Of Seasons and Spots - Eleven
Of Seasons and Spots
Eleven: Punch
The house was quieter without her, as if it was missing something essential to feel as though it was lived in. It hadn’t even been a day and already he missed her moving about the kitchen, the noise and familiarity of it, the guessing game of what she was making. He already missed her comments, the hinting of what her Gift had brought her and for a moment he wondered if her Gift had showed them that they would end up like this.
He made himself busy in the kitchen, trying his best to get something that resembled dinner prepared. Zhou mi could feel Kyuhyun there, his eyes watching his every mood, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t bring himself to send his mate away. Strangely enough he didn’t want to be alone and Kyuhyun was better than no one.
His Beast disagreed with him, that Kyuhyun was their mate and belonged here and he pushed her aside. It was the last thing he wanted to hear, not after Kyuhyun had taken his father from him. He knew that his mate was capable of killing, but to see it made that fact that much more of a reality to him.
“Zhou mi,” Kyuhyun started softly.
“Don’t,” Zhou mi warned.
“We are going to have to talk about this some time,” Kyuhyun told him gently.
“Talk about what?!” Zhou mi screamed, whirling to face the werewolf. “That my mate, my partner, the man I swore to spend the rest of my life with, killed my father?! Yes, Kyuhyun, let’s talk about that. Tell me, please, how you plan to make this alright!” He was crying, he could feel the tears as they streamed down his face.
“Zhou mi, I don’t plan to make it alright. I know he was your father and for that I am sorry, but he did not treat you as a son. He hurt you, Zhou mi,” Kyuhyun told him gently, edging forward.
“How the hell would you know? You aren’t a father, and I bet you don’t even remember yours! I got in the way, that is why he hit me. You blow everything out of proportion! I can’t spend the rest of my life with you freaking out if someone slaps a bug from my arm.” He knew he was gesturing wildly with his words but he didn’t care. Everything seemed like it hurt and nothing seemed right, not anymore.
“I know,” Kyuhyun agreed, “and I’m working on that, but he broke you. He is why you are afraid of dominate wolves, why you perceive them as dangerous.”
“You’re wrong,” Zhou mi snarled, unwilling to believe it. “Otherwise I would never have mated to you!” he made a stabbing motion with one of his hands towards the man as if accusing him. “Otherwise I never would have joined the pack!”
“I’m so sorry the he hurt you and twisted your love for him,” Kyuhyun told him. He was closer now, within striking distance and Zhou mi felt his pain, his anger, his fear all bottled into his closed fist.
“Fuck you!” he snarled, his right fist lashing out. The punch connected with Kyuhyun’s face with enough force that it would have sent a normal man reeling. Instead the werewolf simply turned his head with the force of it and closed his fingers around Zhou mi’s left wrist. It took him a moment to realize that his mate was gently prying his fingers from the tight grip he had on something. With unseeing eyes he watched as Kyuhyun pulled the cooking knife that was as long as his forearm from his fingers and tossed it across the room.
“I know,” Kyuhyun murmured then, pulling him in close.
Zhou mi fought it, tears running down his face, as he pushed against the solid chest of his mate. His fists beat ineffectively against Kyuhyun’s body as he chanted, “I hate you! I hate you!” over and over again.
Kyuhyun simply held him close with one arm around his upper body and the other stroking through his hair murmuring, “I know. I know.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
Zhou mi studied him, his eyes still watery and rimmed with a wetness that threatened to spill over at any moment. “I hate you,” he murmured for the thousandth time that evening.
“I know,” Kyuhyun answered in kind, knowing that what Zhou mi really hated was that he had chosen Kyuhyun, that he had chosen them over his father. He knew as well as Zhou mi did that one song, one flexing of his Quieter abilities would have put their Beasts to sleep and stripped them to men, but Zhou mi hadn’t done it. Kyuhyun might have survived as little more than a man, but Zhou mi clearly hadn’t wanted to take the risk. “I know, baby.”
His mate’s eyes closed and Zhou mi laid his head on Kyuhyun’s chest. The position was familiar, one of Zhou mi’s favorite ways to sleep. Jokingly he had told him once that he liked to hear Kyuhyun’s heartbeat under his ear. Kyuhyun smoothed his fingers through his mate’s hair and down his shoulder and arm in a soothing caress. Whatever anger that Zhou mi harbored he knew that the majority of it couldn’t be directed primarily at him since the man was curled up with him.
“You took my mother’s mate from her,” Zhou mi whispered a few minutes later.
“For that,” Kyuhyun replied softly, “I am truly sorry.”
“Then why did you do it?” Zhou mi challenged, lifting his head and looking at Kyuhyun. “You didn’t have to kill him. You could have protected me from anything else.”
“Could I have?” Kyuhyun asked softly, brushing his fingers gently over the discolored patch of skin on Zhou mi’s cheek.
“That is different. I got in the way,” Zhou mi snapped.
“There is always something to get in the way of, or the wrong place at all the wrong times. You got in my way, too, before, but I never needed to hit you. Growled at you and tried to intimidate you, yes, but never have I hit you,” Kyuhyun told him.
“You don’t count!”
“Has Kangin ever hit you?” Kyuhyun asked simply, “or Leeteuk?”
“He was my father,” Zhou mi replied weakly.
“All the more reason he should have protected you,” Kyuhyun told him. He knew it would take time for it to truly sink into his mate’s mind what his father had been. “We aren’t human, Zhou mi. Our ways are not the way of humans. A human prison would never hold a werewolf and would simply be a death trap to all involved on the night of a full moon. We have Alphas for a reason and rules. I know it seems harsh, but we are part Beast and have to be dealt with as such. Lawlessness is not an option. He didn’t have to accept my challenge, Zhou mi. He could have denied it and simply become unwelcome on our lands,” Kyuhyun explained.
“My father has never backed down from a challenge,” Zhou mi whispered.
“I thought not, but it was his choice. He chose this knowing what the consequences could be. I am sorry that there was no way to handle this but to hurt you,” Kyuhyun admitted.
Sighing, Zhou mi tightened his arm that was thrown across Kyuhyun’s waist, pulling the other man closer. “Why can’t I hate you?” he whispered. “Why can’t I hold what you did against you?”
Kyuhyun knew the answer to that, but in this instance he decided that perhaps it was better for Zhou mi to discover the answer on his own. As long as his mate was still willing to lie in his arms, that was enough for him.
Eleven: Punch
The house was quieter without her, as if it was missing something essential to feel as though it was lived in. It hadn’t even been a day and already he missed her moving about the kitchen, the noise and familiarity of it, the guessing game of what she was making. He already missed her comments, the hinting of what her Gift had brought her and for a moment he wondered if her Gift had showed them that they would end up like this.
He made himself busy in the kitchen, trying his best to get something that resembled dinner prepared. Zhou mi could feel Kyuhyun there, his eyes watching his every mood, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t bring himself to send his mate away. Strangely enough he didn’t want to be alone and Kyuhyun was better than no one.
His Beast disagreed with him, that Kyuhyun was their mate and belonged here and he pushed her aside. It was the last thing he wanted to hear, not after Kyuhyun had taken his father from him. He knew that his mate was capable of killing, but to see it made that fact that much more of a reality to him.
“Zhou mi,” Kyuhyun started softly.
“Don’t,” Zhou mi warned.
“We are going to have to talk about this some time,” Kyuhyun told him gently.
“Talk about what?!” Zhou mi screamed, whirling to face the werewolf. “That my mate, my partner, the man I swore to spend the rest of my life with, killed my father?! Yes, Kyuhyun, let’s talk about that. Tell me, please, how you plan to make this alright!” He was crying, he could feel the tears as they streamed down his face.
“Zhou mi, I don’t plan to make it alright. I know he was your father and for that I am sorry, but he did not treat you as a son. He hurt you, Zhou mi,” Kyuhyun told him gently, edging forward.
“How the hell would you know? You aren’t a father, and I bet you don’t even remember yours! I got in the way, that is why he hit me. You blow everything out of proportion! I can’t spend the rest of my life with you freaking out if someone slaps a bug from my arm.” He knew he was gesturing wildly with his words but he didn’t care. Everything seemed like it hurt and nothing seemed right, not anymore.
“I know,” Kyuhyun agreed, “and I’m working on that, but he broke you. He is why you are afraid of dominate wolves, why you perceive them as dangerous.”
“You’re wrong,” Zhou mi snarled, unwilling to believe it. “Otherwise I would never have mated to you!” he made a stabbing motion with one of his hands towards the man as if accusing him. “Otherwise I never would have joined the pack!”
“I’m so sorry the he hurt you and twisted your love for him,” Kyuhyun told him. He was closer now, within striking distance and Zhou mi felt his pain, his anger, his fear all bottled into his closed fist.
“Fuck you!” he snarled, his right fist lashing out. The punch connected with Kyuhyun’s face with enough force that it would have sent a normal man reeling. Instead the werewolf simply turned his head with the force of it and closed his fingers around Zhou mi’s left wrist. It took him a moment to realize that his mate was gently prying his fingers from the tight grip he had on something. With unseeing eyes he watched as Kyuhyun pulled the cooking knife that was as long as his forearm from his fingers and tossed it across the room.
“I know,” Kyuhyun murmured then, pulling him in close.
Zhou mi fought it, tears running down his face, as he pushed against the solid chest of his mate. His fists beat ineffectively against Kyuhyun’s body as he chanted, “I hate you! I hate you!” over and over again.
Kyuhyun simply held him close with one arm around his upper body and the other stroking through his hair murmuring, “I know. I know.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
Zhou mi studied him, his eyes still watery and rimmed with a wetness that threatened to spill over at any moment. “I hate you,” he murmured for the thousandth time that evening.
“I know,” Kyuhyun answered in kind, knowing that what Zhou mi really hated was that he had chosen Kyuhyun, that he had chosen them over his father. He knew as well as Zhou mi did that one song, one flexing of his Quieter abilities would have put their Beasts to sleep and stripped them to men, but Zhou mi hadn’t done it. Kyuhyun might have survived as little more than a man, but Zhou mi clearly hadn’t wanted to take the risk. “I know, baby.”
His mate’s eyes closed and Zhou mi laid his head on Kyuhyun’s chest. The position was familiar, one of Zhou mi’s favorite ways to sleep. Jokingly he had told him once that he liked to hear Kyuhyun’s heartbeat under his ear. Kyuhyun smoothed his fingers through his mate’s hair and down his shoulder and arm in a soothing caress. Whatever anger that Zhou mi harbored he knew that the majority of it couldn’t be directed primarily at him since the man was curled up with him.
“You took my mother’s mate from her,” Zhou mi whispered a few minutes later.
“For that,” Kyuhyun replied softly, “I am truly sorry.”
“Then why did you do it?” Zhou mi challenged, lifting his head and looking at Kyuhyun. “You didn’t have to kill him. You could have protected me from anything else.”
“Could I have?” Kyuhyun asked softly, brushing his fingers gently over the discolored patch of skin on Zhou mi’s cheek.
“That is different. I got in the way,” Zhou mi snapped.
“There is always something to get in the way of, or the wrong place at all the wrong times. You got in my way, too, before, but I never needed to hit you. Growled at you and tried to intimidate you, yes, but never have I hit you,” Kyuhyun told him.
“You don’t count!”
“Has Kangin ever hit you?” Kyuhyun asked simply, “or Leeteuk?”
“He was my father,” Zhou mi replied weakly.
“All the more reason he should have protected you,” Kyuhyun told him. He knew it would take time for it to truly sink into his mate’s mind what his father had been. “We aren’t human, Zhou mi. Our ways are not the way of humans. A human prison would never hold a werewolf and would simply be a death trap to all involved on the night of a full moon. We have Alphas for a reason and rules. I know it seems harsh, but we are part Beast and have to be dealt with as such. Lawlessness is not an option. He didn’t have to accept my challenge, Zhou mi. He could have denied it and simply become unwelcome on our lands,” Kyuhyun explained.
“My father has never backed down from a challenge,” Zhou mi whispered.
“I thought not, but it was his choice. He chose this knowing what the consequences could be. I am sorry that there was no way to handle this but to hurt you,” Kyuhyun admitted.
Sighing, Zhou mi tightened his arm that was thrown across Kyuhyun’s waist, pulling the other man closer. “Why can’t I hate you?” he whispered. “Why can’t I hold what you did against you?”
Kyuhyun knew the answer to that, but in this instance he decided that perhaps it was better for Zhou mi to discover the answer on his own. As long as his mate was still willing to lie in his arms, that was enough for him.