A/N: this chapter is a little bit on the short side guys. I’ve been really sick the past few days and I just……... between the pain in my head, throat, stomach, and the inability to focus on much of anything ‘cuz I’m just so…….out of it, writing hasn’t been going too well. I feel awful about the short chapter, so sorry.

“What happened?” Kris asked, pulling Ravi aside during training.

“Huh?” Ravi replied, faking ignorance in hopes of delaying Kris long enough that someone would call the dragon away before he could force an answer out of Ravi.

“You know what,” Kris sighed, “why is Sori so upset lately. She isn’t talking. I asked Yuri, but she won’t talk about it.”

“Maybe there’s a reason for that,” Ravi shrugged.

“Sori is my friend,” Kris growled, scales starting to form along his arms and neck, “a lot longer then she’s been your friend. I have a right to know.”

“No, you don’t,” Ravi snapped, “she doesn’t want to tell anyone. She didn’t want Yuri to know, but that can’t be helped.”

“Then why do you know?” Kris questioned.

If Sori didn’t want anyone to know, then he couldn’t understand why Ravi would be in on the secret. Sure, the two were close, but not that close. Heck, Kris was closer to her, yet Sori hadn’t told him anything yet. The dragon didn’t understand why Ravi knew and he didn’t.

“I was there,” Ravi explained, carefully choosing his words, “when she was reacting to…..the news that upset her. I came to te training room and found her raging. I’m sure she didn’t want to tell me, but…….it just slipped out.”

“Oh,” Kris nodded, finally understanding why Ravi knew what he knew.

“I can say that Jessica is the one who told her,” Ravi told the dragon after a long pause, “but I don’t think she’d tell you, so don’t bother asking.”

“It’s about her family, right?” Kris asked, not expecting an answer, “then that explains it.”

“How could they hurt her so much?” Ravi asked the older, “She’s their kid. Why don’t they love her?”

“I don’t get it either,” Kris sighed, “at least with my parents, they never loved me. With Sori……they loved her once.”

“Yeah,” Ravi nodded, looking to where Sori stood with Yuri and Hyuna, the fae girls holding her hands.

“It drives me crazy,” Kris admitted, “knowing about how her mother and father just……stopped loving her. Sori is, well, Sori.”

“Yeah,” Ravi nodded again, “she’s perfect.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Kris told the shifter, “not when in ear shot anyway. She’ll rip you a new one if she head you say it.”

“Why?” Ravi questioned, “I think she’s perfect the way she is.”

“But Sori doesn’t,” Kris shrugged, “especially not after whatever news Jessica gave her.”

“Her self-worth is tied to her parents,” Ravi scowled, “and I hate that.”

“Same,” Kris nodded, “you know, when it was publicly stated by the shifter council that she was one of the five strongest shifters, her parents made a public statement to the council that she wasn’t their child?”

“What?” Ravi gasped.

“Yeah,” Kris nodded, “you would think that they would want something to do with her after being given such an important title, but nope. They made it clear that they wanted nothing to do with her, that she wasn’t part of the family.”

“How could they?” Ravi hissed, “How could they be so heartless?”

“Easily,” Kris shrugged, “apparently, anyway. Either way, it all adds up to Sori being very damaged.”

“I hate her parents,” Ravi growled, wishing he could rip her family apart with his own two hands, “how dare they treat her like that.”

“Nothing we can do about that,” Kris said, “but what we can do is try to fix her.”

“How?” Ravi asked, desperately wanting to know how to help Sori.

“I wish I knew,” Kris sighed, “I’ve been trying to help her for ages, but……well, I think we both know how well that’s worked so far. I don’t think I’ve done jack to help her.”

“You have helped her,” Ravi insisted, “You’ve given her someone to trust, to care about. She knows that you’ll always love her and protect her, no matter what.”

“I know,” Kris nodded, “but sometimes it doesn’t feel like I’ve done anything.”

“Just don’t give up,” Ravi told him, “keep trying to fix her.”

“You keep trying, too,” Kris replied, “even if she puts up a hundred walls to keep you out, keep punching through them.”

“That’s the plan,” Ravi said, determination clear in his voice.

He was never going to give up on Sori. he loved her too much. But, he also knew that he couldn’t do it alone. If he wanted to fix Sori, he would need other people to help him. People who cared about her like he did, loved her like he did. As much as he hated to admit it, N loved Sori just like he did. he didn’t want N to get close to Sori for fear of her falling in love with his hyung, but it couldn’t be helped. Sori needed all the people she could get to help fix her. who was he to deny her someone who might be able to fix her?

Besides, if Sori had to fall for another guy, Ravi would prefer it to be N, a guy he knew could be trusted with Sori’s heart. That didn’t mean Ravi wouldn’t try for her heart, though.