CHAPTER FOUR

Instead of getting mad, Joonmyeon simply smiled. He knew his mate was not angry. Joonmyeon noticed his hands were shaking, and in three long strides, he was in front of Yixing, cupping his hand in his.

“Hey,” he said softly, searching Yixing’s eyes, “You know I’m not going to let anything happen to you or the boys, right?”

Yixing nodded but his breathing was getting a little erratic, so Joonmyeon enveloped him in a tight hug, burying his face in the crook of Yixing’s neck. Joonmyeon felt Yixing sag against him, his arms tight around Joonmyeon’s waist and felt relieved when he heard Yixing mutter out a, “I know, hyung,” to his shoulder.

Joonmyeon allowed himself to remain like that for a minute, basking in the scent of Yixing that was so familiar to him, a mix of lilies and the musky scent that only wolves possessed, like wood and rivers and nature. He remembered hearing Sungmin complain that wolves smelled like mud once, but then Sehun reminded him, with that sass that was so him, that vampires smelled like rotten corpses. Sungmin looked insulted for a millisecond before he broke out in a smile and said, “I like this kid,” to no one in particular. His heart ached at the memory and realized that, despite whatever myths ran around the world about vampires and werewolves, he was going to miss the Clan; hell, he was going to miss the entire Circle.

Yixing was the first to break free, and even if he tried to turn around quickly so Joonmyeon would not notice his red eyes, Joonmyeon did, because he was a great Alpha and an even better mate. Joonmyeon took Yixing’s face in his hands and wiped away the stray tear that leaked from his left eye and Yixing smiled at him reassuringly.

It hurt Joonmyeon to know there was not much he could do to comfort Yixing, because truth be told, he was just as terrified of this whole thing. He had no idea what was going on; all he knew was that his pack was in danger and he had to protect them at all costs.

Yixing resumed his packing, this time with renewed energy, and Joonmyeon finally joined him in silence. He grabbed a large backpack and started packing: first, clean underwear, because wearing the same boxers for too long was gross, then two sets of clothing. He hoped he wouldn’t have to shift out of nowhere, because he hated shopping. The pack had enough money to buy something new if needed, so he did not worry much. Afterwards, he pulled out the black box he kept under their bed.

It wasn’t something overly impressive-looking, just a simple, rectangular shaped box, with a big lock on the front and small carving of wolves around the edges, but Joonmyeon’s father gave it to him when he and Yifan were about to leave their small village to start their own lives.

“Take good care of it, son,” his father had said sternly, “it is very precious; it has been in our family for generations.”

“How do you open it?” Joonmyeon had been eighteen, and had not bitten anyone yet, so he was still a child at heart, and it proved in the way he eagerly tried to pry the lid open, “What’s in it?”

His father chuckled at his antics, “You will find out one day, when the time is right,” and then he had given his son one last hug before Joonmyeon left, Yifan right next to him.

His father died during the Great War, when a horde of thelkins attacked their village, sea demons with flippers for hands and dog heads. Hundreds of years later, and Joonmyeon still hadn’t been able to figure out how to open the box, or had any clue as to what was in there, but he wasn’t about to leave  it behind.  Lu Han had tried his hand at figuring out how to open it, but after seven weeks, he had announced his failure and proceeded to drown his sorrow in Rubik cubes and Yifan’s mouth. It was all quite disturbing, if you ask Joonmyeon.

Joonmyeon was done packing just in time to leave, and he gave one last, longing look at his bedroom before following Yixing outside and shutting the door behind him. Downstairs, he found that they were the last ones to be ready.

“Joonmyeon hyung?” Sehun asked quietly, his voice so small Joonmyeon had to strain his ears to hear him, “Are you sure about all of this?”

They all looked expectantly at Joonmyeon, waiting for him, their Alpha, to reassure them that yes, he was sure and yes, they would be ok. Because, in the end, they were all afraid of the same thing, dying, or even worse, losing one of their brothers.

There was a knock on their front door, five steady beats in a consecutive manner, and Kyungsoo opened it to reveal Phoenix and Isabella standing there with backpacks on their shoulders, a grim look on their faces. Kyungsoo stepped aside to let them in and Isabella attempted to give him a smile, but the tiredness in her eyes was so obvious it did not do much to cheer them up.

“Alright, are you guys ready?” Phoenix asked, but her tone indicated that, in fact, she was not ready.

“Yeah, sure,” Yifan muttered, Lu Han’s hand clasped tightly in his.

For a second, they all just stood there in complete silence. Then, Yixing said, “Let’s go, then,” and he stood from his seat on the couch and made his way towards the garage.

Zitao had just finished slipping the garage door open when there was a yell of, “Hey!” from across the street. Joonmyeon turned around to see Stephanie running towards them, the other fairies behind her at a slower pace.

“What’s going on?” Jongin asked, eyeing curiously the package on Stephanie’s hand.

“We’ve got some gifts for you,” Sooyoung said with a smile.

“Really?” Jongdae said, sounding surprised. Yoona took the bag from Stephanie and pulled out a small pendant of a deer, and gave it to Lu Han.

“They’re protection charms,” Hyoyeon explained, giving Yifan a dragon shaped ring.

“We made them ourselves,” Taeyeon bragged. They even got some for Isabella and Phoenix, a cat and a dragon; they seemed to like them enough.

“Thank you,” Joonmyeon smiled, “Really.”

Soonkyu returned the smile, “You are very welcome.”

Joonmyeon could not remember the last time he felt this scared; the only memory that came to mind was from when he was little, and had a nightmare so terrifying, he woke up kicking and screaming, his mother kneeling by his makeshift bed.

She had set the candlestick on his bedside table with care, and then turned to brush away the sweaty strands of hair from his forehead, “My dear,” she had whispered softly, “you are safe now.” Years later, he was not sure what the nightmare had been about, but he knew it had been enough to keep him frightened for days.

Still, that did not compare to the fear that had crept into his mind, like a cold steel hand clutching at his heart until he felt chills all over his body.  However, it would not do well to let it get inside his head. He had more things to worry about. Like the fact that Sehun and Jongin were about to rip each other’s throats out in the backseat of the van.

“Will you two babies cut it out?” Lu Han snapped giving them both the Lu Han stare. It was the one he got whenever he got angry, making him look mad, and it always worked. Mostly on Yifan, but it still worked.

“He started it,” Sehun whined rather obnoxiously, pointing childishly at his best friend, whom stuck his tongue out in retaliation.

Sehun hit him square in the shoulder. “Hey! What’s that for?” Jongin rubbed the sore spot with a pout on his face, “And it’s not my fault you’re being a whiny ”

Sehun gasped dramatically, and Minseok tried not to laugh. He did.

Phoenix giggled next to Isabella, who had fallen asleep and was currently drooling on her companion’s shoulder. Phoenix did not seem fazed at all. Then Isabella started biting Phoenix’s sleeve and she remained calm. Isabella even began to mumble and squirm around in her seat, yet Phoenix continued staring out the window.

By the time they arrived to the airport, the sun had already set and most of his packmates were asleep. Yifan turned off the engine next to him and then turned to look at the boys; they were all curled up together (Phoenix and Isabella were both drooling onto each other now), limbs interlocked and it was the cutest thing Joonmyeon had seen in a while.

Joonmyeon faced Yifan, “You wake them up,” Yifan spluttered next to him.

“No, you do it.”

“Rock, paper, scissors?” Joonmyeon suggested with raised eyebrows.

Yifan grunted, “Fine,” and put his hand in a fist.

“One, two, three,” Joonmyeon counted.

Joonmyeon had paper. Yifan had paper.

Joonmyeon had rock. Yifan had rock.

Joonmyeon had scissors. Yifan had scissors.

Joonmyeon had paper. Yifan had paper.

Joonmyeon had paper. Yifan had paper.

Joonmyeon had paper. Yifan had paper.

Joonmyeon had paper. Yifan had paper.

Joonmyeon had paper. Yifan had paper.

Joonmyeon had paper. Yifan had paper.

Joonmyeon had rock. Yifan had scissors.

“Yes!” Joonmyeon whispered as he pumped his fist in the air, “I’m a sly little fox, you can’t beat me, oh yeah,” Joonmyeon started doing a happy dance, until he noticed Phoenix was awake and staring at him, wide smile on her face.

“You saw nothing,” he pointed his index finger at her.

Meanwhile, Yifan was sliding the van’s door open to get to the heaviest sleeper in the pack: Jongin.

“Jongin ah,” Yifan shook him gently by the shoulder, “Jongin ah, wake up.”

Jongin continued snoring. “Come on, kid,” Yifan said, “We’re at the airport.”

Sehun opened his eyes blearily, and when he took notice of Yifan trying to wake Jongin to no avail, he kicked Jongin in the shin. Hard.

“Ow!” Jongin howled, instantly alert.

The airport was crowded. Joonmyeon barely knew how to get from his house to the nearest convenience store. So naturally, he felt lost the moment he step foot in the building.

Thankfully, Isabella took charge of the situation and led them through the horde, Phoenix by her side.

“When was the last time you saw this many people, Sehun ah?” Zitao slung an arm around Jongin and Sehun’s shoulders with a cheeky grin on his face, “Um, India?”

Jongin and Zitao burst out laughing when Sehun scowled and pushed them away.

“Leave him alone,” Minseok chided them, “The poor kid was tired and didn’t want to walk anymore,” the bastard was smiling widely.

“So, logically, he rented a donkey,” Jongdae deadpanned.

Chanyeol added, “While wearing a towel on his head.”

“It was a turban,” Sehun grumbled. Joonmyeon thought he looked like that meme, Grumpy Cat.  

Grumpy Sehun. He liked the ring to it.

“Whatever dude, you looked stupid.” Baekhyun laughed. A long time ago, the pack had learnt a few things about each other:

1. Minseok liked coffee. A lot.
2. Yifan was an actual cinnamon roll, despite what his eyebrows might say.
3. Yixing was eternally confused.
4. Kyungsoo was probably Satan.
5. Baekhyun was a .

(A/N: this is terrible im so sorry)