Kibum felt extremely surprised with the fact that he wasn't able to even catch a glimpse of Woohyun, no matter how hard he tried. Feeling like a jilted lover, Kibum strayed too far into the Lycan territory and had to be dragged back to the lake by the various nymphs there.

"Stay away, creature. You know not how the Lycans are"

With his attempt at trying to find Woohyun foiled, Kibum didn't have much of a choice than to return back to the others. As always, the only person he could confide in was Jinki, who stood right there by the door, his face laced with worry. On spotting Kibum, Jinki’s face lit up with a smile so wide, it seemed to flood the entire area with sunlight. 

“Kibum, where have you been? I’ve been worried sick about you” 

“I was looking for Woohyun, but couldn’t find him. I even went to the Lycan area, but some nymphs stopped me from going any closer”

”It isn’t safe for you to go there alone. Next time, I’ll go along with you”

That statement just confused Kibum, who shook his head and followed Jinki inside. He knew better than to ask questions, as Jinki was the oldest among their group and was the wisest as well. Kibum was sure that Jinki meant well, and made a mental note to take him along the next time he traveled to the lake.

********************************************************

Meanwhile, Woohyun had just about recovered fully from his utter exhaustion, assisted by Jihyo, who kept fussing over him like a mother hen with only one chick. Truth be told, it had been a very long time since he'd been taken care of, and the love he was being shown definitely made him think of the unfairness that had been meted out to these two souls whose only crime had been falling in love with each other. As far as he could see, Jihyo the wood nymph was a perfect fit to their pack. At the insistence of his mate, even the surly Taejun had spent a few hours watching over Woohyun as he rested. When he felt it was time, Woohyun asked Taejun about the statement that kept bothering him.

"Why did you say I had to give up on my love?"

"Still as stubborn as you were at 7 years old, aren't you? Well, I know you won't stop asking, so I'll just tell you. Eons ago, when our ancestors were the Elders, the pack used to be much, much larger than it is now. In those days, some of the Elder's mates were powerful witches, and everyone lived together in harmony. The Elders were equally powerful as well and assisted by their mates, they'd learned a lot of spells. There was a rumor going on that some of the Elders were indulging in what we now call black magic, which was forbidden even then. After some investigation, the Alpha found out that the rumors were true. Some of the Lycans were being used to transform into more powerful beings, who were able to cast their shadows onto their enemies and control them"

"So..you mean.."

"Yes, the Shadow creatures you see now are the descendants of these Lycans"

"What happened next?"

"The Alpha banished all of the Elders and other Lycans who did this transformation, and they formed a pack of their own. Although those 'elite' Lycans did nothing to bother the pack, the Alpha couldn't just let them off. Keep in mind that the Alpha was the most powerful of them all, he found a spell that would make the non-transformed Lycans stronger and more powerful than they already were. What he failed to realize was the fact that this would happen during the blood moons, which were more common in those days, and that the Lycans wouldn't have any control over their bodies or actions. The crazed Lycans created havoc amongst all creatures in the forest, not only the elite Lycans that they had targeted. No one knew how to remove that spell, and it still affects us now. Our kind has almost wiped off all the shadow creatures in the forest, except the one that you love"

"The blood moon shouldn't be here for another fifty years, so I could still try"

"Are you out of your mind? Every other creature in the forest hates Lycans. Our ancestors wiped out almost every creature that used to live there. It isn't safe for you to leave the pack"

"I don't even remember what happened during the most recent blood moon. Why do you say it isn't safe? I'm ready to leave the pack for the sake of my love"

"This shadow creature of yours is protected by a light demon. I've had Jihyo check with her sisters. The light demon is the only creature powerful enough to fend off a whole pack of bloodthirsty werewolves. He would tear you limb from limb without a blink. You'd have been safer by just falling for a member of the undead, disgusting as they are"

Furrowing his brows in deep thought, Woohyun understood what he had to do next. He'd have to either defeat the light demon in combat or beg him for forgiveness for what his pack had done.