Getting to where Minseok was proved to be a difficult task, mainly because Sehun had to walk at a glacier pace, supported by both Kyungsoo and Jongdae, trying not to worsen the condition of his back. Plus, there seemed to be a multitude of villagers that paused on their ways to speak to both Sehun and Jongdae, since they were the ones who had visible injuries, never mind the fact that it was raining and everyone was getting absolutely soaked to the bone.

The only person who they didn’t mind stopping for was Seungwan but it had been a very brief encounter, since Seungwan was in her way to deliver a couple of infusions to an elderly couple that live near the temple. Although it wasn’t really that obvious, there seemed to be an anxiousness to her that was not normal, not on Seungwan; she seemed more jumpy and her speech was more stilted than it would normally be.

The woman smile did reach her eyes when she saw them and she greeted them enthusiastically, despite the anxiousness, and patted Jongdae on his cheek softly, telling him to take it easy while chastising Sehun for daring to be up and about in his state.

It had definitely weird but the trio attributed the weirdness to Seungwan’s quirkiness and maybe to the rain since it had the ability to change the mood of a wolf due to the smells that washed and, simultaneously, brought up. In fact, Kyungsoo himself, had commented earlier on that, while he appreciated the rain, today the meteorological event was particularly obnoxious, since it brought a heady ozone and wet soil that obliterated every other possible smell.

Assuming that Minseok would be at the Council or, at the very best, with Jackson and Gyuri, they opted for going to the Council first, knowing very well that a team leader, as Minseok had been, was usually the last one to present his report in front of the Council, which meant the man had bigger possibilities of being there.

Arriving to the Council’s building, they found Youngbae sitting on the pavement, with his head tilted upwards, letting the rain fall on his face. The alpha was a peculiar one, no doubts about that, with peaceful and gentle nature, he had a propensity to close himself in his own little bubble; he once explained that it allowed him to appreciate small things in life.

“Youngbae!” called Kyungsoo with a smile seeing the man; he and Youngbae went along pretty well since the alpha enjoyed going to the temple to simple talk to Kyungsoo about the most varied things.

“Kyungsoo!” called back the man, looking over at the priest with a smile.

“Enjoying the rain?”

“Yes, while we were on our mission it didn’t rain at all and the water was an issue at some points. I just really needed to seat and, well, enjoy it.”

Kyungsoo nodded with a smile, somewhat agreeing to Youngbae’s philosophies and finding a kindred spirit in the man, of sorts.

“Have you seen Minseok?” he asked again.

“He’s with the Council now; he is simultaneously reporting and speaking with the Council about the situation of the emissary. He’s a rogue now and no one wants that, therefore he is trying to convince them to let him stay.”

Rogue wolf was a name given to a wolf that either opted to cut all ties with his pack or who had lost his pack due to unfortunate causes. They were volatile wolves and tended to go insane because they lacked the socialization that wolves needed in order to survive. More than once had been reported villages and communities attacked by rogue wolves and rogue wolves, due to their insanity, were very dangerous and deadly. Everyone could easily understand why Minseok was so hell bent of aggregating the emissary to their pack: it was better than letting him lose and then lose someone thanks to it, later on, if the wolf went mad.

“How is the Council responding to Minseok’s proposal?” asked Sehun, knowing fully well that the Council wouldn’t accept the foreigner wolf so easily, at least, not the majority.

“Not well, I am afraid.” Answered Youngbae with a frown on his face. “I am not sure why, since we can always use some alphas to protect our pack, not to mention that having a foreigner wolf will be a propeller to cooperation between packs, especially since the attacks are growing larger in number and in power. I think that Minseok might call for the Ductor Right!”

The trio of wolves looked over at the alpha sitting on the floor, looking surprised and actually quite shocked at the other’s words.

“The Ductor Right? Are you sure?” asked Kyungsoo with disbelief.

The Ductor Right was right that a person of the pack could claim in situations where there was a clash of conflict between two parties. This right would cease all of the Council’s decisions about the subject and would evoke the Ductor’s Court, a public event, where the Ductor, or Supreme Judge, and his mate would hear both sides of the parties and make a decision about the subject, being the final decision absolutely irrefutable.

Now, while that appeared to be nothing abnormal, it hid a special little fact that Minseok, and everyone else knew, that changed the game in their favor, which was the fact that the Ductor, word that came from an ancient language, translated itself as Leader, who was none other but Kris.

It had been an extremely intelligent move on Minseok’s part and an extremely dangerous one as well. First of all, they all knew that Kris’ opinion was going to be the same as Youngbae’s and Minseok’s: that the foreigner should join their pack to prevent any sort of danger to them; also, it would give them some time to conceive a new plan if the Council ever tried to do something stupid and, it would assure protection to the emissary in their pack, since the Court would only take place when Kris was back from his journey. However, it would, most definitely, would anger the Council, who would see its powers nullified by this ancient right in front of their community which was something they would not appreciate.

That being said, it meant that Minseok would probably become a target to the Council. Minseok was nothing but brave but this had beaten up all the scales of bravery. Kyungsoo was very proud and scared for the man, for his secret mate; his Minseok.

They waited for a long time before Minseok came through the door again, which occurred after Youngbae left. The wolf looked tired, with deep bags underneath his eyes, hair in disarray and posture stiff as a wooden board. He paused slightly seeing the amount of people waiting for him, his smile only enlarging when his eyes set on Kyungsoo’s form.

Not caring who was in front of him, Minseok advanced towards Kyungsoo in large steps and hugged the omega to himself, enjoying the softness and the smell of the other wolf. It was a very bold movement and Kyungsoo stiffened as soon as he felt the familiar arms wrapping around him, eyes averting themselves to Jongdae and Sehun.

Both men were looking at him and Kyungsoo feared, for a small moment, about his friends’ reaction but, when he looked at their expressions, his fear melted away: both Sehun and Jongdae were looking at him with the softest eyes ever, happy to see their friend that happy.

He allow himself to give in properly to the cuddle for a few moments and quickly pulled from the alpha, fearing that someone who was not his friend would see the gesture and draw back, shivering a little when Minseok’s lips brushed against his neck.

“How are you?” asked Kyungsoo softly; Minseok looked fine but was he really?

“I’m a little tired, missions are never easy, but I am okay otherwise.”

“Youngbae told us that it was an attack…” provided Sehun.

“Should you be up? I was told that you were not that good on the health department.” Asked Minseok playfully, patting the younger on the head gently, eyes concerned at the hunched form of the beta.

“What Luhan doesn’t know, doesn’t bother him!” replied Sehun just as jokingly, knowing very well that it had been Luhan who told the older alpha the news.

Minseok gave him a reproaching look, eyes sparkling mischievously.

“Anyways,” proceeded the alpha “it was indeed an attack. We don’t know the cause since, apparently, many creatures were in that village after the attack; you don’t believe the amount of traces of different creatures we found in there. We didn’t find any traces of survivors and the village was completely obliterated. However, I truly think that those sighting of strange creatures can be the cause behind it. It’s not proven but there are too many rumors of it to be ignored. Yixing seems to think the same.”

It was only when Minseok mentioned the name that all three of them noticed the man standing behind Minseok. The man was relatively tall, taller than everyone except Sehun, with angular features, soft looking pale skin, warm eyes and a sandy colored hair. All in all, the man looked quite majesty and powerful, clearly an alpha. The only thing that dispelled that tough image that he had was the little dimple on the right side of his cheek.

“This is Yixing, the emissary of the Dark Water Pack.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Stated Jongdae softly with his raspy voice.

Yixing offered Jongdae a small, sad smile.

“Thank you. That is very kind of you.”

Yixing had a resonant voice, although with a slight accent that it came from who knows where, but it was a voice that commanded attention and was soft at the same time, which led Jongdae to think that the other should be a good alpha.

“It is indeed a tragedy what happened but, unfortunately, is something that I am more than familiar with. I wasn’t originally from this pack but they loved me like family and that did matter to me. I wish I could have done something more to prevent it but, I can, at least, try to find who did it and why. I am not seeking for revenge but I am trying to find some justice.”

The trio, who just met Yixing, was well impressed with the maturity that the man presented; he seemed extremely level headed and the general opinion was good.

“Yixing is to be going to stay with me until Kris arrives and we have a Ductor’s Trial.”

“You shouldn’t have done that!” chided Kyungsoo, grabbing Minseok’s arm. “What if the Council turns against you?”

“If that is the case, then be it! They are being unreasonable and they are denying someone a shelter and a home after everything he went through and that is cruel. I will not allow it and neither is Kris.”

“But it’s dangerous!”

“I know, Kyungsoo! I know!” replied Minseok soothingly, aware of the omega’s distress, pressing a kiss to the dark locks.

“Allow me to say this but your Council does seem severely strict and quite, well, unnecessarily problematic.”

“We are aware of that!” mumbled Jongdae darkly earning him a surprised and amused chuckle from both alphas.

“But don’t worry Yixing, despite our Council, our leader, Kris, is quite a good leader. He will make everyone see reason, so you will, most certainly stay with us. Kris would never deny help to someone.” Provided Sehun with a smile.

Yixing smiled back at the taller male, eyeing him a little curiously as to why he was hurt but made no questions about Sehun’s state.

“So you think that it was also some sort of creature, Yixing?” asked Kyungsoo softly.

“I do!” nodded the male. “There are many rumors floating around the various communities of races, banshees, nymphs, vampires..., I’ve been an emissary for a long time and I have been hearing about those in an increasingly alarming rate. I mean, once you don’t’ acknowledge it; the second time, you doubt it; the third you wonder and when it passes the tenth time, you really put things into perspective and it’s the first thing on your list when we saw the said marks of different creatures on a local that was attacked. I don’t have proof naturally, I’ve only heard things but that it’s the furthest away from empirical evidence, so…”

Yixing did have a point: while everyone was beginning to see this as the only explanation to these massacres, they didn’t have evidence to support it and until they did, nothing could be done!”

“Yes, I do understand what you are saying. Let us hope to find something on that matter.” Replied Sehun amicably.

Minseok gave a sigh and pulled Kyungsoo over to him which made the other man look over him with apprehension, clearly stating that they shouldn’t really reveal the content of their relationship like that.

“Are you mates?” asked Yixing pleasantly, trying to know everyone better and generally fit in.

“No…”replied Kyungsoo.

“We actually are but our relationship is forbidden!” replied Minseok boldly, making everyone turn to him. “It’s not is like a well-kept secret but our Council prohibited the mating since Kyungsoo is a priest and priests cannot mate!”

“That’s so strange!” frowned Yixing. “I’ve never met a pack that didn’t allow it’s priest to marry!”

“He wasn’t even supposed to be a priest!” protested Minseok, incensed now that the topic had been mentioned. “He was forced into the role by someone in the Council.”

“Why would someone do that?” asked Yixing shocked at the words.

“Because they are horrible human beings who don’t like to accept certain realities.”

“I feel like there is a story in there!” commented the foreigner alpha.

“Oh, there is!” replied the other alpha darkly. “I’ll tell you all about it but in a more private space since everything in here has ears and a big mouth!”

“Should we go to mine?” asked Jongdae with a smile, voice breaking over several times during his short sentence.

“Yes, we should.” Nodded Minseok. “So that Sehun can rest, as long as you let me borrow some water to clean myself. Yixing too!”

“Of course!” replied Jongdae, deciding to end his sentence with a playful joke. “Although you can use the rain water!”

“Funny Dae, but no! Sehun needs to rest and so do you. And I need to seat as well! And then you’re going to tell me how that is that you have those bruises around your neck, don’t think I didn’t see them.” Replied the older man as he helped Jongdae to hold Sehun.

“And I’ll know if you lie!” warned the alpha seeing how Jongdae and Kyungsoo shared a worried look.

Jongdae grumbled all the way home, making the newcomer laugh at their easygoing comradery while he thought to himself that Minseok would go ballistics with the truth.

“This is going to be so much fun!” he mumbled to himself as they walked along the wet streets. “So much fun!”

Naturally, Minseok had not been pleased when he heard about what had happened. Jongdae really tried to contour the situation but Kyungsoo immediately blurted out the truth, leaving how they had help out of it.

They had sat down near his bed, Sehun laying on it with Jongdae as Yixing and Minseok, after cleaning themselves up a bit, sat on comfortable chairs, sighing with relief, as Kyungsoo sat at the bottom of the bed.

When Kyungsoo blurted what happened, his posture grew straight and there was a barely concealed anger that hardened his eyes.

“What?” he asked, looking very serene although everyone knew he was not; even Yixing knew he wasn’t!” So you mean to tell me that someone broke into the temple and harmed Jongdae?”

Both men nodded at the words, not that Jongdae had any chance to deny it since Kyungsoo had spilled every single detail all by himself.

“Are the Guardians taking care of you both?”

“Yes, they are! The whole village is on high alert.” Replied Sehun this time.

“Good!” replied Minseok darkly. “If I ever find who did this there will be hell to pay!”

The growl that came with the sentence made Kyungsoo feel a little hit and bothered under the collar, the possessiveness and love behind the words filled him with a wide range of emotions. While he wasn’t really a fan on the typical caveman dominance that alphas exude, he didn’t quite mind when it came to Minseok if, and only if, it was out of concern like it was now. If Minseok had gone caveman over him because of jealousy or something stupid like that, Kyungsoo would most definitely slap the heck out Minseok. However, and luckily for him, Minseok was not that kind of man and rarely treated Kyungsoo with anything but respect, not objectifying the priest like some alphas like to do to their mates, especially if they were from lower ranks.

The steady release of pheromones by Kyungsoo made Sehun chuckle and Yixing look slightly disturbed while Jongdae whined.

“If you are going to be like that just leave! I don’t need any omega pheromones to stink up my place. I don’t need you two to remind me of how single I am!”

It had been a joke but Kyungsoo redden beautifully, smacking Minseok in the arm when the older man laughed at the clear jab.

“Stop it!” he whined at Minseok, uncharacteristically shy. “This is not funny! You know that…”

Kyungsoo didn’t even have the courage to end up his sentence. Sehun, Jongdae and Yixing might’ve understood that there was something between them; after all, it wasn’t a secret to anyone that the two had a story deeply connected to the romantic field but, as far as they knew, it was all very platonic. However, what didn’t know was that it wasn’t purely platonic but a love that had been consumed far too many times for Kyungsoo to deny it as some kind of lust! They were mates!

“Kyungsoo.” Began Sehun. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“But…”

“But nothing!” replied the tall man. “We get it Kyungsoo! We understand that all you ever wanted was a mate to be left at peace with your life and that people didn’t allow you that. We understand that it’s still your heart wish and we would never do anything that would prevent you from achieving it! I encourage you to do it, to follow it, to pursue happiness and to live the life you wanted! I would never judge you base on that; in fact, I can assure you that I am on your side, as I ever was.”

Kyungsoo was nearly in tears at Sehun’s kind words. The young beta had always been a source of comfort and a true asset for the pack. Despite being quite young, the beta has always showed a capacity to think things through, a maturity beyond his years and an immense love and appreciation for his friends. To Sehun things were never black or white but hues of grey that depended on the context of the situation itself. Had Sehun been an alpha and Kyungsoo betted that he would have given Kris a run for his money to the Leader position! Sehun was an impeccable wolf.

“Thank you!” mumbled Kyungsoo.

“Just be happy Kyungsoo! That’s all I want!” replied the other man while Jongdae nodded happily, sharing the sentiment with Sehun.

“With that being said, if you don’t mind, I’ll take Kyungsoo to my hut for a while, we need to talk.” Claimed Minseok, leaning forward to place a hand on top of Kyungsoo’s knee.

“While I am more than happy to let you… enjoy your reencounter, I have to warn you that there are still people out there who won’t approve of this.” Warned Sehun.

“I know that. I thought of it as well, but, if Yixing doesn’t mind, I’m going to present him my hut, the place he is going to stay until Kris returns at least, and then we’ll sneak out of the windows into the woods.”

“I don’t mind at all!” shrugged Yixing. “Just don’t be caught! As I am realizing, your Council is despicable and I’ll be here to support you.”

With a grateful nod, Minseok pulled Kyungsoo into him, making the small man land on his lap and kissed him soundly on the lips, savoring the sweet smell and taste of his mate.

Kyungsoo blushed to the root of his hair and hid his face on Minseok’s neck, snuffling slightly and making Jongdae coo at them. While it might seem a jab from the beta, Sehun knew his friend long enough to know that the man had a little bit of longing in his voice. Jongdae was always the romantic one and Sehun knew his best friend wanted someone who loved him dearly even though he wasn’t the strongest wolf or the quickest; someone who could love him as him.

Minseok laughed and after a few goodbyes and a stern ‘rest!’ from the omega and alpha pair, Yixing, Minseok and Kyungsoo left the hut leaving them at peace.

Jongdae let his body fell into the bed next to Sehun with a small huff.

“You heard what Minseok said, didn’t you? It’s got to be those damn creatures behind this!” he stated, frowning slightly when his voice seemed to be completely gone, only little sounds passing through his lips.

“I did!” nodded Sehun, rubbing his forehead with a hand and wincing when the movement made his back sting. “I think the same honestly. It must’ve been an army of creatures to obliterate the village that quickly.

“Yeah… I have so many questions about it but I think the main one is what are they really and why are they doing this? I just don’t understand!”

Jongdae coughed after the sentence, his voice nearly gone.

“You know, Luhan is going to have your head on a platter when he discovers that you have been talking your head off despite his orders.”

“I won’t tell if you won’t tell!” stated the other immediately raising his pinky finger to the other, clearly mentioning the fact that Sehun should be resting and had taken a stroll instead of doing so.

Sehun rolled his eyes a little, with humor, but extended his had too, in order to link his own pinky with Jongdae’s; they had read in a book that it was a form of making a promise to someone and ever since they were little they stated doing it, maintain the habit even though they were far older.

They were grinning to each other when a noise made them look up. It was subtle and very faint but they had heard it. Jongdae immediately stood up from the bed and tried to sniff some scent that might clue him what was going on but that proved to be a difficult task since it was raining and rain could wash away scents.

He whined low in his throat, a sound that was as faint as whatever it was they heard and as he pushed himself to investigate further, his mind panicking as he thought about the possibility of being the person who tried to kill him, the window on the back of the hut opened and a hooded figure jumped inside.

If Jongdae could’ve screamed, he would. He immediately positioned himself in front of Sehun, trying to protect his injured friend.

“Jongdae!”

The voice coming from the figure was familiar and when it removed the hood, Jongdae almost fell back in relief when he noticed it was Jongin, who offered him a smile before turning to the window and motioning for someone to come inside.

It wasn’t long before Chanyeol and Baekhyun climbed over the window and inside the small hut, much to Jongdae’s relief, who sat back on the bed and closed his eyes to calm himself from the nerves that took over his body a moment ago.

He was surely not expecting for gentle hands to cup his face and he opened his eyes back, extremely startled, looking into Chanyeol’s iridescent ones. He felt as fingers traced the small bandage beneath his ear, sliding down to map the bruises on his neck, a growl on his lips.

Chanyeol only growled louder.

“Hurt!” growled out the man as his eyes roamed over Jongdae’s form, worried and frantic.

He tried to ask a question even though he couldn’t; immediately coughing out after the attempt.

Then, Chanyeol said the words that turned Jongdae’s upside down, leaving him breathless and shocked.

“Mate. My mate!”

A/N: Hello everyone! How are you all? I hope that everything is going very well for everyone. I was expecting to update on Sunday but with the new job and some changes, I was tired and procrastinated all weekend. I'm sorry! 
On this chapter (on a story that is going at a slower pace than usually - I'm trying new things!) there is some little things going on that will be important for the story and Yixing's here! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I told you that someone was missing! He's going to be super important and, later on, you'll figure how he connects to the story! :3
What did you think of the chapter? Did you like it? What do you think it's going to happen next? Thoughts about Yixing's character? Come on, tell me all about it via comment or message me. If you really enjoy the story, subscribe and upvote it, please! I really appreciate it!
Lastly: I wish you all a magnificent weekend, be safe, be healthy, love others and allow them to love you back and, very important: BE HAPPY!
Lot's of love to all of you and be always fantastic!
<3