Why did the weather always get so much colder during the night?  It was a thought Mir knew had a very reasonable answer, but this was just ridiculous.  Every breath sent a new plume of mist and the air bit his throat with each inhale.  His only saving grace was that he was a Hunter.  With a glance at the humans in their midst, he wasn’t entirely sure how they were holding up.  Granted, huddling together like a pack of pups didn’t hurt either.

                He couldn’t quite stifle the snort of amusement to see Mika practically wrapped around Aron while he, with Minhyun, bracketed Ricky between them.  All four were sharing the same blanket and partially buried in a shallow hole to keep the wind from hitting them too much.  On the other side of the banked fire, both Key and Jaejoong slept with Heechul between them, their arms protectively wrapped around the older man.  His hands had regained most of their feeling but it looked like his pinky and ring fingers might be lost.

                It was a thought that made Mir shudder.  No Hunter wanted to be maimed.  Of course, that idea turned his mind towards Minsoo and he sighed with a pained shake of his head.  Leave it to him to actually accept watch duty while everyone else slept peacefully.  God, this was nerve wracking and boring at the same time.  And it left him way too much time to just think.

                About the thing the Kims had seen.

                About his brother and how he was doing.  Hopefully he was still alive.

                Hell, he even wondered about the vamps and weres that were with him and what sort of trouble they were getting into.  A small part of him hoped they were okay since it didn’t seem right to wish them ill when the world had already gone to hell.

                Tiredly, he rubbed his face with his fingers, the digits peeking through the fingerless gloves, and took a deep breath.  “What are we gonna do, guys?”  He didn’t expect an answer and he didn’t get one, but it was a lousy situation to be in.  It might be possible to try and find an airfield with some sort of flying machine but the ones he could pilot wouldn’t get him home.  And they certainly wouldn’t get all of them very far.

                It was just frustrating for him, and likely the Kims too, because they had families.  Sure, they’d volunteered to come to settle things in the States while other cousins and half-siblings took on Europe and Asia’s nonhuman… problem, but with this , he didn’t know how any of it had turned out.  Were they even still alive?  What was the point of worrying about vampires and werewolves when the humans were doing more harm than good and now they had giant walking plant monsters to deal with.

                The last made him kick out at a drift of snow and toss a piece of debris as far as he could in frustration.  He never should have left his brother.  And damn Yongguk for getting himself killed.  Mir clenched his hands tight and rested his elbows on his knees while he leaned forward, staring into the gloom.  He hadn’t heard anything moving around lately – the sleepers didn’t count – and nothing looked like it was in the area but one couldn’t be too careful.  Then again, what did being careful matter when like what happened to Heechul became an issue?  How could a Hunter just lose his power?  That wasn’t pos- What was that?

                His immediate train of thought stopped outright when he saw something ghosting on the outskirts of his vision.  It wasn’t very large but it made him wary as he stood up and shook his hands at his sides, ready for anything.  Squinting with his slightly enhanced eyesight, he saw a slightly different patch of color winding between the trees.  It paused and a pair of golden eyes glinted briefly when a beam of moonlight hit it.

                “Wolf,” Mir whispered, swallowing once.  He glanced back to check on the sleepers but they all seemed oblivious to their… guest.  He his bottom lip and took a step closer to try and get a better look at the creature.

                It didn’t flee but neither did it move closer, giving him the perfect opportunity to observe.  Tawny, gold fur finally revealed itself with another flash of moonlight and Mir felt a flicker of familiarity tickle his belly.  The beast seemed to look at him, sniffing the air and cocking large ears back and forth.  It was large for a wolf but small for a were.  Nothing like Luna exactly but he thought he might know it.  Their fur all looked alike at one point or another but the Bangs were known for having more contact with some of them than others.

                “Hey,” he called softly, squatting a little ways from the group as he focused on the wolf.  It was acting strangely for sure.  Most weres weren’t exactly skittish about announcing themselves, and if it hadn’t wanted to be seen, he likely wouldn’t have seen the creature at all.  But it wasn’t attacking him and it wasn’t signaling for any others so what did that mean?  “It’s alright,” he urged with one hand extended in a neutral peace gesture.

                The wolf’s tail wagged slightly, hanging low to the ground but relaxed.  In a winding manner, the beast edged closer as if it was on a switchback trail, heading back and forth but still moving closer all the same.  It paused when it drew near enough to get a better look at the sleepers on the ground.  Ears flicked forward and then laid back slightly, the shoulders hunching as if ready to flee.

                “Easy,” Mir soothed, watching without moving for fear of spooking it.  No, this was definitely not the typical were.  And as he looked closer at the sleek, muscled body cloaked in golden fur, he realized the wolf was a she.  “Here girl,” he murmured, keeping his hand out for her to sniff.

                Warily, with her ears still pinned back and her tail tucked somewhat between her legs, she focused on him for a second before looking at the sleepers.  Her ears flicked up and then back several more times before she whined softly in the back of and turned in a full circle, facing Mir.  The full weight of her attention settled on him and he got to look into her golden eyes with those large ears standing upright and at attention.  Squatting down low, they were of an even height and the feeling that she was familiar became even stronger.

                “Kim?” he guessed, cocking his head to the side and waiting for a response.  Immediately he got a response.  Her tail wagged once more and a small whine emerged from .  Mir frowned thoughtfully as he looked over the somewhat scarred body up close and then managed another guess.  “Hyoyeon?”  At once, the wolf came closer with an excited whine and finally bumped her nose into his palm, tail wagging harder.  “Holy ,” Mir whispered, petting her uncertainly.  Werewolves didn’t usually like to be petted – at least not by Hunters, with the exception of Luna – and it was stranger still that she was maintaining her wolf form.  “What happened to you?” he wondered aloud, able to see more clearly the marks on her body.

                By all accounts, it looked as if she’d been worked over terribly bad in the past and though her wounds were healed now, she still had patches of fur missing and scars beneath that were obvious, even with the growth around them.  She didn’t respond in any way that he could understand but she did grab his glove with her teeth and tug, obviously intent upon getting him to follow her.

                “What?” he blinked in confusion, glancing over his shoulder at the sleepers.  “I can’t leave them,” he reminded her in a whisper, shaking his head.  She whined again, teeth still latched onto his glove as she pulled backwards determinedly.  Mir his lips and swallowed, confounded by her behavior.  “Oh fine,” he huffed, rolling his eyes.  “Wait,” he signaled with a tap on her nose, making her snort and take a step back.  “Just wait,” he motioned again, padding carefully over to where Mika was sleeping.  None of the other boys would be good for this and the Kims were likely to try and kill her at first sight which left him with the former mercenary.  “Mika,” he whispered, jostling the other man gently.

                He was slightly surprised when intense, brown eyes opened almost immediately.  “What?” he whispered, tense and at the ready.

                Mir placed a finger over his lips and then motioned towards where Hyoyeon was several yards away, her posture just as tense.  “I need you to take watch for a bit,” he explained, letting the other man connect the dots himself.

                “How do you know it’s safe?” Mika asked without bothering with ‘who’ or ‘what’ questions; being a former mercenary, they often didn’t matter.

                “I don’t which is why I’m waking you up.  If something happens, wake the others and get out of here,” the Hunter instructed as he pointed towards his companions, still speaking in a low tone.

                Mika regarded him for a moment longer, unmoving in his observation, before he finally nodded once.  It was followed by him carefully shifting away from Aron so that he could better take over watching, though it was clear he was uneasy about it.

                “I’ll be right back,” Mir murmured with a glance between Mika and Hyoyeon.

                “You don’t know that,” the other man shook his head, chafing his hands now that he was away from the warmth provided by his sleeping companions and the blanket.

                Mir just shrugged and turned to walk away, following Hyoyeon who seemed rather relieved to be drifting out of the camp in turn.  “You better not be walking me into a trap,” he cautioned her with a thoughtful eye peering at the werewolf.

                She whimpered and looked over her shoulder, tongue lolling once with an exhale.  Then she her maw and chuffed at him, obviously impatient.

                He pressed his lips together in an unimpressed expression but followed along with slightly more speed.  The terrain was easy enough to deal with, random, hidden branches and debris notwithstanding.  It was almost easy to forget that they now lived in a veritable wasteland when they were as isolated as they were.  Mir was able to maintain that thought until Hyoyeon led him steadfastly towards a new part of the woods where trees fell away in the wake of what had have been some sort of bombing effect.  “Holy ,” he breathed, blinking in dumbfounded horror.

                Hearing about it was one thing but seeing the destruction with his own eyes was something else.  No wonder the area smelled so poor…  Hundreds of yards in front of him, the land was nothing more than burnt detritus hidden under a thin layer of snow.  He could still see the corpses of trees and what might have been some sort of living structures jutting up like buried skeletons.  “What am I looking at, Hyoyeon?  Why did you bring me here?” he asked in a hushed whisper with a hesitant look down at where she was seated before him.

                Like before, her tail wagged and she exhaled forcefully.  One intelligent eye looked back and then she shifted to focus on the cleared space once more.  Not for the first time, Mir wondered why she didn’t change back into her human form, but the question fell from his mind instantly when he noticed something on the horizon move.

                Even with it being as dark as it was, he would have had to be blind to miss it.  A faint glow limned the slowly rising mass of something as it emerged from the graveyard of the bomb.  No sound emerged this time; it was silent, unlike the creature he’d heard when the Kims had apparently run afoul of something.  That didn’t make him any happier exactly, but he was inclined to watch, ersely intrigued from his relative safety.

                At his feet, Hyoyeon whined softly, tail brushing against the snow covered ground as she stared ahead.  Just as enraptured, Mir watched the snow slide free, revealing a mass of coiled vines on a creature the size of a small house.  It looked like an oversized mound with four stumpy feet and no head, but it appeared to know where it was going.  The glowing sensation didn’t go away as it seemed to be sifting through the dirt, vine tentacles sweeping the ground tentatively.  It paused when it appeared to locate something and Mir inhaled softly when he saw the creature glow brighter, focusing the pale, green light in one area.

                Miraculously, a plant took root in ground that should have been infertile for months longer, if not years.  Before his wide, unblinking eyes, an entire tree sprouted up and blossomed into adulthood, mimicking those he’d walked through on the way to see it.  When the last of the overarching branches settled into place with new growth, the creature moved on.  As before, it continued digging through the snow and dirt like it was looking for something.  Mir stayed only long enough to confirm it found another tree or something, several yards away, and then made it grow into adulthood in moments.

                “Is this what you wanted to show me?” he asked the wolf at his feet, feeling utterly lost and overwhelmed by what he was seeing here.  She looked over her shoulder and whined, body wriggling as if in agreement.  “Um…” he trailed off, not even sure of what to say.  “I,” he started to say, meeting Hyoyeon’s gaze for a moment.  “We should get back,” Mir corrected, seeing if she would agree.

                Mutely, Hyoyeon stood up and walked close enough to nudge his hand, her nose cold against his bare fingers.

                “Alright.  Let’s go then,” he smiled hesitantly while he ran his fingers against the side of her face.  Only Luna had ever let them do that before.  It made him miss the little squirt.  “It’ll be interesting to see how the Kims react,” he warned her gently.  She huffed at his words but stayed close to his side, warm body pressed lightly against his thigh instead of his hip as it would with a typical sized werewolf.  “Interesting indeed,” he added to himself, taking one more chance to look over his shoulder where yet another tree had appeared in the meantime.

~~~~~~

                The small pack of wolves ran quickly, following the scent of the vampire that had to walk at least part of the time.  Seunghyun and Siwon ran at the front, tails sticking straight out and noses pointed ahead or sniffing above the ground, making sure to follow what clues they had.  At their back, four more wolves trampled along, weighed down by their more human companions on their backs.  The rest of the wolves had been commanded to remain behind so that the others would have protection during the day since the clouds did not promise cover from the sun.

                For the most part, the ragged trails in the disturbed snow were easy to see, but long stretches happened where it was obvious Himchan had took to the air when he could.  Here and there, the scent of burnt feathers stung their noses, giving them a hint that they were still moving in the right direction but little else.  At last, they hit a point where nothing remained but snow, trees, and the expanse of the wilderness on the horizon.  To the west, the ocean was easy enough to see from the hill on which they ran.  It was dark and ominous, especially when covered by clouds.

                Seunghyun stopped and raised his dark gray head up to sniff the air.  Salt water, forestry, dirt, the familiar sense of wrongness that seemed to ade everything…  It was nearly impossible to figure out where to go now.  With an annoyed chuff, he swiveled and signaled for the others to split up so that they might cover more ground.  He issued a low warning growl to make sure they took care.

                The almost black as night Junsu gave him a perturbed look, but he didn’t argue before he turned away with Hyuk and their riders as they headed towards the coast.  Seungho and Yukwon hopped off the wolves to travel at their side with more than human speed while Amber and Soohyun remained on top, perpetually scanning in every direction, their hands gripping hard to the spears that never ran out of ammo.  They both had pistols in their belts but guns were last resort weapons: bullets were finite and they were loud.

                On the other side, Kyung and Geng peeled off to cover ground further inland.  Their riders remained seated with the exception of Chaerin who was obviously possessed by one of her passengers at the moment.  It was clear Jiyong didn’t like it but he knew better than to argue and kept his mouth shut, though his dark eyes continued to shift back to her.  Neither Taeyang nor Minhyuk opted to say anything and they simply rode along, the former in the front since he was shorter.

                No one needed to remind the others that if they saw something, they’d need to regroup.  It was an unspoken rule anyway.  They couldn’t afford heroes anymore.  Watching them leave, Seunghyun looked over at Siwon with a gust of air pluming between them.  ‘Let’s go,’ he growled, aiming for the north where they suspected the others to be coming from.  If they had run afoul of something though, it was also possible they would have had to detour, hence sending the others out in different directions.

                ‘What do you think they are?’ Siwon asked as they padded along, sniffing low to the ground, their paws crunching over old snow and debris beneath.

                ‘No clue,’ Seunghyun chomped with a head shake, the motion extending to the rest of his body.

                ‘Do you think it’s a monster?’ the other wolf asked, peering around while he paused with his ears flicking back and forth.

                ‘According to the humans, we were monsters,’ the Alpha reminded him with a dry snort.

                ‘You know what I mean,’ Siwon rolled his eyes, nosing under an overhang that something could have hid beneath.

                For a moment, Seunghyun was silent.  It almost felt as if he wasn’t going to answer, but then he did.  ‘The puppets seem to think they might not be.  I’m not so sure,’ he growled low in the back of his throat, catching a whiff of something that stung his nose.  Again with the foul smell that felt like it was in everything and everywhere.  ‘Do you smell salt?’ he asked with an automatic sneeze, nose wrinkling in distaste.

                Whining softly, Siwon nodded his head once and turned around in a quick circle.  The air had shifted and changed the scents coming to them.  ‘From the West,’ he blinked, angling his body towards the ocean.

                ‘The others haven’t called,’ the Alpha reminded him hesitantly.  They shouldn’t leave if there was nothing to worry about.  They might miss their target after all.

                ‘Maybe they can’t,’ Siwon reasoned, shifting his weight from paw to paw nervously.

                Both tensed when they heard something approaching fast.  Crouching low, they readied themselves to react but then straightened up when they saw Hyuk sprinting with Soohyun on his back.  They didn’t seem hurt but there was obviously something on their minds.  The human spoke first even as the werewolf slid to a stop in front of them, trembling in nervous excitement.  “You have got to come see this,” he breathed, gesturing towards the coast broadly.

                The two riderless wolves exchanged looks and nodded as one, breezing by Hyuk as they followed his trail instead.  As they moved, the scent of salt grew stronger, as did the general wrongness they had to stomach most days.  But the tree line gradually fell away to give a more unobstructed view of the sea and that was when they also noticed the other four staring straight out.  There was plenty of distance between them and the water, but they all appeared entranced by it.

                As the two Chois looked closer, they noticed why.  Shaking his head, Seunghyun dropped the wolf guise to return to his human form, opting for a different view with his eyes.  “Holy shifter,” he exhaled, coming abreast of the half-turned men.  They didn’t even glance his direction as they all watched the way the ocean moved.  The overhead lighting wasn’t great, but it was still enough to let them see a huge shadow undulating under the surface.  It didn’t hurt that the thing seemed to have its own glow in turn: faint but light green and almost beautiful.

                “What is it?” the short haired Amber asked, holding onto Seungho’s sleeve with unresponsive fingers.

                “I have no idea,” he whispered back, hardly daring to blink.

                Water rose slightly and a swell appeared where whatever the thing was moved.  It had no certain shape but one thing was abundantly clear: it was massive.  Larger than a whale or even an entire pod of them, it extended as far as they could see, parallel to the coast.  Junsu’s cautious growl finally tore their attention away to look closer to the shore where other things appeared to be moving.  Dark tendrils like octopus arms were crawling up the ground, the tips swaying over the sand as they moved, questing.  Amidst those things were other creatures as well.  Only two or three, but they were far more mobile and bigger.

                “Are those what Himchan was talking about?” Soohyun asked, pointing with his spear at the ambling mounds of dark green growth.  They looked like overgrown balls of seaweed and seagrass except one or two had strange prongs and bits of metal and debris sticking out of them.

                “I have no idea,” Seunghyun frowned, head swinging left and right to see just how far the things went.  Even as far as his sight could extend, there were tentacles coming from the surf, steadily making their way onto the land.  While he couldn’t see any other mounds of creatures exactly, that didn’t mean they weren’t already here.  “We should get moving,” he urged with a swipe at Yukwon and Seungho at his sides.  Siwon whined low in agreement, his tail wagging stiffly in his nervousness.

                Junsu chuffed as if to get them moving again and Seungho started into action.  He immediately moved to lift Amber on, not missing the annoyed press of her lips as he did so.  But she offered her hand to help him in turn and they were moving to follow Siwon who took the lead back the way they’d come.  Yukwon hopped on behind Soohyun while Seunghyun transformed back to his wolf form.  When he was finished, they bounded off, filled with new urgency.  The world was changing more than they were ready for and none of them knew what to do about it yet.

                Unaware of the newest discovery, Kyung and Geng continued to plod along, moving at a slower pace as they strained their ears for any sound: friend or foe.  After a little while, Kyung paused so that Minhyuk and Taeyang could slide off to walk at his side, one on either side of him.  Geng slowed enough for Jiyong to do the same, but the human nearly tripped in the process when he was too busy watching Chaerin.  The wolf caught his sleeve in his teeth to steady him, peering at the young man with a golden eye before letting go and moving onward determinedly.

                “How do we know they haven’t all been fried?” Minhyuk his lips and wondered aloud, gloved hands holding tight to the spear.

                “We don’t,” Taeyang shrugged, not looking at him.  “But that’s what we’re here to find out.”

                “The vamps are more resilient than that,” L. Joe snorted, Chaerin’s body language snide and arrogant.  As if in agreement, the wolves chuffed as one and stopped, noses in the air as they took deep, long breaths.

                With an exchanged glance, Kyung took to human form and brushed his hands off, flinging bits of snow everywhere.  “We smell something.  Not the vamps but it’s… strange,” he frowned, nodding a bit further inland.  “Come on,” he gestured with his hand, looking surprisingly warm despite the lack of layers on him: only a long sleeved shirt and pants with shoes covered his changed form.  “Geng will keep smelling around.”

                “It feels weird,” Chaerin’s brow crinkled as she moved, head tilting thoughtfully.

                “What does?” Jiyong couldn’t help but ask, the obviously displaced and disgruntled partner.  Bundled under the low cap, his dark eyes were nearly hidden by the fluffy fabric, but it was obvious he only saw her.

                “Something,” was the vague response, annoying all of them.

                “Quiet,” Kyung motioned, brushing his black bangs out of his face.  “Look at the trees,” he pointed out, noticing the tops of these ones were mostly charred.  For the most part, the ones nearby looked as if they’d suffered some sort of damage from fire or the like.

                “Look!” Chaerin pointed with a rapid series of blinks.  Nothing moved in the distance, but they did notice a path of sorts.  It looked as if it had been made by something previously, where broken trees littered the sides and plants had been crumpled.

                “Humans came this way,” Kyung translated when Geng growled something out.

                “These are tank tracks,” Taeyang explained as they came closer so he could kneel beside the tread marks in the ground.

                “And something else,” Minhyuk tapped him on the shoulder to point towards the weird footprints on the other side of the trail.

                “Oh!” Chaerin chirped, bounding across the crushed remains of foliage to get a closer look herself.  Jiyong followed closely, skulking along with a worried expression on his pinched face.

                “These aren’t fresh,” Kyung frowned, listening to Geng as the other wolf reported his findings.

                “Neither are these, but that doesn’t mean we can’t catch up,” Chaerin commented, tracing her fingers over the imprints in the ground.  They were of roughly even size, all four of them, but they all had slight differences in patterning.  One had more rock divots while another was mostly branch crossings and another one was just a blobby imprint.  She swiped her finger across the ground and then tasted it, a disgusted expression crossing her face.

                “It’s not our job to follow it,” Jiyong reminded her with a frown, further annoyed with the spirit possessing her.

                “No, it’s not your job,” she pointed out without looking back, obviously dismissing the other man.

                “L. Joe.  Now is not the time,” Kyung spoke softly, quietly padding closer with dark eyes locked on the woman.  Chaerin stiffened and froze but did not speak in answer.

                Kyung and Jiyong exchanged uncertain glances and the former opened his mouth as if to talk again, but then Chaerin stood up, surprising them both.  “No,” Krystal’s voice flowed out, relieving them just a bit.  “Now is not the time for that indeed,” she agreed, tapping her finger on her bottom lip with a thoughtful frown.  “But we should follow for a little while to see what happened,” she urged in the direction of the tracks.

                “But that’s not the way we’re supposed to go,” Kyung stated flatly, his eyes flashing at constantly being challenged by the Possessed.

                Still in control, Krystal pointed at the tracks in either direction, obviously running thoughts through her head.  But she sighed after a moment and Chaerin’s body swayed, her brown eyes fluttering with a confused groan.  “What…?”

                “Rin!” Jiyong jumped into action, moving close to steady her as she tried to get her bearings.

                Kyung scratched his head and sighed in annoyance with a look at Geng.  “I don’t suppose you two want to go bounding off on your own?” he asked of Minhyuk and Taeyang who seemed just as confounded by the upset and the shift in their group.

                “I’d rather be back at the cave,” Minhyuk snorted with a head shake.

                “Can’t we just find the vamps and go home?” Taeyang suggested, jerking his head in the direction they were supposed to be going.

                “Works for me,” Kyung agreed, falling to all fours as he let the change take over, reverting to his wolf form.

                Swiftly, they turned back to head north, keeping the strange tracks in mind for later.  Jiyong rode behind Chaerin, whispering what had happened in her ear to bring her up to speed while Geng loped along swiftly.  Taeyang and Minhyuk clung to Kyung and they all felt the tension in the air.  They’d confirmed something else existed and it made things that much more frightening for all of them.

                That didn’t exactly keep them from their main goal though.  And all of them were alert when they heard a voice echo through the trees.  “Wolf?!”

                Geng and Kyung stopped, heads swiveling around as their passengers did the same.  Geng gave a low howl in response and they heard an excited shout nearby.  Angling their bodies in the direction of the unknown person, they waited tensely as a figure weaved through the trees with a strange contraption on their back.

                “Youngjae?” the humans frowned in uncertainty as they saw a short, blonde man heading towards them.  With a burst of energy, Youngjae threw himself into the space they were waiting, collapsing to his knees under the weight of the tattered sun shield with a breathy laugh.

                “I have never been so glad to smell a wolf,” he grinned tiredly, resting his hand on the snow covered ground, the rickety device trembling under his exhaustion.  Sparks of electricity trailed over his body and he twitched here and there but he seemed otherwise whole.

                “Are you alright?” Chaerin as herself asked, sliding off first to check on him.

                Youngjae stiffened as his nostrils flared and he looked up with black eyes even as Geng lunged between them, cutting Chaerin off with a startled yelp.  The wolf growled, fangs bared as he met the vampire’s glare evenly.  Quietly, both Taeyang and Minhyuk slid free and Kyung moved into place to stand beside his packmate, sharp teeth revealed through peeled back lips.

                The long, tense pause finally broke when Youngjae blinked and grabbed his nose with his hand, looking down with an embarrassed expression.  “Sorry,” he mumbled in a nasally tone.  “I’m okay,” he added, glancing at the wolves but carefully ignoring the humans.

                Geng volunteered to transform this time, looking just as lightly dressed as his packmate.  “What happened?  Where are the others?” he asked, kneeling beside the vampire as if he was a wounded animal that would strike at a moment’s notice.  At this point, he pretty much was.

                “Buried,” Youngjae admitted with a nod in the direction he’d come from.  “We ran into something,” he added, sitting up a little taller as he looked to the standing wolf.  “Some kind of mutated Venus fly trap.  It tried to eat Jinki but we got away.  But then the sun sent us into hiding and we lost time.  We kept hearing those things around too.  Something,” he shook his head with a frown.  “With Jinki so hurt, we couldn’t move easy so I was volunteered,” the vampire laughed brokenly.  “Perfect memory and all,” he shrugged, his lips.

                “Where are they?” Geng prompted again, looking over Youngjae’s kneeling form.

                “I can show you,” he nodded tiredly, getting to his feet with weary determination.

                “In a minute,” the wolf cautioned, grabbing one arm to hold him steady with a nod at Kyung.  The humans jumped slightly when the dark wolf raised his head and howled, the sound echoing hauntingly off the trees and over the ground.  After a few seconds, an answering howl returned.  With a smile, Geng looked at the others and nodded, “We’ll head out again when the others get here.  No more chances and no more heroics,” he frowned at Chaerin.  She shrugged in response, genuinely confused, and Jiyong hugged her closer with one arm.

                “It’s alright,” he murmured reassuringly, to which she nodded in simple acceptance.

                “As for you,” Geng made a face as he stuck his other arm in front of Youngjae who was still holding his nose.  “Drink.”  It was almost as if the wolf had offered a five year old their favorite piece of cake.  Only this five year old had claws and fangs and even though the humans had seen it happen plenty of times, they still opted to look away when Youngjae latched onto the arm with needy abandon.

                “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” Taeyang shook his head with an uncertain look.

                Minhyuk just shook his head in agreement.  “Nope.”