Of Flesh, Fur, and Fang - Chapter Six
Of Flesh, Fur and Fang
Chapter Six
Zhou mi took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing heart as he stood in front of Kyuhyun's bedroom door. He knew, thanks to Kangin's earlier instruction that he needed to be calm when he entered or his presence would only worsen the state of the teen within.
There was another crash from inside and Zhou mi cringed. Waiting any longer probably wouldn't be advisable. With another deep breath he turned the knob of the door and opened it.
In the center of the room stood Kyuhyun his back to the door. He could see the teen’s body shaking, very likely in an effort to control himself. In front of him a book lay torn and open at the foot of a mirror. Tiny shards of glass shimmered on the carpet around it in the soft lamplight. A few other items lay around the room as if they had been thrown with great force. Zhou mi didn't pay any attention to them. His entire focus was on Kyuhyun and though the teen had shown no indication of noticing his presence, Zhou mi knew there wasn't a chance that Kyuhyun's heightened senses would have missed his presence.
"Get out," the words poured from Kyuhyun's mouth more like a growl then anything resembling human speech.
Zhou mi closed the door gently behind him and shifted the book in his hands. "Leeteuk has been helping me get caught up on math, but he isn't all that great at it. He said that you were very good at math and I could really use the help. "
Kyuhyun whirled to face him, the movement so fast that Zhou mi didn't really even see him turn. His eyes were glowing a bright golden yellow and as the teen stalked closer to him in slow steady steps, Zhou mi could tell that he was too far gone for words. Zhou mi knew without a shadow of a doubt that everything about Kyuhyun was saying that the Beast was on the surface and very much in control. The last time Zhou mi had seen a werewolf in that state, it hadn't been very pretty. Zhou mi knew better then to make the assumption that a werewolf was only dangerous in wolf form; they didn't need teeth and claws to kill. Human hands could work just fine.
As Kyuhyun approached, Zhou mi held his gaze. It was quite possibly one of the most foolish things he had ever done. To look a dominate wolf in the eyes was viewed as a challenge to their dominance and most wolves never took that well. Even knowing this, Zhou mi couldn’t bring himself to look away.
Kyuhyun's arm shot out lightening quick and knocked the book from his hands. Zhou mi let it fall away rather than risk a second swipe that might cost him fingers. The teen stalked up to him until they were standing nose to nose and a low growl rose in Kyuhyun.
Zhou mi waited for the cold curl of fear that always appeared in him when faced with violent dominate wolves, but it never came. If he hadn't been quite so worried about not doing something to startle Kyuhyun, he would have taken time to think about that. As it was it took everything he had to return the golden gaze. The wise thing to do would be to look down, show submission and respect, but by this point Zhou mi was certain it was far too late for that.
If he looked away now he knew it would be interpreted as fear and a form of escape. That would only encourage the wolf in front of him to give chase and view him as prey, something that was guaranteed to be more dangerous than anything. They stayed staring at each other for a long moment until Zhou mi felt something stirring inside him. It was something familiar, yet nothing that he could quite name, almost as if it was something that he has forgotten.
Whatever it was forced a growl to bubble forth from him in answer to Kyuhyun’s aggression before Zhou mi could stop it. The reaction was immediate. Kyuhyun surged forward slamming him back into the door hard enough to bruise. His head was jerked backwards into the wood of the door effectively breaking the staring contest.
As the ache of pain settled on the back of his head and Kyuhyun pressed firmly against the front of his body pinning him there, Zhou mi felt the cold curl of fear finally beginning. He fought against it, pushing it down and away. It wouldn't do him any good in fact it would only make everything worse.
Kyuhyun growled again, a sound that seemed to carry with it satisfaction, Zhou mi was sincerely hoping that the wolf in front of him hadn’t decided that he was easy prey for the taking. He tried as hard as he could to give Kyuhyun the calm and peace that Kangin had said he would be able to give, but at the moment he didn't really feel very calm or peaceful.
When he felt warm hands on his sides beneath his shirt, the fingers tracing a deep scar there, Zhou mi skipped right past fear and plunged into terror. Kyuhyun snarled against him, the hand that wasn’t on his side was pressed on the door and carving deep furrows there as his nails began to elongate into claws. Zhou mi could see the shift from human to animal beginning in Kyuhyun. If it completed that would be it, there would be no control left for the teen in front of him. Not that he was particularly controlled at the moment anyways.
Inside of him, the strange presence surged forward, angry and defensive and Zhou mi pushed it back. He didn’t know what it was but he did know it wouldn’t help him. He needed to calm himself, to find peace so that he could give it to Kyuhyun. Zhou mi knew he had done it before without knowing it to help Kyuhyun get control of his Beast, and he knew with a cold certainty that he had to do it again or he would not survive.
Zhou mi closed his eyes and shoved the fear and the terror to the back of his mind and tried to ignore them as well as the feel of slowly lengthening nails pressing lightly against his skin. He needed something to distract his mind, something to give him focus elsewhere. “Two plus two equals four,” he mumbled. “Three times two is six.” Slowly he felt the fear beginning to recede as he gave his mind something else to focus on. “Seven times two is fourteen, sixteen minus three is thirteen. If I have three apples and give two to a very angry wolf, I am left with only one apple and the results of my very moronic moment.”
The animalist noises coming from Kyuhyun slowly ebbed off until they stopped entirely. Zhou mi didn’t know if it was the math, his voice, his abilities as a Quieter, or a strange combination of all three that was doing it, but he wasn’t about to stop and experiment to find out. “Twenty seven minus six is twenty one. If there are two wolves in the kitchen and one up in his room going crazy, how many wolves does that leave that could kill an innocent bystander?”
Kyuhyun ducked his head and pressed his nose into Zhou mi’s neck. “T-three,” Zhou mi squeaked out, acutely aware of how dangerous of a position Kyuhyun was in now. “How long does it take for a human to bleed out and die from a bite to the jugular?” He asked, the humor relaxing him slightly. “Hopefully long enough for an ambulance and an Alpha to arrive,” he answered himself.
“Two plus twenty, equals twenty two,” Zhou mi rambled on, switching back to simple math problems as Kyuhyun inhaled deeply against his neck. “Three times four equals twelve. Eleven times two equal twenty two. The square root of two hundred and twenty five is, uh,” Zhou mi groaned. It was just like him to pick a problem he couldn’t really answer that easily by mental math in a time of crisis. “It equals,” he muttered, simply to keep talking.
“Fifteen,” the word was breathed into his neck and sounded rough and gravely, but it was distinctly human. Zhou mi almost collapsed at the relief he felt at the sound of it. He shifted a bit and the warning growl from Kyuhyun caused him to still again.
“Twenty seven squared is?” Zhou mi left the question hanging in the air, hoping for another human response from the teen against him.
“Seven hundred and twenty nine,” Kyuhyun rumbled a moment later.
“Three hundred and thirty six plus two hundred twenty eight is?”
“Five hundred, sixty four,” was the immediate response.
“Thirteen times twenty three?”
“Two hundred ninety nine.”
“Two thirds of five?”
“Three and one third or three point three repeating,” Kyuhyun answered promptly, his voice sounding more and more normal every minute.
“The length of time it takes for a crazy wolf to not be crazy anymore?” Zhou mi said slowly.
“More time then you have if you ever try this again,” Kyuhyun responded equally as slowly.
“Just how lucky is your neighbor?”
“Very,” Kyuhyun said sternly. Slowly he pulled away and Zhou mi made no move at all.
Kyuhyun’s eyes were still golden but they weren’t glowing with power and aggression anymore. Zhou mi, looked at him for a moment and then looked past him, not exactly diverting his eyes in submission but diverting them enough that it wouldn’t be taken as a challenge. The teen in front of him pulled away slowly as if afraid to get to far from him. His hand, still firmly on Zhou mi’s side beneath his shirt was the last to leave.
The teen turned, leaving Zhou mi still standing against his door, and crossed the room to the broken mirror. “It takes a minute or less for a human to bleed out when the jugular is sliced through,” he said quietly, picking up the book from the shards of glass and closing it. He moved around the room silently. Zhou mi watched him do so as he took deep careful breaths and concentrated on just watching the teen. He contemplated mentioning the fact that he wasn’t exactly human, yet at the same time his rate of healing, while faster than a human’s, was nothing compared to a werewolf. He chose to keep his mouth shut.
Kyuhyun bent and picked up the math book Zhou mi had brought in, flipping it open to the notebook pages that were still tucked in the book. He carried it to his bed, where he sat, spreading it over his lap and studying the careful writing there. “Leeteuk was teaching you the longest way to do this,” Kyuhyun said with a sigh. “I can teach you a quicker and easier way.” It was an apology if he had ever heard one, and when Kyuhyun glanced up at him, his eyes were brown with just a few flecks of gold in them.
“Sure,” Zhou mi agreed, pushing away from the door, and moving to the bed. He sat beside Kyuhyun, close enough to see the book, but with just enough space between them that they were not touching. Kyuhyun nodded, reaching to a side table for a pencil.
“Here, if you do this,” he began writing down some figures and applying the math to them. Zhou mi watched carefully, doing his best to understand what was going on so that he could mimic it later. Still when Kyuhyun handed him the book and his paper, it took him several tries to actually get it down. By the fourth problem of the same type, Zhou mi was doing it on his own. He could feel Kyuhyun’s eyes on him and as much as that unnerved him, he focused on his math.
“We didn’t mean to hurt you,” Kyuhyun said softly when Zhou mi was halfway through his fifth problem. It was strange for the teen to refer to himself as both him and the Beast. All of the werewolves he had ever known had either been completely separate from their Beast or it ruled them. He hadn’t ever heard of a werewolf that reached a strange sort of understanding that allowed for the plurality, then again he had never met a pack quite like this.
“We would never hurt you,” Kyuhyun said again, as if it was critically important that he understand this.
“I know,” Zhou mi replied, flipping his pencil to erase a mistake before beginning again.
“Someone hurt you.”
The statement wasn’t entirely the level of intelligent conversation he knew Kyuhyun was capable of and Zhou mi wasn’t surprised to see much of the gold present in Kyuhyun’s eyes again when he glanced sideways. “Yes,” he said simply. There was no use denying what Kyuhyun had already felt.
“Sorry,” Kyuhyun said after a moment closing his eyes. “It makes me angry that someone would hurt you and it makes my Beast incredibly angry too. I don’t do well at controlling him when we are feeling the same thing.”
“It makes you react like that because I am a Quieter,” Zhou mi wasn’t sure if it was a statement, a question, or some combination of the two.
“No. Yes. I don’t know,” Kyuhyun admitted after a moment.
“Kangin said you were having trouble controlling yourself this month,” Zhou mi said conversationally, continuing his work on his math.
“I am. Usually my Beast is bored with everyday life. I can keep him completely uncaring by simply thinking through some advanced math problems in my head. Recently he has seemed to care through all of that. It’s not like I am angry all the time or feel out of control, I just feel that he is awake and paying attention. When he is doing that it is a lot harder to keep him from reacting to things. Especially when we see eye to eye on a subject,” Kyuhyun explained. The way he said it made Zhou mi feel that this was possibly the first time he had actually thought through the change in himself.
“Do you remember when it started?” Zhou mi asked.
“I don’t know,” Kyuhyun replied. “I was just sitting in my room one day, it felt like he stirred. I think that it might have happened last week,” his voice softened as if he realized something, “when you walked into the house next door.”
Zhou mi didn’t know what to say to that, and clearly the thought of it confused Kyuhyun as much as it confused him. “Is this right?” he asked handing his paper to the teen sitting beside him.
Kyuhyun took it, grateful for the distraction. “Well let’s see.”
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Zhou mi had left shortly after they had finished working through a few more problems on the page. It had been awkward between them, neither one knowing what to say to the other. There wasn’t a good reason for him to stay when he had finished and Kyuhyun hadn’t been able to think of one before Zhou mi had walked out the door of his room.
He had heard the light footsteps on the stairs and the front door closing a few moments later. Kyuhyun had waited for Leeteuk, Kangin, or both of them to come up with one lecture or another, but no one had.
Kyuhyun had been left to relax on his bed staring blankly at the ceiling and trying to ignore the feelings coming from his Beast. It had settled down and actually went to sleep within him, leaving him feeling almost human by the end of the math session with Zhou mi. When the other teen had left, his Beast hadn’t awoken but he had stirred slightly and made his dissatisfaction known at Zhou mi’s leaving.
It left Kyuhyun completely bewildered. He had thought he had gotten beyond the uncontrolled rages of his Beast and had been fully able to keep him reigned in given any situation. Yet Zhou mi in his room had triggered something in his Beast that he had never felt. It hadn’t been angry, at least not at Zhou mi, and it never had intended to do him any harm. In fact he had felt a curl of amusement and playfulness when Zhou mi had growled.
The Beast had been angrier with itself that it had scared Zhou mi then anything, and that had helped Kyuhyun push him back and get control of him again. Kyuhyun wasn’t sure if every werewolf could reason with the Beast within them, he assumed not, but he sometimes could and this time it had worked.
As he lay staring at the ceiling, he began to formulate in his mind what the feelings of his Beast could mean and he didn’t like it. He couldn’t be sure however since it wasn’t as if this was covered in the process of learning to live as a werewolf. Kyuhyun knew he needed to talk to someone and he knew exactly who.
By the time three in the morning rolled around, Kyuhyun was restless enough to roll out of bed and seek out the one he had chosen to talk to. He padded from his room not bothering to turn on a light to see by. Werewolves had very acute senses even in human form and it would never be dark enough within the house at any time during the day or the night to bother him.
He moved through the hall, not making any attempt to silence his footsteps. It was never a good idea to sneak up on a werewolf when he was sleeping, not even pack mates. When he reached the door down the hall, he didn’t bother to knock. He didn’t really want the whole house awakened and curious.
Kyuhyun slipped into the room and shut the door behind him, not surprised in the least to see two pairs of eyes watching him from the bed. Everyone in the house had excellent hearing and the pair would have heard the moment he turned the knob on the door. “I need to talk to Eunhyuk,” he whispered softly, knowing the man in the bed would be able to hear him as easily as if he were shouting.
“I’ll go finish my book,” a light feminine voice answered. There was a rumbled growl and Kyuhyun watched with amusement as Eunhyuk pulled her too him and kissed her passionately. He ignored the wash of scents that flowed from the pair and took the action for what it was, a show of possession in the presence of another male.
Kyuhyun always found it a bit endearing to see Eunhyuk react so fiercely where Taeyeon was concerned. Eunhyuk would never be a match for him if he chose to start a fight about it, but Kyuhyun knew he would go die fighting for her, and that earned his respect.
She slipped from the bed, letting her fingers linger on his skin for as long as she could, before brushing back the sheets and moving to the closet to retrieve her robe. Kyuhyun didn’t bother to divert his eyes from the exposure of her skin. They were a pack and well used to being naked in front of one another. She pulled the robe on and tied it loosely. As she walked by him without saying a word, she offered him a smile before looking away from his gaze respectfully, letting him know without words that she wasn’t upset about the mid night intrusion.
Kyuhyun smiled as she closed the door after herself. He had always liked her. She was tough and would put up just as much fight for Eunhyuk as he would for her. Together they made a formidable team.
“Fantastic isn’t she,” Eunhyuk sighed happily as if he knew what Kyuhyun was thinking.
Kyuhyun laughed. “You still sound like a love struck puppy.” He supposed that the pair had only been mated for a mere six months and it was very likely entirely true.
“I am. She is wonderful and I cannot believe she is mine,” he agreed sitting up. Then his eyes narrowed. “But you need to stop getting her into trouble with Kangin.”
Kyuhyun growled low in his throat at the words that sounded almost like an order and Eunhyuk immediately looked down towards the sheets. “Do not,” Kyuhyun ordered. “Not tonight. My control isn’t as good as it should be.”
“Sorry,” Eunhyuk murmured, slowly laying back down on his back.
The exposure of his stomach and neck, bare and unprotected calmed Kyuhyun immediately. No challenger would ever expose their week points. Eunhyuk wasn’t stupid. He knew how to deal with out of control dominate wolves very well and Kyuhyun was grateful for that.
“Thanks,” Kyuhyun said softly. He crossed the room and sat on the bed beside Eunhyuk. His fingers reached out and touched the skin of Eunhyuk’s stomach. Absently his fingers traced the muscle there and Kyuhyun was surprised that Eunhyuk made no move to stop him. It was a show of trust and his Beast rumbled pleased inside him, curled up, and fell deeper into sleep.
“You are almost a submissive you know,” Kyuhyun mused, tracing a line up the man’s chest until his hand settled over his heart.
“I know,” Eunhyuk agreed. “I am just enough of a dominate to occasionally do something stupid like trying to challenge someone much more dominate then me, but I am enough of a submissive that I can bring out the protective instincts of a dominate if I want to.”
“A useful talent for you,” Kyuhyun agreed with a smile.
“My last pack didn’t know what to do with me,” Eunhyuk agreed. He didn’t say anything else and Kyuhyun didn’t press. There were some things that were never appropriate to ask.
“I have a question,” Kyuhyun started. “How does your Beast feel where your mate is concerned?”
Eunhyuk offered him a questioning look as if he was confused. Kyuhyun had been afraid of that. The less dominate a werewolf, the less present their Beast was with actual feelings and occasional thoughts. Submissive wolves generally only felt the instincts of a Beast but nothing like the other presence that Kyuhyun always felt. Alphas on the other hand, felt their Beast as another person entirely. He had heard that there had even been some Alphas in the past, whose Beasts could speak to them. Being in his unique position, Eunhyuk got all the instincts and possibly a very slight feeling of the presence of the Beast within him.
“I feel protective of her,” he started slowly. “Something in me wants to kill anything that upsets her or hurts her. I want her with me all the time. Touching me and being near me. But I also get unbelievably turned on when she is covered in my scent.” Kyuhyun laughed. There were very little secrets kept between packs and things like that were no exception.
“She is mine,” Eunhyuk said with conviction. “I feel that in more than just a human way.”
Kyuhyun focused on the wall beyond the bed, thinking, and said nothing. It was hard to puzzle out if the mix of feelings that Eunhyuk had conveyed were in anyway related to the way his Beast was feeling. He was fairly sure that there wasn’t really a person in their pack that could explain it to him besides Kangin and he was not having that conversation with the man. His lack of answers was painfully frustrating.
A pitiful whine drew him out of his thoughts. “I’m sorry I don’t know what information you are looking for,” Eunhyuk whimpered. Kyuhyun blinked startled. He hadn’t even realized that he was getting irritated to the point his Beast might start waking, before Eunhyuk spoke up and demanded a calm soothing from him.
“It’s not your fault,” he soothed, admiring the man on the bed beside him who much smarter than people gave him credit for. “I don’t think anyone really had the information I am looking for. Thanks.”
He rose from the bed and Eunhyuk rolled onto his stomach immediately. Kyuhyun wasn’t offended; in fact he was surprised he had been able to lie on his back exposed for so long, especially with Kyuhyun, a dangerous predator, touching him. “I’ll send your mate back to you,” he said as he opened the door.
“No need,” her voice sounded from the hallway as she approached. “I heard the door open.”
He nodded and she flicked her eyes away, careful not to match gazes with him. “How did you know that he was supposed to be your mate?” Kyuhyun asked her suddenly.
Taeyeon didn’t miss a beat as she quietly replied, “When my Beast was willing to submit when she should never have to, just to stay by his side.”
Kyuhyun nodded. Taeyeon was more dominate then Eunhyuk, not to the top level but certainly not to the low level where Eunhyuk fell. Yet when a female wolf mated she took on the position of her mate, leaving Taeyeon having to submit to wolves she never would have had to otherwise. The fact that her Beast allowed that to happen spoke volumes about their relationship.
“Thank you,” Kyuhyun said softly. He slipped from the room leaving them alone and heading back towards his own. He didn’t yet have all of the answers he needed, but he had a few. He was sure that whenever his obstinate Beast decided he really needed to know what was going on, he would, regardless of whether he puzzled through things himself or not.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
Wednesday came and went with little fuss. Zhou mi was glad that his mother said nothing of what had happened at the neighbor’s house the night before. He wasn’t sure if she really knew what he had done after she left, but he wasn’t about to bring it up if she didn’t.
He and Kyuhyun had exchanged simple nods of greeting to each other in school and other wise left each other alone. Zhou mi had returned to his home on Wednesday night to spend a peaceful night with his mother.
Thursday was much of the same. He had finally settled into the routine of classes and home work. It was difficult trying to catch up while at the same time staying on top of the current work but somehow he managed. Thankfully all of his teachers were very understanding about his situation.
During school hours he continued to hang out with his new friends Key, Onew, and Henry. Zhou mi wasn’t sure how exactly they had all become friends, but the trio seemed to never want to leave him alone and Zhou mi couldn’t say that he really minded. He had been alone for far too long and if he was honest with himself, he never wanted to be again.
His lessons passed quickly and he nearly forgot that he had his enrichment lesson that Thursday until Key asked him about it. “So what are you doing for your enrichment?”
“I just joined ‘Compositions and Vocals’,” he replied, stuffing the rest of his books into his bag.
“Ah that is one with Ryeowook in it?” Onew asked with a smile.
“Yeah,” Zhou mi confirmed.
“He is nice. I’ve only talked to him a few times because he is so quiet,” Onew told him.
Zhou mi nodded and slung his freshly packed bag over his shoulder. “What are you guys doing?”
“I’m in dance,” Key said with a smile, executing a few steps as he led them out of the classroom.
“Symphonic,” Henry told him.
“What Henry means to say,” Key said throwing an arm over the teen’s shoulders, “Is that he is taking private violin lessons to become even more amazing.”
Henry blushed, “I’m not amazing.”
“Yes you are. I have seen you play. Besides how many people can play and dance at the same time?” Key scoffed.
“I’m taking ‘Animation and Voice Acting’,” Onew offered, saving Henry from having to elaborate anymore.
“What is that?” Zhou mi asked curiously.
“We get together and animate short little pieces and then record the voices ourselves. It is pretty fun,” Onew explained.
“Onew just likes making funny noises,” Key joked. Onew offered him a look and Key stuck his tongue out in reply.
“That sounds interesting,” Zhou mi replied.
“It is,” Onew agreed. “More interesting the watching yourself move in a mirror.”
“You are just jealous,” Key said as if he was a diva himself. “You can’t shake your hips like I can without falling flat on your face.”
Zhou mi laughed despite himself and saw the hallway that he needed to turn down coming up. “I have to go this way. I’ll see you all later.”
“Bye,” Henry called cheerfully.
Zhou mi split from them, smiling as Key and Onew continued to make comments to one another the entire way down the hall. When he arrived at the music room, Ryeowook was already inside and waiting for him.
“Hey,” Ryeowook greeted him brightly. “I wrote this last night and I thought we could work on it today.” He handed Zhou mi a few sheets of music which Zhou mi readily accepted. He couldn’t help but smile as he flipped through them. It was a new song as far as he knew, but it had clearly been written for two voices instead of one.
“Sure,” Zhou mi agreed, dropping his bag by the piano and sitting on the bench by Ryeowook.
“Great,” Ryeowook smiled and then began to play.
They spent the lesson working on the song that Ryeowook had written and by the time the lesson was over Zhou mi thought they sounded fairly decent together. He had always liked to sing and it was more fun than he had thought it would be to graduate from singing with the radio in his shower, to singing with a person at a piano.
“You have a really good voice,” Ryeowook told him with a smile as he gathered his music and placed it safely in a folder.
“Thanks. You are really good at writing songs,” Zhou mi returned.
Ryeowook hesitated for a minute and then said, “I have a really good friend that lends me his voice to help. I know he would love to meet you. Are you doing anything after school?”
Zhou mi thought about it for a moment but as far as he knew he wasn’t. Leeteuk hadn’t arranged another homework evening with him and if his mother had something planned, she would understand and probably be thrilled that he was going somewhere with a friend. “Not that I know of.”
“Would you like to come home with me and meet him?” Ryeowook asked excitedly.
“Sure. He lives with you?” Zhou mi asked before he could stop himself.
“Uh,” Ryeowook shifted nervously. “I sort of live with him. It’s kinda a long story.”
“That’s cool. He must be a really great friend to let you stay with him,” Zhou mi replied, trying to let the other teen know that it was alright not to elaborate.
“He is,” Ryeowook said with a smile. He gathered his things into his arms and turned to the door. “Should we go?”
“Sure. Lead the way.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
The drive to Ryeowook’s house was pleasant. Zhou mi was careful to keep the conversation from straying into anything that would be too personal and so they mostly discussed things of a musical nature. When they pulled into the drive for what Zhou mi could only describe as a mansion, he fell silent.
Ryeowook smiled at his reaction. “There are a lot of people who live here. We are all friends and everyone gets their own section of the house,” he explained as he drove up the drive, following it as it wound around behind the house.
As they neared it, the door of the garage rumbled open allowing them inside. “Wow,” Zhou mi muttered in shock. What had appeared to be a garage for a single car from the outside was actually the sloping entrance to what looked like an underground parking lot. Ryeowook drove his car down into the brightly lit area.
“Almost everyone here has a vehicle and the owner of the house has several of his own,” Ryeowook explained. Looking around the area, it seemed to Zhou mi that the garage was arranged by sections. In one area were normal cars from very cheap, to incredibly expensive. Another section had what Zhou mi would consider to be exotic vehicles. A stretch limousine was parked next to what he swore was a military grade tank. A different section of the garage contained bikes of all shapes and sizes from the typical bike that would take man power constantly peddling it to move, to a very elegant motorcycle and all the brands in between. Ryeowook drove them to the back and parked in one of several empty spaces between two cars that looked reasonably normal.
“Wow,” Zhou mi said again as he followed Ryeowook’s lead and climbed out of the car. “Just how rich is the owner of this place.”
“Pretty rich,” Ryeowook said with a laugh. “He has his fingers in all sorts of things around the world.” The teen lead him to what appeared to be elevator doors set into one wall. Beside it was a keypad, into which Ryeowook entered a code. The doors dinged lightly and opened, and Ryeowook wasted no time in walking right through them. Zhou mi followed him and once they were in, the doors slid shut behind them.
There were no buttons on the inside, but it didn’t seem to matter because the elevator shuddered and began to move. Instead of moving up as Zhou mi thought it would, it went down smoothly. Zhou mi tightened his fingers around the strap of his bag. He wasn’t afraid of small spaces and he didn’t mind basements, but he hated this. It felt as though they were heading deep underground and there would be no escape if something went wrong. He hated that thought.
Ryeowook smiled at him reassuringly and Zhou mi tried to relax. The other teen hadn’t been lying to him about his friend living here or Zhou mi would have been able to tell instantly. One of the perks of not being completely human gave him boosted senses to detect the change in humans when they lied.
The elevator shuddered to a stop and dinged again before the doors slid open again. Ryeowook stepped out and Zhou mi followed, stopping in his tracks a moment later at the sight of someone standing and waiting for them.
The man was dressed entirely in black from his head to his boots. A metal studded collar was fastened around his neck and his lips had been painted black. Dark black eye liner outline the man’s piercing eyes and Zhou mi saw that the nails on his fingers were painted black as well when the man wiggled them in greeting at Ryeowook. The only thing that seemed out of place in the outfit was the bright red hair falling loosely to just above his shoulders.
Zhou mi wasn’t really bothered by the man’s dress; he had learned long ago not to worry about how strangely a person dressed. In his experience it was the ones who appeared normal, who later turned out to be nothing of the sort. The teen knew his eyes were easily fooled, but his nose was not and what it smelled was the thing that was truly making him uneasy. Whoever the man was, he didn’t smell human.
The corners of the man’s mouth turned up in what most would view as a smile. Zhou mi saw it for what it was: the satisfied look of a very deadly predator. “Welcome,” the man said smoothly, “to my home.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
Key sighed when the instructor called for everyone to take a break. He moved to his bag and dug through it, retrieving his bottle of water and taking a sip. The extended enrichment lesson that he was currently participating in, was always optional. The instructor had decided that the amount of time that they had been allotted originally was not enough to cover everything she wanted to, so she had offered the students extra time if they had wanted to stay and learn. Every student had stayed.
“Hey Key,” the teasing voice carried to him. Key sighed and rolled his eyes.
“What do you want?” he turned to face the smirking teen that was standing behind him.
“I can’t just come say hello?” the teen asked as if he was hurt by Key’s reaction. Key knew better.
“I don’t think you are capable of that,” Key returned casually.
“Oh I don’t know, I might be.”
“Flirting doesn’t become you. It isn’t fitting for a whore to flirt with people who aren’t his clientele,” Key replied with deceptive sweetness thickening his voice.
“Oh feisty today are we?” the other teen replied, completely unbothered by the comment.
“Not for you,” Key snapped. “What do you want, Jonghyun?”
“Oh nothing. I just thought you should know that your little friend Zhou mi went home with Ryeowook today,” Jonghyun said casually.
“Why would I care? They sing together and Zhou mi is his own person, he can do what he wants,” Key dismissed.
“I see you don’t know,” Jonghyun replied with a smirk. “Let’s see, how did you put it,” he looked like he was thinking really hard to recall something. “Oh yes that is right. Ryeowook is a whore too.”
Key’s eyes widened. “Your lying,” he hissed.
Jonghyun shrugged. “Not my problem if you don’t believe me, you could always check the evidence.” He tapped his neck lightly with a finger before laughing and slinking off to cause trouble elsewhere.
“Damn it,” Key cursed under his breath. He shoved everything into his bag and slung it over his shoulder before hurrying out of the room. The moment he was outside he pulled out his phone and dialed. “Come on, pick up,” he muttered, holding it to his ear.
“Hankyung,” he cried as the other end of the phone was answered. “We have to hurry. The vampires have Zhou mi.”
Chapter Seven
Masterlist
AN: Let me tell you all that this was not the way this thing was originally going to go. It was going to be Zhou mi walking in and Kyuhyun immediately starting to calm... Then a reader mentioned that Kyuhyun angry was hot... Tiny Zhou mi agreed and we discussed the new plan. (I also wanted to give everyone a better sense of just how animalistic and dangerous these werewolves can be). We are quite pleased with how this turned out. ^_^
(I need an icon for this story...)
Chapter Six
Zhou mi took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing heart as he stood in front of Kyuhyun's bedroom door. He knew, thanks to Kangin's earlier instruction that he needed to be calm when he entered or his presence would only worsen the state of the teen within.
There was another crash from inside and Zhou mi cringed. Waiting any longer probably wouldn't be advisable. With another deep breath he turned the knob of the door and opened it.
In the center of the room stood Kyuhyun his back to the door. He could see the teen’s body shaking, very likely in an effort to control himself. In front of him a book lay torn and open at the foot of a mirror. Tiny shards of glass shimmered on the carpet around it in the soft lamplight. A few other items lay around the room as if they had been thrown with great force. Zhou mi didn't pay any attention to them. His entire focus was on Kyuhyun and though the teen had shown no indication of noticing his presence, Zhou mi knew there wasn't a chance that Kyuhyun's heightened senses would have missed his presence.
"Get out," the words poured from Kyuhyun's mouth more like a growl then anything resembling human speech.
Zhou mi closed the door gently behind him and shifted the book in his hands. "Leeteuk has been helping me get caught up on math, but he isn't all that great at it. He said that you were very good at math and I could really use the help. "
Kyuhyun whirled to face him, the movement so fast that Zhou mi didn't really even see him turn. His eyes were glowing a bright golden yellow and as the teen stalked closer to him in slow steady steps, Zhou mi could tell that he was too far gone for words. Zhou mi knew without a shadow of a doubt that everything about Kyuhyun was saying that the Beast was on the surface and very much in control. The last time Zhou mi had seen a werewolf in that state, it hadn't been very pretty. Zhou mi knew better then to make the assumption that a werewolf was only dangerous in wolf form; they didn't need teeth and claws to kill. Human hands could work just fine.
As Kyuhyun approached, Zhou mi held his gaze. It was quite possibly one of the most foolish things he had ever done. To look a dominate wolf in the eyes was viewed as a challenge to their dominance and most wolves never took that well. Even knowing this, Zhou mi couldn’t bring himself to look away.
Kyuhyun's arm shot out lightening quick and knocked the book from his hands. Zhou mi let it fall away rather than risk a second swipe that might cost him fingers. The teen stalked up to him until they were standing nose to nose and a low growl rose in Kyuhyun.
Zhou mi waited for the cold curl of fear that always appeared in him when faced with violent dominate wolves, but it never came. If he hadn't been quite so worried about not doing something to startle Kyuhyun, he would have taken time to think about that. As it was it took everything he had to return the golden gaze. The wise thing to do would be to look down, show submission and respect, but by this point Zhou mi was certain it was far too late for that.
If he looked away now he knew it would be interpreted as fear and a form of escape. That would only encourage the wolf in front of him to give chase and view him as prey, something that was guaranteed to be more dangerous than anything. They stayed staring at each other for a long moment until Zhou mi felt something stirring inside him. It was something familiar, yet nothing that he could quite name, almost as if it was something that he has forgotten.
Whatever it was forced a growl to bubble forth from him in answer to Kyuhyun’s aggression before Zhou mi could stop it. The reaction was immediate. Kyuhyun surged forward slamming him back into the door hard enough to bruise. His head was jerked backwards into the wood of the door effectively breaking the staring contest.
As the ache of pain settled on the back of his head and Kyuhyun pressed firmly against the front of his body pinning him there, Zhou mi felt the cold curl of fear finally beginning. He fought against it, pushing it down and away. It wouldn't do him any good in fact it would only make everything worse.
Kyuhyun growled again, a sound that seemed to carry with it satisfaction, Zhou mi was sincerely hoping that the wolf in front of him hadn’t decided that he was easy prey for the taking. He tried as hard as he could to give Kyuhyun the calm and peace that Kangin had said he would be able to give, but at the moment he didn't really feel very calm or peaceful.
When he felt warm hands on his sides beneath his shirt, the fingers tracing a deep scar there, Zhou mi skipped right past fear and plunged into terror. Kyuhyun snarled against him, the hand that wasn’t on his side was pressed on the door and carving deep furrows there as his nails began to elongate into claws. Zhou mi could see the shift from human to animal beginning in Kyuhyun. If it completed that would be it, there would be no control left for the teen in front of him. Not that he was particularly controlled at the moment anyways.
Inside of him, the strange presence surged forward, angry and defensive and Zhou mi pushed it back. He didn’t know what it was but he did know it wouldn’t help him. He needed to calm himself, to find peace so that he could give it to Kyuhyun. Zhou mi knew he had done it before without knowing it to help Kyuhyun get control of his Beast, and he knew with a cold certainty that he had to do it again or he would not survive.
Zhou mi closed his eyes and shoved the fear and the terror to the back of his mind and tried to ignore them as well as the feel of slowly lengthening nails pressing lightly against his skin. He needed something to distract his mind, something to give him focus elsewhere. “Two plus two equals four,” he mumbled. “Three times two is six.” Slowly he felt the fear beginning to recede as he gave his mind something else to focus on. “Seven times two is fourteen, sixteen minus three is thirteen. If I have three apples and give two to a very angry wolf, I am left with only one apple and the results of my very moronic moment.”
The animalist noises coming from Kyuhyun slowly ebbed off until they stopped entirely. Zhou mi didn’t know if it was the math, his voice, his abilities as a Quieter, or a strange combination of all three that was doing it, but he wasn’t about to stop and experiment to find out. “Twenty seven minus six is twenty one. If there are two wolves in the kitchen and one up in his room going crazy, how many wolves does that leave that could kill an innocent bystander?”
Kyuhyun ducked his head and pressed his nose into Zhou mi’s neck. “T-three,” Zhou mi squeaked out, acutely aware of how dangerous of a position Kyuhyun was in now. “How long does it take for a human to bleed out and die from a bite to the jugular?” He asked, the humor relaxing him slightly. “Hopefully long enough for an ambulance and an Alpha to arrive,” he answered himself.
“Two plus twenty, equals twenty two,” Zhou mi rambled on, switching back to simple math problems as Kyuhyun inhaled deeply against his neck. “Three times four equals twelve. Eleven times two equal twenty two. The square root of two hundred and twenty five is, uh,” Zhou mi groaned. It was just like him to pick a problem he couldn’t really answer that easily by mental math in a time of crisis. “It equals,” he muttered, simply to keep talking.
“Fifteen,” the word was breathed into his neck and sounded rough and gravely, but it was distinctly human. Zhou mi almost collapsed at the relief he felt at the sound of it. He shifted a bit and the warning growl from Kyuhyun caused him to still again.
“Twenty seven squared is?” Zhou mi left the question hanging in the air, hoping for another human response from the teen against him.
“Seven hundred and twenty nine,” Kyuhyun rumbled a moment later.
“Three hundred and thirty six plus two hundred twenty eight is?”
“Five hundred, sixty four,” was the immediate response.
“Thirteen times twenty three?”
“Two hundred ninety nine.”
“Two thirds of five?”
“Three and one third or three point three repeating,” Kyuhyun answered promptly, his voice sounding more and more normal every minute.
“The length of time it takes for a crazy wolf to not be crazy anymore?” Zhou mi said slowly.
“More time then you have if you ever try this again,” Kyuhyun responded equally as slowly.
“Just how lucky is your neighbor?”
“Very,” Kyuhyun said sternly. Slowly he pulled away and Zhou mi made no move at all.
Kyuhyun’s eyes were still golden but they weren’t glowing with power and aggression anymore. Zhou mi, looked at him for a moment and then looked past him, not exactly diverting his eyes in submission but diverting them enough that it wouldn’t be taken as a challenge. The teen in front of him pulled away slowly as if afraid to get to far from him. His hand, still firmly on Zhou mi’s side beneath his shirt was the last to leave.
The teen turned, leaving Zhou mi still standing against his door, and crossed the room to the broken mirror. “It takes a minute or less for a human to bleed out when the jugular is sliced through,” he said quietly, picking up the book from the shards of glass and closing it. He moved around the room silently. Zhou mi watched him do so as he took deep careful breaths and concentrated on just watching the teen. He contemplated mentioning the fact that he wasn’t exactly human, yet at the same time his rate of healing, while faster than a human’s, was nothing compared to a werewolf. He chose to keep his mouth shut.
Kyuhyun bent and picked up the math book Zhou mi had brought in, flipping it open to the notebook pages that were still tucked in the book. He carried it to his bed, where he sat, spreading it over his lap and studying the careful writing there. “Leeteuk was teaching you the longest way to do this,” Kyuhyun said with a sigh. “I can teach you a quicker and easier way.” It was an apology if he had ever heard one, and when Kyuhyun glanced up at him, his eyes were brown with just a few flecks of gold in them.
“Sure,” Zhou mi agreed, pushing away from the door, and moving to the bed. He sat beside Kyuhyun, close enough to see the book, but with just enough space between them that they were not touching. Kyuhyun nodded, reaching to a side table for a pencil.
“Here, if you do this,” he began writing down some figures and applying the math to them. Zhou mi watched carefully, doing his best to understand what was going on so that he could mimic it later. Still when Kyuhyun handed him the book and his paper, it took him several tries to actually get it down. By the fourth problem of the same type, Zhou mi was doing it on his own. He could feel Kyuhyun’s eyes on him and as much as that unnerved him, he focused on his math.
“We didn’t mean to hurt you,” Kyuhyun said softly when Zhou mi was halfway through his fifth problem. It was strange for the teen to refer to himself as both him and the Beast. All of the werewolves he had ever known had either been completely separate from their Beast or it ruled them. He hadn’t ever heard of a werewolf that reached a strange sort of understanding that allowed for the plurality, then again he had never met a pack quite like this.
“We would never hurt you,” Kyuhyun said again, as if it was critically important that he understand this.
“I know,” Zhou mi replied, flipping his pencil to erase a mistake before beginning again.
“Someone hurt you.”
The statement wasn’t entirely the level of intelligent conversation he knew Kyuhyun was capable of and Zhou mi wasn’t surprised to see much of the gold present in Kyuhyun’s eyes again when he glanced sideways. “Yes,” he said simply. There was no use denying what Kyuhyun had already felt.
“Sorry,” Kyuhyun said after a moment closing his eyes. “It makes me angry that someone would hurt you and it makes my Beast incredibly angry too. I don’t do well at controlling him when we are feeling the same thing.”
“It makes you react like that because I am a Quieter,” Zhou mi wasn’t sure if it was a statement, a question, or some combination of the two.
“No. Yes. I don’t know,” Kyuhyun admitted after a moment.
“Kangin said you were having trouble controlling yourself this month,” Zhou mi said conversationally, continuing his work on his math.
“I am. Usually my Beast is bored with everyday life. I can keep him completely uncaring by simply thinking through some advanced math problems in my head. Recently he has seemed to care through all of that. It’s not like I am angry all the time or feel out of control, I just feel that he is awake and paying attention. When he is doing that it is a lot harder to keep him from reacting to things. Especially when we see eye to eye on a subject,” Kyuhyun explained. The way he said it made Zhou mi feel that this was possibly the first time he had actually thought through the change in himself.
“Do you remember when it started?” Zhou mi asked.
“I don’t know,” Kyuhyun replied. “I was just sitting in my room one day, it felt like he stirred. I think that it might have happened last week,” his voice softened as if he realized something, “when you walked into the house next door.”
Zhou mi didn’t know what to say to that, and clearly the thought of it confused Kyuhyun as much as it confused him. “Is this right?” he asked handing his paper to the teen sitting beside him.
Kyuhyun took it, grateful for the distraction. “Well let’s see.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
Zhou mi had left shortly after they had finished working through a few more problems on the page. It had been awkward between them, neither one knowing what to say to the other. There wasn’t a good reason for him to stay when he had finished and Kyuhyun hadn’t been able to think of one before Zhou mi had walked out the door of his room.
He had heard the light footsteps on the stairs and the front door closing a few moments later. Kyuhyun had waited for Leeteuk, Kangin, or both of them to come up with one lecture or another, but no one had.
Kyuhyun had been left to relax on his bed staring blankly at the ceiling and trying to ignore the feelings coming from his Beast. It had settled down and actually went to sleep within him, leaving him feeling almost human by the end of the math session with Zhou mi. When the other teen had left, his Beast hadn’t awoken but he had stirred slightly and made his dissatisfaction known at Zhou mi’s leaving.
It left Kyuhyun completely bewildered. He had thought he had gotten beyond the uncontrolled rages of his Beast and had been fully able to keep him reigned in given any situation. Yet Zhou mi in his room had triggered something in his Beast that he had never felt. It hadn’t been angry, at least not at Zhou mi, and it never had intended to do him any harm. In fact he had felt a curl of amusement and playfulness when Zhou mi had growled.
The Beast had been angrier with itself that it had scared Zhou mi then anything, and that had helped Kyuhyun push him back and get control of him again. Kyuhyun wasn’t sure if every werewolf could reason with the Beast within them, he assumed not, but he sometimes could and this time it had worked.
As he lay staring at the ceiling, he began to formulate in his mind what the feelings of his Beast could mean and he didn’t like it. He couldn’t be sure however since it wasn’t as if this was covered in the process of learning to live as a werewolf. Kyuhyun knew he needed to talk to someone and he knew exactly who.
By the time three in the morning rolled around, Kyuhyun was restless enough to roll out of bed and seek out the one he had chosen to talk to. He padded from his room not bothering to turn on a light to see by. Werewolves had very acute senses even in human form and it would never be dark enough within the house at any time during the day or the night to bother him.
He moved through the hall, not making any attempt to silence his footsteps. It was never a good idea to sneak up on a werewolf when he was sleeping, not even pack mates. When he reached the door down the hall, he didn’t bother to knock. He didn’t really want the whole house awakened and curious.
Kyuhyun slipped into the room and shut the door behind him, not surprised in the least to see two pairs of eyes watching him from the bed. Everyone in the house had excellent hearing and the pair would have heard the moment he turned the knob on the door. “I need to talk to Eunhyuk,” he whispered softly, knowing the man in the bed would be able to hear him as easily as if he were shouting.
“I’ll go finish my book,” a light feminine voice answered. There was a rumbled growl and Kyuhyun watched with amusement as Eunhyuk pulled her too him and kissed her passionately. He ignored the wash of scents that flowed from the pair and took the action for what it was, a show of possession in the presence of another male.
Kyuhyun always found it a bit endearing to see Eunhyuk react so fiercely where Taeyeon was concerned. Eunhyuk would never be a match for him if he chose to start a fight about it, but Kyuhyun knew he would go die fighting for her, and that earned his respect.
She slipped from the bed, letting her fingers linger on his skin for as long as she could, before brushing back the sheets and moving to the closet to retrieve her robe. Kyuhyun didn’t bother to divert his eyes from the exposure of her skin. They were a pack and well used to being naked in front of one another. She pulled the robe on and tied it loosely. As she walked by him without saying a word, she offered him a smile before looking away from his gaze respectfully, letting him know without words that she wasn’t upset about the mid night intrusion.
Kyuhyun smiled as she closed the door after herself. He had always liked her. She was tough and would put up just as much fight for Eunhyuk as he would for her. Together they made a formidable team.
“Fantastic isn’t she,” Eunhyuk sighed happily as if he knew what Kyuhyun was thinking.
Kyuhyun laughed. “You still sound like a love struck puppy.” He supposed that the pair had only been mated for a mere six months and it was very likely entirely true.
“I am. She is wonderful and I cannot believe she is mine,” he agreed sitting up. Then his eyes narrowed. “But you need to stop getting her into trouble with Kangin.”
Kyuhyun growled low in his throat at the words that sounded almost like an order and Eunhyuk immediately looked down towards the sheets. “Do not,” Kyuhyun ordered. “Not tonight. My control isn’t as good as it should be.”
“Sorry,” Eunhyuk murmured, slowly laying back down on his back.
The exposure of his stomach and neck, bare and unprotected calmed Kyuhyun immediately. No challenger would ever expose their week points. Eunhyuk wasn’t stupid. He knew how to deal with out of control dominate wolves very well and Kyuhyun was grateful for that.
“Thanks,” Kyuhyun said softly. He crossed the room and sat on the bed beside Eunhyuk. His fingers reached out and touched the skin of Eunhyuk’s stomach. Absently his fingers traced the muscle there and Kyuhyun was surprised that Eunhyuk made no move to stop him. It was a show of trust and his Beast rumbled pleased inside him, curled up, and fell deeper into sleep.
“You are almost a submissive you know,” Kyuhyun mused, tracing a line up the man’s chest until his hand settled over his heart.
“I know,” Eunhyuk agreed. “I am just enough of a dominate to occasionally do something stupid like trying to challenge someone much more dominate then me, but I am enough of a submissive that I can bring out the protective instincts of a dominate if I want to.”
“A useful talent for you,” Kyuhyun agreed with a smile.
“My last pack didn’t know what to do with me,” Eunhyuk agreed. He didn’t say anything else and Kyuhyun didn’t press. There were some things that were never appropriate to ask.
“I have a question,” Kyuhyun started. “How does your Beast feel where your mate is concerned?”
Eunhyuk offered him a questioning look as if he was confused. Kyuhyun had been afraid of that. The less dominate a werewolf, the less present their Beast was with actual feelings and occasional thoughts. Submissive wolves generally only felt the instincts of a Beast but nothing like the other presence that Kyuhyun always felt. Alphas on the other hand, felt their Beast as another person entirely. He had heard that there had even been some Alphas in the past, whose Beasts could speak to them. Being in his unique position, Eunhyuk got all the instincts and possibly a very slight feeling of the presence of the Beast within him.
“I feel protective of her,” he started slowly. “Something in me wants to kill anything that upsets her or hurts her. I want her with me all the time. Touching me and being near me. But I also get unbelievably turned on when she is covered in my scent.” Kyuhyun laughed. There were very little secrets kept between packs and things like that were no exception.
“She is mine,” Eunhyuk said with conviction. “I feel that in more than just a human way.”
Kyuhyun focused on the wall beyond the bed, thinking, and said nothing. It was hard to puzzle out if the mix of feelings that Eunhyuk had conveyed were in anyway related to the way his Beast was feeling. He was fairly sure that there wasn’t really a person in their pack that could explain it to him besides Kangin and he was not having that conversation with the man. His lack of answers was painfully frustrating.
A pitiful whine drew him out of his thoughts. “I’m sorry I don’t know what information you are looking for,” Eunhyuk whimpered. Kyuhyun blinked startled. He hadn’t even realized that he was getting irritated to the point his Beast might start waking, before Eunhyuk spoke up and demanded a calm soothing from him.
“It’s not your fault,” he soothed, admiring the man on the bed beside him who much smarter than people gave him credit for. “I don’t think anyone really had the information I am looking for. Thanks.”
He rose from the bed and Eunhyuk rolled onto his stomach immediately. Kyuhyun wasn’t offended; in fact he was surprised he had been able to lie on his back exposed for so long, especially with Kyuhyun, a dangerous predator, touching him. “I’ll send your mate back to you,” he said as he opened the door.
“No need,” her voice sounded from the hallway as she approached. “I heard the door open.”
He nodded and she flicked her eyes away, careful not to match gazes with him. “How did you know that he was supposed to be your mate?” Kyuhyun asked her suddenly.
Taeyeon didn’t miss a beat as she quietly replied, “When my Beast was willing to submit when she should never have to, just to stay by his side.”
Kyuhyun nodded. Taeyeon was more dominate then Eunhyuk, not to the top level but certainly not to the low level where Eunhyuk fell. Yet when a female wolf mated she took on the position of her mate, leaving Taeyeon having to submit to wolves she never would have had to otherwise. The fact that her Beast allowed that to happen spoke volumes about their relationship.
“Thank you,” Kyuhyun said softly. He slipped from the room leaving them alone and heading back towards his own. He didn’t yet have all of the answers he needed, but he had a few. He was sure that whenever his obstinate Beast decided he really needed to know what was going on, he would, regardless of whether he puzzled through things himself or not.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
Wednesday came and went with little fuss. Zhou mi was glad that his mother said nothing of what had happened at the neighbor’s house the night before. He wasn’t sure if she really knew what he had done after she left, but he wasn’t about to bring it up if she didn’t.
He and Kyuhyun had exchanged simple nods of greeting to each other in school and other wise left each other alone. Zhou mi had returned to his home on Wednesday night to spend a peaceful night with his mother.
Thursday was much of the same. He had finally settled into the routine of classes and home work. It was difficult trying to catch up while at the same time staying on top of the current work but somehow he managed. Thankfully all of his teachers were very understanding about his situation.
During school hours he continued to hang out with his new friends Key, Onew, and Henry. Zhou mi wasn’t sure how exactly they had all become friends, but the trio seemed to never want to leave him alone and Zhou mi couldn’t say that he really minded. He had been alone for far too long and if he was honest with himself, he never wanted to be again.
His lessons passed quickly and he nearly forgot that he had his enrichment lesson that Thursday until Key asked him about it. “So what are you doing for your enrichment?”
“I just joined ‘Compositions and Vocals’,” he replied, stuffing the rest of his books into his bag.
“Ah that is one with Ryeowook in it?” Onew asked with a smile.
“Yeah,” Zhou mi confirmed.
“He is nice. I’ve only talked to him a few times because he is so quiet,” Onew told him.
Zhou mi nodded and slung his freshly packed bag over his shoulder. “What are you guys doing?”
“I’m in dance,” Key said with a smile, executing a few steps as he led them out of the classroom.
“Symphonic,” Henry told him.
“What Henry means to say,” Key said throwing an arm over the teen’s shoulders, “Is that he is taking private violin lessons to become even more amazing.”
Henry blushed, “I’m not amazing.”
“Yes you are. I have seen you play. Besides how many people can play and dance at the same time?” Key scoffed.
“I’m taking ‘Animation and Voice Acting’,” Onew offered, saving Henry from having to elaborate anymore.
“What is that?” Zhou mi asked curiously.
“We get together and animate short little pieces and then record the voices ourselves. It is pretty fun,” Onew explained.
“Onew just likes making funny noises,” Key joked. Onew offered him a look and Key stuck his tongue out in reply.
“That sounds interesting,” Zhou mi replied.
“It is,” Onew agreed. “More interesting the watching yourself move in a mirror.”
“You are just jealous,” Key said as if he was a diva himself. “You can’t shake your hips like I can without falling flat on your face.”
Zhou mi laughed despite himself and saw the hallway that he needed to turn down coming up. “I have to go this way. I’ll see you all later.”
“Bye,” Henry called cheerfully.
Zhou mi split from them, smiling as Key and Onew continued to make comments to one another the entire way down the hall. When he arrived at the music room, Ryeowook was already inside and waiting for him.
“Hey,” Ryeowook greeted him brightly. “I wrote this last night and I thought we could work on it today.” He handed Zhou mi a few sheets of music which Zhou mi readily accepted. He couldn’t help but smile as he flipped through them. It was a new song as far as he knew, but it had clearly been written for two voices instead of one.
“Sure,” Zhou mi agreed, dropping his bag by the piano and sitting on the bench by Ryeowook.
“Great,” Ryeowook smiled and then began to play.
They spent the lesson working on the song that Ryeowook had written and by the time the lesson was over Zhou mi thought they sounded fairly decent together. He had always liked to sing and it was more fun than he had thought it would be to graduate from singing with the radio in his shower, to singing with a person at a piano.
“You have a really good voice,” Ryeowook told him with a smile as he gathered his music and placed it safely in a folder.
“Thanks. You are really good at writing songs,” Zhou mi returned.
Ryeowook hesitated for a minute and then said, “I have a really good friend that lends me his voice to help. I know he would love to meet you. Are you doing anything after school?”
Zhou mi thought about it for a moment but as far as he knew he wasn’t. Leeteuk hadn’t arranged another homework evening with him and if his mother had something planned, she would understand and probably be thrilled that he was going somewhere with a friend. “Not that I know of.”
“Would you like to come home with me and meet him?” Ryeowook asked excitedly.
“Sure. He lives with you?” Zhou mi asked before he could stop himself.
“Uh,” Ryeowook shifted nervously. “I sort of live with him. It’s kinda a long story.”
“That’s cool. He must be a really great friend to let you stay with him,” Zhou mi replied, trying to let the other teen know that it was alright not to elaborate.
“He is,” Ryeowook said with a smile. He gathered his things into his arms and turned to the door. “Should we go?”
“Sure. Lead the way.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
The drive to Ryeowook’s house was pleasant. Zhou mi was careful to keep the conversation from straying into anything that would be too personal and so they mostly discussed things of a musical nature. When they pulled into the drive for what Zhou mi could only describe as a mansion, he fell silent.
Ryeowook smiled at his reaction. “There are a lot of people who live here. We are all friends and everyone gets their own section of the house,” he explained as he drove up the drive, following it as it wound around behind the house.
As they neared it, the door of the garage rumbled open allowing them inside. “Wow,” Zhou mi muttered in shock. What had appeared to be a garage for a single car from the outside was actually the sloping entrance to what looked like an underground parking lot. Ryeowook drove his car down into the brightly lit area.
“Almost everyone here has a vehicle and the owner of the house has several of his own,” Ryeowook explained. Looking around the area, it seemed to Zhou mi that the garage was arranged by sections. In one area were normal cars from very cheap, to incredibly expensive. Another section had what Zhou mi would consider to be exotic vehicles. A stretch limousine was parked next to what he swore was a military grade tank. A different section of the garage contained bikes of all shapes and sizes from the typical bike that would take man power constantly peddling it to move, to a very elegant motorcycle and all the brands in between. Ryeowook drove them to the back and parked in one of several empty spaces between two cars that looked reasonably normal.
“Wow,” Zhou mi said again as he followed Ryeowook’s lead and climbed out of the car. “Just how rich is the owner of this place.”
“Pretty rich,” Ryeowook said with a laugh. “He has his fingers in all sorts of things around the world.” The teen lead him to what appeared to be elevator doors set into one wall. Beside it was a keypad, into which Ryeowook entered a code. The doors dinged lightly and opened, and Ryeowook wasted no time in walking right through them. Zhou mi followed him and once they were in, the doors slid shut behind them.
There were no buttons on the inside, but it didn’t seem to matter because the elevator shuddered and began to move. Instead of moving up as Zhou mi thought it would, it went down smoothly. Zhou mi tightened his fingers around the strap of his bag. He wasn’t afraid of small spaces and he didn’t mind basements, but he hated this. It felt as though they were heading deep underground and there would be no escape if something went wrong. He hated that thought.
Ryeowook smiled at him reassuringly and Zhou mi tried to relax. The other teen hadn’t been lying to him about his friend living here or Zhou mi would have been able to tell instantly. One of the perks of not being completely human gave him boosted senses to detect the change in humans when they lied.
The elevator shuddered to a stop and dinged again before the doors slid open again. Ryeowook stepped out and Zhou mi followed, stopping in his tracks a moment later at the sight of someone standing and waiting for them.
The man was dressed entirely in black from his head to his boots. A metal studded collar was fastened around his neck and his lips had been painted black. Dark black eye liner outline the man’s piercing eyes and Zhou mi saw that the nails on his fingers were painted black as well when the man wiggled them in greeting at Ryeowook. The only thing that seemed out of place in the outfit was the bright red hair falling loosely to just above his shoulders.
Zhou mi wasn’t really bothered by the man’s dress; he had learned long ago not to worry about how strangely a person dressed. In his experience it was the ones who appeared normal, who later turned out to be nothing of the sort. The teen knew his eyes were easily fooled, but his nose was not and what it smelled was the thing that was truly making him uneasy. Whoever the man was, he didn’t smell human.
The corners of the man’s mouth turned up in what most would view as a smile. Zhou mi saw it for what it was: the satisfied look of a very deadly predator. “Welcome,” the man said smoothly, “to my home.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
Key sighed when the instructor called for everyone to take a break. He moved to his bag and dug through it, retrieving his bottle of water and taking a sip. The extended enrichment lesson that he was currently participating in, was always optional. The instructor had decided that the amount of time that they had been allotted originally was not enough to cover everything she wanted to, so she had offered the students extra time if they had wanted to stay and learn. Every student had stayed.
“Hey Key,” the teasing voice carried to him. Key sighed and rolled his eyes.
“What do you want?” he turned to face the smirking teen that was standing behind him.
“I can’t just come say hello?” the teen asked as if he was hurt by Key’s reaction. Key knew better.
“I don’t think you are capable of that,” Key returned casually.
“Oh I don’t know, I might be.”
“Flirting doesn’t become you. It isn’t fitting for a whore to flirt with people who aren’t his clientele,” Key replied with deceptive sweetness thickening his voice.
“Oh feisty today are we?” the other teen replied, completely unbothered by the comment.
“Not for you,” Key snapped. “What do you want, Jonghyun?”
“Oh nothing. I just thought you should know that your little friend Zhou mi went home with Ryeowook today,” Jonghyun said casually.
“Why would I care? They sing together and Zhou mi is his own person, he can do what he wants,” Key dismissed.
“I see you don’t know,” Jonghyun replied with a smirk. “Let’s see, how did you put it,” he looked like he was thinking really hard to recall something. “Oh yes that is right. Ryeowook is a whore too.”
Key’s eyes widened. “Your lying,” he hissed.
Jonghyun shrugged. “Not my problem if you don’t believe me, you could always check the evidence.” He tapped his neck lightly with a finger before laughing and slinking off to cause trouble elsewhere.
“Damn it,” Key cursed under his breath. He shoved everything into his bag and slung it over his shoulder before hurrying out of the room. The moment he was outside he pulled out his phone and dialed. “Come on, pick up,” he muttered, holding it to his ear.
“Hankyung,” he cried as the other end of the phone was answered. “We have to hurry. The vampires have Zhou mi.”
Chapter Seven
Masterlist
AN: Let me tell you all that this was not the way this thing was originally going to go. It was going to be Zhou mi walking in and Kyuhyun immediately starting to calm... Then a reader mentioned that Kyuhyun angry was hot... Tiny Zhou mi agreed and we discussed the new plan. (I also wanted to give everyone a better sense of just how animalistic and dangerous these werewolves can be). We are quite pleased with how this turned out. ^_^
(I need an icon for this story...)