Baekhyun could feel the tears trickling down his cheeks, he could feel the dirt under his fingernails from how he clawed at the ground in anger. He could taste the salt from his tears on his tongue, the bitterness stinging an opened cut on his lower lip. The wind howled between the tree branches, it's melody rough and harsh to his ears. He could smell the scent of the wolf before him, the creature towering over him now that he was resting on his knees after everything that had been revealed.

Baekhyun hated the fact that he was idiotic enough to think that he could be happy with the man that he thought he fell in love with, he thought that he had made the right decision by giving his heart to Chanyeol and yet here was his original life telling him that the man he thought he loved wasn't his actual soulmate. Their bond was only ever supposed to be platonic, with no romance at its core. Baekhyun continued to bite his lip, his body shaking from the tears that fell at the memories that plagued his head.

Chanyeol's warm arms were always welcomed around his body, they were his anchor in reality when he was questioning everything from the dreams he had suffered. The Alpha's lingering touches always felt like small flames dancing against his exposed skin, the heat from his palm always making Baekhyun's stomach flip with butterflies. His kisses were always so sweet and tender, like he was waiting for the vampire to push him away afraid that he would break beneath the pressure he placed on his lips.

"How can you even think to love someone who is terrified that you won't return their love for them? He's pathetic, he is probably just enjoying his time with you until you decide to leave him. What kind of man does that? If he really loved you then why hasn't he done anything to show it? He left you all alone when Jessica arrived, he was willing to allow you to change partners when he broke your neck. He has never fought for you Baekhyun, he doesn't deserve you!"

Baekhyun's heart hurt, his tears collecting in a small pool on the ground below him. He hadn't realised that he had cried so much, his eyes widening at the size of the body of water below him. The puddle was riddled with his pain and anguish, everything wasn't what it had appeared to be at all. His mind went numb, no more screaming voices begging him to ignore the wolf's words. Baekhyun was officially alone.

~*~

"Baekhyun?" Kyungsoo cried, looking down at the boy still laid out on the infirmary bed. His grip on the vampire's hand was tight, his knuckles white desperate to hold onto him for as long as he could. The steady heartbeat below his fingers from the latter's wrist was enough to calm his heart but his breathing rocketed at the sight of the black veins beginning to spread from the tips of his best friend's fingertips. "No!" he screamed, the tears pooling against his lids. "NO!"

"What's happening?" Colin screamed, entering the room with the rest of the group. His eyes blowing wide at the sight of Baekhyun's hand, the vampire's wrist being held out to them by the warlock classed witch.

"He's dying!" Kyungsoo screamed, reaching forward with his free hand to card through Baekhyun's hair. "Baekhyun please you can't-"

Jongin was by his side the next moment, pulling the witch into his arms as Kyungsoo began to kick and scream at him to let him go. The werewolf held him tight as he walked away from the bed, his arms wrapped around Kyungsoo's waist holding him back. Luhan and Tao were hoping to go to their friend's bed, but their Alpha's held them back. Suho and Minseok stared at their friend with opened mouths. No one had expected this.

"No!" Skylar cried, jumping on top of Baekhyun's bed, the mattress bouncing from her weight. She grabbed a hold of Baekhyun's hand, her tears streaming down her cheeks as she held onto him. "You can't leave, I have so much to tell you please." she begged, bringing the back of his hand up to her lips.

"Skylar.." Colin whispered but it went on deaf ears, he watched heartbroken as his mate shook the boy in the coma.

"You can't leave, please I have to tell you something. Jessica never married or had any children, but how am I here? She said that she didn't have any children but I am her descendent, I told you and Chanyeol that!"

The room fell to silence, the only thing being heard was the sniffles and the grunts of protest from Kyungsoo.

"Baekhyun protected your baby, she found a way to keep them alive because she placed the baby in her womb. She birthed you and Chanyeol's baby and took your bloodline as her own, Baekhyun please! I'm your family, please you have to wake up!" Skylar cried her chest falling against the mattress as she held on tightly to the now fully grey veined arm. "Baekhyun!"

~*~

"Baekhyun!"

"Baekhyun please!"

"You can't do this!"

"You can't leave me."

The vampire stared through his tearful blinking eyes at his right hand, the black veins that sprouted from his fingertips stood out against his pale flesh. At first he didn't care that it was happening, but he heard something. Cries filled with desperation and sorrow, words holding a sliver of hope.

Hope?

Baekhyun couldn't even remember what the meaning of the word was. Everything that the wolf before he had said had away his hope. There was no longer any hope, there was no longer any light at the end of this never ending dark tunnel. It would just keep going on and on. He would be lost in the darkness, not having a clue as to where to go. At least if he gave up now he would save himself from that feeling of loneliness. If he gave up now he would be free. He wouldn't have to continue fighting for a light that was never there in the first place. If he could just-

"Chanyeol told me to tell you that you are his beacon illuminating his way to you, just give him time to find you." Those were the last words he remembers before he was pulled into this subconscious world, those were the words Mark had whispered to him before he was out of the world he knew and dragged into this one.

He couldn't deny that it had its similarities to the world outside his mind, but Baekhyun was observant to notice the differences. For one, there was a full moon in the sky and the full moon wasn't scheduled in reality for at least another week. They would just have to get past Halloween first, then they would be able to return home.

Home.

Could he even call it that?

Could he even think about going back to a life he would question? Where he would constantly have to worry about the truth behind his legitimate claim of being Chanyeol's true soulmate. A shiver ran down his back, a tear rolling down the curve of his cheek as he allowed himself to think about it again.

By now the black veins in his arm had grown up so high that it was reaching his collarbone, Baekhyun reached out to touch it and was suddenly reminded of the time in his dream of his wedding with Chanyeol. Even then the werewolf had been so cautious in everything that he had done, he had always held himself back from doing anything to him, always asking permission. Baekhyun wished now that the boy had taken the initiative to do things himself, after all he had offered himself up to Chanyeol completely. He had told the wolf many times that he didn't believe him to be anything like his elder brother.

Daehyun.

Baekhyun swallowed the lump in his throat as the boy's face appeared again in his mind's inner eye, all the memories of him from his dreams and from reality came forward like a tidal wave. Baekhyun was suddenly overwhelmed with Daehyun's face, his touches, his forceful kisses and lingering stares. He hated it. He hated how he thought he loved him. He hated how easy he was to be manipulated, he hated the fact that his mind was so weak.

Weak.

He had told everything to Chanyeol, he had told the werewolf every little sliver of his life and yet Chanyeol never once told him that he was damaged, or weak. The wolf would praise him telling him how strong he was to have dealt with everything by himself, regardless of the fact that he had run away. He hated how he sounded so pathetic.

"You still found the strength to decide that the relationship you had with Daehyun was toxic. I don't think I could ever find you even remotely pathetic when you did something as courageous as that, you're stronger than you allow yourself to see Baekhyun and I think that being with Chanyeol makes you see just how strong you can be."

Chanyeol made him see just how independent he could be. He made him see what life was really about, spending time with friends, being adventurous. Sure they had their ups and down but Chanyeol was always waiting for him by his side.

But sometimes he wasn't. He had willingly allowed himself to get tangled up with Jessica and everything about her and that's how Baekhyun found himself in Kris' arms that day in the village. The giant covering for his friend who was too immersed with the other witch who was put there to impose a drift in the school by Daehyun.

No matter how many times he reviewed the past couple weeks of his life before coming to this world everything led back to Daehyun. He was the reason Jessica came into their lives and took Chanyeol's attention away which brought Kris closer to him which then gave this wolf a piece of information to use against him. Baekhyun could not see his feelings for Chanyeol as platonic, he generally knew that he loved him. This wolf was just another test, taking one single moment from his life to corrupt him and make him believe that he and Chanyeol stood no chance against each other. Daehyun was the cause of this wolf sprouting such nonsense and like hell was he going to listen to Daehyun ever again.

" you." he hissed through his teeth, his fingers clawing at the dirt before him as he pulled himself back to sit on his legs. His eyes narrowed up at the wolf before him who simply its lips back at him. " you for thinking that I would ever leave behind the man I love."

"You may love him but you aren't his mate." The wolf snorted, wisps of white smoke billowing out of his nostrils before raising upwards and disappearing in the air around him.

"You know that's exactly what Daehyun would say, only he would use the 'you aren't his mate, you're mine' card."

"I have no idea who you are talking about right now.." the wolf for once actually looked confused, its eyes narrowed as it took a sniff of the ground below him. "If I have no idea about who you're talking about how am I supposed to be able to speak like them?"

"My Baekhyun came here before I did, he got a three hour head start and was able to pass through every test and deny any other Chanyeol's hand. He got to the very last test much to the pleasure of everyone else here, I thought he passed at first since he suddenly appeared in front of me. But he was crying and couldn't look me in the eye, he had become so insecure that he couldn't even allow me to touch him. He claimed that everything we figured out was wrong-" The words of the first Chanyeol he had met rang through his head like a bell, forcing the wind out of Baekhyun's lungs. He knew this was all a test but Baekhyun figured that the wolf before him didn't have any reason to lie, he thought that his first life would have given him the benefit of the doubt considering everything that they have been through already. "Whatever happened at that last test made my Baekhyun break apart."

Baekhyun felt the anger and frustration bubble in his chest, his eyes widening as everything began to click into place. He had allowed himself to believe other people's words and actions so easily, he had allowed himself to fold into what he thought other people wanted of him. He wanted to make people happy even if it meant the expanse of himself, which is why he was so desperate to follow the rules. He wanted respect and love but was going about it in the wrong way.

His friends didn't love him because he agreed to everything they said, they loved him because he was a strong and outspoken person fighting against Chanyeol and the other Alphas when he should have been following what everyone else was doing; ignoring them.

The King and Queen in his dreams accepted him because he stood up for his family and up against Daehyun who constantly thought of him as his mate without giving Baekhyun a voice. He was respectable to them since they were the Royal family but he had enough when Daehyun continued to push which in turn forced Baekhyun to break.

Chanyeol was always there to pick up the pieces, he may not have been so straight forward about it but he was always there in the background. His lingering stares brought a small smile to the vampire's lips and a dull heat to his cheeks, his arms kept out the bad dreams and anchored him in the 'now' rather than the 'past'. Chanyeol may not have taken the initiative like the wolf before him had said but Baekhyun was still grateful for everything that he did which gave him space when he needed it, nurturing him when he needed to grow and shout at him when he needed to be reminded of his strength.

If he was Chanyeol's light, then Chanyeol was his fire igniting a spark within him, a flame to help him through everything the universe threw at him.

"I'm not living without him." Baekhyun declared, slowly gathering his strength to push himself up from the ground. He couldn't help the smile that he allowed spread across his lips as he now stood before the wolf with enough confidence for both himself and for Chanyeol. "I refuse to allow myself to be manipulated any more, you can tell me what you want but when it comes to the man that I love I won't allow you to make my decisions for me I've had that done to me my entire live and judging by the Chanyeol's I've already met here before I was incapable of doing it before but now I can stand before you with a clear mind and say it straight to your face... you."

"Why do I feel like you're talking as if I'm someone else?" The wolf questioned, blinking his bright brown eyes up at Baekhyun who was quite stumped by the reaction. "Ah I'm assuming that those words are really the words you want to say to this Daehyun person, correct?"

"I don't think we will have much to talk about when I see him," Baekhyun admitted, turning around on his heel to view the entryway of the forest. He considered for a moment if he wanted to back-track and find Chanyeol that way but something was begging him to continue on the pathway towards the school, so keeping that in mind he turned back to the wolf. "I want to rip his head off."

"Feisty." The white creature snorted, his breath disappearing before it reached Baekhyun's chin. "But I do believe that a Congratulations is in order, well done number 614 you have officially passed the test."

Baekhyun let out a content sigh, his head dropping between his shoulders as the grin pulled wider into a bright smile. "Thank you." he whispered, his fingers meeting against his abdomen. "I hope that I'll be able to make you proud."

"You already have." The wolf tilted it's head to the side, allowing Baekhyun to gently run his fingers through the fur. He couldn't help the noise of surprise sprout past his lips, it was really soft.

"I suppose that I should go and find Chanyeol right?"

"He's coming to you," The wolf hummed, shifting slightly so that Baekhyun's fingers ran by his left ear. "until then I want to show you something.."

"Is this still part of my test?" Baekhyun wondered, watching as the wolf began to take a couple steps backward before turning around completely. The vampire wanted to follow him but he wasn't going to move a muscle until he got confirmation.

"No," the wolf shook its head, the white fur blowing ever so gently in the breeze. "you have already completed your test but before I'm able to give you back your memories and powers I believe that there is one more thing I must show you."

Baekhyun swallowed the lump in his throat, his feet pulling him until he was walking in step with the creature. He liked how warm the body felt against his legs as they gently brushed off one another as they walked through the forest, the vampire wasn't exactly sure where he was being led but he knew that it wasn't in the school's direction. They continued on in silence for a little while longer until his curiosity finally got the better of him, but before he could voice out his question the wolf stopped in its tracks.

Baekhyun turned his gaze from the creature up to the small cottage ahead of him, there were white lilies growing just in front of the stone building, the grass lush and bright green even in the darkness of the night. The vampire's breath hitched in his throat as he stared through the small window flickering with candlelight, he saw the silhouette of a figure peering through before it suddenly disappeared.

"Where am I?"

"You're still in this subconscious world," the wolf explained, rubbing against his leg like a young kitten. "I just brought you here to wait for Chanyeol. There are some people that you should meet before returning home."

"Baekhyun?" A voice called out from ahead.

Baekhyun turned his gaze from the wolf and up towards the cottage, there was a woman standing on the porch, her hand holding on tightly to the handle. She was crying, her body shaking as she stared into his eyes. Baekhyun felt his entire body go into shock, his blood running cold in his veins.

"Mum?"