Sehun was kind of panicking, although in a very subtle way, staring at the door in shock for a long time even after Seungwan’s departure. There was a sense of disbelief that filled him up. The situation that just happened was… well, he didn’t know yet how to classify it, he would think about an appropriate designation later.

Looking at Baekhyun’s face, he could tell, for sure, that the other man was as lost as he was. It was kind of a creepy situation, for the lack of a better word, when someone just barged inside your house, or Jongdae’s, but Sehun wasn’t discriminating, and just announced that she knew you despite the fact that you had never crossed paths with her in his life.

There was more than just shock painting the other’s man face, there was something else that Sehun was having trouble deciphering: Baekhyun was hard to read. Therefore, using the most basic tactic on the planet, he just asked the man how he was.

Baekhyun, who was a wolf that always was aware of his surroundings, seemed to not have listened to Sehun, not even a little.

“Baekhyun?”

The berserker seemed to snap back into focus and looked over at the beta with an inquisitive look, seemingly surprised at the sound of his name.

“Yes?” he enquired looking over at the younger male.

“How are you feeling?” he asked pausing a little at realizing how abrupt he sounded “I mean, I am not trying to overstep my boundaries but… it’s just that so much had happened; so much has been happening, actually, I don’t know how to feel. Also, I feel that, somehow, it’s way worse for you: I feel like this affects you in a deeper, more personal way, I mean, it’s your brother that suddenly appeared and it was your name that Seungwan proffered. On top of that, we have the chimera thing still half unveiled; it’s got to be taking its toll on you.”

Baekhyun stared at Sehun for a long while, to the earnest and sincere face in front of him. He was touched by the sincere question, it really wasn’t every day that someone asked his thoughts or even how he felt about something, and here was Sehun, doing just that.

Looking at the young man, Baekhyun felt like he was at a breaking point, somehow. There was so much inside his head, so many things that he didn’t quite voice, opting to repress them instead, that he seriously pondered about just opening his mouth and letting years and years of fear and frustration, of pain and self-doubt that had consumed him over the years; and Sehun had proven, more than once, to be an extremely good listener and someone who gave good advice.

It was very tempting, so tempting that Baekhyun simply opened his mouth.

“I’m tired.” He declared, startling Sehun who, at his point, wasn’t expecting the other male to speak. “I am so tired of everything.”

It was the first time that Sehun saw Baekhyun looking so defeated and lost, acting like one of them instead of an impenetrable wall of toughness and stoicism. It was probably the first time that Sehun had seen the other so vulnerable. It made him sit straight on the bed and, in a concerned gesture, pull the other towards the bed, making him sit next to him.

“Don’t hold it in. Just… be aware that you can talk to me, if not now, some other time.” he stated, a hand poised on the other’s rather robust shoulder.

“It’s been so hard all of these years; so hard. Losing my family the first time? I was a child and I was so alone and so scared. I remembered not much from my mother, and my father: blurry images and some faint sounds of their voices, but I do remember their smell, that’s how I recognized Yixing, and it was so hard to just be alone, at my own mercy at the beginning. Then, at some point, there's just this thought inside your head that tells you to stop crying, and just do what you have to do in order to survive. Then I met another family…I loved my mother and my father, they loved me despite how insensitive and stoic I was. Sometimes it breaks my heart to even think that, at some point, they may have thought that I didn’t love them: it wasn’t the case at all. And then, because Jongin was a little different, we were hunted like animals. People don’t try and understand what’s different: they label it and decide for themselves, first handedly, that he wasn’t worth it, that he was a menace and that his life didn’t matter. I saw part of my family being killed again. I was left with two younger brothers who depended on me, one brother who was angry at the world and had just lost his role model, someone who was forced to follow someone who wasn’t even his family, someone that was just borrowed…”

“Don’t say that!” chided Sehun, hurting a little at the picture that Baekhyun had painted and how he considered himself to be, although in a much dissimulated way, inferior or not worthy.

“But I was! I was never really theirs, and it was only more notorious in the following years: dealing with Chanyeol and his anger at the world, trying to help and raise Jongin, who was small when this all occurred. It was so tiring. I hate to admit it but I thought of just running away multiple times. I thought that all the pain could leave me if I just ran and went on by myself; however, I know that it would hurt me a lot more if I ever left them: wanted or not, they were all that I had left and I love them; both of them.”

“I believe in you, and I believe that, sometimes, we also go through such situations that we think and do things that we don’t mean to.” Sehun tried to comfort the other with words that could soothe.

“I don’t know, I really don’t! I feel like at times, I really did mean it and I can’t tell if it was just exhaustion or me truly meaning it.”

“Would you ever leave them? If one of them asked for your help, would you go to them and help them?”

“I would.” Replied Baekhyun without hesitation.

“Then I think it was just exhaustion and frustration building up. I sincerely feel like you would die for them without thinking twice.” He stated softly, trying to get the other wolf to understand that he shouldn’t feel guilty; may the gods know what he would do in his situation.

“Even if it was just exhaustion, I still feel like I should’ve done more for them, protect them more, teach them more, make them happier…”

“How so? You were a teen, you had to learn and you had to make mistakes. Everyone does, everyone has to learn through mistakes, it’s part of the learning process. Did you expect to be perfect? No one is!”

Baekhyun said nothing, just placing his head on his hands and sighing deeply enough for Sehun to be assured that the other wasn’t having a panic attack or something.

“I feel like I shouldn’t have made mistakes.” Confessed the older man. “It’s someone’s life that we are talking about; I mean, if it was just me, my decisions affecting only me, it would different. My decisions affected them both and I just can’t bear to think that it was thanks to me that they are living like this.”

“Healthy and perfectly fine?” asked Sehun “Because they are fine! They are here, palpable, tangible… The only thing that you can say is that unfortunate circumstances had treated them a little worse than many. It’s not your fault, it never was and you need to realize that. It wasn’t due to you that things happened, you didn’t have anything to do with the assassination of your family, both of them, and it is not your fault that people are chasing Jongin. You did everything in your power to keep Jongin alive and you did; you did that, so stop blaming yourself.”

“It’s hard. When I think back, there are so many things that I could’ve done differently.” Baekhyun sighed to himself.

“That’s a universal rule for every human being on Earth. You always think that things could’ve been different but, if you look back, things happen for a reason and you are what you are because of those events. Personally, I think you are a great person, who has done the possible and impossible for his family. You are selfless and good, and you should believe that too.” Explained Sehun, trying to get Baekhyun to see his point of view.

“Thank you.” Replied the other male softly.

Sehun would never voice it out but he found Baekhyun to be extremely handsome at the moment, with a small smile curling itself on his lips, very shy and unsure, and with his eyes cast on his face, very soft and so gentle. He didn’t seem, at all, the person that Sehun had met, back in the woods, all growly and angry and hurt.

There was a small stab of something on his stomach, something that he couldn’t name: weird, bubbling and hot. The inability of naming that feeling made Sehun shrug it off and, on an impulse as there was no other way to call it, he scooted over to Baekhyun’s side and threw an arm around the older man’s shoulders, pulling him towards his own body and hugged the man.

Baekhyun was startled. He didn’t understand why Sehun was hugging him; there was just no apparent motive. He wasn’t well versed in the hugging thing, there were the congratulatory pat on the back to his brothers occasionally, and there was the distant warmth of his mother and father's wrapping their hands around him when he was little, other than that he didn’t receive that many hugs; he could probably count the amount of times he had been hugged with his hands. He was confused.

“Is there a motive to why you are hugging me?” He asked with a vast amount of innocence in his voice, body tight and high strung. “From my understanding, hugs are only given to someone as part of a happiness demonstration, a congratulatory event or when someone is sad. I don’t feel sad, therefore I am quite confused.”

Sehun’s heart broke at hearing the small speech from Baekhyun. The fact that the other was asking about something that was so natural, something that all of the wolf community, regardless of the pack, wanted and needed, something as normal as physical affection, demonstrations of love and care… it broke Sehun’s heart.

How deprived of affection was Baekhyun? Scratch that, how starved from it was Baekhyun that he couldn’t understand that care came even without a reason?

“Baekhyun, people don’t need a motive to hug people at all times.” Explained Sehun trying not to sound condescending.

Baekhyun looked a little in disbelief when he heard the explanation provided by Sehun but didn’t comment. Instead, he tried to relax a little into Sehun’s embrace, a little afraid that he would feel offended at the lack of retribution from his part.

Receiving a hug had always been a different matter for Baekhyun:  he was never the one to receive a lot: he remembered his parents’ hugs and how they used to wrap their arms around his body and encase him tightly; how warm it felt, how protected he felt. His father had always been the one to give him the strong hugs to keep him feeling safe, to make him feel like nothing bad could ever touch him; Yixing gave him the hugs that were meant to console him when he fell or other pups mocked him for not being faster, the ones that began teasingly but were so tender that he instantly stopped crying. Chanyeol and Jongin gave him one armed hugs that were pure reassurance, the ones where the arm slid around his shoulder and the arm reached down his back until it reached his waist and squeezed it tight, whenever he felt down, those were the ones that restored his energy and made him feel whole again.

Sehun’s hug…well, he didn’t know what to think of Sehun’s hug. It felt warm, strong, tender and reassuring. It was all he had described from the other hugs he had received; it encompassed everything that he ever felt while receiving one and Baekhyun liked it. For a moment, Baekhyun wished to bury his nose on Sehun’s neck and just inhale the scent, just like he secretly loved to do when he is hugged. He refrained from doing so out of fear of being inconvenient and completely inappropriate: he would never dare to do that to his brother’s, let alone to Sehun.

“Now, that you let that out of your chest let us talk a little about Seungwan.”

“I don’t know her, Sehun.” Replied Baekhyun softly, knowing fully well what the question the other was about to make.

“Are you sure? Maybe from your memories as a child, somehow? She could’ve met you in your old village, or you could’ve come across her at some point.”

“I don’t think I have. I have a pretty good memory and she has very distinctive features, so it’s very unlikely that I had forgotten her somehow.”

“Are you one hundred percent positive?”

“I wish I wasn’t, but I really am.” Declared the older male: he had the absolute certainty that he had never met Seungwan before.

That was definitely not the answer that Sehun was expecting; had Baekhyun met her somewhere, in his childhood perhaps, it would be easier to explain the odd encounter with the girl but if Baekhyun was certain…

“Dammit!” cursed Sehun startling Baekhyun a little. “We don’t need any more mysteries or problems to add up to the already enormous pile we already have.”

“Do you trust Seungwan?” asked Baekhyun in a calm way, trying not to stress Sehun more because, apparently, as he finished calming Baekhyun down, it was his turn to need a little comfort and reassurance.

“I do trust her. Seungwan had been a constant all my life and she, despite not being taken down seriously most of the time from a lot of villagers, especially the Council, I consider her to be one of my closest friends.”

“Then we have got nothing to worry about. Seungwan is one of your closest friends; she never hurt you or tried to harm you, did she?”

“No, she didn’t. Seungwan always defended me and others, she abominates the Council.”

“Listen to yourself then, if she is your friend, if she never harmed you and is unconditionally by your side, then Seungwan is the least of our worries, let’s not stress ourselves over this. What’s important now and what our focus should be is to understand what is the Council’s course of action: why are they making chimeras, how are they being made and if there is any help from other parties. That is our priority since people, entire communities and packs are dying because of this. Seungwan is friendly, you said it yourself, therefore she is not a problem but rather a mystery that we are going to solve when the opportunity  arrives. Let us not stress with that.”

“I know.” Sighed Sehun looking tired. “I think this day, altogether, has been a rollercoaster of emotions: it has just been news, after news, after news and it is only midafternoon. It’s tiring. It’s too much stuff and the implications of the most serious problem we have… well, we might up end up dead just by snooping around.”

“We can’t think like that.”

“Weren’t you the one who was tired and done with all of this a few moments ago?” asked Sehun with a small smile, indicating that he was trying to be playful.

Baekhyun chuckled, a low sound that made Sehun’s hair stand up.

“I am tired; I mean really, severely tired, but there is too much at stake for me to stop and quit now. My existence is at stake, as is yours and everyone else’s and … I can’t rest now. At least, not until it's all over.”

“I can understand your point of view and I can honestly say that you, for overcoming so many things along the years, can very well be the most courageous person I have ever met in my life. You are brave and what I am most amazed is how your nature is so pacific and headstrong, despite your initial impression of someone ruthless. You went through so much and your core is still good, you are still a good soul.”

It came as a revelation for Sehun; he had never realized how good Baekhyun was despite the crappy childhood he had. Of course that Baekhyun could be slightly over protective, very headstrong, feral at times and brutal when he wanted to be, there was also a shyness and reservation that looked out of place especially now that he knew some of the things running through the elder’s mind but, overall, he was rather gentle.

“I appreciate the compliment but I don’t think…”

And of course that there was also the fact that Baekhyun didn’t think highly of himself, he actually saw himself in a pretty awful perspective; he was pretty negative when it came to himself, he only ever painted things in a lovely rose color when it came to others and to reassure them.

“Know how to take a compliment when it is offered to you, Baekhyun.” Interrupted Sehun with a slight grin.

“I…”began Baekhyun, pausing before the first word, shaking his head slightly. “Thank you.”

Sehun nodded completely satisfied at the answer the man gave him, feeling great since he seemed to have won against Baekhyun protests.

“So, you say that we shouldn’t worry about Seungwan?” asked Sehun, after a few moments of silence, where he suspected that Baekhyun might’ve been too embarrassed to maintain a conversation.

“Yes.” Replied Baekhyun looking more alert than he was a few seconds ago, looking over to Sehun. “I don’t think she is the one to worry about. If she ever wanted to harm you, she would’ve done it already, or at least, try to harm you in some way along the line. It’s something to investigate, no doubt, although more out of curiosity than anything; I am truly intrigued as how she knows me and my brothers.”

Sehun nodded at the other wolf’s answer. It didn’t exactly comfort him but it was a plan and knowing that there were objectives settled, helped him to cope with the situation. Also, as the berserker had explained, Seungwan wasn’t trying to actively harm them, so he would not worry about it. For now.

“Do you think we should inform the other’s about this?” he asked lying back down on the bed while Baekhyun covered him with the blankets, trying to keep him warm; he used to do this so many times to Chanyeol when Jongin was a little baby, and his mother would be too occupied feeding him or singing him to sleep, to tuck in the middle brother.

“I do, but unfortunately I don’t think that we should tell everyone.”

“Why?”

“Because I know my brother, Chanyeol will most likely assume something completely out of proportion and stalk her and be violent. I love my brother to death but he acts before thinking and we don’t have anything against Seungwan to afford to act like that. We aren’t savages, despite what people think.”

“I didn’t say you were.” Commented Sehun distractedly, appreciating the softness of the blankets and frowning internally at the headache that was starting to form behind his eyes. “But I understand what you were trying to say. Until it’s time, I agree that it might be better for us to just keep this to ourselves.”

Baekhyun hummed in response, getting up from the bed and peering out of the window to assist as the thick rain fell from the sky, blurring the view and turning the whole scenery as grey as lead.

“This weather is depressing.” He confessed, nose twitching slightly.

“You don’t like it? It makes me a little sleepy but I find it refreshing, I like the smell of rain.”

“It’s.... depressive…” replied the older male absentmindedly. “How are you feeling? Is your back any better? I didn’t ask about that yet, which is rather rude of me.”

“My back is healing. For the time being I have to use a lot of ointment since the tissue is scabbed and it pulls at my back quite a bit. Luhan, one of our healers, stated that I have to keep on doing it in order to avoid large scars; he also encourages me to do some exercise with it without overdoing it.”

“Any permanent damage to the muscles?”

“Not that he saw. When the temperature drops, my back hurts, as it had been hurting since yesterday. However, it’s not something I can’t deal with.”

Baekhyun nodded at the other wolf. He then stared at the food that Seungwan had just brought them.

“I am going to put this away while no one is here.” He stated moving forward to put the food into the appropriate places, feeling a little antsy due to the fact that he had been closed inside the hut for so long.

“You don’t need to do that.” Replied Sehun with almost a whine in his voice.

“I really do. As I understood, due to the approaching storm everyone is under lock down.”

“Yes, the storm will be bad enough: violent winds and strong rain, we are not allowed to leave our houses until it stops.”

Baekhyun nodded at the other’s words, moving around the hut like he knew the place very well.

“Exactly, which means that I, and the others, will remain here until it is safe to leave; first of all, it could be very dangerous for you to be here alone, since the Council could use the opportunity to come after you, also, it will be dangerous too for us out there. So, if Jongdae allows it, we would prefer to remain close.”

It made sense and Sehun appreciated the concern and the security that having the extra help near brought. He yawned deeply; now that a sense of calmness had invaded him, thanks to Baekhyun.

“You can sleep if you want.” Stated the other man, trying to make heads and tails out of the contents of the bags brought by Seungwan.

Sehun tried to hold back a chuckle at the sight of Baekhyun confusedly sorting the vegetables brought, mixing zucchinis with eggplants and broccolis with kale. He didn’t say a word but stayed lying down, watching the other man move around the place.

He didn’t mean to listen to Baekhyun’s advice, he meant to stay up and talk with the older man a little bit more, know him a little better and enjoy the sense of comfort that had settled into the air, but as the minutes passed, the heaviness that had begun to invade him had led him to fall asleep.

He didn’t notice how Baekhyun looked over at him as his eyes fell, he didn’t notice how the man approached and fluffed the blankets, pulling them up to his chin, and he didn’t notice the soft smile that rested, for a large while, onto Baekhyun’s lips as he watched the younger man sleep serenely.

Kyungsoo sighed deeply, a satisfying sound that came from the bottom of his soul as he let his hands slide up and down’s Minseok’s chest. They had both fell asleep some time after they got inside the older alpha’s house but they had woken up some time, not long, and Yixing had been long gone when they opened their eyes.

He was not going to mentioned what happened next, it was far too intimate, far too pleasurable for him to relay it to anyone other than Minseok. All that he knew is that he had had an amazing time with the man that he loved, his labored breathing was the proof along with the perspiration that was cooling his skin when exposed, just like this, to the air.

He could feel Minseok’s hands caressing the planes of his shoulder, dipping one finger at random moments to travel down his spine before trailing up again and squeezing at his neck affectionately. Kyungsoo had never felt better than he was feeling right now, and he just wished that it could be like this every day of his life, that he could be with his mate without people pointing at him, saying that he couldn’t.

“What are you thinking love?” asked Minseok, his lips pressed tightly against the shell of Kyungsoo’s ear.

“I am just thinking how good it is to be with you like this, without restrictions, and how good it would be to just be like this, waking up with you, kissing you, love you at every minute of every day without having to look over my shoulder…”

“I know. I know...” replied Minseok, kissing the omega’s temple. “That’s my wish as well, as it has been for many years. We shouldn’t lose faith though: we are going to be together someday. Junmyeon said he would look after us and so will Yifan. We just have to hold on a little longer and everything will be as we wish.”

“I really hope you are right.” Mumbled Kyungsoo into Minseok’s neck, laughing a little when the older man pretended to munch on his skin playfully, making him slap the man lightly.

“Stop that, Seok!” he protested. “You’re going to slobber all over me.”

“I’ve done much worse than slobber over you and you didn’t complain.” Replied Minseok with a smirk, making Kyungsoo blush to the roots of his short hair.

“Stooop!” he whined, in a cute sort of way that he only ever used on Minseok.

“You stop! You are being too cute for your own sake and I only have so much self-control.”

Kyungsoo let out a loud laugh before getting up from the bed, while he loved these intimate moments with Minseok, he knew that if someone came to look for them, being caught in such a compromising position would be horrible and it would bring a huge amount of trouble.

Minseok just rolled lazily on his stomach, admiring the smooth expanse of Kyungsoo’s pale back and whistling to shown his appreciation at the supple curves.

“Stop with that. You are such a ert.” Laughed Kyungsoo while putting on his pants to cover his ness.

“You love me like this.” Replied the other male quite cheekily, a brilliant smile flourishing on his lips.

“That I do.” Nodded the omega, approaching the other wolf to kiss him warmly on his smiling lips.

Minseok’s smile blossomed into the kiss, hands coming forward to hold Kyungsoo’s face between them, trying to map all the details of that angelic face.

Kyungsoo's bright smile was present even when both of them parted. He was so happy; it was absolutely lovely to see him like this and Minseok was delighted at the sight of him.

“Get up now, we have got to see the others; a lot happened when you were gone.”

“A lot happened in a good way or a bad way?” asked Minseok as he stood up from the bed, stretching the muscles on his tired yet sated body, preening a little when Kyungsoo’s dark eyes followed the movement.

They both got dressed and enjoyed something to eat before venturing out of Minseok’s hut, into the middle of the pouring rain, to Jongdae’s house.

They knocked on the door of Jongdae’s hut and Kyungsoo didn’t even think twice as he opened the door, he just wished to get out of the pouring rain outside. The minute he opened the door and let himself and Minseok in, he wasn’t expecting for a group of men to be inside the hut, talking quietly among themselves, and he wasn’t expecting for Minseok, detecting the smell of strange people to simply push him back and launch himself over at them, despite some shout of warning, managing to knock Jongin and Jongdae over which triggered Chanyeol who attacked back.

They both were attacking each other violently, growling despite everyone telling them to stop with it. Jongdae had been pulled by Jongin and he was cowering in a corner, whimpering at the display of violence that reminded him too much of his father while Jongin tried his best to comfort the small male. Yixing tried to help as well but he was only pushed back, falling over a chair and managing to break it while Kyungsoo shouted in front of the now closed door, for Minseok to stop.

Sehun, tried to lift himself from the bed, his back hurting quite a lot at the sudden movements and the stress of the situation. He tried to do something and help to control the situation but the sudden roar, loud and terrifying that froze everyone inside the room, as a hand landed on his shoulder, forcing him back to a lying position.

He looked up to Baekhyun, who looked… well, he didn’t know how to describe it in any other word rather than powerful. Baekhyun was just by his side, a hand still on the betas shoulder, with his chest and chin projected forward, eyes glinting in a spectacular myriad of swirling colors, narrowed in anger. His mouth was partially opening and, despite not being the tallest in the room, for Sehun, and most likely everybody else in the room, he looked about ten feet tall.

“Let’s stop this. Let’s stop this pathetic display of dominance and discuss things like people, without allowing our primal instincts to take over us. You are scaring people and hurting them without a valid reason.” Baekhyun let his eyes slid from Minseok to Chanyeol, swiping them over his brothers and Jongdae, before allowing them to rest on Sehun, who in a breath at the swirling auroras.

Both Minseok and Chanyeol stilled completely, breathing raggedly, scratches and grazes decorating their features. Jongin pulled Jongdae up, who whined a little, drawing the attention of Chanyeol, who quickly approached the male, making small sounds at the back of his throat. Kyungsoo moved to help Yixing, tutting when the wolf groaned at the pain on his ribs.

“Now that we all have calmed down,” Continued the berserker. “it’s time for some enlightenment. Sit down Minseok; we have a lot to talk about.”

A/N: TA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! One more chapter! Now, after Seungwan criptic appearance, more SeBaek time where they both get to know each other better and were they bond. They are not in love with each other, it wouldn't be that fast but they are very comfortable and they clearly understand and admire each other, which is a step in the right direction. Also, XiuSoo time :3
What are your thoughts about this chapter? Tell me everything about it in a comment or in a message. Subcribe if you like and please, upvote if you think it deserves it.
I would like to thank everyone that has been with me for this story so far and I hope to see you as this story progresses, we are far from the ending! Also, I would like to thank the awesome, amazing, the best: -lubehan, who beta-ed this chapter and deals with my improper grammar and syntaxix mistakes and does it ever so gracefully!
Lastly, as always, please be healthy and safe, love other people and allow them to love you as well, and be always VERY, VERY HAPPY!
Have a magnificent week and see you next chapter.
Lots of love,
<3