a/n: Hey guys! As promised, here is the next installment about a week later. Enjoy!

Part Five

“You know better than that, Junmyeon.”

Junmyeon swallowed hard and instinctively turned his gaze down to the ground. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry…?”             

Junmyeon shivered. “…Siwon. I’m sorry Siwon.”

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Siwon smiled at him gently. “There’s no need to be sorry, Junmyeon.”

Junmyeon gripped his fingers tightly behind his back to try and hide how his knees were trembling. “Are you here alone?”

“Actually, I’m not.”

“Is the rest of the pack here?”

“They’re not here at this festival, but they’re around.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Why does it matter? Aren’t you glad to see me?”

Junmyeon just looked at him, a little too frightened and apprehensive to respond. “I…” Where is Yifan? He said he would be back in a moment.

“It doesn’t matter, I suppose. Whether you are glad to see me or not, how have you been Junmyeon?”

Junmyeon backed up a step in fright, and Siwon stepped forward. “Junmyeon.”

“Don’t come near me!”

At that moment, the stall owner came around. “Is anything the matter here?”

“No, not at all.” Siwon smiled pleasantly at the woman. “Actually, Junmyeon here was interested in making a purchase.”

“Bring it to the front and pay for it, dear.”

“O-of course.” Junmyeon reluctantly followed the woman, his eyes darting around in search of Yifan. Where was his alpha when he needed him most?

“Here. A special discount for you, I saw your Exo ring. I know Yifan well, he helped me out of a spot of trouble, and I saw him come by earlier with you.”

Junmyeon glanced away from the milling crowd and accepted his purchase. “Oh really? Thank you very much! I’ll tell him you said hello, Ms…?”

“Amber.”

“I’ll tell him you said hello.” Junmyeon smiled pleasantly at her and moved away from the stall. He felt a surge of relief when he saw Yifan walking back, and he moved away to meet him, only for Siwon to lay a firm grip on his arm.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to meet my alpha,” Junmyeon snapped, drawing his arm away. At this point, he didn’t care if he was being rude, he just wanted to get away from it all and convince Yifan to go home.

“Who is he?”

“I am he.” Yifan’s voice rang with cold authority, and Junmyeon instantly went to his side, leaning into Yifan’s arm. “What do you want with Junmyeon?”

“I was merely saying hello.” Siwon smiled easily and spread his hands as a sign of peace.

“Well, you’ve said hello. We’re going now, Junmyeon.”

Junmyeon nodded his head in assent, and the pair walked past Siwon.

“Junmyeon!”

Yifan growled low in his throat. “Keep walking, Junmyeon.”

Junmyeon gave him a tiny, terse nod and began walking a bit faster.

That didn’t deter Siwon. “I didn’t believe it when they said you were a part of Exo, you know.”

“Oh god, I wish he would stop shouting,” Junmyeon muttered under his breath.

“You’ve found a new pack. I’m proud of you.”

Junmyeon stopped in his tracks, but Yifan simply put an arm around his waist and tugged him forward. “Don’t even think about turning around.”

Junmyeon kept quiet, and to the couple’s relief, Siwon stopped shouting after them.

They got back into the car, and Yifan let out a slow breath once they were both seated. “…Do you want to go home?”

“Yes, please.”

The silence that hung over the pair was different on the way back than it had been on the way there. At last, after half an hour of tension, Yifan parked the car in the garage of the house.

“Junmyeon…”

“What?”

“Who was that?”

Junmyeon bit his lip. “Um…”

“Who was he, Junmyeon?”

“He was the alpha from my old pack,” Junmyeon murmured quietly.

“Hey.” Yifan reached over and cupped Junmyeon’s chin with his hand and gently turned his face so that he could see Junmyeon’s eyes. “It’s ok.”

“I thought you would be upset.”

“I wouldn’t be upset at you. I’m angry at him; at the thought that his pack is somewhere here in the city, and I can’t find them and make them pay for what they’ve done to you.”

Junmyeon’s eyes widened in alarm. “You can’t do anything to them, Yifan!”

“They hurt you, why are you still defending them?” Yifan dropped his hand from Junmyeon’s face before he could accidentally harm him by gripping too hard. “You know that what they did to you was wrong! How can you blame us if the entire pack has been out for their blood?”

“What?”

“We love you Junmyeon.” Yifan’s eyes softened, but his shoulders remained tense. “Of course we’re angry that someone would mistreat you.”

“That doesn’t mean that I want you to seek retribution,” Junmyeon snapped back. “I don’t want you to hurt them.”

“That decision is not up to you.” Yifan’s eyes hardened in anger as he spoke, and Junmyeon felt himself shivering as an overwhelming aura of cold authority surrounded Yifan’s voice. “I will tell the rest of the pack about this, and we will decide what to do.”

“They haven’t done anything to you! There’s no need for this!”

“This discussion is closed,” Yifan said in a clipped tone, and unbuckled his seat belt.

“You can’t just block me out like that, those are people I care about—“

“And we care about you, Junmyeon.” Yifan opened the car door and stepped into the garage. Junmyeon hastily unbuckled his seatbelt and hurried after him, still arguing and pleading.

They entered the house and met Luhan coming down the stairs. “What’s happening?”

“We had a run in with Junmyeon’s former alpha today.”

Luhan blinked, and then stiffened, his eyes narrowing in distaste. “I see.”

“Luhan! You can’t!” Junmyeon reached out and clung to Luhan’s sleeve.

“I can’t what?”

“You can’t hurt them!”

“I’m sure Yifan has already said this, but that decision is not up to you, Junmyeon.” Luhan gently removed Junnmyeon’s trembling fingers from his sleeve.

“I don’t understand! They haven’t done anything to you!”

“They hurt you, Junmyeon. And we’re a pack,” Yifan said softly.

Junmyeon turned to Yifan, his hands clenched into fists. “But you don’t need to seek retribution against them. All they did was throw me out when I couldn’t contribute to them—”

“And therein lies the problem!” Neither wolf noticed Luhan quietly slipping off upstairs. “You still—you still don’t see it. Even after all this time.”

“What don’t I see?” Junmyeon glared up at Yifan. “It’s not as if I don’t contribute to this pack too, where I can’t even hunt or make myself useful in a fight!”

Yifan grabbed Junmyeon harshly by the shoulders. “You fool! How can you not see it?” He shoved Junmyeon away, and Junmyeon’s back hit the stairwell with a solid thud. “They made you like this—unable to live, unable to love even yourself!”

Junmyeon winced as he pushed himself off of the stairwell. “What to do you mean?”

“There are different ways of life, Junmyeon. Before, you lived in the countryside where your pack could roam free, hunt, and fight in the wilderness. Here, though, the life for our packs is much different. We can’t fight here, we can’t hunt here, that’s true. But, that is not all that our pack needs. You have a job that brings in money, and lets our pack live here in the city. You can cook and clean and keep our house a place that we can in live in. You listen and guide, and you help keep our pack together during times of conflict.” Yifan’s eyes softened and he stepped closer to Junmyeon, this time laying a gentle hand on Junmyeon’s hip, the other going around Junmyeon to curl at the back of his neck. “Junmyeon, can’t you see how much you mean to Exo? Can’t you see how important you are to us?”

“I still don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t.” Yifan sighed heavily and stepped away from Junmyeon. “Because your pack raised you in such a manner, you can’t understand your own importance.”

“Just because I don’t think I’m important doesn’t mean that I don’t know how to love, or how to live.”

“Tell me, Junmyeon. Is this truly living? You, standing there, drowning in your own self-hatred, picking yourself to pieces over your self-perceived faults. Is that living?”

“No. But Yifan, that was before.” Junmyeon reached out, his palms sweaty as fear suddenly enveloped him, a desire to prove his feelings sweeping over him in a heady rush when he made contact with the warm skin of Yifan’s palm. “Before, I would pick myself apart and never let myself be whole by trying to discard the parts of me that I thought were worthless. But being here, living with Exo, being loved…I’m not the same as I was. I love myself, just a little bit. I love you all even more. Even if I don’t think that I input very much into the pack, I no longer believe that I deserve every bad thing that happens to me. I don’t—I love you all so much. And loving you has helped me get farther, helped me start to heal…” Junmyeon trailed off uncertainly, his eyes roving over Yifan’s stony face for any hint of emotion, for any hope that his words had made it through.

Finally, Yifan’s fingers opened, and Junmyeon let out a small sigh of relief when Yifan entwined their fingers. “Start to heal, yes. We helped you start to heal. But Junmyeon, no one should be starting to heal from emotional abuse at the age of twenty years. No one should have to deal with emotional abuse, ever. The fact that this happened to you makes this issue even more poignant to us.

You just said that you love us, very much. Can you understand then, why we would want to seek retribution against your old pack? Seeing you so hurt and scarred from what you’ve experienced in your life hurts all of us, Junmyeon. Our love for you is motivating us to seek retribution for what’s happened to you.”

“I can understand that. But, Yifan, what will retribution do? Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“It’s up to the rest of the pack. We’ll take a vote on what to do.”

“And I don’t get a say in that vote?”

“No.”

“Why not? No matter how they treated me, they’re still my family.”

“You won’t have a say in this decision, Junmyeon, because you won’t be able to separate your logic from your emotions.”

“This entire decision is based on emotion, Yifan.”

“Yes, but could it be, Junmyeon, that you are thinking about this solely based on your feelings for your old alpha? Or are you truly considering all sides of the conflict?”

“Yifan!” Junmyeon felt as if he’d been struck across the face.

“You said, that when you gave me a chance five weeks ago, you still weren’t sure about your feelings for me and your old alpha. I can’t help but wonder how much that factors into what you’re thinking.”

“But Yifan, that’s not…”

“It’s not what? Have you made a decision? Will you be brave enough to tell me? That’s my final answer, Jun.” Yifan leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Junmyeon’s forehead. “You can’t change my mind.”

Junmyeon frowned, but eventually seemed to come to terms with the decision. “I’m not brave to tell you anything,” he whispered softly. “But…can I at least be present for the meeting when you all vote?”

“Of course.”

“When will that be?”

“Tomorrow. It’s too late to try and hold one now.”

“Ok.” Junmyeon squeezed Yifan’s hand, and then stood on his toes to press a soft kiss against Yifan’s mouth.

Yifan brought an arm up to support Junmyeon’s waist and then carefully let him down again when their mouths parted. “Are you going to sleep now?”

“I suppose so.” Junmyeon sighed, and then winced when the material of shirt rubbed across the tender skin of his back. He would probably have some light bruising tomorrow.

“I’m sorry about that.” Yifan’s hand moved from his hip to rest lightly over the backs of his shoulders.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m a tough wolf,” Junmyeon smiled up at Yifan and then ducked out from beneath his arm. “I am sorry that our night was ruined.”

“Me too. But it just means that we’ll have to spend another night out,” Yifan grinned.

Junmyeon smiled back at him. “Good night, Yifan.”

“Good night, Junmyeon. Sleep well, and go talk to Lay if you back bothers you too much.”

“I will. Get some rest yourself.” Junmyeon turned and headed up the stairwell, leaving Yifan alone in the dark.

As Junmyeon passed down the hallway towards his room, Luhan poked his head out of the door. “Is everything alright? I heard something hit the wall.”

“Everything’s fine.” Junmyeon gave him a small smile.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Junmyeon, you know…you know that we love you, right?”

“I know. And I love you all too,” Junmyeon sighed, and then turned away. “Sleep well, Luhan.”

“You too, Junmyeon.”

Luhan waited until Junmyeon’s door clicked shut before retreating back into his room.

“Will he be alright?” Sehun was lying on the bed, his feet propped up on the folded blanket at the end of his bed.

“He’ll be fine.” Luhan closed the door and lay back down beside his mate.

Sehun put his hand over Luhan’s stomach. “How’re you feeling?”

“Anxious,” Luhan admitted softly as he curled closer into Sehun’s bony ribs. “Why…why isn’t it working, though? Are we doing something wrong? Is there something wrong with my body?”

“I doubt there’s anything wrong with you.” Sehun rubbed Luhan’s arm comfortingly and tangled their legs together, ensconcing Luhan with his calm aura. “We’re going to go see the doctor in a few days anyways, remember?”

“I know.” Luhan bit his lip. “I just…it still makes me nervous.”

“Of course. But you know—even if something does happen, it won’t change how we are. We might not be able to have children of our own, but there are other ways we can have a child. This isn’t the only option.”

“But it’ll be disappointing if I can’t conceive.”

“Yes. But Luhan, you know what I’m saying. We’ll move on. We’ll find other ways to be happy. It will all be just fine.”

“Hm.” Luhan twisted around and reached out to turn off the lights. “Good night, Sehun.”

“Good night.”

Junmyeon woke to the sound of someone knocking on his bedroom door. “What is it?” He rubbed blearily at his eyes.

“Can I come in?”

Junmyeon blinked sleepily, and then huddled underneath his blankets. “Sure.”

Yifan poked his head through the door and smiled slightly when he saw Junmyeon curled up on his bed. “Did I wake you up?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Junmyeon extricated one of his hands from beneath his covers so that he could cover his mouth as he yawned widely. “What time is it?”

“It’s ten in the morning.”

“Hm.” Junmyeon tilted his head and blinked at him sleepily. “What do you need?”

Yifan came over and sat on the edge of the bed, his body twisted around so that he could face Junmyeon. “I’m sorry I was so harsh to you yesterday.”

“It’s ok. It sounded like it was something you wanted to say to me for a long time.” Junmyeon rolled over and pressed his nose into Yifan’s thigh affectionately. “Besides, hopefully you gained some insights about me.”

“I did.” Yifan patted Junmyeon’s head and began massaging Junmyeon’s scalp. “But still.”

“It’s fine, Yifan. I’m alright. I said that I’m a tough wolf, right?”

“Also, following up on that. If we’re going to go down this road of discussing deep stuff. You know that I don’t mind that you’re so young right?”

“Well, I was wondering about that. You are…what, three hundred years older than me? But I thought, that if you had chosen to pursue me, then it must not matter very much to you.” Junmyeon closed his eyes as the sensation of Yifan’s hands in his hair.

“Good.” Yifan gave one last scratch to Junmyeon’s head, and then withdrew his hands. “Come on, time for you to get up.”

Junmyeon let out a small noise of discontent. “Ok. But close your eyes.”

“Alright.” Junmyeon looked over at Yifan to make sure that his eyes were indeed closed before he reluctantly got out from beneath his covers. He walked over to his dresser to get a shirt, only to gasp in surprise when he felt Yifan stop him from moving with a firm grip on his hips. “Yifan! I told you to close your eyes—”Junmyeon stopped abruptly when he felt Yifan’s lips ghosting across his back. “Y-Yifan…”

“Hm?” Yifan pressed his lips lightly over a faint bruise on Junmyeon’s shoulder blade from when he’d pushed him into the staircase yesterday. He moved over and pressed his lips to another blue spot on Junmyeon’s back. “I’m so sorry, Jun.”

“Its fine, Yifan. We’re all used to a bit of pushing and shoving on occasion.” Junmyeon’s breath hitched when he felt Yifan press an open-mouthed kiss to one of his shoulders. He buried his blushing face in his hands, suddenly glad that Yifan couldn’t see him. “Yifan, stop.”

“Why? Your skin feels so lovely, Jun.”

“Yifan, please.”

Yifan pouted and let Junmyeon go after brushing a final kiss across his back. “Don’t you know how beautiful you are, Jun?”

Junmyeon quickly pulled a shirt over his head. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Don’t worry Junmyeon. I’ll wait for your answer before I go all the way.”

Junmyeon felt his heart sink, and he turned to face Yifan. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. I know that turmoil best, don’t I?” Yifan smiled kindly at him, and Junmyeon felt himself blushing again.

“You know, you’re pretty wonderful too,” he blurted all of a sudden. “I mean, you seem to really hate some parts of yourself too. But you’re so—you’re so wonderful.”

Yifan blinked at him in surprise, and then his face brightened into a smile. “Thank you, Junmyeon.”

“Oh god,” Junmyeon groaned, and buried his face in his hands. “It’s too early in the morning for this.”

Yifan just laughed at him and stood up to follow Junmyeon out of his room. “By the way, everyone is waiting downstairs.”

“I’m sure that someone had to remind you to call me before you took the vote,” Junmyeon said drily.

“You wound me. Of course I remembered.”

Junmyeon paused at the affronted tone in Yifan’s voice, and then turned around to press his nose against Yifan’s sleeve. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Yifan slung an arm over Junmyeon’s shoulders and they continued down the stairs together.

“Has everyone already spoken?”

“Probably for the most part. They actually started the meeting without me, believe it or not.”

“Luhan’s doing, most likely.” Junmyeon hid a yawn behind his hand as they entered the living room of the house. “Good morning everyone.”

“Good morning.”

Junmyeon plopped down on the floor next to Luhan while Yifan sat in his customary chair for pack meetings. “What have you guys been talking about?”

“I’m sure you can imagine.”  Luhan shifted over to lean into Junmyeon’s arm. “Did you sleep well?”

“Mmhm.”

“We’ve come to the conclusion that there’s not much to be done. What happened to you was what happened, but it was in the past. You’re moving forward. You’re healing, and you’re finding out more about yourself.”

Junmyeon hummed in acknowledgement.

“However, if that pack should cross us for any reason—especially that alpha…we’ll take our retribution,” Luhan grinned, his teeth flashing in the morning sunlight.

“Well, hopefully it doesn’t come to that. I mean, they are a rural pack,” Junmyeon yawned and leaned back into Yifan’s legs.

“Right, well, that’s all really.”

“What? Why did you even wake me up then?”

“You wanted to be here, so you have only yourself to blame.”

Junmyeon made a disgruntled noise and curled up into Yifan’s calves. “Well, I’m going back to sleep. Good bye.”

“Sleep well Jun.” The rest of Exo got to their feet and began leaving the living room to get ready for work or go back to bed, leaving Luhan, Yifan, and Junmyeon.

“Hey what? You guys are just going to leave him there?” Yifan whined pitifully and gently nudged at Junmyeon’s neck with his ankles. “Jun, don’t actually go to sleep here. Get up and go back to bed.”

“Mmrph.”

Luhan laughed at them and put a hand on Yifan’s shoulder. “Hey, Yifan, I’m going to work now.”

“Ok. Have a good day.”

Junmyeon let out a sleepy noise of farewell and Luhan left the room with a smirk. Yifan sighed and leaned down, gently uncurling Junmyeon’s body away from his legs. “Come on, you’ll hurt your neck if you sleep like that.”

“Carry me?”

“This kid,” Yifan grumbled. “No. Come on, up on your feet, Junmyeon.”

Junmyeon made a whining noise at the back of his throat, but eventually stumbled to his feet. Yifan gave him an affectionate look and leaned down to kiss his forehead. “Go on, off to bed with you. You had a busy day yesterday. Do you want me to call in to your work?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s Thursday today, I have classes in the afternoon.”

“Alright.”

Junmyeon gave him a sleepy smile and left the room. He toiled up the staircase and stumbled into his room, shutting the door and turning out the light before falling on to his mattress.

He closed his eyes and snuggled into his pillow. He knew that the chances Exo would attack his pack were small. And yet…something was bothering him…a soft memory that told him that it might be more likely than not.

“Ah that’s right.” Siwon had said that the whole pack was in the city. Junmyeon wondered what they were doing in the city, but shook it off and let sleep over take him. He could think more about it when he woke up again.

a/n: First of all, I would like to say that this story doesn't reflect my views in any way. Violence is not ok, ever, even if the person you love apologizes. So please, in real life, don't just lie there and take it, get out of that situation. This fictional world is very different from the real world!

Anyways, that aside, I hope you guys liked this chapter! The action is starting to pick up again...I found a direction to take the plot. The next installment will probably be in about another week again, I'm sorry...it just takes so much time to write and plan this story. Thanks for reading and please upvote and subscribe if you're enjoying...and leave your thoughts in the comments below!