This man...he's Heechul's father!

Heejoon chuckled at Kourtney's shocked expression.

"I'm assuming by your reaction you know who I am?" 

Kourtney regained her composure, giving the man an angry look.

"You're the one who killed Baekhyun's parents.

Heejoon's smile vanished. "So he told you, then?"

"Yes." Kourtney felt rage building up inisde of her. "He did."

Heejoon sighed. "And here I thought we could become aquaitences." He smirked. "I suppose it'll never happen, then?"

"No." Kourtney didn't care how she treated the man. He was no longer on the Council. and from what she had seen before, Heechul didn't seem to care for his own father, either. Though why, she wasn't sure.

Heejoon chuckled before leaning in close to whisper.

"If I were you, I wouldn't trust that mutt." He sneered. "His family went rogue. It's only a matter of time before he does."

"Baekhyun would never do that." Kourtney defended. "He'd never betray Kris." 

"Surely you haven't forgotten that little rogue attack on the pack, hm?" 

Kourtney almost shuddered as she recalled the vicious attack and how both Chen and Baekhyun had almost been killed.

How Chen had been infected with the Howlion.

"What about the attack?"

Heejoon moved back, a smug smirk on his face. Just like Heechul's.

"You never once stopped to think about how the rogues got past the barrier in the first place?"

Kourtney paled, realizing what he was implying.

"You don't think-"

"Only someone in the pack or once of the pack could break the barrier. There was only one person who was once in the pack, but she was," he chuckled. "Dealt with by Kris."

Kourtney couldn't believe it. "He killed her?"

"As the law requires." Heejoon chuckled. "Getting back on topic...what does that leave? A current member of the pack." He smirked. "A certain boy with a rogue family, perhaps?"

Kourtney shook her head. "He'd never do that. It's a barrier, right? Sometimes it could stop working itself."

Heejoon nodded. "True, but it was already repaired before it could be annalyzed. If it had just stopped working, the entire barrier would have been down. If it was break, it would have just been a small opening, like a hole for them to crawl through." He glanced at his watch. "Oops, I'm late for my...appointment." He patted her head beofre he left. "You take care, miss Kourtney. And be careful on who you trust."

........

Kourtney tried hard to calm down as she headed back to the entertainment room. She had to tell Mark what just happened, him being the only one she fully trusted here. Sure, there were some members of the Council she liked, but like and trust are two different things in her book. 

Before she reached the room, the door opened and Sungmin, Donghae, Kyuhyun and Henry stepped out. Henry smirked when he saw her. 

"Done loking around, princess?"

Kourtney gave him a fake smile. "Yup."

She then walked past them and into the room. Yesung had stopped playing the game and was watching the others play, sitting beside Ryeowook and touching the younger's face, which he didn't seem to mind.

"Mark, can you come with me for a minute?" Kourtney said. "We need to talk."

Mark glanced at her curiouslly before shrugging, handing his controller over to Yesung. "Sure."

Kourtney led Mark into their room, glancing down the outside hall to see if anyone was around before closing the door.

Mark sat on the couch. "So, what's up?"

Kourtney sighed, not sure how to start.

Finally, she spoke. "I met Heechul's father. Heejoon."

Mark scowled. "Just now?"

"Yeah. He was in...well, I don't know what room but I heard him and Heechul inside. It overheard what they were saying..."She gulped. "That we're going to be forced to leave our packs and move to the estate."

Mark stood up, surprised. "What?"

"The Council's going to move us there after the tournament."

Mark sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I hoped this wouldn't happen."

Kourtney nodded. "I guess the plan was for nothing. If anything, it made it worse. Now you're being forced to leave. I'm...I'm sorry."

Mark shook his head. "Don't apologize. It's not your fault."

Kourtney sighed. "And to add to that...Heejoon thinks that Baekhyun let the rogues in that night they attacked."

Mark nodded. "Yeah, I figured that would happen. Given that his parents..."He shifted awkwardly. "But I don't think he did it."

Kourtney shook her head. "He didn't do it. Not the Baekhyun I know. He'd never betray Kris or the others like that." She sighed. "And besides, if he was with the rouges...why did they almost kill him?"

Mark nodded. "Exactly. If he was with them, they wouldn't have hurt him. While rogues are...criminals, the do look after each other. One time, JB and I went after a group of them and one put himself in harm's way to save his friend."

"So..."Kourtney's expression saddned. "What now?"

Mark gave her a soft smile before pulling her into a hug. "We'll figure this out, but first let's talk to Kris and JB about this."

"After lunch." Kourtney agreed. "Let's go to the hotel."

........

To Kourtney's disgust, Heejoon had decided to join them for lunch. The entire time, she avoided looking him in the eye, brushing him off if he tried to start conversation with her. He even brought up the rogue incident, getting the Council member's opinions on his thoughts. In no surprise to Kourtney, Heechul, Siwon, Sungmin, Doghae, Kyuhyun, and Henry all agreed with his suspicions of Baekhyun, but Leeteuk disregarded it, stating that there was no proof, as well as the fact that Baekhyun had been seriously injured during the attack. Heejoon had nothing to respond to that, so the conversation was dropped and Kourtney smirked in satsifaction at the man's startled expression. 

After lunch, Kourtney and Mark went to the hotel, eager to be away from the Countil and with their packs. Kourtney glanced at a note Kris had given to her. It had the pack's room numbers, all on the fourth floor. She headed over to the elevator while Mark went off in a different direction, telling Kourtney he'd talk to JB about what she told him. After the elevator doors opened on the fourth floor, she was greeted by Hana hugging her.

"Kourtney! I missed you!"

Kourtney hugged Hana back. "I missed you, too."

"She wasn't gone that long." Kai teased, stepping forward. Baekhyun and Chen were also in the hallway.

Hana scowled at her mate. "She was in Council territory. Who knows what nonsense they were spouting to her? The could have been trying to sway her to their side."

"That'd never happen." Baekhyun grinned, walking over to ruffle Kourtney's hair. "She loves us too much."

Kourtney thought back to what Heejoon told her sighed. "Is everyone here?"

Hana nodded. "Yup! We all just had lunch!"

Chen noticed her troubled expression and walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Kourtney glanced at Baekhyun, who looked back in confusion. 

"Get everyone together. I have something to tell you guys."

........

The pack all got together in Kris and Sara's suite, eager to hear what Kourtney had to say. She sat on the bed beside Sara, nervous on how she should tell them. Taking a deep breath, she glanced over at Baekhyun, who now looked concerned.

"I met Heechul's father."

Dead silence.  Baekhyun's face turned to a mixture of pain and shock and Kourtney gave him an apologetic look. Finally Kai broke the silence.

"What did that bastard want?"

Hana elbowed him. "Kai, don't."

"Why? After what he-"

"Kai." This time it was Kris who spoke. He gave Kai a scolding look, who bowed his head.

"Sorry, sir."

"What did he say?" Everyone was shocked that Baekhyun spoke, though his voice broke a bit.

Kourtney motined for him to come sit by her, which he did. Chen followed, moving to sit behind them.

"He..." She hesitated, looking at Baekhyun. "He thinks that...that you let the rogues past the barrier that night."

Baekhyun paled.

"Bullcrap!" Kai shouted. "No way he'd ever do that!"

"He said...that only a current or past member could open the barrier for them." Kourtney noticed Baekhyun stiffen.

Kris stepped forward. "What else did he say?"

"That you guys had one past member but that she was...killed." She looked at Kris. "By you."

Kris sighed. "By law, I had no choice. She betrayed us. Baekhyun and I chased her down, where I took care of her."

Hana spoke up. "The barrier was completely down when you checked it, right? That means it just malfunctioned."

Kris nodded. "No one opened the barrier. It broke down itself."

Kroutney sighed in relief. "So, the Council won't lock Baekhyun up?"

"If they were going to do that, they would have after it happened." Chen stated.

"Plus he was seriously injured." Lay stepped in. "With that information, they could od nothing. No way the rogues would have hurt him if he was with them."

Kourtney felt relief swell through her body. "Good, I was worried there for a minute."

She looked at Baekhyun, who gave her a slight smile. The two embraced.

.........

Later, Baekhyun went off on his own, running to the forest that was located near the park. He had so much going through his mind, so many emotions. He needed to get away from everyone so they wouldn't see him like this. Finally, after running for about ten minutes, he stopped and collpased against a tree, breaking down.

He thought about his parents, the night they'd been murdered.

How Heejoon had looked pleased and proud at the act he was committing.

How the rogues had attack that night.

How he was almost killed.

Then he thought of her.

"You didn't do it, did you?" He thought out loud, his voice soft and whimpering. "You couldn't have."

He slid to the ground, sitting so his back was against the tree. He looked up through the trees as he hoped and prayed that what he thought wasn't true.

"Yumi."