‘Why are you looking so frustrated today, Seo Changbin? ’ Felix ponders to himself as he once again watches the older boy from across the cafeteria in curiosity. Changbin rakes a shaky hand through his dark locks for the millionth time in the past 20 minutes and the blonde can’t help but feel concerned by the third year’s behavior. He also wonders what the older boy would look like if he had a smile on his face instead of the constant troubled look he's only ever seen him wear.

Beautiful. Felix thinks the older would look beautiful-

“Hey, are you listening?”

Minho waves a hand in front of Felix’s face in a last ditch attempt at getting the younger's attention, who seems to be caught up with a certain figure from across the room.

“Oh, uh-” Felix shakes his head trying to get the previous thoughts he had of the third year out of his mind, but that doesn't do for the creeping blush along the young boy’s neck and ears. “Sorry, what did you say, Minho hyung?” He questions with an embarrassed smile.

Hyunjin, who was too busy copying another student's homework for a class he has in less than 30 minutes, finally lifts his eyes from the notebook and gauges the conversation that’s currently taking place across from him. Normally Felix’s spot was beside the other second year, but the younger had expressed how cold he was today from the dropping temperatures here in Korea. Minho being unnaturally warm for a human- which no one ever questions - offered the younger the spot beside him. Leaving Hyunjin with an entire side of the table for himself, he felt a little lonely due to the fact he’s come accustomed to the younger sitting next to him.

He puts Felix’s pink blush in one hand and Minho’s expression in the other and comes to the conclusion; Seo Changbin. “Dude!” He finally puts down his pen, giving up on finishing this assignment in the short time the boy has and giving up on also keeping his mouth shut any longer about the transfer student’s obvious infatuation with the third year star. “Are you that interested in him?”

It’s only Thursday, four days after Felix has started his new life here and for the life of him, he can not ing understand why this one guy affects him the way he does. It’s one thing to have a crush- which is what the blonde originally thought this whole thing with Changbin was- but it’s a completely different thing when you have the thoughts, feelings, and pull towards a boy you’ve never even spoken to, let alone been closer than 20 meters to. So believe it when Felix says that he knows something is not right. He’ll be damned if he states such a matter to the two boys in front of him.

The young blonde looks towards Hyunjin in mild surprise. “I-interested?” The older promptly nods his head to signal the boy to continue. “Uhm, Changbin is kinda cute.”

“I think he meant like- you know what? Nevermind. You’re so pure.” Minho shakes his head at the angel of a boy sat beside him and goes back to eating his lunch, deciding that Felix is a lost cause on this one. However, he catches his best friend’s stare- the lanky boy having a mischievous glint in his eyes never amounted to anything good.

The third year gets ready for impact and to possibly break up a petty little fight that’s about to erupt between his two friends.

Hyunjin clears his throat and packs up the remaining papers scattered around the table. “So you think he’s cute~” He sing-songs while smirking towards a reddening Felix. “Maybe you might have a chance to get through to him! You’re like a little ray of sunshine and he’s like the dark side of the moon! They do say opposites attract- Oh! And your freckles stand out, he might find them cute~ ”

Minho lets out a tired sigh, knowing this situation would happen. The three of them have become impossibly close in the past four days, Felix fitting into the little group perfectly.

The blonde squints challengingly after his initial embarrassment wears off. “ off.” He grinds out in a deep voice, attempting to be threatening and honestly, Minho himself decides to scoot a few inches further from the boy beside him.

But it's old news that there is something deeply wrong with Hyunjin, so it comes to no one's surprise with what happens next.

The latter only throws his head back in contagious laughter, causing Felix to give up whatever front he previously had, deciding there’s no use and he should just live up to whatever feelings he has for a certain- Seo Changbin. “Oh. Ho. Ho. Feisty .”

Felix lays his forehead down onto the gray table and groans, letting Hyunjin know that he's won this round of, ‘ let's see how flustered I can make you ’.

Minho simply let's a giggle slip past his lips and pats the smaller boy a couple of times on the back in an attempt at comforting him. “He is quite a mystery, I don’t blame you.” He states encouragingly. “Hey. Someone said they saw his parents come back in here yesterday.”

At this Felix lifts his head up a little to catch the third year’s excited gaze. The latter simply nods his head.

“Did they say why, hyung?” Hyunjin ponders aloud while also pulling out his phone, only half as interested in the conversation, unlike the blonde boy in front of him.

Minho waves a hand in front of him to dismiss Hyunjin’s question, “Nah” but doesn’t miss the way Felix deflates a little at the loss of further information.

“Oh, well. Did you do your Biology homework, Felix?”

The blonde nods his head and Hyunjin begins on a topic of how screwed he's going to be if he doesn't turn in said homework, but Felix is barely listening. His eyes travel back towards Changbin one last time before he offers up to help a chaotic sounding Hyunjin. Lord knows that boy will stress himself to death.

~*~

The last bell of the day rings throughout the high school, alerting the students and employees who work there that it is time to head home for the day.

Felix gathers his things and tosses a parting wave towards his teacher before heading out the door where many students and lingering staff members reside. He takes a deep breath before turning his head to the side where he notices a head of familiar black hair turn down another hallway.

Felix bites his bottom lip, in thought. 

He knows he shouldn’t, but the blonde just wants to know where the older boy goes after school, so, very slowly and carefully, Felix follows Seo Changbin out of the school building and down the bustling afternoon streets. The blonde hugs his coat tighter across his chest and follows a few paces behind, making sure to keep some distance between the two of them.

What the hell am I even doing? This has got to be borderline stalking at this point! He thinks exasperatedly while waiting for the crosswalk light to turn green.

The further Felix follows the mysterious boy the less crowded and busy their destination gets, which should be alarming to the second year, because what if Changbin knows he’s following him and this is just a plot to get Felix alone to kill him?! It’s highly unlikely, but the blonde thinks about all the possibilities anyways.

One minute Felix is reading out a text from Hyunjin, asking about his whereabouts, (which he responds by simply sharing his location through imessage) and the next he’s looking up from his phone to keep track of Changbin, only to realize his figure is nowhere to be found. The young blonde lets out a sigh and gauges his surroundings.

He’s far, like, couldn't even tell you where he is , far. The only real sort of clue of where he currently resides is a giant welcome sign to a local forest. The sign itself is quite old and worn as if it hasn’t been touched for some time. The colors are almost completely faded and lengthy vines crawl up the metal like on an overgrown greenhouse.

Felix rakes a chilled hand through his blonde locks and gets ready to turn around and attempt to find his way back home before his grandmother realizes he should have been home thirty minutes ago, but he stops mid turn. The same force that Felix felt when he first laid eyes on Changbin, back in the cafeteria, begins to occur. The pull itself isn’t scary in any way, it’s warm and inviting like the feeling you get when you settle down in a cozy bed or lay out in the sun on an early summer day.

So in a trance like state, the second year turns back around and begins walking towards the treeline entrance to the forest.

“Felix?” 

“LEE FELIX! ” A scream and a hand on his shoulder jerking him back out of the forest, pulls the younger second year mentally out of his trance. And just like that, the pull that was once there is completely gone, leaving Felix feeling a little bit empty if he was being honest with himself. “Dude, don’t ever go near here again!” Minho shakes the boy’s shoulders, where his hands are still gripped onto, in emphasis on his request. He stares in confusion until he remembers that he sent his location to Hyunjin.

Before him, Minho and Hyunjin stand worriedly- huffing out puffs of breath like they had ran all the way here and the older of the two looking close to shedding actual tears. Felix feels instantly guilty.

“Yeah, I thought we lost you for a second! You didn’t hear us calling your name?” Hyunjin whines out, still trying to catch his breath, while bending over to place his hands onto his knees in relief.

“No… Sorry I was just curious-”

“Well you better get un-curious . People go into those woods and never come back out. Ever .” 

Felix thinks back to when he lost sight of Changbin, there’s nowhere else he could have gone other than this forest and he’s not sure if he should be more intrigued or worried at this point.

Judging by Minho’s reaction, he’ll take the latter.

The taller second year looks Felix dead in the eyes after recovering from the run here. “There’s a legend saying that this very forest is crawling with kumihos .”

“W-what’s that?”

“It’s a nine-tailed fox spirit that eats people's livers.” Hyunjin shivers just talking about the scary creatures.

“Like… in Naruto?” Felix questions innocently, remembering the anime he watched back home as a kid.

Minho lets out a tired sigh and clicks his tongue in annoyance. “No you , not kumihos. Werewolves .”

“Werewolves?! But hyung, those are mythical creatures, they don’t exist.”

“Tell that to all the missing people reports.” The third year adds in quietly before shaking his head and leveling Felix with a light, yet firm, stare. “Look we’re just saying, don’t go into those woods, okay?”

But I need to… I have to. But then again, the amount of emotion coming from the boy in front of him makes Felix second guess himself completely.

“Okay, hyung.”

~*~

The second Changbin returns home he tosses his school bag near the front entrance and stalks into the kitchen where light talking between the two head wolves can be heard. He sits down at the table and waits for his hyungs to finish their conversation. “Chan hyung? I think we need to call Youngjae hyung…” The younger alpha states tentatively, which is very uncharacteristic of the wolf, but Chan has no time to worry about that. Right now one of s is in pain and he will not let this slide on for any longer.

“Are you still not feeling well?” Chan asks with knitted brows. “You barely interacted with the hunter that had all the wolfsbane” He leans over the table to where Changbin is seated and places his hand against the younger's forehead. “And you don't have a fever anymore.”

“You told me you kept smelling something at school and your wolf didn’t cooperate. Is that what is going on?” Minjun lightly asks, while Chan looks to him as if he kept a secret that was most likely meant to be shared with him days ago.

“Yeah.” Changbin fiddles with his fingers nervously, scared of whatever is going on with him.

“Do you think it's what I think it is?” Chan questions his lover through their bond, excluding the third party listener completely.

Minjun looks towards the alpha with lifted brows, ignoring the annoyed look on Changbin’s face. “It's hard to tell Channie…but it's possible.”

“Can you both stop talking about me through your bond! You know I hate when you two do that.”

Both wolves halt their conversation and look towards the younger expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

“That’s not all, today the smell lingered all the way up until I got to the forest entrance. Normally it stops once I leave school, but that wasn't the case. Seriously though, I think we should call Youngjae hyung. I'm scared that I'll be at school and my inner wolf will just pop out and then I'll really be screwed.”

“About that…”

Changbin squints his eyes. “What?”

“Him and Jaebum hyung are in England right now.”

“The hell are they all the way in England for?!”

Youngjae, who has the ability of healing and the proud owner of many medical degrees, is a member of a nearby pack that goes by the name Got7. Chan has been good friends with all of the members for years, knowing them since he was a little pup. The alpha was even offered a spot in said pack at one point, but due to his leader abilities and status that he was born with, it would have been too difficult. The head alpha of Got7, Jaebum, and him do not have any bad blood however- the two of them just wanting a family, a pack, of their own- and they respect each other’s decision. Both packs regularly hangout and invite the others for barbeque on each other's territory along with many other neighboring packs.

“Its their 80th anniversary and they wanted to make it special- kinda romantic if you ask me.” Chan looks beside him where Minjun quietly sips on some tea that Chan had made for the two of them. “Where should we go for our 60th, Minjunnie~” The younger coos lightly while fluttering his eyes dramatically.

“Ugh, hyungs , I'm trying to be serious and you both are being super gross.” Changbin lets out a sigh while rubbing both of his temples. “You know, people at school think the two of you are my dads every time you come in.” He mostly says under his breath, but the two hear him anyways.

Minjun places his mug gently onto the table and looks towards Changbin with a face that practically screams ‘Duh’ . “Well, technically we have to sign as your legal guardians, so…”

With his headache growing tenfold, Changbin decides he would rather spend the rest of his afternoon lying near a certain cliff that looks out across the neighboring river. “Whatever. I'm going out.”

“Be back to eat dinner with everyone!” Minjun calls out happily, while watching the young alpha sluggishly make his way out the front door.

“They think we're his dads?” Chan questions and tilts his head in thought. “We don't even look that old!”

“For an 89 year old, I think you're looking pretty good.” Minjun practically purs out.

“T-thank you.”

“I love that you're still bashful after all these years~” The omega sips more of his tea, as if he’s not destroying Chan’s insides with the sudden compliments. “It's cute.”

Well if that’s how Minjun was going to be, then two can play at that game. The leader leans over and brushes his nose against his mate’s lovingly, surprising the older in the process. “You're cute.”

“And I   think it's super cute that I can't even get a glass of water without being reminded how painfully single I am!” A very annoyed Seungmin retorts while walking back up the stairs with a cup of water gripped into one hand.

“ Hyung, that's nobody's fault but your own! You never leave the house! ” Jeongin yells from somewhere in the house (Minjun recalls the younger saying he was going to take a bath, moments before Changbin had arrived home.) and Chan has to mentally stop himself from laughing at the younger’s boldness.

Minjun, on the other hand, watches carefully as Seungmin stops midstep and squints his eyes up the stairs and calmly walks back down, placing his cup on a nearby table. “Don't.” The head omega warns, knowing exactly what’s about to go down. “Seungmin, I swear to all the gods that if you so much as shift a single claw-” 

And he does just that. The young omega shifts into his wolf form, a beautiful fur coat of brown mixed in with gray, and runs upstairs where Jeongin is most likely washing up for the night.

The two head wolves hear a distant yell of ‘Ew , get out of here, hyung! ’ followed by a scream.

“You're the one who said that you wanted kids.” Chan states tiredly, getting up and heading towards the fridge, where he looks for things he can possibly cook for dinner. He feels Minjun coming up behind him and snaking his long arms around Chan’s middle, hooking his chin over the younger’s shoulder for good measure. Chan smiles lightly, reveling in the warmth of the omega and the feeling of the older’s steady heart beat against his back.

“I did, but I wouldn’t have it any other way and I know you wouldn't either.”

And he’s right.

~*~

It's the following day, Friday, when Felix comes up with a plan.

The blonde sits down at the lunch table he’s come accustomed to and waits patiently for the two other boys to arrive. He greets the first one to sit down, Hyunjin, and promptly notices Minho get in line for his own lunch. The younger makes quick of his plans and sets the first step into motion, while he has Hyunjin alone. “I need you to do something kind of stupid-”

“Oh God, I love this already!” Hyunjin cuts him off, excitement laced throughout. “What do you need?” The ecstatic second year leans forward, lunch tray of food now forgotten and brings his full attention to the blonde.

Felix snorts unattractively. “Why am I not surprised? Anyways, I want to go into the forest, but I don't think I'll be able to do it alone.” He states carefully.

Hyunjin lets out a sigh and practically slumps in his seat. “Alright, I'm willing to do some pretty ed up - don't get me wrong- but that , I will not do.” He states in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

“Something is telling me that I have to go! Please!” He practically begs Hyunjin. Felix knows that he can’t do this by himself. He doesn't know the area that well, he might get lost and they say it's also better to get lost with another person, and he has this gut feeling that he’s not supposed to go just by himself.

“Felix, were you even listening to what Minho hyung and I were saying? There are legends about werewolves and people never coming back out!” Hyunjin whisper yelled, trying not to gain anymore attention of the students currently eyeballing them from the table over.

From the corner of his peripheral vision, Felix catches sight of Minho coming out of the meal line and heading towards their little spot, so he decides to cut the conversation short. But the blonde boy is definitely a stubborn one. He huffs out an annoyed sigh. “Fine. If you won't go with me, then I'll just go by myself.”

“You won't do it.” The taller second year scoffs at the boldness of Felix’s statement, but if he was being honest, the younger looked like he was anything but joking about the situation.

~*~

“ You're absolutely insane !”

Felix lets out a huff at Minho’s dramatic reaction.

“See, I told you he would do it, hyung! I told you he would go to the woods!” Hyunjin explains whilst waving an accusing finger towards a very unamused Felix.

“You're the one who said I wouldn't , Hyunjin.” He retorts back dryly, folding over his arms in judgement and also because the temperature seemed to drop in the past couple of minutes of simply standing here.

Hyunjin huffs and rolls his eyes at the stubborn Australian boy.

The blonde knew his two friends would show up eventually, because if there’s one thing Felix has gathered from getting to know Hyunjin, it’s that the boy can’t keep his mouth shut. So everything falls into plan; Felix explaining earlier at lunch what he wants to do- behind Minho’s back of course- and Hyunjin naturally telling his best friend everything and anything under the sun. Followed by Minho’s momma bear over the top reaction. All of the events played out smoothly, in Felix’s humble opinion, causing all three of them to end up at the forest entrance at 4:40 in the evening.

“Felix, listen to me right now. You can not go in there.” Minho tries to reason with Felix for what felt like the hundredth time in the past twenty four hours.

“Why?!”

Hyunjin watches the two of them argue back and forth, neither of them making a stable argument to the other. He lets out a sigh, shaking his head out of disbelief because of what he’s about to do. “You know what? Whatever, if he wants to go, let's go.”

Minho looks at him like he just betrayed his trust. “H-Hyunjin! You know I can't…” Then he adds in a smaller voice. “My parents…”

“Hyung, that was forever ago and you said you got over that. Everything will be fine. Maybe if we just go in once Felix will get over his little obsession and he’ll stop bringing it up.” The taller second year looks towards the blonde and quickly adds a ‘ no offense ’. Not that Felix took offense in the first place, he knows how crazy this entire thing is. “Come on. We will be quick.”

“Yeah, I wasn't planning on staying after the sun goes down.” Felix reasurres a very uneasy looking Minho.

“What about your grandmother, huh? Won't she be worried that you’re staying out?” The oldest of the three desperately asks.

“I told her that I was staying at Hyunjin’s tonight…”

“Woah, man! Dragging me into this without my permission?”

Minho grabs hold of both of their wrists and leads them across a worn out path that’s covered in dried weeds and fallen branches. “Come on, let's just get this over with, and we are not staying past sunset!”

~*~

The head alpha and omega are snuggled on one of the couches watching a movie the beige wolf had chosen, Titanic. It's one of those calm and quiet nights the two occasionally have where they get to spend some quality time together. A date night of sorts, if you will. With Changbin and Jeongin playing some video games upstairs and Seungmin reading quietly in his own room, you could say this was a typical Friday night.

Until it wasn't.

The mated couple aren't too far into the classic film when Minjun starts moving around, as if he was trying to get into a comfortable position, where the man lays against Chan's chest.

The alpha glances towards his mate in interest. The works of a lewd joke about moving around too much are at the tip of his tongue, but instead he looks at the older with concern written all over his face. His mate has his eyes screwed shut and shoulders beginning to hunch in on himself, his entire body language screaming ‘ uncomfortable’.

“Minjun?” Chan gently shifts his lover off of himself and sits him up on the couch instead. He then crouches down in front of the man's knees and places reassuring hands on his waist, rubbing soothing circles to ease Minjun out of whatever is happening.

He watches with great concern as the older finally begins to calm down and slowly opens his eyes, staring off to the side of Chan's head. “What is it, baby? Did you have a vision?”

Yes, Minjun, just like most creatures of their breed, has a gift. His is the gift of Subjective Precognition; the ability to see parts of the future. Whether the vision comes true or not is always a toss up for the omega. However, he can confidently say that his visions’ accuracy is around 79%.

The omega finally brings his gaze towards his lover and grabs his hands shyly. “Channie, I think our family is about to get bigger.” Minjun smiles to himself, knowing exactly what's going to happen. He can feel that this vision will definitely come true.

Chan let's out a sigh of relief, realizing whatever Minjun saw was nothing dangerous or threatening. He places a gentle hand on Minjun's jaw and gets him to bring his attention back to him. He knows how the omega can get kinda out of it when coming back from a vision. “Love, don't speak in riddles. What do you mean by that?” The older looks down at Chan with a soft smile and places his own hand atop his lover’s. The alpha is patiently waiting for Minjun to come down from his vision, but the sound of thundering footsteps from the stairway causes him to turn away.

Standing before the two of them is a panting Seungmin, bangs plastered to his forehead with sweat, the sight alone causes Minjun to immediately snap out of his high. “Seungmin, what-”

“T-There are people on the territory, about a mile away from the house, a-and I don't feel so good…” Seungmin’s words go in one ear and out the other because he notices the trembling hands and the younger shaking his head a few times, which causes alarms to go off in the leaders mind. Chan is two seconds away from wrapping his pack member into his arms and if it wasn’t for his own mate currently occupying said space he would do just that. Instead he decides to talk the young omega through, what Chan assumes, is some sort of reaction to his powers, kinda like Minjun. It’s rare for Seungmin to react as he is now, but Chan guesses you can’t always avoid something like this.

“What's wrong, Seungminnie? You're shaking-”

“Changbin hyung?!” Jeongin’s terrified yell halts the conversation entirely and the three of them all look at each other in concern before running upstairs where the youngest was heard in panic. Chan notices Seungmin walking like it physically pains him to do so and he quickly helps guide the younger the rest of the way.

What in the world is going on tonight?! The leader ponders to himself.

Once stood in front of the slightly ajared door, the sound of low growls and sniffling can be heard from inside. Minjun grabs hold of a shaking Seungmin and shields the younger behind him, parent mode activated.

Chan carefully opens the door to find a very scared Jeongin crouched beside a dresser and Changbin, who has transformed into his wolf form, in a fighting stance, ready to lash out at anyone who nears him.

The youngest member lets a small sob slip out once he notices Chan standing in the doorway, ready to defuse whatever is going on. “ DAD! ” Jeongin quickly runs to his adoptive father and leader, holding onto his arm like his life depends on it. The maknae, and sometimes Seungmin, only ever refer to Minjun and Chan as their father or dad whenever they’re scared or want something of value, so hearing this word from Jeongin lights a fire in Chan’s heart. The silver haired man responds by checking over the younger for injuries, but thankfully nothing seems to be wrong.

“Innie, stand behind Minjun.” Chan calmly tells the young wolf and then brings his attention to Changbin. The younger alpha stares at Chan with an unreadable expression, but the growls and teeth baring say otherwise. “Changbin, you have to calm down.” The leader steps closer, arms reached out as if to say he means no harm towards him. If whatever is happening to Changbin is what he and Minjun believe is happening, then the younger has almost zero control over his body by now, but the leader tries his best to help anyways.

Changbin is trying to resist on imprinting and him being an alpha only makes his inner wolf that much more difficult to deal with.

“Try to fight it, don't let this control you- Wait!” Chan watches in surprise and horror as Changbin rushes past all four of them and makes his way out of the house. He would have chased after him right then and there if it wasn’t for Seungmin howling out in pain before transforming himself and running out like Changbin had done mere seconds ago.

“Changbin! Seungmin!” The leader uses his alpha voice to get the attention of his pack members but his efforts go to waste when the two of them show no signs of stopping.

“Come on, we have to go after them. Innie, stay close.”

~*~

Hyunjin pushes another low hanging tree branch out of his face- curse being tall - and lets out a deep sigh for the hundredth time in the past hour and a half. “You said you knew the way out!” The lanky boy stares heatedly at the back of the third year who didn’t even want to set foot into the allegedly cursed forest in the first place.

“I say a lot of things I don’t mean, stop yelling at me…I'm sensitive.” Minho begins in a serious tone, but ends up ending his sentence with a ing Vine quote, causing Hyunjin’s mind to spiral further than it was previously doing.

Hyunjin can do a lot of things, and he praises himself for having such a talent, and he will do just about anything, really, but scary things? Nuh uh, screw that. Hwang Hyunjin does not do scary or haunted or being lost in the goddamn forest after sunset, because Felix just had to say, “Wait, I want to see something.” about half an hour ago. And guess what set half an hour ago? The sun. So here they are, doing exactly what they said they wouldn’t do.

“This really is not the time to be cracking jokes, Minho hyung!” Hyunjin hautly announces and continues to use his phone’s flashlight to illuminate the rocks he’s currently having a difficult time walking around. Once he finally manages to catch up to where Minho and a very placid looking Felix are, he ends up doing a double take at the blonde. “ And how are you calm ?!”

Minho would actually find this scene of an hysterical Hyunjin, being afraid of every little thing, quite hilarious if he wasn’t so worried himself. One of them has to stay calm and, no, Felix does not count. Minho very much believes the boy has some sort of curse or trance on him, and he means that in a very unironic way. It’s creeping Minho out a little if he was being honest.

“ Shh , I heard something.” Felix places a finger over his lips and stops in his tracks to listen to what sounded like someone yelling. And judging by Minho’s face, Felix believes he might have heard it as well.

“What the hell was that?” Minho questions quietly.

Hyunjin however, continues hurriedly with his strides, long legs making quite the distance. “Great! Now we're going to get eaten and die- holy I'm too young to die-”

Maybe it was the sudden silence of the scared boy or the sound of a knock followed by a loud thump. Either way, both Felix and Minho watch in shock as a very passed out Hyunjin lays motionless on the cold forest ground.

“Hyunjin!” The oldest of the three runs and crouches down beside the passed out boy. He checks to make sure his best friend is in fact, still alive -which he is- and looks for any wounds. The only harm done seems to be the bump forming on the younger’s forehead, thank God. But this doesn't ease the growing pit of being absolutely frightened and worried for the three of them. First the scream that didn’t sound too far away, the rumors about the forest itself, and now this.

“ . . .” Minho attempts to sit Hyunjin up against the tree, so he isn't completely laid out on the ground, because one: the temperature has considerably dropped in the past hour, and two: who knows what's on the floor of this forest. “How are we going to drag his passed out weight?”

Felix can hear Minho call for him, but it only comes out faint, almost like a whisper from far, far away.

Right now, the blonde watches curiously as two figures approach and the constant tingle and pull the younger has been feeling for days now increases tenfold. He gasps, although quietly, once he sees the figures up close. Two wolves, bigger than normal, with coats the color of night and the other of brown and gray.

And then Felix feels it come all at once.

His eyes connect immediately with the black furred one and everything feels overwhelmingly warm, familiar, and airy, like he’s drifting away. Felix’s heart pulls in a way he has never experienced before, like the tides on a beach, an overflowing wave of pure love and devotion washes over him. Tiny visions, like a film roll playing fast and slow all at the same time, begin to cloud his sight.

The first thing that plays is-… is Seo Changbin. Seo Changbin laying beside him in a bed he's never seen, the both of them looking disheveled, holding hands, and whispering lightly to each other. The next is of Changbin working in some type of garden and looking up lovingly at Felix’s approaching figure, before the vision changes once again. This time Felix is holding a small child, but he also takes notice of his own appearance not looking much older, maybe in his early twenties. Changbin comes up beside him to caress the child's head and gazing at Felix with the same loving smile.

And that’s the last thing he sees before everything goes completely black.

“Felix?” When the blonde doesn't respond Minho looks up and notices his face has a very far off look. “Felix, are you listening?” Minho then curiously shines Hyunjin's dropped phone towards wherever Felix is looking at and nearly drops the cell and possibly passes out, like his friend.

Standing before the three of them are, in Minho’s opinion, one of the most frightening and weirdest things one could encounter in the dark forest that they are currently lost in.

Wolves. And unnaturally big ones.

Two wolves stand before them, one with sleek black fur and one with a mix of brown and what looks to be gray, but Minho can't really tell with this lighting. The larger of the two takes a step forward, eyes never leaving Felix. Minho, who’s on the verge of calling out to the animal to not step any closer to his friend, silences himself. He stills completely once the smaller of the two wolves looks towards him… no, to Hyunjin.

“Seungmin. Don’t.” An unknown voice calls out and maybe it’s a good time for Minho to admit how absolutely terrified he is.

Three more figures appear out from behind some trees. One is pale with silver hair and the dude definitely has a build to him, from what Minho can tell, and looks to be in his early to mid twenties. The guy standing close behind him is around the same height and age, with sandy blonde hair, a little darker than Felix’s, and has honey colored skin. Lastly a boy who barely looks any older than Minho himself, clutches onto the previous guy’s arm like his life depends on it. The younger looking one has auburn hair and doe eyes that look about as scared as Minho currently feels.

“W-who are you people?!” Minho has never had a panic attack before, but he thinks he’s currently about as close to one as he's ever been. None of the strangers say anything more, the only time someone speaks again is when Minho watches in horror as Felix passes out from seemingly nothing and the black wolf hurriedly breaks his fall by placing itself under him. “Stay away from Felix!” He cries out, unable to move from his current spot, afraid the smaller wolf, who's been eyeing Hyunjin, will make a move.

The silver haired man steps forward and stretches his hands out in a tranquil manner. “Hey hey hey. Calm down, he's not going to hurt him-”

“Why did he pass out? What is he doing with Felix?!”

“I can explain everything, but first you need to calm down. My name is Bang Chan, and I know you must be very scared right now, but I can help you three, okay?” The man’s voice is soothing and inviting, much to Minho’s disbelief. The frighted third year looks questioningly towards the beige haired guy, then to smaller boy, gauging the situation to the fullest.

What the do I do?! I knew we shouldn't have come! I knew all of this was a bad idea the second Felix wanted to come here...

Minho puts on a brave face, even though his shaking hands say other wise, and stares down the young man- Chan, apparently- in front of him, who seems to be doing all the talking. “W-why should I trust you?”

Chan pays no mind to Minho’s stuttering and gives the younger a sympathetic smile. “I can get you all back home safe and alive.” He promises aloud, speaking with complete seriousness and assurance.

Do I even have a choice at this point? Minho ponders while looking around.

“Fine.” He states defeatedly. The third year lets out a tired sigh and looks back over where a passed out Felix is curled up against the large black wolf and then towards the smaller, brown and gray one who is now sitting and still staring intently at Hyunjin.

“They’re with us.” The beige haired man speaks up for the first time and Minho whips his head back to where he stands. “The two wolves, they’re with us. Don’t be afraid, neither of them will harm or touch you.” And for some odd reason Minho believes him. Call him crazy, but the beige  haired dude’s voice- calm and not too deep- helps him relax just a bit.

Minho stands shakily and stretches his hand out to check if Felix is alright, but Chan catches his wrist before he can so much as get near the blonde. “Don’t touch him! Just not yet…” The older man releases his hand and jerks his head towards the direction they had originally come from. “Follow us.”

~*~

The short walk to the odd group’s house was a strange one.

First: the smaller wolf- Seungmin? That’s what Chan had called him- would not stay more than two paces away from Minho. The third year assumes that it had to do with the lanky second year boy he had to carry on his back. Second: the auburn haired boy kept looking at Minho like he was the weird one and for the life of him, Minho couldn't imagine why . It’s not like he was the one living in the ed up forest with wolves.

When all of them pile inside- even the wolves, to Minho’s surprise- the black furred one carrying a sleeping Felix lays the both of them down near the fireplace and curls around him protectively.

At this point Minho is at a loss for words, so for now he lays Hyunjin down onto one of the couches and sits beside him, placing the younger’s head in his lap. He takes note of the little bits of dried blood around Hyunjin’s forehead that he didn’t notice in the dark forest earlier. What are we even doing here, Hyunjin?

Chan lays a warm hand in between Seungmin’s shoulder blades, startling the younger, and breaking his neverending staring contest with the tall and passed out human. “Seungmin, do you think you can shift back? I know it's hard and this is all really terrifying, but everything will be fine.”

Minho watches in shock and nervousness as he witnesses a larger than average wolf magically transform into a boy that looks to be the same age as him. He has brown hair with flecks of gray, that should probably make him look older, but he surprisingly pulls off the look anyways. The boy then takes out a pair of glasses from his pocket, placing the spectacles on his face before slowly approaching Hyunjin’s sleeping form. His eyes are filled with an emotion that Minho doesn't quite understand.

Minho never takes his eyes off the abnormal person? Creature? Whatever he is. “His smell…” Seungmin whispers while reaching out to touch the passed out human.

“Keep your hands off.” Minho practically growls at the stranger, earning him a glare followed by an eyeroll. Who the hell does this guy think he is?! The third year hautly thinks.

Seungmin pads over to where both Minjun and Chan are calming down a less scared Jeongin. “ Hyung, not just him though. The other one- it's weird.” The young omega looks back to where the stranger sits in their living room and Chan nods his head in understanding.

“I know.” The leader threads a hand through Seungmin’s hair, hoping the younger can feel a little less on edge. He knows that Seungmin must be feeling all sorts of emotions right now and honestly he’s doing amazing, keeping his inner wolf at bay. Of course it helps that he’s an omega and would naturally have more control than an alpha. “We will talk later, but right now it's best if you go upstairs with Jeongin.”

The maknae’s eyes suddenly widened at what his hyung had just implied. “No! I don't want to leave!”

Minjun gives his adoptive son an understanding smile while rubbing his back lightly. “Innie, Channie and I will be right here- I know you can sense us from your room. We will come up there when everything is settled. I promise.”

The young wolf reluctantly nods his head and Seungmin guides the both of them upstairs.

The head wolves walk back to where the stranger waits patiently and sit down in the loveseat adjacent to him, the only thing separating them being a glass coffee table, decorated beautifully with flowers Jeongin had actually picked out yesterday morning.

“Explain. Everything.” Minho speaks with as much patience as he can muster up. He’s tired, confused, scared, and just really wants to lay down.

Chan clears his throat and levels the boy across from him with a humble smile. “My name is Bang Chan, like I stated before, and this is Kim Minjun, my mate. The youngest one is Jeongin and his brother who went upstairs with him is named Seungmin.” The silver haired man points over to the nearby fireplace. “The wolf curled around your smaller friend, his name is Seo Changbin.”

Seo Changbin?! Minho stares curiously at the wolf.

“What is your name?” Minjun questions, the same calming voice tames the younger’s nerves like it had done in the forest.

“Minho… Lee Minho.”

“Minho, you’ve probably heard the rumors or lores about this forest, about what hides inside. All of it is true. Right now you’re on Stray’s territory; our pack. My family.” Chan watches carefully, trying to see how Minho would react to this information, but the boy only looks at him with an unreadable expression, so he continues. “Werewolves, as you would call them, have roamed these parts for a very long time. Some packs like ours move districts every decade or so to help hide our identities. Things would start to get weird once humans notice how very little we age.”

Minjun offers a little smile. “This is a lot to take in so-”

“My friend, why is he like that? I don’t understand.” Minho surprises both Chan and Minjun from the lack of reaction about finding out werewolves are more than just a fairytale, but the two do not dwell on the subject for too long.

“Well, he has been imprinted on. It’s rare, but when werewolves imprint onto humans the latter gets a bit overwhelmed and passes out afterwards. He will be fine though.”

Minho rubs his temples trying to understand all of this. “Imprinted? What does that mean and just- this is all so ing crazy...”

Ah, there is the reaction they were expecting.

Chan hums in understanding and tries to think about how to easily put everything without confusing the distraught boy any further. “I guess to put it simply, imprinting for us is kind of equivalent to humans saying that they have found their soulmate or true love. Except we don’t have a choice or say in the matter, it just happens . Our fate is already decided for us, whoever we imprint on is considered to be our one true mate, perfect match, the one we are the most compatible with. When we imprint we are dedicated, protective, and loyal.”

Minjun takes hold of his mate’s hand and continues speaking once Minho looks a little less lost. “Of course you’re not instantly in love with the other, no. It’s a blooming love that grows and grows for the rest of our lives. But what does happen immediately is a sort of gravitational pull towards the other- like a need to be near them, and an overbearing form of protectiveness will also occur. You would do anything or be anything for the other.” The older of the three takes a breath and the atmosphere instantly gets heavier with his change of tone. “With humans however, it's a little… complicated.”

“Jun, I don’t think we should tell-”

“Tell me.” Minho pleads while glancing over at a peacefully sleeping Felix, curled up comfortably against the dark wolf. “He's my friend, please…” He then closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before reopening them into a serious stare.

“When a wolf and a human are imprinted, they have roughly half a year to complete the bonding ceremony before… uhm…” He looks towards his mate for a little help at delivering the information.

“Before the wolf falls ill and passes away.” The beige wolf adds in carefully.

“W-what happens in the bonding ceremony?”

“Well it’s- uhm, Channie?” Chan looks away to the side, finding the vase on the table beside him eons more interesting then this sudden topic. Minjun lets a sigh slip in result of his mates immature behavior. “The two perform and at a certain moment one of them, in this case it would be the wolf, bites the other right around here.” He points to his exposed neck, specifically near the bottom where the shoulder and neck meet. Minho takes notice of the small swirling tattoo that curls beautifully around scars that look like inhuman teeth marks. “This triggers and seals the bond between the two, resulting in becoming mates. It’ll also transform the human.”

“Transform as in… into a wolf?” Minjun and Chan both nod their heads simultaneously. “S-so you’re telling me that Felix has no say in any of this?”

Chan acts quickly to calm the younger one down. “He can reject Changbin if he so chooses, but it’s highly unlikely. As I stated before, mates are selected for us and in return that also means for them- the other half. Fate brought the two of them together for a reason.” He smiles at Minho reassuringly. “This is not some wild coincidence.”

“What high school does Felix go to?” Minjun questions, trying to get Minho’s racing thoughts elsewhere.

“T-the same as Changbin… all of us go to the same school, actually.”

“Has Felix been acting weird? Perhaps zoning out or making rash decisions-”

“He wanted to come here so badly, so much so that he just started walking here after school a couple of days ago. We were calling out to him and it didn't even seem like he could hear us.” The younger boy shudders, remembering how scary the situation actually was. “But Felix was never scared.” Minho looks down at Hyunjin sleeping peacefully in his lap and then sheepishly begins to speak. “Also uh… he kinda has been watching Changbin since he came back from being out sick- Wait!” Minho’s mouth drops in sudden realization.” You're his parents?!”

“He wasn't lying when he said that the kids at school thought we were his dads.” Minjun stage whispers to a surprised looking Chan.

“No, although we sign as his guardians for school paperwork, he has his own mother and father back in his previous pack.” Chan quickly corrects. “But we are his pack family , all tied to the same line of fate. One stronger than his own birth parents’. In a way you can call us his parents, but we are not blood related. The only blood relatives here are Seungmin and Jeongin. Minjun and I adopted them ten years ago, so we really are their parents, but that’s kind of a long story.”

Minho nods his head in understanding and lets the realization- of their world being completely different from his- sink in. “Okay…I have another question.” Both Chan and Minjun look towards the younger expectantly. “Seungmin?” They nod reassuringly, confirming the name, and wait patiently. “He said that Hyunjin smells? What does that even mean? And why did he act like… like that around Hyunjin.” To say Minho was protective of his best friend would be the understatement of the century.

“We won't know a hundred percent until the boy wakes up, but it is most likely that Seungmin will imprint on Hyunjin.” Minjun speaks slowly as if to lessen the blow of whatever impact the information will have on the younger. “The imprinting can only occur if proper eye contact is made.”

“Jus- just give me a minute.” Minho takes another deep breath and then another, trying to wrap his head fully around everything that has been said tonight. After a couple of minutes of controlling his breathing pattern he finally looks around the grand living room he’s currently sat in. It’s an attempt to get his mind onto other topics that don't involve his friends possibly turning into a mythical creature.

He takes into account that his home is bigger, that’s not a surprise (He’s filthy rich, what do you expect?), but this house is by no means an average size. The decoration is also something that catches his attention; There’s mostly modern simplicity, but also antiques scattered here and there in places you wouldn't think twice about- that is until Minho does a double take of a framed photo placed on a nearby shelf.

The photo is in black and white, but the picture itself is so old that the paper has turned a light tan color. The picture captures a couple in 1950s attire, holding hands, standing happily in front of what looks to be a small wooden cabin.

The couple in the picture just so happens to look like a copy and paste of the pair sitting right in front of Minho.

“How old are all of you?”

Chan scoffs at the sudden question “What a rude thing to ask!” and dismisses the slightly panicked look upon the younger’s face.

Minjun smiles and answers the boy anyways. “Both of us are 89 years old. Changbin is 46, Seungmin is 26, and Jeongin is 18- he's still a baby.”

“O-oh…”

Chan laughs at the weird facial expression Minho currently has, anyone would be surprised to know their real ages. “After turning  21, our aging slows down rather drastically. Oldest wolf alive is known to be thousands of years old. And still doesn't look a day over 70.”

“You're not immortal?”

“We're not vampires.” Minjun replies dryly and very unamused.

“If you want, I can show you to a spare room and you can rest for the night. If we were to make the trek back now it'll be highly difficult, plus I don't think you'll be going with your smaller friend anytime soon.” Minho takes another look at the sleeping Hyunjin in his lap and glances one last time at Felix, before nodding his head in agreement. The leader smiles at the younger’s cooperation before standing up and stretching his arms above his head in a tiered manner. “We can talk more tomorrow. I’m sure we’ve all had enough excitement and information overload for today.”

Chan leads Minho (who’s carrying Hyunjin, once again, on his back) upstairs and down a hall with multiple doors that lead to god knows where, until they reach one and he opens said door to reveal a quaint bedroom. It’s nothing much; a queen bed with a designed quilt and a wooden frame. Across from the bed is a simple wooden dresser that matches the bedside tables, and a long window with sheer curtains. All in all, this is not what Minho had expected; he didn’t expect everything to be so… modern.

The leader bids the two of them good night, explaining that there’s extra shirts and sweatpants in the dresser, before heading out of the room and Minho gets to work at undressing a passed out Hyunjin.

Minho has successfully put his best friend to bed and also managed to find a washcloth in the attached bathroom, where he had wet the cloth and cleaned up Hyunjin’s wound to the best of his abilities. The third year is pulling down the borrowed shirt over his head, when a couple of knocks rap against the door.

He’s surprised to see Minjun walking in with a plastic ziplock bag filled with ice and Minho can already tell what it’s for.

“This is for his head.” The older hands him the bag carefully and looks over the humans sleeping form. “We didn't have any pain killers, since we do not need them, but this might help with the swelling. Seungmin wanted to give it to you, but I told him it might be best if I did it. Considering the circumstances and the fact that you two seem a little on edge with each other.”

Yeah, that guy is a piece of work. Minho sarcastically thinks.

“Thank you.” He takes the bag in one hand, giving Minjun a grateful smile for the simple yet kind gesture. “Why are you being so nice to us?” Minho finally questions out loud once Minjun turns to leave, door handle already in hand.

“I have a feeling that fate brought the three of you here for a reason.” And with that, Minjun leaves without saying anything further.

Minho bites down on his bottom lip nervously and places the bag of ice down on Hyunjin’s red and irritated forehead, before turning off the lights and crawling into bed himself.

~*~

Once Chan gets through towel drying his hair, he climbs into his shared bed where Minjun instinctively curls into the younger, tangling their legs together and laying his head atop the alpha’s chest with a content sigh. “ You know he's lying to us…” Minjun speaks through their bond, not wanting any prying ears to hear their conversation. Lord knows how nosey this house full of boys can get.

“ Minho is just scared, Jun.” Chan runs his fingers lightly through his lover’s sandy blonde locks, still wet from his recent shower.

“ Not too sure why he's so scared when he's a wolf himself.”

“We don't know for sure- the boy just smells like it.”

Minjun lets out an understanding hum before looking up in thought. “You want to know what I think?”

The younger presses a light kiss onto Minjun’s temple. “Always.”

“I think he’s a half breed.”

“That means-”

“One of his parents never turned the other.”

“Do you think he knows?”

The omega simply shrugs a shoulder before sleep manages to catch up with him, eyes feeling heavier by the second. “I guess we'll figure that out in the morning.” He leaves a simple peck on the younger’s clothed sternum and whispers out, “Good night, love.” before drifting off into much needed sleep.

“Good night.”

I guess Minjun was right when he said our family is about to get bigger.

Did you guys like it? Want more updates? Let me know what you think in the comments! Likes and words of motivation are ALWAYS welcomed~

Next Time:
-Felix meets Changbin, for real this time
-Seungmin is not having a good time™
-Minho tells the truth
-Hyunjin is still confused

Come talk to me on Twitter @CadeIsTrash or follow the story on AO3