Of Flesh, Fur, and Fang - Chapter Fourteen
Of Flesh, Fur, and Fang
Chapter Fourteen
The couch, much to Zhou mi's delight, was wide enough for them to lie comfortably on together and seemed to have been built with larger things in mind. Neither one had bothered to put clothing back on, although Kyuhyun had offered to retrieve some of Zhou mi's for him if he would like. Zhou mi had declined and told him that if he had wanted all of his clothing destroyed then he could take scissors to them himself and save Kyuhyun the trouble of ripping them with his bare hands.
They had laid together, the couch cradling their bodies and a blanket thrown over them, for what seemed like hours to Zhou mi. He thought he may have dozed off at some point, since when he opened his eyes it was dark, save for the fire crackling in the fire place.
"How long was I out?" he asked, discreetly wiping some drool from the corner of his mouth.
"A while," Kyuhyun told him. He was curled around Zhou mi, his hand resting comfortably against Zhou mi's stomach as he reclined against Kyuhyun.
"Mm," Zhou mi hummed in understanding. He was warm and content and there was little that could be done to change that.
"How do you feel?" Kyuhyun asked, kissing his neck softly.
"I feel," he was going to say sore, but as he shifted he discovered that wasn't the truth. "I feel fine," he said bewildered. "I shouldn’t. I don't heal like a werewolf."
"Good," Kyuhyun mutter, clearly pleased.
"What do you mean good?" Zhou mi accused, shifting a bit so he could look at Kyuhyun's face in the flickering firelight. "What did you do to me?"
"Nothing," Kyuhyun said with a smirk. "Well nothing directly. I had hoped that through our mate bond you would be able to heal faster."
"Through our what?" Zhou mi asked puzzled. He had heard of pack bonds but not a special bond just for mates.
"Our bond," Kyuhyun repeated. "Can't you feel me inside of you?"
Zhou mi's mind immediately jumped to the last time Kyuhyun had been 'in him' and he blushed before redirecting his thoughts. He closed his eyes and felt inside himself for whatever it was that Kyuhyun was talking about. Something within him pulsed warm and comforting and was flavored with the distinct feel of Kyuhyun, but he couldn't tell what it was. "I think so," he admitted.
"Good," Kyuhyun murmured, "because I can feel you."
Zhou mi sighed. He hated looking clueless but there was probably information he should have if he were to truly be part of this mate-ship or whatever they were now. "What is a mate bond?"
"It is a bond between a mated pair, much like a pack bond but different. Each mate bond is unique and both parties share things with each other through their bond. It is almost impossible to know what will be shared and sometimes it takes a lifetime to discover it. One of the things I have apparently shared with you already is my ability to heal rapidly. That is why you aren’t hurting,” Kyuhyun explained.
“Well the first thing I am sharing with you is my heat,” Zhou mi grumbled.
Kyuhyun chuckled and nibbled at Zhou mi’s neck. “It doesn’t work like that, but believe me when I say I’m going to take an active role in your heat from now on.” They were silent for a moment, Kyuhyun’s hand drifting over Zhou mi’s stomach as his lips played at his neck. Neither action was specifically arousing, but both were distracting and Zhou mi sighed. “What?” Kyuhyun asked.
“It’s just that I’ve known you a few weeks and I’m already laying here naked on the couch with you and willing to pledge the rest of my life to you,” he muttered. There were feelings swirling in him that he wasn’t certain who they were coming from but he couldn’t say that he hated them.
“Part of being a werewolf,” Kyuhyun said with a shrug. Zhou mi sighed heavily and stared into the fire. It wasn’t the sex that bothered him. At his age he figured he should be a ball of hormones about to rage out of control anyway, and the fact that they had done something about that didn’t really bother him. It was the idea that if Kyuhyun asked him to pack up everything and get on a plane to the North Pole with him tomorrow, he would go, just because Kyuhyun had asked him. That scared him.
“Hey Zhou mi wanna be a crazy teenager?” Kyuhyun asked playfully, almost as if he could read Zhou mi’s mind. He didn’t answer but Kyuhyun continued anyway, “Want to go make out in Leeteuk and Kangin’s bathroom? They have a giant tub.”
A shiver ran through Zhou mi’s body that he instantly knew wasn’t from fear. Kyuhyun must have known too because he ran his tongue over Zhou mi’s neck to the edge of his chin in a way that really should have been gross but felt incredibly sensual. “I plan to lick every inch of you from the tip of your nose, to your toes, because you are mine,” Kyuhyun growled.
Zhou mi turned then and fastened his lips to Kyuhyun’s mouth, arching his body into the firm form of the werewolf. This he could handle; the press of lips, the swipe of Kyuhyun’s hand over his hip and around his body, pulling him closer, tighter. “Kui Xian,” he murmured when they broke apart.
“Yeah?” Kyuhyun asked, his eyes searching.
“Let’s make out like the horny teenagers we are,” Zhou mi murmured.
“With pleasure,” Kyuhyun purred, rolling onto his back and pulling Zhou mi’s body on top of his own.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Hankyung,” a female voice proceeded a knock on the door that led down into the basement. “You have been down there for two weeks.”
“Give it up Jessica,” Key called from the kitchen where he was hard at work brewing a potion. “He’s become a reclusive hermit and that is his cave.”
She flashed him a look of annoyance over her shoulder and knocked again. “Hankyung I know something happened with Heechul, but you can’t hide down their forever. Work called and they said you have to be there next week. If you miss again you lose your job.” She paused for a moment, waiting for a response and heard nothing yet again.
“Hankyung!” she called sharply, smashing her now curled fist into the door, “There has been quite enough of your sulking. Come out now, or I will be borrowing Key’s power to come down there and get you!” She raged as if she was talking to a disobedient child. In the kitchen Onew swallowed and went invisible, then cursed quietly.
“I am counting to three!” Jessica exclaimed. “One,” Key looked away. “Two,” Henry tried to appear incredibly intent on his homework. “Three!” She had no sooner bitten out the last word when the door slammed open. In front of her stood a disheveled Hankyung who looked as though he hadn’t slept in days. In both fists he clutched long silver objects.
“If they call again,” he growled out, his voice rough from disuse, “tell them I will be in on Monday.” Then his form blurred and he shifted into the shape of a large black cat, which then turned and bounded out the back door.
“Well,” Jessica said softly as she swung the basement door closed gently. “At least he is out of the basement.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“You only got this far because I allowed it,” Heechul muttered in the direction of corner of his room that the flicking light of the candle beside his bed didn’t reach. Beside him Taemin glanced to the same corner and offered him a puzzled look but said nothing. There was a moment of silence and then silver flashed from the corner. Almost quicker then Heechul’s supernatural eye could follow, something flew from the darkness and embedded itself in his wall with a dull thud. He didn’t have to look up to see the spells engraved onto its surface, he could feel them.
Glowing eyes locked with his own, and they shared a gaze from one predator to another. ‘The next time you pull a stunt like that,’ a voice that was distinctly Hankyung’s flowed from the corner. It was over laid with an animalistic growl that made Heechul wonder how someone without the gift of mind speaking had managed to do so. ‘You will find that weapon’s twin imbedded in your heart as I remove your head from your body and burn it.’
Heechul lifted an eyebrow at the threat and stroked a hand down Taemin’s back calming him as only he could calm his fledgling. He could tell that the young man was upset by the statement but Heechul took it as it was; a warning. A retort would have been pointless, because seconds later the eyes vanished as did the feeling of Hankyung’s mind in his home.
‘Jonghyun,’ Heechul called with his mind, knowing the young man was staying until late in the evening working on homework with Ryeowook. ‘Come to me.’ He didn’t put any urgency into the call so he was hardly surprised that it took several minutes for the teenager to finally arrive at his room.
“Sorry we were in the middle of a problem and I wanted to finish it before I left,” Jonghyun explained as he shut the door and climbed onto the bed. “I figured you would call again if you needed me right away.”
“I would have,” Heechul agreed. He extended his free arm and Jonghyun crawled forward and settled against his side opposite Taemin.
“Hungry?” he asked, looking up at the vampire.
“No,” Heechul told him gently. “We had a visitor tonight. I have some things I need to take care of. I need you to stay with Taemin for me. He is having difficulty,” Heechul spoke softly and it took a minute to realize that Taemin was asleep against his chest.
“What happened?” Jonghyun asked, puzzled, since this should be the time when Taemin was the most awake.
“Nothing important. Someone came to visit and he frightened Taemin. Fear easily turns to anger and then to rage in one so young. He is sleeping to avoid that. He will be fine later,” Heechul explained. Jonghyun wasn’t an idiot. The way that Heechul was carefully explaining everything told him just how tightly controlled the master vampire was at the moment. “I will call your parents and tell them you are staying.”
“Okay,” Jonghyun agreed. With his agreement, Heechul shifted, depositing Taemin into his arms and slipping from between them.
“I will return shortly. If you need anything call Kibum,” Heechul instructed. Jonghyun barely had time to say yes before Heechul was gone.
With a sigh he fished out his phone and opened a text message to Ryeowook. ‘Sorry watching Taemin. Don’t know how long.’
There was a moment before his phone beeped. ‘K. Yesung wants to know why,’ was the reply
‘Don’t know. Heechul just left. Said he shouldn’t be alone.’ Jonghyun sent back.
‘Yesung says that he smells magic. Do you know anything about that?’
‘No. Heechul said there was a visitor.’
‘Uh we are on our way I think…’ A moment after he received the text the door was opening and Yesung slipped inside with Ryeowook in tow.
“For starters, Heechul shouldn’t have left you alone with him. What if he got hungry?” Yesung grumbled.
“He is sleeping,” Jonghyun replied with a shrug. “And if he got hungry he could eat. I don’t mind.”
“You would when he tore out your throat. Newborns aren’t gentle, plus I’m not sure he is even quite ready for that yet,” Yesung’s final words were muttered and Jonghyun gave him a puzzled look before following his eyes to the wall above Heechul’s bed. “What is that?” he growled.
“I don’t know,” Jonghyun replied. He shifted on the bed to get a better look at the object embedded in the wall. “It looks like a stake.”
“No!” Yesung called sharply as he lifted a hand to touch it. Jonghyun froze mid-reach. “It reeks of magic. You don’t know what it could do to you.”
“Very smart,” Heechul’s voice from seemingly nowhere said. A moment later the man stepped in the door carrying a black piece of fabric in his hand. “I leave you for only a few minutes and you all almost get yourselves killed. Why does no one listen?” he growled.
“Sorry,” Jonghyun said sheepishly.
“Here,” Heechul tossed the cloth to him and then moved to the bed to collect Taemin. “Since you are so eager to touch it anyway, remove it from my wall, just make sure you use the cloth,” he instructed, as he carried Taemin to the large armchair and settled there, arranging the teen on his lap.
Taemin immediately sighed and curled into him, his breathing deepening. Jonghyun nodded and rose to his knees. It was difficult to get a good grip on the stake, as the fabric kept slipping over the metal surface, and he was forced to wiggle it and create an even larger hole in the wall to pull it free. When it finally slid free, he carefully wrapped it in the cloth and looked to Heechul.
“Please return that to the witches. I don’t want it here. Yesung since you are so concerned with his safety, you may escort him,” Heechul instructed them. Then, with a wave of his hand, he dismissed them and like good little soldiers they scurried to complete his orders.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“I’m telling you,” Jessica said looking between the pot and the recipe on the scrap of paper. “You didn’t do something right.”
“I did everything that it says here. It isn’t my fault if your recipe is screwed up,” Key retorted.
“There is nothing wrong with it,” she snapped. “I have made it hundreds of times!”
“Well obviously there is,” he argued pointing at the pot.
“Maybe it was copied wrong,” Onew offered and received twin angry stares for his trouble. He immediately lifted his hands in a placating gesture. “I was only offering a suggestion.”
“I think it will still work,” Key insisted stubbornly.
“Oh then why don’t you try it,” Jessica offered, false sweetness dripping from her voice.
Key was about to retort when the doorbell sounded. The pair glared at each other as if each daring the other to give up and answer the door. When nobody moved and the doorbell rang again, Onew stepped forward, “I’ll get it,” he offered, and hurried out of the kitchen before anyone could protest. Henry had the right idea this evening he was certain, and he wished he had thought of sneaking off to his room when the younger boy had.
“Can I help you?” he said before the front door was even open all the way and then froze. He was used to seeing the person standing outside at school, passing him in the halls, and in classes, but to see him standing on their doorstep was entirely unexpected and caught him off guard.
“Hey Jinki, is Kibum home?” the young man asked, using names that no one else knew, they hadn’t used their birth names in years.
“Uh yeah, he’s in the kitchen,” Onew stuttered out, still off balance.
“Thanks,” the teen told him, moving past him carefully and through the house. Onew had no choice but to follow him back into the kitchen. He arrived just in time to hear the stunned silence and the sound of something heavy hitting the counter top.
“Heechul would like me to tell you that if he needs his bedroom redecorated, he will call,” their guest hissed.
“Jonghyun,” Key growled in anger. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Returning your little witches toy. Keep your shit out of my home and I’ll stay out of yours,” Jonghyun returned, venom in his voice.
“You son of a bitch!” Key snarled and Jessica caught him around the waist before he could complete his lunge at Jonghyun. “The next time I come into that place you call a home it will be to destroy that monster for what he has done.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Jonghyun said levelly, coldly. Then he turned and faced Onew and he could see only a small glimpse of the teen he used to know beneath what was there now. “You should come visit though Onew. I think Taemin would like to see you.”
“Taemin?” Onew repeated surprised. He hadn’t seen or heard about the boy for a very long time.
“Kibum didn’t tell you,” Jonghyun said, and Onew was certain his smile was tinged with sadness. “You should ask him about it then,” he muttered and then waved half heartedly. “I’ll see myself out. See you around.”
Jonghyun was true to his word and left the house closing the door behind him leaving Key fuming in the kitchen with Jessica trying to calm him and Onew standing, completely and utterly confused.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
It was becoming increasingly hard for Zhou mi to not say anything. Kyuhyun was pressed against his back as he cooked for them and humming into his ear. Zhou mi wanted to make a comment about how he loved the sound of it, but he was certain that if he said anything the music would stop. He had never heard Kyuhyun sing before but he longed to now as his mind imagined what his voice would sound like.
Kyuhyun’s hands dipped lower on his stomach and his lips attached to Zhou mi’s neck. “Stop it,” Zhou mi ordered, elbowing him. “I’m trying to cook us something to eat.”
“I want to eat you,” Kyuhyun purred.
Zhou mi’s cheeks turned pink and he truly hoped that he would stop doing that at some point. “You just did. You are insatiable. We need real food.”
“You are all I need,” Kyuhyun murmured.
“Ok that was cheesy and awful. Go set the table,” he ordered digging his elbow into Kyuhyun’s stomach. Kyuhyun laughed and nipped his neck before moving away to do as he had been ordered.
Zhou mi wasn’t sure how, but somehow they managed to sit across from each other as they ate and not on top of one another. Although he was positive that he was pathetic for missing Kyuhyun’s touch already. “My house or yours?” Kyuhyun asked.
Zhou mi nearly choked on his lunch. “Excuse me?” He didn’t really want to know what that was referring to, did he?
Kyuhyun gave him a grin as if he knew exactly where his mind had gone before he clarified. “I’m not going to sleep without you ever again. You are my mate and your place is with me. Do you want to live at my house or yours?”
Moving in together. They were eighteen and Kyuhyun was talking about moving in together for the rest of their lives. Zhou mi’s chopsticks clattered from his fingers as he realized this was more permanent then marriage. This was something that he would never be able to escape no matter how much he might want to in the future, no matter what some pack did to him, running wouldn’t be possible, and that terrified him.
He shoved his chair away from the table and moved to the sliding glass door that led outside, tearing it open and moving out into the afternoon air. He was scared, terrified even, and that made him want to shift and run, run as far as he could as fast as he could. Yet another part of him stirred, trying to sooth him.
Strong arms grasped his waist from behind and he bit off a shout of fear. “Zhou mi,” Kyuhyun’s voice said right into his ear. “Listen within yourself.” He squirmed, trying to free himself from the arms, and they tightened around his waist. “No listen to her!” Kyuhyun’s command was sharp, harsher then Zhou mi had heard before and he froze.
‘Zhou mi,’ a voice with in him called and he closed his eyes in shock. Suddenly he wasn’t standing on the deck of the cabin struggling in the arms of his mate, he was standing in the middle of a forest nose to nose with a giant black cat. ‘Zhou mi.’ the voice repeated and he realized that it was coming from the cat in front of him.
He had thought that standing face to face with a giant creature would terrify him, the werewolves still tended to scare him, but although he sensed ferocity in her, there was also something that calmed him. ‘Why are you scared of this Zhou mi? Why do you fear what can be ours?’
“I,” his voice sounded loud to his ears and he swallowed. For some reason he felt as though he could tell her the complete and honest truth. “All werewolves have done is hurt me. What if Kyuhyun does that too?” he whispered.
‘He would sooner die then do that to you. He will never do that. This I know. He is mate. He is ours to cherish. Do not fear, Zhou mi. I am with you.’ Her voice was gentle and he could feel the truth in her words. He had felt it before, he realized, in the places of his life where he never would have been able to get through himself.
“You protected me every time I’ve been threatened haven’t you?” he whispered.
‘I am not like others. I exist for you. To protect you. I will always protect you. And now we will protect our mate. Do not fear him. You are not human Zhou mi. Do not think by their standards.’
He nodded and then smiled. “Are all of you this good at speech?”
Her laughter was warm. ‘I am as special as you are. Return to our mate,’ she instructed. Zhou mi could feel the gentle push and he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Kyuhyun’s face was hovering over his, worry swimming in his gold flecked eyes.
“Zhou mi?” he questioned, brushing his hand along Zhou mi’s cheek.
“Kyuhyun,” Zhou mi returned reaching up for him and pulling him into a hug. They pressed their bodies together and Kyuhyun sagged in relief.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to frighten you. I didn’t think you would feel any different. I’m sorry I didn’t take into account that you are only half werewolf so you might not want-”
Zhou mi cut off his ramble with a kiss. “I want you. I don’t understand it, but I want you. I love you Kui Xian.”
“Mi,” Kyuhyun murmured before pressing their lips together again. They kissed, lying on the hard wood of the deck until Kyuhyun lifted Zhou mi and carried him inside, never breaking the contact of their lips. He laid him back onto the couch that was quickly becoming their favorite location and Zhou mi arched up into him. “I love you, my mate,” Kyuhyun murmured as he broke the kiss and began dancing his lips over Zhou mi’s skin.
Zhou mi gasped at the sensation and arched as hands pulled his hips up from the couch. There was something important that he had wanted to tell Kyuhyun. “I’m not afraid anymore,” he admitted, and knew that even if it wasn’t completely true yet, it would be soon.
“Good,” Kyuhyun muttered, pushing up his shirt and making his stomach tremble with the little kisses he was pressing there. Kyuhyun worked at his clothing, keeping his promise that he had made that morning, that no more clothing would be meeting its doom to his eagerness.
Zhou mi inhaled sharply as he heard the zipper of his jeans slip down and felt the fabric slip off his hips. A pleased growl rumbled from Kyuhyun at the lack of clothing underneath. There was still something he wanted to say, he was certain, but he couldn’t remember what it was. A presence in his mind bubbled up warm and happy, joining him, but not pushing him away.
“Oh,” Zhou mi said as he remembered, he tugged on Kyuhyun’s hair so that the werewolf would lift his head from where he was licking a path over his hip bone. Kyuhyun offered him a curious look. “I have a Beast,” Zhou mi informed him.
Kyuhyun’s grin was full of mischievousness. “I know,” he said, and then closed his mouth over Zhou mi in a way that made all other worries fly from his mind and was truly unfair.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Leeteuk,” Kangin said calmly, flipping a page in his paper. “Staring at the phone won’t make them call.”
“I know, but it has been almost 24 hours. What if something happen?” Leeteuk said worriedly.
Eunhyuk snorted. “The only thing that happened is our really old, really stuffy virgin finally discovered sex.”
“That is what I’m afraid of,” Leeteuk murmured.
Kangin sighed and put his paper down. “I thought you wanted them to get together.”
“I do, but you remember how violent the first time can be. What if Zhou mi gets hurt badly? What if something happens?”
“They are smart boys, if something bad happens they will call,” Kangin reassured him.
The phone ringing cut through any further conversation and Leeteuk answered it immediately. “Hello?”
‘We just wanted to call and let you know you can stop worrying mother hen,’ Kyuhyun’s voice sounded from the other end. Grins were exchanged around the living room as the rest of the gather werewolves heard the conversation as well; werewolf hearing was sensitive enough that they could hear Kyuhyun as if he was standing in the same room with them. ‘And for those of you entered in the betting pool, it was last night, I took him.’
‘Don’t tell them that!’ was Zhou mi’s horrified screech.
‘They will be able to smell it the moment we get home anyway,’ Kyuhyun retorted.
‘I’m not returning home with you anymore!’
‘Part of living in a pack darling. Wait till you hear the Alpha have sex.’
Kangin laughed and Leeteuk turned red. “Inappropriate, Kyuhyun.”
‘Not my fault that he growls and you moan,’ Kyuhyun retorted. Shindong and Eunhyuk dissolved in giggles.
“Zhou mi does not need to know this,” Leeteuk hissed.
‘Just making sure he knows what to expect,’ he could hear the smirk in Kyuhyun’s voice.
‘Well Kyuhyun now knows he can expect nothing for months when we get back,’ Zhou mi retorted sharply.
Leeteuk sighed. “When should we come get you?”
‘Sunday is fine,’ Kyuhyun answered.
“Fine, just don’t forget that Zhou mi has homework to catch up on still,” Leeteuk told them firmly.
‘I won’t,’ Kyuhyun agreed.
There was a moment of silence then Zhou mi’s voice shrieked through the handset, ‘Not while we are on the phone!’
‘They didn’t know until you made a big deal about it,’ Kyuhyun retorted. Leeteuk rolled his eyes and hung up the phone.
“I told you,” Kangin said with a grin. Leeteuk scowled, and then, simply because he could, threw the phone at him.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
Zhou mi had been worried he wouldn’t be able to look at Kangin straight when he came to pick them up at the end of the weekend, especially not after they had discovered the flavored lube in the Alpha’s bedside table. Somehow he had managed to climb in the car without turning completely red or into a stuttering pile of embarrassment.
By mutual agreement, they had decided to return to Zhou mi’s house. He didn’t think he could deal with the entire pack giving him knowing looks and grins all day long. Kangin hadn’t argued and had simply dropped them off with a smile and told them that Leeteuk expected them in school the next day.
His mother had been waiting just inside the door, and Zhou mi had immediately been pulled in and hugged tightly. “I’m so happy for you dear,” she told him excitedly. “I always hoped you would find a nice werewolf.”
“You did?” he asked her, completely stunned. He was certain that after they had left China that was the last thing she had wanted.
“Of course,” she released him and moved to hug Kyuhyun. He seemed surprised for a moment but gave into it easily enough. “Why do you think we moved here? It certainly wasn’t for the food, no offense,” she said with a smile.
“Now boys we have to lay down some house rules,” she said as she stepped back and put her hands on her hips. “I remember what it was like to be newly mated, but there are to be no sexual activities after midnight on a school night.”
“Mom!” Zhou mi immediately protested, this was not a conversation he wanted to be having.
She held up a hand to silence him. “If you two are going to get rough, take it outside, I will not have any of my furniture broken in this house. Also I don’t care what you do on weekends but on school nights you will use lubrication and limit yourselves to one penetration. You will both need to be able to walk the next day.”
“Mom,” Zhou mi moaned mortified.
“The kitchen is a no zone for anything sexual. Pants are required in my living room. My room is off limits and whatever you do in the bathroom is fine just make sure you clean up. Do you understand?” Zhou mi wanted to melt into the floor from embarrassment. Maybe the pack would have been a better choice after all.
“Yes,” Kyuhyun said politely. “I promise we will obey your rules.”
“Good boy,” Zhou mi’s mother said patting his cheek. “I always knew I liked you, even if you did top my boy the first time.” Kyuhyun laughed at that and Zhou mi buried his head in his shoulder from mortification.
Chapter Fifteen
Masterlist
AN: Here is the next chapter! I feel a bit bad that this took so long, but I've been really busy. Mostly it was just the change in schedule. Things have regulated now so I think I should take quite so long with the next chapter. Here is hoping! lol Thanks for sticking with me this long guys!
Chapter Fourteen
The couch, much to Zhou mi's delight, was wide enough for them to lie comfortably on together and seemed to have been built with larger things in mind. Neither one had bothered to put clothing back on, although Kyuhyun had offered to retrieve some of Zhou mi's for him if he would like. Zhou mi had declined and told him that if he had wanted all of his clothing destroyed then he could take scissors to them himself and save Kyuhyun the trouble of ripping them with his bare hands.
They had laid together, the couch cradling their bodies and a blanket thrown over them, for what seemed like hours to Zhou mi. He thought he may have dozed off at some point, since when he opened his eyes it was dark, save for the fire crackling in the fire place.
"How long was I out?" he asked, discreetly wiping some drool from the corner of his mouth.
"A while," Kyuhyun told him. He was curled around Zhou mi, his hand resting comfortably against Zhou mi's stomach as he reclined against Kyuhyun.
"Mm," Zhou mi hummed in understanding. He was warm and content and there was little that could be done to change that.
"How do you feel?" Kyuhyun asked, kissing his neck softly.
"I feel," he was going to say sore, but as he shifted he discovered that wasn't the truth. "I feel fine," he said bewildered. "I shouldn’t. I don't heal like a werewolf."
"Good," Kyuhyun mutter, clearly pleased.
"What do you mean good?" Zhou mi accused, shifting a bit so he could look at Kyuhyun's face in the flickering firelight. "What did you do to me?"
"Nothing," Kyuhyun said with a smirk. "Well nothing directly. I had hoped that through our mate bond you would be able to heal faster."
"Through our what?" Zhou mi asked puzzled. He had heard of pack bonds but not a special bond just for mates.
"Our bond," Kyuhyun repeated. "Can't you feel me inside of you?"
Zhou mi's mind immediately jumped to the last time Kyuhyun had been 'in him' and he blushed before redirecting his thoughts. He closed his eyes and felt inside himself for whatever it was that Kyuhyun was talking about. Something within him pulsed warm and comforting and was flavored with the distinct feel of Kyuhyun, but he couldn't tell what it was. "I think so," he admitted.
"Good," Kyuhyun murmured, "because I can feel you."
Zhou mi sighed. He hated looking clueless but there was probably information he should have if he were to truly be part of this mate-ship or whatever they were now. "What is a mate bond?"
"It is a bond between a mated pair, much like a pack bond but different. Each mate bond is unique and both parties share things with each other through their bond. It is almost impossible to know what will be shared and sometimes it takes a lifetime to discover it. One of the things I have apparently shared with you already is my ability to heal rapidly. That is why you aren’t hurting,” Kyuhyun explained.
“Well the first thing I am sharing with you is my heat,” Zhou mi grumbled.
Kyuhyun chuckled and nibbled at Zhou mi’s neck. “It doesn’t work like that, but believe me when I say I’m going to take an active role in your heat from now on.” They were silent for a moment, Kyuhyun’s hand drifting over Zhou mi’s stomach as his lips played at his neck. Neither action was specifically arousing, but both were distracting and Zhou mi sighed. “What?” Kyuhyun asked.
“It’s just that I’ve known you a few weeks and I’m already laying here naked on the couch with you and willing to pledge the rest of my life to you,” he muttered. There were feelings swirling in him that he wasn’t certain who they were coming from but he couldn’t say that he hated them.
“Part of being a werewolf,” Kyuhyun said with a shrug. Zhou mi sighed heavily and stared into the fire. It wasn’t the sex that bothered him. At his age he figured he should be a ball of hormones about to rage out of control anyway, and the fact that they had done something about that didn’t really bother him. It was the idea that if Kyuhyun asked him to pack up everything and get on a plane to the North Pole with him tomorrow, he would go, just because Kyuhyun had asked him. That scared him.
“Hey Zhou mi wanna be a crazy teenager?” Kyuhyun asked playfully, almost as if he could read Zhou mi’s mind. He didn’t answer but Kyuhyun continued anyway, “Want to go make out in Leeteuk and Kangin’s bathroom? They have a giant tub.”
A shiver ran through Zhou mi’s body that he instantly knew wasn’t from fear. Kyuhyun must have known too because he ran his tongue over Zhou mi’s neck to the edge of his chin in a way that really should have been gross but felt incredibly sensual. “I plan to lick every inch of you from the tip of your nose, to your toes, because you are mine,” Kyuhyun growled.
Zhou mi turned then and fastened his lips to Kyuhyun’s mouth, arching his body into the firm form of the werewolf. This he could handle; the press of lips, the swipe of Kyuhyun’s hand over his hip and around his body, pulling him closer, tighter. “Kui Xian,” he murmured when they broke apart.
“Yeah?” Kyuhyun asked, his eyes searching.
“Let’s make out like the horny teenagers we are,” Zhou mi murmured.
“With pleasure,” Kyuhyun purred, rolling onto his back and pulling Zhou mi’s body on top of his own.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Hankyung,” a female voice proceeded a knock on the door that led down into the basement. “You have been down there for two weeks.”
“Give it up Jessica,” Key called from the kitchen where he was hard at work brewing a potion. “He’s become a reclusive hermit and that is his cave.”
She flashed him a look of annoyance over her shoulder and knocked again. “Hankyung I know something happened with Heechul, but you can’t hide down their forever. Work called and they said you have to be there next week. If you miss again you lose your job.” She paused for a moment, waiting for a response and heard nothing yet again.
“Hankyung!” she called sharply, smashing her now curled fist into the door, “There has been quite enough of your sulking. Come out now, or I will be borrowing Key’s power to come down there and get you!” She raged as if she was talking to a disobedient child. In the kitchen Onew swallowed and went invisible, then cursed quietly.
“I am counting to three!” Jessica exclaimed. “One,” Key looked away. “Two,” Henry tried to appear incredibly intent on his homework. “Three!” She had no sooner bitten out the last word when the door slammed open. In front of her stood a disheveled Hankyung who looked as though he hadn’t slept in days. In both fists he clutched long silver objects.
“If they call again,” he growled out, his voice rough from disuse, “tell them I will be in on Monday.” Then his form blurred and he shifted into the shape of a large black cat, which then turned and bounded out the back door.
“Well,” Jessica said softly as she swung the basement door closed gently. “At least he is out of the basement.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“You only got this far because I allowed it,” Heechul muttered in the direction of corner of his room that the flicking light of the candle beside his bed didn’t reach. Beside him Taemin glanced to the same corner and offered him a puzzled look but said nothing. There was a moment of silence and then silver flashed from the corner. Almost quicker then Heechul’s supernatural eye could follow, something flew from the darkness and embedded itself in his wall with a dull thud. He didn’t have to look up to see the spells engraved onto its surface, he could feel them.
Glowing eyes locked with his own, and they shared a gaze from one predator to another. ‘The next time you pull a stunt like that,’ a voice that was distinctly Hankyung’s flowed from the corner. It was over laid with an animalistic growl that made Heechul wonder how someone without the gift of mind speaking had managed to do so. ‘You will find that weapon’s twin imbedded in your heart as I remove your head from your body and burn it.’
Heechul lifted an eyebrow at the threat and stroked a hand down Taemin’s back calming him as only he could calm his fledgling. He could tell that the young man was upset by the statement but Heechul took it as it was; a warning. A retort would have been pointless, because seconds later the eyes vanished as did the feeling of Hankyung’s mind in his home.
‘Jonghyun,’ Heechul called with his mind, knowing the young man was staying until late in the evening working on homework with Ryeowook. ‘Come to me.’ He didn’t put any urgency into the call so he was hardly surprised that it took several minutes for the teenager to finally arrive at his room.
“Sorry we were in the middle of a problem and I wanted to finish it before I left,” Jonghyun explained as he shut the door and climbed onto the bed. “I figured you would call again if you needed me right away.”
“I would have,” Heechul agreed. He extended his free arm and Jonghyun crawled forward and settled against his side opposite Taemin.
“Hungry?” he asked, looking up at the vampire.
“No,” Heechul told him gently. “We had a visitor tonight. I have some things I need to take care of. I need you to stay with Taemin for me. He is having difficulty,” Heechul spoke softly and it took a minute to realize that Taemin was asleep against his chest.
“What happened?” Jonghyun asked, puzzled, since this should be the time when Taemin was the most awake.
“Nothing important. Someone came to visit and he frightened Taemin. Fear easily turns to anger and then to rage in one so young. He is sleeping to avoid that. He will be fine later,” Heechul explained. Jonghyun wasn’t an idiot. The way that Heechul was carefully explaining everything told him just how tightly controlled the master vampire was at the moment. “I will call your parents and tell them you are staying.”
“Okay,” Jonghyun agreed. With his agreement, Heechul shifted, depositing Taemin into his arms and slipping from between them.
“I will return shortly. If you need anything call Kibum,” Heechul instructed. Jonghyun barely had time to say yes before Heechul was gone.
With a sigh he fished out his phone and opened a text message to Ryeowook. ‘Sorry watching Taemin. Don’t know how long.’
There was a moment before his phone beeped. ‘K. Yesung wants to know why,’ was the reply
‘Don’t know. Heechul just left. Said he shouldn’t be alone.’ Jonghyun sent back.
‘Yesung says that he smells magic. Do you know anything about that?’
‘No. Heechul said there was a visitor.’
‘Uh we are on our way I think…’ A moment after he received the text the door was opening and Yesung slipped inside with Ryeowook in tow.
“For starters, Heechul shouldn’t have left you alone with him. What if he got hungry?” Yesung grumbled.
“He is sleeping,” Jonghyun replied with a shrug. “And if he got hungry he could eat. I don’t mind.”
“You would when he tore out your throat. Newborns aren’t gentle, plus I’m not sure he is even quite ready for that yet,” Yesung’s final words were muttered and Jonghyun gave him a puzzled look before following his eyes to the wall above Heechul’s bed. “What is that?” he growled.
“I don’t know,” Jonghyun replied. He shifted on the bed to get a better look at the object embedded in the wall. “It looks like a stake.”
“No!” Yesung called sharply as he lifted a hand to touch it. Jonghyun froze mid-reach. “It reeks of magic. You don’t know what it could do to you.”
“Very smart,” Heechul’s voice from seemingly nowhere said. A moment later the man stepped in the door carrying a black piece of fabric in his hand. “I leave you for only a few minutes and you all almost get yourselves killed. Why does no one listen?” he growled.
“Sorry,” Jonghyun said sheepishly.
“Here,” Heechul tossed the cloth to him and then moved to the bed to collect Taemin. “Since you are so eager to touch it anyway, remove it from my wall, just make sure you use the cloth,” he instructed, as he carried Taemin to the large armchair and settled there, arranging the teen on his lap.
Taemin immediately sighed and curled into him, his breathing deepening. Jonghyun nodded and rose to his knees. It was difficult to get a good grip on the stake, as the fabric kept slipping over the metal surface, and he was forced to wiggle it and create an even larger hole in the wall to pull it free. When it finally slid free, he carefully wrapped it in the cloth and looked to Heechul.
“Please return that to the witches. I don’t want it here. Yesung since you are so concerned with his safety, you may escort him,” Heechul instructed them. Then, with a wave of his hand, he dismissed them and like good little soldiers they scurried to complete his orders.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“I’m telling you,” Jessica said looking between the pot and the recipe on the scrap of paper. “You didn’t do something right.”
“I did everything that it says here. It isn’t my fault if your recipe is screwed up,” Key retorted.
“There is nothing wrong with it,” she snapped. “I have made it hundreds of times!”
“Well obviously there is,” he argued pointing at the pot.
“Maybe it was copied wrong,” Onew offered and received twin angry stares for his trouble. He immediately lifted his hands in a placating gesture. “I was only offering a suggestion.”
“I think it will still work,” Key insisted stubbornly.
“Oh then why don’t you try it,” Jessica offered, false sweetness dripping from her voice.
Key was about to retort when the doorbell sounded. The pair glared at each other as if each daring the other to give up and answer the door. When nobody moved and the doorbell rang again, Onew stepped forward, “I’ll get it,” he offered, and hurried out of the kitchen before anyone could protest. Henry had the right idea this evening he was certain, and he wished he had thought of sneaking off to his room when the younger boy had.
“Can I help you?” he said before the front door was even open all the way and then froze. He was used to seeing the person standing outside at school, passing him in the halls, and in classes, but to see him standing on their doorstep was entirely unexpected and caught him off guard.
“Hey Jinki, is Kibum home?” the young man asked, using names that no one else knew, they hadn’t used their birth names in years.
“Uh yeah, he’s in the kitchen,” Onew stuttered out, still off balance.
“Thanks,” the teen told him, moving past him carefully and through the house. Onew had no choice but to follow him back into the kitchen. He arrived just in time to hear the stunned silence and the sound of something heavy hitting the counter top.
“Heechul would like me to tell you that if he needs his bedroom redecorated, he will call,” their guest hissed.
“Jonghyun,” Key growled in anger. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Returning your little witches toy. Keep your shit out of my home and I’ll stay out of yours,” Jonghyun returned, venom in his voice.
“You son of a bitch!” Key snarled and Jessica caught him around the waist before he could complete his lunge at Jonghyun. “The next time I come into that place you call a home it will be to destroy that monster for what he has done.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Jonghyun said levelly, coldly. Then he turned and faced Onew and he could see only a small glimpse of the teen he used to know beneath what was there now. “You should come visit though Onew. I think Taemin would like to see you.”
“Taemin?” Onew repeated surprised. He hadn’t seen or heard about the boy for a very long time.
“Kibum didn’t tell you,” Jonghyun said, and Onew was certain his smile was tinged with sadness. “You should ask him about it then,” he muttered and then waved half heartedly. “I’ll see myself out. See you around.”
Jonghyun was true to his word and left the house closing the door behind him leaving Key fuming in the kitchen with Jessica trying to calm him and Onew standing, completely and utterly confused.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
It was becoming increasingly hard for Zhou mi to not say anything. Kyuhyun was pressed against his back as he cooked for them and humming into his ear. Zhou mi wanted to make a comment about how he loved the sound of it, but he was certain that if he said anything the music would stop. He had never heard Kyuhyun sing before but he longed to now as his mind imagined what his voice would sound like.
Kyuhyun’s hands dipped lower on his stomach and his lips attached to Zhou mi’s neck. “Stop it,” Zhou mi ordered, elbowing him. “I’m trying to cook us something to eat.”
“I want to eat you,” Kyuhyun purred.
Zhou mi’s cheeks turned pink and he truly hoped that he would stop doing that at some point. “You just did. You are insatiable. We need real food.”
“You are all I need,” Kyuhyun murmured.
“Ok that was cheesy and awful. Go set the table,” he ordered digging his elbow into Kyuhyun’s stomach. Kyuhyun laughed and nipped his neck before moving away to do as he had been ordered.
Zhou mi wasn’t sure how, but somehow they managed to sit across from each other as they ate and not on top of one another. Although he was positive that he was pathetic for missing Kyuhyun’s touch already. “My house or yours?” Kyuhyun asked.
Zhou mi nearly choked on his lunch. “Excuse me?” He didn’t really want to know what that was referring to, did he?
Kyuhyun gave him a grin as if he knew exactly where his mind had gone before he clarified. “I’m not going to sleep without you ever again. You are my mate and your place is with me. Do you want to live at my house or yours?”
Moving in together. They were eighteen and Kyuhyun was talking about moving in together for the rest of their lives. Zhou mi’s chopsticks clattered from his fingers as he realized this was more permanent then marriage. This was something that he would never be able to escape no matter how much he might want to in the future, no matter what some pack did to him, running wouldn’t be possible, and that terrified him.
He shoved his chair away from the table and moved to the sliding glass door that led outside, tearing it open and moving out into the afternoon air. He was scared, terrified even, and that made him want to shift and run, run as far as he could as fast as he could. Yet another part of him stirred, trying to sooth him.
Strong arms grasped his waist from behind and he bit off a shout of fear. “Zhou mi,” Kyuhyun’s voice said right into his ear. “Listen within yourself.” He squirmed, trying to free himself from the arms, and they tightened around his waist. “No listen to her!” Kyuhyun’s command was sharp, harsher then Zhou mi had heard before and he froze.
‘Zhou mi,’ a voice with in him called and he closed his eyes in shock. Suddenly he wasn’t standing on the deck of the cabin struggling in the arms of his mate, he was standing in the middle of a forest nose to nose with a giant black cat. ‘Zhou mi.’ the voice repeated and he realized that it was coming from the cat in front of him.
He had thought that standing face to face with a giant creature would terrify him, the werewolves still tended to scare him, but although he sensed ferocity in her, there was also something that calmed him. ‘Why are you scared of this Zhou mi? Why do you fear what can be ours?’
“I,” his voice sounded loud to his ears and he swallowed. For some reason he felt as though he could tell her the complete and honest truth. “All werewolves have done is hurt me. What if Kyuhyun does that too?” he whispered.
‘He would sooner die then do that to you. He will never do that. This I know. He is mate. He is ours to cherish. Do not fear, Zhou mi. I am with you.’ Her voice was gentle and he could feel the truth in her words. He had felt it before, he realized, in the places of his life where he never would have been able to get through himself.
“You protected me every time I’ve been threatened haven’t you?” he whispered.
‘I am not like others. I exist for you. To protect you. I will always protect you. And now we will protect our mate. Do not fear him. You are not human Zhou mi. Do not think by their standards.’
He nodded and then smiled. “Are all of you this good at speech?”
Her laughter was warm. ‘I am as special as you are. Return to our mate,’ she instructed. Zhou mi could feel the gentle push and he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Kyuhyun’s face was hovering over his, worry swimming in his gold flecked eyes.
“Zhou mi?” he questioned, brushing his hand along Zhou mi’s cheek.
“Kyuhyun,” Zhou mi returned reaching up for him and pulling him into a hug. They pressed their bodies together and Kyuhyun sagged in relief.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to frighten you. I didn’t think you would feel any different. I’m sorry I didn’t take into account that you are only half werewolf so you might not want-”
Zhou mi cut off his ramble with a kiss. “I want you. I don’t understand it, but I want you. I love you Kui Xian.”
“Mi,” Kyuhyun murmured before pressing their lips together again. They kissed, lying on the hard wood of the deck until Kyuhyun lifted Zhou mi and carried him inside, never breaking the contact of their lips. He laid him back onto the couch that was quickly becoming their favorite location and Zhou mi arched up into him. “I love you, my mate,” Kyuhyun murmured as he broke the kiss and began dancing his lips over Zhou mi’s skin.
Zhou mi gasped at the sensation and arched as hands pulled his hips up from the couch. There was something important that he had wanted to tell Kyuhyun. “I’m not afraid anymore,” he admitted, and knew that even if it wasn’t completely true yet, it would be soon.
“Good,” Kyuhyun muttered, pushing up his shirt and making his stomach tremble with the little kisses he was pressing there. Kyuhyun worked at his clothing, keeping his promise that he had made that morning, that no more clothing would be meeting its doom to his eagerness.
Zhou mi inhaled sharply as he heard the zipper of his jeans slip down and felt the fabric slip off his hips. A pleased growl rumbled from Kyuhyun at the lack of clothing underneath. There was still something he wanted to say, he was certain, but he couldn’t remember what it was. A presence in his mind bubbled up warm and happy, joining him, but not pushing him away.
“Oh,” Zhou mi said as he remembered, he tugged on Kyuhyun’s hair so that the werewolf would lift his head from where he was licking a path over his hip bone. Kyuhyun offered him a curious look. “I have a Beast,” Zhou mi informed him.
Kyuhyun’s grin was full of mischievousness. “I know,” he said, and then closed his mouth over Zhou mi in a way that made all other worries fly from his mind and was truly unfair.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Leeteuk,” Kangin said calmly, flipping a page in his paper. “Staring at the phone won’t make them call.”
“I know, but it has been almost 24 hours. What if something happen?” Leeteuk said worriedly.
Eunhyuk snorted. “The only thing that happened is our really old, really stuffy virgin finally discovered sex.”
“That is what I’m afraid of,” Leeteuk murmured.
Kangin sighed and put his paper down. “I thought you wanted them to get together.”
“I do, but you remember how violent the first time can be. What if Zhou mi gets hurt badly? What if something happens?”
“They are smart boys, if something bad happens they will call,” Kangin reassured him.
The phone ringing cut through any further conversation and Leeteuk answered it immediately. “Hello?”
‘We just wanted to call and let you know you can stop worrying mother hen,’ Kyuhyun’s voice sounded from the other end. Grins were exchanged around the living room as the rest of the gather werewolves heard the conversation as well; werewolf hearing was sensitive enough that they could hear Kyuhyun as if he was standing in the same room with them. ‘And for those of you entered in the betting pool, it was last night, I took him.’
‘Don’t tell them that!’ was Zhou mi’s horrified screech.
‘They will be able to smell it the moment we get home anyway,’ Kyuhyun retorted.
‘I’m not returning home with you anymore!’
‘Part of living in a pack darling. Wait till you hear the Alpha have sex.’
Kangin laughed and Leeteuk turned red. “Inappropriate, Kyuhyun.”
‘Not my fault that he growls and you moan,’ Kyuhyun retorted. Shindong and Eunhyuk dissolved in giggles.
“Zhou mi does not need to know this,” Leeteuk hissed.
‘Just making sure he knows what to expect,’ he could hear the smirk in Kyuhyun’s voice.
‘Well Kyuhyun now knows he can expect nothing for months when we get back,’ Zhou mi retorted sharply.
Leeteuk sighed. “When should we come get you?”
‘Sunday is fine,’ Kyuhyun answered.
“Fine, just don’t forget that Zhou mi has homework to catch up on still,” Leeteuk told them firmly.
‘I won’t,’ Kyuhyun agreed.
There was a moment of silence then Zhou mi’s voice shrieked through the handset, ‘Not while we are on the phone!’
‘They didn’t know until you made a big deal about it,’ Kyuhyun retorted. Leeteuk rolled his eyes and hung up the phone.
“I told you,” Kangin said with a grin. Leeteuk scowled, and then, simply because he could, threw the phone at him.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
Zhou mi had been worried he wouldn’t be able to look at Kangin straight when he came to pick them up at the end of the weekend, especially not after they had discovered the flavored lube in the Alpha’s bedside table. Somehow he had managed to climb in the car without turning completely red or into a stuttering pile of embarrassment.
By mutual agreement, they had decided to return to Zhou mi’s house. He didn’t think he could deal with the entire pack giving him knowing looks and grins all day long. Kangin hadn’t argued and had simply dropped them off with a smile and told them that Leeteuk expected them in school the next day.
His mother had been waiting just inside the door, and Zhou mi had immediately been pulled in and hugged tightly. “I’m so happy for you dear,” she told him excitedly. “I always hoped you would find a nice werewolf.”
“You did?” he asked her, completely stunned. He was certain that after they had left China that was the last thing she had wanted.
“Of course,” she released him and moved to hug Kyuhyun. He seemed surprised for a moment but gave into it easily enough. “Why do you think we moved here? It certainly wasn’t for the food, no offense,” she said with a smile.
“Now boys we have to lay down some house rules,” she said as she stepped back and put her hands on her hips. “I remember what it was like to be newly mated, but there are to be no sexual activities after midnight on a school night.”
“Mom!” Zhou mi immediately protested, this was not a conversation he wanted to be having.
She held up a hand to silence him. “If you two are going to get rough, take it outside, I will not have any of my furniture broken in this house. Also I don’t care what you do on weekends but on school nights you will use lubrication and limit yourselves to one penetration. You will both need to be able to walk the next day.”
“Mom,” Zhou mi moaned mortified.
“The kitchen is a no zone for anything sexual. Pants are required in my living room. My room is off limits and whatever you do in the bathroom is fine just make sure you clean up. Do you understand?” Zhou mi wanted to melt into the floor from embarrassment. Maybe the pack would have been a better choice after all.
“Yes,” Kyuhyun said politely. “I promise we will obey your rules.”
“Good boy,” Zhou mi’s mother said patting his cheek. “I always knew I liked you, even if you did top my boy the first time.” Kyuhyun laughed at that and Zhou mi buried his head in his shoulder from mortification.
Chapter Fifteen
Masterlist
AN: Here is the next chapter! I feel a bit bad that this took so long, but I've been really busy. Mostly it was just the change in schedule. Things have regulated now so I think I should take quite so long with the next chapter. Here is hoping! lol Thanks for sticking with me this long guys!