Everything had been strange these couple of days, Jongdae thought so and Sehun, albeit having little time to agree with him, thought the same. As of lately, right about the time where Jongdae had his first encounter with Jongin, people seemed to acting more crazy then normal, bringing some sort of tension to some of the usual interactions on the pack. Yes, only some; because the majority of the people seemed to go on with their lives as if nothing was abnormal: just look at Kibum and Jonghyun, they still made out at every corner of their villages in the middle of work, and even not when they were working, and shocking the heck out of everybody who had the displeasure of finding them in compromising positions.

On the other side, they had seen a different side from Kris; their leader, while still charismatic and with the usual strong, level headed personality, appeared to be more and more tired lately, as well as worried. Jongdae could guess what was that about, Junmyeon had manifested his wish to have children, he had become absolutely besotted with Sunkyu’s newborn baby, and, once again, he must’ve had some troubles while dealing with the Council; he was a strong man but he certainly wasn’t made of iron.

The Council…well, Jongdae was growing bored of repeating the same thing: Soo Man and his little posse continued to order and try to organize and command things at the village based on they wanted, their wishes, their best interest, screw the fact that it was a community. For Jongdae, it seemed more like a dictatorship; he just didn’t call it that because Kris really did his best to prevent it from happening.

Also, he heard some ushered conversation between Minseok and Kris, just as he was exiting the Temple, about how the Council had been dismissing the attacks as a coincidence. It didn’t really take much for Jongdae to put two and two together and come to the conclusion that they had been referring themselves to the same creatures that Baekhyun had fought and that attacked him and Sehun some nights ago. He and Sehun had discussed it, just the previous night, as they were huddle beneath Jongdae’s pelts, getting ready to sleep. Speaking of that, his back was healing and it didn’t even hurt that much anymore, a scab forming neatly on top of each wound, protecting them and regenerating the skin.

Luhan was still sulking over the fact that he and Sehun had taking a night stroll without him and the fact that, lately, he and Sehun had spent a lot of time together, a partnership reinforced by the secret that they both were hiding; he was really mad, or jealous, Jongdae couldn’t really tell, and properly sulking. He didn’t really say much to Jongdae, probably because he had been a little hurt, but he drowned Sehun in working, making the younger do all the jobs he liked the least; Luhan could be petty when he wanted but Sehun wasn’t really bothered by it, doing his job diligently.

Kyungsoo was someone that lately was acting very weirdly as well, although, on his case, Jongdae couldn’t really figure why. Sehun had told him that it was probably some personal problems, the constant pressuring of the Jung’s or his heat approaching. While Jongdae agreed it must’ve been something of the sorts but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something more; Sehun had advised him not to be meddlesome and, instead, be attentive in case Kyungsoo needed.

Seungwan, well, she wasn’t really much stranger than usually but she managed to shake him sometimes with an innocent comment or other that she made; just the other day when him and Sehun went to offer themselves to work on the fields.

After the spring equinox festival, it was usual for the villagers to begin worry about harvesting some of the crops on the fields. It was hard work, the fields occupied a very large portion of their land and it took a lot of people and a lot of time to harvest everything. It was also mandatory for the members of the community to work on the fields; they couldn’t be more than do years without doing it and yet, it was forbidden to volunteers for more than two years on a row: that way no one complain it was unfair.

Sehun, who actually liked to help, volunteered himself year in and year out; Jongdae, despite his injury, was forced to help this year, because the previous two he had skipped them task, one of them with justifiable cause, as he had been on a diplomatic mission, along with other wolfs, to negotiate a pact with a vampire coven. Naturally, this year, he had to do it, or else, people could ask some questions about his injury that he wasn’t comfortable with answering.

While they were giving their names up to Seulgi, who apparently was in charge of dealing with all the procedures, they had encountered Seungwan who stopped to talk to them.

“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you since the festival!” she asked, in a dreamy voice.

“Oh we just have been…” begun Jongdae only to be interrupted by Seungwan, while Sehun just looked at the scenario with apprehension, some worry lines on his forehead.

“Never mind! I bet you just were out there interacting with other people.”

“Well, we…” tried Jongdae only to be interrupted again.

“Making new friends is important you know! It helps to keep you socializing skills up to par and it’s always healthy.”

“What…?” asked Sehun this time, a little surprised at the words, clearly not expecting them or what they were implying.

“Don’t mind me; I am just sharing my opinion with you of course. Just don’t overdo it, people might talk you know! Sometimes talking too much, whether it’s you or some other people is bad. Some things are better when they have a low profile.” She stated with a smile to Sehun and Jongdae, who looked at her with astonishment; did she know something? “Well, it was good knowing that you are both well. I have to go now since I was asked to take care of Joohyun’s class for a bit so that she can come and volunteer herself for the harvest. Bye!”

And with that last sentence, she passed through them happily, on her merry way to meet Joohyun.

“What was that all about?” asked Jongdae frantically and worriedly to Sehun. “Her speech… Do you think she knows something?”

“I don’t think so; I mean, how could she? Seungwan is a lot of things but contrary to Soojung, she doesn’t actually spies on people in order to obtain information. She’s just different; I think she is either being random as she usually is or she is just saying that you and I are usually seen together and she thinks we were socializing with other people.”

“You think?” asked Jongdae with a raised eyebrow, looking a little doubtful.

“That is what I want to believe.” Replied Sehun easily. “I just don’t want to read more into it or else I’ll be paranoid about everything.”

Not reading much into the subject and call it off as Seungwan’s random randomness was what they agreed on, not bothering with finding a theory to explain her words and not being, as Sehun said, paranoid.

Obviously, being Sehun his best friend, meant that the younger male had heard about this little things that he had been observing for a while. Sehun had agreed with some things, sharing equal or very similar thoughts on some cases, or pondering over it once he heard Jongdae’s opinions. He agreed on Luhan and Kyungsoo’s case but he knew nothing about Kris and Minseok’s conversations; on Seungwan’s case, he had been there.

Also, during to the multitude of eyes that were poised on them ever since they had pulled that little stunt of them, that had hurt Jongdae, both of them focused on other things quietly and pacifically as to not raise suspicion which meant that they hadn’t seen Jongin, Chanyeol or Baekhyun.

Sehun had to admit that he was a little worried: it had been four days since he had seen Baekhyun and he didn’t know if the other wolf was getting any better, if the medicine he gave them was making doing anything or even if he had enough medicine. Plus, he really wanted to talk more to Jongin, to know more about him and to ask him a lot of things regarding visions in general. Also, although it was he was a little undeserving, Sehun wished to know if Chanyeol was okay, after all he had ran off on the last time they saw each other and Sehun wasn’t inconsiderate like that.

Briefly, very briefly he may had, even ask himself if the trio was wondering where they were and if they were worried; Jongin was likely to wonder they were, he seemed like the type of person that would, Baekhyun and Chanyeol, those Sehun had his doubts, especially considering the fact that Chanyeol had argued with Jongdae.

Right now, in this precise moment, Sehun was finished with the first day of working in the fields. He could feel his limbs sore and the muscles pulling tight beneath his skin making him want nothing more than collapse on a pile of pelts and just sleep away get some proper rest because tomorrow it was going to be the same thing all over again; thankfully Luhan had been kind enough to let him be for the week, telling him not to bothered and come to work, since he knew it was tiring. Privately, Sehun thanked the man for not being so angry at them that he forced him into working.

The sun had been hot and Sehun felt the burn and the heat on the back of his reddened skin, especially on the neck, arms and a little bit of his nose. He grunted a little, cursing at the fact that he had fair skinned and after a refreshing bath, to get rid of the dirt and grime, he had gone to Luhan to ask him something for the red skin since his stock of medicine was almost empty, having used the majority on Jongdae. Luhan, at first seemed to brush him off, thinking he was messing with him, until he saw the angry red patches of skin on the younger; then he had advised Sehun to go pick some aloe, making Sehun grimace a little, however, the elder was at the moment taking care of some pups that were a little feverish and it prevented him to doing it himself.

Sehun whined a little, at his lack of fortune, which was a really atypical behavior from him: he wasn’t that much of a whiner, but the aloe mentioned by Luhan grew on the northern part of the village, between thorny bushes and plants that existed around there, meaning that Sehun was probably going scratch himself again; he barely had that healed the previous scratch, the one he got after getting himself and Jongdae into the village after the festival, healed.

He walked into the streets, greeting people here and there and pausing to play with some of the pups that threw themselves at his legs, giggling at him and being so damn cute; he could understand why Junmyeon had changed his mind and wanted a baby of his own.

As he reached the small place he winced immediately seeing how the aloe plants were mingled with the thorny bushes.

“This is going to be a joy!” he drawled to himself, standing for a while with his hands on his waist trying to think of a way to minimize the amount of scratches that he, no doubts, was going to get from this. Damn Luhan for letting himself grow out of aloe.

He approached the plants and crouched down, hands moving slowly but surely through the thorns, trying to reach the aloe safely. The first three plants that Sehun caught were damage free, being plants that were closer to him but, as he needed to dwell deeper in the mass of plants, it got more complicated and it was showing by the numerous red lines carving his arms and hands, making him hiss slightly.

However, as he was retrieving the small plants, Sehun saw something that made him stop; some of the plants had strange marks on them, almost as if they had been stepped up upon. At first he didn’t really think it was possible, it seemed outlandish to him that someone even ventured willingly to this part of their village if not for looking into some plants and herbs: there was nothing here!

Sehun almost dismissed the feeling, thinking that he was imagining things, since not even the creatures that they had heard of lately would be stupid enough to hurt themselves but when he leaned a little to pick another aloe plant, his hand touched something that didn’t belong to the plant kingdom. He pulled it slowly at opened his hand to see a piece of gray fabric on his hand.

For a second or two, he simply gazed at the torn piece of fabric, begging his mind to process something instead of simply looking at it blankly. It was when it dawned on him.

“This looks exactly like the color of the Council members robes!” he exclaimed, finally recognizing what was on his end, although he didn’t dare to speak it out loud.

His mind was scrambled: no one ever came here except for apothecaries, herbalists and healers; no one! So why the heck was he finding the fabric in here? Did this mean that it was a habit of the Council to come up north? With what purpose? There was nothing here!

The last statement that his mind supplied made him remember him of a conversation with the rogue wolves about the possibility of the Council being hiding things from them.

“What if there is something here?” he asked himself in a low murmur, squinting at the plants in front of him and trying to see past the vast amount of them. It seemed a farfetched idea but the truth was that, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense: the conversation they had about hiding things, the fact that this was the perfect spot since not much people came here and those who came didn’t even think that there was something hidden here and why would they? It was hidden right beneath everyone’s noses; no one would search it here! If it was something of those lines, it was clever: hiding in plain sight!

He clenched his fists, knowing that he would have to go to Jongdae, as soon as the man finished his tasks on the fields, in order to tell him about his discoveries and his theory. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice behind him made itself be heard.

“What are you doing here?”

Sehun turned around to look into the cold, calculating eyes of Jung Sooyoun, barely suppressing a shiver as the presence of the woman made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

She was one of the heads of the Council, or she was trying to be, at least, therefore Sehun had to be careful with his words: saying the wrong thing in front of her, especially in front of her, knowing how she had managed to screw Kyungsoo’s life, could be dangerous for him.

“Sooyoun!” he greeted, trying to infuse a polite and nice tone in his voice. “I am merely picking some aloe plants for Luhan since his stock finished and he’s busy with some sick pups. Also, I need the aloe: my skin is burnt.”

Sehun made a show of presenting his arms forward for Sooyoun to see that he was, I fact, sunburnt. Her eyes were suspicious, as usual, but she seemed rather convinced of his excuse, which was the truth anyways.

“Tell Luhan that if he wants aloe, he needs to find a better location for them; this place is inhospitable, nothing more than thorn bushes and vines. That way nobody needs to get hurt over aloe plants and we leave this place to be. Nobody comes here and it is rarely patrolled; if something occurs to endanger you, you have no one near to help you.” She stated, looking as regal as a queen, ordering him to do as she told him. “You have no business here.”

As curious as Sehun was and as intelligent too, something he couldn’t really stop his mouth for acting faster than his reason.

“So why are you here?” He asked, looking into the older woman’s eyes.

It was the wrong question to make, Sehun realized that as soon as he opened his mouth and also by the look on her face.

“I don’t need to give you explanations of my actions Sehun; I am a member of the Council.” She replied haughtily. “You seem to forget your place; you shouldn’t.”

“Of course not, I am very sorry for questioning your motives; it was childish curiosity only, do not misinterpret me.” He lied with a smile that was as fake as it could be.

Sooyoun nodded, probably a little mollified at his words. However, the distrusting and calculating shine was still in place.

“This is still no place for you to be Sehun. Inform Luhan of what I told you and remind him that there as consequences for disobeying. Pick your aloe and run along; go threat your sunburns and your scratched limbs.”

“Of course Sooyoun.” He nodded politely before calmly picking his plants, discreetly placing the fabric on the pocket of his pants. “Have a nice day.”

Sehun marched out of there at a normal step, he didn’t want to give her an impression that he was scared or that he was compromised with something. He also didn’t dare to look back to see what she was doing.

This only seemed to enforce his theory. He needed to tell all of this to Jongdae and as fast as he could.

Sehun burst into Jongdae’s hut, hoping to find the smaller male inside but the hut was completely empty.

“Why is that you are never home when I want to talk to you?” he asked into the silent hut, not expecting to hear an answer.

He ran off the hut, trying to locate his best friend somehow, he knew that the other was not in the fields, that much was certain because he had talked to him half an hour ago and Jongdae was just finishing as well, babbling about how his back hurt from being bent over the crops for so long and, obviously, due to the fact they were still healing and yet he didn’t seem to find him.

The person who ended up telling him about Jongdae’s whereabouts was Minseok who was coming out of the temple. Sehun stopped briefly seeing that the older male was wearing the leather like necklace that was the mandatory piece every time that a wolf was going on a mission. The older alpha informed him that the beta was with Kyungsoo at the temple.

“Going into a mission Minseok?” asked Sehun, smiling slightly at the other; it wasn’t an ideal thing going into a mission, there were dangers everywhere and even a simple scouting mission could turn into something that could kill them.

“Yes, I am Sehun. I am leaving in forty minutes.” Replied the elder with a grin; although Minseok didn’t like the missions, knowing fully well the possible outcomes of it, Minseok prided himself into being one of the captains of the missions squads.

“You are leaving with your usual team?” asked Sehun, knowing fully well that each captain could very well pick the alphas on his squad. Minseok had obtain the privilege very soon, being one of the most put together alphas in the bunch: his high intelligent paired with physical aptitude and capacity to work under pressure, had moved him up in the ranks very fast and at the age of twenty two, Minseok had become one of the youngest squad captains ever, losing only to Kris, who had gained that title at the age of twenty.

“No, I am actually not. Ha Yi is not physically apt at the moment, Jonghoon was a father recently and Minhwan is on another mission with Hyuna’s team. I had to make a few changes.”

“Oh? Who is coming with you this time?” asked Sehun, very interested in the dynamics of these squads.

“Hyojin, Jihyun, Gyuri, Jaejin, Chaerin, Ailee, Lalisa, Chaeyoung, Jaejoong, Jackson and Youngbae.”

“Those are a lot of alpha women on your team.” Joked Sehun, making Minseok laugh.

“A lot of women but I have full trust on their abilities.”

Sehun knew every single member on that team and he could see why Minseok had chosen them: Jaejoong, Jackson and Youngbae were all muscle, compact and solid, providing the brutal strength that the team needed; Hyojun, Jihyun, Ailee and Chaerin were the female equivalent of the word wicked, they were deathly and their combat skills were better than most men that Sehun knew; Jaejin and Lalisa were agile and extremely fast, no one would ever lay a hand on them, and then there were Gyuri and Chaeyoung who were smart as heck and were amazing strategists. Minseok had a full team of aces on him, despite the fact some of the wolves were very young.

“What are you exactly doing this time?”

“An emissary from a wolf tribe from the eastern lands had come to request our help. It appears that there was an attack to the village and a group of about fifty people managed to escape from the attack and they need our expertise and some of our wolves to investigate the problem and to search for possible survivors.”

Sehun made a face; it was becoming a reoccurring problem these days to heard about attacks; he actually didn’t dare to ask about the dimension of the pack but he actually feared the answer, knowing fully well that, if they had asked for help, it meant that it was probably a massacre.

“I wish that you have a successful mission and that you and your squad get back home safely.” Wished Sehun, grasping the other’s arm amiably, trying to convey the sincerity of his words.

“Thank you Sehun! I hope that as well!” thanked Minseok patting Sehun’s shoulder affectionately, grateful at the younger’s gesture; Sehun was a great person.

“I won’t take any more of your time, I know that you need to gather your team an access your supplies before leaving.”

Minseok nodded, letting a little sigh escape his mouth and running a hand through his hair.

“Perks and dramas of being a team leader.” He joked without humor. “Just…do me a favor and take care of Kyungsoo, will you?”

Sehun was surprised at the request. He would never imagine that Minseok would ask him such thing, sure they were close but there were better people for this job than him. Minseok seemed to notice his shock and smiled gently.

“You are a good person Sehun: smart, level headed but sensitive to other’s problems. You care about people and you are good with them. I am a little afraid that without me here to run interference, Soojung or Sooyoun may come after Kyungsoo to give him a hard time, you know how they are. If I leave him in your care, I know that he stays in good hands. It gives me reassurance.”

Sehun understood the implied meaning; Kyungsoo was pretty much bait for the Jung sisters and their primary target at every possible situation available. Minseok cared a lot for Kyungsoo, his affections were poorly concealed when it came to people who were close with him as he was, and this reassurance would help him to have a tranquil mind and razor sharp focus on the mission ahead of him.

“I will take care of him, don’t worry!” promised Sehun. “Just finish your mission safe and soundly so that you can return to him and take care of him yourself.”

“Thank you!”

“Don’t thank me for caring.” Chided Sehun softly to the older wolf. “It’s actually very sweet to see how much you still love him despite the things that the Council pulled to keep you apart.”

Minseok said nothing but his eyes conveyed how he felt about Sehun comment and how truthful he found it to be.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of him!” repeated the younger.

“I know you will I trust you.” Replied the older gently.

Sehun smiled at Minseok but something in his field of vision made him stop and look to his left.

“Is there something wrong?” asked Minseok looking also at the spot that Sehun was regarding.

“I thought I saw something at the corner of the temple but I could be wrong. It was just a glimpse but it could be just me being tired.”

Sehun had seen a blur of something black on the corner of his eye, he could’ve swear he did, but when he turned his head there was nothing there; also there wasn’t an abnormal scent in the air, or rather, he couldn’t really smell someone’s presence in there. He shook his head to dispel the confusion, feeling that he needed the action to make it happen and also not to worry Minseok.

With a final hug and a whispered ‘May Mother Earth be with you’, Minseok walked away, no doubt to gather his squad and report to Kris before leaving. Sehun stood on the same spot he was, watching the man walk through the village looking as strong and confident as ever, preparing himself mentally for the challenge ahead him.

When Minseok was out of side, Sehun entered the temple finding Kyungsoo and Jongdae speaking quietly to each other. They stopped talking as soon as he approached them.

“Hi Sehun!” greeted the priest when he laid his eyes on the taller wolf.

The taller greeted Kyungsoo with a small smile and a one armed hug, maintaining his position, with his arm on the other’s shoulder, as he turned to Jongdae.

“I was looking for you!”

“Me?” asked Jongdae pointing at himself. “I was looking for you also but I didn’t find you.”

“I was up north picking aloe for my sunburns; Luhan was out of it on his stocks!” explained the taller wolf.

“And I came to talk to Minseok, who coincidentally was here with Kyungsoo! Have you heard about Minseok’s mission?”

“I did! I just talked with him outside the temple. Another attack by unidentified creatures.” Replied Sehun with a meaningful look to Jongdae.

“Unidentified?” asked Kyungsoo with a frown on his face.

“Yes, Minseok said that the emissary didn’t specify the nature of the attackers.” He answered smoothly, mainly to distract Kyungsoo from the message he hid in his words to Jongdae, earning a small sound of understanding on Kyungsoo’s part.

“Why were you looking for me?” asked Jongdae with a raised eyebrow, looking at the younger.

“Wanted to talk to you…” replied Sehun vaguely, not wanting to give his motives in front of Kyungsoo. “But it’s not important.”

“Good!” replied Jongdae with a glint in his eyes. “I’ve invited Kyungsoo to have supper with us tonight.”

Sehun seemed a little taken aback by Jongdae’s declaration but at the other’s meaningful gaze in his direction, he understood that Jongdae had a motive behind it that it was going to be revealed later on, when the two of them where alone.

“Amazing! It’s always a pleasure to have you for dinner Kyungsoo, although it’s not my hut.” he said instead, after all he did enjoyed Kyungsoo’s presence; he was a really good friend of them, adding the last bit a little jokingly.

Kyungsoo smiled delightedly at the reaction on Sehun’s part and Jongdae actually asked them to move along and just starting walking.

The priest and the two betas left the temple and walked together towards Jongdae’s hut, joking with each other in a relaxed atmosphere, completely missing the eyes that observed them.

“So you are saying that, after that Oh Sehun left with Kim Jongdae and Do Kyungsoo, am I correct?” asked Sooyoun to the male in front of her, who nodded at her words.

Sooyoun remained contemplative for a few seconds, her mind lost in thoughts; she didn’t like the fact that Sehun was picking plants at the northern part of the village that had to be a habit of his eradicated. Also, the words from Minseok and Sehun’s curiosity about the contents of the mission left her with an inkling suspicion about the beta.

“Very well!” she stated, at last. “Continue to monitor his movements; I am not sure that he knows something but I do not want him wondering around and putting his nose where it doesn’t belong; I do not wish to even allow him the chance: he is very smart and curious with is a lethal combination for my plans. Any suspicious actions must be reported to me.”

“Yes, Council member Sooyoun.”

“You may leave.”

As the figure disappeared from her personal quarters, she stood from her chair and regarded the outside through a window pensively.

“As for Kyungsoo…I have my plans for him!” she stated, a poisonous smile stretching her lips. “You better watch your back Kyungsoo.”

A/N: Hello everyone! Merry Christmas if you do celebrate it!! I hope you are all doing amazingly well! Here I am with another chapter, how did you like it?? I want to know all about it! On this chapter we have: Seungwan with some mysteryous things to say, as usual, we get a little bit of everyday life, so that you know how does the pack works, we got Sehun who might've, potentially, made some discoveries, while Sooyoun doesn't seem all that happy with seeing him and who made some threats in Sehun's way. Minseok is gone on a reckon mission and know we know that creatures are exterminating packs. Kyungsoo is under direct protection of Sehun, who vowed to take care of him in Minseok's absence and it seems that Jongdae also knows something important. That ending shows that someone is keeping an eye on Sehun and that Kyungsoo is hated (poor Kyungsoo!!!). How are you feeling about all of this? Please, do come and tell me all about it in either a comment or a private message! If you like the story, subscribe and upvote, just don't be silent! It makes me happy to feel that this story is liked!
As usual, and no less important, remember that you should always be healthy and be safe, to love others and allow yourself to be loved and, very important, be very, very, VERY HAPPY!
A lot of love to all of you and have an excellent week!!!
<3