That day marked the beginning of a lot of changes wrought in the Legends' lives.

Starting with the fall in Luhan's popularity as it became known that the guy was committed and dating a freshman. Of course, there were a lot of objections to that and a lot of his fans tried to harass Mei but being who she was, she soon garnered fans of her own and eventually, they just became the hottest couple in the university.

Kai, on the other hand, garnered the reputation for utter iness – something that had already attracted a lot of attention since he'd matured but now it was impossible to ignore the sheer strength of his pheromones. They were potent and nobody – literally nobody – was safe from their effects.

It wasn't that he did anything but just the way his gaze turned all seductive and melting, the way he would bite and occasionally his lips, getting all hot and bothered were enough to give any grown woman – and some men – fantasies.

The poor guy had to deal with numerous lascivious and at times, downright weird propositions along with his discomfort as his naturally shy personality was into spotlight.

So, maybe it was a way to distract himself from Mei and other, associated problems or simply because he liked her but Kai was hanging out with Tiffany a lot these days.

Which meant that Sehun was seeing a lot of her these days too and it wasn't only because he wanted to keep Kai company or that he enjoyed teasing the hell out of her.

No, it just was that Mei was too busy with Luhan and since it was the beginning of their relationship, they were always cooey and cuddly and Sehun would rather poke pins in his eyes than to mar his psyche with their intimate moments. He felt, really felt, for Kai who had to put up with Luhan like that.

'Why don't you push him away?' He asked Kai as they sipped cool drinks, waiting for Tiffany to show up.

'Believe me, I've tried.' Kai sighed, dragging a hand through his hair – which was standing on ends given the frequency of that gesture. It made him look deliciously messed up, something that was not at all helpful as far as his reputation was concerned. He did not want to be known as the god, whether Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Chen thought it was a great name or not. He'd rather have his dignity. 'But he's too damn strong.'

'That's tough.'

'It's not like he's doing it on purpose either.' Kai stared into his cup intensely. 'He just at shutting himself away.'

Sehun put a mental note to talk to Luhan about it anyway. Whether or not he was happy, it just didn't seem right that Kai had to suffer things like that. Then he straightened as Kai's demeanor suddenly changed, eyes hooding and that slight flush appearing on his cheeks.

'Dammit.' He growled low in his throat, turning his face away. His eyes flashed red and Sehun stood up. 'I'll be around.'

Nodding, not looking up, Kai shifted uncomfortably in his seat. 'A few minutes.'

'Sure.' Picking up the empty cups, Sehun threw them into the trashcan, then wandered around the shop. When he dropped back in his seat, Kai was almost back to normal. His cheeks were still flushed and his gaze still hooded but the flash of red was gone, meaning he was in control. 'Sorry about that.' He muttered.

'You know what, you should get a girlfriend.'

Kai started. 'Huh?'

'Yeah.' Sehun nodded, 'You can attack her whenever things get…'

Kai coughed but Sehun ignored him, thinking about his suggestion practically. He didn't pretend to understand what Kai was going through – he was still a cub and he had no idea about the whole mating business or just what the hell those physical needs were – but it might be easier for Kai if he had someone to attack whenever he got too… hot. If nothing else, people would stop suggesting ridiculous proposals because he was committed. He said as much.

'I… guess that makes sense.' Kai chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully. 'But… who?'

'Anyone but me.' Sehun snarked.

'It was an accident.' Kai defended himself, blushing. 'I thought you knew that.'

Kai had refused to face him for some time immediately after their kiss and Sehun had had to reassure him multiple times that he understood. But he enjoyed bugging Kai. 'So you say but that was my first kiss!'

Kai opened his mouth, unsure what to say to that. He seemed to have developed a penchant for stealing first kisses. Sehun laughed at his face. 'I'm joking!'

'Ya!' Kai hit his shoulder, then shook his head. 'But seriously… who?'

'Someone who can take all that se-'

Kai coughed loudly again, blushing. Sehun grinned unrepentantly and opened his mouth to say something even more preposterous but Tiffany showed up. 'Ugh!' Sehun immediately groaned dramatically. 'Someone swat the wasp!'

'Die.' Tiffany told him, slipping into the seat opposite Kai. Because Sehun, acting as their self-appointed chaperone wouldn't let them sit side by side – what if Kai lost control again?

'Ladies first.' Sehun smiled back.

'Dogs…' Tiffany began but Kai, anticipating how quickly their fight would escalate, grabbed her hand.

'Hey!' He smiled at her, liking how she blushed at the contact. Sehun glanced at their hands and his lips pursed but he tamped down the urge to snarl. It shouldn't matter to him what Kai and the wasp did. Nevertheless, he interrupted their moment because it was disgusting – or so he told himself.

Kai kept looking at her thoughtfully as they ate – and fought – and when she excused herself, heading to the ladies room, Sehun bumped his shoulder against his. 'You're thinking about the wasp, aren’t you?'

'You really need to stop calling her that.' Kai told him, then shook his head. 'I don't know. She's nice and I like her but…'

'But what? She obviously likes you too.' Sehun told him, ignoring that strange feeling that rose in his chest again. He had no interest in her. Kai bit his lip and would’ve said something else but she came back and Sehun got up. If Kai wanted to make a move, Sehun would rather not witness it.

Of course, he didn't need to witness anything to know what happened. Tiffany's bright smile and Kai's rather red face said it all and so, they officially began dating.

………………………

They say trouble always come in clusters. Well, the Legends could definitely attest to that.

Between shifting to new headquarters – one that had a separate room for all of them so that they could have more privacy, looking for a new place for Xiumin's shop, Kai running around with a severe case of chronic and Lay seemingly going through PMS – there didn't seem any other explanation for his sadness – they already had enough on their plates.

But that, apparently, wasn't enough because it turned out that D.O. was going through his first fever.

It didn't register for a long time.

At first they were too busy with moving and things were too hectic for any changes in his behavior to register properly.

Then, they passed it off as nothing unusual. He was naturally ill-tempered and hitting was just his way of showing he cared.

So if Baekhyun got one too many of his painful punishments and if Chanyeol was put into more headlocks than usual, if Chen woke too many days feeling a bit depressed because of his Shadow, they paid it no heed.  

When Luhan and Chanyeol found him tearing up over a tennis animation – big, fat teardrops rolling down his cheeks as he stared unblinkingly at the television screen – they thought it was only D.O being D.O.

He didn't say much and that wasn't unusual either and if, these days he was spending more time in his room or experimenting in the kitchen, well that was understandable too.

It wasn’t until he hit Kai for messing with him – Kai had been showing off his dance and had gotten a little too enthusiastic, nearly kicking him – that they realized that something was seriously wrong.

D.O never hit Kai.

Kai stared at him in shock and then hurt but before any of them could really react, D.O. stomped out of the room. Chen grabbed his shoulder with a loud, 'Hey, what the hell was that for?'

Because, sure, the cubs were naughty and sometimes, the elders landed a blow or two but that was always in good humor or for a good reason.

Not like that.

Only D.O. was pissed. And it took Chen a nanosecond to realize that his Shadow was not at all stable. He ducked to avoid the punch that would've burst his lip, then yelped as his knee landed on his stomach.

Damn his passion for wrestling! Chen thought as he was lifted, head down, and tried to brace himself for the impact when he smacked against the ground.

Breath still whooshed out of him, his back aching and chest hurting from the impact and who knew what else would've happened if Chanyeol hadn’t pulled him out of the way.

Like the beasts, D.O. hated having his prey taken away. With a wild snarl, he attacked Chanyeol and they rolled around the ground, grappling to get the upper hand. D.O. managed to pin him underneath in a choking hold.

Chanyeol clapped his hands over his, trying to pry them apart as his face turned red. One of his long legs swung around and he somehow managed to flip, D.O's head banging against the ground as Chanyeol put him in a choke hold.

'D.Oya!' Chanyeol leaned forward, 'snap out of it… argh!'

D.O's head- took him completely by surprise. He was used to wrestling with D.O. – given his penchant for messing with him deliberately, it wasn't a surprise that he was often the target of his more painful locks. But D.O always played fair and won by superior technique rather than strength.

Right now, however, he was too far gone for that and it wasn't long before Chanyeol was on the ground again, nose bleeding, his arm pulled back in another painful locks D.O growling and snarling, his red eyes flashing terrifyingly as he waited for the crack the would indicate the bone had broken.

The flash of Baekhyun's power blinded him but they all knew they were ed when instead of covering them up, disoriented, he stood up and glared instead. His red eyes watered profusely as he lifted his nose in the air and sniffed.

His head turned sharply, his unseeing gaze landing on Baekhyun accurately and he started stalking towards him. Completely creeped out, Baekhyun started backing off.

'Heh, it was just a joke…' he raised his hands in a peacemaking gesture, then squealed and jumped out of the way to escape his grasp. D.O was having none of it, though and he dived, tackling his legs and making him fall down. He loomed over Baekhyun's fallen figure; then, like the wrestlers he loved to watch, he fell hard on Baekhyun, his elbow pointed so that when it crashed, it made him loose his breath.

Baekhyun groaned loudly, the pain too much and didn't put much of a fight as D.O adjusted him for a knockout hit and had pulled his arm back, powering up, when a hand landed on his jugular and pressed.

Given that his strength was at least twice normal Legends on any given day – and who knew how many times that on the days he was pissed like now – it didn't have much of an effect. Except saving Baekhyun's face.

D.O glared at Kai who'd appeared behind him and would've attacked again if Lay hadn't strolled in, looking around casually as if it was the most natural thing to find his brothers lying around in a beat up pile. Given the number of times they messed around, maybe it was.

Thankfully, he was carrying the wig that D.O had stolen and he lifted it up in an inviting gesture. 'You want it?'

Since it was the only thing that contained even the faintest trace of his mate's scent, the beast inside him sat up in attention and prepared to launch itself at Lay. Only Lay threw it into his face, disorienting him, then buried his fingers in his hair and let out a burst of energy that left him dizzy.

D.O's red eyes blinked slowly, his teeth baring in a halfhearted growl that turned into a yawn and he sat down, putting his head between his knees. Lay patted his shoulder, then nodded at Chanyeol who'd been hovering worriedly over Baekhyun, checking him for injuries.

Nodding back, Chanyeol swung him up into his arms and carried him out like a sleepy baby clutching at the wig like a favorite toy. Lay leaned next to Baekhyun, worry evident on his face and he stretched out his hands to heal him.

Baekhyun cracked his eyes open and groaned. Chen slipped next to him, helping him up. 'Geez, what's the point in your learning hapkido if you don't fight?'

'I'm a prankster, not a fighter.' Baekhyun countered. Chen shook his head, then started as Lay's hand s around his neck, pulling him in to plant a kiss on his cheek, filling him with a soothing warmth. He stared in some shock, then a huge grin broke out on his face.

'Haha, I know I'm good but please control yourself.'

Lay smiled and patted his back. 'You're okay.'

'I know that.' Chen raised a brow. 'Are you okay?'

Lay shrugged, looking about as happy as he did these days – which wasn't much, then got up and started helping Chanyeol and Kai who'd gotten injured as well.

Chen stared after him for a while, a frown marring his features. Lay had been like that ever since he'd told him to be careful – random hugs, pats on the back, kisses, all of them loaded with hefty doses of healing power were getting sort of routine for him and D.O. He figured whatever Lay had seen worried him and this was his way of helping them out – maybe that was the only thing that could be done in this situation.

He shrugged it off. He didn't believe in worrying overmuch about things that could happen – in his eyes, foreknowledge wasn't as much of a gift as a trial. After all, didn't it make one feel more pressured about doing something even when there was nothing to be done? He was glad he didn't have this power to foresee because he would probably go crazy in a day.

Come to think of it, maybe that would explain why Lay was so… out of it at times. Or, his mind spoke up snidely, he could've simply landed on his head when he was a baby…

Hmm, that was true as well.

Grinning at his strange line of thought, he helped Baekhyun stand up then took out his cellphone and dialed, hoping he'd interrupt Suho at some really awesome moment just because. After all, the leader needed to be updated about another addition to the crazy line.

……………………….

With all the vicissitudes in their lives, even including D.O's first fever, the greatest change was seen in Kris.

The first time Suho saw him smiling, he thought he must be high on the kisses Angel had given him before they'd parted. They were intoxicating, after all, and he often felt like he was floating in the air for some time afterwards. So he blinked and rubbed his eyes to stare at the guy in front of him and passed it off as a weird hallucination.

That was just the beginning though and as the days went by, it became more and more apparent that Kris was on his way back to normal.

He went to shop with Tao when he whined too much and ended up buying too many things because he couldn't say no to the cub.

When Chanyeol found that out, he insisted that he go shopping with him as well because they were Shadows and he deserved his company more than Tao. Of course, since Chanyeol was planning the event, it ended up being a full scale party because he invited everyone and they didn't come back until late at night, stuffed full of street food and loaded with bags of who knew what from wherever they'd gone.

Sehun had to make sure the rumors about his recovery were true, so he sneaked up on him and patted his shoulder, poking his finger into his cheek when Kris turned. Kris blinked, looked him up and down and they wondered how he would react but then, his face broke out into a smile at the cub's antics.

And that was that. Kris was about as normal as he'd ever been. Sure, they saw him wince him every now and then when the topic of mating was brought up, usually by Suho or Luhan… and once by Chen who'd been worried about D.O., and they asked him for guidance. But other than that, he was alright.   

Tao was perhaps the happiest because he literally worshipped the ground Kris walked on and they had been the closest. And while the others had been able to understand what Kris was going through, to Tao, who was still a cub, it had felt like an abandonment.

But now, he was definitely on the track to recovery and it was a relief to know that there was a way back, even for someone like him. Seeing him come back to life was a ray of sunshine for Kai as well – if Kris could bounce back after losing his mate like that, so could he.   

………………………