Ravi’s first week at Dark Lake Academy was coming to an end. Honesty, he couldn’t believe how quickly time had passed. He also couldn’t believe how much he’d come to think of his place as home. It was both wonderful and terrifying to think of how attached he’d gotten in such a short amount of time. Looking out across the campus lit by the full moon over head from his dorm’s balcony, he wondered if maybe he should fight this growing attachment.

“Hyung!” he looked down to find Hyuk standing below on the ground, “I’m going for a run, wanna come?”

“Sure,” he called back before jumping over the railing. Landing on the ground with a slight stumble, Ravi took a moment to be amazed at how the jump didn’t bother him in the slightest.

“Do you mind if Kai and Chen join us?” Hyuk asked once the pair started walking to the woods, “and Sori and Lay might join, too.”

“That’s fine,” Ravi nodded, but he took note of how Sori always seemed to be around. And if she wasn’t around, Kris, Hyoyeon or Suho were. And Yuri seemed to be pretty close behind them, too, always running up and whispering things in their ears. Something was going on, Ravi just knew it.

“Ready?” Kai called once the pair arrived at the edge of the forest, “Chen hyung, Lay hyung, and Sori noona are waiting on the hill. Let’s change real quick.”

Hyuk nodded, rushing off so that he could change. Ravi smiled slightly as he watched the younger go off. It must have been hard on Hyuk, having to hide what he was from them all these years. It must have been especially hard keeping such a secret from Hongbin since the pair were as close as real brothers. Now Hyuk could embrace his werewolf heritage and not worry about hiding it from everyone.

“You can change here if you want,” Kai shrugged, “I’ll be just over thee if you need anything. Werewolves have this thing about changing in front of people.” Once Ravi had nodded, Kai headed off in the opposite direction to Hyuk.

Ravi was just about to change when he heard Sori’s voice behind him.

“Jongin shouldn’t have left you alone,” she sighed, “I should have known he would forget that. He’s too used to it being safe to do as you please around here.”

“What do you mean?” Ravi asked and Sori blinked, a clear sign that she hadn’t intended for him to hear her.

“It’s nothing for you to concern yourself with,” she told him in the same tone she always used when she was brushing people off, “right now your focus should be on learning to control your gifts.”

“What’s going on?” Ravi asked again, making it very clear he had no intention of letting the conversation end until he’d gotten some answers, “something’s going on and I want to know what.”

Sori looked him dead in the eye, silently debating if she should tell him or not. On the one hand, telling him could be a good thing because Ravi would be an extra set of eyes on the watch for danger. The flip side was that he shouldn’t get involved in something that could become dangerous like this could. He was innocent to the evils hidden within their world, could she really put him in a position that would steal that innocence away?

“You recall what Sehun said, right?” she finally spoke, “about his ghost warning us of danger? And N’s ghost gave a similar warning.”

“Yes,” Ravi nodded, “hyung’s still freaked out by the whole thing.” He paused, considering her words, “Wait. Does that mean something dangerous is coming?”

“Yes,” Sori nodded, frowning as she surveyed their surroundings, “the ISBIP says that they have evidence an illegal gang is planning to attack the school, but Minji thinks that they know something they aren’t telling us. Few gangs would dare try attacking this place, not with supernaturals like Kris, Suho, and myself here.”

“Why wouldn’t they?” he asked, looking around just like she was, “are they scared of you?”

“Yes, they’re scared of Kris and I,” her lips twitched slightly like she was trying not to smile at that though, “but there are others at this school who have quite the reputation in our world for being persons you should never get in a fight with. Suho is one of them. One of your teachers has quite the reputation a well.”

“What do you think is coming?” Ravi finally asked. Clearly, Sori thought it wasn’t a gang.

“No idea,” she frowned again, “Hyoyeon doesn’t know of any illegal gangs with the strength or the bravery to attack Dark Lake. That means it has to be something else. Someone else is planning the attack.”

“How would Hyoyeon know about the gangs?” he asked.

“She almost joined one when she was younger,” Sori shrugged, “and because of that she has some contacts within a couple of gangs. They keep her up to date on the goings on.” Ravi nodded.

“So if it’s not a gang, who is it?” he asked.

“Could be a council,” she hypothesised, “it’s no secret that a few of the councils hate this school and everything that it stands for.”

“It seems like Dark Lake has a lot of enemies,” Ravi frowned and Sori felt like hitting herself for being stupid enough to tell him any of this. The last thing she needed was for Ravi to feel unsafe here of all places.

“Don’t worry about it,” she told him, “there are plenty of older students and teachers who’ll defend this school and it’s students with their lives.”

“Will you?” he questioned.

“Yes.” Ravi wasn’t sure if her answer – and how quickly she’d given it – sat well with him.

He was about to say something when they heard Kai let out a yelp of pain.

“Jongin!” Sori called, starting to run in the direction the werewolf’s voice had come from before stopping, “Wonsik, find Hyuk. Once you have him, go to the dorms. Do not leave the building. Do you hear me?” Ravi nodded and she took off, moving almost too quickly for his eyes to track.

“Hyuk!” Ravi called running in the direction the younger had gone earlier, “where are you?” a small whine drew his attention to a wolf that was peeking out from a bush. When the wolf saw him, it quickly rushed out, cuddling against his legs as if looking for comfort. Ravi knew that this had to be Hyuk.

“Arrr,” the wolf barked and Ravi could swear Hyuk was saying ‘hyung.’

“We need to get to the dorms,” the older said, patting Hyuk’s head in hopes of calming him down. Hyuk nodded his head and the pair broke into a run.

Just as Ravi caught sight of the twin dorm buildings, something plowed into him, sending him flying into a tree. Hyuk let out a loud bark, turning to face Ravi. The poor wolf boy looked scared and Ravi yelled for him to run, to get to Hongbin and the hyungs where it was safe. Hyuk was hesitant to run, but did as asked when Ravi yelled again.

“Well, that was noble,” the thing that had hit him laughed, “sending the kid away so he doesn’t have to see his friend die. I kind of respect that.”

“Who the hell are you?” Ravi growled, hoping that he could distract the stranger long enough for Hyuk to get away.

“Does it matter?” the stranger rolled his eyes, the smile on his face never slipping for a second, “you’re going to be dead in a few minutes. Why should I waste breath telling you my name?”

“His name is Jaesun,” Ravi turned to find Kris glaring down at the stranger. Sori was behind him, supporting a wolf – probably Kai – who was beat up pretty badly. Another wolf and Lay followed behind her. The second wolf let out a few whines as it eyed Kai while Lay kept petting it as if offering comfort.

“Oh,” the stranger – Jaesun – blinked before his smile returned, “Hey, Kris. What’s up Sori? Lay, it’s been a while. Chen, you look good. That fur makes you look way better. Too bad about your kid brother, though. Sorry about that, dude.” The wolf – who Ravi now realized was Chen – growled at Jaesun, his sharp teeth bared for the whole world to see.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Kris asked, his voice so cold it could put ice to shame, “I thought you’d gone back to your gang.”

“And I have,” Jaesun nodded, “but I’m back now. I have something to say.”

“I think you’ve said enough,” Sori frowned, shifting Kai’s weight slightly, “get out of here before I call the ISBIP. I don’t think Agent Kim will take too kindly to your existence right now.”

“But I have something really important to tell you,” his smile turned mocking, clearly irritating Kris, “don’t you wanna hear it?”

“I’m not interested in what you have to saw, Jaesun,” Kris hissed, “Now get out of here.”

“Whatever you say, boss,” Jaesun shrugged, “but don’t say I didn’t offer. Peace out!” With that, Jaesun walked off, whistling a happy tune as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Everyone silently watched him go, half expecting some kind of parting shot to be thrown before he left completely.

“We need to upgrade our security,” Sori said once he was gone, “we should have known someone got in here the second his foot touched school grounds.”

“Agreed,” Kris nodded, “Lay, go alert Jihu. And take Kai to the medical building while you’re at it.” Lay nodded, rushing forewords to take Kai before running in the direction of the medical building. Chen let out a bark before following.

“Go back to your room, Wonsik,” Sori sighed, “and try to forget about all of this. Tell Hyuk to forget it, too.” Ravi wanted to say ‘no, I’m not going to forget about this,’ but silently nodded upon noticing how frustrated both Kris and Sori looked. He could bring all of this up again later, when Sori looked more like her normal calm and collected self.

A/N: poor Kai. Bad Jaesun. Wonder what he wanted to tell them.