CHAPTER THREE

"He's awake... sort of," came Qia's voice from somewhere to Joonmyeon's right, but when he tried to lift his head from what seemed to be a soft pillow, he felt her hand pushing his shoulder down, "Don't move around too much ok? You knocked your head pretty hard when you fell."

Joonmyeon tried to talk, but his voice sounded scratchy and it hurt his throat.

"Hyung?" Yixing asked, and at least his voice sounded fine, cocky, even, "I heard you got molested by a centaur's ghost."

"Yixing! That's not very nice, now is it?" Qia chided him, but she sounded amused.

"Very funny, Xing," rasped Joonmyeon out, and he intended to sound angry, he really did, but he could never get mad with Yixing.

Joonmyeon finally pried his eyelids apart, and saw Yixing poking his tongue out at him - he clearly did not expect Joonmyeon to open his eyes so soon. Yixing's cheeks became a lovely red, his eyes went wide, and Joonmyeon had to resist the urge to smother him in kisses for the sake of Qia.

Instead, Joonmyeon propped himself up on his elbows and noticed he was lying in Chanyeol's bed. There were clothes scattered all around the room, videogame cases littered the floor and his instruments took up an entire side of the bedroom, but it still looked much more organized than Joonmyeon and Yixing's room.

"I'll go let the others know he's awake," Qia told Yixing without bothering to hide her smirk.

She was gone for only a moment before the entire pack ran inside the room, and Joonmyeon barely had time to brace himself before ten pair of arms wrapped around his body - some around his waist, others around his legs or torso, but they all managed to squeeze themselves in Chanyeol's bed, and even though Joonmyeon got a nose full of Kyungsoo's red hair and Sehun's elbow was buried deep between his ribs, Joonmyeon didn't mind.

"I'm pretty sure you're gonna break a bone like that," Phoenix drawled from the door.

"Believe it or not, this isn't the first time they decide to crush me," Joonmyeon wheezed out.

"So, how're you feeling?" Isabella asked him, her yellow eyes flickering between him and the pile of bodies on top of him; she seemed amused.

"Like someone smashed my skull repeatedly with a hammer," Joonmyeon answered truthfully, and the boys immediately got off him, except for Yixing, who simply sat on the bed with him, their shoulders touching and backs resting on the bed frame. "Anyone want to tell me what happened?" Joonmyeon asked after a second of silence, and his voice sounded small even to himself. Yixing laced their fingers together and gave his hand a tiny squeeze.

Phoenix cleared and said, "When you grabbed the centaur's corpse, his ghost kind of... took over your body and spoke," she paused for a moment, trying to find the words to explain, "and basically, what it said was that you all, as a pack, were in some god's path to destroy Earth because, apparently, you are descendants of a special breed of wolves that existed a gazillion years ago, and said god wants you to die so he can conquer his dreams of becoming supreme lord of the Universe."

"It also mentioned something about a siren, leading your way towards battle," Isabella continued, "honestly; he seemed to be against the idea of war, in general. He was pretty helpful, actually-"

"I know, right?" Phoenix interrupted her, "usually, whenever people try to give advice, they just confuse the living out of me."

"Anyway," Isabella continued, looking annoyed, "I would suggest you to find a siren, which is going to be pretty tough considering they are, like, super spread out around the world."

"What do you mean special breed of wolves?" Kyungsoo asked from the corner of the room.

Isabella and Phoenix shared a look that lasted mere milliseconds, but Joonmyeon recognized it, because he and Yifan often looked at each other like that before delivering bad news. At last, Phoenix spoke, "Rumor has it that, back in the days, some wolves had powers," she began, "But I don't mean powers like witches, but more like the power to control air, water, earth, fire."

"Those were the most common ones," Isabella said, "I've read some had telekinesis, or time control, even. But they went extinct hundreds of years ago, after the Great War."

Everybody knew about the Great War; species turned against each other, an absolute bloodshed that led to nothing, villages wiped out before the Council managed to get a hold of the situation.

"Some people say that these wolves were the ones that caused the War," Isabella said, "Because they wanted to be the only ones left, and they knew they could be, given their special talents."

"I don't get it, though," Jongdae said, "Why would anyone think we are magical?"

There were murmurs of agreement around the room, and Joonmyeon felt

"I understand your confussion," Isabella said, "And, quite honestly, I don't know either, but whatever the reason is, we can't let this slide."

"I know why," Qia said, and Joonmyeon realized she had never left the room, "I first felt it when Zitao and I met. I didn't pay much attention to it, figured it was just some remain of his lineage or something," she grimaced, "But then I met the other guys and I realized it couldn't be a coincidence."

"What?" Zitao asked, looking overly confused.

"Well, us witches can sense when others have magical potential," Qia explained further, "And you give off this aura of power, it's overwhelming when you are all together; why do you think you were asked to be a part of the Inner Circle?"

"You think they knew?" Joonmyeon asked Phoenix, "Do you think the Council knew about this... lineage?"

"But what are the odds of all of us having magic powers and all that?" Jongdae asked, "It seems kind of fishy to me."

"The Fates never do anything on accident," Isabella said, "Everything happens for a reason."

"The Fates?" Sehun asked, "As in, the three old ladies knitting and stuff?"

"Well, yeah... in a nutshell," Phoenix said, "though I suggest you don't say it in front of them."

"They can get a little sensitive," Isabella added.

“Maybe we should call the Council,” Phoenix suggested, but now she looked worried, “ask them about it.”

“You can call them from my office,” Joonmyeon suggested.

“Great, thanks,” Phoenix said, though she did not sound too excited.

“I’ll show you,” Yifan said, and the girls followed him out the room.

“I better get going now,” Qia said, waving goodbye, “Make sure to stay down for a bit, ok?”

There was a heavy silence in the room, until Baekhyun spoke up, “So… powers, huh?” he laughed nervously, “That sounds fun.”

“Yeah, super fun,” Kyungsoo drawled, “if it’s true, it means some monumental entity is after our asses.”

“Kyungsoo,” Joonmyeon warned, “don’t be mean to your brother.”

Kyungsoo huffed, but did not comment.

“Right now, all we can do is wait,” Minseok said from his seat by the window, “so why don’t we do so in silence? Let Joonmyeon get some rest.”

They sat quietly in Chanyeol’s room, and for once, Joonmyeon was able to close his eyes surrounded by his packmates without being bothered. It was nice, listening to nothing but their breathing.

After not hearing back from the girls in almost an hour, Joonmyeon began to worry and tried to stand up on wobbly legs, despite Yixing’s protests, and somehow managed to shake his brothers off and make it to his office.

Joonmyeon slipped inside quietly, just in time to hear Phoenix snap into the phone, “I recognize the Council has made a decision, but given it’s a stupid decision, I’ve decided to ignore it,” followed by her slamming the phone shut.

“What did they say?” Isabella asked and Joonmyeon did not expect the slight tremor in her voice.

“I’m so sorry, Isabella,” Phoenix said; she sounded a bit frantic, “I’m sure they’ll still take you back, if you hurry,” she continued, “I didn’t mean to drag you into this too…”

“What?” Isabella demanded.

Phoenix took in a deep breath before answering, “It’s better if you don’t know, that way they can’t punish you-“

“No!” Isabella interrupted her, “I’m not leaving you so you better tell me what’s going on.”

Phoenix looked at her for a long minute, and Joonmyeon could see how she was looking for any trace of doubt in her friend’s face to hold on to, to use as an excuse to push her away. In the end, there was nothing.

“You gonna tell us what happened?” Isabella asked rather sharply.

“When I called the Council,” Phoenix started, “I told them about the centaur and Joonmyeon and the ghost. They did not seem too preoccupied about the war or the god, but they were eager to know more about what the ghost said about your powers.

They wanted me to take you all under custody and take you to the Council’s headquarters for experimenting.”

There were outraged shouts from the pack before Phoenix could continue talking, and she seemed overwhelmed by the situation, her cat ears flattened on top of her head and tail coiled tightly around her own waist. Baekhyun took pity on her and rose from his seat to be heard over the yelling, “Guys! Let her finish before you all try to crucify her or something.” He flashed a small smile and Phoenix seemed to relax a little.

“Of course, I told them to off,” Phoenix continued, “and that lead to a whole lot of argument and in the end they gave me an ultimatum; I either turned you in or I became a wanted fugitive for restriction of the law. Again, I said no and, well, now they want me dead.”

“So, what?” Jongdae asked, “Now there’ll be ‘Wanted’ posters with your faces on? And rewards?”

“I guess,” Isabella said with a sigh.

“What are you going to do now?” Chanyeol asked, looking worried.

“We are going to help you,” Phoenix said, “You can’t stay here, not with the Council after you.”

“We’ll help you find a siren,” Isabella continued, “We will stay with you for as long as you need us.”

“We can’t ask you to do all of this for us,” Yifan protested, “We are the ones who got you into this mess; it’s not fair to you.”

“If it weren’t for us, the Council wouldn’t know about you; if anything, it’s our fault this is happening.”

“Plus, it’s a good thing I wasn’t asking,” Phoenix finished, “Now, sirens can be found in Australia, so we should get going before it gets dark.”

There was an argument bubbling up Joonmyeon’s throat, but it died when Isabella continued, “Grab a backpack and put in whatever you think you might need, perhaps even a duffel bag, if you find it necessary. Don’t worry about your house; the Council isn’t going to risk making the news."

“What about money?” Minseok asked, his hand linked with Zitao’s.

“We’ve got credit cards,” Phoenix said, “so we can pull out all the cash we can and then ditch them on an alley or something.”

“What about food?” Jongdae questioned.

“We can buy,” Isabella supplied, “I also know someone in Australia and other places in the world, Phoenix too, so we’ve got that and shelter covered.”

“Worst case scenario, we’re forced to eat fast food,” Phoenix joked.

Joonmyeon noticed they had an answer for everything, a solution to any problem that might rise, and it calmed him. He trusted these girls.

“Alright, then,” he found himself agreeing, “When do we leave?”

“Meet us outside in twenty minutes?” Isabella suggested with her eyebrows arched upwards.