Sorry guys, I had a really bad Writer's Block for some weeks. I think because this is the first story I've gone over 40 chapters. I really enjoy writing it, but every once in a while I do get a writer's block. This one was the worst, however, I am out of it! And I'm really excited for the upcoming events in the story to take place! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Kim pushed her body up, but before she could put too much weight on herself, both Min-seo and her husband rushed over to help.

“Be careful,” she whispered to Kim, caressing her best friend’s back in an attempt to comfort as she sat down on the bed next to her.

Kim moaned, rubbing the top her forehead just as her hair collapsed over her face.

“You’ve been out for a while,” Min-seo stated.

Kim moaned again, looking up to meet their eyes.

“Key is getting stronger, like his parents,” Kim answered.

“Hey, Kim, we can talk about Key later, right now I need to get you some wa-“ But just as Min-seo stood up, Kim waved her away.

“No,” her brows furrowed, “where are the kids?”

Min-seo frowned and so did her husband.

“What do you mean, where are the kids?” He asked.

Kim closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath.

“Key isn’t here. I sense his Gumiho side but it’s far away. And if Key isn’t here—”

Min-seo widened her eyes.

“Neither is Onew.”

The three of them rushed to Onew’s room—Kim, using all her strength. The whole way Min-seo kept a repetitive, no, no, no whispered under her breath.

She bombarded through Onew’s door only to find scrolls upon, scrolls, upon scrolls scattered about. Some closed and others wide opened but curled at their ends. She hadn’t realized how much they’ve been reading through these or even how many times they went to the back room to get them. What else had they been doing without their knowing? How much have they found out?

Kim leaned her body on the door frame when she and the husband caught up.

“They’re gone,” Min-seo whispered.

“I told you,” Kim replied.

Her eyes scanned the surroundings. A ruffled-up bed, opened window, and at least thirty scrolls scattered around the table and the floors like an overbook library.

“How much do they know?” she asked. “How much have they been keeping from you?”

Min-seo frowned and swiftly turned around to beam her eyes down at her friend.

“How much have they kept from me?!” she yelled.

Her husband stepped back.

“How much have you kept Kim?! Do you know how much Onew hated me when he found out we’d been lying to them? Do you know how distraught Key was when he was looking at your bloody body or the fact that he thought the only ounce of relatives he had left was probably never going to wake up! What did you do that night Kim! We were supposed to meet the guy, the guy that you told me needed to be stopped but for what reason, nothing.” She shrugged out of anger. “And now the kids keep putting themselves in danger because they obviously don’t trust us at all! God knows what the hell they’re doing right now or why they decided to sneak off at this hour?!”

Kim looked down towards the floor, but Min-seo got closer.

“You went and met him earlier didn’t you? Whatever this guy was, whoever he was. Was he bad? Was he good? Did he set you up to get attacked? What the hell happened?!”

“Let’s find the kids first,” Kim whispered. “Let’s find them first, then I’ll explain everything.”

***

Minho coughs just lightly, making a fist and putting it up against his mouth. Key, leaning against a shiny rock and watching the trickling water aimlessly shake in the cave, looked over. Taemin and Onew had fallen asleep. Somehow Taemin had managed it will sitting straight up, with his arms and legs crossed and Onew’s head on his shoulder. Even through sleep, the Cerberi had a frown on his face.

Minho walked over, making sure to step over the two carefully.

“You can sleep if you want. I’ll keep watch just in case Donghae comes back,” he said.

Key pursed his lips and shrugged.

“I’m not really tired,” he whispered back. “I can’t really sleep at all. To be honest, I’m surprised Onew is. He’s probably the only one of us who can survive a full night without sleep. I think.” He added, scrunching his brows.

“Because he’s half-human,” Minho assured.

“Precisely.” He huffed and brushed his hands through the loose strands of his hair that flopped every which way. It was only then that he realized his fingers were still long and somewhat sharp. They were still the same. They never really transformed back. “Senior year was supposed to be going a lot better than this.”

Minho chuckled and joined him on the shining rock.

“I wasn’t joking,” Key huffed again. He stared down at his fingers like they were alien; just like he’d done when they first grew.

“I know, that’s why it was funny.”

“You don’t laugh a lot, do you Minho?”

The man shrugged.

“In all honesty, we should be leaving. We shouldn’t be sleeping here, it’s dangerous and our guardians are gonna flip their switch if none of us are back.” Key went on.

“You do have a point. But…as Taemin once told me when we were having one of our many arguments, I follow the rules way too much.”

Key scoffed, but a slight smile curved into his lips.

“He’s not wrong. Still doesn’t excuse us going M.I.A on the people who protect us. We’re all in over our heads. I mean—we think we know what’s going on, but do we really? I’m kinda with Taemin, my head’s starting to hurt with all this information we keep getting.”

“Well, if it makes anything better, at least we got some answers.” He tilted his head towards the boy with a soft smile. “And please, don’t start thinking like Taemin when it comes down to a crisis, he can get quite dramatic. And Key, I’ve been meaning to say something for a while.”

They both looked up at each other at the same time.

“Hm?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“About what?”

Minho shrugged again. “I don’t know, for the horrible things my people have done. I guess…every history has a dark one, but I always thought that…I don’t know, that our people were higher than that. That we were better—better than—”

“Humans.” Key finished. He smiled awkwardly but there were small specs of shadows cast around his eyes from his lashes. He looked down for a second, his eyes switching from side to side. Yes, there was a smile on his lips, but Minho could tell that Key’s statement was a serious one.

“I’m at that point Minho,” he sighed, “where I don’t want to go home, I don’t want to go to school, I don’t even want to walk out of this cave.”

Minho unconsciously nodded, letting his back curve even more against the rock.

“Too bad there isn’t somewhere else to stay,” he answered.

“Yeah, to ba-“ Key pushed himself off the rock, eyes wide. “There is a place!” He excited.

His voice carried into the cave with a thick vibration forcing both Taemin and Onew to jump awake, collapsing on the ground in a puddle of one another. The two groaned and rubbed the back of their heads at the same time while looking up and glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

“Key, what the hell,” Onew groaned.

“Sorry Onew. But I just figured where we can hide for a minute instead of this dark place.”

Onew arched his brow but when his sight finally came into focus instead of a foggy wonder, he analyzed Key’s expression and his brows turned into a downwards check instead.

“Are you sure Key,” he responded.

The excitedness deflated off the boy’s face.

“I mean…it’s not like we have a lot of options.”

“Ah,” Taemin nodded, “seems as though they’re talking in the usual Onew and Key psychic connection which inevitably means NEITHER one of us knows what the hell they’re TALKING ABOUT.”

Onew rolled his eyes.

“He’s talking about Paradise.”

“Paradise?” Minho questioned.

Key waved them over towards the exit of the cave as he walked to it. Like a magnet they followed, Onew and Taemin pushing themselves off the ground and Taemin waiting for Onew to go first, eyes lingering on him like a little puppy. They all walked completely out of the cave, the night creating a thick sheet over their bodies once again.

“And where specifically is this Paradise?” Taemin yawned, stretching his arms in the air. “And how long does it take to get there?”

“Yes~” Sung a familiar voice, “I want to know too.”

The four jumped around. Donghae stood, letting his side linger to the thick bark of a tree. He had a long, etching smirk on his face, one leg crossed over the other. Seeing their reactions, he chuckled in his throat a bit and pushed himself off clapping his hands together like an audience stood nearby. The four clasped each other’s hands unconsciously.

“I have to admit,” he smirked, “the whole turning invisible on me and sneaking around was pretty clever. It took me a while to realize why I felt as though I was being watched. And when I realized it—I figured, why not go back and retrace my steps. I’ve been doing that a lot lately.”

He wiggled his finger at Onew.

“Bet your mother doesn’t know you’ve gotten this strong, does she?”

“I’ve figured out a thing or two you prick!” Came another voice.

This time it was Donghae who jumped around. Before their eyes, Onew’s mother materialized, wide owl eyes and all—but with someone…extra.

“Aunt Kim!” Key exclaimed.

His eyes grew wide as he witnessed his aunt in the flesh, standing side by side with Onew’s mom. Her hair was ruffled down her shoulders and she had no shoes on but a quick jogging suit that both Onew and Key assumed in their own minds she grabbed from the nearest closet.

“You stay right there Key,” his aunt cautioned. Her voice was quivering, but not from fear. No. Having his aunt so close within his proximity, he could almost feel what she felt. It exuded from her body like an aroma. This wasn’t fear, this was confidence, fight, anger.

Key was frozen anyway. His feet were stuck in the ground like dried cement covered them and when he looked to the side of him, Taemin, Minho and Onew, all seemed to be reacting the same. They were cautious but more afraid than anything. There was an actual Elder right in front of them. In breathing distance of them. The creature who slaughtered his entire family, his entire species.

A long, sinister curve stretched across Donghae’s face, again. He tilted his head like her presence was nothing new. His full frightened demeanor had vanished. It was like he was seeing an old familiar friend all over again.

“Kim, Kim, Kim,” he tsked. “I thought I got rid of you. But if you were just sleeping, you should’ve stayed that way and you,” he said pointing to Min-seo, Onew’s mother, “have a son that has grown quite well. Even for a half-human.”

He turned and lingered at Onew for a moment, then turned back around.

“Still,” he sighed, “what was the last time I saw you…oh yes, that’s right. The war between the Gumihos and the humans. Interesting. You were fighting alongside the king and queen yet…here you are. Safe and sound. I guess your bond with her wasn’t that strong after all.”

“You shut your mouth!” Min-seo yelled.

Aunt Kim touched the side of her arm and sent an endearing arch of her brow towards her. A sign to warn her against Donghae.

“You know,” Donghae continued, “If it wasn’t for you and your son…Min-seo, was it? It’s hard remembering your name. The last time I heard it called out was when your bond was screaming for you on the battlefield.”

Min-seo stepped up, but Kim stopped her, stretching her arm out to block her.

“If it wasn’t for you and your son, I would’ve been able to get not one but two Gumihos that night. The first was a nice surprise. At first, I just went to the school thinking…maybe, just maybe if I retraced my steps I would be able to find her at last…but instead I got you Kim and apparently your nephew. Like I said,” he shrugged, “a nice surprise.”

He was referring to the night of Key’s attack. The only thing is…he said the first was a nice surprise. The first? What did he mean by that? Was he referring to Key or Aunt Kim?

“Boys,” Min-seo nodded to the lot of them, including the Cerberi, “run.”

But they were frozen still. Taemin moved a foot though and immediately, Donghae shot his finger up into the air.

“Is that what your little master told you during the battle?” Donghae was sneering at Min-seo again. “It must be stuck in your hearing canal for you to be repeating the words. Run, Min-seo, run. Is that what she said.”

There was that reference again. Key realized it the first time Donghae brought it up. He’d said he was looking for her. And there was only one other Gumiho that could come to mind.

“My mom,” Key spoke up, gaining attention, “she is still alive.”

Donghae rolled his eyes and lazily looped his head over.

“Of course she is. She was the only one, that I saw at the time, to escape from the war. While I watched them fight, I saw your mother protected by your father,” he spat, “who had the pleasure of killing myself before I started running for her.”

He sighed and looked down at his fingers like an uninterested student. Like killing someone’s father and bragging about it was child’s play.

“Those were younger times back then. I didn’t have the stamina or the strength to catch up with her as I do now. But those were also glorious times. When we, the Elders— before we got our name, rose up against these overturned, and overused creatures of the forest.”

“It didn’t have to end like that,” Kim cried.

Donghae growled.

“Oh Kim, you were so naïve back then. So gullible. Harmony. That’s what was wrong with your species. You all always thought that there was some peace, so unidentified harmony lingering in the air everywhere you stepped. If that were the truth, humans would have never been made. Humans are destructive. Self-destructive even. They were hunting down our world ever since they learned how to walk. It was gonna end how it did sooner or later. We just chose sooner, and we found a way for it to benefit us later.”

Just then, Aunt Kim spread her legs a little more, they formed a ‘v’ against the soft dirt ground. Her arms outstretched and long searing claws that matched Key’s began to grow. But unlike Key’s, the color etched up to her arm, encasing her skin. The night was still a deep, thick layer over them so it appeared darker than it was as the color crawled up her neck as well, covering her cheekbones. Her hair grew in long thick layers too, the roots turning a dark brand of silver, running past her shoulders. Then there were her eyes; The irises became a bit smaller but sharper. They glowed a bleak, fresh green. Emerald green almost. A shining emerald beaconing in the night. Key swore he could feel the trees around them shake as if they sensed her presence. She was alive in the nature around them, but his fascination came to a halt when he heard Donghae tsk again. The man wiggled his finger in the air.

“Oh Kim, like I said, naïve,” he growled and thus, his appearance started to change as well.

His hair grew, but not like hers, like a faded brown matte. Or so it looked like in the dark.

Onew squinted his eyes a bit just then, activating the Night Owl side of him to get a better visual of what they were up against. Donghae—and Aunt Kim’s visual came up clear as day. Donghae’s veins began to pop, a strong, heavy pulse beating against his skin; vibrating almost. His teeth grew long and painstakingly sharp. His mouth became a sharp trap of impenetrable bone and the white in his eyes was deluded by pure black like he remembered seeing from Taemin, Minho, and their Uncles the first time they’d met. Only, something was fiercer about this. More frightening. Donghae’s irises pulsated a pure glowing white and he—got taller?

His stature increased in size, ankle bones popping into standing hind legs and—

“GO!” Onew heard his mother yell.

There was pure fear on her face.

“W-We can’t leave you,” Key was the first to speak up before Onew could, but his Aunt waved him off as well.

“Go!” Min-seo repeated. “While he’s transforming. All of you—go hide! Now!”

It was inevitable to say that they were all terribly frightened. An instilled fear the grasped at the small pulses of their hearts, but as Onew watched the fear grow in his mother’s eyes and Key as well with his Aunt, they knew this was a battle that they could not win. Not tonight. But at the same time, the strain of leaving his Aunt to fend for herself, yet again, pulled at his chest like a tightening rope wrapping together.

Key’s leg went forward, but before he could get a grasp of what was really happening, Minho was grabbing his wrist and they were dashing off. At first, there was resistance. He wanted to yank back, go back, protect what little of his family he had left, but when he really paid attention, Key realized that it wasn’t just Minho. They were in a line. Minho had his wrist, Taemin had Minho’s and Onew had Taemin’s. Like the protector he was born to be, Onew ran and pulled the three of them with him before any one of them had time to think. Key saw the uttering fear in Onew’s features, even as they ran. After all, Key had his aunt back there who was like a mother to him, but Onew had his actual mother to leave behind. A mother who looked nothing but purely frightened out of her wits just before they left.

“Key, I need you to run!” Onew yelled.

“I-I am running, I am!” He felt his breath giving out.

“No, I need you to run!” He repeated, and Key knew what he meant.

He didn’t need the repressed side of Key to run, he needed the Gumiho side, that fox that was probably faster than any of them combined. That fox that had been waiting 5,000 years to be free and exist in this world. Though he was scared beyond scared, Key mustered all the strength he had. It simmered from his chest and spread to his legs. He wasn’t sure how fast he was going just then, but he was in the lead now, pulling everyone in his direction. The wind was whisking past him like sharp knives and seething at his skin, but he didn’t care. They had to get as far away from Donghae as possible.

They had to get to Paradise.

And he was the only one who could get them through.

***

Shindong squeezed the back of both Siwon and Jonghyun’s necks, forcing them through the doors into an open-spaced foyer with two long, burgundy fabric couches made of velvet. There he saw him. Heechul, standing with his two troublemakers as well, but next to him, like a right-hand man, Kai stood upright. His pajamas sagged against his body, it was evident the boy had just gotten up, but his face was straight, stone actually.

“I see you got yours before I got mines,” Shindong smirked.

Heechul chuckled a small cough in his throat and nodded. They swung the boys onto the couches. Their bodies landed with a soft “umpfh.”

“What did yours tell you?” Heechul asked, nodding over to Jonghyun and Siwon who—prior than they love to show off—looked almost scared beyond their wits.

“Nothing,” Shindong sighed, “and with Minho gone, I’m definitely not getting anything out of these two. Whoever they’re protecting, they’re not budging.”

Siwon and Jonghyun kept silent and so, both Uncles turned their eyes on Eunhyuk and Jackson. Eunhyuk sat almost straight, attempting to façade some kind of nonchalant glare that wasn’t winning. Even his fake glasses couldn’t cover up that whoever they were protecting, was making them shiver down to their core. So much so, they weren’t scared about not opening up to the Uncles.

“Yours?” Shindong asked.

Heechul sighed.

“The only piece of useful information I got out tonight was this one,” and he turned to Kai almost forgotten in the room. The boy was so still, so quiet and that’s why—Heechul figured—he knew so much. “Kai, tell Shindong what you told me.”

Kai nodded like a sterile soldier.

“Taemin woke me up tonight when he felt something strange and knew something was off. He told me to be quiet because Jackson was in the other room and he didn’t want him to wake up. He apparently was going to follow up on something and I told him that I would keep watch with a simple nod. I reported to Uncle Heechul when I realized that Taemin wasn’t coming back but Eunhyuk did.”

“Now, tell him what else you told me,” Heechul went on.

This triggered Kai. He stammered before opening his mouth. There was trust being betrayed here and he didn’t like it. That, Shindong could see on the boy’s face. He was loyal to his alpha, that was for sure, but Kai also showed a knowing glance that the four others who didn’t want to speak did. He cleared his throat anyway and fixed his posture.

“Taemin and Minho have been keeping up their closeness with the two Tribeless but Uncle Heechul told me that you two wanted that to happen either way. Only….”

“Only?” Shindong asked.

“There seemed to be more. They are keeping some form of knowledge away from you two. They don’t want you to know. They don’t trust you. Something about Onew and Key. I was to take charge of the betas when Taemin left them in my care and nothing more. But…I think the might’ve gotten themselves into some trouble. I know they suspected these four. None of us trusted them and for good right. They were trying to attack something during the night—”

Siwon rolled his eyes and laughed a small, hysterical laugh.

“Oh, don’t play innocent now,” he retorted. Shindong shot glares his way and the smile quickly wiped itself from his features.

“Want to talk now, I see,” he responded.

Siwon switched gazes with Eunhyuk like they were thinking the same thing and neither one wanted to admit it.

“Speak!” Heechul yelled.

It didn’t make them jump, but it did clear their attention. Siwon pursed his lips, but surprisingly, it was Eunhyuk to speak this time around.

“We were on an assignment,” he answered with his lazy demeanor that they now came to understand was just the way he was and nothing fancy. “Trust me, there are scarier things than you. And we had a good bargain.”

Shindong let out a long, exasperated breath. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, the veins were popping from their sides and his irises had turned a pure white, the white of his eyes turning black. He didn’t speak, didn’t ask a question. He simply walked up to Eunhyuk and without warning, grabbed him by the neck with the utmost ease.

“Trust me, I am very much scary. So, speak or,” he stretched out his free hand and in the place of his nails, long sharp claws grew out the skin, “don’t and see what happens.”