Of Ascendance and Ardor - Episode One
Of Ascendance and Ardor
Episode One
From the Of Flesh, Fur, and Fang Universe
The knock was soft, quiet enough that his knuckles barely skimmed the surface of the door before dropping back to his side. He tried to school his face into an expression of calm he didn’t feel, as if he hadn’t just knocked on the door, the only thing separating him from a highly dangerous predator that did not like to be disturbed. Even less so when there was a guest in the large office, this particular guest tended to make him less likely to desire interruptions than most. All of that aside, the man knew he would likely lose his job, if not his life if he didn’t interrupt with this, so he knocked, and tried to feel like he wasn’t risking everything by doing so.
“Enter,” the word sounded bland, bored even, but that meant little about the state of the creature within. The man knew that this particular creature could be smiling serenely, just before he tore a person’s head off.
Since stalling, and therefore wasting the time of the one within, was largely frowned upon, he mustered his courage and turned the handle of the door, swinging it inward. Within the large office was a man, seated behind a massive desk, his attention focused on the paper in his hands. He was clean cut, the sort of man that could command respect from looks alone and made people wonder what government body he was a part of, all while they contemplated how to escape his notice. He looked young, too young to be the CEO of a large chain of companies, but the mantle of power had always suited him, or so the females frequently twittered in the break room.
He looked like the sort of man who got what he wanted without really ever lifting a finger of his own, and enjoyed every moment of it. The sort of man who could promise a person pain and bring their world to ruin while making them suffer it all and more. The sort of man who was dangerous, for more reasons than the human mind could fully wrap around. The sort of man who sent the instinctual part of the human mind curling in on itself in terror. The sort of man who could, if he wanted, look completely harmless while covered in blood.
Yet he was, by far, the least frightening thing in the room. Perched on the arm of a rather wide and expensive sofa, sat a second man with one leg dangling towards the floor, the other folded beneath him as if he was ready to spring. Where the first man had been crisp and polished, this one looked like a teenager in the midst of a rebellion. His hair was long, only on one side, and dyed blond half of the way down. It hung, against half of his face, giving the appearance that he was peering from behind a curtain at the intruder.
His clothing was devoid of color, a white suit, the dress wear demanded by the man who owned the office, but he had added a bandana, white with black designs, that made the man appear ultimately less as a businessman and more like someone holding a prominent place in the mafia. The ensemble was completed by an utter lack of anything upon his feet, odd for anywhere in the work place.
It was, however, the eyes that were to most frightening. They were warm honey-brown in color, but with pupils that tended to be longer and narrower than a normal human’s. Dark liner made them stand out in sharp relief to the rest of him and the lids were lowered into a lazy yet frightening, predatory gaze. If the man had possessed a feline tail at the moment, it would most certainly be flicking in the excited way that cats got before they pounced.
“I assume you have a good reason for interrupting,” the man behind the desk said, drawing his eyes from the golden stare.
“I-I yes,” he stuttered, studying his shoes in favor of risking another glance anywhere. “There was a call sir. He didn’t stay on the line long enough for me to put him through to you. He said he didn’t care if you wanted to talk to him or not. He said he has something that you may want, something that was dangerous and that he would destroy if it wasn’t picked up within the day. I forwarded his address and the details to your e-mail sir.”
There was silence for a moment then a dismissive, “I’ll look into it.”
Quickly, before anyone’s mind could change, he bowed deeply and backed out the door, closing it softly behind him. Only when the wood was between them, a barrier of safety as thin as it may be, did he release the breath he had mostly been holding and let the tremor of fear shake through his body.
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With a frown, Seunghyun decided that the report in his hand was something that, although urgent, could be handled better by one of his subordinates with better people skills than he and he placed the paper in a file to be delivered elsewhere. Once that was sorted out in his mind, there was nothing to distract him as his settled his hand on the mouse belonging to his computer and clicked open his e-mail program. There, as promised, was a detailed e-mail from his secretary with everything the man had been able to gather.
The young man who worked for him was human, but smart, much smarter than most. So much so that he had never really had to give the young man any specific instructions on what he wanted, the young man had simply found out on his own. Perhaps, he thought idly as he read over the list of details that a normal secretary wouldn’t have thought to gather, he should make it a point to give the man a raise. It would be a shame to lose his skills in the office to something as common as fear.
Which lead him directly to another point that needed to be dealt with. “Ji-yong,” he said mildly, not looking away from his screen, “I would appreciate if you wouldn’t try to terrify the hired help. Good workers are hard to come by.”
“I wasn’t going to do anything. I was only playing,” he could hear the lightness in the man’s voice and the truth of it.
“All the same. If he quits over this, you will be responsible for replacing him with another just as good as he.” It wasn’t that he couldn’t order the other to stop intimidating his employs like they were mice, he simply hated to give this particular man orders.
Ji-yong, like most men with any sort of power, didn’t take orders well, but more than that he was an exquisite creature who shouldn’t take orders from any. He knew that as well as his Beast did, and there was no point in unsettling the man or worse just to protect a human, especially when Ji-yong wasn’t in the frame of mind to hurt anyone, at least in the near future.
“So what is it?” the curious voice came from just over his shoulder, the man having moved with a catlike silence that even he couldn’t perceive.
“From the sound of it,” he responded mildly, as if it didn’t bother him in the least that another predator could sneak up on him, “this man has a werewolf chained in his basement.” His words, he knew, had struck a chord as fingers curled into the muscle of his shoulder.
“You are going to get him,” the statement was close enough to an order that he growled.
“I will go get him, yes, but I don’t know if you will be in attendance,” swiftly he rose and dislodged the man’s hand from his shoulder. He turned slowly, not wanting the man to think that he had upset him when he hadn’t, not really.
“Seunghyun,” Ji-yong purred, fitting his body against the other man. “It’s so sexy when you get commanding like this.”
His eyes narrowed as he pondered the creature before him. The attraction between them was real, he knew that as well as he knew how to breathe, he could feel it through the bond they shared as mates, but there was more to it than that. Their Beasts were well and truly mated, but for Ji-yong who was peering up at him through heavy lashes, sex wasn’t about love or even lust, it was all about control and for now, he could grant the man that much.
“I’m glad you enjoy it,” he growled, letting his voice deepen, and the desire of his Beast show in his eyes. “But I can’t have you around an unknown wolf; you’re not stable enough right now.”
“Excellent,” Ji-yong purred, rubbing his body sensually against Seunghyun’s. “Then I’ll just go home and give Youngbae a nice long fuck. It has been quite a while.”
He couldn’t stop the snarl if he had wanted to, and he hauled Ji-yong tighter to his body and lifted him, laying a forceful claim to his mouth. Moaning, Ji-yong melted into him and as their tongues tangled, they both knew exactly who had won the argument.
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He hadn’t expected the man to give in so easily, especially not when he had reacted instinctively and ordered him to go and save what was likely a trapped wolf. Yet Ji-yong had surprised them both when he had tried the only thing he could think of, and threatened to sleep with his old mate when the other wouldn’t be around to stop him. He wouldn’t actually do it, or at least he didn’t think he would. Even he had hated the person he had become, and the creature he had forced Youngbae to become when they were together. Never again could he go there, at least not until he was entirely sane again, no matter how much his heart longed for his first love.
It was his surprise at being allowed to tag along that had allowed him to meekly submit to the addition of shoes and the subtraction of the bandana from his neck. The small changes, things he wouldn’t have normally agreed to, must have satisfied Seunghyun, because the Alpha seemed calm as he navigated their car through the late evening traffic. He studied the man as they drove with his hand possessively high on the Alpha’s leg.
The touch came from a need so tied to his Beast that he couldn’t resist it, a possessive need to claim what was theirs no matter how much his human side tried to deny that claim. It wasn’t that he wasn’t attracted to the man. Seunghyun, simply with the way he carried himself, would make even a straight man appreciate his looks if, of course, they could get past the need to run screaming first. There was no lack of attraction between them and Ji-yong wouldn’t lie to himself and deny that he was drawn to the dark mysteries about the man, the kiss reddened lips, or the way the marks from his teeth stood out on the column of his neck, the last remainders of the quick claiming in his office not even an hour ago. The mark would be gone by the time they reached their destination, healed fully, but it made the Beast within him rumble with pleasure that it was there.
He was attracted certainly, but he didn’t love the man, could never love a man like the one that sat beside him. With all that had happened he counted himself lucky that he could tolerate being near him at all. Sex was one thing, and came as easily to him as breathing, but love was another. He would never hold that for this man.
“Ji-yong?” Seunghyun’s voice cut through his thoughts, an inquiry as to what was running through his mind, undoubtedly.
“It’s nothing,” he muttered, turning his head to stare out the window at the city. He loosened his fingers that had involuntarily tightened with his thoughts. A part of him longed to pull his hand from the man entirely, to hurt the Alpha with his withdrawal, but his hand wouldn’t budge no matter how much he wanted it to. There was a bitter taste in his mouth as he watched the people move outside the window. Submission was never an easy pill to swallow, especially not when it went down with a combination of lust, desire, and hatred.
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He hadn’t the slightest idea what was upsetting the man beside him now. With Ji-yong it could be any number of things or something that no one else could even see. Judging by the calm contentment of his Beast, it was nothing of the supernatural side of Ji-yong that was bothered, but his human, which was infinitely worse. In the past thirteen years he had found any number of ways to deal with the unique creature beside him when he had one of his Episodes. If all else failed he could always draw on his Beast to order the man into submission, but this was something he had never figured out how to deal with.
Since he never knew what to say, he typically resorted to saying nothing. That at least seemed to work to a point, since Ji-yong never wanted to talk about it anyway and he could put it out of his mind for more pressing things. Theirs was not a bond of love that needed smoothing over to make it function properly.
He parked the car in the paved drive of a small suburban house and cut the engine. The house seemed unremarkable from those around it, but that was typically the best way to hide amongst the humans, at least for those on their own. “Ji-yong,” he said softly, intending to remind the man what was and wasn’t acceptable for normal interactions.
“I know,” the man said dryly, pulling his hand from Seunghyun’s leg to unlatch his seat belt. “Don’t talk, stay behind you, and don’t make anyone do anything crazy. Oh, and no humping the furniture.”
The tone of the man’s voice sounded hurt and that bothered Seunghyun more than he had thought it would. “Ji-yong,” he said softly, grabbing the man’s shoulder. “You are not a pet that is coming out with me on a leash.”
“I know that,” Ji-yong growled, shrugging his shoulder free and opening his door. “Let’s go.”
Strangely enough, the fact that he had seemingly hurt the man he called mate, unsettled him more than he thought it would. It was something that hadn’t really happened to him before, but then Ji-yong typically wasn’t sane enough to react like a normal person would. That he had been so lately was making things difficult or something along those lines.
As he climbed out of his car and shut the door, he pushed that down and away for further thought at a later time. There was something that he needed to deal with now, their relationship could be dealt with later, preferably in the safety of their home where it didn’t matter how many things Ji-yong threw when he started yelling.
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“I know I should have put a bullet in him when he was changed three months ago,” the man told them sadly as he led them through his house and down the stairs. “I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. He is my son and I’m not a killer.” Seunghyun could have argued that point since the entire house smelled of death and something dark, but he didn’t press.
“He is his mother’s son in so many ways but he refuses to ‘dirty his hands’ as he calls it. If he only had then he would have been safe the night it happened and he wouldn’t be stuck like this. I figure if anyone can do anything, it’s you and if you can’t, well then I suspect you can do what needs to be done,” the man opened a door to a room in the corner of the basement and stepped aside for them to enter.
The room was empty of all furnishings and had clearly once been a bedroom of some sort before the drywall along one wall had been stripped away to reach the concrete behind it. Chains had been fastened to the wall, secured there and hung loosely to the cuffs that were fastened around the young man’s wrists. Blood oozed sluggishly from beneath them, as if he had been struggling, but he likely would bleed even if he hadn’t been. The cuffs and the chains that bound them, were pure silver, Seunghyun could smell them from his spot across the room.
“I brought someone that could help you,” the man said softly, approaching the chained young man. For a moment the young man simply stood, head bowed, his chest barely rising and falling in breath. The man, assumedly father to the one chained, took another step forward and the young man exploded. Snarling like an animal, he lunged for his father, jerking hard as the chains restrained him and dragged him back in recoil from the force of it. The man stumbled backwards a few paces as his son stretched for him, producing the noises of an angry animal. “He wasn’t like this, this morning,” the man informed him.
“No, I assume not,” Seunghyun agreed. At the sound of his voice the young man turned his attention to them, the new intruders in the room. Glowing golden eyes stared at him in defiance and clear challenge, as the young wolf struggled against his bonds to reach them.
“I asked the local Alpha to have a look and he nearly killed him. Said he couldn’t take a wolf this dominate and out of control into his pack and suggested I call you,” the man admitted. “I could take care of it myself, but if his mother found out, well it wouldn’t end well for anyone involved.”
“I see,” Seunghyun said softly studying the young wolf in front of him. His Beast was restless and wanted to answer the clear challenge of the upstart pup. They would tolerate no challenge to their dominance and one as blatant as the young wolf’s was enough to extract a swift and deadly response. Yet there was something strange about it, something that felt off, not exactly right and that gave him enough of a pause that he could force his Beast to wait while he figured out what it was. It wouldn’t last long, however, before his Beast lost patience with the pup and forced the situation. If he didn’t think quickly this might end with an unnecessary death.
He was so deep in thought as he tried to puzzle out the wrongness of the one in front of him, that he nearly forgot Ji-yong standing behind him. The moment he heard the sound of whistling, and the unmistakable feeling of his Beast settling, he knew what Ji-yong was doing. Normally he would have resisted, commanded Ji-yong to stop or forced the issue if he needed to, but perhaps this would buy him some time to figure the situation out without his Beast demanding blood.
Used to the effects of his Quieter at work, since Ji-yong had tried this on him a time or two, his Beast relaxed in his mind, but not enough to sleep. It was easier to resist the song with it being directed at something other than himself, but the young man in front of him had no such protection. The gold in the young man’s eyes faded along with the tension in his body until he simply collapsed to his knees. What had once been a raging Beast, now sat a quiet man covered in the scent of magic.
“No, that was supposed to work. He was supposed to kill me. They said he wouldn’t be able to resist. That was supposed to force him. They said it wouldn’t matter,” the young man was muttering to himself as he looked down at his bloody hands. He continued to mutter, phrases much like the ones that he had first stated. As Ji-yong’s song faded, and Seunghyun studied the young man, he realized what it was that he had been missing. The young man sitting on the floor before him was unmistakably a witch, but more than that he was something that never should have been able to pull forth that dominating rage from the Alpha, a completely submissive wolf.
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“What is your name?” Ji-yong asked, delicately dabbing at the wounds on the man’s wrists as Seunghyun kept an eye on them through the review mirror.
“Does it matter?” the young man asked tiredly. “Hopefully I won’t be around long enough for it to make a difference.”
“That eager to die, are you?” Ji-yong asked with a grin that brought a frown to Seunghyun’s face. There had been a seven month period about three years ago during which Ji-yong had turned suicidal with varying degrees of creativity. He never wanted to return to that again and if this young wolf was going to take them there, he would gladly break his neck right now.
“I’m dangerous,” the young man admitted softly as if saying it would make a difference. “The creature inside me is dangerous.”
Ji-yong snorted, “Hardly half as dangerous as the one up there,” he jerked his thumb in the direction of Seunghyun, “Not a puppy, sure, and still something that can kill, but you won’t kill the waiter for looking at you funny.” Seunghyun frowned. That had only happened one time, when their mate bond was new, and Ji-yong, in all of his Quieter ways, had been the cause of it anyway. Seunghyun had figured out what was occurring moments before tearing out the waiter’s throat and had refused to take Ji-yong out anywhere if he seemed remotely close to an Episode.
“With what I am now and my magic, I’m too dangerous,” the man countered.
Ji-yong shrugged. “I was born that way, and I’m doing all right,” as long as no one looked into his past beyond the past ten years or so, fifteen if they were looking for actual deaths.
“It doesn’t matter,” the young man countered. “I will hurt someone. You should just kill me now and get it over with. I knew my dad couldn’t do it, but they said that T.O.P. would do it just for me challenging him.” The young man glanced at him through the mirror and dropped his eyes quickly. The look didn’t bother Seunghyun since he had already made the wolf his through flesh and blood and there was no possible way for him to resist the orders of his Alpha now, but it did pose an interesting point.
“He probably would have,” Ji-yong agreed, glaring at him, “he’s an ass like that, but no one is going to kill you now. You are part of a pack and sometimes being what we are isn’t all that bad.”
“No,” the man opposed. “I am a danger to the pack, you can’t take me to them. Who knows what I could do to them without meaning to.”
Seunghyun, having heard enough of the circular argument, decided to voice his opinion at last. “You are a white witch. At best you could make my people look at each other cross eyed for a while. You don’t have any power at your call without a coven and certainly nothing of the raw power a black witch would have. You have your Gift and little else. At best you will be a mosquito to my people, but if it will make you feel better I give you my word that if you hurt a soul under my protection, I will kill you.”
“Okay,” the young man sounded relieved by the promise. “Daesung. My name is Daesung.”
“Well, Daesung,” Ji-yong said lightly as he tied off the bandages on the man’s wrists, “welcome to our dysfunctional family. You will fit right in here.” His hand settled protectively on the back of the young man’s neck. His eyes met Seunghyun’s in the mirror and his gaze was possessively hot, daring Seunghyun to do something, anything about it. Wisely, he said nothing.
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“You called for me,” the other werewolf asked, knocking lightly on the open door as he entered.
Tiredly, Seunghyun pinched the bridge of his nose as his Beast bristled at even that small show of weakness. “Yes,” he waved the younger wolf into his home and gestured for him to shut the door once inside.
“Is something the matter?” the wolf asked him, hesitation evident in his voice. They weren’t the best of friends by any means, in fact this werewolf had more reasons than not to hate his Alpha, yet somehow the man seemed to look beyond all of that and still somewhat care. Seunghyun wasn’t foolish enough to think that he had been forgiven for the past, no matter how necessary it had been, but after the day he had been having he wasn’t about to look this small gift in the face.
“I picked up a new wolf this morning,” Seunghyun replied, dropping his hand from his face. “Ji-yong seems quite smitten with him.”
“Ji-yong isn’t my problem,” the man said with more sharpness then he likely meant.
“I didn’t say he was, Youngbae,” Seunghyun countered, his eyes flashing in warning. Immediately the other werewolf dropped his gaze, his posture subtly shifting to one of submission. “What I called you here for is to assign you as the new wolf’s mentor.”
“Sir if I might,” the young man said softly.
“No you may not,” Seunghyun replied, cutting off his protests. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the worsening of your longing lately. You crave something to care for,” although his tone was scolding it was not without care. “This new wolf is submissive; he will be good for you and your Beast. He also seems to have been a witch before he was changed. I do not know how much of that remains, but you will able to reassure him that he isn’t the first with witch blood you are to care for.”
“For how long?” Youngbae asked, his tone held a bit of interest that made Seunghyun relax fractionally. He would have ordered the young man to do as he willed but that likely would have made the entire situation uncomfortable for all parties involved.
“Six months is the minimum for a new wolf to be mentored by another in my pack. At the end of that time, if his progress is satisfactory, he may obtain his own house in the village and live on his own.”
“If not?” The question seemed full of genuine curiosity, although it was likely that the man already knew the answer.
“Then the new wolf may need to stay with me for a while, or there may be nothing we can do for him, in which case he will be taken care of.” It was harsh, Seunghyun knew, the implications of what would happen, but it was something that simply existed as truth in their world. They couldn’t have a rouge werewolf that was dangerous, or more so than normal, wandering out in the general public. Tight control of their own was the only thing that had kept them from discovery and the inevitable extermination that the humans would perform on them if they found out, and he had no intentions of changing that in the near future.
“Like Ji-yong,” Youngbae said very softly.
“Yes,” Seunghyun agreed, neither of them saying that there may still come a day where he could no longer control the Quieter and would be forced to do something more permanent, like snap his neck.
“I’ll mentor him,” Youngbae agreed finally, looking moments away from being miserable. Seunghyun almost pitied the other wolf. It hadn’t been easy for him living in a pack like this one, especially this close to Ji-yong, but he had never been able to bring himself to leave.
“Let’s go introduce you,” Seunghyun agreed, turning from the entryway and walking further into his home. The sooner he could introduce them and send the new wolf on his way, the sooner he could deal with Ji-yong and whatever had happened this afternoon. As eager as he was to get rid of the intruders in his home, he wasn’t certain he was ready to face his mate, but then again, he felt that he may never be.
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His Alpha led him through his home, deeper through the massive mansion-like structure to rooms he had never been in before. There was tension in the lines of his Alpha’s body and he knew if the man was letting that much show then something must have upset him greatly at some point throughout the day.
He doubted it was the newest addition to their pack, although that could easily have an effect on an Alpha, but this particular werewolf was well accustomed to the things that came with what he was. He had seen his Alpha deliver justice where it was needed without flinching or showing the slightest emotion, and he doubted that one little submissive wolf would be able to pull it forth from him. If it wasn’t the new wolf then it left only one person that it could be, Ji-yong who seemed to ruffle even the most stone cold of men.
After thirteen years of being mated he had thought that Seunghyun would be entirely unaffected by the Quieter by this point, but clearly that wasn’t the case. That Ji-yong could still get under his skin likely thrilled the Quieter to no end, but could be a potential danger to everyone involved. Ji-yong had a way of twisting and corrupting what was without really meaning to. He had personally seen the Quieter bring entire packs to ruin and had been twisted himself into a creature that he was not. A prudent Alpha would have destroyed the Quieter the moment he had appeared, but Seunghyun hadn’t and still refused to do so. Youngbae had no idea if it was love that stilled his hand or some sort of magic from the Quieter himself.
Seunghyun paused in front of a room from which music flowed and opened the door. Immediately the Beast within Youngbae sighed and curled up in slumber. Even if he hadn’t seen who was seated behind the piano, he would have known from the flow of peace alone. That it was pure, calming peace that he was receiving from the Quieter and little more, was a wonder that made him freeze in the doorway.
“Daesung,” Seunghyun called, and a young man that he didn’t recognize rose from the bench beside the Quieter. “This is Youngbae,” Seunghyun introduced him, gesturing him closer. The new wolf bowed deeply and he tried to tear his eyes from Ji-yong to study the young man.
He looked young, younger then he by far, and innocent in what seemed like most of the ways of life. Although he seemed shy, he looked curious enough that Youngbae may have found it sweet or even cute if his attention wasn’t drawn right back to the true force in the room.
“He’s had experience dealing with those with magic,” he registered Seunghyun telling the young wolf. “He will teach you everything you need to know about being a part of a pack and when he is finished, if you still think you are dangerous and want to die, then we will talk.” The Alpha was still talking to the younger wolf, he knew, but he could feel Seunghyun’s eyes on him. It wouldn’t have mattered to him if the Alpha had shot him right then and there, because Ji-yong had lifted his eyes and caught his gaze. A moment later the Quieter opened his mouth and began to sing, bringing with the words a wave of sorrow and love so deep that it made him gasp.
Again tonight, underneath that blue moonlight
I will probably fall asleep alone
Even in my dreams, I look for you
And wander around while singing this song.
I’m singing my blues.
Used to the blue tears, blue sorrow
I’m singing my blues
The love that I have sent away with the floating clouds, oh oh
As soon as it had begun, the singing ceased, but the fingers dancing over the keys didn’t. Subtly the music changed, as did the emotion following through him. Sorrow drained away, leaving only the love behind tainted with something dark, followed by desire that began to pulse, hot and deep in him, drawing him to the honey warm eyes that wouldn’t leave his gaze. It was foolishness he knew, and exactly why he had allowed his Alpha to do what he had. Ji-yong had the power to do what no other could, make him feel things that he thought had been long buried.
The Quieter had a habit of doing it during one of his Episodes, trying to exert control in the only way he had learned worked, through his abilities and sex. It was when the other man was the most dangerous, if only because his Beast was so unpredictable. That fact made this all the more frightening, because he could tell by the clarity in the Quieter’s eyes that he was fully in his right mind.
“Youngbae, Daesung, leave!” the command was sharp and came directly from his Alpha with a wash of power that had him turning before he fully comprehended being ordered. He was half way down the hall before he could breathe again, and, fully in control of himself once more, he moved through the house and away from those eyes as quickly as his feet could carry him.
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“Ji-yong,” Seunghyun growled, directing his attention at the Quieter still seated on the bench of the piano. His Beast demanded that they stake their claim, show their mate just who he belonged to.
The Quieter turned to look at him and a smirk twisted the corners of his mouth, “Sleep,” he murmured, putting the power that was uniquely his to command behind the single word. For a split moment his Beast was gone, banished into slumber by the command but between one breath and the next he awoke again, angrier than he had been.
“No!” he snarled, darting across the room with speed greater than most of his kind. He tore Ji-yong from the piano bench and slammed the unresisting man into the wall by his hold on his throat. “You do not command us,” he growled, the Beast overlaying every part of his being.
Ji-yong looked at him through half-lidded eyes, a satisfied smile on his face. He knew exactly what he had done, and was taking pleasure in seeing the results of it. That realization only pushed his Beast further to the forefront until Seunghyun was more creature than man. Fabric tore beneath his pull as he forced Ji-yong’s limbs where he wanted them and removed the barriers between their bodies.
“So it is to be like that then?” the Quieter purred. “You would rape me to prove your dominance?”
The Beast didn’t care about the words or the implications, but Seunghyun did and he fought for a measure of control as he hadn’t had to do since he was first changed. “This isn’t rape. You want this. You pulled the desire out of us. You can’t give something you don’t have,” he snarled, barely coherent in his speech.
“So I can’t,” the Quieter agreed and then released a sound between a whine and a moan as Seunghyun claimed what was theirs.
Their clothing didn’t survive the encounter that lasted only a few moments and seemed to be more of the rutting of two beasts despite the fact that they were, in appearance, men. Only when he had spent himself within his mate did his Beast consent to give him back control. Panting and covered with sweat he wrapped a hand firmly around Ji-yong’s throat. He was glad that the man’s eyes were still closed in pleasure, his head tipped back making it even easier to grab there. If he had to stare into those eyes while he did what needed to be done, he wasn’t certain even he could do it.
It wasn’t until he heard the quiet whisper of, “Do it, please,” that he realized he had been waiting, poised, for something else to move his hand and do what needed to be done. Perhaps it was the smallness of the voice, such a far cry from the one that he had heard not five minutes ago that stilled his hand.
“I can’t,” he whispered, admitting what he already knew.
“You must,” Ji-yong pleaded, opening his eyes and staring at his Alpha. Tears lined the edges and made him look like little more than a child. “Please, Seunghyun.” Never before had the Quieter begged for death like this. He had tried to barter and coerce to get his way, but he had never cried and pleaded in a way that made him seem so fragile, so innocent. There wasn’t a chance that he could have done what he needed to now, not with every instinct screaming for him to soothe the hurt and right whatever had been done to hurt their mate.
“Ji-yong,” he purred, lifting his hand from the smooth skin of his neck and brushing away a tear with his thumb.
“I’ll destroy everything you have built,” the young man whispered, the words were so far from a threat that they were chilling.
“Then I’ll have to kill us both before you do that,” Seunghyun countered. Ji-yong hiccupped, a strange sound of sorrow and tears began to run in earnest down his face. Cradling his body in his arms, Seunghyun slid from within him and carefully pulled him away from the wall. He had never been good with tears, less so with a creature whose very being demanded that he stop the tears, leaving him both wanting to cradle the man close and hunt down and kill whatever it was to make the tears stop.
“I’m losing it,” Ji-yong whispered, hiccupping as Seunghyun carried him through the house to their room.
“No,” he murmured gently. “I think you are finally beginning to find whatever it is that you have been missing.” Tenderly he placed the still crying man on their bed and crawled on after him, pulling him close and wrapping them in a blanket. “You are safe here,” he rumbled, his instincts demanding that he reassure the man.
There was a long pause of silence before Ji-yong murmured, “I’m sorry I don’t love you,” as if he, for the first time, felt truly apologetic for it.
Seunghyun wasn’t certain how to answer that so he settled on, “You can’t help who you love, and I have a long time to make you at least enjoy being with me.”
“Seunghyun,” the young man began shifting restlessly.
“Shh,” he silenced Ji-yong and tugged the Quieter impossibly closer. “Sleep now.” It was a testament to the Quieter’s strange state of mind that he did so without as much as another comment.
AN: Well needless to say this was inspired by Big Bang's Fantastic Baby MV. It really was something that I watched and said... "dang that looks like it is almost straight from my Flesh, Fur, and Fang universe!" I mean really did anyone else see Seungri in that and thing Vampire Master? I certainly did. Anyway I'm certain you noticed that this says Episode one. I will be doing little snippets on these characters every now and again when inspiration strikes. I don't promise to write another thing using them (although I'm fairly certain it will happen) but even if I do I have no idea when it will be. I hope you enjoyed this!
Episode One
From the Of Flesh, Fur, and Fang Universe
The knock was soft, quiet enough that his knuckles barely skimmed the surface of the door before dropping back to his side. He tried to school his face into an expression of calm he didn’t feel, as if he hadn’t just knocked on the door, the only thing separating him from a highly dangerous predator that did not like to be disturbed. Even less so when there was a guest in the large office, this particular guest tended to make him less likely to desire interruptions than most. All of that aside, the man knew he would likely lose his job, if not his life if he didn’t interrupt with this, so he knocked, and tried to feel like he wasn’t risking everything by doing so.
“Enter,” the word sounded bland, bored even, but that meant little about the state of the creature within. The man knew that this particular creature could be smiling serenely, just before he tore a person’s head off.
Since stalling, and therefore wasting the time of the one within, was largely frowned upon, he mustered his courage and turned the handle of the door, swinging it inward. Within the large office was a man, seated behind a massive desk, his attention focused on the paper in his hands. He was clean cut, the sort of man that could command respect from looks alone and made people wonder what government body he was a part of, all while they contemplated how to escape his notice. He looked young, too young to be the CEO of a large chain of companies, but the mantle of power had always suited him, or so the females frequently twittered in the break room.
He looked like the sort of man who got what he wanted without really ever lifting a finger of his own, and enjoyed every moment of it. The sort of man who could promise a person pain and bring their world to ruin while making them suffer it all and more. The sort of man who was dangerous, for more reasons than the human mind could fully wrap around. The sort of man who sent the instinctual part of the human mind curling in on itself in terror. The sort of man who could, if he wanted, look completely harmless while covered in blood.
Yet he was, by far, the least frightening thing in the room. Perched on the arm of a rather wide and expensive sofa, sat a second man with one leg dangling towards the floor, the other folded beneath him as if he was ready to spring. Where the first man had been crisp and polished, this one looked like a teenager in the midst of a rebellion. His hair was long, only on one side, and dyed blond half of the way down. It hung, against half of his face, giving the appearance that he was peering from behind a curtain at the intruder.
His clothing was devoid of color, a white suit, the dress wear demanded by the man who owned the office, but he had added a bandana, white with black designs, that made the man appear ultimately less as a businessman and more like someone holding a prominent place in the mafia. The ensemble was completed by an utter lack of anything upon his feet, odd for anywhere in the work place.
It was, however, the eyes that were to most frightening. They were warm honey-brown in color, but with pupils that tended to be longer and narrower than a normal human’s. Dark liner made them stand out in sharp relief to the rest of him and the lids were lowered into a lazy yet frightening, predatory gaze. If the man had possessed a feline tail at the moment, it would most certainly be flicking in the excited way that cats got before they pounced.
“I assume you have a good reason for interrupting,” the man behind the desk said, drawing his eyes from the golden stare.
“I-I yes,” he stuttered, studying his shoes in favor of risking another glance anywhere. “There was a call sir. He didn’t stay on the line long enough for me to put him through to you. He said he didn’t care if you wanted to talk to him or not. He said he has something that you may want, something that was dangerous and that he would destroy if it wasn’t picked up within the day. I forwarded his address and the details to your e-mail sir.”
There was silence for a moment then a dismissive, “I’ll look into it.”
Quickly, before anyone’s mind could change, he bowed deeply and backed out the door, closing it softly behind him. Only when the wood was between them, a barrier of safety as thin as it may be, did he release the breath he had mostly been holding and let the tremor of fear shake through his body.
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With a frown, Seunghyun decided that the report in his hand was something that, although urgent, could be handled better by one of his subordinates with better people skills than he and he placed the paper in a file to be delivered elsewhere. Once that was sorted out in his mind, there was nothing to distract him as his settled his hand on the mouse belonging to his computer and clicked open his e-mail program. There, as promised, was a detailed e-mail from his secretary with everything the man had been able to gather.
The young man who worked for him was human, but smart, much smarter than most. So much so that he had never really had to give the young man any specific instructions on what he wanted, the young man had simply found out on his own. Perhaps, he thought idly as he read over the list of details that a normal secretary wouldn’t have thought to gather, he should make it a point to give the man a raise. It would be a shame to lose his skills in the office to something as common as fear.
Which lead him directly to another point that needed to be dealt with. “Ji-yong,” he said mildly, not looking away from his screen, “I would appreciate if you wouldn’t try to terrify the hired help. Good workers are hard to come by.”
“I wasn’t going to do anything. I was only playing,” he could hear the lightness in the man’s voice and the truth of it.
“All the same. If he quits over this, you will be responsible for replacing him with another just as good as he.” It wasn’t that he couldn’t order the other to stop intimidating his employs like they were mice, he simply hated to give this particular man orders.
Ji-yong, like most men with any sort of power, didn’t take orders well, but more than that he was an exquisite creature who shouldn’t take orders from any. He knew that as well as his Beast did, and there was no point in unsettling the man or worse just to protect a human, especially when Ji-yong wasn’t in the frame of mind to hurt anyone, at least in the near future.
“So what is it?” the curious voice came from just over his shoulder, the man having moved with a catlike silence that even he couldn’t perceive.
“From the sound of it,” he responded mildly, as if it didn’t bother him in the least that another predator could sneak up on him, “this man has a werewolf chained in his basement.” His words, he knew, had struck a chord as fingers curled into the muscle of his shoulder.
“You are going to get him,” the statement was close enough to an order that he growled.
“I will go get him, yes, but I don’t know if you will be in attendance,” swiftly he rose and dislodged the man’s hand from his shoulder. He turned slowly, not wanting the man to think that he had upset him when he hadn’t, not really.
“Seunghyun,” Ji-yong purred, fitting his body against the other man. “It’s so sexy when you get commanding like this.”
His eyes narrowed as he pondered the creature before him. The attraction between them was real, he knew that as well as he knew how to breathe, he could feel it through the bond they shared as mates, but there was more to it than that. Their Beasts were well and truly mated, but for Ji-yong who was peering up at him through heavy lashes, sex wasn’t about love or even lust, it was all about control and for now, he could grant the man that much.
“I’m glad you enjoy it,” he growled, letting his voice deepen, and the desire of his Beast show in his eyes. “But I can’t have you around an unknown wolf; you’re not stable enough right now.”
“Excellent,” Ji-yong purred, rubbing his body sensually against Seunghyun’s. “Then I’ll just go home and give Youngbae a nice long fuck. It has been quite a while.”
He couldn’t stop the snarl if he had wanted to, and he hauled Ji-yong tighter to his body and lifted him, laying a forceful claim to his mouth. Moaning, Ji-yong melted into him and as their tongues tangled, they both knew exactly who had won the argument.
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He hadn’t expected the man to give in so easily, especially not when he had reacted instinctively and ordered him to go and save what was likely a trapped wolf. Yet Ji-yong had surprised them both when he had tried the only thing he could think of, and threatened to sleep with his old mate when the other wouldn’t be around to stop him. He wouldn’t actually do it, or at least he didn’t think he would. Even he had hated the person he had become, and the creature he had forced Youngbae to become when they were together. Never again could he go there, at least not until he was entirely sane again, no matter how much his heart longed for his first love.
It was his surprise at being allowed to tag along that had allowed him to meekly submit to the addition of shoes and the subtraction of the bandana from his neck. The small changes, things he wouldn’t have normally agreed to, must have satisfied Seunghyun, because the Alpha seemed calm as he navigated their car through the late evening traffic. He studied the man as they drove with his hand possessively high on the Alpha’s leg.
The touch came from a need so tied to his Beast that he couldn’t resist it, a possessive need to claim what was theirs no matter how much his human side tried to deny that claim. It wasn’t that he wasn’t attracted to the man. Seunghyun, simply with the way he carried himself, would make even a straight man appreciate his looks if, of course, they could get past the need to run screaming first. There was no lack of attraction between them and Ji-yong wouldn’t lie to himself and deny that he was drawn to the dark mysteries about the man, the kiss reddened lips, or the way the marks from his teeth stood out on the column of his neck, the last remainders of the quick claiming in his office not even an hour ago. The mark would be gone by the time they reached their destination, healed fully, but it made the Beast within him rumble with pleasure that it was there.
He was attracted certainly, but he didn’t love the man, could never love a man like the one that sat beside him. With all that had happened he counted himself lucky that he could tolerate being near him at all. Sex was one thing, and came as easily to him as breathing, but love was another. He would never hold that for this man.
“Ji-yong?” Seunghyun’s voice cut through his thoughts, an inquiry as to what was running through his mind, undoubtedly.
“It’s nothing,” he muttered, turning his head to stare out the window at the city. He loosened his fingers that had involuntarily tightened with his thoughts. A part of him longed to pull his hand from the man entirely, to hurt the Alpha with his withdrawal, but his hand wouldn’t budge no matter how much he wanted it to. There was a bitter taste in his mouth as he watched the people move outside the window. Submission was never an easy pill to swallow, especially not when it went down with a combination of lust, desire, and hatred.
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He hadn’t the slightest idea what was upsetting the man beside him now. With Ji-yong it could be any number of things or something that no one else could even see. Judging by the calm contentment of his Beast, it was nothing of the supernatural side of Ji-yong that was bothered, but his human, which was infinitely worse. In the past thirteen years he had found any number of ways to deal with the unique creature beside him when he had one of his Episodes. If all else failed he could always draw on his Beast to order the man into submission, but this was something he had never figured out how to deal with.
Since he never knew what to say, he typically resorted to saying nothing. That at least seemed to work to a point, since Ji-yong never wanted to talk about it anyway and he could put it out of his mind for more pressing things. Theirs was not a bond of love that needed smoothing over to make it function properly.
He parked the car in the paved drive of a small suburban house and cut the engine. The house seemed unremarkable from those around it, but that was typically the best way to hide amongst the humans, at least for those on their own. “Ji-yong,” he said softly, intending to remind the man what was and wasn’t acceptable for normal interactions.
“I know,” the man said dryly, pulling his hand from Seunghyun’s leg to unlatch his seat belt. “Don’t talk, stay behind you, and don’t make anyone do anything crazy. Oh, and no humping the furniture.”
The tone of the man’s voice sounded hurt and that bothered Seunghyun more than he had thought it would. “Ji-yong,” he said softly, grabbing the man’s shoulder. “You are not a pet that is coming out with me on a leash.”
“I know that,” Ji-yong growled, shrugging his shoulder free and opening his door. “Let’s go.”
Strangely enough, the fact that he had seemingly hurt the man he called mate, unsettled him more than he thought it would. It was something that hadn’t really happened to him before, but then Ji-yong typically wasn’t sane enough to react like a normal person would. That he had been so lately was making things difficult or something along those lines.
As he climbed out of his car and shut the door, he pushed that down and away for further thought at a later time. There was something that he needed to deal with now, their relationship could be dealt with later, preferably in the safety of their home where it didn’t matter how many things Ji-yong threw when he started yelling.
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“I know I should have put a bullet in him when he was changed three months ago,” the man told them sadly as he led them through his house and down the stairs. “I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. He is my son and I’m not a killer.” Seunghyun could have argued that point since the entire house smelled of death and something dark, but he didn’t press.
“He is his mother’s son in so many ways but he refuses to ‘dirty his hands’ as he calls it. If he only had then he would have been safe the night it happened and he wouldn’t be stuck like this. I figure if anyone can do anything, it’s you and if you can’t, well then I suspect you can do what needs to be done,” the man opened a door to a room in the corner of the basement and stepped aside for them to enter.
The room was empty of all furnishings and had clearly once been a bedroom of some sort before the drywall along one wall had been stripped away to reach the concrete behind it. Chains had been fastened to the wall, secured there and hung loosely to the cuffs that were fastened around the young man’s wrists. Blood oozed sluggishly from beneath them, as if he had been struggling, but he likely would bleed even if he hadn’t been. The cuffs and the chains that bound them, were pure silver, Seunghyun could smell them from his spot across the room.
“I brought someone that could help you,” the man said softly, approaching the chained young man. For a moment the young man simply stood, head bowed, his chest barely rising and falling in breath. The man, assumedly father to the one chained, took another step forward and the young man exploded. Snarling like an animal, he lunged for his father, jerking hard as the chains restrained him and dragged him back in recoil from the force of it. The man stumbled backwards a few paces as his son stretched for him, producing the noises of an angry animal. “He wasn’t like this, this morning,” the man informed him.
“No, I assume not,” Seunghyun agreed. At the sound of his voice the young man turned his attention to them, the new intruders in the room. Glowing golden eyes stared at him in defiance and clear challenge, as the young wolf struggled against his bonds to reach them.
“I asked the local Alpha to have a look and he nearly killed him. Said he couldn’t take a wolf this dominate and out of control into his pack and suggested I call you,” the man admitted. “I could take care of it myself, but if his mother found out, well it wouldn’t end well for anyone involved.”
“I see,” Seunghyun said softly studying the young wolf in front of him. His Beast was restless and wanted to answer the clear challenge of the upstart pup. They would tolerate no challenge to their dominance and one as blatant as the young wolf’s was enough to extract a swift and deadly response. Yet there was something strange about it, something that felt off, not exactly right and that gave him enough of a pause that he could force his Beast to wait while he figured out what it was. It wouldn’t last long, however, before his Beast lost patience with the pup and forced the situation. If he didn’t think quickly this might end with an unnecessary death.
He was so deep in thought as he tried to puzzle out the wrongness of the one in front of him, that he nearly forgot Ji-yong standing behind him. The moment he heard the sound of whistling, and the unmistakable feeling of his Beast settling, he knew what Ji-yong was doing. Normally he would have resisted, commanded Ji-yong to stop or forced the issue if he needed to, but perhaps this would buy him some time to figure the situation out without his Beast demanding blood.
Used to the effects of his Quieter at work, since Ji-yong had tried this on him a time or two, his Beast relaxed in his mind, but not enough to sleep. It was easier to resist the song with it being directed at something other than himself, but the young man in front of him had no such protection. The gold in the young man’s eyes faded along with the tension in his body until he simply collapsed to his knees. What had once been a raging Beast, now sat a quiet man covered in the scent of magic.
“No, that was supposed to work. He was supposed to kill me. They said he wouldn’t be able to resist. That was supposed to force him. They said it wouldn’t matter,” the young man was muttering to himself as he looked down at his bloody hands. He continued to mutter, phrases much like the ones that he had first stated. As Ji-yong’s song faded, and Seunghyun studied the young man, he realized what it was that he had been missing. The young man sitting on the floor before him was unmistakably a witch, but more than that he was something that never should have been able to pull forth that dominating rage from the Alpha, a completely submissive wolf.
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“What is your name?” Ji-yong asked, delicately dabbing at the wounds on the man’s wrists as Seunghyun kept an eye on them through the review mirror.
“Does it matter?” the young man asked tiredly. “Hopefully I won’t be around long enough for it to make a difference.”
“That eager to die, are you?” Ji-yong asked with a grin that brought a frown to Seunghyun’s face. There had been a seven month period about three years ago during which Ji-yong had turned suicidal with varying degrees of creativity. He never wanted to return to that again and if this young wolf was going to take them there, he would gladly break his neck right now.
“I’m dangerous,” the young man admitted softly as if saying it would make a difference. “The creature inside me is dangerous.”
Ji-yong snorted, “Hardly half as dangerous as the one up there,” he jerked his thumb in the direction of Seunghyun, “Not a puppy, sure, and still something that can kill, but you won’t kill the waiter for looking at you funny.” Seunghyun frowned. That had only happened one time, when their mate bond was new, and Ji-yong, in all of his Quieter ways, had been the cause of it anyway. Seunghyun had figured out what was occurring moments before tearing out the waiter’s throat and had refused to take Ji-yong out anywhere if he seemed remotely close to an Episode.
“With what I am now and my magic, I’m too dangerous,” the man countered.
Ji-yong shrugged. “I was born that way, and I’m doing all right,” as long as no one looked into his past beyond the past ten years or so, fifteen if they were looking for actual deaths.
“It doesn’t matter,” the young man countered. “I will hurt someone. You should just kill me now and get it over with. I knew my dad couldn’t do it, but they said that T.O.P. would do it just for me challenging him.” The young man glanced at him through the mirror and dropped his eyes quickly. The look didn’t bother Seunghyun since he had already made the wolf his through flesh and blood and there was no possible way for him to resist the orders of his Alpha now, but it did pose an interesting point.
“He probably would have,” Ji-yong agreed, glaring at him, “he’s an ass like that, but no one is going to kill you now. You are part of a pack and sometimes being what we are isn’t all that bad.”
“No,” the man opposed. “I am a danger to the pack, you can’t take me to them. Who knows what I could do to them without meaning to.”
Seunghyun, having heard enough of the circular argument, decided to voice his opinion at last. “You are a white witch. At best you could make my people look at each other cross eyed for a while. You don’t have any power at your call without a coven and certainly nothing of the raw power a black witch would have. You have your Gift and little else. At best you will be a mosquito to my people, but if it will make you feel better I give you my word that if you hurt a soul under my protection, I will kill you.”
“Okay,” the young man sounded relieved by the promise. “Daesung. My name is Daesung.”
“Well, Daesung,” Ji-yong said lightly as he tied off the bandages on the man’s wrists, “welcome to our dysfunctional family. You will fit right in here.” His hand settled protectively on the back of the young man’s neck. His eyes met Seunghyun’s in the mirror and his gaze was possessively hot, daring Seunghyun to do something, anything about it. Wisely, he said nothing.
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“You called for me,” the other werewolf asked, knocking lightly on the open door as he entered.
Tiredly, Seunghyun pinched the bridge of his nose as his Beast bristled at even that small show of weakness. “Yes,” he waved the younger wolf into his home and gestured for him to shut the door once inside.
“Is something the matter?” the wolf asked him, hesitation evident in his voice. They weren’t the best of friends by any means, in fact this werewolf had more reasons than not to hate his Alpha, yet somehow the man seemed to look beyond all of that and still somewhat care. Seunghyun wasn’t foolish enough to think that he had been forgiven for the past, no matter how necessary it had been, but after the day he had been having he wasn’t about to look this small gift in the face.
“I picked up a new wolf this morning,” Seunghyun replied, dropping his hand from his face. “Ji-yong seems quite smitten with him.”
“Ji-yong isn’t my problem,” the man said with more sharpness then he likely meant.
“I didn’t say he was, Youngbae,” Seunghyun countered, his eyes flashing in warning. Immediately the other werewolf dropped his gaze, his posture subtly shifting to one of submission. “What I called you here for is to assign you as the new wolf’s mentor.”
“Sir if I might,” the young man said softly.
“No you may not,” Seunghyun replied, cutting off his protests. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the worsening of your longing lately. You crave something to care for,” although his tone was scolding it was not without care. “This new wolf is submissive; he will be good for you and your Beast. He also seems to have been a witch before he was changed. I do not know how much of that remains, but you will able to reassure him that he isn’t the first with witch blood you are to care for.”
“For how long?” Youngbae asked, his tone held a bit of interest that made Seunghyun relax fractionally. He would have ordered the young man to do as he willed but that likely would have made the entire situation uncomfortable for all parties involved.
“Six months is the minimum for a new wolf to be mentored by another in my pack. At the end of that time, if his progress is satisfactory, he may obtain his own house in the village and live on his own.”
“If not?” The question seemed full of genuine curiosity, although it was likely that the man already knew the answer.
“Then the new wolf may need to stay with me for a while, or there may be nothing we can do for him, in which case he will be taken care of.” It was harsh, Seunghyun knew, the implications of what would happen, but it was something that simply existed as truth in their world. They couldn’t have a rouge werewolf that was dangerous, or more so than normal, wandering out in the general public. Tight control of their own was the only thing that had kept them from discovery and the inevitable extermination that the humans would perform on them if they found out, and he had no intentions of changing that in the near future.
“Like Ji-yong,” Youngbae said very softly.
“Yes,” Seunghyun agreed, neither of them saying that there may still come a day where he could no longer control the Quieter and would be forced to do something more permanent, like snap his neck.
“I’ll mentor him,” Youngbae agreed finally, looking moments away from being miserable. Seunghyun almost pitied the other wolf. It hadn’t been easy for him living in a pack like this one, especially this close to Ji-yong, but he had never been able to bring himself to leave.
“Let’s go introduce you,” Seunghyun agreed, turning from the entryway and walking further into his home. The sooner he could introduce them and send the new wolf on his way, the sooner he could deal with Ji-yong and whatever had happened this afternoon. As eager as he was to get rid of the intruders in his home, he wasn’t certain he was ready to face his mate, but then again, he felt that he may never be.
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His Alpha led him through his home, deeper through the massive mansion-like structure to rooms he had never been in before. There was tension in the lines of his Alpha’s body and he knew if the man was letting that much show then something must have upset him greatly at some point throughout the day.
He doubted it was the newest addition to their pack, although that could easily have an effect on an Alpha, but this particular werewolf was well accustomed to the things that came with what he was. He had seen his Alpha deliver justice where it was needed without flinching or showing the slightest emotion, and he doubted that one little submissive wolf would be able to pull it forth from him. If it wasn’t the new wolf then it left only one person that it could be, Ji-yong who seemed to ruffle even the most stone cold of men.
After thirteen years of being mated he had thought that Seunghyun would be entirely unaffected by the Quieter by this point, but clearly that wasn’t the case. That Ji-yong could still get under his skin likely thrilled the Quieter to no end, but could be a potential danger to everyone involved. Ji-yong had a way of twisting and corrupting what was without really meaning to. He had personally seen the Quieter bring entire packs to ruin and had been twisted himself into a creature that he was not. A prudent Alpha would have destroyed the Quieter the moment he had appeared, but Seunghyun hadn’t and still refused to do so. Youngbae had no idea if it was love that stilled his hand or some sort of magic from the Quieter himself.
Seunghyun paused in front of a room from which music flowed and opened the door. Immediately the Beast within Youngbae sighed and curled up in slumber. Even if he hadn’t seen who was seated behind the piano, he would have known from the flow of peace alone. That it was pure, calming peace that he was receiving from the Quieter and little more, was a wonder that made him freeze in the doorway.
“Daesung,” Seunghyun called, and a young man that he didn’t recognize rose from the bench beside the Quieter. “This is Youngbae,” Seunghyun introduced him, gesturing him closer. The new wolf bowed deeply and he tried to tear his eyes from Ji-yong to study the young man.
He looked young, younger then he by far, and innocent in what seemed like most of the ways of life. Although he seemed shy, he looked curious enough that Youngbae may have found it sweet or even cute if his attention wasn’t drawn right back to the true force in the room.
“He’s had experience dealing with those with magic,” he registered Seunghyun telling the young wolf. “He will teach you everything you need to know about being a part of a pack and when he is finished, if you still think you are dangerous and want to die, then we will talk.” The Alpha was still talking to the younger wolf, he knew, but he could feel Seunghyun’s eyes on him. It wouldn’t have mattered to him if the Alpha had shot him right then and there, because Ji-yong had lifted his eyes and caught his gaze. A moment later the Quieter opened his mouth and began to sing, bringing with the words a wave of sorrow and love so deep that it made him gasp.
Again tonight, underneath that blue moonlight
I will probably fall asleep alone
Even in my dreams, I look for you
And wander around while singing this song.
I’m singing my blues.
Used to the blue tears, blue sorrow
I’m singing my blues
The love that I have sent away with the floating clouds, oh oh
As soon as it had begun, the singing ceased, but the fingers dancing over the keys didn’t. Subtly the music changed, as did the emotion following through him. Sorrow drained away, leaving only the love behind tainted with something dark, followed by desire that began to pulse, hot and deep in him, drawing him to the honey warm eyes that wouldn’t leave his gaze. It was foolishness he knew, and exactly why he had allowed his Alpha to do what he had. Ji-yong had the power to do what no other could, make him feel things that he thought had been long buried.
The Quieter had a habit of doing it during one of his Episodes, trying to exert control in the only way he had learned worked, through his abilities and sex. It was when the other man was the most dangerous, if only because his Beast was so unpredictable. That fact made this all the more frightening, because he could tell by the clarity in the Quieter’s eyes that he was fully in his right mind.
“Youngbae, Daesung, leave!” the command was sharp and came directly from his Alpha with a wash of power that had him turning before he fully comprehended being ordered. He was half way down the hall before he could breathe again, and, fully in control of himself once more, he moved through the house and away from those eyes as quickly as his feet could carry him.
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“Ji-yong,” Seunghyun growled, directing his attention at the Quieter still seated on the bench of the piano. His Beast demanded that they stake their claim, show their mate just who he belonged to.
The Quieter turned to look at him and a smirk twisted the corners of his mouth, “Sleep,” he murmured, putting the power that was uniquely his to command behind the single word. For a split moment his Beast was gone, banished into slumber by the command but between one breath and the next he awoke again, angrier than he had been.
“No!” he snarled, darting across the room with speed greater than most of his kind. He tore Ji-yong from the piano bench and slammed the unresisting man into the wall by his hold on his throat. “You do not command us,” he growled, the Beast overlaying every part of his being.
Ji-yong looked at him through half-lidded eyes, a satisfied smile on his face. He knew exactly what he had done, and was taking pleasure in seeing the results of it. That realization only pushed his Beast further to the forefront until Seunghyun was more creature than man. Fabric tore beneath his pull as he forced Ji-yong’s limbs where he wanted them and removed the barriers between their bodies.
“So it is to be like that then?” the Quieter purred. “You would rape me to prove your dominance?”
The Beast didn’t care about the words or the implications, but Seunghyun did and he fought for a measure of control as he hadn’t had to do since he was first changed. “This isn’t rape. You want this. You pulled the desire out of us. You can’t give something you don’t have,” he snarled, barely coherent in his speech.
“So I can’t,” the Quieter agreed and then released a sound between a whine and a moan as Seunghyun claimed what was theirs.
Their clothing didn’t survive the encounter that lasted only a few moments and seemed to be more of the rutting of two beasts despite the fact that they were, in appearance, men. Only when he had spent himself within his mate did his Beast consent to give him back control. Panting and covered with sweat he wrapped a hand firmly around Ji-yong’s throat. He was glad that the man’s eyes were still closed in pleasure, his head tipped back making it even easier to grab there. If he had to stare into those eyes while he did what needed to be done, he wasn’t certain even he could do it.
It wasn’t until he heard the quiet whisper of, “Do it, please,” that he realized he had been waiting, poised, for something else to move his hand and do what needed to be done. Perhaps it was the smallness of the voice, such a far cry from the one that he had heard not five minutes ago that stilled his hand.
“I can’t,” he whispered, admitting what he already knew.
“You must,” Ji-yong pleaded, opening his eyes and staring at his Alpha. Tears lined the edges and made him look like little more than a child. “Please, Seunghyun.” Never before had the Quieter begged for death like this. He had tried to barter and coerce to get his way, but he had never cried and pleaded in a way that made him seem so fragile, so innocent. There wasn’t a chance that he could have done what he needed to now, not with every instinct screaming for him to soothe the hurt and right whatever had been done to hurt their mate.
“Ji-yong,” he purred, lifting his hand from the smooth skin of his neck and brushing away a tear with his thumb.
“I’ll destroy everything you have built,” the young man whispered, the words were so far from a threat that they were chilling.
“Then I’ll have to kill us both before you do that,” Seunghyun countered. Ji-yong hiccupped, a strange sound of sorrow and tears began to run in earnest down his face. Cradling his body in his arms, Seunghyun slid from within him and carefully pulled him away from the wall. He had never been good with tears, less so with a creature whose very being demanded that he stop the tears, leaving him both wanting to cradle the man close and hunt down and kill whatever it was to make the tears stop.
“I’m losing it,” Ji-yong whispered, hiccupping as Seunghyun carried him through the house to their room.
“No,” he murmured gently. “I think you are finally beginning to find whatever it is that you have been missing.” Tenderly he placed the still crying man on their bed and crawled on after him, pulling him close and wrapping them in a blanket. “You are safe here,” he rumbled, his instincts demanding that he reassure the man.
There was a long pause of silence before Ji-yong murmured, “I’m sorry I don’t love you,” as if he, for the first time, felt truly apologetic for it.
Seunghyun wasn’t certain how to answer that so he settled on, “You can’t help who you love, and I have a long time to make you at least enjoy being with me.”
“Seunghyun,” the young man began shifting restlessly.
“Shh,” he silenced Ji-yong and tugged the Quieter impossibly closer. “Sleep now.” It was a testament to the Quieter’s strange state of mind that he did so without as much as another comment.
AN: Well needless to say this was inspired by Big Bang's Fantastic Baby MV. It really was something that I watched and said... "dang that looks like it is almost straight from my Flesh, Fur, and Fang universe!" I mean really did anyone else see Seungri in that and thing Vampire Master? I certainly did. Anyway I'm certain you noticed that this says Episode one. I will be doing little snippets on these characters every now and again when inspiration strikes. I don't promise to write another thing using them (although I'm fairly certain it will happen) but even if I do I have no idea when it will be. I hope you enjoyed this!