Chapter 35 - Friend or foe?

“So you’re telling me he isn’t human, but none of us sensed it?” Suho has a worried frown on his face, and Kai sighs, nodding.

Ara is sitting next to him, clutching her dad’s journal she has yet to read to her chest. Kai gently squeezes her thigh, and he doesn’t remove his hand, sending Ara warmth and comfort through his touch.

“We usually feel the border being trespassed, but Wonbin has been here for more than a week.” Chen wordlessly stands up and jogs into the hallway, returning seconds later with a distraught Yunho. He hasn’t removed his coat or scarf, and he pants, stopping in front of the pack.

“He has to be a trickster.” Kyungsoo makes room for him on the one-seater, allowing Yunho to sit down and drag in a much needed breath before he continues. “Witches and mages are also capable of hiding their scents and magic with spells, but they usually leave behind traces of herbs; this dude is basically non-existent.”

“But do you think he means ill?” Baekhyun is worriedly biting his nails, Chanyeol slings an arm around his shoulders and pulls him closer.

“We don’t know for sure,” Yunho sighs, pursing his lips. “He hasn’t done anything in one week, and now he suddenly decided to visit Ara.”

“He said he used to work with my mom when we lived in Seoul.” Ara looks up from the journal and sniffles. “He knows my parents; he didn’t do anything to us back then.”

“But why did he suddenly show up here?” Kyungsoo asks, frowning at Yunho.

“Creatures that don’t mean harm usually ask for permission to stay on an alpha’s territory,” Yunho mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest. “I presume he hasn’t asked you yet.”

“What do you mean yet?” Kai snaps, and Ara stiffens next to him. He squeezes her thigh, rubbing his thumb over the skirt material before looking over at Yunho, speaking in a marginally softer tone. “I have no intentions of allowing him to stay here. He could have asked, but he didn’t – I don’t trust him.” The air is filled with a tense silence, everyone lost in their thoughts until Yunho clears his throat.

“Is-is that your father’s?” he gently asks, pointing at the black leather box on the coffee table. Ara bites her lip and nods, subconsciously clutching the journal closer to her chest. “Can I ask what is in it?”

“A spell-book, a cloak and this journal,” Ara whispers, feeling her heart clenching in pain.

“He practiced magic?” Ara sighs and shrugs.

“I don’t know, but he has commented on every spell in the book, explaining them, so it seems like he was familiar with it,” she says, and Yunho nods before gasping.

“Wait, you said there was a cloak,” he exclaims, quickly walking over to the box. Ara wearily eyes him and nods. Yunho peeks inside the open box and gently pulls the cloak out, except this time the coat doesn’t light up where it’s being touched. “Sweet Merlin.”

“What?” Sehun leans forward in the couch and frowns at Yunho. “Is it an invisibility cloak?”

“No,” Yunho whispers, staring in awe at the black material in his hands. “Ara, I think your father was a mage.” Ara blinks, her heat missing a beat, and she slowly stands up, frowning at Yunho.

“How?” Yunho holds the cloak up and turns towards Ara with an amazed grin on his face.

“Clothes being passed down in generations doesn’t seem like a weird thing, unless it’s a cloak being passed down in a family of mages.” He shakes his head in disbelief and huffs out a breath. “There are many mages and witches in the world right now, but there is only one cloak being passed around through generations; it used to belong to