Of Flesh, Fur, and Fang - Chapter Five
Of Flesh, Fur, and Fang
Chapter Five
By noon, Zhou mi was certain that Tuesday was the worst day of the week. If a Monday was bad, it could simply be said that it was the start of the week and things always started rough. If it was a Wednesday that was bad, it was always the middle of the week so the week was half done if nothing else. If a Thursday was bad, there was only one more weekday to hold on through. If a Friday was bad, it didn’t really matter because the weekend had arrived as soon as it was done. But if a Tuesday was bad, it was the most miserable thing in the world. It meant that not only was the Tuesday bad, but the rest of the very long week could easily go just as badly.
Morning lessons had, more or less, gone fine. Zhou mi had been too busy focusing on everything that was being said and scribbling down notes, to pay that much attention to anything going on around him. After the lessons, however, Mr. Park had called for him to stay for a few moments before heading off to lunch.
“Zhou mi,” Mr. Park said kindly after straightening a pile of papers. “I wanted to tell you about this afternoon. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, instead of your last afternoon lesson you will need to attend something called an enrichment lesson. This sheet here,” Mr. Park handed him a sheet with several lines of words, “lists all of the choices you have for enrichment. No one will expect you to pick by today, so you will be free to visit several of them, and decide what you would like to attend regularly. If you need any help you can ask any staff or classmate.”
“Thank you, Mr. Park,” Zhou mi said, bowing slightly.
“That isn’t all,” Mr. Park told him with a smile, “I would like you to come to my house tonight after school.”
Zhou mi swallowed. “Might I ask why?”
Mr. Park turned and picked up a few papers and focused on them. “I noticed that while your score on this wasn’t horrible, you are lacking some of the key literature knowledge that you will need. You also are a bit behind in math and seemed to have missed a foundational section entirely. Not to mention that while you scored excellent on Chinese history, your Korean history leaves much to be desired. I will say that your Korean comprehension is excellent as is your writing, however you must work on your penmanship a bit.” The last statement made Zhou mi smile. His penmanship in his own language wasn’t the best either.
“What I would like to do,” Mr. Park said, placing the paper back on his desk, “is to have you over a few nights a week so that I can get you back up to speed. You are a bright student Zhou mi. I would hate to see you have to repeat a year or fall behind altogether.”
He pulled the pair of glasses of his nose and folded them neatly. “Kangin also wanted to see you again. He wanted to talk to you more about your special set of skills. I would love to have both you and your mother over for dinner tonight.”
“Mother doesn’t like gatherings with a lot of people,” Zhou mi said quickly.
Mr. Park laughed. “Oh don’t worry. Tonight is ‘Get Out of My House’ night, as Kangin so lovingly calls it. No one is allowed in the house until midnight unless I invite them. It will be just us. Kangin has already spoken to your mother about it.”
“He has?” Zhou mi held his books tighter to his chest.
Mr. Park nodded. “Yes and she seemed very interested. She did say that you would have to agree though, that she wouldn’t want to leave you to fend for yourself.”
Zhou mi could just imagine what his mother would say if he turned down the offer from his teacher. “I would love to,” he said hesitantly, bowing again. “Thank you for all of you help Mr. Park.”
The man smiled. “You are welcome. You should get to lunch before it is over. I will see you tonight.”
Zhou mi nodded and scampered from the room before he could be talked into anything else. Although he had felt relaxed enough around the alpha last night, he wasn’t looking forward to a second visit anytime soon. So far it was turning out to be the worst Tuesday in existence.
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Zhou mi joined Key, Henry and Onew for lunch again and was thankful that it was much calmer than the previous day’s lunch. Kyuhyun and the girls weren’t anywhere to be seen, not that Zhou mi was really looking for them. When lunch had ended he had returned to his lessons. They had passed easily enough and in short order the students were turned loose for their enrichment lessons. Zhou mi pulled out the list that Mr. Park had given him, as his peers dispersed to different parts of the school.
On the left side of the paper was a neatly written list of all of the lessons he could choose from. They corresponded with the location of the lesson that was written on the right side of the paper. The top entries of the list were a variety of sports. Zhou mi’s eyes scanned right past them. His mother had forbid him from participating in any form of sports because it simply wouldn’t be fair to his peers as she had argued. He thought about trying dance for a moment but he was fairly certain that it was counted under his mothers ban as well, besides his long legs had never cooperated well with the activity.
There was a math group, he noticed after several moments. He wasn’t entirely good at math, but the group would likely be filled with people who were. Perhaps he could join it to get some extra help and then be able to cut out several nights at Mr. Park’s house. It sounded like a reasonable plan and he walked to the room briskly. He hadn’t even gotten in the door when a pair of familiar eyes fell on him.
Kyuhyun was sitting at a desk just inside the door, with several sheets of paper in front of him. He glanced up and a smirk twisted the corners of his mouth. A feeling settled in Zhou mi and although it wasn’t quite fear, it was close enough that he didn’t want to test it any further. He bowed politely and excused himself from the room. So much for his brilliant plan.
Since his first choice was now clearly out of the question, he simply began to walk from room to room, inspecting his next choices. Ceramics sounded interesting, until he walked into the room and was hit with the stench of clay, chemicals, and something burnt. He stammered an apology and left that room as quickly as he could. The wood working and metal working lessons had much the same affect on him and he ruled them out as well.
The computer lesson sounded promising, but he walked in the door and saw screens filled with code being typed by quick fingers, an image that was less then appealing. Chinese lessons would have been a joke, since he was clearly fluent in his mother language, but it would have been better than nothing. He had nearly joined that lesson, when the teacher in charge of it had politely told him that he was not allowed to join because it would not be “beneficial to him.”
By the time the enrichment lessons were nearly finished, Zhou mi still hadn’t found himself a group to join. He walked aimlessly down the hall and sighed. Maybe he could pretend he had joined a hall monitoring lesson, or better yet, started one of his own. Then he wouldn’t have to pick anything at all. As he turned a corner he heard the gentle notes of a piano.
The instrument was well tuned and it sounded pleasant enough. Zhou mi followed the noise until he found the room it was coming from. Standing outside he checked the number of the room against his list and found that ‘Compositions and Vocals’ was contained inside it. In his mind he weighted the pros and cons of joining it over wandering the halls.
He sang well enough and he imagined he could write music, but it was anyone else who may be in the club that would be the real problem. To his sensitive ears, most people that were normally thought of as talented and excellent singers, sounded awful. The slightest discrepancy in pitch or the way a note was sung he could hear clearly and it would sound awful to him. It certainly made music hard to listen to. He had almost decided it wasn’t worth the chance when a voice joined the piano.
Zhou mi waited for it to warble or sound flat the way most voices did, however it didn’t. The note was clear and pure and flowed into the next note smoothly. The voice blended the notes with the melody being played and Zhou mi closed his eyes, listening to one of the rarest treats in the world. It wasn’t very often that he got to hear something so beautiful.
It took him a moment to realize that if what he was hearing through the door was good, the sound when it didn’t have to travel through the solid surface would be that much better. He slipped in the room being careful to keep the door from making a sound so as not to disturb whoever was inside.
Around the room chairs were arranged in smooth rows. In the corner sat a grand piano and on its bench sat the only living thing in the room. His long slender fingers danced over the keys as he sang with his eyes closed. After a moment he paused in the song, lifted a pencil, and marked something on the sheet music in front of him before continuing. Zhou mi held his breath the entire time, hoping that the rare treat wouldn’t end.
A few bars later the man paused again, made another note, and then backed up and sang the same few notes. Another pause and a scribble, and he sang the last notes again, changing the very last one in the series. The man on the bench heaved a frustrated sigh. “That doesn’t sound right,” he muttered, glaring at the music in front of him.
“Maybe you should try an A instead of a B,” Zhou mi suggested quietly.
“Hm, maybe,” the man said ponderingly, and then he gasped and spun on the bench startled. “Oh! I’m sorry I didn’t even see you there!” he said hurriedly.
“That’s alright. I was listening to you play. You sound amazing,” Zhou mi told him honestly.
“Oh,” the man blushed and gathered his music together as if he was ashamed. “This is just something I’m working on.” Once the music was in a neat pile, he laid it face down beside him on the bench and offered Zhou mi a smile. “Can I help you with something?”
“Uh yeah,” Zhou mi glanced down at his list. “I am new to this school and I have to pick an enrichment lesson. Is there anyone else in this one?”
“No. There is a teacher that comes in every once in a while, but he also works with the soccer enrichment lessons so I don’t see him often,” the other teen told him.
“Do you think maybe I could join this one?” Zhou mi asked excitedly.
“I don’t know, we have to actually produce and perform songs every once and awhile,” he looked around the room as if pondering something. Quietly he rose from the bench and walked to a shelf where he removed a binder. “Would you be willing to sing something to see if this is a good fit for you?” he asked him.
“Sure,” Zhou mi agreed readily .
“Here,” the teen handed him a binder. “Pick any you like and I will play it while you try to sing it.”
Zhou mi nodded and accepted the binder. He opened it and wasn’t surprised to see pages of music. He flipped through it, searching for something familiar to him. When he had gotten to the end and found nothing he knew he shrugged and opened it at random. He started at the music for a few minutes, seeing how the notes rose and fell, imagining what it should sound like before handing the binder to the teen. “This one.”
The teen nodded and carried it back to the piano, setting it up and ready for him. Zhou mi followed and stood behind the teen where he could clearly read the music in front of them. The other teen’s fingers began to lightly play the intro and Zhou mi followed along with them. When it was his turn for the vocals to come in, he nearly missed it. However his less than perfect beginning was eclipsed as he began to sing in earnest. By the time he reached the bottom of the page, he was completely enjoying himself.
They didn’t stop at the end of the page, but instead moved all the way through the song. When the last note on the piano and in his voice faded away, the teen turned to him smiling. “You are very good,” he said excitedly. “What did you say your name was?”
“Thank you,” Zhou mi said returning the smile. “My name is Zhou mi.”
“Well Zhou mi,” the teen said rising to his feet. “I’m Ryeowook. Welcome to the ‘Compositions and Vocals’ enrichment lessons.”
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After spending the remaining minutes of the lesson talking with Ryeowook about music, Zhou mi couldn’t find it in him to be worried about anything. Not even the thought of heading over to their neighbors brought him down and he arrived home with a smile on his face and a bounce in his step.
“Well you seem particularly happy about something,” his mother said as he poked her head out from the kitchen.
“I had to join an enrichment lesson today. Guess what I joined?” Zhou mi said eagerly, bounding into the kitchen and to the refrigerator for a snack.
“Compositions and Vocals,” his mother said calmly.
Zhou mi scowled. “It’s not fair when you do that.” He snagged a yogurt from the refrigerator and a spoon from the drawer and plopped with his prize onto a stool by the counter. “It is going to be great mom. Ryeowook has an amazing voice. It is just so clear. If I didn’t know better I would say he wasn’t human, but he smells completely human to me. I didn’t know that humans could sing like that.”
“That is wonderful dear,” his mother said with a smile.
“Um hm,” Zhou mi replied, taking a large scoop of his yogurt. “Hey mom,” he said after he had swallowed it, “Why did you let the alpha in last night?”
“He is a very sweet man,” she said simply. “He is trying to do a good thing next door and he knows how to keep his testosterone under control.” Zhou mi rolled his eyes. His mother was convinced that not even the most normal average man was capable of keeping his testosterone in check. “Although I imagine that has something to do with that mate of his. There isn’t an evil bone in that man’s body.”
Zhou mi waited until he had finished his snack before voicing what was on his mind. “They still scare me mom,” he told her quietly.
“Of course they do dear,” she replied gently. “You would have to have completely crippled instincts for them not to scare you. Trust your instincts my Zhou mi, even if they are telling you things are alright when you don’t think they are and vice versa. Your instincts might know better than your brain does.”
Zhou mi gave her a confused look. “Now go change your clothing into something respectable. We have a dinner to go to.” He sighed and slid from the stool leaving the empty container and spoon on the counter. If he tried to take care of them she would only think he was disobeying her order. He heaved another forlorn sigh and she gave him a look, before he turned and trudged off to his room.
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Dinner had gone well. Zhou mi had rather enjoyed the combination of his mothers cooking and his teachers. The conversation during the meal had gone well too. Zhou mi had simply sat back and allowed the adults to carry it, chiming in his opinion whenever he was asked directly. After the meal, Kangin and his mother had moved to the living room, leaving him with his teacher who insisted that he call him Leeteuk outside of school.
Zhou mi sat at the table with his books spread before him as Leeteuk bounced between tidying the kitchen and helping Zhou mi with math. He had offered to help, but his teacher had waved him back to his chair and seemed content to do both. Leeteuk had been doing so for the better part of an hour when Kangin walked into the room and chuckled.
“Teukie stop mothering the boy. He can add without you hovering over his shoulder.” Zhou mi wasn’t sure how someone could sound affectionate and accusing at the same time, but Kangin managed to. Zhou mi scowled. What he had been trying to do was significantly more difficult than just adding.
“I’m not,” Leeteuk protested. “I am simply making certain he can do everything alright.”
Kangin moved to Leeteuk and slung an arm around his waist casually. “I’m sure he is more than capable.” He placed a kiss and a gentle nip on the man’s neck and Zhou mi saw them for what they were, a statement of possession. He wondered briefly if Kangin even realized the display he had just performed. He didn’t seem to.
“He is but,” Leeteuk made a helpless noise. Zhou mi knew he didn’t want to imply that his student was struggling but at the same time he needed a good excuse for his hovering.
“Leeteuk,” Zhou mi asked tentatively. “Is this correct?” He held up the paper and Leeteuk offered Kangin a look before accepting it. Kangin made an exasperated noise and threw his hands into the air.
“Let’s see,” Leeteuk said as he mused over the paper. “It looks good,” he announced a moment later and handed the paper back.
“Zhou mi,” his mother called as she stepped in from the living room. “I’m going to be heading home,” she told him. “You keep up the hard work here and come home when you are finished.”
Zhou mi nodded and picked up his pen to begin the next problem. Begging her not to leave him here would be childish and stupid. “Thank you for dinner, Leeteuk,” she said smoothly, walking to him and kissing him lightly on the cheek.
Kangin offered her a low rumbling grumble and she shoved the hand held phone from the living room into his chest. “You will be needing this in three minutes,” she told him, completely ignoring the warning noise that he had given her. She moved to Zhou mi and kissed him on the head. “Remember what we talked about dear,” she told him. “I’ll show myself out,” she said with a smile, and strode from the room before anyone could say another word.
“I like that woman,” Leeteuk said with a grin.
Kangin growled. “You would.”
“Oh hush,” Leeteuk admonished him. “She isn’t a threat to you in the slightest. I am your mate and nothing will change that. Stop getting your fur all ruffled.” He turned and moved back to putting his dishes away and Kangin watched him almost helplessly.
Zhou mi smiled and returned his attention to his paper. The only person that would ever be able to so soundly defeat and put an alpha back in his place was his mate. He began writing out the problem and attempting to solve it, aware that Kangin still hadn’t made up his mind where he was going.
Exactly three minutes after his mother had left the phone in Kangin’s hand rang. Zhou mi shook his head, having fully expected it after his mother’s words, and the alpha lifted it to his ear and answered it. “Hello?”
‘Kangin,’ a female voice came over the device. Zhou mi couldn’t quite figure out who it was from the voice yet but he could hear the worry and fear in the tone. ‘There is trouble,’ she said quickly.
“Kyuhyun?” Kangin asked instantly. Leeteuk set down the dish in his hands and moved closer even though Zhou mi knew that he didn’t need to be any closer to hear clearly.
‘Yes,’ she answered.
“On a scale of one to ten, how close to losing control is he?” Kangin asked firmly.
‘Eleven,’ she answered quietly.
“Hold the phone closer to him,” Kangin ordered. There wasn’t a response but after a moment Kangin began speaking again. “Kyuhyun,” he said as if he was talking directly to the teen. “Come home immediately. Do nothing else but return straight home.” It was a direct command from an alpha to a member of his pack, but more than simple words, Zhou mi felt the power of the alpha wash over him.
It wasn’t just a suggestion for Kyuhyun to obey. Kangin had put his power behind it and Zhou mi knew that Kyuhyun wouldn’t be able to resist the order. There was some sort of deep magic tightly twined with an animalistic dominance that made anyone want to obey a direct order from an alpha. Even a normal human or one not in his pack, would have been compelled to listen.
As it rolled over him and slid away Zhou mi shuddered. It didn’t have any hold on him, since the command hadn’t been for him, but the strength of it, the feel of it, terrified him. Memories that he never wanted to surface again were tied to that power.
‘We are coming home,’ he heard the female voice say.
“Good,” Kangin replied and there was a beep as he ended the call. “What are we going to do with that boy?” Kangin growled.
“Youngwoon,” Leeteuk said lowly. Zhou mi’s eyes flicked to them and Leeteuk’s hand was clenched around Kangin’s forearm. His eyes had gone a light blue. Kangin looked at him questioningly, then confused. “Zhou mi,” he breathed. Uncurling his fingers as if it was the hardest thing he had to do.
Kangin turned to look at him and Zhou mi swallowed back a whimper. A growl bubbled up from Kangin’s throat and his eyes flashed golden before he closed them tightly. “Shit. If Kyuhyun comes home,” he didn’t add what would happen, letting the statement hang. “Leeteuk go outside and wait for them,” Kangin told him. It wasn’t an order, not a real one with any power behind it, but Leeteuk seemed relieved as he quickly left the room.
Zhou mi couldn’t take his eyes off Kangin as the man moved slowly. “Tell you what Zhou mi, I’m just going to lay on the floor here, and you just take a couple of breaths ok? Everything is fine. You are safe,” as he was talking Kangin did just as he said and slowly lowered himself onto the floor. He lay on his back and pillowed his head on his hands.
“Zhou mi,” he said conversationally as he stared at the ceiling, his eyes back to their normal color. “Do you know about the two types of wolves in a pack?”
Zhou mi took a minute to find his voice, but the question gave him something else to think about other then the memories. “Submissive and dominate wolves?” he offered hesitantly.
“Very good,” Kangin praised him. “Do you know their roles in the pack?”
“No,” Zhou mi said quietly.
“That’s alright. See dominates are wolves that are driven to protect. Their instincts tell them to keep the pack safe and happy through any means necessary, sometimes even using violence. Alphas have this instinct the strongest of all. Submissive wolves are wolves that hold the pack together. They don’t react with violence very often at all and so they give a dominate something to look after, something to protect and care for. Through these wolves a pack is pulled together and given purpose,” Kangin explained.
“You are a Quieter. You have all of the desire to protect that an alpha does, just as strong as any alpha would, but you don’t react with the violence. At the same time any dominate wolf is instinctively drawn to protect you. You are to be protected and cherished above anything else. Our very instincts tell us this,” Kangin said gently.
“You all want to protect me?” Zhou mi said bewildered.
“More than anything,” Kangin replied with a nod. “The more dominate we are, the more we want to protect you. But we are having a bit of a problem. We can’t protect you from your own fear.”
“I,” Zhou mi started, but then he stopped, not sure of what he was going to say.
“Zhou mi, have you ever seen a dominate wolf’s reaction when a submissive wolf was terrified?” Kangin asked gently.
“Yes,” Zhou mi said softly, clenching his eyes shut. “Once.”
“What happened?”
“The second in the pack attacked the wolf that had scared the submissive. He was hurt pretty badly.”
Kangin nodded. “Leeteuk and I have very good control. If we didn’t, Leeteuk would have just torn me apart for scaring you.”
Zhou mi’s eyes shot open, “But you didn’t mean to. It wasn’t your fault,” his words came out in a rush.
“I know that. Leeteuk knows that. But both of our instincts were screaming to find the threat and eliminate it. Leeteuk’s instincts more than mine because I was distracted. I’m telling you this because you need to know what you do to us when you are around. You need to be aware what your fear could cause. Fear is a reaction but it is something you can beat Zhou mi. You will never be in danger here. I will never hurt you nor will I let anything hurt you again. You have an entire pack that would die to protect you. We may be small but we are fierce,” Kangin chuckled to himself.
Zhou mi hung his head. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I, I can’t.” he found that he couldn’t say what he wanted to say but Kangin understood anyway.
“It’s hard to erase the past and some scars will never leave you,” Kangin replied.
“Did you know,” Leeteuk said gently from the entry way to the kitchen. Zhou mi hadn’t realized he had entered the house again, but he wasn’t as startled as he thought he would be. “That even after three years, Kangin has to announce his presence verbally if I don’t see him before he touches me? If he doesn’t I can be unpredictable. The last time he didn’t, I nearly tore his arm off and it took him weeks to recover. Memories made me do that to my mate,” there was pain in Leeteuk’s voice and Zhou mi could see sadness in his eyes. “The memories may never leave but I found a way to get past them. You can too, in time. You simply have to want to.”
Zhou mi nodded and felt his fear starting to subside. He knew that both men were trusting him with precious things. He had never seen an alpha put himself in such venerable positions before and to learn so much about them after only a few short days was a gift. He felt for the first time, that perhaps this mismatched pack could help him after all. “How hard was it for you to lie on the floor just now?” Zhou mi asked after a moment.
Kangin laughed and sat up. “It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I’m an alpha. I don’t just lie there when something is upsetting one of mine. I go and kill it, but this time there is nothing I can kill. I don’t like that.”
“I’m sorry,” Zhou mi said quietly.
“Don’t be. You are very special,” Kangin told him.
“How can I be? If I panic because I saw a spider, you are going to tear the house apart looking for the source of my fear,” Zhou mi said.
Leeteuk laughed. “No harm there, he already does that.”
Kangin scowled. “I do not.” Leeteuk offered him a pointed look and he sighed. “It was only once,” he muttered before turning his attention back to Zhou mi. “You bring a pack together through their protection of you, but there is more. You calm the wolf inside us. When you are calm the Beast in us can be calm simply by being near you. You can make even the most crazy wolf completely sane again.”
“That is how you stopped the fight,” Leeteuk told him. “When you stepped between them, you were confident and calm. You allowed Kyuhyun’s human side to grab a hold of his Beast and get it under control again. You give us peace Zhou mi. You let us feel human again.”
“I do?” Zhou mi asked blinking in confusion. “But then how were there still-” He bit off that thought before he could complete it.
Kangin smiled sadly. “Some of us have given in completely to the Beast side and end up with very little human left. Still others let their Beast rule and even with your help it is very hard for their weak human side to take over.”
“Zhou mi,” Leeteuk said gently, sitting down beside him. “The wolf in me has been deeply wounded and angry for so long. When you walked into my classroom, it was the first time that the wolf in me curled up and found rest. It was the first time that I have felt so human. The first time I didn’t have to worry about losing control. That is something that no one can put value on.”
“I did that,” Zhou mi breathed, not really questioning but completely bewildered at the same time. Then it was as if something in his head clicked. “I was the reason that dad could act normal when he was at home with just us,” he said softly. “How do I do it?” he asked, suddenly eager.
Kangin laughed and moved from the floor to a chair. “All you do is be calm yourself. Everything else happens naturally. The closer we are to you the more we feel it.” Zhou mi nodded in thought and Kangin turned his head to the door. “Kyuhyun is home,” he rose and moved to the edge of the kitchen where he casually leaned against the archway into the hall.
“Zhou mi, listen,” Leeteuk said softly. “He is very close to losing control, but you don’t need to be afraid of him. Kangin and I will protect you.”
“If I get scared of him I will push him over the edge won’t I?” Zhou mi asked softly.
“Yes,” Leeteuk replied. “And I don’t know if Kangin could use the kind of force necessary to subdue him.”
Zhou mi nodded and swallowed. He picked up his pencil and slid his forgotten math book closer. “Can you help me with this problem?” he asked, pointing out one that looked particularly difficult.
“Sure,” Leeteuk agreed. He began guiding him through it, correcting his errors and helping him to work towards an answer. The work allowed him to almost entirely ignore the front door slamming and the smell of anger and fear all mixed together. There was a murmur of feminine voices and Kangin’s strong stern response. Zhou mi heard feet on the stairs leading to the second floor and the sound of a door slamming. Through it all he focused on the math and it helped to keep him calm.
A few minutes later Kangin joined them at the table again. “You did very well Zhou mi,” he said proudly.
“I didn’t know, before,” Zhou mi said slowly. He hated sounding like he was making excuses but it was the truth.
“It isn’t your fault that no one told you,” Kangin responded automatically. There was a crash and the sound of things breaking from upstairs and Kangin looked to the ceiling with eyes narrowed. “I might have to move him to the basement.”
Leeteuk looked sad but nodded. “It is worse this month I think.”
“What is?” Zhou mi asked.
“Whenever the full moon gets near, Kyuhyun’s Beast gets closer to the surface. He is a violent wolf and because of the way our pack works, he has nothing to take that violence out on. That usually leaves him testy and moody before the full moon, but he hasn’t been this bad since he was turned.
“It’s probably my fault,” Zhou mi said.
“No,” Leeteuk replied instantly.
“It is. I’m always scared around werewolves and if everything you told me is true, then he is probably going crazy because of that,” Zhou mi explained.
“You weren’t there tonight when he lost control,” Kangin pointed out calmly.
“No,” Zhou mi replied, pausing to ponder. “You said that I can give you peace and put the Beast to sleep right?” Kangin nodded as another crash sounded overhead. “Then I can calm him down.”
“No,” Leeteuk said instantly. “Zhou mi you have to have peace to give it. If you even show the slightest bit of fear Kyuhyun will get even worse.”
“I can do it,” Zhou mi said, suddenly confident. He felt as though he really could do just what he was saying even if he didn’t know why. “I don’t think I’m afraid of him, not really.”
Leeteuk offered Kangin a pleading look and Kangin laughed. “Even if I wanted to I couldn’t stop him. Even if he was one of my pack, my orders would slide right off them.”
“They would?” Zhou mi asked surprised. Orders for members of a pack, worked like a compulsion. No wolf could resist the order of their alpha.
“They would. No one owns you. You can belong to a pack if you choose but they cannot command you,” Kangin said firmly.
Zhou mi nodded. Somehow he knew Kangin was telling him the truth. “Kyuhyun is good at math right?” Zhou mi asked staring down at his book.
“Yes,” Leeteuk answer helplessly.
“I think I will get him to help me with this problem. No offense, Leeteuk,” Zhou mi said calmly as he stood and gathered both his book and his work into his arms. He nodded to himself and carried it from the room in the direction of the stairs.
Leeteuk released a helpless noise and Kangin smiled. “I think someone tried to break him but it didn’t quite go as planned,” he mused.
“Kangin, you can’t just let him go up there,” Leeteuk pleaded.
Kangin shrugged. “What can I do? He is a Quieter, he will be fine.”
Masterlist
AN: I think this story is grabbing my brain and running away with it. I'm afraid that my muses have decided that this is the new chapter length, not that any of you are complaining I'm sure. Oh well, hopefully this can keep them occupied and out of other forms of trouble.
Chapter Five
By noon, Zhou mi was certain that Tuesday was the worst day of the week. If a Monday was bad, it could simply be said that it was the start of the week and things always started rough. If it was a Wednesday that was bad, it was always the middle of the week so the week was half done if nothing else. If a Thursday was bad, there was only one more weekday to hold on through. If a Friday was bad, it didn’t really matter because the weekend had arrived as soon as it was done. But if a Tuesday was bad, it was the most miserable thing in the world. It meant that not only was the Tuesday bad, but the rest of the very long week could easily go just as badly.
Morning lessons had, more or less, gone fine. Zhou mi had been too busy focusing on everything that was being said and scribbling down notes, to pay that much attention to anything going on around him. After the lessons, however, Mr. Park had called for him to stay for a few moments before heading off to lunch.
“Zhou mi,” Mr. Park said kindly after straightening a pile of papers. “I wanted to tell you about this afternoon. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, instead of your last afternoon lesson you will need to attend something called an enrichment lesson. This sheet here,” Mr. Park handed him a sheet with several lines of words, “lists all of the choices you have for enrichment. No one will expect you to pick by today, so you will be free to visit several of them, and decide what you would like to attend regularly. If you need any help you can ask any staff or classmate.”
“Thank you, Mr. Park,” Zhou mi said, bowing slightly.
“That isn’t all,” Mr. Park told him with a smile, “I would like you to come to my house tonight after school.”
Zhou mi swallowed. “Might I ask why?”
Mr. Park turned and picked up a few papers and focused on them. “I noticed that while your score on this wasn’t horrible, you are lacking some of the key literature knowledge that you will need. You also are a bit behind in math and seemed to have missed a foundational section entirely. Not to mention that while you scored excellent on Chinese history, your Korean history leaves much to be desired. I will say that your Korean comprehension is excellent as is your writing, however you must work on your penmanship a bit.” The last statement made Zhou mi smile. His penmanship in his own language wasn’t the best either.
“What I would like to do,” Mr. Park said, placing the paper back on his desk, “is to have you over a few nights a week so that I can get you back up to speed. You are a bright student Zhou mi. I would hate to see you have to repeat a year or fall behind altogether.”
He pulled the pair of glasses of his nose and folded them neatly. “Kangin also wanted to see you again. He wanted to talk to you more about your special set of skills. I would love to have both you and your mother over for dinner tonight.”
“Mother doesn’t like gatherings with a lot of people,” Zhou mi said quickly.
Mr. Park laughed. “Oh don’t worry. Tonight is ‘Get Out of My House’ night, as Kangin so lovingly calls it. No one is allowed in the house until midnight unless I invite them. It will be just us. Kangin has already spoken to your mother about it.”
“He has?” Zhou mi held his books tighter to his chest.
Mr. Park nodded. “Yes and she seemed very interested. She did say that you would have to agree though, that she wouldn’t want to leave you to fend for yourself.”
Zhou mi could just imagine what his mother would say if he turned down the offer from his teacher. “I would love to,” he said hesitantly, bowing again. “Thank you for all of you help Mr. Park.”
The man smiled. “You are welcome. You should get to lunch before it is over. I will see you tonight.”
Zhou mi nodded and scampered from the room before he could be talked into anything else. Although he had felt relaxed enough around the alpha last night, he wasn’t looking forward to a second visit anytime soon. So far it was turning out to be the worst Tuesday in existence.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
Zhou mi joined Key, Henry and Onew for lunch again and was thankful that it was much calmer than the previous day’s lunch. Kyuhyun and the girls weren’t anywhere to be seen, not that Zhou mi was really looking for them. When lunch had ended he had returned to his lessons. They had passed easily enough and in short order the students were turned loose for their enrichment lessons. Zhou mi pulled out the list that Mr. Park had given him, as his peers dispersed to different parts of the school.
On the left side of the paper was a neatly written list of all of the lessons he could choose from. They corresponded with the location of the lesson that was written on the right side of the paper. The top entries of the list were a variety of sports. Zhou mi’s eyes scanned right past them. His mother had forbid him from participating in any form of sports because it simply wouldn’t be fair to his peers as she had argued. He thought about trying dance for a moment but he was fairly certain that it was counted under his mothers ban as well, besides his long legs had never cooperated well with the activity.
There was a math group, he noticed after several moments. He wasn’t entirely good at math, but the group would likely be filled with people who were. Perhaps he could join it to get some extra help and then be able to cut out several nights at Mr. Park’s house. It sounded like a reasonable plan and he walked to the room briskly. He hadn’t even gotten in the door when a pair of familiar eyes fell on him.
Kyuhyun was sitting at a desk just inside the door, with several sheets of paper in front of him. He glanced up and a smirk twisted the corners of his mouth. A feeling settled in Zhou mi and although it wasn’t quite fear, it was close enough that he didn’t want to test it any further. He bowed politely and excused himself from the room. So much for his brilliant plan.
Since his first choice was now clearly out of the question, he simply began to walk from room to room, inspecting his next choices. Ceramics sounded interesting, until he walked into the room and was hit with the stench of clay, chemicals, and something burnt. He stammered an apology and left that room as quickly as he could. The wood working and metal working lessons had much the same affect on him and he ruled them out as well.
The computer lesson sounded promising, but he walked in the door and saw screens filled with code being typed by quick fingers, an image that was less then appealing. Chinese lessons would have been a joke, since he was clearly fluent in his mother language, but it would have been better than nothing. He had nearly joined that lesson, when the teacher in charge of it had politely told him that he was not allowed to join because it would not be “beneficial to him.”
By the time the enrichment lessons were nearly finished, Zhou mi still hadn’t found himself a group to join. He walked aimlessly down the hall and sighed. Maybe he could pretend he had joined a hall monitoring lesson, or better yet, started one of his own. Then he wouldn’t have to pick anything at all. As he turned a corner he heard the gentle notes of a piano.
The instrument was well tuned and it sounded pleasant enough. Zhou mi followed the noise until he found the room it was coming from. Standing outside he checked the number of the room against his list and found that ‘Compositions and Vocals’ was contained inside it. In his mind he weighted the pros and cons of joining it over wandering the halls.
He sang well enough and he imagined he could write music, but it was anyone else who may be in the club that would be the real problem. To his sensitive ears, most people that were normally thought of as talented and excellent singers, sounded awful. The slightest discrepancy in pitch or the way a note was sung he could hear clearly and it would sound awful to him. It certainly made music hard to listen to. He had almost decided it wasn’t worth the chance when a voice joined the piano.
Zhou mi waited for it to warble or sound flat the way most voices did, however it didn’t. The note was clear and pure and flowed into the next note smoothly. The voice blended the notes with the melody being played and Zhou mi closed his eyes, listening to one of the rarest treats in the world. It wasn’t very often that he got to hear something so beautiful.
It took him a moment to realize that if what he was hearing through the door was good, the sound when it didn’t have to travel through the solid surface would be that much better. He slipped in the room being careful to keep the door from making a sound so as not to disturb whoever was inside.
Around the room chairs were arranged in smooth rows. In the corner sat a grand piano and on its bench sat the only living thing in the room. His long slender fingers danced over the keys as he sang with his eyes closed. After a moment he paused in the song, lifted a pencil, and marked something on the sheet music in front of him before continuing. Zhou mi held his breath the entire time, hoping that the rare treat wouldn’t end.
A few bars later the man paused again, made another note, and then backed up and sang the same few notes. Another pause and a scribble, and he sang the last notes again, changing the very last one in the series. The man on the bench heaved a frustrated sigh. “That doesn’t sound right,” he muttered, glaring at the music in front of him.
“Maybe you should try an A instead of a B,” Zhou mi suggested quietly.
“Hm, maybe,” the man said ponderingly, and then he gasped and spun on the bench startled. “Oh! I’m sorry I didn’t even see you there!” he said hurriedly.
“That’s alright. I was listening to you play. You sound amazing,” Zhou mi told him honestly.
“Oh,” the man blushed and gathered his music together as if he was ashamed. “This is just something I’m working on.” Once the music was in a neat pile, he laid it face down beside him on the bench and offered Zhou mi a smile. “Can I help you with something?”
“Uh yeah,” Zhou mi glanced down at his list. “I am new to this school and I have to pick an enrichment lesson. Is there anyone else in this one?”
“No. There is a teacher that comes in every once in a while, but he also works with the soccer enrichment lessons so I don’t see him often,” the other teen told him.
“Do you think maybe I could join this one?” Zhou mi asked excitedly.
“I don’t know, we have to actually produce and perform songs every once and awhile,” he looked around the room as if pondering something. Quietly he rose from the bench and walked to a shelf where he removed a binder. “Would you be willing to sing something to see if this is a good fit for you?” he asked him.
“Sure,” Zhou mi agreed readily .
“Here,” the teen handed him a binder. “Pick any you like and I will play it while you try to sing it.”
Zhou mi nodded and accepted the binder. He opened it and wasn’t surprised to see pages of music. He flipped through it, searching for something familiar to him. When he had gotten to the end and found nothing he knew he shrugged and opened it at random. He started at the music for a few minutes, seeing how the notes rose and fell, imagining what it should sound like before handing the binder to the teen. “This one.”
The teen nodded and carried it back to the piano, setting it up and ready for him. Zhou mi followed and stood behind the teen where he could clearly read the music in front of them. The other teen’s fingers began to lightly play the intro and Zhou mi followed along with them. When it was his turn for the vocals to come in, he nearly missed it. However his less than perfect beginning was eclipsed as he began to sing in earnest. By the time he reached the bottom of the page, he was completely enjoying himself.
They didn’t stop at the end of the page, but instead moved all the way through the song. When the last note on the piano and in his voice faded away, the teen turned to him smiling. “You are very good,” he said excitedly. “What did you say your name was?”
“Thank you,” Zhou mi said returning the smile. “My name is Zhou mi.”
“Well Zhou mi,” the teen said rising to his feet. “I’m Ryeowook. Welcome to the ‘Compositions and Vocals’ enrichment lessons.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
After spending the remaining minutes of the lesson talking with Ryeowook about music, Zhou mi couldn’t find it in him to be worried about anything. Not even the thought of heading over to their neighbors brought him down and he arrived home with a smile on his face and a bounce in his step.
“Well you seem particularly happy about something,” his mother said as he poked her head out from the kitchen.
“I had to join an enrichment lesson today. Guess what I joined?” Zhou mi said eagerly, bounding into the kitchen and to the refrigerator for a snack.
“Compositions and Vocals,” his mother said calmly.
Zhou mi scowled. “It’s not fair when you do that.” He snagged a yogurt from the refrigerator and a spoon from the drawer and plopped with his prize onto a stool by the counter. “It is going to be great mom. Ryeowook has an amazing voice. It is just so clear. If I didn’t know better I would say he wasn’t human, but he smells completely human to me. I didn’t know that humans could sing like that.”
“That is wonderful dear,” his mother said with a smile.
“Um hm,” Zhou mi replied, taking a large scoop of his yogurt. “Hey mom,” he said after he had swallowed it, “Why did you let the alpha in last night?”
“He is a very sweet man,” she said simply. “He is trying to do a good thing next door and he knows how to keep his testosterone under control.” Zhou mi rolled his eyes. His mother was convinced that not even the most normal average man was capable of keeping his testosterone in check. “Although I imagine that has something to do with that mate of his. There isn’t an evil bone in that man’s body.”
Zhou mi waited until he had finished his snack before voicing what was on his mind. “They still scare me mom,” he told her quietly.
“Of course they do dear,” she replied gently. “You would have to have completely crippled instincts for them not to scare you. Trust your instincts my Zhou mi, even if they are telling you things are alright when you don’t think they are and vice versa. Your instincts might know better than your brain does.”
Zhou mi gave her a confused look. “Now go change your clothing into something respectable. We have a dinner to go to.” He sighed and slid from the stool leaving the empty container and spoon on the counter. If he tried to take care of them she would only think he was disobeying her order. He heaved another forlorn sigh and she gave him a look, before he turned and trudged off to his room.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
Dinner had gone well. Zhou mi had rather enjoyed the combination of his mothers cooking and his teachers. The conversation during the meal had gone well too. Zhou mi had simply sat back and allowed the adults to carry it, chiming in his opinion whenever he was asked directly. After the meal, Kangin and his mother had moved to the living room, leaving him with his teacher who insisted that he call him Leeteuk outside of school.
Zhou mi sat at the table with his books spread before him as Leeteuk bounced between tidying the kitchen and helping Zhou mi with math. He had offered to help, but his teacher had waved him back to his chair and seemed content to do both. Leeteuk had been doing so for the better part of an hour when Kangin walked into the room and chuckled.
“Teukie stop mothering the boy. He can add without you hovering over his shoulder.” Zhou mi wasn’t sure how someone could sound affectionate and accusing at the same time, but Kangin managed to. Zhou mi scowled. What he had been trying to do was significantly more difficult than just adding.
“I’m not,” Leeteuk protested. “I am simply making certain he can do everything alright.”
Kangin moved to Leeteuk and slung an arm around his waist casually. “I’m sure he is more than capable.” He placed a kiss and a gentle nip on the man’s neck and Zhou mi saw them for what they were, a statement of possession. He wondered briefly if Kangin even realized the display he had just performed. He didn’t seem to.
“He is but,” Leeteuk made a helpless noise. Zhou mi knew he didn’t want to imply that his student was struggling but at the same time he needed a good excuse for his hovering.
“Leeteuk,” Zhou mi asked tentatively. “Is this correct?” He held up the paper and Leeteuk offered Kangin a look before accepting it. Kangin made an exasperated noise and threw his hands into the air.
“Let’s see,” Leeteuk said as he mused over the paper. “It looks good,” he announced a moment later and handed the paper back.
“Zhou mi,” his mother called as she stepped in from the living room. “I’m going to be heading home,” she told him. “You keep up the hard work here and come home when you are finished.”
Zhou mi nodded and picked up his pen to begin the next problem. Begging her not to leave him here would be childish and stupid. “Thank you for dinner, Leeteuk,” she said smoothly, walking to him and kissing him lightly on the cheek.
Kangin offered her a low rumbling grumble and she shoved the hand held phone from the living room into his chest. “You will be needing this in three minutes,” she told him, completely ignoring the warning noise that he had given her. She moved to Zhou mi and kissed him on the head. “Remember what we talked about dear,” she told him. “I’ll show myself out,” she said with a smile, and strode from the room before anyone could say another word.
“I like that woman,” Leeteuk said with a grin.
Kangin growled. “You would.”
“Oh hush,” Leeteuk admonished him. “She isn’t a threat to you in the slightest. I am your mate and nothing will change that. Stop getting your fur all ruffled.” He turned and moved back to putting his dishes away and Kangin watched him almost helplessly.
Zhou mi smiled and returned his attention to his paper. The only person that would ever be able to so soundly defeat and put an alpha back in his place was his mate. He began writing out the problem and attempting to solve it, aware that Kangin still hadn’t made up his mind where he was going.
Exactly three minutes after his mother had left the phone in Kangin’s hand rang. Zhou mi shook his head, having fully expected it after his mother’s words, and the alpha lifted it to his ear and answered it. “Hello?”
‘Kangin,’ a female voice came over the device. Zhou mi couldn’t quite figure out who it was from the voice yet but he could hear the worry and fear in the tone. ‘There is trouble,’ she said quickly.
“Kyuhyun?” Kangin asked instantly. Leeteuk set down the dish in his hands and moved closer even though Zhou mi knew that he didn’t need to be any closer to hear clearly.
‘Yes,’ she answered.
“On a scale of one to ten, how close to losing control is he?” Kangin asked firmly.
‘Eleven,’ she answered quietly.
“Hold the phone closer to him,” Kangin ordered. There wasn’t a response but after a moment Kangin began speaking again. “Kyuhyun,” he said as if he was talking directly to the teen. “Come home immediately. Do nothing else but return straight home.” It was a direct command from an alpha to a member of his pack, but more than simple words, Zhou mi felt the power of the alpha wash over him.
It wasn’t just a suggestion for Kyuhyun to obey. Kangin had put his power behind it and Zhou mi knew that Kyuhyun wouldn’t be able to resist the order. There was some sort of deep magic tightly twined with an animalistic dominance that made anyone want to obey a direct order from an alpha. Even a normal human or one not in his pack, would have been compelled to listen.
As it rolled over him and slid away Zhou mi shuddered. It didn’t have any hold on him, since the command hadn’t been for him, but the strength of it, the feel of it, terrified him. Memories that he never wanted to surface again were tied to that power.
‘We are coming home,’ he heard the female voice say.
“Good,” Kangin replied and there was a beep as he ended the call. “What are we going to do with that boy?” Kangin growled.
“Youngwoon,” Leeteuk said lowly. Zhou mi’s eyes flicked to them and Leeteuk’s hand was clenched around Kangin’s forearm. His eyes had gone a light blue. Kangin looked at him questioningly, then confused. “Zhou mi,” he breathed. Uncurling his fingers as if it was the hardest thing he had to do.
Kangin turned to look at him and Zhou mi swallowed back a whimper. A growl bubbled up from Kangin’s throat and his eyes flashed golden before he closed them tightly. “Shit. If Kyuhyun comes home,” he didn’t add what would happen, letting the statement hang. “Leeteuk go outside and wait for them,” Kangin told him. It wasn’t an order, not a real one with any power behind it, but Leeteuk seemed relieved as he quickly left the room.
Zhou mi couldn’t take his eyes off Kangin as the man moved slowly. “Tell you what Zhou mi, I’m just going to lay on the floor here, and you just take a couple of breaths ok? Everything is fine. You are safe,” as he was talking Kangin did just as he said and slowly lowered himself onto the floor. He lay on his back and pillowed his head on his hands.
“Zhou mi,” he said conversationally as he stared at the ceiling, his eyes back to their normal color. “Do you know about the two types of wolves in a pack?”
Zhou mi took a minute to find his voice, but the question gave him something else to think about other then the memories. “Submissive and dominate wolves?” he offered hesitantly.
“Very good,” Kangin praised him. “Do you know their roles in the pack?”
“No,” Zhou mi said quietly.
“That’s alright. See dominates are wolves that are driven to protect. Their instincts tell them to keep the pack safe and happy through any means necessary, sometimes even using violence. Alphas have this instinct the strongest of all. Submissive wolves are wolves that hold the pack together. They don’t react with violence very often at all and so they give a dominate something to look after, something to protect and care for. Through these wolves a pack is pulled together and given purpose,” Kangin explained.
“You are a Quieter. You have all of the desire to protect that an alpha does, just as strong as any alpha would, but you don’t react with the violence. At the same time any dominate wolf is instinctively drawn to protect you. You are to be protected and cherished above anything else. Our very instincts tell us this,” Kangin said gently.
“You all want to protect me?” Zhou mi said bewildered.
“More than anything,” Kangin replied with a nod. “The more dominate we are, the more we want to protect you. But we are having a bit of a problem. We can’t protect you from your own fear.”
“I,” Zhou mi started, but then he stopped, not sure of what he was going to say.
“Zhou mi, have you ever seen a dominate wolf’s reaction when a submissive wolf was terrified?” Kangin asked gently.
“Yes,” Zhou mi said softly, clenching his eyes shut. “Once.”
“What happened?”
“The second in the pack attacked the wolf that had scared the submissive. He was hurt pretty badly.”
Kangin nodded. “Leeteuk and I have very good control. If we didn’t, Leeteuk would have just torn me apart for scaring you.”
Zhou mi’s eyes shot open, “But you didn’t mean to. It wasn’t your fault,” his words came out in a rush.
“I know that. Leeteuk knows that. But both of our instincts were screaming to find the threat and eliminate it. Leeteuk’s instincts more than mine because I was distracted. I’m telling you this because you need to know what you do to us when you are around. You need to be aware what your fear could cause. Fear is a reaction but it is something you can beat Zhou mi. You will never be in danger here. I will never hurt you nor will I let anything hurt you again. You have an entire pack that would die to protect you. We may be small but we are fierce,” Kangin chuckled to himself.
Zhou mi hung his head. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I, I can’t.” he found that he couldn’t say what he wanted to say but Kangin understood anyway.
“It’s hard to erase the past and some scars will never leave you,” Kangin replied.
“Did you know,” Leeteuk said gently from the entry way to the kitchen. Zhou mi hadn’t realized he had entered the house again, but he wasn’t as startled as he thought he would be. “That even after three years, Kangin has to announce his presence verbally if I don’t see him before he touches me? If he doesn’t I can be unpredictable. The last time he didn’t, I nearly tore his arm off and it took him weeks to recover. Memories made me do that to my mate,” there was pain in Leeteuk’s voice and Zhou mi could see sadness in his eyes. “The memories may never leave but I found a way to get past them. You can too, in time. You simply have to want to.”
Zhou mi nodded and felt his fear starting to subside. He knew that both men were trusting him with precious things. He had never seen an alpha put himself in such venerable positions before and to learn so much about them after only a few short days was a gift. He felt for the first time, that perhaps this mismatched pack could help him after all. “How hard was it for you to lie on the floor just now?” Zhou mi asked after a moment.
Kangin laughed and sat up. “It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I’m an alpha. I don’t just lie there when something is upsetting one of mine. I go and kill it, but this time there is nothing I can kill. I don’t like that.”
“I’m sorry,” Zhou mi said quietly.
“Don’t be. You are very special,” Kangin told him.
“How can I be? If I panic because I saw a spider, you are going to tear the house apart looking for the source of my fear,” Zhou mi said.
Leeteuk laughed. “No harm there, he already does that.”
Kangin scowled. “I do not.” Leeteuk offered him a pointed look and he sighed. “It was only once,” he muttered before turning his attention back to Zhou mi. “You bring a pack together through their protection of you, but there is more. You calm the wolf inside us. When you are calm the Beast in us can be calm simply by being near you. You can make even the most crazy wolf completely sane again.”
“That is how you stopped the fight,” Leeteuk told him. “When you stepped between them, you were confident and calm. You allowed Kyuhyun’s human side to grab a hold of his Beast and get it under control again. You give us peace Zhou mi. You let us feel human again.”
“I do?” Zhou mi asked blinking in confusion. “But then how were there still-” He bit off that thought before he could complete it.
Kangin smiled sadly. “Some of us have given in completely to the Beast side and end up with very little human left. Still others let their Beast rule and even with your help it is very hard for their weak human side to take over.”
“Zhou mi,” Leeteuk said gently, sitting down beside him. “The wolf in me has been deeply wounded and angry for so long. When you walked into my classroom, it was the first time that the wolf in me curled up and found rest. It was the first time that I have felt so human. The first time I didn’t have to worry about losing control. That is something that no one can put value on.”
“I did that,” Zhou mi breathed, not really questioning but completely bewildered at the same time. Then it was as if something in his head clicked. “I was the reason that dad could act normal when he was at home with just us,” he said softly. “How do I do it?” he asked, suddenly eager.
Kangin laughed and moved from the floor to a chair. “All you do is be calm yourself. Everything else happens naturally. The closer we are to you the more we feel it.” Zhou mi nodded in thought and Kangin turned his head to the door. “Kyuhyun is home,” he rose and moved to the edge of the kitchen where he casually leaned against the archway into the hall.
“Zhou mi, listen,” Leeteuk said softly. “He is very close to losing control, but you don’t need to be afraid of him. Kangin and I will protect you.”
“If I get scared of him I will push him over the edge won’t I?” Zhou mi asked softly.
“Yes,” Leeteuk replied. “And I don’t know if Kangin could use the kind of force necessary to subdue him.”
Zhou mi nodded and swallowed. He picked up his pencil and slid his forgotten math book closer. “Can you help me with this problem?” he asked, pointing out one that looked particularly difficult.
“Sure,” Leeteuk agreed. He began guiding him through it, correcting his errors and helping him to work towards an answer. The work allowed him to almost entirely ignore the front door slamming and the smell of anger and fear all mixed together. There was a murmur of feminine voices and Kangin’s strong stern response. Zhou mi heard feet on the stairs leading to the second floor and the sound of a door slamming. Through it all he focused on the math and it helped to keep him calm.
A few minutes later Kangin joined them at the table again. “You did very well Zhou mi,” he said proudly.
“I didn’t know, before,” Zhou mi said slowly. He hated sounding like he was making excuses but it was the truth.
“It isn’t your fault that no one told you,” Kangin responded automatically. There was a crash and the sound of things breaking from upstairs and Kangin looked to the ceiling with eyes narrowed. “I might have to move him to the basement.”
Leeteuk looked sad but nodded. “It is worse this month I think.”
“What is?” Zhou mi asked.
“Whenever the full moon gets near, Kyuhyun’s Beast gets closer to the surface. He is a violent wolf and because of the way our pack works, he has nothing to take that violence out on. That usually leaves him testy and moody before the full moon, but he hasn’t been this bad since he was turned.
“It’s probably my fault,” Zhou mi said.
“No,” Leeteuk replied instantly.
“It is. I’m always scared around werewolves and if everything you told me is true, then he is probably going crazy because of that,” Zhou mi explained.
“You weren’t there tonight when he lost control,” Kangin pointed out calmly.
“No,” Zhou mi replied, pausing to ponder. “You said that I can give you peace and put the Beast to sleep right?” Kangin nodded as another crash sounded overhead. “Then I can calm him down.”
“No,” Leeteuk said instantly. “Zhou mi you have to have peace to give it. If you even show the slightest bit of fear Kyuhyun will get even worse.”
“I can do it,” Zhou mi said, suddenly confident. He felt as though he really could do just what he was saying even if he didn’t know why. “I don’t think I’m afraid of him, not really.”
Leeteuk offered Kangin a pleading look and Kangin laughed. “Even if I wanted to I couldn’t stop him. Even if he was one of my pack, my orders would slide right off them.”
“They would?” Zhou mi asked surprised. Orders for members of a pack, worked like a compulsion. No wolf could resist the order of their alpha.
“They would. No one owns you. You can belong to a pack if you choose but they cannot command you,” Kangin said firmly.
Zhou mi nodded. Somehow he knew Kangin was telling him the truth. “Kyuhyun is good at math right?” Zhou mi asked staring down at his book.
“Yes,” Leeteuk answer helplessly.
“I think I will get him to help me with this problem. No offense, Leeteuk,” Zhou mi said calmly as he stood and gathered both his book and his work into his arms. He nodded to himself and carried it from the room in the direction of the stairs.
Leeteuk released a helpless noise and Kangin smiled. “I think someone tried to break him but it didn’t quite go as planned,” he mused.
“Kangin, you can’t just let him go up there,” Leeteuk pleaded.
Kangin shrugged. “What can I do? He is a Quieter, he will be fine.”
Masterlist
AN: I think this story is grabbing my brain and running away with it. I'm afraid that my muses have decided that this is the new chapter length, not that any of you are complaining I'm sure. Oh well, hopefully this can keep them occupied and out of other forms of trouble.