Sehun ran back to his village, his mind thinking of nothing else but the fact that he needed answers for his questions; nothing else but the knowledge that he had someone who was waiting for him, for his help.

The village was chaotic at this point, it was nearing the spring equinox and the village was preparing to the festivals that always happened at this time of year. By norm, when it approach this date, everyone in this pack celebrated the first heat of many of the omegas in the group along with the several new mated couples that always appeared around this date, since the unusual amount of pheromones on the air had proven, time and time again, its strength.

He weaved his way through the many pack members gathering outside, at the center of the village, working for the festival, almost barreling into Tao, who was playing with the younger children, and entered Luhan’s hut, immediately comforted by the scent of familiar herbs and the numerous medicine that were piled on shelfs, labelled and arranged by size; Luhan was meticulous like that, despite being a total and complete menace when he wanted to be.

“Luhan?” he called, transforming back into his human form, searching for the older male and immediately going out when he noticed that his friend and teacher wasn’t home.

He walked around, searching in every possible hut that was accessible to all of the pack, since trespassing was a big no between wolves, mainly due to mating fact and the whole general possessive feelings typical of wolves, making a small face when he noticed the Jung sisters: Sooyoun and Soojung, two members of his pack, exiting the temple. Sooyoun used a flowing grey robe, the typical garment used by any council member.

The Council prided itself on being composed by intelligent, wise and strong members; older members that once brought glory to their pack; the Elders of the Council were, therefore, members with a high number matching their age, which was why Sehun couldn’t fathom why Sooyoun, who was a beta ranked woman, nearing her thirties, could belong to it. Sure, her and Soojung’s father, the previous Head of the Council, had been killed on a diplomatic visit to the Siren’s tribe when a group of witches had attacked and neutralize their small group.

However, and this was the part that Sehun had mulled over and over again on his most private introspective moments, that absence could have been easily covered by some other Elder, for example, Hyung Don, which was an Elder whose opinions were valued by Sehun since the man really had a vast amount of experience and wisdom to put any man to shame, or even Shin Young, who was a very rational woman, practice and down to Earth; instead, they’ve chosen Soo Man, a man whose ambition could cloud his judgement and someone who Sehun thought it was unfit to be the Head of Council.

Soo Man was very biased towards his own preferred wolves, those who were able to follow his words well and were cunning and ambitious, like he was, which was the main reason as to why Sooyoun was now on the Council; in Soo Man’s words, he was training Sooyoun for her to occupy the place left by her father. All a bunch of lies to cover something! What? Sehun wasn’t quite sure, but he was sure that he didn’t agree with the person which a leadership position on the Council but he was glad that Kris, at least, wasn’t swayed by his crap, in the slightest, choosing to rule with fairness, equality and kindness and Pack Leader was the highest position in a pack so, while the Council may spout their weaved web of lies and intrigues, Kris’ words were the law by which everyone abide.

Soojung was no better than her older sister, although they both came across differently: Sooyoun was the an observant woman, who looked lovely, elegant and poised while injecting small doses of venom at a time in order to create intrigues between people and letting them fight and creating wars while she watched serenely; she reached her goals creating diversion tactics that kept people unware of her true intentions, sneaky and cold, a true snake. On the other hand, Soojung looked the typical girl next door, all smiles and decorum, proper and prim, but acted like a spoilt brat when she wanted something, stomping her little omega feet on the ground and expecting people to comply immediately with her wishes, as servants.

Sehun didn’t like one or another; in reality, he wanted distance from them but, as he saw them going out of the temple, he immediately knew that they were terrorizing Kyungsoo, the pack’s priest. Kyungsoo was a little older than Sehun, not by much, and a sweet omega that everyone liked, since he was polite and kind to a fault. When it came to mating season, a great number of wolves begun courting Kyungsoo and, by some reason, that had seemed to rub the Jung sisters the wrong way, and somehow they managed to stick their noses where they shouldn’t have, disrupting, in a way, the pack’s expectations by nominating and succeeding in attributing the position of priest to the only person who did not want it: Kyungsoo.

A pack priest was one of the pillars of any pack, as a group they had a common belief, a deity to whom they paid their respects and prayed: Mother Earth and it was a priest job to assure that a connection between someone and that spiritual element that was their deity. It was his or her job, in case of an appointed priestess, to perform every religious ceremony, to assure and encourage all that spiritual connection and read the signs that their deity relied upon them to guide them in their paths, as a community or an individual.

Many wanted this position, it was important, cherished, celebrated and protected; however, to be a priest there was something that a person had to give away which was the opportunity to constitute a family: being courted, chose a mate, have children and hopefully have a happy life. A priest was a pure and sacred identity that was not meant to be corrupted by any wolf and stray from their spiritual path.

Kyungsoo’s only dream, ever since a child, was to have a large family and that dream had been taken away from him by the Jung sisters. Kyungsoo had always expressed that he didn’t want to follow that path, Kris had promised that he wouldn’t be appointed as a priest as soon as he got the title but the Jung sisters had thought one step ahead of Kris and, somehow, before Kris was officially and publicly announced as the new pack Leader, Kyungsoo had been nominated the pack’s priest, and since it had been a decision previous to Kris’ leadership, there was nothing the man could do about it, much his regret.

Sehun entered the temple, inhaling the sweet smelling sages and salves burning and purifying the air around them and immediately found Kyungsoo, kneeling on the floor in front of the alter, white robes loose around his body and the usual beaded necklaces priests wore around his neck, eyes closed and hands on top of a small wooden bench where a bundle of sage rested, white smoke billowing from it, probably praying, although his face betrayed hints of anger.

“Kyungsoo.” He called gently, as not to scare his friend who had his back turned to him.

The said man turned to look at Sehun, a smile appearing on his lips, although there was a slight strain, visible, at the corners of his lips.

“Sehun, how are you?” he asked, standing up and coming towards Sehun, hand coming to squeeze the younger’s cheek; wolves were very tactile beings and demonstrations of affection like this were very common and didn’t bother anyone in the slightest, except that is, if you were trying to court someone and that someone had suitors left and right, then things tended to get heated: tactile but possessive.

“Great. I am going great.”

“Are you really?” asked Kyungsoo, raising an eyebrow as he saw how agitated the younger seemed; Kyungsoo always had a knack for noticing every small sign of discomfort or worry in others, which was no surprise to Sehun as he noticed his own unstable emotions.

“I am just looking for Luhan, have you, perhaps, seen him?”

“No, I haven’t. He was here earlier on, looking for Jongdae but it’s not a school day, so probably Jongdae slept in or went for a run in the woods and Luhan is most definitely with him.”

“Hmm… I have to check Jongdae’s hut then, if that is the case. I really needed to talk with Luhan but Jongdae’s might be my best option if Luhan isn’t available.” mused the younger with an upset curl of the lips.

“Do you need help?”

“No, it’s more practical questions that are related to medical work.”

“Okay then, I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.”

“Oh, don’t worry, you helped plenty by letting me know where he probably was, or else I would be going on a goose chase after him and probably wouldn’t find him.” Thanked Sehun with a smile. “Well, I am going to look for him now; take care Kyungsoo.”

“You as well Sehun.”

Kyungsoo watched as the younger wolf bolted out of the temple, lost in thoughts of how concerned and slightly frightened the man looked.

“Was everything okay?” asked a voice from behind him, coming from the deepest part of the temple.

Kyungsoo turned and watched as Minseok, one of the pack’s alphas and Kris’ trusted counselor, came from one of the cleansing rooms which were designated to comfortably accommodate any wolf who wished to meditate inside the sacred temple, near the most spiritual place on their village.

Minseok was a powerful alpha, he exuded confidence in every step but he had an aura around him of kindness, soft and comforting that made him very reliable and trustworthy; his loyalty was also a decisive factor in how well he was seen by everyone in the village: people thought very highly of him.

He was also a beautiful man: a round, unblemished face with dark, slanted eyes that were as gentle as they could be deathly, an inviting smile and a small compact body that didn’t hid the great amounts of muscle the man possessed.

Minseok was a worthy man and, had not Kyungsoo been appointed as the priest of the village, he would’ve accepted the man’s courting ways, become his mate and starting a family with him.

“Is everything alright? I saw Sehun leaving, he seemed worried!” asked Minseok, using the small basin of water near the entrance to clean his hands.

In the cleansing rooms, it was typical to pray to Mother Earth and reflect upon daily occurrences and problems, so most people tended to burn an assorted sachet of handpicked herbs, since the rooms provided the herbs contained in a small jar, and sometimes there was residues that clung to the skin, like ashes, green pigments of the leaves or even flowers. The herbs had different meanings, herbalists picked them up and Kyungsoo bottled them up and neatly labeled them.

He aspirated the air and his superior sense of smell told him that Minseok had burned a sachet with burdock, cedar wood, cumin, cinnamon and dill. Those last two could be Minseok’s natural scent, since he always smelled of dill and cinnamon.

“It did seemed that he was rather worried.” Answered Kyungsoo after a while “But I couldn’t tell properly since I did not invade his privacy by smelling his pheromones and pry on his emotions like that.”

“Oh Kyungsoo.” Laughed Minseok “You are always so correct and kind towards others. Sometimes is right to do so, you know.”

“I’d rather not.” Replied the priest with a small smile before turning his back to Minseok, planning on continuing with his task; the festival was happening and he had to prepare a small ritual to bless all the unmated wolves.

He didn’t manage to walk two steps because of the warm body that glued itself to his back, pressing against with a familiarity and comfort that Kyungsoo should not be used to.

“Minseok.” He warned the other, trying to fight the happy feeling that warmed his chest, as the older wolf, with his face pressed against his neck, greedily took in his scent; Kyungsoo knew that the passiflora smell was soothing for the other.

“Don’t deny me this little pleasure, Kyungsoo.”

“We can’t!” replied the small priest, knowing fully well that a priest should not be seen or involved in any kind of romantic gestures towards other wolves.

“Let me at least remember the way you smell. It helps with the loneliness…”

“You wouldn’t be lonely if you decided to mate!”

“You’re my mate!” snapped Minseok gently. “And the Council ruined that for us just to soothe the needs of a bratty girl.”

Kyungsoo knew that Minseok was referring himself to Soojung since the girl had a strong infatuation with Minseok and wanted him to mate with her by force, arranging, time and time again, way to push away all the wolves that shown interest towards the strong alpha. Understanding that Soojung’s plan was to try and corner him into mating with her by default, Minseok had decided, and publicly stated, that he didn’t intend to take a mate, something that was uncommon of their race but not unheard of. Soojung had been furious but there was nothing she could do about Minseok, what she could do, and she did often, was terrorize the only person that Minseok would ever mate in his life: Kyungsoo.

“It’s forbidden, Minseok. We will be in deep trouble if anyone finds us in this position. And then not even Kris can help us; the our leader but Council can demote him from his position and kill us for going against the pack rules and committing treason to the community.”

“I know but no one will find out and, hopefully, there will be a day when Soo Man is demoted and someone fairer will take his place and change our luck.”

It was almost too sweet the hope and the belief that Minseok carried with him: he wished strongly and a bitter taste came to Kyungsoo’s mouth at hearing the other’s words; he wished he could be like that too but, although Minseok was the strongest of the too, he was also the dreamer, Kyungsoo was far more practical and rational, knowing very well their chances were slim.

Nevertheless, he didn’t move to push Minseok away from him, letting himself being embraced like that, back to chest, without moving, until Minseok parted from him with a small kiss on his nape, letting Kyungsoo shivering slightly, missing already the warmth that the older wolf provided.

Without any more words, just a brush of hands, Minseok abandoned the temple, his voice being heard outside greeting people, vivacious and loud, even if moments ago, the man had been silent and slightly heartbroken.

Kyungsoo returned to the altar and kneeled in front of the large wooden statue that represented Mother Earth. He closed his eyes and hugged himself tightly, fighting against the tears that were threatening to spill; he always maintained a strong face to people but, on moments like this, by himself, he allowed himself to be a little selfish and feel sorry for himself and for loves that could never be.

In a soft murmur, he inclined himself forward, positioning his hands in a triangular shape on the floor, and touched with his forehead on his hands, in a pose of reverence to their deity.

“Great Mother Earth, mother and creator of us all, please hear my pray and bestow me with your wisdom and your greatness. Illuminate my path so that I can know how to go forward.” He pleaded before adding in a little whisper “Because I don’t know what to do!”

Sehun ran towards Jongdae’s hut, hoping that he would find Luhan in there, saving him the task of going around, playing hide and seek with the wolf, although he was quite certain Luhan didn’t know he was playing.

He knocked on the wooden door and walked inside when he heard Jongdae’s slightly high pitched voice telling him to walk inside. As soon as he entered the kitchen area, neatly kept up, even if he didn’t have a mate; Jongdae liked things clean and organized, and immediately saw his two friends, Luhan and Jongdae, sitting on the dining table, both enjoying a nice cup of tea, if his sense of smell was anything to go by.

Luhan, the male beta, was slender and lean, with hints of muscle here and there and a sense of feminine traces of his soft features. His blonde hair, bright blonde, was something that draw everyone’s attention, especially because it didn’t match with the color of his wolf, which was more on the lines of a light chestnut color, but then again, as a connoisseur of the many herbs that grew around their village, Luhan had found, along with Jongdae, who was smart as heck, a form to use the colorful pigmentation of said herbs to dye people’s hair, among other things.

Jongdae was one of the most well liked, and incredibly smart, scholars on their pack which, in Sehun’s modest opinion, was a biased opinion since he taught small children who liked him no matter what he said or do. The beta, with his dark eyes and short dark hair was slightly more muscular than Luhan, while Luhan was all lean and rather petite, Jongdae only appeared to be like that; it was common to confuse Jongdae for a omega but he had seen the man without a shirt and he could guarantee that the male’s abs and big arms were worth salivating for if he was even remotely attracted to the male, which he wasn’t, he spent far too much time bothering the male with questions about everything, Sehun was rather curious and Jongdae was always ready to discuss and explain things to Sehun, they had a formidable bond.

In fact, if there were people on this pack that Sehun could say that were his best friends, he would probably nominate Jongdae and Luhan. Kyungsoo was a close friend too. He liked Junmyeon but the older male had many duties as the Leader’s mate and that cut short their time together. Kris intimidated the heck out of him, in a father wise way, especially after his father passed away, in a war with another pack, when he was still a child. Sehun consider Kris to be the father figure present in his life, although the on them barely reached nine years; Kris was a teen, a mature one, and Sehun was someone who need a male figure more present in his life, it just happened.

Minseok was someone that he had in his books because he always seemed to put a smile on Kyungsoo’s lips when everything else failed to do so, even they don’t particularly get together that often, only in social situations or occasional talks.

Tao had been his best friend when he was a child but, after reaching puberty, Tao had grown far more interested in flirting with people and finding a mate instead of hanging with him, so their relationship had been strained ever since and they didn’t seem to share the same connection they had before, which made Sehun sad, in a way, but he figured that it was growing up for them.

Sehun never understood why the packs, along the way, chose to separate themselves so harshly from their human ancestors; he had heard of the many inventions that they had built and everything they had but packs and other creatures chose to live in a more pre historic way, using the nature and their intelligence to feed their needs. If he was trying to throw a guess in, Sehun would blame this decision on the many wars documented, led by humans, that had let to the Anarchy Era were nuclear bombs and pathogenic, mutated virus had been released upon humanity, almost eradicating the human race and giving origin to mutated beings, chimeras, and other species that culminated in the creatures the world of his days had.

Obviously, there were still wars, still carnage happening because the several creatures couldn’t seem to coexist, but the way they do it had been far more animalistic, preferring direct contact and killing with their bare hands instead of almost destroying everything, by the second time, and risking extinction. It was slightly hypocritical but Sehun could live with that kind of hypocrisy.

“Sehun?” asked Jongdae, looking to him from over the glasses, one of the objects that was still around from their ancestors time and that Jongdae particularly enjoyed, stating that it made him handsome while everyone knew very well that it was just Jongdae’s geek side coming out more prominent, making him going all googly eyed over and object from centuries ago; Jongdae was a goner whenever it came to history and having such object in his possession only made him happier than ever.

“I was looking for Luhan, Kyungsoo told me he could be here.” Replied Sehun at last, noticing how the other two were staring at him concerned. “Actually why are you here? You told me to pick herbs because it was urgent and here you are now eating cookies and savoring tea.”

Luhan gave a benign smile at Sehun’s disgruntlement, clearly amused at the younger’s indignation.

“Despite what you think, we were actually discussing some ancient uses of orange blossoms, that were documented by our ancestors, hence my visit, the snacks are a bonus solely out of Jongdae’s hunger… I doubt he would be chivalrous enough to do something like that for me.”

Jongdae emitted a ‘tsk’ like sound from his place, dismissing the older beta’s comment and opting for picking one more cookie before offering the plate to Sehun

“See if you get another cookie.” Mumbled Jongdae before he ended up giving the plate with the cookies to Sehun, much to the younger’s delight.

“But I doubt you came in here to chide me for whatever I do.” Told Luhan, a little chiding tone on his voice which Sehun promptly ignored, gobbling cookies down happily. “What did you came here to do?”

“Oh!” exclaimed Sehun suddenly remembering the reason for coming here. “I was going out to pick some herbs like you told me…”

“Where are those herbs by the way?”

“There aren’t but let me explain,” begged Sehun once he saw the disapproving gaze on Luhan’s face. “I was intending to do as you told me but I found …a carcass of a dead animal on the margins of the river, it was on the early stages of decomposition, as if it been killed approximately three to two days prior, and it had a big bite on its flank, that was most definitely one inflicted by a Wendigo, however, the wound was infected, a green pus like substance oozing from it.”

When he heard the younger beta’s explanation, Luhan’s eyebrows jumped high in his forehead.

“Pus? Wounds created by Wendigos never get pus no matter what! There enough antibacterial matter into it to actually allow an area to be infected. Are you sure?”

“I am. And I actually found a tooth near it; it resembles one of a snake but not… it’s like hollow inside.”

Sehun pulled the tooth from a little pouch, one that healers and herbalist usually wore, and put it on top of the table, letting the two older males look at it. They looked intrigued by it, their natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge and solving problems coming alive. They picked it up carefully, twisting it, observing, poking it and connecting all the information they had inside their brains.

“It’s certainly has ophidian like qualities: sharp and with venom canal, but, it isn’t in fact an ophidian tooth, it looks like something that came out of a earth worm or even a viper fish.” Commented Jongdae, turning to face Sehun with furrowed eyebrows. “It’s although needle like thin, almost translucent and straight.”

Luhan made an agreeing sound at the back of his throat; however, Sehun could tell that there was some sense of confusion on the man since Luhan couldn’t stop touching his forehead, scratching it slightly, a tell-tale sign he was confused.

“Are you sure that it was a Wendigo bite? There is something that doesn’t add up here.”

“I saw it with my two eyes. It was clearly a Wendigo bite.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, the width, the size of it, the shape of the bite was even equal to one of a Wendigo; the tooth is the only didn’t that doesn’t add up.”

“I…” began Jongdae before shaking his head. “No…”

“Spit it out, Dae.” Stated Luhan, knowing the other had some conclusion to voice out to them.

“A few years ago, back when my father was still doing missions, I was barely a teen; I remembered hearing a conversation between my parents, after he came from a scouting mission, about something they had seen. They had been looking out for potential enemies, since the village had been under attack just a week before and there were still a tight security on the peripheral areas; they entered a clearing that used to be an area habited by nymphs and he said that when they reached upon location, it looked like a complete carnage zone, mutilated nymphs, teared apart and with a brutality that he said he had never saw in his life. They found a nymph on the area, dying, on the brink of dead and she mentioned, on the last moments alive, of a creature that it wasn’t what it was supposed to be. At the time they pegged it out of insanity or even shock but Minseok mentioned something similar that was seen on his last mission. I don’t remember exactly what he said about it but my mind is asking what if it has some sort of correlation.”

“Strange creatures? I think it’s a little farfetched; not trying to discredit you both but it’s seems highly unlikely. Maybe it was bitten by some other creature that neutralized the antibacterial matter on the Wendigo’s bite.”

Jongdae and Sehun looked over each other, uncertainty on their faces loud and clear. Were they really using unconventional theories to explain something simple?

Luhan looked over the faces of their friends knowing that there would be nothing added to the conversation. He drank the rest of his tea, letting the cup fall into the table.

“Well, I need to go and return to my tasks before going to prepare myself to the festival, later this evening. Seriously Sehun, this was probably just a really messed up coincidence.”

Sehun nodded, although there were still some remains of doubt in his eyes which didn’t surprise Luhan: Sehun was quite rebellious when he wanted to be and it took quite the effort to prove him wrong. Jongdae was a little more docile in his nature and he self-doubted himself more than he should.

“Anyway, can I keep the tooth?” he asked, beaming when Sehun allowed it. “It resembles a basilisk tooth, you know, from the story of that purple book that Joohyun likes to read to the older kids. Even though they are snakes, their teeth structure is so different from normal snakes.”

“Aren’t basilisks a myth?” asked Sehun with a frown on his face.

“No.” answered Jongdae. “There are many documents that validate and prove the existence of basilisks but they are extinct.”

“So basically, yeah, they are.” Laughed Luhan.

“Hmm… how would a bite of a basilisk be treated? I’m kind of wondering… it would be awesome to study one.” Mumbled Sehun, lost in thought, his curious mind already leading him to a world filled with questions and exquisite reptilians.

“Come one Sehun, I thought you’d be smarter: it’s still a snake. How do you treat a snake bite? How do you fight the toxins of its venom?” asked Luhan, looking over at his pupil with a smile.

“You create a paste with Echinacea oil, charcoal and bentonite clay, after washing the bitten area and trying to the majority of the blood out.”

“Good boy.” Joked Luhan before ruffling Sehun’s locks and getting out of Jongdae’s hut, whistling a happy tune to himself.

“I love Luhan but he is such a sceptic about everything and it kinds of knocked down the fun of having an adventure, exploring and experiencing it.” Whined Jongdae, his head resting on his arms, before standing up to clean up the kitchen. “But, let me ask you this, where the heck were you to find such thing?”

It suddenly hit Sehun, much like a wild bear would: there was still someone out there, in the woods, who trusted him and to whom he had given his words to help. Without even saying goodbye, he turned his back on a perplexed Jongdae and ran outside.

“Sehun? Sehun?! Sehun!” called Jongdae, not obtaining any kind of answer as the younger bolted on him. “What on Earth? What’s wrong with this kid?”

But Sehun was too far away to hear him, or even to acknowledge that he had been spoken to: Sehun had a mission.

A/N: Second chapter!!!! Yay to me! Know we got to more characters and some motivations that will be important, later on, as the history develops. Sehun is a sweetheart and we already have someone to hate! xD
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