The sun had just risen and already the heat was suffocating.  Joonmyun woke up to the stifling heat which was only amplified by the extra body in the room he shared with Kris.  The room looked the same as it had yesterday, minus the Baozi sleeping on the floor, but he could just feel that everything was different now.   Looking at the clock he saw that they had gotten about 2 ½ hours of sleep which was more than he had thought he’d get.   Minseok stirred on the floor and slowly brought himself into an upright position.   Their eyes connected and Joonmyun recognized the same look of frustration, exhaustion and uneasiness that he himself felt.  Swinging his heavy legs out of his bed he noticed Kris awake and staring at the ceiling.

“I think it might be a good idea to get some answers before the others wake up.”  Kris said unmoving.  Joonmyun stepped over to the other leader while Minseok got dressed. 

“I never should have left him alone, I was right there and I left him Joonmyun.”  There was a slight tremble to Kris’s voice.

“You can’t say things like that Kris.  If you had stayed with Jongdae they would have gone after Tao or someone else. “He said looking down at the older boy.

“I was right there!  How could it have happened without me noticing?  Why didn’t I just make him go with me after Tao?”  He sat up quickly, bringing his hands to his face.  Minseok stepped over and kneeled next to the bed looking up at his leader.

“If it’s like that then we are all to blame.  How long has it been since our comeback?  You think they just started following us last night?  There’s no way, if it hadn’t been last night it would’ve happened another night.  If it hadn’t been Jongdae it would have been one of the others.  You didn’t do anything wrong and Jongdae is probably going to get mad when he hears about you feeling guilty.”  Kris took a deep breath and lowered his hands from his face.  He may be the leader but Minseok was still older and knew just how to comfort his younger brothers. 

Minseok smiled seeing his words work on them “Alright lets go downstairs, I have a feeling today is going to be a very interesting day.”

They were on the stairs when they could hear muffled grunts and whispering.   Minseok led the way quietly into the kitchen.  They peeked around the corner to see the girl from last night with Daimen in a headlock.

“You dumb, stupid, fool.  You greedy, selfish, bastard. “  She whispered harshly. 

“Kora I’m so sorry” Daimen pleaded quietly.  The girl released him from her grip and swung her fist down onto his head forcing him onto his knees. 

“Don’t you dare say that to me!  You say that to the one whose life you’ve changed.  You say that to the rest of them for putting their lives in danger.”  She was trying very hard to stay quiet but they could tell by the look on her face that her self control wasn’t going to last much longer.  Daimen looked like he was about to cry and hung his head in shame.

“I never meant for any of this to happen Kora.”  For a split second her face softened.  Her anger subsided and it was then she could hear the breathing of the three trying to hide.  She breathed in deeply trying to calm herself.  Letting out a soft snarl she got Daimen’s attention and nodded in their direction. 

Daimen straightened himself out and called out them “I see you guys didn’t sleep very long.”  Obviously having been caught they joined the two in the kitchen.  Daimen tried to look as if he hadn’t been on the verge of tears and the girl stared out the window watching them without looking at them.  Joonmyun tensed up as she watched him cross the room.  Even without directly looking her gaze burned and made him flush.   Just being in the same room as her made the air heavy and his lungs ached to work, it was the same as the night before.

“Kora wants to talk to you guys before the rest are awake.” Daimen looked like he hadn’t slept at all, his hair was a mess, his clothes wrinkled and there were dark circles under his eyes. 

Kora turned and hopped onto the counter, wiggling to make herself comfortable.  She stayed silent and waited for the three.  Minseok was the first; sitting at the counter in a barstool he motioned for Kris and Joonmyun to join him. 

Once they were settled Kora started speaking “The Lycans history runs long and deep.  It’s not clear when or how they came into existence but it is clear that they are closely related to both humans and wolves.  Some believe that they came from humans that were envious of the wolves, others that they are wolves who wanted to be more like humans.   Lycans are a separate species so don’t think of them as humans or wolves, they stand alone.  Any questions so far?” 

Minseok opened his mouth but Kora spoke first “On what I’ve said so far.”  His mouth closed and the other two shook their heads.  “Good.  As time progressed they realized that there were humans that were more in tune with nature and were susceptible to change.  They called this Sollemne Comes or the ceremony of the companion.  It didn’t work very often and when it did it usually ended very…..badly.  It was at this time that their numbers started to expand and they decided that the Alpha’s of the most influential families would govern over the Lycans.  Because of its varying results and the threat it posed to them Sollemne Comes became forbidden to perform and most information on it was to be stricken from their history.   Even with those precautions the legend of Sollemne Comes was passed here and there.  Daimen’s older brother Aidan became obsessed with the legend and began collecting as much information as he could.  I was the fifth girl he tried to change, the only girl that it worked on” At this Daimen inched closer to Kora putting a hand on her shoulder in comfort.  Kora stared at his hand until he awkwardly removed it.

“What happened to the other girls?”  Kris and Minseok stared at Joonmyun shocked by what he had asked.

“Well he took me against my will so we didn’t really talk much.  I learned everything after the fact from his family but we do know the other girls did not survive the ceremony.  Anyways I survived and now I’m this.  That is what we really need to talk about because Jongdae is the same as me now.”  She paused pointing up at the ceiling “We can wait. It sounds like they’re waking up.  Daimen why don’t you make them some breakfast.”  They waited tense and silent as the boys slowly trickled into the kitchen and filled up the seats around the table. 

Baekhyun looked at the empty seat next to him and asked “When can we see Jongdae?” he pouted like a spoiled child missing his favorite toy.

“It’s hard to say how long because all I have to go off of is my change and I definitely took longer than a night.  There are two parts to the change and he’s already overcome his psychological change so all that’s left is the physical part.”

“You weren’t born like that?”  Kyungsoo asked.

“No I was changed by Daimen’s brother Aidan.  To the best of my knowledge Jongdae and I are the only changed Lycans alive, the others were born.  There’s still a lot I need to go over before you can see Jongdae.  Do you want to start?”  The group shook their heads in agreement urging her to continue.   She took a deep breath and started “Jongdae will still be Jongdae, he’ll just be a different version.  He’s going to need your support because things are going to be very difficult for him.  It’ll take some time to adjust to his new body which will work differently.  All of his senses will be heightened, he’ll be stronger and faster, and his nature will be a little more animalistic.”

“Wait, what does that mean?” Sehun looked slightly alarmed.

“He’ll be more aggressive and confident, but he’ll also be more compassionate and loyal to those most important to him.  I won’t lie to you and say that everything will go back to normal but I will say it can get very close as long as he has support and understanding from those he cares about the most.  I’ve never done this but I’ll be here every step of the way to help him.”

Daimen stepped over from his cooking to add “I can attest to that.  I actually knew Kora before and she really isn’t all that much different now.  She always had a short temper, she’s just stronger now.”  Chanyeol stifled a laugh at Kora as she glowered at Daimen. 

Kyungsoo smacked the tall kid and then asked “What should we do?”

Kora pushed Daimen back to the stove.  “Make sure he knows that he isn’t alone.  That you still accept him and love him and that you’ll stay with him.  This isn’t the end of his life, it’s just different now.  That it’ll be hard but he’s strong and he’ll be just fine.”  Minseok didn’t know what to think of this girl.  One minute she seemed fierce and uncaring and the next she sounded fragile and compassionate.  Kyungsoo helped Daimen finish up with Breakfast while the other talked amongst themselves.

“Wah!  I wonder what Jongdae looks like as a wolf.” Jongin wondered out loud.

Baekhyun slapped Jongin’s back laughing “I’m sure he’ll be like a puppy since he’s so short!”

“Isn’t Jongdae taller then you” Yixing said scratching his head.  Baekhyun clicked his tongue in annoyance at the Chinese boy.  The group laughed and for a moment things were back to normal. 

Luhan excused himself to use the restroom.  He stopped at the doorway and smiled at his friends.  There was no doubt that they would accept Jongdae, they were family now.  He hopped up the stairs full of optimism but stopped when he heard noises coming from Jongdae’s room.  He put his ear to the door and could hear what sounded like furniture being moved. 

He knocked on the door, “Hey Jongdae are you alright?”  The walls creaked as the door was ripped from the hinges.  Jongdae looked down at the door in surprise before looking at Luhan.

“Are you alright?  Were you pushing on the door?  How did that happen?”  Jongdae asked.  Luhan opened his mouth to answer but then closed it again, Jongdae looked different.  It was subtle but still noticeable he looked a bit taller and his muscles were more toned.  He looked back at his face and noticed his eyes.  They were an amber color, just a bit lighter then they had been before but now they were so clear it was like looking right into him.  All the fear and confusion and worry was so obvious in those eyes.  Someone pushed him back pulling him out of his daze.  Luhan saw a flurry of Burgundy grab Jongdae slamming him into the ground.  He groaned as the wind was knocked out of him and Kora looked up to Luhan.

“Are you alright?  Did he hurt you anywhere?”  She asked but Luhan looked confused, “He tried to attack you didn’t he?”

She looked alarmed when Jongdae was the one to answer, “Why do you think I was attacking Luhan?”  Kora looked to Luhan.

“He didn’t try to hurt me at all.”   By now the rest of the house had made their way up to the bedroom.  Daimen pushed past but stopped when he saw Kora holding Jongdae down on the floor.

“Kora is he alright, I mean shouldn’t he be…”

“I don’t know.” Kora looked worried and confused.

“I feel fine, I think I scared Luhan when I pulled off the door but that scared me too.”  Jongdae said still lying under Kora.  His face burned as she leaned in closer noses almost touching.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked quietly.

“Mm yeah I feel great.” Jongdae said with a laugh.