hakyeon nodded and the pair returned to Sanghyuk’s room, wanting to watch over the one they both loved for the time being.

 

--

 

“This is everything we’ve been able to find out,” Wonsik said, handing the files to Taekwoon.

“His name is Youngbae,” Hongbin growled, “and he has no pack.”

“What?” Hakyeon frowned, “then how could he have gotten into the alpha meetings.”

“Lots of lies,” Wonsik shrugged, “this guy’s built a pretty nice wall of lies over the years to shield the truth. But it’s a flimsy wall. Once we started digging, it fell to pieces.”

“Sanghyuk’s father discovered his lies,” Hongbin explained, “and he was going to expose him at the alpha summit a few months later.”

“So Youngbae killed the whole pack,” Taekwoon growled, “just to hide his lack of a pack?”

“It’s more than that,” Hongbin scowled, “he’d been killing packs all over the world or years. Mostly small packs, ones he deemed unworthy of existing. That’s why he was lying about having a pack, too. He needed to be able to meet with alphas to make sure they didn’t catch onto his killing sprees.”

“If the other alphas found out,” Hakyeon summarized, “they’d do more than just remove him from the alpha summit. He’d be killed.”

“So where can we find him?” Taekwoon growled.

“That’s the one thing we don’t know,” Wonsik sighed sadly, “he’s apparently caught wind of Sanghyuk’s survival and our investigation. He knows that the game is over, that he’s dead if he gets caught.”

“So he’s on the run,” Taekwoon hissed, “with millions of places to hide and probably quite a few contacts around the world who are helping hide him. Werewolves who are just as monstrous as him.”

“Pretty much,” Hongbin sighed, “sorry.”

“But we aren’t the only ones looking for him,” Hakyeon was quick to point out, “every pack is on the lookout for him. Someone will find him. Someone will kill him.”

“I’m going to see Sanghyuk,” was all Taekwoon said before leaving his makeshift office that they had setup for him in the hospital.

Taekwoon arrived at Sanghyuk’s hospital room to find his lover smiling slightly as Jaehwan told a story, arms flying about madly as he exaggerated the events of his tale.

When Sanghyuk had woken up just a few days before, Taekwoon had been right there. The couple had cried, thankful to be with each other again. Well, Taekwoon had cried, Sanghyuk was still far to injured to manage much of anything. He couldn’t talk, but the doctors assured them that it was only temporary. That Sanghyuk would be talking and walking and everything else just fine once he’d healed enough.

Taekwoon opened the door, trying to be quiet. He hadn’t wanted to take Sanghyuk’s attention away from Jaehwan’s story, but Sanghyuk’s attention was immediately on him anyway.

“Boo,” Jaehwan huffed, “you already had your Sanghyuk time today. This is my time with him.”

“Sorry,” Taekwoon bowed slightly, “I just wanted to check in and make sure everything was alright.”

“We’re fine, right?” Jaehwan turned to Sanghyuk who gave a very slight nod.

“Good,” Taekwoon smiled before taking the empty seat, his seat, on the other side of Sanghyuk’s bed, “keep going with your story.”

“Right,” Jaehwan laughed, “so like I was saying, Dad had this bear by the back legs.”

Taekwoon’s attention quickly shifted from Jaehwan’s tale, refocusing on Sanghyuk who seemed to be enjoying the story if the excitement in his eyes was anything to go by. That was alright with Taekwoon. He wanted to see Sanghyuk happy. Especially when he was looking his lover over.

Most of the injuries Sanghyuk had suffered stemmed from his chest and stomach. Taekwoon hadn’t gotten too good a look at them, the nurses chasing him out of the room whenever they needed to clean and redress his injuries, but he knew that they were horrible. He knew because the nurses always looked a little pale after they left and he’d heard them whispering, wondering how Sanghyuk had survived something like that.

But this didn’t mean the rest of Sanghyuk’s person has escaped the attack wound free. The most obvious was the gash to his throat. The doctor had told Taekwoon in great length that this was when kept Sanghyuk from talking for now, that this wound was likely to leave an obvious scar. Taekwoon still wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

The scars Sanghyuk was sure to have littering his torso could be covered with clothing. Same with the ones he was sure to have on his arms and legs. Scars left by the lacerations to his scalp could be hidden by his hair. But this scar…….this one could not be hidden quite so easily. Taekwoon would have to see it every day for the rest of his life.

It would serve as an obvious reminded that Taekwoon had almost lost Sanghyuk.

That he wasn’t strong enough to protect his lover.

That he’d broken every promise he’d ever made to Sanghyuk about protecting him.

“I think Taekwoon looks tired,” Jaehwan suddenly said, startling Taekwoon from his thoughts, “and so do you, Sanghyuk. I’m gonna head home, so you two get some sleep, alright?”

Sanghyuk waved slightly as Jaehwan left before turning his attention to Taekwoon.

“Sleep,” Taekwoon smiled slightly, pressed a kiss to the back of Sanghyuk’s hand.

Sanghyuk sighed, reaching up and cupping his lover’s face. He knew that something was wrong with Taekwoon and he had a bad feeling that he knew what it was. He wished he could talk, could assure his lover that he would be alright. He’d give anything to be able to explain his actions.

But then again, Sanghyuk wasn’t sure if he could explain why he’d done what he did anymore.

When he left the house that night, he’d really thought he was doing the only thing he could do. He thought that this was the best thing to do. But now, after everything had happened, he realized that he hadn’t done the best thing. He realized that he hadn’t thought any of this through.

He wanted, needed, to tell Taekwoon that.

He needed Taekwoon to know that everything that had happened was his fault.

Taekwoon shouldn’t feel guilty about this because he hadn’t done anything wrong.

The second Sanghyuk could talk again, he was going to tell Taekwoon all of this. He just hoped Taekwoon would understand, that he wouldn’t be too mad for too long.

 

--

 

“Taekwoon!” Hakyeon hissed, shaking the alpha awake, “Taekwoon, wake up!”

“What?” Taekwoon grumbled, not at all pleased to be taken from his dreams. He’d been dreaming about a world where what had happened didn’t exist. A world where Sanghyuk was in perfect health, able to talk, and scar free.

“He’s been found,” Hakyeon reported, “a pack from the US located him. He’s dead.”

“What?” Taekwoon growled, “They killed him?”

“They tried to take him alive,” Hakyeon explained, backing away slightly from the enraged alpha, “he was a strong fighter. They didn’t have a choice.”

Sanghyuk slowly opened his eyes, awoken from his rest by the sound of Taekwoon growling in anger about something. Trying to hide the fact he was awake, Sanghyuk tried to figure out what had happened to anger his mate so much. It didn’t take long, not when Taekwoon was yelling about how he was supposed to have killed someone.

Sanghyuk sighed to himself, trying to figure out a way to get Taekwoon to calm down. His lover shouldn’t be so upset about this, he knew that this was coming after the first month had passed with no sign of Youngbae. And when two months passed? And then four? It was clear to everyone after the fourth month that whoever found Youngbae first would be the one to kill him. And that someone was not going to be Taekwoon since he was staying close to home, helping Sanghyuk recover anyway he could.

Someone needed to remind Taekwoon of that and who better than Sanghyuk.

Unfortunately, Sanghyuk was still having problems talking. According to the doctor, he could talk, but he shouldn’t. The doctor had stressed to everyone that it was still too early in Sanghyuk’s recovery for him to start talking. Naturally this was disheartening to them all, mostly Taekwoon and Sanghyuk, but the doctor had ordered it and who were they to disagree.

But then…….

The doctor hadn’t said that Sanghyuk couldn’t talk in an emergency like this. And it was kind of an emergency since Taekwoon looked ready to rip someone apart. Most likely Hakyeon since he had the misfortune of being in the room.

“Take…..woon,” Sanghyuk whispered, voice weak and strained from the lack of use.

Taekwoon still heard him and was instantly by his side.

“Sanghyuk,” the older wolf huffed, anger quickly forgotten in favor of focusing on Sanghyuk, “you know you shouldn’t be talking. The doctor told you not to. Hang on, let me get you some water.”

Sanghyuk could only smile at the other’s complete mood change.

 

--

 

“Are you sure you should be doing this today?” Taekwoon asked as he pushed Sanghyuk’s wheelchair down the halls of their home, “you can always try again tomorrow.”

“Said that yesterday,” Sanghyuk replied, voice soft in hopes of lessening the strain on his throat.

“But you can keep putting it off,” Taekwoon shrugged, “no one is going to blame you.”

“Walking in the hospital,” Sanghyuk pointed out, rolling his eyes, “outside……it’s not so different.”

“There’s a lot of difference,” Taekwoon sighed, “the ground for starters. It’s a lot less level.”

“Taekwoon,” Sanghyuk sighed, “I need to do this. While I’m still willing to try. I don’t want to end up like one of those people who gives in to fear and let that keep them from trying. And if I keep putting if off…….”

“I get it,” Taekwoon sighed, moving to open up the sliding door before pushing Sanghyuk out into their backyard, “just……I’ll be right here the whole time. If you need support of get tired, I--.”

“Will be right here,” Sanghyuk smiled, “I know. Now move aside, I want to get walking.”

A/N: first thought: OHMYGODIT’SFINALLYDONE!!!!!!!!!!! This took me ages to finish. I mean, you’d think when, like, most of the major plot points had already been written thanks to the 300 Theme Challenge, it would be easy. Nope. And no wonder ‘cuz this thing is a ing monster. Over 60 pages!!!! I have never written something this ing long before in a one-shot format. I feel…..kind of accomplished to be honest. Haha plus I recall earlier in my writing VIXX days when getting to, like, 20 pages was a big deal. And look at me now!!