Luhan was crying for the third time in that same day, blaming himself for the unhappy destiny his cubs would probably have.

How could he be so stupid? He knew he was in his mating period, why did he mate with Sehun anyways? Because he thought Sehun was infertile, of course. He never thought Sehun or even Kai would be able to put a baby inside of him, ever, and now he was paying the price of being so reckless.

The gestation period of a real wolf is very short, of about two months only, but since they weren’t fully wolves, this period could extend itself for at least a couple more months. The most common, however, was for the puppies to be born in the fifth month, and the thought of it made Luhan freak out a little.

He would have those puppies within four months and he felt like he was running out of time with each passing day. He needed to figure out a way of telling Kris about what was happening and, most importantly, telling the father of the puppies.

Luhan wasn’t able to tell Sehun the truth when they met the past night though. He didn’t want to concern the young and, to be completely honest with himself, he wasn’t even sure those cubs were Sehun’s. There was a brief period of time, a little more than a week actually, separating the times he had mated with Kai and Sehun so, from what he knew, the puppies he carried could belong to either of them.

Luhan knew that if he found out the exact time the cubs were conceived, maybe he would know who the father was. With this thought in mind, he went to Lay’s cave and asked him about that.

-You are within the first month, that's for sure. – The healer told him while mixing ingredients of a potion.  

-That's not helpful. - Luhan said miserably.

-Well, then I can say you are probably in your third or fourth week.

-That isn't helpful either.

-What do you need to know Luhan? – Lay glanced over at him. - It's easier if you just ask me.

-I want to know who got me pregnant.

Lay scowled.

-Wasn’t it Xiumin? – He asked and Luhan shook his head, his cheeks already burning red.

-I didn’t even do anything with Xiumin in those months.

-Then who…?

-One of the brown wolves. – Luhan murmured, deviating his teary eyes from Lay’s surprised face. – I did… well, forget about it. The important thing now is, how can I tell Kris about all of this? Can you help me Lay?

-I can try. – Lay said slowly. – I need to do a little thing first, wait for me in your den, I’ll come back to get you.

-Oh, ok. – Luhan agreed, and though he wasn’t sure about what Lay was talking about, he still went to his den and waited.

Lay, for his turn, got a small bag with clothes, turned into a wolf, and ran to the other side of the freezing forest the fastest he could.

He knew Kris would probably tolerate the fact that Luhan was pregnant, he would be mad of course, but he would accept it someday. What the leader wouldn’t accept, however, was the fact that the puppies would be sons of one of the brown wolves. Lay wasn’t sure if what he was going to do was the right thing, but he had to do something before Kris found out about Luhan and punished him somehow, or even did something to the cubs.

When he got to the big oak tree on the very edge of his land, Lay got on his two back legs and howled the loudest he could. He would howl for a brief moment of time and, if no one answered to it, he would invade and try to find someone. He didn’t really have other choice now.

Soon, however, a dark brown wolf appeared, checking on the howling wolf. He howled back, a short and sharp howl and then approached, turning into a human and covering his body with a towel he brought along with him. Lay turned into a man as well, wrapping himself in a kind of black robe he had in his bag.

-Hey there. – The brown wolf called, not getting too close to the frontier. – I’m Chanyeol.

-I’m Lay. – The other answered, panting a little.

-What’s the matter Lay? Were you calling for one of us?

Lay nodded softly as an answer.

-One of your wolves got one of ours pregnant. – He started explaining, and Chanyeol gasped.

-That’s not true – He said sharply, but then lowered his voice a bit, not to be disrespectful. – Not that I think you are a liar or anything, but the thing is that most of our pack is mated already, our youngest is barely a wolf yet and I doubt our leader did it.

-Well, someone did it. – Lay answered matter-of-factly. - It’s better that you go find out who it was and bring him here. He needs to take responsibility for those puppies.

-Of course. – Chanyeol nodded. – I’ll go talk to everyone, and we meet here again the sooner we can. Can that be?

-Deal. – Lay said, already stepping back. – I’ll bring the wolf here so he can confirm who the father is.

Chanyeol agreed and both of them turned into wolves and ran into their territories.  

><><><><>< 

Suho examined the trees around his den once again. Ever since he got sick, a little more than a month ago, he was getting more and more paranoid. He thought it was crazy and that he probably was delirious at that time, but he was pretty sure it was some sort of dark magic that made him sick.  

He saw something in the woods one day before he got sick, a sort of smoke, and he followed it for a while. He felt it involving him at some point, that thick, black smoke. He thought it would suffocate him, but it went away. A few hours later, he started feeling sick and had to lay in his den. When he was sick, it didn’t feel normal either. He felt overwhelmed, overpowered by an invisible force.

He turned around to go back to his den and the amulet around his neck got stuck into a low branch of a tree and it almost chocked him. He pulled it not so carefully. It was a medallion, a sort of cross with a small stone on its center.

He didn’t even know if he could use that for anything, and it didn’t even help him when he was sick. It was ugly, really, and he felt frustrated when he remembered his father telling him to wear it all the time, that it would give him strength a