The memories of yesterday haunted me as I slept. In my dreams, Chanyeol fought against his own clan members. I wasn't sure why, but I wished it would stop. Their whimpering howls were giving me pain in my heart.

A pain so sharp that even a dagger wouldn't amount up to the damage done. I watched Chanyeol tear his brothers apart, limb from limb with the sharp teeth in his mouth. Large amuonts of blood splashing into puddles. Cries of his wolf brothers were coming from all over. The war that waged between them made me struggle to stand on my own two feet.

With an echoing scream, I fell over -- only to wake up screaming and pushing myself out of bed.

My father came running into my tent. "What is going on!? Nou!" He ran to me and held me close, my hair until I was calm enough.

Once again, he asked me what was going on. "Nou, what is wrong?"

"I was having a terrible dream. That is all..." I wiped the scared sweat from my forehead and cleared my throat. "I'm fine now, father. Thank you."

Worry was written all over his wrinkled face. He would have called for the shaman, but he knew that I preferred things to work out the natural way rather than large amounts of spells.

"All right. If it is what you say." He patted my head and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "I love you, Nou. Good night. Sleep well, my daughter."

"I love you, father." He left me in my tent, still sweating my fears out. Instead of going back to sleep, scared that I would dream the same thing again, I sat in bed with my legs held closely to my chest. A sigh slipped from my mouth as I stared blankly into the darkness.

"What happened in your dreams?" Chanyeol whispered behind me. My voice squeaked as I turned around to the surprise. How long had he been there? Had father not see him?

His golden eyes seemed to glow even brighter in the darkest hours of the night. I could hardly see anything but him. I guess the darkness covered him well enough that even the eyes of my father were blinded.

I whispered an untruthful answer to his question. "I had a dream I was falling off of the gorge. That is all." He stared at me for a long time. Did he believe me?

"That's it?" He seemed unsatisfied with my fake answer. "Well, I guess that's scary enough. I would hate to fall from such a height as well..."

His reply made it seem like he believed me. Although, I could tell that he thought differently. Chanyeol didn't want to disagree with me, afraid that he would be wrong and that I would be disappointed in his rude manners.

"What are you doing here anyways? Aren't you supposed to be back in your village sleeping?" I whispered as I looked into his eminating eyes. After a few seconds of gazing, the air suddenly became chilly. I pulled a blanket over my shoulders and yawned exhaustedly. It was thick and heavy enough to keep the cold out.

"I would rather spend every minute near you than sleep miles away." Chanyeol's voice sounded like a whisper to my ear. The way he said it made my heart quiver. I backed away from Chanyeol to put my hands to my heart. He grinned slyly. "Is your heart that happy from hearing my words?"

"No!" I looked away, suddenly embarrassed of myself. Was my heart happy? I didn't know. These feelings were a new experience for me.

My eyes wandered back to him to see his face again. Chanyeol's eyes were still focused on me and me only. How could one keep staring at another for so long without needing to blink?

Suddenly, he grabbed my hands and lifted me onto my feet. Surprised, I yelped outloud. "Shh!" Chanyeol put his hand over my mouth. It was too dark, but I could tell that a sly smile was stretching across his face. "Let's go for a walk!"

"But --" I hesitated, scared of the discipline I would face if I were caught.

"Come on!" His gleaming eyes encouraged me to taste the forest air.

I stopped to take thought for a moment. The adrenaline of escaping a night from the village sounded like a lot of trouble, but also a lot of fun.

Chanyeol held my hand tightly in his. The feeling of wanting to let go and have a good time filled my indecisive heart. I gripped his hand, sighing in agreement.

The both of us snuck out of the tent quietly, as to not wake a single person, and ran across the open field into the thick bushes of the forest. Unable to catch up with his wolf speed, I began to pant heavily while falling behind in step. My human body was not meant to run for long.

"Nou!" He shouted my name with his husky voice. Under the moonlight, I could see his luminating smile. It was beautifully everlasting. Chanyeol let go of my hand while we were still running, only to turn around and open his arms to me.

In one single second, Chanyeol swept me off my feet and carried me in front of him as my hands naturally wrapped themselves around his broad shoulders. The current of the wind made my hair fly everywhere.

Then he began to run faster. Was he used to running with so much weight on his back? I held on tighter and squeezed my eyes shut, afraid of falling off, even though the grip he had on me was plenty strong.

"Where are we going!?" I shouted at the top of my lungs, yet even I could hardly hear my own voice. "Chanyeol?"

There was no reply. Just the huffing of his breath. My palm on his chest could feel his lungs inhaling and exhaling the crispy night air. The beating of his big heart could be heard through the whipping sound of the wind. I wanted to listen and feel this forever.

A sudden stop nearly made me twirl out of his hands. Luckily, I grabbed hold of his shoulders once again to hold myself up in his arms.

"Where are we?" I looked at my surroundings to see that we had arrived at a vast field filled with white flowers glowing under the moonlight. Chanyeol let me down and ran out into the ocean of moonlit flowers. I could hardly see him with my human eyes. "Wait!"

A smile crowned my face as I ran into the bushels after him. He was quick, but I was sure I could find him. His heavy panting wasn't hard to miss.

I ran as fast as I could into the depths of the field in search of him, hands out first in case he was nearby. Tall stalks of grass were beginning to form and I was scared that I had run too far, so I began to head backwards. Was this the way I came before?

Fear of being lost crept into my mind. But even if I became lost, Chanyeol would come back to find me, wouldn't he?

Still searching for traces of him, I stopped moving and crouched down. The still silence of the night would help me find him. I cupped my ears with my hands and closed my eyes, listening for anything unnatural. His mouth panting. His heart beating. His footsteps pummeling the ground as he ran around hiding.

Behind me to the right, I heard a rustling sound of tall grass and flower bushes. I stayed still, hoping it was him. A soft panting. Footsteps like a human. Was it him?

"Aha!" I turned around and reached out to grab him. Then again, I wasn't sure it was him. In my hands, a human jaw was tightly being held. I could feel teeth on my finger and knuckle, like it was going to bite me.

Courageously, I pulled them into the moonlight and gasped at who I saw.

 

Zitao...

 

"Ah, hello there."  He the palm of my clenched hand and grabbed my wrist, greeting me with a deviant smile . "I see you've found me."

I tried to back away, but his strong hand was holding me close him. "Let me go before I scream." I could feel my lower lip begin to quiver as I stared into his glowing eyes. My threat hardly affected his choice at all though. He didn't release me.

"Chan -- " I began to shout, only to have my mouth clamped by Zitao's other hand. By the Gods' names, his strength was too much for me. My jaw felt like it was being crushed.

Zitao looked to the left -- a sudden movement from the flower bushel next to us had him suspicious. I pushed myself away from the distracted Zitao and fell backwards into some tall grass. As I tumbled into the brush, Chanyeol swooped me into his arms and stood up in front of his troublesome clan member.

"What are you doing here, brother?" The moonlight casted sharp shadows on his face as Chanyeol spoke to him. His eyes shone bright like the sun.

Zitao tilted his head to the side, smiling devilishly. "I am only here to see what brought you out tonight. Were you hunting?" He pointed at me jokingly.

"Silence, brother. Do not speak lowly of her. She is my -- " He stopped in mid-sentence and pursed his lips, afraid to speak any further of his feelings for me. He gulped down a courageous wad of saliva and looked his brother in the eyes. "She is the woman that I have fallen for."

"Oh my..." Zitao gasped sarcastically at his brother's words. "Father Wolf will not have this. We cannot have these human women in our lives."

"You need not to speak of this, Zitao." I could hear a slight growl in Chanyeol's throat. He was getting angry at his brother's smart talk. "No one needs to know of my personal affairs."

"Oh?" His ears perked up as Chanyeol stated the last part. "But don't some of our brothers already know?"

Chanyeol squinted his eyes angrily. "I trust them."

Suddenly, another voice spoke up from behind Zitao.

 

"Are you saying that you cannot trust your other brothers?"

 

The tone of the voice was deep like a cave and smooth like sand. Who...? Zitao slightly moved out of the moonlight as someone else took a step in.

Chanyeol's face twitched at the sight of another brother. "Wu Fan..."

"Brother, you know that this is not our fate." He pointed at me like I was an item of no purpose. When we locked eyes, a shiver crumbled itself down my spine like a rockslide. "We are not allowed to see the opposite of our kind. If Father Wolf were to hear that you were secretly sneaking out in search of this woman, you would and the other brothers with this knowledge would surely be punished."

"I am not planning on that." Chanyeol gritted his teeth. His anger was beginning to make his blood boil. He sighed, calming himself down so that he could talk without an offensive tone. He sighed, looking his clan member in the eyes. "Brother... Can you not feel her presence?"

I looked up at him in surprise. Chanyeol brought me forward toward Wu Fan and Zitao, squeezing on to me tighter in fear that they would take me away. The both of them looked at me with disbelief on their faces. Thinking back, I remembered that Kai, Lay, Chen and Luhan had compared my presence to Mama's. Was that feeling that they got around me?

Zitao approached me and looked into my eyes carefully. It wasn't strong, but I could feel something pulling him towards me. Like a river to an ocean. Wu Fan stepped up to me afterwards. I could feel the wind circling around us as the both of our eyes wandered to each other.

"Brother, I do not want to speak wrongly of you, but I do not know what to think either. The presence of Mama is not completely in her spirit, but I can feel some part of it. I will not make any promises though." Wu Fan looked at Zitao and then back at Chanyeol. "If Father Wolf were to find out about you breaking ancient law, the both of us will not have the ability to protect you."

Chanyeol nodded his head in agreement. There was nothing that Wu Fan could do if we were caught with each other.

Wu Fan was very enlighted, but Zitao on the other hand still looked doubtful of the magic that connected us. His arched eyebrows signaled that he had little faith.

"We will be on our way now," Wu Fan bowed his head and looked at Zitao, expecting the same respect. Zitao looked down at the ground, bowing slightly. "Be careful, brother."

Leading the way, Wu Fan disappeared into the brush with Zitao following behind. Before leaving, he gave me one last glance. I could tell that he would come back to test me before approving of me.

"Don't worry about him." Chanyeol looked down at me with a smile. "Zitao has always been a cautious child."

I understandably nodded my head. Hopefully, what they saw in me was true. If Mama was a part of me, then it was purely the reason why I had the dreams.

"Let's go back before the sun rises." Chanyeol slid his hand in mine and intertwined our fingers together. "I don't want you to get into too much trouble."

With those last words, Chanyeol picked me up into his arms and brought me back to my comfortable tent in the Unity village. He wished me a good night with a warm embrace.

After leaving me, I lied down on my blankets, hoping to sleep. To my disappointment, I was unable to lose myself to the dream world. Instead, I had stayed up the rest of the night and thought about the Wolves, Mama, and how I was connected to it all.