#count on the paw prince in the snow.
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therevengeoffrankenstein · 10 months ago
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'snow angel'
i will soundtrack your body through the snow,
leave behind a happy trail of your light,
red and you on white -
g-d, i've never seen a more beautiful
juxtaposition since stark black and blue,
soaked in mercy's hues.
-
i miss illinois winters and your voice,
the only things colder than self censors:
prick-ling wood splinters.
-
you don't need to try to make snow angels
because i sing the body electric
the same way a fork does to a socket.
ice skate with me like those we used to know.
i'll freeze you solid.
- ellie revenge
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naturepointstheway · 6 months ago
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My 10 Longest Fics on AO3 As of May 30, 2024
So out of curiosity, I went to my AO3 works (username there is HathorAroha, which was my old username before I changed my tumblr url to my current one), and sorted my works by word count, and here's the top 10 longest ones so far in order from biggest:
Of Ghosts and Carols - Beauty and the Beast - G - No Warnings Apply - 39,379 words (multi-chapter) A few days before Christmas one year, Prince Adam, already turned selfish and bitter by his past and by his now-deceased father, is visited by an Enchantress who foretells his visitation by three ghosts who will show him his past, present, and what may be in his future if he does not learn to try to open his heart again to love now that his cruel father is dead.
30 Days of Beauty and the Beast: One Line, Different Character - Beauty and the Beast - T - No Warnings Apply - 33,758 words (multi-chapter, but all just one shots if that makes sense) As the title suggests, thirty one-shots for thirty days where I take a single line from the movie spoken by one character, and give it to someone else, however likely or unlikely. Characters and other tags will be added as each one shot is added day by day. One-shots' lengths vary from tiny drabbles to long ones, and I'll aim to be mostly fluffy/non-angsty. Take note, I said "mostly".
Snowflakes, Witches, and Eternity - Frozen/Snow Queen Crossover - G - No Warnings Apply - 27,767 words (multi-chapter) One afternoon, an unexpected blizzard carries little Anna and Elsa to the Land of Oz. The sisters are separated, with Elsa lured into the Snow Queen's embrace and Anna lost somewhere in Oz. While Elsa stays in the Snow Queen's castle, Anna searches Oz for her beloved sister, whose heart has been turned to ice. Anna must find Elsa before it is too late and she loses her for good.
Beauty and the Fourteen Prompts - Beauty and the Beast - G - No Warnings Apply - 18,535 words (multi-chapter, but a series of one-shots) A collection of my fanfic responses to the 14 writing prompts in @tinydooms' #BATB14fics writing challenge for January 2019 on Tumblr. I am doing it out of order of her list of prompts, going with which ones are inspiring me most first, and leave the rest for later. Even if "later" is two years later! See Chip's excitement over a new writing desk (very grown up indeed!), the village baker's thoughts on Belle's remarks on his job, and more! And that's all my multi-chapters (I tend not to like doing multi-chapters because i get bored way too quickly XD). Now it's ALL one-shots, and of COURSE my first ever explicit fic ends up being the biggest of them all. Why. Why. *shrugs*
Manes, Magic, and Pleasure - Cats the Musical - E - No Warnings Apply - 9400 words - Tuggoffelees (Mistoffelees/Tugger)
Misto gazed up at him with a rapturous, untethered grin full of pure joy, his eyes sparkling like a moonless, clear sky. Beautiful, phenomenal, magical. Tugger couldn’t help but press a kiss on his soft cheek and one more on his temple, paws still interlaced with his."
Just shy of a whole year after the last Jellicle Ball, Tugger discovers one day that Mistoffelees is ready to go farther with their relationship, despite his worries about overwhelming him with the sensations. At the end there is trust, so much trust, and so much love.
6. House and Home and Security - Life is Strange 2 - T - No Warnings Apply - 8193 words Hours after leaving prison behind forever, Sean finds himself at Daniel's new home, a house he can never feel is his, no matter how much Daniel insists it's his home too whenever he needs it. And there is a strange, forgotten feeling both alien and familiar, one he has nearly forgotten over the last fifteen years he had spent in a prison cell. And how is it that Daniel is already so grown up, a young man of twenty-five years?
7. On the Breath of a Storm - Life is Strange - T - Major Character Death - 8011 words - Pricefield (Chloe/Max) - Alternate Timeline "Our" Max, the Max of our timeline, leaves a note behind on the offchance that the alternate timeline with Chloe in a wheelchair will continue without her. Alternate Max "awakes" to the letter, and is forced to face what has happened to Chloe. A storm still approaches the bay, unseen and all warnings from this strange Max not of this world unheeded.
8. And So the Little Wolf Outlived the Big Wolf - Life is Strange 2 - T - No Archive Warnings (read the trigger warnings in the tags though!) - 7923 words - Lone Wolf Ending It is seven years since Sean's death at the border, and the day Daniel has dreaded since then has come: the day he officially outlives his older brother. On the night of Daniel's seventeenth, Sean comes to him in a dream and makes him promise to call someone, anyone, just so he isn't alone anymore.
9. I'm Somewhere, You're Somewhere, I'm Nowhere, You're Nowhere - Life is Strange - T - Major Character Death - 6214 words - Alternate Timeline - Pricefield
Maxine Caulfield wakes up after a night of partying it up and clubbing for her eighteenth birthday to discover a text on her cellphone:
"Max, it’s with a saddened heart I have to tell you Chloe passed away last night, 21st September, at 11:30pm."
She resolves to visit Chloe one more time, like the hypocrite that she is.
10. The Mute and the Maine - Cats the Musical - T - No Archive Warnings apply (read the tags for trigger warnings, however) - 5744 words - Tuggoffelees (Mistoffelees/Tugger)
Troubled by Demeter's words about Mistoffelees, a mute cat mostly outcast by the tribe, Tugger takes it onto himself to have a talk with Misto, and let him know he is not alone. [Originally posted on Tumblr] [Based on Lindsay Chambers' Mistoffelees from the very late '80s/very early '90s in a Zurich production.]
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kazeofthemagun · 1 year ago
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@shiroi---kumo asked the summoner:
Unceremoniously does he allow his body to flop across the elder's lap as he lays down in front of the fire. It's dark and the stars sparkle just over their heads. A misty yawn escaping from the cloud as he shifts about to make himself comfortable. Hands are moving to lift and tug at black fabric to bring it up and over himself as he snuggles down.
There are no words exchanged between him. Just one misty prince making himself comfortable without an invitation ever being made.
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It was a blessing, to be able to simply exist in silence after everything that had transpired. Even now, with the stars twinkling above and the crackling dance of fire below, casting skittish shadows across the woodland soil.
Even now he was thinking about rougher times, no matter how much his heart would rather find rest and relax.
A head of crimson turned when the Hunter felt his Other lie upon his lap, hair like fresh snow resting against a shroud of umber black. A gentle and light weight deposited without worry nor care - like a kitten, full of trust, wanting nothing more than to sleep in the shadow and warmth of he whom he so adored.
The Black Wind blinked softly, slowly - his hand rising to open his cape's great raven wings. Like a covering of soft feathers they fell over the Cloud, ushering him away into a world of warm darkness. It seemed they each possessed a unique ability to lull one another to slumber.
Minutes passed, then maybe hours. He wasn't counting, existing in the moment, with ever-watchful eyes open and glistening in the dimming firelight. The fact he could not hear his Other's heart settle into a slower rhythm did not mean he was not keenly aware the man had fallen deep into dreaming. With steady breaths and a calmer glow, the prince was entirely prone beneath his cape.
Safety. Even after everything, something yet made the Wind a safe harbor.
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With a sigh, the pain was released, and the Magun's heart settled, tranquil. A sliver of a smile tugged at immovable lips. The summoner's hand traveled gently, finding a head of snowy white locks. Mindful of not accidentally touching the horns, Kaze allowed his fingers to work idly, lightly massaging the Misterican's scalp.
Like a massive paw of some dire wolf - his palm was huge against the swordsman's sleek form, and briefly his mind likened the image to stroking a white rabbit. A horned one, snoring, with small puffs of Mist escaping with every breath, but still a rabbit. It was an idea that amused him yet brought a twang of solemnity with it, interlaced with shame. His hand possessed every capability to hurt the trusting creature below it, and yet that trust still prevailed with a strength inscrutable to the elder of the two. These fingers could turn to claws - as they already had before - and yet, without fail, time and time again that trust was placed in his grasp, a delicate flower he dared not ever maul.
Perhaps this was what happened when the Gun itself, a construct of violence, was offered kindness. Perhaps he could still offer touch with love, and not destruction.
The thought brought solace to his mind, and he continued in his motions, the gaze of reflective lenses tirelessly patrolling the treeline.
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ashortdropandasuddenstop · 2 years ago
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The primal growl was rare to hear from James, the sinner was always so proper. That was unless Stolas was being threatened. He sniffled and rubbed his eyes before he placed his hand over sinner’s, clutching it as firm as he could in his weakened state.
"I know I can count on you to keep ‘Tavia safe just as you had done for me growing up.” Stolas said and lifted the other’s paw to his feathered face to nuzzle at. He needed a bit of affection in his time of need. “I think it would be best to send her to the family home with father. Doubt she would try sending an assassin to the home of someone so close with lord Lucifer… I don’t wish to talk about that wretched whore any more this evening. Tell me what you have been up to, I could use a distraction.”
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As James continued his tale, a faint blush tinged his cheeks at Stolas's playful comment. "Now, now, you know me better than that," James chuckled, shaking his head. "Angel Dust is certainly intriguing, no doubt about that. But my heart remains steadfast, my dear friend. Although I can't deny the magnetism of Angel Dust's presence, I've learned not to expect anything beyond the thrill of his company.  He belongs to the Overlord Valentino, I’m afraid."
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James nodded as Stolas mentioned the Happy Hotel, his knowledge impressing the sinner as always. "Indeed, the very same establishment. A venture to redeem sinners, an unprecedented endeavor. Whether it will succeed or not remains to be seen, but the possibility exists. It's an intriguing concept, isn't it? I have always been a firm believer in the promise of redemption"
A pang of sadness tugged at the poodle demon as Stolas mentioned the barrier between Hell and Heaven, preventing him from visiting me. "I understand, sir. It pains me to think of the distance between us, and I would never want to lose our cherished friendship." Leaning closer, the sinner demon gently placed a kiss on the prince's forehead, lingering for a brief moment. "Forgive me if I have overstepped, my intentions were pure." he whispers
Drawing back, snow white cheeks flushed a deeper shade of crimson. "But please, do not concern yourself with that right now my friend, for I have made a vow. I shall not leave your side anytime soon. Our bond is far too precious to be broken, and there are still tales to be shared, laughs to be had." he offered a reassuring smile, hoping to alleviate any worries that may have crossed Stolas's mind.
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It was like a wave of ice crashed over James.  His own wife hired the imp to kill him?  There was a very low guttural growl that was more akin to an actual hell hound than an upper class sinner demon like himself.  Green eyes narrowed.  "  Is that so?" Oh, James is livid now.
Normally, Norrington was a man of propriety and stoic stature, but to see one of his oldest and dearest friends in hell in tears.. well , James could break façade for him. Always had hadnt he?
" Fear not, my liege.. I assure you no harm will come to the Princess.   " He moved closer to carefully, and gently slip a hand upon his shoulder.    " Regrettably, I cannot say the same for your wife. Or her little attack imp. "  He gives a wry, sour smile .  
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jimblejamblewritings · 2 years ago
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snow falls hot | part 7.
Summary: (Y/N) Snow isn’t a Snow at all. She’s a Targaryen— Rhaegar’s child. Taken in by the Starks, she leads her life as another on of Ned’s bastards. Will she be able to live in Westeros comfortably? More importantly, does she have any ambition to see herself one day on the Iron Throne?
Warnings: it’s game of thrones...
Pairing: gendry x reader
Word Count: 2.9k
Previous Part | (Series Masterlist)
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Grey Wind licked your face— the roughness of his tongue woke you up after about two licks. You scratched at his face and the two of you stood up very slowly. Neither of you were in a position to move quickly but had to leave the area. You didn’t trust the woods, they were still Frey territory. There was nowhere for you to go. Winterfell was taken, the Frey were now your enemies, Riverrun was about to be Frey territory, King’s Landing was aware of you marrying Robb.
Warging into Shadow, you had no clue where the dragon had gone— barely getting glimpses before the warging stopped. Whether it was because she was too far away or you were too weak, you weren’t sure. You pleaded with her to find you and hoped that would be enough. Still limping, you and Grey Wind started to leave the woods and go wherever you could.
You were positive Grey Wind was tired of hearing you ramble on about nothing. But he didn’t make a whimper of complaint. Instead, the wolf’s ear stayed alert like he was truly listening to you. You were talking to try and make the journey to nowhere more pleasant. Especially since the two of you were moving slower than normal.
“My mother is from Dorne. She and Rhaegar were childhood friends, like Robb and I. I wonder if she was a bastard or not. Lord Stark could never figure it out, there isn’t much on her. It would be hard to tell. Did you know, Grey Wind, bastards in Dorne are treated pretty well?”
The wolf gave you a short yip in response.
“I know, it was interesting to learn myself. I had siblings. My father’s first wife Elia, they had children. But he fell out of love with her and in love with Lyana, not before crying about it to my mother of course. I think he would have stayed with her if she hadn’t died giving birth to me. They were friends, he probably figured it could blossom into romantic love and he could try to forget about Lyana since she was Robert’s.”
Grey Wind whined and you appreciated the little responses he gave. It made you feel less insane.
“I’m glad you agree with me. My siblings are dead too, the Lannisters killed them. The Lannisters seem to kill everything we love don’t they? Not a good bone comes from that house— not as long as Tywin influences them. Maybe we should go to Dorne?”
Grey Wind stopped and looked at you. You scratched behind his ear.
“I know it is further south than King’s Landing and it’s really hot but it would be safe. Prince Oberyn would probably welcome us, we share a tragedy together. My father makes us kin. Is it too hot for you? Would you at least consider? It isn’t like we are going to make it to Dorne in a matter of days, we’d be lucky to get out the wood in that time.”
Grey Wind snorted what you hoped was a consideration to think about Dorne and you two continued going. Grey Wind abruptly stopped again and pointed his snout in the other direction.
“North? You want to go North? Grey Wind, Winterfell is gone. It has been ta—”
His whining cut you off.
“It is gone! We ca— you don’t want to go to Winterfell… you want to go to The Wall. Jon is at Castle Black, and Maester Aemon. Maybe we should go, but it’s just as dangerous. Lots of enemies could catch us. How about we try to get better first and then we can decide on Castle Black or Dorne, agreed?”
Grey Wind dipped his head and pawed once at the ground. You kept going, jumping at every noise that couldn’t be immediately identified. Hours later and you tripped causing the dire wolf with you to emit a high pitched noise. You assured Grey Wind that you were okay— the wolf not seeming to believe you.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. I promise you.”
Grey Wind shoved his muzzle under your arm until you were half leaning on him. You scratched at his fur and let him become a crutch of sorts as you limped. Night fell and you were still in the woods, starting to feel like you would never escape.
~~
Various banners dropped from the ceiling. Slowly each banner caught on fire and turned to ash. Only a few remained, burnt but not ash. Their sigils could still be made out. You reached to touch it. The Stark banner, the banner of the Arryans in the Vale, the Targaryen banner. Your head tilted as you watched ice crystals form on the flags that were on fire only moments ago. Your breath could be seen and you shivered. The whole room had become cold, colder than even the darkest night in Winterfell.
Scratching on your forehead, made you swipe a hand at yourself— eyes still closed but the dream of banners now gone. You could barely move your hand. You and Grey Wind were in the forest. The two of you had stayed in the forest for weeks. Grey Wind barely had food and so did you. Both eating just enough to live. It was becoming a living nightmare, you were already decently far along when you first started heading to the Twins for the Frey Wedding. By the time you had reached the Twins, it was easy to see how pregnant you were. Weeks in the forest meant days closer to giving birth.
Your forehead felt hot and you swiped at it again, this time feeling something scaly. It took effort to open your eyes but finally did, almost scooting back at the sight in front of you. Shadow had gotten bigger and was staring right at you. It had only been weeks, she wasn’t huge but was now the size of Godswood when he died. You couldn’t look, there was no mirror in the forest, but you were positive the roots of your hair were now white as well since Shadow blew fire to try and wake you. The black dye was practically just streaks now.
Shadow dropped the sheep in her mouth at your feet. Grey Wind lifted his head. Both Grey Wind and Shadow made work of tearing the animal apart. Shadow blew a gentle fire until the bits of sheep were cooked. Grey Wind pushed a piece towards you— neither animal would eat until you took the first bite. When they were satisfied that you were fed, they began to eat as well. You reached out and rubbed Shadow.
“You came back.”
She puffed smoke from her nose as if offended you would insinuate she would ever truly leave you. You smiled and took another bite of food.
“Winter is coming,” you told the two creatures.
“I had another dream. Winter is coming and we need to be out of the woods and in a house. Everyone but Robb is still alive, we just need to find them. Jon is at the wall… the Vale… Catelyn’s sister is there, Arya must be there as well. That’s where she has to be or maybe Sansa, and Rickon, Bran. Or Dragonstone. Stannis’ army must be marching soon, from Dragonstone we could go to Essos. I think I have family there.”
Both animals gave passive responses. It didn’t seem they cared anymore at your decision. They would follow wherever you went— Grey Wind didn’t even whine at the mention of going south. You all wanted the same thing. Safety.
“But first, I need an inn or at least a farm. Somewhere to rest until I give birth.”
That made both of the animals snap their heads up like they suddenly remembered you were carrying a child. Shadow led the way and you and Grey Wind— having not had luck for weeks in getting out of the forest— followed her.
It was a mix of flying and walking for your dragon. You were pleased that you and Grey Wind had recovered rather well. Not fast enough for Shadow’s liking but it was because you two were weak from nutrition not from wounds. Shadow had become the primary hunter, able to leave the woods.
You were able to warg into her for longer now that you felt better. A few times you had attempted warging into Grey Wind but it wasn’t happening. You thought you got close once but, never reached that space again. Like before with Grey Wind, you talked to him and Shadow about your dreams and other things.
“Have you two ever heard of a white walker? Years ago Lord Stark killed a deserter. He said things I thought were absolutely ridiculous about white walkers and the dead arising. I’ve been dreaming lately of the cold, scary blue eyes, and nightmare of stories we used to tell the children of Winterfell. It makes me worried.”
The woods became field land. Shadow pulled away, sticking to the few trees and wooded area. It was dangerous for a dragon to still be spotted. It was dangerous for a dire wolf too but that was a chance you would have to take. You spotted a farmer— keen eyes still working.
With a new vigor, you and Grey Wind started towards the man. He lifted his head from work and yelled something. Your feet slowed for a moment, worried that maybe he was an enemy and you two had been too eager at seeing another person. But instead, a woman and some children appeared.
The children ran to you, stopping when they saw Grey Wind. Their faces were a mix of awe and horror. You scooped up the younger ones as best as you could and placed them on Grey Wind’s back, enjoying the delighted shouts that came from them. The older one helped you walk— they held out an arm and escorted you down. The farmer’s family greeted you and asked if you had been fed. You entered the house, face dropping when you spotted the large sword over the mantle. The older boy who escorted you chuckled.
“We won’t hurt you. Used to be a soldier, fought under Karstark banners but I’m back for my parents. We only know allegiance to the just ruler.”
“It’s a shame what they did to your family,” the woman said.
“How—”
“The large wolf is hard to ignore.”
You chuckled. “This is Grey Wind.”
“The King in the North’s wolf? But they said they sewed his wolf’s head onto his body.”
“Darren!” His father scolded.
You almost collapsed, the old woman rushing to help you. Tears you hadn’t shed in weeks threatened to release themselves.
“What did they do to Robb?”
“The Frey beheaded him and they… sewed a direwolf’s head onto his body, parading it around. I’m sorry, I thought you knew.”
“The wolf was mine.”
“Lady Snow…”
The name made your head snap up. It had been so long since you heard that name.
“Stark,” you whispered.
“The marriage had already happened?” the woman asked.
You gave her a somber nod. “It was small. We were going to have a bigger one back in Winterfell.”
“If you don’t mind me asking… is that his—”
“Child? Yes.”
The man made a noise of disapproval. “They killed a man and left his pregnant wife to die. It’s not right, you don’t kill a guest you’ve invited into your home.”
The word home made the weak dam holding your tears back just collapse. You tried to apologize through tears, the family having none of that and assuring you it was fine. You blubbered about having no home to go to anymore, unsure of where the other Stark siblings were. The young girl— the youngest looking of her siblings— placed a hand on your stomach.
“We can be your home.” She looked back at her parents. “For now?”
The farmers nodded. “You can stay as long as you need. I’m afraid we’re not as fancy as you’re used to, Lady Stark.”
A teary, choked out laugh came from your throat. “I’ve been in the forest for months. This is a palace, it’s even better than King’s Landing.”
That made the family smile. Your face morphed into one of pain and the woman was by your side in an instant. You looked at the floor and back up at them.
“The baby,” you whispered before being rushed into a room with a bed.
~~
Eddard Targaryen Stark was a healthy baby. A pleasant surprise when the months before his birth had been so tough on you. The family you were now staying with couldn’t get enough of the baby. Whenever you helped tend the field, one of the children inside was holding Eddard.
They had already started calling him Ned and Little Lord Stark. That brought a smile to your face every time you heard it. What stopped your smiles was whenever you focused on the top of his head. Ned still had newborn hair but you could already see in between the black was a streak of white hair.
The family hadn’t said anything about your hair, Targaryen white was so pale it could’ve been mistaken for the white of old age. Lots of soldiers, young, came back from battle with hair streaked white from stress and fear. All you had experienced since Ned’s beheading was stress and fear. All those events were your flimsy excuse to white curls streaked with black. But baby Ned, it would become obvious.
You would eventually have to tell the family you were with. They still hadn’t seen Shadow. You made a point to visit her every day where she stayed in the forest. Shadow was careful. Whenever you warged into her, you could see that. She stuck to flying super high out of sight if she was going far. Soon she too would be too big to hide from the family.
You were nursing Eddard when the eldest boy, Darren, entered. His mother, Fryda, and younger brother, Nestar, were with him. Darren placed a fur cloak in your lap. Your fingers traced the hard silver clasps shaped like wolves’ heads. You looked down and looked up at the boy.
“It’s King Stark’s. They’ve been selling Northern things for months now, Lord Walder finally decided to part with it. Roose Bolton had no desire to wear it.”
Fryda and Nestar presented you with other gifts. Your bow and arrow as well as Robb’s sword. You placed a hand on Nestar’s cheek.
“How much did this cost you all? You did not have to do this.”
“We did,” Fryda said. “They are yours. Those men who take it as their own have no honor, no shame.”
“I will pay you back.”
“Nonsense. You work here for nothing, saving us hours of tilling.”
“Eddard and I are two more mouths to feed. We’re lucky that Grey Wind can hunt for his own.”
“Little Lord is not eating us out of house and home, neither are you. Take the gifts.”
“I can never thank you enough. One day, I will. When Eddard is a bit bigger, I’ll go and come back with more than you could imagine. There’s riches to spare in a few places I know, I just have to be smart in getting them.”
“In Winterfell?” Nestar asked.
“Winterfell, King’s Landing, more.”
“Like Old Valyria?” Darren asked.
Your eyes went wide and he laughed. “I was one of the men at the wedding, my Queen. Right behind Lord Karstark, I wasn’t sure if you remembered me.”
“I’m sorry for not recognizing your face. Why did you not say something sooner?”
“You seemed like you didn’t want many to know.”
“Know what?” His father, Waylar, entered with the youngest two— both girls, Kylis and Rosyn.
You looked at Darren who nodded at you. With the whole family present, you cleared your throat to speak.
“Before I married Robb my last name wasn’t Snow, it was Targaryen.”
It was silent for a moment. Grey Wind, who had been curled by the fire, raised up. He was ready to defend you and Eddard— even from the children. Kylis ran to the window, confusing you for a moment. She looked out excitedly and then back to you.
“Do you have a dragon?”
You warged into Shadow and called her home. The thump of a dragon made the whole family gasp. They ran outside to see the large creature. Before you could yell at the children to be careful, they had already reached Shadow. You were prepared to warg into her again to keep her docile. But she let them pet her and try to climb her wings. Darren, Fryda, and Waylar stayed behind next to you. Adults always found a dragon terrifying. Slowly, with assurance from you, they approached Shadow as well.
“All my life,” Fryda started. “I never thought I’d see a dragon, let alone pet one.”
“The Queen of the Seven Kingdoms is back and a her little prince,” Darren said as he pet Shadow.
You shook your head. “Not anymore, isn’t that right, Eddard? That is not us.”
The family looked at you— Darren, Fryda, and Waylar sharing a look. None of them said anything but when back to petting the dragon.
(Part 8)...
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franki-lew-yo · 2 years ago
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Drawtober Challenge: Literary editionsss!
Illustrate a different horror short and/or draw a classic gothic lit character for each day of October.
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Annotated, in case the fonts are too hard to read
Shorttober
The Phantom Coach by Amelia Edwards
The Screaming Skull by Francis Marion Crawford
The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
The New Mother by Lucy Clifford
The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving
The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs 
Silent Snow, Secret Snow by Conrad Aiken
The Signal Man by Charles Dickens
Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker
Oh Whistle and I’ll come to you My Lad by M.R. James 
An Occurrence at Owl Creek by Ambroise Bierce
The Vampyre by John William Pilodori
The Romance of Certain Old Clothes by Henry James
La Venus d’ille by Prosper Merimee
The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson 
The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter
Pigeons from Hell by Robert E. Howard
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge 
Lot No. 249 by Arthur Conan Doyle
It’s a Good Life by Jerome Bixby 
The Lawnmower Man by Stephen King 
The Shadow by Hans Christian Anderson 
There will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury 
August Heat by W.F.Harvey 
The Red Room by H.G. Wells 
The Landlady by Roald Dahl 
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman 
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson 
The Cats of Ulthar by H.P. Lovecraft
A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner 
The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe
Lit-tober
Victor Frankenstein 
Sir Simon (The Canterville Ghost)
Grendel (Beowulf)
Jack Griffon (The Invisible Man)
Okiku (The Disk Mansion at Bansho)
Oiwa (The Story of Oiwa and Tamiya Iemon)
Dorian Gray
Ichabod Crane
Bill Sykes (Oliver Twist)
Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde
Camilla
Otsuyu (The Peony Lantern)
Count Dracula
Baba Yaga
Erik (Phantom of the Opera)
Moby Dick
Cheshire Cat
Professor Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes)
Professor Faustuss 
Von Rothbart (Swan Lake)
The Wretch (Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus)
Cthulhu
Fortunato (A Cask of Amontillado)
Varney the Vampire
Hop Frog 
Long Legged Tailor (Der Strewwelpeter)
Sweeney Todd
Feathertop
Dr. Moreau 
Prince Prospero (The Masque of the Red Death)
Moundshroud (The Halloween Tree)
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beelzebubbutachef · 2 years ago
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Silver Childhood
Context: since at the moment the lack of knowledge what age Lilia adopted Silver, let's just say he got em when his a baby. Also Alice is base on Elsa who is a fifth element or spirit. Technically Alice is too.
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Silver Age: few months old
In the valley of thorns. The group of three people flash around the forest (?) They look like flashing light by their speed, mostly it's two people who's on the lead and there's Alice who barely able to follow the two crazy fae battling it out in the wild.
They wanted to call time out but the two fae is already out of sight. Sighing the nth time. They throw a middle finger at the direction where the two battle freak gone too and went to the other direction, toward the forest where it's cozy.
The snow spirit doze off under the three. Because this is still a world of Disney and in terms Disney law for prince(ss) is having animals love em like crazy. Alice who's base on Elsa, through not a princess but a queen. Animals start to surrounded them but they ignored it and doze off.
They don't notice the group of animals is slowly moving them to a direction inside the forest. They were too tired from following two fae all day and night for one whole week.
Crazy mofos.' they thought before going to dream land.
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The moment they open their eyes, they realize they are in another place and someone is staring at them.
"..." Feeling their head being moldy they went to get their notebook where they wrote what they needed to remember before looking at the two seat of big wide purple(lavender(?)) Eyes staring at them.
"nope. I have no info about this." They sigh before looking again at the two pair of eyes. They look around, searching for someone. Like Lilia before they stood up and was about to leave the place fearing they are in the way of the plot.
In their place should been Lilia. Lilia was the one who suppose to find this baby!
They were about to walk away when they felt being tagged by the robe they were given by the queen of valley of thorns being alliance or whatnot they call it for hundred of years with them. And they magically tripped from that.
How can a few months old baby...Wait nevermind. ' Alice thought as glared at the group of animals biting their robe with the child.
They all stared hopeless at Alice and the baby. As if saying: please adopt this adorable Disney prince(ss) baby.
"I REFUSE TO BREAK (( BEEEE* PLOT * EEEP )) " alice denied with a straight face and loud voice.
The silence cover the forest.
"holy... GET AWAY FROM MEEEEEEE."
Alice scream as they were chase around by animals holding the baby behind them or on their paws. There's even a bear chasing them
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"oh my what's that ?" The older fae notice quickly what Alice is holding on their hand. He teleported right in front of them with a wide smile. " Is your powers that strong to create human life from thin air now?" He joked.
"that's impossible. Unless you count reproduction but that's not gonna happen now or ever. Here." The winter spirit sigh before giving the child to Lilia. The fae who floating upside down land his feet to the grown and accepted to look at the child. Who's stared up to Lilia with wide lavender eyes before reaching out to him, wanting to touch him.
The fae laugh as he reach his index finger to the young human child who happily grab it. Alice who watch the scene sigh in relief.
"I don't know how to take of babies. Since you have experience. You should take care of em. Your fated to be his dad anyway." With a wink Alice take the responsibility out their shoulder, and disappear before Lilia and the young human child.
Dumbstruck at the scene the spirit did, but he laugh after a few moments of Alice departure. He once again stared at the human child who have the same color as Alice, silver.
"do you have a name? What do you think of silver?" Asking an infant for an reply seems odd but the child smiled slightly before drowsiness taken over him and slept.
It was that moment of silver life with two non human group of people began, and where his story start it's tale.
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Extra:
Alice: *boop Lilia nose.
Lilia: *boop Alice nose back.
*Poof Silver appears on Lilia hand
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((Baby silver by Me))
Malleus who watch the play the two made in front of him before introducing silver: so babies do come from no where if two people touch each other.
After that Lilia and and Alice have to tell him it was a joke and babies don't come out by two people touching.
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fragileizywriting · 3 years ago
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NEW FIC IS OUT FOR THIS AU!
name: honey sweet pairing: Demon!Chat Noir / Witch!Marinette word count: 1,472 chapter: 1/1 rating: G summary: Princess Marinette! Princess Marinette? Her? Her? Princess Marinette? A Princess… a royal… is that really her? And yet just last week she’d burned the snow-butter. The week before it, she’d dropped the snake oil, shattering and spilling, and had caught Chat slipping on the residue almost nightly, paws upturned and meowing while looking up to the ceiling unprompted, begging for it to stop. She’s clumsy, even though she tries to be otherwise. Shouldn’t a Princess be poised? Shouldn’t a Princess not make mistakes? How in the world is she a Princess? AO3 | Want More of this AU? Start Here
“Hold on a minute,” Marinette gasps in the relative quiet, looking up from her spell book. It’s been itching her for some time, this simmering thought at the back of her head that hadn’t really felt all that corporeal until just now as she continued to look at the word sovereignty written in her scribbled handwriting, petting at the lace tassel book insert she’d spent a full day making a strip of. “Wait, hold on. I’m a Princess, aren’t… I?”
Mirth twinkles in his eyes as he looks at her. He’s always staring. Always thinking. If he isn’t talking with his mouth, his eyes are the one holding a conversation— she’s never had a moment of peace when this man does nothing but stare at her with acidic green in his eyes. “How long have you been sitting on that one?”
“A day,” she huffs. “The whole day. Oh, Tikki. I’m a Princess.”
“I’m not sure why you’re so worried about it, my sweet. I’ve always called you ‘Princess’.”
“But— but it means something now! No longer just a nickname, but I’m— you— that’s my title now, isn’t it? Because you’re the Prince of Hell, and I’m your wife”—oh, Tikki, was this already explained to her and she hadn’t known about it?—“Which means I must be… I mean, does that make me… Princess… Marinette…?”
“Probably.”
“Probably?” she wheezes.
“If I’m the Prince, and you’re my wife, it only makes sense for you to be a Princess. It makes sense.”
“But you don’t know? Definitively, that is?”
Princess Marinette! Princess Marinette? Her? Princess Marinette? A Princess… a royal… and yet just last week she’d burned the snow-butter. The week before it, she’d dropped the snake oil, and had caught Chat slipping on the residue almost nightly, paws upturned and meowing while looking up to the ceiling unprompted. She’s clumsy, even though she tries to be otherwise. Shouldn’t a Princess be poised? Shouldn’t a Princess not make mistakes?
“I don’t think my father ever made any rules about it,” he shrugs, resting his cheek in his open palm. He itches his face with his long claws, almost just to reminds himself that they’re still there. As if he doesn’t know. As if he isn’t aware of how massive those claws are, even though she’s never been fearful of them in her life. The ring she’s given him glints in the candlelight as they keep to themselves in hushed tones at the kitchen table, glinting just enough to catch her attention and keep it, thinking just how perfect the ceremony had been. “I don’t think there’s an age limit. I don’t think you’re too young to be one, because I was Prince at the age of twelve.”
“You were practically born into the role.”
He grins. “Practically, yes. Alright, alright, let’s start with the basics here— it doesn’t matter to me if you are or not, so long as you’re on board with being one. Do you want to be?”
Oh.
Well, she’s not really sure, is she?
With no formal training…
“I’ve never had the opportunity to be one before,” she jokes lightly, smiling soft when he laughs.
“I wouldn’t worry about that, there are always so many things that we do for the first time. For example, I learned how to ride a horse just the other day.”
“Technically, Adrien already knew how to ride horses.”
“What I did as a child is irrelevant. I met a horse last week and befriended him. You didn’t make fun of me when I nearly fell off the saddle, but I did anyway. Many times. It’s a lot harder than it looks.”
“I didn’t laugh because I’m polite.”
“I’m aware.”
“But it’s different than riding a horse or defying death or… all of that. Not many become royalty in their lifetime. There’s no guide. No manual.”
“You’re not wrong, but not many people die and come back, either. I don’t think there’s a guide to any of that. No recipe. Which means— all things considered— you’re doing a fine job of it already. You’re carving out your own path.”
Oh. Oh. Is that true? Does he really think so? Everyone knows she hasn’t exactly been trying with her new title that comes with the ring on her finger. She’s just been doing everything a Ladybug does: caring for others, producing spells with her familiar at her side, taking care of Paris the way she normally does. None of this has been because she’s a Princess. It’s just… been natural. Is that what he means? “You think so?”
“Of course. I’ve never met a Princess as beautiful as you.”
There’s no way to stop herself from putting her book down on their table and laughing, snorting something ugly that makes Chat’s ears twitch at the noise. “Tikki, give me strength. Is that all you have in that brain of yours? You think I’m beautiful? That’s no help for a royal.”
Ah, but he’s not laughing, is he? “It’s true. I’ve seen many people before in my life, many grand, many unworthy, many plain, and I’ve never seen a creature as beautiful as you.”
“A creature,” she muses. “I’m none of that, Chat. I’m just human.”
He raises a brow as if to challenge that. “Just human? You know you’re much more than that, my sweet.”
They sit in relative silence as she tries to pick up her book again, hiding a smile and then some between the pages, trying not to let herself flutter at his words. He keeps staring at her— longingly, lovingly— like he knows that she doesn’t like to be disturbed when she’s reading unless he can’t help himself. Gentle touches from his hand against hers make words turn into nothing but Latin in her mind as she can only focus on hand, hand, hand, and the last thing she needs is to lose track of what she was doing in favor of kissing him until his honeyed skin turns as red as her dress.
“You’re intelligent.”
“Chat.”
“You’re so creative,” he continues.
“I hardly think a Princess needs to be creative.”
“You’re studious.”
“I think there’s more to it than just that.”
“How would you know? If anything, I’m the closest thing we have to an expert on this.”
“You’re a Prince, not a Princess.”
“I’m close enough. Unless, of course, you’re willing to share your knowledge on this subject? Since you are one, after all.”
She’s thankful that he’s not allowing her to spiral into this, thinking of all the things she has to do. Does she have to learn how to sit properly? Politics? Learn how to pour tea? Does she have to be a high lady and be just like Kagami? Are her soiled aprons enough to prove to anyone that she is, infact, a Princess? “I’m just not sure what it entails. Am I really one? I don’t even have proper training. Am I supposed to be wearing different shoes?”
“I think you’re already a Princess regardless of whether or not you want to be one. Regardless of what you’re wearing. And I hope with all my magic that shoes aren’t required for royalty.” They share a private laugh. His voice quiets, then, something warm that makes the candle on the table pale in comparison. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it, my sweet. I think you’re perfect already.”
Something dark stamps across her face. “Your tongue is very loose this evening.”
“Can’t I compliment you?” he asks as he cocks his head.
“You can, but…”
“You are the best Princess I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.” Their fingers meet, gently, like they’re still unsure. “You’re my Princess. I don’t doubt it at all that my parents would love to consider you one, too, should we just ask. We can ask. Do you want to ask?”
His hands are so large. She sets down her book to make more room for their embrace, bringing up one of his hands to rest on her cheek. She leans into it. Warm, blackened hands, with glistening black claws that are so deadly yet so soft against her temple and hair— she kisses the fleshiest part of his thumb where it connects to the rest of the hand.
With all of her, he’s gentle. He holds her like porcelain— like glass— like she’s just as fragile as her gossamer. It’s true that she’s not as strong yet, still milky white and pale from everything even though it’s been years, but to be held so gently…
“In the morning. It’ll be better for my nerves if we don’t disturb them during the night. Besides, this isn’t all that important.”
“I don’t think they’ll mind.”
AO3 | Want More of this AU? Start Here
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rogerswick · 2 years ago
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( joe keery, cis male, he/him ) the stowe ski resort welcomes AUGUST “GUS” ROGERS-BRUNSWICK! they’re a 25 year-old HEIR. the staff says they’re quite APPRECIATIVE, but i heard they can also be pretty NAIVE. rumor has it that HE’S THE GUARDIAN TO HIS LITTLE SISTER, and they like to spend their free time LEARNING HOW TO COOK. ( madge, 25, est )
name: august roman rogers-brunswick nickname: gus, wick age: twenty-two gender: cis male pronouns: he/him orientation: bisexual birthplace: manhattan, united states current residence: taos, new mexico family: lionel rogers-brunswick (father, deceased), jean rogers-brunswick (mother, deceased), daniel rogers-brunswick (older brother, deceased), eleanor rogers-brunswick (little sister) faceclaim: joe keery
traits: friendly, respectful, sad, naive, spoiled, lost, grieving alignment: neutral good
- - - - - - - - - - -
second of three, august was the prince of nothing. The Plan™ was for danny to get trained up to take over the company from their dad. there was nothing planned for august, other than getting caught in the safety net of the family's success. he wasn't really good at anything if shredding the self-esteem of your peers in school doesn't count.
but, there was a conference in california. the plane went down colorado, wiping out half the family… and the three people who would have any idea how to manage. a fortune lands in the hands of the fuck-up, and the custody of his little sister. he lived a sheltered life as a rich boy, but he was sheltered from the other side. with the defenses down. he got pecked by the vultures swooping down on the company. his parents' executives, his supposed war council, told him how much of a disappointment he'd be to his family.
a month later, he and elsie packed their things into his car and gus drove as far as he could (subconsciously, in the direction of the plane crash), ending up in taos. it's not as though no one knows where they went, he uses company credit cards, and fields phone calls from the c.o.o.
presently:
he was a dick, but he's lost everything that mattered to him. he's been stripped to this version of himself that tiptoes around all topics
he's still learning how to take care of lil sis and himself
he takes anti-depressants
does this place have a stray issue? there were paw prints in the snow...
plotting:
neighbours. gus has asked for a favour every day since he's arrived
from his past. the rogers-brunswick are new money from nyc, if someone knows him from there. or in social circles that gus would tread
executives. if your new boss fucked off to some ski resort, you'd go after them.
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sidespart · 4 years ago
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The Fall of King Romulus Part 8
Summary: Twin Princes Remus and Romulus are cursed at birth with Honesty and Obedience. When Romulus, who cannot disobey any order, is told to kill his brother the next time he lays eyes on him, he changes his name to Roman and runs away. Roman joins up with a misfit group of adventures and plans to never return to his homeland. But the fae have other plans for him…
Warnings (for whole fic not necessarily individual chapters): Violence, mind whammying/memory altering, curse of obedience related consent issues, references to sex, references to war related injuries/PTSD, references to child abuse/neglect (YMMV on that one but just in case), antagonstic-but-not-exactly villian!Janus, Extremly-moraly-dubious-but-not-exacty-unsympathetic-Remus
Feedback appreciated.
NOW ON AO3 :D
Prologue Chapter 1   Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
“From today, you shall have your own rooms.”
“But why?” Remus wails “it’s not fair!” Remus looks up at him, his small faced scrunched and red, tears threatening to fall, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“I-“ Roman frowns. He feels too big. Shouldn’t he be the same size as Remus?
“You’re the future king, Remus” their father rumbles, “Your training needs to begin - without distractions.”
“Don’t cry.” Their mother tells him as Remus’ tantrum echoes through the room. She runs a cool hand over Roman’s forehead soothingly.
“I wasn’t.” Roman murmurs.
His mother’s hand turns cruel, pushing his head back, another hand gripping his chin.
“You need to drink, c’mon Roman drink this down for me, please?”
Roman chokes, twisting away. Hot liquid scalds his throat and drips down his chin. There’s a hand in his hair again, stroking gently until it grips tight, forcing his head back “He doesn’t look much like the Prince.” Marcus grunts.
“The mad Prince – Remus of Notaleveale!”
“But.” Roman whimpers, “that’s not-“
“Is he awake?”
“Your father is sick.” Julius tells him. The practice room is high in the north tower, always just too cool to be comfortable, but Roman feels hot. For some reason, water is rushing down the walls. Droplets splash onto his skin and sizzle where they land.
“We’re going to find a way to fix this my Prince, I promise.” Julius smiles at him, his eyes kind and unlined by age.
“What if you can’t.” Romulus whispers, voice breaking. He is the right size now he thinks. He had to tilt his head to look up at Julius who hesitantly pulls him close, letting the boy muffle his dry sobs on his shoulder.
“Then…we will find a way to help you live with it – and I’ll always be here to help you.”
He pulls back to smile at him again, but it’s not kind anymore. The skin flaking away reveals the rictus grin of the skull beneath, and Roman howls, trying to twist away whilst large hands hold him down -
“It’s okay! Roman, it’s okay!”
- he feels something cool on his eyelids, a strong scent of mint mingling with the rot of Julius body-
“Sleep.” a voice murmurs.
When Roman wakes, it’s somewhere he doesn’t recognise. Scratchy sheets pin him down to a bed as effectively as chains. A pale man with violet eyes is pulling at his arm, his arm which hurts. Roman whines, trying to tug the limb out of the pale man’s grip, but his body feels too heavy to obey.
The pale man is trying to talk to him but nothing he says makes sense to Romulus, it’s like listening to a foreign language.
“<My dad’s dead.>” he tells the pale man, because that seems important.
“Roman? Are you awake?”
There’s a hand on his forehead, the voice is saying something about water but Roman ignores it, trying to chase the thought.
If their father was dead, then why was he still Prince Remus?
The next time Roman woke up it was dark. The pale man had disappeared, but there was another figure lying in the bed next to him. The man’s bulk caused the mattress to dip towards him and his snores were so loud they made the whole bedframe vibrate with each exhale.
Turning his head carefully, Roman found himself looking at a face full of scars and freckles. A pale shaft of moonlight from the open window illuminated the man’s ripped ear and a nose that had obviously been broken at some point in the past. Even in sleep, he looked fearsome.
‘Patton’ Roman’s tired mind supplied, and he felt a relieved smile twitch over his face. It pulled at the cut Niki left him, making him bite back a whimper of pain.
He let his head fall back against the pillow. Everything felt heavy, even the air. The room seemed to melt at the edges. But if Patton was sleeping then they must be somewhere safe.
He dozed for a time, listening to the comforting rumble of Patton’s snores, until a withered pair of hands reached for him. The lady of the house began to gently wipe the sweat from his face with a cool cloth.
“<Am I dying>?” he asked her in their own language.
“<You can try.>” She told him dryly, “<Those three will probably end up chasing you down to the underworld too.>”
The lady brought some extra cushions and stacked them behind him, helping him to sit up. From his new vantage point he could see Logan on the floor, one giant book open on his lap and three more stacked beside him. He looked like he had fallen asleep mid study session, his head tilted back against the wall with a thin string of drool hanging from his open mouth.
Roman thought of the last time he had seen him, pinned to Lucius' chest, his eyes wide and frightened behind his glasses, and had to close his eyes. He breathed deeply through his nose until his panic subsided and glanced at Logan again.
He was so relieved to see him whole that might even forgo teasing him about the drool.
The lady brought him a pewter mug filled with something warm that smelt pleasantly of honey and helped him to lift it to his lips when his hands began to shake.
“<When I invited you for tea, this isn’t what I pictured.>” she teased him with a smile.
Roman didn’t smile back, eyes still roaming the room.
“<Where->“
“<Your elf is fine>” she told him, sounding amused “<I sent him on an errand. He would have worn a hole in my best rug if he stood here pacing much longer.>”
Roman did smile then, grip loosening on the mug which she deftly caught before it hit the blankets.
“<I lost my brother.>” he told her, eyes growing heavy again.
“<That was careless of you.>” she said, “<What are you going to do about it?>”
Roman didn’t answer, falling back asleep with the honey still coating his tongue.
The next time Roman woke up, daylight was streaming trough the open window and the last tendrils of fever seemed to have left him. Whilst he still felt tired, the unnatural heaviness was less and his mind was clear.
Unfortunately, his clear mind immediately occupied itself by cataloguing every single way his body was in pain.
His cheek throbbed, the small cut from Niki having been split wider by the force of the hit from Julius’s walking stick. His back and shoulders we’re equally bruised, and protested every tiny movement he made as he tried to resettle himself against the pillows. By far the worst was his hand, which felt like it was still burning.
Choking down any whimpers of pain he focused instead on the strange pressure on his chest.
Opening his eyes revealed the culprit. A grey cat with snow white paws was sitting primly on his sternum. Mittens looked deeply put out by Roman’s attempt to get comfortable and gave him an unsatisfied meow of protest when he continued to move.
“Good morning” Roman whispered, giving him a conciliatory head rub with his good hand, “Did you happen to count how many horses ran me over?”
“Roman!” The bard looked beyond Mittens to see Patton perched on the end of the bed, beaming so wide it almost distracted from the redness of his nose.
“You’re -ah-achoo – you’re awake!”
“Yeah.” He smiled, attempting to rearrange the pillows one handed. “Hey Pat’.”
“Guys!” Patton called, “Ro – achoo – Ro -acHOO – he’s awake!”
There was a thundering of footsteps on stairs and then Virgil all but exploded into the room, eyes wide “How awake is he? – does he recognise you? Patton I told you to put the damm cat outside!”
“Aww but it’s his hou -ah -ah -house,” Patton pouted.
“He recognises you.” Roman added, giving Virgil a half-hearted wave “Also his voice works.”
“Shame.” Virgil snarked but the grin on his face was too wide to hide his relief.
“You. Go bother the pigeons’” he shooed the cat as he came to sit on the edge of Romans bed. Mittens gave him a pointed meow before slinking out of the room, pausing only to rub against Logan’s ankles as it passed him in the doorway.
“How’s your head?” Virgil asked - he reached over to a small beside table and picked up a glass of water, holding it up for Roman to sip.
“Fine.” Roman whispered hoarsely, taking the water from him and drinking greedily.
“What about your hand?” Patton asked, kneeling on his other side, “I’ll ask Mama Tay to brew you some more willow tea, for the pain.”
“Great.”- Roman handed the glass back to Virgil shrank against the pillows as they both peered at him – “but I’m fine, honestly don’t worry yourselves-“
“Fine?” Virgil rolled his eyes, “You look like you went three rounds with a centaur and lost. Badly.”
“Okay, well, that’s rude.” Roman rolled his eyes right back, lifting one arm to try and bat Virgil’s hands away as they reached for him “Get off, Virge I’m fi-“
“Roman.” Logan was the only one who hadn’t come forward to paw at him. He stood in the doorway, most of his face obscured by the shadow. “Let Virgil check your injuries.”
Roman sighed, the fight going out of him. Obediently, he dropped his arms and tilted his head towards the half-elf.
“Oh sure,” Virgil murmured, running skilful fingers over the cut on Romans cheek and the surrounding swelling “you’ll listen when Logan tells you.”
“It’s the glasses,” Roman joked, his voice tired, “gives him authority.”
Once Virgil had finished his inspection of Roman’s face, he insisted at poking and prodding at every inch of him see how his other injuries were healing. Roman sighed but put up with his fussing with as much grace as he could. Virgil removed the bandages on his hand, packing fresh herbs next to the skin and rewrapping it gently with new cloth. The bruises and welts on his back and shoulders had begun to heal, turning from purple and blue to a sickly looking yellow. Virgil smeared something that smelt horrendous on the few welts that hadn’t scabbed over before stepping back, declaring the injuries extensive but, for the most part, superficial.
“Like your lyrics.” he added slyly, which got a squawk of protest from Roman and a giggle from Patton.
His hand was the most concerning. Virgil had him gently flex his fingers -causing Roman to hiss with pain despite his best efforts – before helping him into a sling and giving him strict instructions to hold it still until the herbs had done their work.
As Virgil worked, Patton kept up a running dialogue; happily filling Roman in on the day to day running’s of Mama Tay’s house. How she’d let him use her kitchen to cook for all of them and let Logan take over her small library (although the scholar was still only permitted to call her Mother Octavia). He giggled his way through a story about Mittens’ on going attempt to court the tabby cat who lived across the street – apparently he had attempted to show off by taking on street rat twice his size and spent the rest of the day sulking in the pantry after being summarily chased off.
Between Virgil’s gentle ministrations and the soothing sound of Patton’s voice, Roman found himself slowly relaxing.
Remus wasn’t in the city. His friends had come for him. They’d beaten the bad guy and got away.
He knew he couldn’t just ignore everything that had happened. His friends were eventually going to want some sort of explanation. The thing that had worn Julius face had been able to find him once – he didn’t know how, or how to stop I happening again.
Most importantly, he was no longer sure that Remus was safe.
But for a little while at least, he was with his family. He was safe. Things could start to go back to normal.
“Roman.” Logan said. He was leaning back against the closed door, a look on his face Roman couldn’t quite decipher. “Stand up.”
“Slowly,” Virgil added as Roman rose to his feet. The healer cast a glance back at Logan, confused, “what’re you-“
“Roman.” Logan cut him off. “Stand on one foot.”
Romans whole world seemed to narrow down to the glint of light reflecting off Logan’s glasses.
The rush of blood in his ears sounded very much like the rush of water in the pipe room.
Julius looked at him coldly, ready to categorise each whimper of pain as his leg began to shake, muscles cramping -
Patton’s hand suddenly griped his elbow as he wobbled, breaking the illusion.
Mama Tay’s bedroom was far more cluttered with blankets and knickknacks than Julius practice room. Logan was the one in front of him – face full of gleeful satisfaction as his theory was confirmed.
“I’m right aren’t I.” he breathed, looking dazed – “You can’t diso-“
Remove yourself from anyone who might ask you about your curse. Put as much distance between you as you can.
Roman attempted to fling himself towards the door- immediately realised that this was a bad decision as he still only had one foot on the ground – and pitched forward towards the floor, free arm pinwheeling crazily.
Patton dived to catch him, one big hand grabbing his injured shoulder casing Roman to yell out in pain, which in turn caused Patton to instinctively release him. He found himself falling again, this time crashing into Virgil, who had come running to help. His injured arm exploded in pain as he fell against the other man’s chest.
“Roman! What the hell- Logan?”
“I’m sorry!” Logan’s delight at being proved right had quickly turned into alarm “Stand properly – I mean, stand however you think you should. Um-“
“Roman are you okay?” That was Patton, gently easing him off Virgil “Oh gosh I think you’ve opened your stitches again!”
Roman groaned.
A few moments later Roman was, once again, propped up on the bed. Patton sat next to him, holding his good hand loosely whilst Virgil smeared more of the horrifying smelling salve over the reopened cut on his cheek.
Logan, hands firmly clasped in front of him like a guilty school boy, was filling them in on what he thought he knew.
“Roman cannot disobey a direct order – when Lucius Amata met us on the stairs he was able to compel him not to move.”
“Who?”
“The Marquis of Orenlla!” Logan huffed, exasperated – “The kidnapper!”
“De.” Roman muttered.
“What?”
“Marquis de Orenlla.”
“Hmm,” rather than start an argument of etymology, Logan simply pulled a square slip of card from his waistcoat pocket and started crossing something out with his quill.
“Seriously?” Virgil asked, exasperated “Flashcards?” He twisted the lid back onto the salve pot with rather more force than was necessary “Logan, you didn’t even believe in magic until yesterday and now you’re saying – what exactly are you saying?”
He glanced at Roman, almost fearfully ‘That he’s -that he’s under a spell or cursed or- what?”
“Roman,” Patton’s voice was gentle. “Is that true?”
Roman met his eyes. Patton’s face was as kind as ever. For now.
Never tell anyone about your curse.
But they’d never set rules stopping him discussing what people already knew.
Even so, he braced himself for pain before he nodded.
Patton looked like he might cry.
“So –what?” Demanded Virgil, who had started pacing back and forth down the short length of the bed. “He did that? This Lucius guy?”
“How do we stop it? Do we….kill him?”
“Patton!”
“Well I don’t know!”
“It wasn’t Lucius.” Roman muttered.
He risked a glance at Virgil who was nodding fervently, shaking both hands out in front of himself as he tried to process everything, “No. He – you had it before right? That’s how he was able to get you to go with him.”
Slowly, Roman nodded.
“Was it before we got to the city?” Logan asked. He hadn’t moved from his spot by the door, a thoughtful frown on his face as he gently rotated the flashcards in his hands.
“The forest!” Vigil yelped before Roman had a chance to respond. “When you disappeared right? I knew you were out of it that night! That’s when it happened?”
“Oh, Roman.” Patton gasped, “You poor thing. Has this has been going on for days?”
Roman couldn’t help it; he started to laugh. Drawing his knees to his chest he hunched over them, his shoulders shaking. “No.” he managed to gasp out. “No, not the forest.”
“So…when did it happen?” Patton asked uncertainty. Roman could easily picture the three of them glancing at each other, trying to put the pieces together. He kept his eyes firmly on his knees. He didn’t want to see the moment of realisation.
“Before the forest?” Virgil asked hesitantly. Roman nodded without looking up.
“When I met you…” Virgil continued after a moments silence, “you wouldn’t come back into the tavern with me – you said you didn’t want the innkeeper to tell you to play another night.”
“I remember that.” Logan said “You met us on the road. I thought that was odd at the time. I assumed you were going to lie in wait to rob us.”
Roman could hear the understanding seeping into their voices. He’d been cursed since they met him. He’d been a liability since they met him – they’d hired someone to protect them who could be ordered to throw his sword down by any foe who happened to try. They were going to feel so betrayed. They were going to be so angry with him.
How could he have not told them?
“Oh, Roman – how could we have not noticed?”
Romans head shot up. “What?” he croaked.
Now Patton really did look like he was going to cry, his eyes suspiciously watery. “You’ve been dealing with this all by yourself for – for years?”
“So- “ now Virgil was the one shaking – “So any time I’ve told you to ‘shut up’ you-“
“If you don’t give a timeframe it doesn’t matter much.” Roman blurted quickly, wanting to remove the look of horror from Virgil’s face – “I mean when I was younger it maybe would have but, but I’ve learned work around it so –“
“Younger?” his rambling did not seem to be soothing Virgil’s panic. “How young?”
“Er. Well.” He glanced between the two of them “From when I was a baby. I mean, I don’t remember not being like this.” Patton and Virgil were staring at him with identical slack jawed expressions. Roman wished the bed would swallow him up and spit him out onto he street. “But hey – I was apparently a very agreeable baby – stopped crying so soon as you asked!” he grinned awkwardly, give them a thumbs up with his undamaged hand.
They did not look reassured.
“So, have we ever –“ Patton started,”-have we ever made you do something you didn’t want to-“
“NO! No, Pat - you’re always so polite and if, if it’s not an order it doesn’t count so-“
“I’m not polite.” Virgil muttered.
“You don’t order though.” Roman said quickly, “You’re too-“ he tried to find a nice way to say ‘too riddled with anxiety to give directives’ – “awkward.” he finished sheepishly.
Virgil bristled. “I told you to get lost.” He snarled. “In the forest.”
There was a silence. Roman found himself staring at his knees again and forced his head up to meet Vigils gaze.
“Well. That was unfortunate. But it was fine – you’re both good trackers, you found me easily enough so-“
“But what if we hadn’t!?” Virgil all but yelled, “What if you’d just been lost in the woods till you starved to death or-“
“Virgil.” Patton soothed, “Calm down, he’s fine.”
“He’s not! He’s not safe with us! How many times have we done something to, to-”
“It’s fine.” Roman announced calmly, cutting Virgil off before he could work himself up any further. “You don’t have to worry anymore.”
“What doe that mean?”
“It means – I won’t travel with you anymore. You don’t have to worry about protecting me I’ll just-“
“That’s not what I meant!”
“Roman no!”
“Are you going to order me to stay?” He snapped.
That shut everyone up.
He glared at the pair of them. “Well?”
“No.” Patton said calmly “Of course not. It’s just that-”
“What happens if you disobey an order?” Logan interrupted, causing the other three to jump.
The scholar had been standing so still, gazing off into the distance whilst the argument went on around him, that Roman had almost forgotten he was there.
“I cant.” He answered eventually, trying not to feel resentful of Logan for causing this whole mess.
“But what if you try?” Logan said, “If I told you to raise your hand and you tried to keep it down – “
“It would hurt.” Roman gritted out.
“Hurt how? Can you describe it?” Logan tucked his flashcards away and pulled out a notebook, quill at the ready. Roman gaped at him.
“Logan.” Patton interrupted, “I think maybe Roman needs a break from questions right now-“
“But if we don’t know the parameters of his condition then how are we supposed to fix it?” Logan argued.
“I’ve tried. To fix it.” Roman growled out.
“But you were by yourself before.” Logan said dismissively “Now you have me, well, all of us, working on the problem. I’m sure we will be able to –“
“I wasn’t by myself.” Roman said coldly.
Logan really did remind him of Julius sometimes. They had the same stubborn determination to get the answers they were seeking. But Roman was not going to be anyone’s pet experiment again.
“I am Prince Romulus of Notaleveale.” he announced grandly, as If he was reclining on a throne instead of uncomfortable bed. “I have had the finest minds of the fae and human worlds look into my curse, I hardly think a failed apprentice and a couple of backwater deserters are going to have more success.”
He swept an imperious gaze over all three of them, amused to find they had finally been shocked into silence.
“I will be returning to my kingdom. Your services will no longer be required.”
Part 9
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binniesthighs · 4 years ago
Text
call me babydoll | reader x chan
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a/n: cuties!! hehe we’re finally getting...a couple things in this chapter that i’ve been wanting to share sooo bad! i added question marks to some of the tags to make it more of a surprise! i love hearing what ya thought of it! hehe <3 
Five 
Pairing: self insert, (?) x female reader x bang chan 
Genre: action, mystery and suspense, fluff, smut and angst 
Tags: (of this part) bodyguard au, secret agent au, royal au, moderndayprince!chan, secretagent!reader, secretagent!jeongin, secretagent!jisung, collegestudent!seungmin, royal!minho, informantandclubowner!changbin (loll thats so long), (?)!felix, skz side characters, adventure and mystery, action and peril, plot driven, running out of time, slow-ish burn, growing feelings, sexual tension, explicit language, mentions of alcoholic drinks and getting drunk, hehe bit of smut/suggestive content (tags omitted for surprise--nothing crazy to tag tho hehe), maknae line are my sons in this fic, binnie in this fic can fkn take me lol 
CWs: sizable shoot out in public club with several people involved, presumed that people die because of this event, lots blood and other wounds such as gunshot wounds, mentions of drugs (both recreational and hard drugs) mentions of weapons such as knives and guns--the whole scene is violent 
Word count: 8.5k 
Parts 
ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR | FIVE 
“Five years later and I’m still tying your ties, F. Some things never change.” 
Jeongin cracks a smile, simple and cute, much like the man himself even when he has a handgun glued to his hand. 
“It’s still a harder task than some of the stuff that they have us doing. Not gonna lie.” 
You smooth down your partner’s lapels where he’s pinned a small pin of the ticking clock. While others would wear crests, the insignia that bonds you to the younger man is this this small instrument. He’s quiet while he watches you fiddle with his silk blue tie that compliments his snow white hair perfectly. 
“Are you nervous for tonight?” 
Your partner upkeeps his stoic façade the best he can, but tonight there’s something different about him. His silent answer speaks louder than he could ever admit. On the queen sized bed, Seungmin kicks his perfectly shined shoes while flipping through the channels of the TV with a staticky sounding click. Jeongin lightly brushes his hand over the diamond dangling earrings that twinkle as they are supposed to from your ears--likely they’re crystals, not the more expensive jewel. 
“I’m not nervous,” He finally sighs, but there’s a bit of a crack to his voice. “I trust you. And Two. I’m trying to focus on that.” 
“It’ll be fine.” You assure, “White Rabbit must have his own security that would be at his beck and call. If anyone shoots at us, they’re shooting at him. We’re not alone.” 
The young agent nods, then gives a little slap to the college student on the bed. “Get up. We’re leaving. Remember what I showed you?” 
Jeongin draws from the bedside a small handgun. It’s more decorative than protective, but still fires bullets that could save his life. 
“Keep it in your breast pocket. Make sure that no one sees it. We don’t wanna cause a scene.” 
Seungmin’s eyes widen as he feels its weight in his hand. “Got it. I hope I don’t have to use it.” 
“Me too,” You give the youngster a soothing smile. “And remember, don’t tell anyone your name. When you’re in there, your name is S. Better yet, it’s best not to interact with anyone.” 
He nods, then slides it into the thin fabric of his coat. The young man looks considerably more dapper with The Agency’s clothes: a deep purple velvet two piece with silver cufflinks decorated with white roses--another symbol that you’ve grown familiar with. 
The prince saunters up to the bedroom with a slick tap at the opened door. He oozes with regality; not like you expected any less. The royal has dressed himself magnificently without the aid of his help once more: a pure black silk suit with a smart pressed white button up that’s spotless with not one crinkle. The while shirt itself is adorned with two thin silver chains which stretch across his lower torso. At the neck where the shirt meets its last button, there’s a floral brooch: one more more white rose for good measure. 
“Wow!!” Seungmin respectfully bows. “Your Highness, you look--” 
“--I didn’t fuck up the hair, did I?” 
Chan grins as he brings his fingers through his newly colored hair; its much lighter than his dark locks had been before: now a shade of tawny brown. The change to his appearance had come at the request of the palace who suggested that he try to conceal his identity even further as to not arouse suspicion. 
“Handsome as ever, your Highness.” You sneer out the compliment. 
Since the previous night had turned sour, seeing eye to eye with the prince had become harder to do. It was a wild confliction of feelings when you thought more and more of it. With every glance that he would throw in your direction, along with way that he had stared at you all through breakfast, you couldn’t meet him. You felt as if you had borne a wound for him to see, for him to poke at--the secret kind that was best kept to yourself--and he had dug his finger in; he had laughed. 
The prince tilted his head, and you met his eyes for the first time since then. There was a softness about him when you knew that he was inspecting you. You knew you must’ve been overthinking it--and that was what made it so dangerous. 
“Looking stunning as always, Bee. I knew that you would wear that dress well.” 
You let the words, “Thank you,” leave your tongue before toying with the small handbag provided to you. As always, your thigh holster held steady under your dress. 
Four clicks at the suite door sounded, startling nearly everyone in the room, revealing everyone’s nerves which they had denied. 
“That’ll be Lee Minho.” Chan announced. 
Two answered the door in his own costuming. The two men bowed upon meeting, a usual meeting between strangers. The agent lead him to the room, and the royal buttoned his own suit properly. 
“Good evening. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I’m Lee--” 
“--Minho.” Jeongin dryly cut, “We know who you are.” 
Luckily, you and your partner shared the same apprehension. 
“I’m Fox. You’ve met Bee. The young kid is S, he’s a new agent. The quiet one that let you in is Two.” 
Minho bowed politely with a slight blush. “You weren’t kidding when you said that you were well protected, Your Highness.” 
Chan chuckled in response then clapped the other royal by the back. 
“You look amazing,” Minho said to the prince who shooed him away with a humble hand. 
“You as well.” 
Chan sized up the royal who indeed looked like one. His suit was a simplier charcoal grey with pinstripes with a white undershirt that ruffled at the collar. Not typical of the royals that you knew, he also wore dangling silver earrings that would have never passed the royal standard for professionalism. However, it made sense considering that he had been of a lower rank. 
“Now that we’ve got the formalities out of the way, shall we head out?” Chan put a very obvious hand to the lower back of Lee Minho while checking with the rest of the group. “It’s best not to keep him waiting?” 
Your partner nodded and ushered the group out while giving his body one more pat down to ensure that all concealed weapons were in place. Two checked the assortment of knives tucked discreetly into his own jacket. The man had some kind of wicked and unidentifiable grin while he felt the metal against his fingers. You exited at the rear, feeling a hand tug at your arm. 
“--Bee, I’m sorry about what happened...I’m...I hope that you can understand my motivations as to why I said what I did, it didn’t seem like the right time--” 
“--There will never be a right time.” You tore your arm free. “Your Highness, what happened...that was a mistake on my part. I acted out of line. There will never be a right time because...I’m your guard, and you’re my prince. Do you understand?” 
“But Bee--” 
“--End of discussion,” The words burned in your throat seeing the way that he had looked at you just then, and it was clear that he definitely didn’t understand. 
━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━
You had heard that the White Rabbit had been a prideful man--this was now an indisputable fact once you pulled up to the roaring nightclub set into one of the busiest streets on the avenue in Cairo. Everything about the place was showy and bright and outrageous. It was a miracle that the man hadn’t been caught considering that his home base was as obvious as it was. The entire front of the night club shone with the brilliance of a million stars in a hundred different colors. A giant marquee held the signage with the title of the place, “The Tea Party” coupled with the image of the white rabbit himself--the one from the old movie--a stout little thing with his pocket watch swinging from his paw. His neck was wrapped up in a white ruff, and he wore a frock pattered in red hearts. 
A line stretched from the front entrance for as far as you could see, and clubbers swung their bodies in tune to the muffled sound of the EDM music thumping from inside and throwing cigarette butts to the sidewalk. 
“Do we just walk in?” Seungmin hurriedly asked with nervous hands wrapped around his body. 
“We’re expected, so, yes.” You snaked your arm through Jeongin’s to look even less conspicuous. “Just relax,” You commanded the group lowly. 
From the corner of your eye, you saw the prince slug his arm around Lee Minho who appeared to shrink under the other man’s broad shoulders. 
Two large bouncers stood at the entrance with muscles swelling under their shirts stained pink in areas which you assumed to have been white at some point. 
“Names?” One of them grunted rather than spoke. 
From his pocket, your partner took out his very own pocket watch that had been hidden with the rest of your supplies upon arrival to Cairo. On the opposite side of the watch was engraved the two symbols intertwined: the white rabbit and the the white rose. The two men inspected it, nodded, and opened the door for your small entourage. As soon as you entered the booming central room, you could see Seungmin’s shoulders drop as he relaxed. 
“There should be someone meeting us!” Jeongin yelled over the sound of the white noise leading to the bass drop. Hundreds of clubbers danced with the music, throwing their glasses to the air and howling like animals. You wouldn’t have been surprised if at least half of them had been strung out on the very drugs that the man himself had helped peddle. 
The young agent pulled you closer to him as stumbling bodies passed. 
“They could be here. We have to be on our guard.” 
“Let me watch the prince.” 
Jeongin nodded, letting you recede to the back of the group where Two had tailed. His eye wound hadn’t healed nearly enough, so he opted to wear the sunglasses once more. It was likely that word had spread about the four of you escaped twice--his eye was evidence. From behind the group, you watched the way the the prince’s hand fell down hold Lee Minho by the hip, and the way that his fingers dug in there slightly. As much as you had denied it, seeing them close brought back the very covetous thoughts you tried to keep at bay. 
A slender woman with gorgeous tanned skin pushed her way through the crowd and set her eyes on the white head of your partner. Her dress was even thinner than yours, but she wore it as if it was her second skin. The luxurious red color contrasted perfectly with her dark hair and eyes. 
“Are you Fox?” She asked with a thick accent, and cascaded her hand down the young man’s arm. 
“Y-yes. I am.”
“Bun asked me to bring you to him. I know the way.” 
She let her hand fall into Jeongin’s who whipped his head back to you with dry lips that he wetted immediately. You had expected to have been retrieved by someone a bit stockier than this woman. 
“He’s trying to get our guard down.” Two said suddenly as he reached into his pocket to thumb over his stockpile of metal there. “Don’t you think?” 
The woman took your group near to the corner of the room where bodies didn’t linger for long, but were drawn in the mosh pit in the center. Tables lined these edges which were fashioned into booths with red velvet curtains for privacy to do much more sinister things. The room smelled heavily of pure alcohol spilled by drunk hands and of synthetic fabrics made of cheap plastics. A dozen different fragrances mingled into one dizzying mess: each a scent so different and chemical that it was toxic. 
She walked with a swing to her hips, all the way to a booth that was a bit larger than the others--you could only assume that this must’ve been his booth. The woman gestured for you all to enter before drawing the curtain. At the center of the table, the rabbit’s symbol had been burned into the wood. She wore some kind of thin diamond bracelet which she hovered over the image, causing a winding staircase to pop from the carpeted floor down to a hidden chamber. 
“Take the stairs, and it you’ll see it once you get down there.” 
Your partner have her a curt nod in thanks, then lead the group further down. A soft green and red glow emanated from the space below, also humming with a concealed type of music different from that which was played in the club. From here, it nearly sounded like jazz. 
The corridor under the club was bleak and grey with cement, but wooden crates lined it with stamps on the sides in numerous different languages. Your brain could only fathom where the contents had been before they ended up in this basement. It must have been millions of dollars just sitting undisturbed with enough firepower to blow up the whole building and more. 
“Guns. Military grade and a little more improper,” Minho sighed out. “He must have every model in existence here.” 
“Do you think that he has like...missiles?” Seungmin reached for his small handgun. 
“Ease up S.” You tried to contain your own creeping fear, “Those would be too big to keep down here.” 
“Who says that this is his whole stockpile?” Two deadpanned as he cleaned his glasses. 
At the end of the hall, one more bulky guard stood expressionless with a small sized machine gun ready in his hands. He opened the door without saying much else, letting loose the red and green lights you had seen before, and with it, the putrid smell of expensive drink and marijuana. 
The smaller room was only lit by strobes with multicolored gels, and it was dense with the smoke of many number of drugs and vices. There was a small bar with a bartender with bagged eyes and a swath of women in cocktail dresses and men with ties tugged nearly all the way off their necks with lipstick marks pressed into them. 
A single disco ball spun above their heads, spreading shiny squares all across the room. Even more guards waited in the same uniform, but these ones looked more expensive--likely his own personal detail wearing gaudy chains and wrist watches inlaid with diamonds and crested in real gold. 
“My friends! You were able to make it!” 
The man of the hour spread his legs wide on his leather couch set upon a lion’s coat rug, complete with a head and marble eyes and all. At his sides were two more women more unique than the rest: both of them was breathtakingly gorgeous, one of them jeweled like a queen with a thick gold choker that resembled that which old Egyptian royalty would. Her head was smoothed with no hair at all, but instead intricate and beautiful tattoos decorated her like some kind of otherworldly being. The other woman had a cat-like face with two differently colored eyes; one hazel green and the other icy blue contrasting with her fiery orange hair. 
“Carroll told me that you had a bit of trouble before you got here. I’m glad to see that you were able to get here in one piece. It only seems like things are getting more and more...risky these days. Even for people like us.” 
“We’re not “people like you,” Rabbit.” You pushed to the font of the group. 
The club owner himself was dressed in a purely white fur coat which you presumed to be made of real fur. Considering the material, it must’ve been made from the fur of snow foxes--an interesting choice considering your partner’s persona. The smaller man with a thick and muscled form took off his yellow tinted sunglasses to tuck them into his wildly printed shirt that had tiny buttons doing the work of keeping his chest covered. 
“Babydoll! It’s a pleasure to meet you! I’ve heard all about you. Your reputation precedes you.” He took a rather greedy bite to his lip whilst looking you up and down. The white dress must have been doing it’s job well. 
“Babydoll?” Chan asked with furrowed brows. “What is--who is--?” 
“As does your reputation, Rabbit. I wouldn’t have expected less.” 
The proud man snorted, “I hope this doesn’t mean that you’ve got any...preconceived notions about my lifestyle. Our dear friend Carroll doesn’t seem to.” 
“Of course not.” 
“And you...you must be the Prince of Bulgeun! His Royal Highness Prince Chan of the Crown!” The White Rabbit spread out his arms wide in welcome. “I don’t often get royalty in my club--lots of celebrities and the like.” He leaned over to one of his guards, speaking in Egyptian Arabic and asking for drinks for the group. 
“Yes. It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.” Chan bowed deep. 
“So respectful!” The White Rabbit chuckled, “You can all call me Bun. We’re all friends here. And you...who might you be?” Bun pointed a finger at Minho who stepped forward. 
“Baron Lee Minho, of Bulgeun as well.” 
“Ah! And a Baron too! How did I get so lucky to have such honorable company?” Cat-face ticked her long nails against the club owner’s hand slung around her. 
“You know what we’re here for, Rabbit. There’s no need for theatrics.” Jeongin huffed his words out with a confident breath. 
“You’re the one that they call Fox? Rumor has it that you and Carroll have a rather...special...connection?” 
The bartender arrived with drinks, each of them looking expensive with flecks of gold leaf floating on the surface of the clear liquid. Seungmin shot an apprehensive glare once the glasses were left on a small side table. As had been discussed previously, none of your group had picked up a glass. 
The woman with beautiful tattoos stretched a hand down one of the White Rabbit’s thighs, reaching dangerously high between them; just enough to make you flinch from the forward action. 
“Baby, I see that you’re playing a dangerous game towing this Price around, so of course I’m willing to help a friend of my friend. You’re lucky that I’ve got just the intel that you need. Some people just don’t know how to shut their mouths, especially when the get a taste of what I’m selling.” 
“Oh? And what have you been hearing?” 
You eyed a leather chair across from him seeing an opportunity. 
“Your Highness.” You motioned for Chan to sit in the chair next to yours, swinging your legs crossed to peek from the thin white silk in full view for the Rabbit to see. After, you dipped your chin into your palm, just for the purpose of letting the front of your dress fall slightly. The prince remained quiet while taking his seat and spreading his legs out strongly. 
“If it’s compensation that you need Rabbit, the Crown is also willing to make offers for added...persuasion.” 
Chan crossed his fingers in his lap leaning forward. His words were slick and domineering--kingly even. 
“Is that so?” The White Rabbit tugged at his lip with his teeth, “I wasn’t aware.” 
“Double what The Agency is offering. If I like what you say.” 
The club owner scoffed with a grin, “Oh, you’ll like what I say.” Cat-face lifted his drink to his lips, then wiped off the excess off with her finger. Both of the body guards appeared to tense before he spoke and tried to be inconspicuous while they reached for their decorated pieces resting in their waistbands. 
“Hell, I’ll even tell you what they call themselves.” 
In your impatience, you leaned forward, “Who are they?” 
“They’re called The Spades. Some kind of new crime syndicate that’s been fucking up my business and making bargains with my customers. Of course, as you know...I work in a very lucrative business.” 
“Naturally.” 
“They’ve been stockpiling shit like crazy: all kinds of weapons, any kind that you can think of outside of fucking nukes. They’ve even tapped into drugs as well to make extra on the side. I don’t know what it is that they’re doing that makes them so appealing, but suddenly I’m missing out on millions because of those fuckers. They’ve got someone masterminding it all too--some crazed bastard. I’ve been trying to find him ever since they popped up.” He resumed his grasp on both of his women who cuddled into him. 
“Mastermind? The one who’s running the whole operation? You know him?” Both you and your partner locked eyes quick enough for the other man to not take notice. 
“No, one of his cronies. He runs the business. He’s illusive and fucking insane. Someone whispered once that he’s psychotic or something like that. You think that I’m bad...” 
“Who?? Who is he? Where can we find him?” 
“Slow your role there doll, I’m just getting to the good part.” The Rabbit nodded for another sip of his drink. “He’s got several names depending on who you’re talking to. Fucking funnily enough, I’ve heard that he goes by “Hatter,” or more commonly “Joker.” He deals in anything: arms, drugs, sex...and he works for The King.” 
“The King?” Chan butted in with the mention of a royal name. 
“Not your silly little king, prince. The King. The one who runs it all. He tells The Spades what to do. They’re everywhere, taking over every sector in every nation. They’re trying to dismantle it all--every political system, monarchy, presidency...everything. It looks like they’re starting with you, prince. The Spades preach about chaos. Every man for himself...but it’s a lie. Why the hell else would they be stockpiling? They’re trying to take it all over.” 
Seungmin gulped audibly as he sunk to the back of the group. 
“When there’s no more control the ones with the most resources always end up on top.” The young student whispered. 
“This King, do you know who he is?” Jeongin spoke over Seungmin to detract attention from him. 
“Nope.” The White Rabbit swung his legs up on the small coffee table with alligator leather shoes. “I’ve been a little focused on taking down the Joker at the moment, for your information.” 
“What’s your intel on him then? He must know how to get to The King.” Minho pushed to the front of the group right to Chan’s side. “We’re not satisfied with your information yet.” 
The Baron’s sudden demand surprised you: he had been timid before--so you had thought. 
The club owner looked to Chan, keeper of his “persuasion” who nodded to prompt him for more. 
“He’s on some island off Greece. Private. Tight security, the kind that could shoot you out of the sky.” 
“Impressive.” You tutted, feigning confidence once more. “What more do you know?” 
The woman with the bangled necklace whispered something in his ear once peeking at a small old-model cellphone in her hand, brushing her lips over his earlobe. Over the sound system, the jazz music turned sultry, and both women moved to join the other intoxicated clubbers in the back to sway around brass poles. 
“There’s the freckled bastard. He’s the grunt--and the one that’s been chasing you I think. Real nuisance isn’t he? He’s the Knave. Had a few run ins with him myself.” 
You thought back to the gas station and the black SUVs. Between all the shards of glass, it had been hard to make anyone out, but you had figured that he had must’ve been one of the men throwing their bodies out of the windows to shoot. 
The Rabbit chuckled out with some kind of hand signal to his guards. “Knowing him, he could be right outside my door for that matter.” 
Jeongin’s eyes flew open, sending you “the look.” Your time was running out. Judging by the way that you hadn’t noticed that the Rabbit’s women had cleared out the other clubbers from the room, they must’ve known something that you didn’t. The club owner stood up with a languid stretch and cracked his knuckles. 
“We probably don’t have much more time before they come in here guns blazing. Best protect your prince, hm?” 
“Rabbit! You must know something about The King?!” You crossed the room to grab at his frim and fuzzy arm. 
He slyly smiled, amused by your grip, “Like I said doll, no one knows much about him. Your Baron has got it right. Start with the Joker. But...” His grin cracked even wider, “Good luck.” 
Seungmin tugged at Two’s dress coat as the two bulky bodyguards took The Rabbit by the arms to escort him. 
“What's going on??” The young man’s voice cracked with urgency. 
“Ready that gun of yours.” Two said lowly with gritted teeth. 
He strode across the room with his fur coat lazily swaying, then raised the golden rings on his fingers to the air as he exited. He threw his yellow tinted glasses back on, before turning back to your stunned group. 
“I estimate that you’ve got...three minutes? --Oh! And one more thing!” 
The white fabric of your dress swept to the side, revealing your thigh holster which you grabbed at quickly. 
“What?!” 
“Every King’s got his Queen? Does he not?” 
The enigmatic club owner slipped into the shadows of his private room, leaving your group with the sound of clambering feet on the floor above, followed by muffled gunshots. 
“They’re here?” Seungmin readied his small handgun as he was told and looked to the ceiling where the lights flickered from the commotion. “They found us?” 
Two twirled two knives in his hands with a silvery glint. Both of the blades were a bit on the shorter side, but you were certain that he knew how to use them. “They’re always following us.” 
“We need to get out of here.” Lee Minho drew out his own gun concealed by his suit. It was custom with a pearl handle. You had seconds to make out the insignia, but you could make out the shape of what looked like a red rose. “The place must be crawling with them. We need to find the exit.” 
Your partner nodded while taking his own gun. “Stay close, Your Highness. Follow me.”
“Bee?” The prince called your name with a worried cross between his brows. “Give me a gun. Hand-to-hand is nothing against these guys. I’ll stay close. I promise.” 
While he held your eyes earnestly, the way that his chest heaved up and down told you something much different. 
“You can handle it?”
“I can.” 
Jeongin passed him a Glock from the holster strapped behind his shoulders. 
You made your way back through halls lit by hissing fluorescent lights with a white burn to them. The crates of weaponry stretched on and on, adding to your unease knowing what could happen if a bullet were to be fired in this hallway. Thick rats skittered in the dank edges of the hall and weaved between boxes labeled in Spanish. 
“Drugs.” Minho gripped his gun tighter. “From the looks of it, cocaine.” 
Above your heads, a giant boom resounded and dust with drywall fell from the lights that flickered harder. 
“Its a fucking maze down here.” Jeongin tapped at his watch in an attempt to find a schematic of the place. 
The college student wetted his lips. “At least we’re not up there with them.” 
“At least the lead worked out. We know more about these...Spades than we did before. It’s a start.” You tailed the back of the group with careful footsteps and the click of your heels against the cement flooring. 
Another resounding boom echoed followed by the shrill screams of clubbers above. It sounded hellish--you could hear the raw fear in their voices. The music thudded on, likely abandoned by someone running for their life. The Prince’s knuckles turned white holding onto his piece of metal near the front of the group. 
“F, you know the way up?” 
“I-I think. We should be approaching some stairs soon, but there’s nottelling who will be on the other side.” 
Two tore off his sunglasses and shoved them into his breast pocket. “We’ll be damn lucky if they haven’t found the hotel yet. If not, we’ve got to run.” 
“My laptop??” Seungmin whimpered. 
“That damn Chromebook? Don’t worry about it, your life is more important.” Jeongin scoffed. “The Agency can set you up with something even better.” 
“I can’t believe that at a time like this all I can think about is my stupid computer.” The young man shook the thought out of his head. 
“Stairs up ahead.” Jeongin pointed. “Get ready.” 
“Chan?” You pulled at the prince’s trim to his coat. 
“I’m fine Bee. Honestly. I trust you.” He attempted a smile. The same smile, that damned charming one that couldn’t get out of your head. 
Minho looked back to the prince too with worry, it had been the most sincere motion that you had seen him do as of yet. He reached out to squeeze the royal’s shoulder with a soft smile. 
“Don’t go dying on us Your Highness. Think about what that would mean for the kingdom?” He chuckled. 
“I’ll try my best,” The prince returned the gesture. 
Jeongin reached for the metal door handle to the teal green door cracking with paint. The sound of machine guns had grown even louder, followed by the sound of the shells hitting the wooden dance floor. The air was thin where it crept under the door and carried with it the horrid smell of smoking guns and spilled alcohol. 
“Two, Bee, form rank around the group, I’ll lead.” 
Two nodded, popping gum into his mouth and blowing large electric blue bubble. “Can do.” Both of his hands tightened around his blades.  
“One...Two...Three!” 
Time slowed the second that the door opened, and your ears rang with the deathly silence. Bodies to the left and right of you became a blur and they fell to the floor in the silence with their limbs twitching until they didn’t move at all. White collars turned red, as did the white tablecloths of the standing tables. The strobes pranced around the room in a multicolored shower that was as blinding and stained your eyes. 
The men in black suits and leather gloves scattered around the room with their red crests glinting. They shouted commands at eachother, but to you, all you could see was the way that their lips curved and cracked. In front of you, your partner leads with a hand gesture that you had memorized from training, and all of your focus was drawn the the back of the group. The trigger of your gun was cold on your finger: you pulled and pulled not even pausing to feel the way that it fought back against your wrist. The men were sprinting with their own guns tight in their hands, but each of them fell before they could get close. 
Two’s mouth was in a flat line as he threw tiny blades from his hands to the chests of men running across the balconies and hiding from behind tables. He appeared to have an infinite amount in his coat and saved the longer and more lethal ones for close connections, subsequently dipping his own fingers in red. 
The young college student trudged on in the center of the group with his head tucked firmly between his two shoulders. Clear streams of tears fell down his eyes, but he wiped at them furiously between each shot that he took with his small handgun. Next to him, the two royals kept their own heads low aiming shots around them to backup you and your partners. 
Their footsteps came echoing behind you, and you walked backwards, taking aim with one eye squinted, while barking out commands from your mouth that you barely even understood. Your heartbeat bumped in your chest nearly in tune with the thudding 808′s of the music that reverberated in your ears. Each of the Spades moved as if they were shadows over the bodies of the fallen, leaping and jumping, nearly floating over dining tables and sweeping off the glassware and silverware with them as they did so. 
“BEE, I’M ALMOST OUT!” Jeongin screamed to you nearly before reaching the front revolving doors. 
Two tossed another magazine in the young agent’s direction, then threw another dagger with startling accuracy. 
For seconds at a time you could see how Minho’s eyes had narrowed with his aim, and he too met every target exactly where he wanted. You figured that the royal must have trained himself well to have that kind of precision. The way that he appeared perfectly calm was startling: his dark eyes squinted and he turned his body swiftly with little effort. 
“Fuck--I’M OUT OF ROUNDS!” The prince bellowed before ducking under Minho’s arm which immediately swung over him. 
You closed in closer to the group, using your body as a shield for the prince’s back. 
Your partner cast aside fallen chairs and tables in his wake, as one of the thugs charged at him. In response, he threw his gun into his waistband, opting to slung the man with a hurried uppercut that sent him spitting blood to the floor before falling, “We’re almost there! Keep pushing!!” 
“SHIT!!!” Seungmin groaned out before dropping his small gun to the ground, he trembled with his leg dragging behind him, then soon his pants soaked with a dark stain to his slacks. 
“BEE LOOK OUT!!” A voice screamed, seconds before you could register it.
Your head whipped back to the chaos of the club, seeing the “freckled bastard” himself point his decorated riffle at you point blank with a wicked grin on his face. He looked purely evil. There was something about the way that his ears poked, or how his eyes upturned that made him look devilish when his pearly white teeth peeked once he took his shot. He had ashy blonde hair that had strung with sweat over his forehead, and blood wetted the tip of his dress shoes. He cocked his head to the side, as he did too with his gun before the deafening shot cracked through the room. 
You were shocked trying to memorize his face, and frozen in your fear from the barrel of the gun facing you right between the eyes. 
An excruciatingly tight grasp at your arm pulled you to the side before you could react, throwing you to the hardwood floors before whoever it was pulled themselves in front of the bullet. Your vision was rocked when you hit the floor, missing the glass revolving door by centimeters. 
“Y/N!” Your partner screamed, waking you from your haze as the room started to piece back together. “You good?!” 
Another hand grabbed you to your feet before shoving you through the door, lightly slinging your arm around his shoulder before taking your gun from your trembling hand to take a few more shots. You realized it was Two this close, and tiny flecks of red splattered at his neck. 
“Fuck--give me that--” You grabbed the gun from his hand to fire every bullet that was left at the freckled bastard until you couldn’t any more, and the cool of the evening stung at your heaving lungs once your group reached the sidewalk. 
Outside of the venue, clubbers scrambled and ran the streets still shrieking in their fear and tripping over their heeled shoes. 
“Chan?? Chan--where-where’s the prince??” The words spilled from your lips in your pure adrenaline. 
Right behind you only a couple paces away, the prince stood pale with Seungmin holding between them a groaning and gasping Minho who barely held on to the two men. A bullet wound soaked his black suit jacket, and the red crept up to his white frilled collar.” The wound made a hole right in his shoulder with a visible circle. 
Jeongin sprinted to the back of the group looking disheveled himself with sleeves hastily pulled up to his elbows. “Shit--shit!!” 
“S-move aside. MOVE!” You commanded the whimpering young man who gave you Minho’s other arm. You wrapped around his wasit and dragged the heavy weight of the man who had just saved your life. 
The prince dryly smacked his lips then scanned the street for more of the Spades in his daze. 
“Y-you okay?” The words dried up your tongue. 
“Yeah...yeah, I’m fine, are you?” His energy had been drained of him, and his knuckles were also cracked, likely from having to throw punches that you haven’t even seen him take. 
Gunshots echoed further down the street followed by the screeching of wheels and more panicked yells. The chirps of cop cars pulled up to the scene and their husky demands rounded up the escapees in rapid-fire Arabic. 
Jeongin sprinted back with his white hair bouncing to a taxi nearest an intersection. He threw the door open apologizing profusely the best he could before pulling the driver out of the driver’s seat and to the cement. He cursed out loudly in response to which Jeongin tossed out some bills haphazardly to his chest. 
“Get in, GET IN!” He called to your group while tapping on the metal side of the vehicle. 
Both you and the pricne guided the injured royal in to the backseat between you. 
“Minho--Minho, hold on--” Your nervous hands held his pale face in your palms. 
The tear of your dress filled the small compartment, prompting the prince to snatch his hand into the other man’s firmly. 
“Minho--you fucking dumb asshole--you had to go and he the hero didn’t you?” Chan smiled hopefully. 
“Ar-are you alright?” He coughed, “Your Highness?” 
“Shut up.” Chan ruffled his hair with another adoring smile. “It’ll be okay. You’ll be okay.” 
Although it was silk, you used every inch of your dress tear to tie around the baron’s shoulder tightly in an attempt to add pressure to the open wound. 
“Bee--” Minho started with a lazy glare. 
“--Keep talking Minho, look at me. You’re gonna feel sleepy, stay awake. You did great, thank you so much for doing that to me. Thank you.” You grabbed his opposite hand firmly. “I can’t thank you enough.” 
Lee Minho laughed. “Don’t mention it. And--if you wanted me to keep talking...I wanted to tell you that you’re really stunning Bee. How you handled all th-that. I was really impressed.” 
“Hm, I was impressed too.” In his own way, like this, bloodied and a bit delirious, Lee Minho really was as handsome as he let on. 
The taxi car whipped around another corner with wind whipping in the windows and each of your masses jostled in the car as if bumped over the curb. The hotel wasn’t that far from The Tea Party, and you knew that any moment you would reach it, but each second stretched longer and longer. 
“Fox?! We’re not there?” 
“Fuck--Bee, the whole city is crawling with cops, everywhere I turn, they’re on the hunt, The Spades are everywhere I can’t make it back--no doubt they’re already there...” 
In the front seat, Seungmin clung to Two as if his life depended on it as his whole body shook and Two tore his own jacket sleeve to close off the young man’s wound on his leg. 
“Wha-what are we going to do?? S-shit!! Ouch!!!” The young student gritted his teeth in his pain while his leg shook terribly. He sobbed, “It hurts, really, really bad!!” 
“I planned for this.” Jeongin’s eyes flicked in the review mirror to you in the back. “I asked Carroll to set up for us a secondary place if something went down and we couldn’t make it to the hotel. I figured...if anything happened or if they found us--” 
“--Get us there, fucking drive Fox, Minho needs first aid, right fucking now, he’s bleeding too fucking much.” 
“I know, I know!!” 
“How far is it?!” 
“Not far, I promise, twenty minutes--tops.” 
“Make it ten!!!” 
Jeongin floored it, running lights and becoming a stream under the skyscrapers of Cairo. From the small skylight of the taxi, thin clouds streaked in the evening sky and mixed with the glow of the city. Far, far, above your head, you prayed for the first time in years that you could make it in time. 
Seungmin sobbed with puffy eyes from the front seat and writhed, “Hurry! Hurry!” He begged. 
Minho’s head lulled in the backseat as he bled though the white silk binding him. His head bounced back and forth from you to the prince with glossy marbles for eyes that blinked slowly. The prince rested his hand on the baron’s thigh and rubbed calming little circles into it. 
“Minho, you did so well. Look at me.” Chan coaxed, causing the other to smile adorably grim. 
Minho twitched before rolling his head over to the prince. “Your Highness, i-if I may be so bold...I-I’ve got...I’m crush on you.” He finished his sentence with a wrinkled smile. 
You scoffed out with a laugh while making knowing eye contact with the prince who laughed out lightly too. 
“He sounds like someone I know.” You winked at the royal. 
The taxi made one final turn to an alley filled with potholes that jostled each wheel of the car. 
“This is it! Right here!” The young agent whipped into a one car garage hidden into the alley. The darkness of the garage filled the car, and snuffed out all of the light from the street, and even muffled the faint sirens of police as they whizzed past. The night was still full of gunshots, but at least now they sounded far enough away to be safe. 
━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━
The safe house was a modest two floored apartment outfitted with the normal security system of The Agency: window locks and cameras in every corner of every room. As expected, each of the rooms was covered in a fine layer of dust, and the old smell hung with flecks of the material stuck on lampshades and wafting in the light. 
Work had been delegated between you and your partners, with the two other men helping treat Seungmin in the second bedroom out of three while you and the prince aided Minho.  
The windows were left open to let in some fresh air, also letting in the faint sounds of the city which still surged with life even late into the night. Still, the smell of the desert came floating into the room with a welcome sense of tranquility. 
The royal lay on the bed with cracked pale lips while you set to work dabbing at his wound gently with gauze, cleaning the area around the bullet wound. Fearful to cause more bleeding, the bullet would stay where it was for a few moments more for another layer of wrapping. The prince remained quiet, passing you materials as needed with hands stained pink from the other man’s blood. 
“How are you feeling?” Chan quietly asked. 
“Hurts like a bitch,” Minho smiled, “You ever been shot before?” 
The prince shook his head. 
“Well, I hope that you never are. Feels like your whole body gets stirred up from the impact and then there’s the sting.” 
Carefully you pulled back the remains of the baron’s shirt while lifting him slightly off the bed. As you swept the fabric from behind him, you noticed the thin red line tracing around his shoulder bade which you figured to be blood at first. 
“What...what’s this?” 
“Oh,” Minho shied, “It’s a tattoo.” 
“You’ve got a tattoo? For a royal?” Chan slicked back Minho’s sweaty locks. “You really are full of surprises.” 
Gently you laid the baron back down to lay with his new wrappings. “What is it?”
He paused, wetting his lips quickly before he spoke. “It’s a red rose. It’s a bit large--I know--not typical for royals. Don’t worry, you’re the only royal that knows that I have it.” 
“Why a red rose?”
 Below you, Minho looked relaxed and calm, beautiful even like this bare-chested under the single lamp-light of the bedroom. 
“Well...you know the significance of symbols and insignias. We’ve all got our own.” He grinned out while playing with the prince’s free hand. 
“I’ve got my white rose, Bee’s got her clock: seems like we’ve all got our own thing.” Chan agreed, watching the way that his fingers interlocked with the other man’s. 
In the opposite bedroom, Seungmin cried out sharply to the tune of Jeongin chuckling out, “I’ve got you, you fucker!” The clink of metal fell into the little bowl they used: the bullet was out of the poor boy. 
You sighed knowing that the damage caused to your group could’ve been much worse, yet you had made a skillful escape. Still, the thought of the bodies littering the floor...the silence that rang in your ears from the pace of it all and how the energy of survival started to wear off...it was truly gruesome. 
“Minho--really, I appreciate you taking a hit for me like that. No one has ever done something like that for me...and you barely know me...” 
The baron smiled, taking your hand in his too. “Like I said, it’s fine. Had I not, you wouldn’t have been able to help us out of there...even if you were dragging my ass for the tail end of it.” 
The breeze flew in with the dusty curtains; just cold enough to make you shiver in your thin dress. 
The prince looked to the both of you, “What happens now?” 
Chan himself was a proper mess: he no longer looked like the perfect vision of regality from the earlier evening. He looked like a man, a regular man, scared, unsure, and confused. His knuckles were cracked...and you had promised that you had never wanted to see him harmed again. 
The prince’s eyes softened, softer than they had been, soft like they had been the evening before when you had broken. 
“We survive. The best we can. We recuperate for a couple days, and ask Carroll what the next steps are. I’d guess it would be Greece then.” 
Minho leaned up with a little grunt to face you. “I’m coming with. I can help. I can be valuable if you need another set of hands on a gun.” 
“I think you mean hand. Your arm is gonna be out of commission for a little while.” 
He smirked, “Still...” 
The sweeping red outline of rose peeked to his shoulder, and you wondered how far it really spread. 
“Bee, I don’t think that I’ve thanked you.” Chan let the words fill earnestly, throwing that same damned smile at you. 
“Chan...you don’t have to thank me. You’re my prince.” 
The royal nodded with a contented little grin that tugged a dimple on the side of his face. You found both men looking at you as such, as if they were waiting, or anticipating the unsaid as you were. 
Somehow, the room turned silent once more: a void quiet enough to hear your heart beating in your ears. 
You bridged the gap, pulling Chan close to you as you pressed your lips against his, using your stained hand to pull his lapel into your body while he melted perfectly into you as he had done before. His mouth tasted slightly like the salt of blood, but that was of no matter to how sweet he was when he gently let himself unfold for you, gasping lightly against you. Chan’s hand reached to your arm to caress the goosebumped skin down, giving you another reason to shiver. You found your own hand tie into his light brown locks and pull deeply at the roots with depths of curiosity and want. Your tongue gently explored his lower lip before teasing right into his mouth which was even warmer than you had imagined it being. 
Your other hand found the torso of Minho: bare and quivering under the touch of your fingertips which traced each muscle there. He let out a drawn out sigh, then drew his own hand down the curve of your body to your hip, finally working it back up over your belly to your breasts thinly protected by the dress. He sat up higher and brought his lips to the fabric, kissing right into your belly with the warmth of his mouth. He paused, giving you moments to crave that same feeling on your lips and prompting you to bow down and indulge yourself in the taste of his mouth too. 
Chan’s hungry hands came tip-toeing over your back as he watched, and slipped one finger under your thin dress strap to pull it down and press kisses to your shoulder. With his other hand, he let it fall down Minho’s back: over the red rose, right to his thigh which he squeezed at firmly: right between the heat of his legs. 
Minho was different from Chan: rougher with his advances, but still addictive in how he would test the corners of your mouth with each kiss more courageous than the last. He ruffled up your torn dress, then let the silk fill up his hands before pulling it in ways to meet your skin with his. Slowly, Chan did the same, edging a hand up to your ass from the frayed bottom of the once-gorgeous dress. 
The bed was just big enough for two, but with this new interlocking of limbs as close as possible, you melded into one. Both you and Chan crept over the man between you, painting the blank canvas of his chest with seething hot lips and biting at the flesh of his skin lightly. Minho’s back arched from the beautiful sensation, causing him to giggle in his euphoria. 
In the middle, you found Chan once more, and held him close, as close as you had wanted for longer than you had admitted. 
“Oh Bee...” He moans into your mouth while releasing all of his glee onto your tongue. 
“Chan, I’m not scared anymore. I don’t even care.” 
The prince shuddered at the thought, and held you back just as tight finding the corners of your dress to pull over your head. 
“Oh my god,” Minho adores you, then reaches out to pull you to his chest. 
This mysterious man, melts for you too, whimpering perfectly between your lips.  Your legs find their way around his thigh to grind at lightly. There's an innocence to his eyes, much like that of the prince: its a kind of blind adoration that you know all too well. His dedication to Chan, and his gesture to you: the thick bandages around his arm: you find your apprehension slipping to nothing. 
Your fingers loop around the white lace of your panties as you kneel above both men, and you swipe your thumb over both of their glistening and trembling lips. 
“Well boys, how about I’ll make both of you mine tonight?” 
~🌹~
Bunch of (Ro)ses! 
@minaamhh @dazzlehoseok @synnocence @jjewibeans @hyunsluvv @unexceptional-h @bobawithchaitea @lechanters @sailorhyunjinz @silencefavarchive @lunarskzzz  @yourdaddychan @bubblelixie @spnobsessedmemes @cherrychngkyn @bowlofblueberries @lmhmins @eunaeiekim
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softersinned-arc · 2 years ago
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@higheverlost said: [ SHELTER ] but in highever :) 
The thunder wakes her from a dead sleep, like a loving parent on an early morning. The stone floors of Highever are cold beneath her bare feet but she hardly notices as she crosses the room to the window; the rain beats against the glass, and if she had to guess the time she would place them still a few hours before dawn. The storm is close, then, perhaps right over them, and the arches of her feet tingle with the same excitement that chases the last vestiges of sleep from her body.
          Once upon a time, in a far-away land, Astoria would be lying out in the storm right now, stripped down to her underthings against the rough rock overlooking one of the Frostback’s little valleys, hands spilling over with rainwater and her hair soaking behind her. She was a wild little thing then, in the way of all children, her grandmother’s cautious reminders to be careful or she’ll catch cold ignored in favor of the warmth of the magic in her body. She would wick the water from her hair and her clothing before ducking into some shelter when the thunder and lightning came too close, and she would watch still from the window, honey eyes wide and almost yellow in the lightning’s flash, as the rain swept away the snow for a moment’s thaw.
          These days she has traded her wildness for a tower and a prince, or close enough; the tingle in her feet becomes an itch and the magic in her blood flares uselessly for only a moment. If she could she would go outside and dance in it, warm the water as it fell onto her and let the storm build and build until it was ready to wash her away, too. As it is, she can’t manage to dry her hair quickly. And the tower is beautiful — the estate in Amaranthine is comfortable, large enough to suggest luxury without being so massive as to make her feel anonymous.
          The tower here is beautiful, too — and she is actually in a tower, her frequent visits to Highever earning her a bed no one else uses in her absence, the Couslands’ instincts as welcoming hosts lending themselves to the provision of privacy. There will be no more sleep tonight, though; the magic may have nowhere to go but it always stirs at open water and at storms, as if trying to remind her of what it was once, what it could still be.
          She hears a muffled bark echoing through the halls outside her closed door and she closes her eyes and smiles. And there is her prince, on his way, no doubt hushing the dog as they ascend the steps. She counts, noting the crumbling step where the hound always falters for a moment before bounding up, and just as she expected she hears the pitiful whine and the scratch of his claws on the floor. A quiet laugh escapes her as she opens her eyes and moves to the door, opening it; Fergie is at once on his back legs, front paws on her shoulders as she lifts her hands to rub her knuckles against his cheeks in a gentle attempt to keep him from slobbering all over her face.
          Ellis is soon to follow, eyes widening for a moment at the sight of her wide awake and giggling when Fergie pushes past her defenses to press his wet nose to her cheek. “Down, boy,” he mutters, and Fergie obeys, albeit reluctantly, before running into her room to leap onto the bed and make himself at home at its foot.
          “Wretched boy,” Astoria says, tone and smile betraying her fondness, and Ellis chuckles as he stops, a step below her. For a moment he seems almost hesitant, held back either by tiredness or the quiet reminders of propriety they’re both so willing to ignore.
          His eyes trace her for a moment — her hair, falling out of its braid, loose curls hanging around her face and tickling her collarbone; her nightgown, thin despite the chill of early spring and rumpled from tossing and turning as she slept; the laughter dancing in her eyes as she wipes a hand across her cheek. “Did he wake you?”
          “The thunder woke me.” A look over her shoulder reveals Fergie already asleep, and Astoria turns back to Ellis, smile widening. “You?”
          “Haven’t slept at all yet,” he says, and she thinks for a moment that his breath catches when she closes the short distance between them. The difference of a single step has her taller than him, now, and she takes his face in both her hands and tips it up to hers, thumbs brushing back and forth along his cheekbones.
          The brush of her lips over his forehead is nothing new, nor is the way he leans into her, and when she lowers her hands and holds one out for him, he takes it immediately, and he closes the door behind him. “You look exhausted,” Astoria says, the teasing tone of her voice masking real concern, and Ellis lets out a little huff of laughter.
          “And your hair is a mess. Turn around.” It takes him only a moment to undo the braid and begin one again, and she thinks again that the pattern of his breathing sounds uneven for just a moment, brief enough that she thinks she must have imagined it. His hands are gentle as they gather her hair, his fingers brushing the back of her neck and carding through the curls as he works, and when he’s finished, tying the braid with the uneven strip of leather she’d used before, he drops a kiss of his own to her temple.
          They climb into her bed and settle in with the familiar ease of having done it a thousand times before. Poor Eleanor would be shocked to know how often one of their bedrooms is empty when Astoria visits, and she should feel guilt for the deception but the comfort of Ellis’ presence is enough that the thought never crosses her mind. Like clockwork, they both bend their knees to accommodate for the sleeping hound, and when Ellis settles in she fits herself perfectly behind him, an arm around him, lined up to one another nearly inch for inch.
          And at once, all thought of missing home — the rock beneath her and the snow around her and the burn of magic in her veins — vanishes in favor of the familiarity of his warmth. Unbidden, their earlier conversation comes to mind, and as if reading her thoughts, Ellis speaks, voice somewhat muffled, and he tenses just a bit, as if waiting for her to change her mind.
          “Do you still want to talk to my mother tomorrow?”
          Her answer is immediate. “Of course.” At once he relaxes, and Astoria just shifts closer, if such a thing is possible, and she drums her fingers lightly against his ribs. “What, you think I’m going to risk you getting married off before I come back?”
          “I am terribly appealing,” he drawls, and she laughs, breath warm against the back of his neck.
          “Exactly. And you’re sure you want this?”
          “I am. Are you?”
          Sure she wants to marry her best friend? The only person she’s trusted since leaving her Hold, since long before that? The rise and fall of his breath is as familiar to her as her own. She could pick out the lilting song of his blood in a crowded room with ease. She’s compared every vaguely interested man to him these past several years — she might like them but who could she possibly know so well? Who could she possibly like so much? None of them would know how to braid her hair. None of them would let her take their hand to trace constellations in the night sky. None of them would groan with good-natured irritation when she shimmied out of the dress she’d worn so she could dive in the lake unencumbered and follow with only a few reminders that the last time he did this he’d been left with mosquito bites that made sitting uncomfortable.
          Some part of her is tempted to press him gently to the mattress below them and kiss him, test the only things they haven’t done — will he know just where to bite to leave an exquisite bruise she can tease him about later? Will he know to pin her wrists when he can? Or will the years of their friendship make marital duties perfunctory and uninspired? She doubts it; they have taken to one another so quickly and entirely that she can’t imagine there is any way in which they are not compatible. And there will be time to test it and learn once they are married. Time enough even to see about the business of falling in love with one another, though she hasn’t said as much about it. They have been told time and again that a good marriage is based in friendship and trust, and they have more than enough of that.
          “Of course I am.” Her answer is enthusiastic and warm and she tugs him closer still, settling in comfortably. She has built a life, an identity, a purpose here in Ferelden, and there is no Astoria without Ellis. “I have one condition.”
          “Name it.”
          She stretches one leg just a bit, nudging his heel first with her toes, then Fergie’s back. “A bigger bed.”
          His laughter, she thinks, might be the sweetest sound in the world.
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quokkacore · 4 years ago
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son of wolves IV [park chanyeol and byun baekhyun]
summary: your entire life, you’ve fought bravely to defend the walls of your home from the evil forest spirits of the spearwood trying to destroy it, alongside your family, friends, and your betrothed, baekhyun. until you’re infected by the evil that resides in one of these spirits, and you run away from home, before it can spread to those around you. it’s in your exile, wandering through the spearwood that you meet the wolf prince, a tall man of hardened eyes, few words, and a fiery temperament, raised by these spirits you’ve so grown to resent. it’s here that you begin to question everything you’ve ever known, and wonder whether the evil was out here, in the forest, or inside the walls of a place you once called home.
pairings: hunter!baekhyun x reader, wolfprince!chanyeol x reader
genre: reverse princessmononoke!au, ANGST, fluff, slow burn, enemies to lovers, fantasy epic, war au, wolf!au
warnings: reader was drugged, language, MAJOR violence tw (gun violence and stabbing to be specific), animal death, threats of violence, loss of consciousness due to head trauma, body horror, horrible writing!!!
song recs: leave a trace - chvrches // lost it to trying - son lux // i will never die - delta rae // the legend of ashitaka - joe hisaishi // victory song - stray kids // pray for me // the weeknd & kendrick lamar // garden song - phoebe bridgers 
word count: 10.0k
a/n: im srry this is so late pls dnt hate me
this is the final chapter of sow!! i’m so glad i finally finished it. i love this fic, i really do. but this is SOO overdue.
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main masterlist // story masterlist
A fog hung over your head. You could barely see three feet in front of you, and everything was hazy. What you knew was that you were in the inner circle—it wasn't as cold. The sound of paws and feet crunching against the snow wasn't that far away from you. It stopped a few seconds later.
"Hello?" You called, slowly walking towards the sound. "Chanyeol?"
Again, the sound of paws and feet, but this time in the opposite direction. You reeled, now unsure of which way to go. A sense of dread was beginning to pool in your stomach. 
"Sehun? Junmyeon?" Your voice was small and shaky, taking one step forward. "Chanyeol?"
You stood still, waiting for a sign, a sound. The forest was dead silent. When you tried to take a step forward, your body turned rigid. Every single hair on your body stood straight up. 
And then, you began to shake. Just as the fog cleared, and two figures appeared in front of you. Both of them beaten bloody, chests heaving, eyes burning with rage. Chanyeol's shirt was torn, and there was a cut running across his chest, staining the ruined fabric. Tears were streaking his dirt stained face. 
Baekhyun's left cheek was swollen, quickly turning purple. His right cheek was bleeding. But he seemed more steady. His sword was drenched in drying blood. 
And then you noticed the wolves. 
All four of Chanyeol's brothers lay dying all around them, warm crimson melting the snow as they bled out. You could hear them whining in pain as they did, legs twitching in pain. 
You tried to call out to them, but you choked on black tendrils, bursting through your throat. Your jawbone cracked as they did, tremors wracking your body as you gagged on your cries of pain. All you could do was watch in horror as they charged at each other, hurling curses and obscenities at each other. 
The tremors in your body intensified, your injured arm cracking as the black, oily coils shot forward, wrapping around your throat.
Spots danced across your vision, your head beginning to pound as you couldn't breathe. Your vision lost focus, eyes blurring with tears. 
The last thing you saw was Baekhyun's sword impaling Chanyeol's chest, the iron bursting through his back. As his younger brother's blood splattered across his face and neck, Baekhyun's face broke into a sadistic grin. 
A horrible laugh rang throughout the forest, and you awoke with a start, hands grabbing at your neck to unwrap inky coils that weren't there. You were sweating and your chest was heaving.
Slowly, you sat up, blinking furiously to allow your eyes to adjust to the sunlight. You could tell that it was still relatively early, maybe before nine.  When you caught your breath, you wiped the sweat off of your brow. Your throat felt itchy and your head was pounding. Getting up was one thing, walking to the door was another. You were disoriented and dizzy, nauseous, even. You jiggled the door, and sighed when it wouldn’t budge. 
You glanced towards the window, even though you knew it was too small for you to jump out of. Rubbing your temples and letting out a deep sigh, you tried to push all of the events of last night to the back of your mind, Baekhyun’s betrayal refusing to fade to the back of your head. You lay down on the bed again, processing everything you knew now.
You loved Baekhyun, you really did. Yesterday morning, when he had kissed you, you felt relieved that you were in his arms again. 
But Baekhyun’s kisses, contrary to what you had originally thought, no longer felt as comforting or as safe. Even before he had thrown you to the wolves, metaphorically speaking. Chanyeol’s lips on yours permeated your mind, the memory stuck in your head. 
You found that the more you tried to pull away from the thought of that tall, mysterious man, the tighter his grip became—deep down, you knew that only in coming closer would you be released. Vaguely, it reminded you of the toy your father had brought you once when you were a child, woven out of thin strips of bamboo. Sticking your index fingers in, and then trying to pull them out was impossible, as the toy stretched and its hold got tighter. However, when you pushed them together, the toy expanded, and your fingers were released.
Were three weeks even long enough to fall in love? Two, considering the fact that the first week he basically wanted to kill you? You weren’t sure. All you knew was that right now, Chanyeol’s safety, as well as that of his brothers and of Selyne, was all you wanted.
Your thoughts were interrupted with the sound of the front door. You turned to face the door, waiting with bated breath. Had they returned so soon?
You were disappointed when the bedroom door swung open, Yixing standing awkwardly in the doorway. He stared at you, emotionlessly, before he sighed and stepped inside. Your eyes watched his every move like a hawk, and scowled at him when he sat down on the chair where your clothes were. 
“I’m here to do a check-up,” He told you, “You’re still recovering.”
“What, from my cold induced madness or the huge stab wound in my back?” You spat. He looked down, face not changing. He almost looked ashamed.
“I’m sorry you see it that way.” His voice was quiet. “I brought you some food and some water. You can eat that and then we can get started. I know you must be hungry.”
He pulled out a bowl wrapped in fabric, as well as a canteen from his bag. When he showed you what was inside—rice and some beef—you lifted your gaze to meet his eyes. After last night, you weren't sure you ever wanted to eat anything again. Yixing shook his head once he realized. Which meant he knew.
"There's nothing in it," He said, sounding earnest. "I promise, Y/N." 
You would have refused, but the pounding in your head seemed to be unending. It didn’t take long for your resolve to crack. You drank almost all of the water in the canteen, and you practically inhaled the meal. 
“The troops left three hours ago. About a hundred and twenty soldiers total. Baekhyun, Minseok and Jongdae are leading them,” He informed you, fiddling with his clothes and staring at the walls. 
You didn’t reply, too angry to do so.
When you finished, you allowed him to do his check up. He asked you about how you were feeling, how certain parts of your body felt, like your legs and your chest, if you’d been feeling dizzy or nauseous. He was done fairly quickly, and as he packed away the now empty bowl, spoke up again.
“Remember the time Jongdae dared me to sneak out into the Spearwood when we were younger?”
“When Minseok misfired and shot you?” You asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah. How could I forget after the way your dad almost punched Min?”
He let out a soft chuckle, but there was no joy behind it. “I spent about three hours out there. I never told you guys, but I got lost pretty quickly. I panicked once I realized I didn’t know where I was. I thought I was gonna get killed by some animal in the name of the gods or something. You know how I panic.”
You nodded, humming, unsure of where he was going. “It was summertime,” He continued, “So it wasn’t as quiet as it is now. And about halfway through those three hours, I heard branches snapping behind me, and… this thing sounded big, Y/N. I-I just about shit my pants when I turned. Because I had never seen a bear so close to me before, and it was huge, and it was headed towards me.”
He looked up at you, eyes full of awe. “I was so freaked out, it didn’t occur to me to try and shoot it or to play dead or anything. All I could do was stand there, trying not to scream or provoke it. It walked right past me, and kept walking straight. I thought I should run or hide, until it turned back to look at me and… she spoke to me. Well, not speak, it was more like—”
“Like an echo in your mind,” You said, sitting up straight, “That… that was Mirren.”
He nodded, a ghost of a smile gracing his face. “She wasn’t anything like they told us she would be. She was so… kind, and gentle. She knew I was afraid, and she promised she wouldn’t hurt me if I didn’t hurt her. And I was a 19 year old idiot who had a sword. I wasn’t going to try and kill a goddess. So I followed her, and she took me as far as she could without being seen. We barely spoke. But when she told me to keep going, because that was as far as she could go safely, I was so grateful. I… I never would have expected that kind of mercy and kindness from one of the gods, not after everything we were taught. And then twenty minutes later I got back to the wall and Minseok misfired.”
Yixing furrowed his eyebrows, staring at his hands in his lap. “That Chanyeol guy. He’s pretty much the only link between the human world and the forest, right?”
You nodded.
“So if he died or if Selyne died… the forest would lose its only possible bridge between the two. And that would make it harder for them to understand us, or to communicate easily.”
Again, you nodded. Yixing shrugged. “For us, that’s a good thing. The gods would have to communicate directly with us, and we could take them down when they’re vulnerable.”
You nodded, looking to the side and gnawing on the inside of your cheek. Why he felt the need to rub it in made no sense to you, why would he—
“Which is why it would be a shame if you were to escape.”
Your head snapped forward to look at him, eyes widening. He sighed, obviously nervous. When he spoke, his voice was quiet. “It would be a shame if you were to overpower me and lock me in this room. An even bigger shame if you were to know that your bow and quiver are in the stables, and that the guards patrolling the east gate change shifts in about… fifteen minutes. A huge shame, really.” 
You just about stopped breathing, staring at him wordlessly. Yixing raised an eyebrow. 
“Are you going to do anything or do I have to knock myself out?”
“Why can’t you just say that I locked you in here?”
“What, you really think they’ll believe that?”
You stood up, shaking your head. He was right, but that didn’t make you feel any better about knocking Yixing’s lights out. “Thank you, Xing. I can never repay you.”
Yixing waved his hand. “You don’t owe me anything, Y/N. If anything, this is me repaying my own debt.”
You sighed shakily, and Yixing stood up. “Please don’t hit me too hard,” He said. You smiled, and shook your head, before throwing up your fists. Before you could do anything, he held up his hands. “W-wait, wait.”
“What?”
“Kick Baekhyun’s ass,” He ordered, “His head’s been getting too big for his shoulders, anyway.”
You smiled sadly, before nodding. “I’ll try,” You answered, and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.” 
Yixing shut his eyes, grimacing. “Do it.”
With one final deep breath, you swung at his temple, and Yixing fell to the floor. You checked to make sure he was knocked out cold, tapping his face slightly, and setting off when he didn’t come to. 
You changed into more suitable clothes to wear in combat, and slung on your snow boots and a dark blue cloak.
Before you left, you walked into the dining room, and looked towards the floor, before something glinting in the low sunlight caught your eye. Heart splintering, you picked up the necklace, and tucked it into your pocket.
This would have been so much easier if you’d been let out before the sun came up. You placed the hood of your cloak up, hiding your face and keeping your head down, hoping to not draw too much attention as you walked towards the stables. Thankfully, the path leading there was still relatively empty given that it was before ten. 
When you got to the stables, you found your bow and arrow hung on the wall, right next to Ivan’s stall. For a moment, you considered taking him with you, but decided against it. It would be too hard to sneak a reindeer out in broad daylight. You would simply have to run as fast as you could and hope that luck was on your side.
So you hid the weapons under your cloak, and made your way to the east gate, where, just as Yixing had said, the parapet atop it was empty. And once you had broken the lock, and were outside, you were gone. 
Immediately, you realized that the energy in the Spearwood was different. The air was crisper, seemingly even colder. If the forest had been quiet the first time you stepped into it, you could practically hear the sound of your blood rushing throughout your body. A few minutes into your walk, it began to snow, and you found yourself shivering already.
Once you were out of sight of the parapets, you removed your cloak briefly, placing the quiver and bow over it rather than under it for better access.
Being alone in the snow, with everything you knew now, filled you with an odd sense of nostalgia. If a month ago, someone had told you you would willingly march into the Spearwood to try and end the war, you definitely wouldn’t have expected this to be your course of actions, and you certainly would have expected to have different motives. 
You did your best to retrace your old steps, but the past 24 hours, the fact that it had been three weeks since you came this way, and the difference in lighting made it significantly harder. You walked for about forty minutes, cautious enough to listen for the footsteps of anyone who might have followed you from Ironbend.
And while eventually you did hear footsteps, they definitely weren’t from anyone you were expecting. The fast sound of paws thumping against the snow, racing at you from behind barely gave you time to turn and spot the giant mass of white fur bounding towards you. With a soft, “oomph!” you were tackled to the ground, tumbling a few times before finally landing on your back in the snow. You opened your eyes to meet a familiar gaze. 
We really have to stop meeting like this, y’know, Sehun declared as he stepped back, it’s weird.
“You’re the one that tackled me,” You argued, sitting up and brushing off the snow that was on your cloak. “What are you doing so far out of the inner circle?”
Sehun shook himself off, before staring at you seriously. Emergency patrol. Mama sensed danger. 
 “She was right,” You said with a nod, “Is she safe?”
Why would she be keeping herself safe? He sounded kind of exasperated. 
“Because she’s the target, Sehun. The three troops they brought out are looking for her.”
All of the playfulness in Sehun’s demeanor seemed to evaporate. Shit. Junmyeon knows where she is. Get on. I’m taking you to him.
You got on his back, and he huffed slightly at the new sensation of having to carry you. Sorry if it gets bumpy. I’m not really used to having people ride on my back... That’s usually Junmyeon’s job.
“Shut up, you overgrown spoiled baby,” You answered warmly, “It’s okay. As long as we get there in one piece.”
Did you get there in one piece? Kind of. You had to cling onto him and lower yourself to basically lie on his back. Otherwise you bounced too much and you risked falling off of him. The wind ripped your hood off, whipping your hair in the process and drying your eyes. 
He slowed down once he approached a clearing, where you could easily see the brown wolf standing in the white snow. He turned once he heard Sehun’s paws. When he noticed you, he seemed rather taken aback. 
Y/N? What are you doing here? Why did you even leave? He asked when you got off of Sehun.
“I needed to warn you. All of you. Selyne is in danger.”
She’s the warden of the forest, he pointed out, I think it’s an occupational hazard.
You sighed, annoyed at how willing the both of them had been to brush off your warnings so easily. “This is different. More than a hundred men are in the forest right now—all of them armed with guns, I might add—trying to find her, because they know that if she dies, Chanyeol loses his link to the forest and any hope for negotiation and bridging the spirit world and the human world is gone. You need to warn her, now.”
Junmyeon, evidently stunned speechless, looked between you and Sehun for a few seconds, before his gaze settled on you finally. We knew about the troops. We didn’t know about their plan. How did you find out? 
You pursed your lips. “My… I used to be close to their leader. He’s… the swordsman.”
Shit, Sehun swore. 
Fuck, Junmyeon agreed.
“Y/N?” 
Your eyes widened at the distant sound of the deep voice, turning your head to see Chanyeol, trudging through the snow. His eyes were wide, and when he recognized your face, he began walking faster. 
Of their own accord, your feet started moving in his direction. You ignored the voices of Sehun and Junmyeon trying to catch your attention. He sped up again, now making his best attempt to run to you, even though the snow passed his ankles. Your heart pounding in your chest, blood roaring in your ears, you sped up as well. As the distance lessened, you took in the familiar features. The pelt that kept him warm, the mask held back atop his dark hair, his cheeks streaked with blood he’d painted on, the round earrings dangling from his prominent ears.
Finally, he was within arms reach, and he reached out his arms the same way you did. His gaze was desperate, almost unbelieving that it was really you. The two of you collided, lips smashing against each other as his hands gripped you in several different places, like he was trying to make sure you were tangible. First at your waist, then your back, until finally, they gripped your face tenderly, calloused hands holding your face. Your hands wrapped around his neck, standing up straight to reach his lips. 
The state of catharsis his desperate kisses gave you confirmed it. You knew in your heart who you wanted. 
 When Chanyeol pulled away, you wiped away the snowflakes that had fallen on his cheeks and nose. “Y/N,” He murmured, “You came back.”
You nodded, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
”I had to,” You said softly, nuzzling your nose against his cheek, “I needed to warn you about what’s coming.”
His face fell slightly when he heard your reasoning, but he didn’t step away. “Y/N, I… I shouldn’t have let you leave. A-and I shouldn’t have said those things I said. I was… scared. I’m sorry.”
You shook your head, breaking away. “Right now, we can’t focus on that. I need you all to listen to me. I know what the troops are trying to do.” 
He nodded, eyes turning serious. “Come on,” He said, turning you to face the clearing. The two of you paused when you noticed the two other wolves sitting in the clearing, watching you bemusedly. 
I told you something happened, Jongin said to Kyungsoo, Now you owe me your next part of the hunt. 
Chanyeol scowled, and had this not been such a serious moment, you would have laughed. The two of you walked back over to the quartet, where you greeted them all properly. Not wasting any time, you went over the basics. How you’d been found by Baekhyun and taken back to Ironbend, what you told the Council in an attempt to get them to consider a truce, how you managed to escape. Baekhyun and his plan. The danger that Selyne was in, and by extension, the danger that Chanyeol was in. 
“She needs to hide, now,” You told them once you finished, “Chanyeol, you might need to hide, too.”
“I’m not going to hide,” He fired back. “This is my home. They’re threatening my mother. I’m not about to stand back and let them do it.” 
You stared at him, gripping his forearm. “Chanyeol, Baekhyun knows. He told me he would kill you.”
“And I’m telling you I’ll kill him.” Chanyeol’s eyes were wide, serious. “Y/N, I’m more expendable than Selyne is. If I die, it’s a major setback. If Selyne dies…”
It’s the beginning of the end for us, Kyungsoo completed, The magic of the forest will become unbalanced if it loses one of its Pillars. 
And if the magic of the forest becomes unbalanced, we lose our strongest wall of defense, Junmyeon agreed. It’s our job as our mother’s sons to lead in her place in moments when she can’t. One of those moments is now. Chanyeol has to fight.
You clenched your jaw. “Fine,” You bit out, “But someone needs to go warn Selyne, right now.” 
Chanyeol and I can go. Jongin, Kyungsoo, you both need to gather the other wolf packs. Call the bears as well, any other animals that can defend the forest. Foxes, coyotes, birds of prey, lynxes. Call the raccoons if you have to. This is life or death. Junmyeon straightened his posture. Sehun, you show Y/N how far the troops have gone. Stay hidden. Let’s rendezvous in an hour and wait for Kyungsoo and Jongin with the reinforcements.
  We’ll go as fast as we can, Jongin said, before turning to Kyungsoo. Let’s go. 
Sehun lifted his head to gaze at you. You heard him. Get on.
You nodded, turning to Chanyeol, who was about to get onto Junmyeon. “Wait.”
Chanyeol’s eyes softened as you approached him, reaching into your pocket. You tucked the necklace into the palm of his hand, closing his fist around it. “Be careful,” You begged him, “I didn’t betray an entire village just for you to get yourself killed.”
He gave a soft smile, his other hand grasping yours. “I’ll come back to you,” He promised. You peered into his eyes, wanting to say so many things.
Gross, Sehun interrupted, and Chanyeol’s smile disappeared immediately. “Don’t be a dick.”
He’s Sehun, Junmyeon mumbled, giving something akin to an eyeroll, Kind of impossible for him not to be. Now come on, we need to go now.
Chanyeol offered you one small, final smile, before he and Junmyeon sped off. 
You turned to Sehun, getting on his back. “Is it that hard for you to not be an asshole?” You asked, tone warm and teasing.
You all love me anyway, he replied. His cheekiness was not missed. The two of you took off immediately afterwards. You remembered to lower yourself and stay close to his back. Sehun explained that the magic of the forest was affecting the troops, leading them on the wrong path.
They’ve been going in circles for about two hours now, Sehun snickered, But we can’t just let them trample through the forest without teaching them a lesson. 
“Be careful once we get closer to their location,” You said into his ear, “They’ll probably have scouts patrolling within a few hundred meters of their formation on all sides.”
I’ll keep that in mind. 
The pair of you slowed to a walk, and you got off of him, pulling out your bow and nocking an arrow out of caution. Silence reigned over the forest, making the sounds of your boots crunching in the snow cringeworthy and deafening. The two of you were nearing the top of a hill, approaching its steep summit. As you approached it, the sound of stomping and snow crunching became louder and louder. You swallowed the lump in your throat, slowing significantly.
You stopped at the sound of a familiar shout. The boom of the voice actually made Sehun’s ears lower, the wolf flinching at the noise.
“Regroup!” Jongdae yelled, “We’ll stop for ten minutes.” 
You stared at Sehun, who in turn gazed at you before cocking his head at a large boulder that should give you both some cover. Slowly, as quietly as possible, you both approached the snow cap rock, before Sehun peeked over the edge of the rock. 
They’re at the base of the hill. If you’re gonna come over here, be careful. 
You leaned over the side of the rock, releasing the tension in the string of your bow. 
120 sounded like a lot of men, you realized, but the visual was somewhat underwhelming. They easily fit in the large clearing at the base of the hill. Seeing them all huddled together in the cold brought you an odd sense of comfort. 
Seeing Byun Baekhyun and his two lackeys had the opposite effect.
Baekhyun, Minseok and Jongdae were excellent military strategists. They were better than you, that was for sure, and you came from a long line of military leaders. They worked even better when the three of them worked together. In previous campaigns in other places, they’d done great damage with even smaller troops. You knew damn well that they would turn this relatively small group into a well oiled killing machine, and use each man to the best of their ability.
Still, you knew they had some weaknesses in their formations. Every formation did. They were very susceptible to being attacked from the back. It would catch them off guard very easily. 
What are you thinking? Sehun asked.
“They can be very vulnerable from the back,” You whispered, “This is their standard formation. I doubt they’ll change it now that they’re this deep—takes too much time, lowers their guard. See the back line? Those are the reserves. They’re generally the strongest men, but they’re more spread out. That’s where Baekhyun, Jongdae and Minseok are, also—their leaders. The ones meant to be fodder are generally put on the front line.”
That’s… interesting. But an attack from the back would mean taking out a small group of strong opponents, and then fighting a larger group. That’s… not ideal. We would tire ourselves out.
“There are bound to be more than 120 animals in the forest willing to defend it,” You pointed out. “They’re used to combat at a distance, especially with the shoulder guns. If we can approach them and overwhelm them, we might just be able to get them to retreat.” 
You watched as Baekhyun, Jongdae and Minseok had a quiet discussion between the three of them, Jongdae’s hands gesturing wildly. 
“Jackasses,” You grumbled, before stepping back safely behind the boulder. “Have we seen enough?” 
I think so. It looks like they’re going to keep heading west. Which is good. Mama’s den is east. Let’s get back to the rendezvous point. 
You nodded, exhaling softly. You stole one last glance at Baekhyun before you and Sehun trudged down the hill, putting some distance between the troops and you both before you mounted the wolf and broke out into a run. You kept your eyes open as he ran, hoping the winds would dry the tears in your eyes.
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You were the first ones back in the clearing. 
“You’re sure we’re in the right place, right?” You asked, just to be sure. Sehun sat, shaking some snowflakes off of his snout. This is where the pack scent is strongest, and I can still see the tracks from where we all split up, so yes. And look, that’s where you and Chanyeol… swapped spit.
“And you say Chanyeol and I are the gross ones.”
Sehun laughed. Well, that’s what it looked like! Human displays of affection are so odd. At first I thought you were trying to eat each other.
You shook your head. “No. Not at all,” You answered with a laugh, “It’s actually—”
Sehun’s head turned, ears perking up. Your speech died in your mouth, watching as a few seconds later, Chanyeol and Junmyeon came into view. They made their way into the clearing, and stopped right in front of you. Chanyeol slid off of Junmyeon’s back, stretching his legs when he did.
It took her some convincing, but Mother is safe. She’s in one of her secret dens, just in case. 
You sighed in relief. “Good.”
We also found Beval and Emyr on our way there. We made sure to warn them.
Well, what did they say? Sehun asked.
Beval is rounding up the birds of prey as we speak. He’s also sending them some heavy snowfall and winds—he called it a welcome gift.
You smiled as the remark before Junmyeon continued. Emyr is rounding up the deer, and he’s sent out a message to any smaller animals to stay in their dens. The deer will be joining us, but they’ll stay at a distance so they can treat the injured.  
“Selyne sends her blessing,” Chanyeol added, looking at you.  “She also wanted me to return this to you.”
Chanyeol stretched out his hand, holding out a familiar black sheath with a leather band. The silver guards and the pommel of the sword seemed to glow in the daylight.
 “So that’s where that went,” You mumbled, more to yourself. You looked up at Chanyeol after you had grabbed the sword. “Thank you.”
He waved his hand. “This is important.”
So, what now? Sehun asked, Wait for the reinforcements?
I suppose so, Junmyeon answered, before eyeing you and Chanyeol. He turned to face Sehun. Mother actually wanted me to talk to you about something. Come on, let’s go. 
What on earth could she want you to nag me for at a time like this? I—
Junmyeon bared his teeth, growling in a move that surprised the three of you Sehun’s words died abruptly. Sehun, he hissed, eyes darting between the youngest wolf, and you and Chanyeol, Come on. 
...Oh. Oh! Okay. Yeah. It’s probably that… thing I was talking about with her yesterday. Okay, yeah, let’s go.
The two wolves stalked off, Junmyeon nagging the entire time.
You looked up at Chanyeol, before tying the leather band securely around your waist. “Alright, we have some time to kill. Do… do you wanna talk about that night?”
Chanyeol slumped forward, looking downwards. When he looked back up, he nodded. You leaned against a tree, crossing your arms.
“I was an ass,” Chanyeol admitted. “I was unfair to you. But… I don’t know, Y/N. I’m just… I was terrified. I’ve never felt so vulnerable with someone else, before.”
“Chanyeol…”
“I love you. I don’t—I don’t know when or how it happened. And I was so angry when I didn’t go after you. And then when I finally did, it was too late. We didn’t find you. I just… lost it kind of.”
He showed you his right hand, where the knuckles were bruised and cut.
“What did you even do, punch a tree?” You asked, furrowing your eyebrows.  
He pursed his lips, ears turning red. “Well…”
You bit back a laugh, and tried hard to hold back the smile trying to break onto your face. 
“Oh, gods.”
“Shut up,” He huffed, trying to hold back his own smile now.
“You’re… you’re really something,” You said. Chanyeol shrugged and his face fell again.
“I fucked up. I shouldn’t have—”
“No, I shouldn’t have pushed you away,” You countered, “I was scared, too. Terrified. But after everything that’s happened since then, I know what I want. I want to stay here, with you, and I want to protect this place.”
“Y-you’re gonna stay?”
You looked down, shutting your eyes. You thought over the life you’d had in Ironbend, all of the friends and family you’d ever known. All of them united under one cause, and here you were, about to throw it all away. Guilt swam in your chest at the idea of having to consider them enemies.
“I want to be with you,” You hummed, grabbing his hand, “And if they knew about us, they would kill me.”
His hand squeezed yours. “I’m not going to let them.”
You smiled sadly. “I’m not going to let them hurt you, either.”
He opened his mouth to say something, when the sound of rustling in the distance caused him to turn his head. Instantly, the two of you reached for your weapons.
It’s them, Sehun called, running back into the clearing. It’s time.
You looked at Chanyeol, who squeezed your hand again. “Let’s do this.”
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This would have been a lot faster had it been summer. So many animals were hibernating, and while there were still more animals than there were humans, you still wondered whether or not it would be enough. These animals didn’t have the types of weapons that the humans did, save for your sword, bow and arrow, and Chanyeol’s dagger. 
A total of 361 animals showed up. Chanyeol’s four brothers, and a total of 97 wolves from different packs scattered throughout the Spearwood, for a total of 101 wolves. It made sense to you that the majority of animals would be wolves, given that Selyne was the one that was threatened the most. Other troops included 51 birds of prey, 46 foxes, 29 coyotes, 32 bears, 55 deer, 19 raccoons, 11 lynxes and surprisingly enough, 17 squirrels. 
You weren’t sure whether to be surprised by the fact that squirrels had decided to show up or that the vast majority of them—along with the raccoons—came armed with relatively large jagged rocks to throw at the small army. 
At first, the animals were skeptical of your plan. You didn’t blame them. A human, a foreigner, trying to lead them into battle? It didn’t sound safe.
The plan was simple enough. Wait until the troops reached one of the streams, so that it would be difficult for them to cross. Start an aerial attack with the birds of prey, the squirrels and the raccoons, then the front line of animals would attack the back line. The second, third and fourth lines would attack all around, and eventually the lines would open up towards the north, in an effort to push them back. The deer would be waiting past the stream, out of sight, waiting to work on the injured with their magic. You made sure to explain to them how the guns worked, and what needed to be done to heal the wounds. 
The troops would be given a wide berth on all sides. The signals to attack would be given via howls, or in the case of the birds of prey, a screech.
Each wolf would be leading from a different direction. Junmyeon would be leading the front line with Chanyeol. Jongin would lead the second line, Kyungsoo the third, and Sehun the fourth lines. 
You would be on the front line as well. As the groups separated, the forest seemed to fill with fog. You followed Junmyeon and Chanyeol, who were following the scent of the human troops as they led your group of about 50 or so animals. The only sound you could hear was the sound of snow crunching beneath you. You could barely see anything as the fog hanging overhead seemed to seep into the forest the closer and closer you got. You tried desperately not to think of your dream. 
The wind blew harder as well, whipping your hair every which way, drying your eyes. Snow fell even heavier. It became slightly harder to trudge through it.
As your group came to its waiting point, one of the birds—a hawk, you saw—flew overhead before flying back up into the fog overhead. That was the signal to stop and wait.
Junmyeon stopped, turning back to the group. Chanyeol held his hand up, signalling for everyone to stop and wait. 
You couldn’t see the troops yet, but you knew that they weren’t too far away. The dense treeline simply made it difficult to see anything that wasn’t a hundred meters away. All you could do now was wait. Your eyes met Chanyeol’s for a second, and he flashed you a soft smile. You looked him once over, your heart doing a backflip when it saw the opal necklace resting against his shirt.
“Be safe,” He mouthed at you, and you nodded as he pulled down his mask. 
“You, too.”
The silence of the forest was shattered by a gunshot. You both turned to face the direction the sound was coming from, which was straight ahead. You forced yourself to take deep breaths, flexing your fingers. Your fingertips were numb from the cold. A second gunshot echoed through the forest, your stomach began to sink.
Gripping your bow, you tried to recall how many bows you had in your quiver. 35, 36? No more than 37, that was for sure.
Y/N, You heard Junmyeon say, flinching when a third gunshot came. You nodded once in his direction. Get on. Chanyeol will get off once we’re close enough. Your bow won’t work up close. 
“Okay,” you mumbled, approaching them slowly. “We’re not too heavy?”
It’ll be fine, the wolf huffed, Just don’t take too much time with those arrows.
“Got it,” You answered, getting on, right behind Chanyeol. You made a mental note to suggest a saddle for them—if they knew what a saddle was, anyway. 
“Hold on to me,” Chanyeol murmured, “Don’t pull out your bow until I say so.”
You nodded. “Be careful. Both of you.” 
A fourth gunshot sounded, and you wrapped your arms around his torso.
“I’m gonna kiss you so hard when this is over,” Chanyeol whispered.
Gods, Sehun’s right, Junmyeon grumbled, You two are disgus—
A shrieking noise rang across the forest, and all of the hairs stood up on your body as you registered as the sound of a hawk’s screeching.
Now! Junmyeon yelled, beginning to charge forward, all of the other animals running behind you.
“Wait for my signal,” Chanyeol told you, “Stay alert.”
You didn’t reply, too focused on thinking about what was about to happen. As Junmyeon and the other animals weaved through the trees, you began to see something in the distance, barely outlined in the fog. Two more gunshots sounded, sparks glowing for a split second in the mist, perfectly giving away their location. 
They were closer now. You could hear murmuring, shouting. The sound of running water, albeit a bit softer than the voices. Any second now, they would hear you.
“Now!” Chanyeol told you, as a large, dark mass came into view, slightly blurred by the fog. You pulled away from Chanyeol, pulling off your bow and nocking an arrow quickly.
“What is that noise!?” You heard a voice yell. You couldn’t recognize who it was.
“STAND FIRM!” A loud voice ordered. Jongdae. 
A single figure burst into view, and you knew it had to be a scout. The young man turned, and his eyes widened when he spotted you, grimacing as you aimed your arrow at him. 
His mouth opened wide, and he began to screech, “From the nor—!”
Your arrow pierced his chest, and you forced yourself to look away as he fell to the ground.
“The north!” You heard Baekhyun say, “FACE NORTH! NOW!”
You pulled out another arrow and nocked it as well, just as the troops appeared in your line of vision. You spotted Baekhyun almost immediately, but couldn’t bring yourself to aim directly at him. Instead, as the animals charged, you let it fly into someone right behind him, hitting the man straight in the eye. The arrow whizzed past Baekhyun’s head. His eyes widened momentarily when he saw you on top of the wolf, sitting behind Chanyeol’s familiar face, before it twisted into a hateful sneer. 
“Attack!” He cried, “Fire, NOW!”
The first gunshots were fired, thick rocks still raining down on the men, hawks and eagles swooping down to claw at their faces. 
As Junmyeon turned, he slowed down enough for Chanyeol to jump off. The man pulled out his dagger, charging straight for a soldier of similar stature. 
Your turn, Y/N, Junmyeon said, You run out of arrows and I’ll call in the second line. 
“On it!” You answered, aiming another arrow. 
The two of you made an unlikely duo, working surprisingly well. Junmyeon knew to run slightly away from the fighting, because up close your arrows wouldn’t be much help. Running parallel to the front line, you fired arrow after arrow into the crowd. You even managed to get him to dodge a few bullets. One grazed his side, causing him to yelp, and you countered by sending your arrow into the neck of the man who shot at him. 
Truthfully, you tried not to aim at the people you knew. It was too difficult, seeing their shock and the look of betrayal cross their faces for a split second before you fired your arrow. But that was difficult, because everyone knew you, the same way they knew their father. 
You couldn’t imagine what they must have been thinking, to see someone who they thought would become their leader in the future fighting alongside their supposed enemies. 
All around you, chaos reigned. The rock flinging had slowed down, but birds were still diving down to attack men at random. The men at the other side of the troops were trying to spread out, to extend the front line, but it didn’t seem to be working very well. In the distance you watched two men try to fend off a grizzly bear. You had to turn your attention elsewhere, but from the looks of it, they weren’t winning.
Soon enough, you were down to your last arrow. Which, in a way, was good, because you could tell Junmyeon was beginning to slow down. The sooner he had less weight to carry, the better.
Do you see Chanyeol? Junmyeon asked, and your eyes scanned the front line, stopping when they landed on Chanyeol fighting hand to hand with a soldier. He was on the other side of the battlefield. “I see him,” You answered, “Junmyeon, let me off now and call in the second line!”
What about you? He asked as you slid off his back, firing your final arrow into a man aiming at a bar, cringing when you recognized him as the baker’s son. “I’ll be fine,” You insisted, slinging your bow across your chest, before pulling out your sword, “Just call them, now!”
Taking off before he could answer, your legs set off. As you ran, you assessed the damage. Some animals lay injured or dying, others running off as they got injured, probably to circle around to the deer.
Your breath puffed out as you made your way towards Chanyeol. You heard people call your name, some even calling out for help, but you refused to spare them any glances. You wondered if they had seen you charging in… they probably hadn’t.
When you were about fifty meters from Chanyeol, someone stepped in front of you. Looking up to meet their eyes, you saw Minseok, holding his spear up and eyeing you defensively. 
“Get out of here and they might just let you live,” He grunted. You held your sword out, eyeing the movements of his right arm. 
“As if you would let the gods live,” You quipped, “In the grand scheme of things, I’m no one.”
“Y/N, I don’t want to have to do this.” His voice was shaky, glancing to the side to avoid your eyes. “We’ve been friends for years, I would never forgive myself if I had to—”
Thwap! You turned the blade so that when you hit him with it, the flat end hit the side of his head. The edge still drew some blood, though, and Minseok stumbled back, giving you just enough time to lift your leg, kicking him square in the chest. He stumbled back even further before falling to the ground, breathless. You hopped closer, hoping to knock him unconscious without hurting him too much.
Looking at him, your heart ached. As you lumbered over him, grabbing the collar of his shirt, you frowned. “I’m sorry,” You murmured, before knocking his head into the ground once, twice, three times, until his eyes rolled back into his head and his body went limp.
You had no time to check whether or not he was still breathing, instead standing straight up and taking a deep breath before starting to run again. As you did, you heard Junmyeon’s howl echo across the forest. Weaving through the trees, you knew more help would be here soon. 
And it did, the second line appearing towards the south within a matter of seconds, sandwiching the troops between two groups of animals. As you got closer to Chanyeol, you felt something pull you back by the cloak, letting out a yelp as you fell to the ground. You fell on your butt, pain traveling up your back. Looking back to see what had snagged your cloak, you watched as Baekhyun ran past you in an attempt to get to Chanyeol, who had his back turned as he fought off another man. Baekhyun didn’t so much as spare you a glance.
You stumbled to your feet, eyes widening as you watched Baekhyun pull out his sword. Your feet somehow seemed to fly across the snow, your body going into overdrive. You’d seen this strategy before. Someone would distract the target, only for Baekhyun to come in and strike them down from behind.
You knew what would happen if you didn’t stop it. Slowing down for only a moment, you picked up a large rock that had to have hit some poor man in the head. Not even hesitating, you chucked the bloody rock at Baekhyun’s feet, causing him to stumble. 
That gave you the advantage, making a beeline in front of him, practically back to back to Chanyeol. Your smaller sword met Baekhyun’s with a loud clang, the look on his face turning incredulous when he saw that it was you. 
Baekhyun had always been a better swordsman. Every time you had asked him to help you train, it always ended with him pinning you down. But right now, you couldn’t afford to lose. You simply couldn’t.
“You just had to come and ruin everything,” He grunted, countering with a parry. You blocked it, your swords sliding against each other. You pushed him back, breathing heavily. 
“I’m not gonna let you destroy this place,” You answered. He let out a scoff.
“What are you gonna do, huh? You never miss a shot,” Baekhyun growled, “And yet you missed me. What is it, honey, still got a soft spot for me?” 
Your swords met again, your arms buckling with the strain. You couldn’t meet his eyes, you realized as your eyes filled with tears.
“We have you outnumbered. Call off the attack now,” You pleaded, sounding too desperate for your own good, “It’s not too late, Baek—”
“Oh, darling, I’m not stopping, not until I destroy all of it. Not if I have to burn—” His sword slashed forward, barely missing you as he roared, “—The entire Spearwood to the ground, not if I have to burn down all of Ironbend to get rid of every piece of fucking vermin in this place.”
You stepped forward, tears burning your dry eyes, and that was your mistake. In your attempt to parry, he sidestepped you, knocking you to the ground with a harsh shove. Your blade fell out of your hand, landing in the snow.
As you fell to the ground, you met Baekhyun’s gaze for the first time since your swords clashed. You were surprised to find tears streaking down his face, as well. His eyes looked like that of a wild animal, bewildered and desperate as he lifted his sword, ready to come down at you.
“And if I have to kill you too, my love?” He let out a single humorless laugh, a sad, cold smile gracing his beautifully twisted features, “So be it.” 
Your eyes squeezed shut as his sword began to fall, curling into yourself as you did. You didn’t want your last sight of the man you once loved to be this distorted image of him, drunk on the pursuit of power. All you wanted was the end.
Only, the end never came. Not in the way you expected it to, at least. Because a split second later, you heard Baekhyun gasp, and a deep, guttural groan came from above you. 
Your eyes snapped open, face contorting into an expression of horror as you saw the tip of Baekhyun’s sword peeking out of Chanyeol’s back, dripping blood. You watched as Chanyeol lurched forward, Baekhyun pulling off the mask, glaring up at his long lost brother with what you could only describe as bitter rage.
“You look just like the old man,” He muttered spitefully, “Go figure.”
Chanyeol didn’t answer, groaning out before coughing. Blood spilled from his lips. 
Your heart began to pound, and all of the noise around you seemed to fade into nothingness. All you could focus on was the blood staining Chanyeol’s tattered shirt a dark red, dripping onto your pants and his white pelt. The only noise you could hear was your own labored breathing and your blood roaring in your ears, not feeling the trembling in your necrotic arm.
You barely even registered the ear shattering wail that echoed across the battlefield, inky black tearing at your skin as they branched out everywhere. Your eyes rolled up back into your head, your body convulsing. 
You didn’t see the way they wrapped around every being within a thirty meter radius, squeezing with a vengeance. You didn’t see the way the wolves, who were on the other side of the battlefield stopped in awe to watch as you attempted to destroy everything in your path. You didn’t see Baekhyun get ripped away from Chanyeol, getting lifted some ten feet into the air as his eyes widened in terror, because he had only ever seen you hold back one of these fits. You didn’t see the few men who weren’t in your grip freeze, only able to watch as men and animals alike struggled to free themselves from you. 
You didn’t see. But Chanyeol did. He watched as all of this happened in less than ten seconds, before one tendril pulled out the sword, causing him to tumble to the ground right next to you. He fell to his hands and knees, wheezing and spitting out more blood that fell from his mouth.
When he managed to register what was going on, he crawled over to you, one hand pressing down on a rapidly bleeding stab wound he couldn’t even feel due to the adrenaline rushing through his body. He watched as your hand bent back and forth, contorting impossibly. Cringing at the sound of the cracking bones and your incessant screaming, he leaned over you and reached out his free hand. 
If this didn’t stop, you would kill everyone and everything in your grip and get yourself killed in the process. He grabbed your free hand with all the strength he could muster, trying to ignore the stiffness in your joints. His fingers tried to get your own fingers to grip the opal on your necklace, but nothing happened. 
“Please,” He wheezed, “Please, Y/N.”
With your cries ringing in his ears, he ripped his hand from the stab wound and touched your necklace, staining your neck red as he did, before bringing your hand to his neck, from where a second opal was dangling. His necklace, the one you had returned to him only an hour or so prior.
He coughed, cringing again as blood splattered across your face. “I’ve got you,” He croaked, “That—that night, when you asked me to make it stop, Y/N, I’m—I’m here, I’m trying. Please.”
Your screaming began to quiet, and his voice dropped to a panicked whisper. “Pl—please, Y/N. Please.”
He knew it must have taken less than a few seconds, but it truly did seem like an eternity to him. The tendrils recoiled back into your arm, letting go of all of the creatures you’d had in your grip. Baekhyun fell into the snow a few feet away from you, the wind knocked out of him. Your screaming stopped, and your bones snapped into place, but your sobs didn’t stop, not as your body wracked with pain as the aftershocks kicked in. 
The shock wore off on the remaining men within a minute or so, most of them beginning to flee north, dropping their weapons as they went. Jongdae came forward, already having guided an unconscious Minseok onto his reindeer. “Baekhyun, we have to go now.”
Baekhyun looked up, breathing unevenly. “No, not before I kill h—”
“There’s no time!” Jongdae barked hurriedly. “He’s gonna die anyway, look at what you did to him. And the more you stay, especially after everyone heard what you said about burning Ironbend to the ground, the worse it’s gonna be for you. So get on the damn reindeer, now.” 
Baekhyun faltered, sneering before hurrying onto the reindeer. Your eyes cracked open as Jongdae got on the third reindeer, and they rode off north, presumably to lick their wounds and try and explain everything to the council.
You looked up, just as Chanyeol toppled over on top of you. You ignored the screaming in your arms and the tension in your jaw as you rolled the pair of you over, eyes brimming with tears again when the smell of blood hit your nose. 
He looked so pale, beneath you. Your hands pulled his head gently onto your lap, before one of them began cradling his head. The other tried desperately to press down on the wound, but the stiffness in your arms didn’t help much.
“You can’t die like this,” You whispered hoarsely, “I just came back.”
He managed to quip a smile. “You’ll be alright,” He crooned, one hand limply. “It’s—it’s your turn now, to ride with my br—my brothers.”
“No,” You begged.
Chanyeol! You both turned your heads as the four brothers in question ran up to the both of you.
“Hey,” Chanyeol murmured, as if he wasn’t bleeding out beneath you, “That wasn’t... very fun. I… I don’t wanna do that again.”
You idiot, Junmyeon said, voice trembling, the usual chastising tone he had now empty. What’s mother gonna say when she finds out you went and got yourself killed?
You can’t die, you ass, Sehun added. You can’t.
He’s not going to. 
Your head snapped up, just in time to watch two figures leap into view, a third lumbering behind them, a fourth flying overhead. Quickly, just as everyone else registered that it was the gods, your head bowed in respect.
Beval landed on a branch overhead, the fog clearing. Selyne and Emyr stopped before you, as Mirren began to round up the remaining animals, directing them across the stream.
Chanyeol, Selyne murmured, tone anxious. You never would have expected that from her. What have you done?
“What I had to do to keep you all safe,” He answered, meeting the she-wolf’s gaze. His eyes moved to look at Emyr. 
“My king. I’m sorry for all the loss the forest has felt today.”
Emyr shook his head.  It will mourn, but it will forever be grateful for the sacrifice you all made to keep it safe. We will honor you. Heroes, all of you.
You were trembling as you kept your head down, trying to memorize each corner of his face. Every mole, every blemish, every eyelash.
Even you, Y/N.
Your head snapped up, meeting the gaze of the deer god with your tearful eyes. “Th-thank you, great king,” You replied, “But we only did what was right.”
Indeed. But I do believe you deserve more than honor. You’ve sacrificed much. Daresay, I think you’ve proved yourself to me and to the forest.
You didn’t know why your heart sank. Despite this being what you set out to do, you didn’t feel victorious. “Oh,” You murmured, unsure what to say as Chanyeol shifted his head below you.
Oh? Selyne quipped, You’re being bestowed a gift by a god and that’s all you can say?
“I don’t want it,” You blurted, more tears running down your face. You couldn’t control your mouth even if you wanted to, shaking your head. All you could do was weep and stare down at Chanyeol. The light in his eyes seemed to be getting dimmer. “Give it to him, please. He’s done more for this forest than I ever could. Please heal him, my king, please.”
Fascinating. You would allow yourself to die if it meant that Chanyeol would live?
“Y/N, don’t do this,” Chanyeol whispered. You shook your head at him, before nodding at Emyr. 
“Yes, absolutely, yes. Without a doubt. Please don’t let him die.”
What would happen to us if I, as the king of this forest, simply allowed all of my subjects to live in their time of dying? Maybe this is for the best, child. This is his fate.
“No, I can’t let that happen!”
Why not?
“Because I love him. Please, please don’t let him die.”
Emyr stared at you for a long time. Until finally, he gave you the closest thing a deer could give to a smile. Very well, he agreed. You’ve learned, girl. You’ve let go of your pride and you have sacrificed everything you previously had for our home. I will heal him… and I will heal you, as well. You’ve earned it. Both of you.
You sighed in relief, slumping over Chanyeol. The deer god approached you both, before pressing something akin to a kiss on your forehead, and then doing the same thing to Chanyeol’s hand. 
 For a moment, nothing happened. But then, your body seemed to sing as it jumped into the air of its own accord, Chanyeol right next to you. You watched as the wound began to close, before you felt the sensation of a weight being lifted off of your shoulders. Your eyes moved to your arm, watching as it returned to its natural color, the scars of the bite Sehun had given you fading. 
You landed on your feet, managing to catch Chanyeol before he fell to the ground. He groaned, slinging his arm around your shoulder. 
“How do you feel?”
“Like shit,” He admitted, “But I’ll live.” 
He faced Emyr. “Thank you, my king. I can never fully repay you for what you’ve done.”
So long as you continue to protect us as you have all your life, consider your debt repaid. 
You bowed your own head in respect. “Thank you. I promise to protect the forest until the day I die.” 
I never would have expected it to end this way, Selyne said. I never thought I would thank you for saving my son and protecting me.
You looked at Chanyeol, who smiled weakly at you.
Um, I hate to ruin the mood, Kyungsoo mumbled, But they didn’t actually surrender. They retreated. They’ll be back. What’ll we do then?
Your smile faded, heaving a deep sigh. Baekhyun was still out there, currently on his way back to Ironbend—but he wouldn’t get off easily for essentially leading 120 men on what as basically a suicide mission and getting more than half of them killed. And he would definitely get in trouble for what he told you about being willing to burn Ironbend to the ground. 
With luck, this would mean severe consequences for him. His reputation would likely suffer, and he might even get booted from the council. But now that you were gone, who was left to govern after your father passed away? You could only hope someone like Yixing would pass on to lead. 
Truthfully, you weren’t sure how to answer. But in your silence, Chanyeol spoke up, reaching for one of your hands and squeezing it tightly.
“We’ll be alright,” He said, “Come what may—we’ll be alright.” 
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ygreczed-3 · 4 years ago
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Connor, Nines, Hank and Gavin - Reference sheets
Part 1 - Part 2
The thing is I intended to make a comic out of it, but I finally won’t be able to do it, because it’s weeell too long and complicated. I don’t feel ready for something like this…. This little part is the only one I’ll draw.
So, this is going to be a series of posts with concept arts, reference sheets, and a lazy descriptions of the plot I was planning to draw (scripts and notes mostly). I’m sorry and I just hope it’s not gonna disappoint you !
Anyway, thank you so much for your interest in this AU ! I’d never had imagined you’d like it that much !
Connor : I’m looking for Kamski. Hank : The magician? He disappeared after the Night of the cold blooded…. Connor : I know. I made my own investigation… and I may have found him. The problem is that… I can’t go alone. I resist cold weather very well but I know I won’t make it through Summer falls on my own. Hank : So what ? Connor : You’re a Red Guard warrior, right ? Come with me. We both have interests in finding Kamski. Hank : You think I'mma follow ya nicely into your trap ? Fucking Golems… Connor : Listen. My people are dying. With the Serfs War, we’re not much more than 100 units. Given our nature, we can’t give birth to sustain our own folk… but you’re not doing any better. Without snow magic, you can’t cultivate your lands, and your people are hungry. Kamski is our last hope.
After that, Hank goes back to his camp, where he lives with other humans from the hunting party. He takes his catch to one of them :
Hank : Here, that’s all I got today. I need an expedition pack… Can you do that for me ? Ben : Why ? You’re going on a trip ? We’re all getting ready to get back to Detroit. Hank : Yeah, I still have a few traps to check… Just go ahead, I’ll join you. Gavin : Hey, Bear Paw ! Hank turns around to see Gavin. Hank : What do you want ? Gavin : Seriously, that’s all ya got ? Hank : You know, if Fowler wants me to go on the hunt, that must be because I’m a better hunter. What did you do today hm ? Gathering wood? Wild carrots? Gavin : Fuck you Anderson. You know I’d be Fowler’s wing man without you around. Ben : Here Hank, your supplies. Hank : Thanks, Ben. Gavin : What… You going on a trip, old man ? Hank : It’s none of your business. Gavin : …
Gavin watches carefully as Hank takes the supplies and sits Sumo’s back again. As soon as Hank is out of sight, Gavin gets up on his horse and follows him.
Connor : You’re finally back. What’s your decision ? Hank : I just want to protect my people. If there is the slightest chance of saving them, I’ll take it. So, what’s the plan ? Connor : We have to go through the Pinewood, towards Braverive. It’s the southernmost village, the last step before entering the Stormy lands. Hank : I’ve never been so far. Braverive is a human outpost we created during the golden age, but lately nobody from Detroit made it to this place. The forest has become too dangerous. Connor : You mean, it’s dangerous now you don’t have Golems to escort you through it? Hank : Ohh, I wouldn’t go this way, if I was you. I have plenty of things to blame on you too. Connor : … Hank : … Connor : What’s its name ? The… the giant dog. Hank : … Sumo. His name’s Sumo. Connor : … I like it. I like dogs. Hank : … Whatever.
Connor and Hank have started their trip, they stop every night to let Hank rest. One night, while Hank sleeps, the Golem watches him, silently. Hank grumbles as he opens his sleepy eyes.
Hank : What the fuck you looking at, golem? Connor : It's… fascinating. Humans’ lifespan is so short and yet, you still sleep a full third of the time. Hank : You looking for a fist in your face ? Cause I have one that would match perfectly. Connor : Most human basic experiences are a luxury we, golems, don’t have. I wasn’t expecting you to understand. Hank : Yeah, and you’re immortal and young and strong, poor blue blood demon. Connor : You don’t understand. I’ll never know what it feels like to be a son, or to be a father. I don’t sleep, I don’t dream, I can’t appreciate the dry warmth of a cozy fire, or the soft touch of sunlight. I think… I would like to. Hank : … Connor : Human… What’s your name? Hank : Anderson. Hank Anderson. You ? Connor : Just… Connor.
Jericho, capital city of the Crystal Cove, free Lands of Winter. Marcus is in a huge room, in front of a crystal table showing a defense plan. Nines enter the room, straight back and princely look.
Markus : No. I told him his plan was suicidal, but he went anyway. He must be dead or captive now… I can’t take the risk to lose you too. Nines : You’re letting him down ? Markus : Look, Nines. Our defensive forces are weak. If the humans attack, they’ll largely outnumber us, and I don’t know if we can fight them off. I need you here. Nines : They won’t attack in winter, the snow isn’t at their advantage.  Markus : … No matter what I say, you’re gonna go. You’re just like him. Nines : He’s our brother. We grew up together, Markus… I know you’re worried too. Our people are counting on you, brother. Let me take Connor back here.
Connor and Hank are in the forest.
Connor : What are we stopping for again ? Hank : Shhhhh. This part of the wood is full of game. I didn’t take more than 6 daily rations, I’ll need food soon. Connor : You should have prepared your travel more carefully. We’re not on a touristic trip.  Hank : Shut up and build a fire. We’re stopping here. Connor : At this rate we’re never gonna get to Kamski before the end of the season. Hank : Who cares. Kamski’s not going anywhere as far as I know.  Connor : … I don’t want your people to attack my city when I’m not there to defend it. The sooner we find Kamski, the better it is. Hank : What, we’re the bad guys ? Please ! You were created to serve humanity. We needed your magic to cultivate our lands… we didn’t ask for this war, you made us do it. Connor : No one should be treated as you treated my people. You deserve all of this. Hank gets mad and charges Connor. He grabs his collar and pushes him against a tree. Hank : Yeah sure… all those people… men, women, children… they deserved to die, huh ? I should kill you for saying things like this. Hank lets go of Connor. Hank : Build a fire.
To be continued ! And see you tonight for the comic’s update ;)
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jenonctcity · 5 years ago
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Stepping Into The Moonlight
Charia Kingdom – Jeno
Smut, Fluff, Angst.
Fantasy!Au, Supernatural!Au
Warnings: Violence, Blood, Explicit Content, Graphic Sex, Unprotected Sex, Breeding Kink, Virginity Loss, Fighting.
Word Count: 13.3k
(All of this series links up. The timeline of the story runs in the order of the master list from top to bottom, Mark - Jisung. Each members part can be read as a stand-alone, but I would recommended reading all the parts in order so the story adds up.)
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Charia Kingdom - A place that has equal amounts of sunshine and rain, hot and cold, rich and poor, and, humans and creatures that couldn’t be identified as that of human status. Ruled by the Lee family with a king whose cutthroat and unforgiving nature is feared by many. The poor not cared for by people who have everything, where disease takes the lives of those unfortunate enough to not have the funds to purchase medicine. A place where humans live among  creatures many would find terrifying. It’s no secret that Vampires, Werewolves, Wizards, etc live amongst them like normal people. Unless you murder someone, you’re considered normal. Everyone lives their own lives, whether it be a happy life, or a sorrowful life…
Being the crown prince of Charia Kingdom was never something that worried Jeno. He was raised by his mother to smile when talked to, and to have a kind heart so that he would rule the kingdom differently to how his father had. At 16, he’s unexpectedly hit by a powerful curse after hearing a ruckus going on in the echoing halls of the castle. It flips his life around, his new status as a werewolf being a challenge he hates with all his heart. It turned the kingdoms sweetheart into an angry, brooding boy. Now 19, Jeno has learned how to control when he phases with the help of the remedies Mark brews for him. The only thing he can’t control is bursting into a gigantic wolf every time a negative emotion takes over his mind. No one apart from the workers of the castle know that he’s a wolf, it being kept a secret from the public. He runs in the forest in his wolf form calm him down, until he comes face to face with a rogue wolf who threatens his life with her piercing glare. After imprinting on each other, Jeno has to learn how to balance his new love, his duties as prince, his burning rage, and a secret that is revealed to him that changes his life once again.
“I’m your brother…” Renjun’s words had Jeno’s eyebrows furrowing, a mix of confusion and betrayal curdling in Jeno’s stomach. He couldn’t understand why Renjun was comparing himself to a brother since he was the one who had cursed him. Friends close enough to be labelled as brother’s don’t do that to each other. He’d clearly misunderstood Renjun’s words.
“No you’re not. We used to be like brothers, but not anymore. You ruined my life. So don’t use how close we used to be as a way of trying to get out of this because I want to hurt you so ba-” Jeno growled out but was interrupted by Renjun.
“No! Jeno you don’t understand!” He gripped at his shaggy hair in frustration, his eyes squeezing shut as he let out a long sigh. “We have the same father! We are brothers by blood! That’s why your father killed my mother because I found out about his big secret. I confronted him, and he killed her. I was on my way to murder him when you got in my way, that’s why you ended up the way you are now.” Jeno could feel the heat inside of him rising as Renjun, his apparent brother, talked. He didn’t know whether to believe him or not. But why would he lie? “I’m sorry Jeno…I never meant to do this to you.” Renjun’s voice turned soft in his sincerity, the girl behind him approaching him and taking his hand into her own. Jeno frowned as he watched them, jealous that Renjun was living a normal life despite what he did to Jeno’s. Jeno didn’t say anything, instead tried to focus on his breathing as it spiked, his chest rising and falling fast and his shoulders tensing up as he felt the wolf inside of him ready to take over. It felt like he needed to throw up, his knees shaking and his fingers trembling as the warmth spread from his stomach. The warmth turned into a gruelling pain that he had never gotten used to, it still hurt just as much as it had the first time that his body had ripped into a gigantic wolf.
“Renjun!” The girl beside him squealed, pulling Renjun back in fright as she saw how Jeno’s eyes turned from a deep brown to a glowing amber, identical to the ones she’d seen through the cabin just before Jeno had made his entrance. Watching Jeno change into a wolf made Renjun wince, a horrible feeling flooding his gut as he knew how this was his fault. One second Jeno was stood on two feet, the next he was stood on four. The changing process always made his mind go hazy as his instincts turned from human to wolf, but his mind remained the same. He still had the same thoughts and opinions, and he remembered who he was. He was just more likely to fight and hurt someone with his wolf instinct. He briefly thought back to the way that Mark’s girlfriend had looked at him with the same fear in her eyes that Jeno could see in Renjun’s girlfriend and it made him sick that he had that impact on people he didn’t want to harm.
“Jeno, I beg you…you can hurt me but please don’t touch her.” Renjun’s voice wavered as he held his hands up in surrender. Jeno squeezed his eyes shut and let out a low growl, thoughts flying around his head but not even one of those thoughts were to harm the woman stood beside his brother. It hurt Jeno that everyone immediately thought he was going to intentionally harm them when he turned into a wolf involuntarily because of his emotions. It caused his heart to ache. He had never been an aggressive person until he had to live with the cards he’d been dealt. Deep down he was still the soft, kind, warm-hearted Prince his mother had raised him to be. He just found it hard to overcome the constant burn of angst and anger he felt towards his condition and lack of normality on his life. It led him to feel the heavy cloud of depression over his head that he struggled to cope with, especially when everyone he knew was so cautious around him now. His paw raised to step towards the pair, and as he did, a scuffle of leaves and snapping twigs caused his ears to perk up. But before he could look towards the sound, a wolf skidded to a stop on the mud in front of him, putting herself between him and the couple. Her teeth bared and her emerald eyes glowed as they narrowed at him. He could tell she was a female purely from her scent, which was a lot sweeter than any of the male wolves he’d come across.
“Snowy!” Renjun’s eyes widened as he addressed the wolf. Jeno was slightly confused, as he hadn’t smelt any nearby wolves, but he pinned it down to him before distracted by his own head to even notice his senses. The wolf in front of him was considerably smaller than his large frame, her fur as white as snow and he could see why they called her Snowy. She smelt different to all the other wolves that Jeno had encountered before, her scent not making his nose crinkle in disgust from the earthy scent he usually smelt around wolves. Not that he’d met many other wolves, and when he did, they’d simply ignore him in passing and respect each other’s boundaries. But she smelt like the sweet flowers he’d only ever smelt inside of the castles garden because they didn’t grow in the wild, his nose raising slightly in the air as he sniffed to smell the scent deeper. He smelt the undertone of what he remembered to be rain when it hit trees. The fresh scent sitting happily against his nose and making his head tilt in confusion.
You stared at Jeno with narrowed eyes, keeping your teeth bared at him to show him that you wouldn’t allow him to get close to the only human’s you could trust. You kept a low growl vibrating from your throat, but it didn’t seem to be affecting him as he continued to stare at you non-threateningly for a few minutes. You’d been watching the interaction from the safety of the brush, keeping low so that your appearance would come as a surprise to him. You saw how he turned into a wolf, and his scent surprisingly stayed identical to the warm smell of something you couldn’t quite identify instead of the smell of dirt and wet dog that you usually smelt around male wolves. You stayed low as you growled at him, ready to pounce at him at any moment to protect Renjun and his love who you still didn’t know the name of, despite how much smaller than him you were.
Jeno snapped out of his reverie, feeling a strange pull to you but not knowing what it meant, so he lowered himself, copying your stance and baring his teeth at you too. When you didn’t back off despite smelling the pheromones he was now emitting as he tried to assert his dominance in being a large male over you, he barked, trying to make you feel threatened. Your heart was racing, not wanting to act on the pull you felt. It was as if gravity was trying to push you to him, but you didn’t want to admit the inkling you had in your brain as to what it could be. You weren’t scared of him, you’d fought plenty of other wolves in your lifetime, ones who were purebred wolf and others who were a human and wolf mix like yourself and the wolf stood in front of you.
“Snowy don’t!” Renjun shouted as you lunged at the wolf you remembered as Jeno, as you’d heard Renjun call him. Your teeth latched onto his neck, not penetrating the skin but gripping onto him as you stayed latching onto him. You weren’t big enough to knock his heavy frame over, but you used all your strength in fighting him. He thrashed around, trying to rid his body of you without harming you. He didn’t want to fight, but it was in his natural instincts to protect himself. So you found yourself tumbling with him in a mix of white and black fur into the dense trees. He threw you off of him, but that didn’t stop you. Your claws dug into the earth as you jumped at him again, he jumped at you at the same time and you felt your body hit a tree trunk hard from how you ricocheted off his strong body. He pinned you down to the floor, his mouth caging your neck to the floor as he tried to control you in his act of self-defence. You stopped moving, knowing you had been defeated because of the size difference, waiting until he pulled away and backed off, his body still in a defensive stance, his claws making marks in the soil from how hard he was gripping the floor as he stared at you.  
You stayed laying on the floor as you caught your breath. Jeno felt the need to rub his head against you and help you up, but he didn’t know you, and he most definitely wasn’t going to attempt to do that after you attacked him. You wanted nothing more than for him to nuzzle your face and lick at all the cuts that stained your white fur a royal red, but you also wanted him to stay away from you. The conflicted feelings you both felt dawned on you both at the same time.
You’d imprinted on each other.
You felt sick to your stomach as the fact you’d imprinted on someone and knew that your wolf would be restless forever until you both caved to the feelings and joined your souls in the way they wanted to merge. Jeno only knew of imprinting from books he’d read about werewolves, but he could easily diagnose it from the symptoms matching everything he remembered from the books. He never thought he’d feel the feelings he was feeling in that moment as he stared at your limp body. He was overjoyed, but worried. You knew one day you would find your ‘soulmate’, but you never expected it to be so soon, and certainly not in this kind of circumstance. You could remember the day that your brother imprinted on a human and left you to live alone in the woods when you were sixteen, opting to live in his human form to be with his love. You’d been alone since then, learning how to take care of yourself and struggling to resent your brother because you knew he couldn’t fight the burning desire his instincts thrust upon him.
You didn’t know what to do, so you jumped up. Standing on shaky legs for a moment before bolting off between the trees as fast as your four legs could carry you. You didn’t have to turn around to know that Jeno was hot on your heels. You could hear his heavy paws against the earth and the way he panted as he tried to keep up with your nimble body. He was catching up with you, his long legs giving him the advantage. But you knew the woods like the back of your hand, so you found it easy to dodge between trees and take sharp turns. Soon losing him amongst the trees, but you that didn’t stop you from running. You ran until you reached the cave that you used as your den, huddling against the wall, and staying in your wolf form in case he followed your scent and suddenly popped up out of nowhere.
Jeno mentally beat himself up at how easily you had escaped him. His mind was clouded over from the realisation at what had just happened. He decided to go back to the castle instead of going back to Renjun. He could deal with that another day now that he knew where Renjun was residing. He dragged his feet, sulking as he walked through the forest. He used the cover of the trees to make his way home, letting out a short howl that Jisung knew meant he was back home and needed some clothes before he could show himself. The younger boy opened the gate and rushed into the trees to Jeno, giving him some loose clothes so he could hide his modesty as he entered the castle.
Jeno went to sleep that night, knowing his life had just drastically changed once more.
 ---
The forest felt different to Jeno as he desperately sniffed at the floor, trying hard to pick up your scent that you’d left behind the day prior. In his mouth he held a bag of clothes, two pairs of clothes just in case he managed to find you, so that your first encounter with him as a human wouldn’t have to be naked. He’d been searching for hours, going in circles in his desperation to try and find you. Eventually he caught scent of what he remembered you to smell like, his ears pricking up and his nose twitching at the euphoria your scent had on him. He stood still for a moment, basking in the feeling that had overcome him, before his legs started moving, his body subconsciously following the scent as it became stronger.
The scent took him to a stream, the shallow water hitting the rocks on the bed of the meandering water and making a comforting sound. He crept up quietly, making sure his paws hardly touched the floor so that his footsteps remained silent. He could see your white fur through the trees, your feet submerged in the flowing water and your head bowed, staring at your own reflection. He dropped the bag, changing to his human form and hurrying to put on his loose white shirt and baggy tan pants. He took a deep breath in anticipation, slowly appearing from the trees and holding his hands up in surrender. He cleared his throat to gain your attention, and your head flicked up immediately. You backed off, crossing to the other side of the stream and lowering your body to the ground in caution. You had only seen his face from the side, and even then, you didn’t see it very clearly. So his beautifully handsome face was enough to take your breath away. He had a strong jawline, kissable pouty lips, and wide eyes that were staring at you with a soft look.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” His voice was deep, and you were trying so desperately to ignore the invisible rope that felt like it was tugging you towards him by your heart. “I think we got off to a bad start, my name is Jeno…” His eyes stayed on you as you visibly relaxed but didn’t make any effort to approach him. He gulped as he thought about his next words. “Are you like me? Or do you only have your wolf form?” He desperately wanted you to tell him that you were like him. If you weren’t and only had your wolf form, then he knew that his wolf would never be fully satisfied unless he was with you all the time, which would mean living as a wolf permanently, something he didn’t want to do, nor could do as he still had the responsibility of being a prince sitting on his shoulders. When you turned away from him and walked between the trees, he felt his heart sink and his shoulders drop in disappointment. But when he saw a small hand wrap around a tree trunk and a pair of glowing emerald green eyes, the same as your wolf, he felt his heart flutter. The only way you could tell if a person was born with the ability to turn into a wolf was if their eyes stayed the same colour in human form as they were in wolf form. If they were born as a normal human but had been cursed, their eyes would return to normal colour in their human form. “Hey…” He smiled, but as he took a step forward you hid behind the tree again. “I won’t hurt you; I promise…take this.” He crossed the stream, his feet getting wet, but he didn’t care. He then balled up the cotton dress in his hands and threw it, so that it landed by your feet. You pulled it over your head and let the white material fall down to your knees. You stepped out from behind the tree, finally showing Jeno all of yourself now that you weren’t naked.
After taking your first step, you felt your knees buckle, your hands about to come in contact with the grass but Jeno had stepped forward and caught you just in time. “Are you okay?” He sounded worried, his voice soft and his grip on your hips firm. You looked up at him with wide eyes, nodding to him when you opened your mouth, but no noise came out. He looked into your eyes, his heart pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears and his mouth going dry. His touch felt warm and you felt the need to curl up in his hold and never let go. “I heard them call you Snowy, is that your name?” You shook your head, clearing your throat and opening your mouth once more.
“My name is (Y/N).” Your voice was as pure as freshly laid snow, it sending a ripple up Jeno’s spine and he smiled widely. If he didn’t have wolf senses, then he wouldn’t have heard you, your voice so quiet that it couldn’t even be classed as a whisper. You hadn’t been in your human form in over a year, so your human body felt stiff and weak. Your voice not warmed up and your limbs shaky.
“Beautiful…” He murmured subconsciously and then felt his cheeks heating up at his confession. “So, I’m assuming you’ve realised that we’ve imprinted on each other…” You nodded at his statement, his hands still gripping at your hips more softly, feeling an odd satisfaction that he’d never felt before as he held you. His body felt strong, your hands placed timidly on his broad shoulders and you stared at his lips as he talked.
“Mhm.” You made a quiet noise and nodded your head.
“Come back to the castle with me.” He phrased it as a command, not a question. You tilted your head in confusion and raised an eyebrow.
“Castle?” Your voice was getting louder as you spoke, it sounding almost normal but still as gentle as a cloud.
“I’m the Prince of this Kingdom, I live in the castle, and I want you to come back with me. We can get to know each other, because either way neither of us will be happy if we’re apart.” You pulled away from him after he finished speaking. It made his stomach sink and he reached out to you, but you took another step back. You furrowed your eyebrows and shook your head. You didn’t want to leave the forest; it was were you grew up and all you knew. Of course you’d spent time with humans in the town, but you hadn’t been there for long periods of time, always ending up in the forest with your family where you preferred. You were also shocked that he was a Prince. Of all the people you could have imprinted on, you thought it was typical that you imprinted on someone who would have a difficult life.
“I don’t want to leave the forest…” You shook your head, watching as his face darkened, his eyebrows knitting together and mouth parting almost as if in disgust. It was clear to you that he was used to getting his own way as soon as he demanded it.
“Why? You could live a life of luxury and never have to worry about anything again!” His voice was louder, and it had an aggressive undertone to it as he got irritated at your refusal. You took another step back, your own face hardening as you tried to show that he didn’t scare you.
“I don’t want that. I don’t even know you. Back off.” Your eyes started to glow, as did Jeno’s. His soft brown eyes turning amber as his emotions got to him. He was upset that you didn’t comply to his wants. His sadness always turning into anger as he had no control of his emotions.
“We’re meant to be!” He growled, feeling his hands start to shake and his shoulders tensing up.
“Go away!” You shouted at him, turning away and about to start running off, but your legs couldn’t handle it and you fell to the floor, your body thudding against the grass. Jeno gasped, his eyes dimming back to brown and all of his anger flooding off of him like he’d been hit by a wave of freezing cold water.
“(Y/N)!” He rushed to you, scooping you up into his arms and holding you to him. You felt a burst of tingles inside of your stomach, his scent flooding your senses and making your pupils dilate. You gripped onto him and nuzzled your head into the crook of his neck like you’d been wanting to since you’d met him the day before. You took in a deep breath, your nose trailing against his skin and you felt the overwhelming urge to sink your teeth into his neck, marking him as yours. All of your previous anger and resistance turning into lust and want. It was what your wolf and instincts wanted, and you couldn’t control it.
“Jeno.” You moaned, licking a stripe up his neck, and nipping at his warm skin. He moaned lowly, dropping down to his knees and laying you on the floor in front of him. His eyes were nearly black from how dilated his pupils had gone, staring down at you like you were a meal he was about to devour. He didn’t know how to control himself, never having felt the need to claim someone as his own. He felt his cock harden the second you licked his neck, then the smell of your arousal hit his nose, he got stiffer, grinding his crotch against your own. “Take me.” You whimpered, tugging the cotton dress up so that your lower half was completely bare in front of him. You knew about how feral wolves could be once they found their mate, but you’d never expected the pull you felt towards him to be as great as what it was. You wanted nothing more than for him to bury himself inside of you and claim you as his. On the other hand, you didn’t want him to touch you because then you’d not be able to leave him, and you’d end up going with him to the castle, which you didn’t want to do. But your wolf senses were beating your human senses. Jeno stared down at your dripping core, his mouth watering at the sight and he felt less human than he’d ever felt before, wanting to completely destroy you but knowing he shouldn’t because he was raised to respect women.
The two of you completely disregarded your hesitance, looking into each other’s eyes as they almost glowed with desire and want. Jeno pushed down his baggy pants, his cock harder than he’d ever witnessed it to be. It was a violent red and looked like it was going to explode with cum at any second. You bit your bottom lip so hard that you got the bitter metallic taste of blood on your tongue as you watched him take his cock in his hand. It looked so big that you wanted to drag your tongue over it and taste him, but you couldn’t push the desire away to have him inside of you, so that would have to wait. Jeno’s human side couldn’t believe how fast this was happening. He’s supposed to be the sophisticated, eloquent Prince of the Kingdom who’s supposed to marry a Princess and rule the Kingdom one day. But instead he’s about to lose his virginity on the dirty floor of the forest to a girl he’s known a day who lives a rogue life.
He pushed his cock into you once the shiver up his spine caused his body to move without his brain working. You let out a loud moan that sounded almost like a howl, your fingers gripping at the ground, your nails digging into the dirt as your back arched up into Jeno’s touch. Jeno’s jaw dropped open, his breath being ripped from his lungs as he gripped your hips tightly. You looked up at Jeno, noticing his eyes were almost black, the lust swimming around behind his dark irises as he started to thrust his cock into you at an almost inhuman speed. You’d never had sex before, but your body was made to take your mates length and your core stretched perfectly to his size. You whimpered as he lowered his body over the top of your own, his lips finding purchase on your neck. You wound your arms around his back, digging your nails into his damp skin and dragging them down, leaving bright red trails behind. He bit your neck suddenly, a scream leaving your lips as you started to roll your hips up into his thrusts. His teeth broke your skin, and he left his mark on your skin, claiming you as his own. You felt like if he pulled away from you at all, you’d die from loneliness. His lips pressed rough kisses to the mark he’d left, tracing his tongue over the mark to heal it.
A rustling coming from between the trees behind your head caused Jeno to stop. He looked up, sniffing at the air, and letting out a low growl, it rumbling from his throat as his eyes scanned the trees. The sound stopped, then sounded again further away as if something was retreating after hearing Jeno’s warning. His eyes quickly flicked to you instead and he leaned in, capturing your lips with his own, pushing his tongue into your mouth and exploring it as his hips started to move again. Your silky walls sucked his cock in, squeezing over him as it felt like he was made for you, it not feeling painful despite it being your first time. He moaned into your mouth, his hips slamming into yours harder as you felt like the universe was inside of you and it was about to explode, a completely unfamiliar feeling washing over you as your orgasm washed through you like a red hot fire. You clung onto Jeno, not wanting to let go of him as hot ropes of cum shot from his cock inside of you, coating your walls as his head fell to the crook of neck. He relaxed on top of you, the bliss of his orgasm and being in your arms was making him feel lightheaded. You tried to catch your breath, your chest rising and falling as you held each other in your arms. His cock softened but he left it inside of you, not being able to let go of you.
“I’ll come back with you.” You whispered against his hair, placing a kiss to your mate’s head as his grip on you tightened. The thought of him going back to his home, the castle, and leaving you behind made your heart tear at the seams. You couldn’t let go of him, and you had a feeling it was something to do with the mark he’d left on your neck.
“Thank you. You’ll be treated like a princess, I promise.” His words echoed around your head as your eyes slowly closed, exhaustion from changing into a human and being so close to your mate causing you to pass out underneath him.
---
Living in a palace felt odd. You were completely out of your comfort zone, and it had only been two days. The only thing keeping you from running back to your home in the forest was the tie you felt to Jeno. You knew your wolf would go crazy if you were to leave Jeno behind. It still felt strange living in your human form, but you knew there was no way you could be a wolf inside of the castle grounds. Jeno hadn’t left you alone, and he pretty much always had his hands on you, rubbing your skin affectionately and burying his face in your neck or hair. The night you’d gotten back to the castle, Jeno had taken you to his bedroom. You’d never seen a bedroom before, and Jeno’s was huge, the bed feeling soft against your naked back as Jeno fucked you for hours, the both of you getting a feel for each other’s bodies. You hadn’t spoken much, the majority of your relationship being your physical need for each other. All you knew was he’s the Prince of the Kingdom and first in line for the throne.
You stood in front of a full-length mirror; your hair pulled around your shoulder, so it was out of the way for Jeno to lace up your dress from behind. A maid had tried to lace up your dress, but Jeno had stared at her with eyes that could kill and hastily dismissed her when he realised he couldn’t deal with watching someone else be so close to you. You stared at the baby blue material as it brushed against the floor, the silk shining against the natural light as it flooded into the room from the large window. Jeno’s fingers nimbly laced up your dress, his eyes occasionally darting from the back of your dress to stare at your face in the mirror. He was completely in awe of your beauty, and he couldn’t help but want to drag your body over to the bed behind you both and make you so wet that he could lick up your thighs to bury his tongue in your heat like he really wanted to. His eyes started to glow amber as his lust swam through him. You could smell his arousal and cleared your throat.
“Will your parents like me?” You spoke quietly, fiddling with your hair and looking at Jeno through the mirror. Jeno snapped out of his daydream, tying the material in a bow and wrapping his arms around your waist from behind, settling his chin on your shoulder.
“My mother will…My father probably won’t, but don’t worry about it princess.” His voice was quiet like your own, and he smiled, placing a wet kiss to your cheek.
“I’m not a princess yet.” You turned you head, your lips brushing against his plush ones as he let out a gentle laugh.
“You’re my princess.”
“We’ve only known each other for a few days…” You couldn’t help the slight hesitance you felt, everything overwhelming you.
“It doesn’t matter, we were meant for each other. I am a prince, so that means you are my princess.” His words caused you to shudder, and he pressed his lips to your own. You wanted to pull away from his searing kiss, but you couldn’t find it within you to drag your lips from his. His arms tightened around your waist, his tongue pushing into your mouth as his fingers gripped at the material on your body.
“Mmm!” You moaned into his mouth but quickly pulled away. “You’ll rip it!” You pushed his hands away and stepped back, noticing his eyes were glowing amber like they did every time he got aroused. He walked back towards you with the lust swimming in his eyes, his hands reaching out for you, but you backed off. “No, we have to meet your parents!” He didn’t seem to be listening though, as he backed you up to the wall and brought your lips back to his own. His kiss was rough and had your stomach dropping at how it made you felt, his arousal sparking up your own. But someone had to take control and you had a feeling that Jeno couldn’t. “Stop.” You growled against his lips, his own breaking from yours.
“Okay.” He complied easier than you thought he would, his head nodding up and down like a submissive dog. “Let’s go.” He brushed the creases that he’d made out of your dress, laying a gentle kiss on your lips that was a complete contrast to his previous kisses. He took your hand in his and guided you through the palace, greeting random members of staff as you travelled around. He stopped in front of big, oak doors that you assumed his parents were behind. “It’s okay.” He pushed the doors open and his eyes locked immediately on his parents, trying to gauge their reaction from afar and taking a deep breath to calm his own nerves. He could feel your anxiety rolling off of you and it was making him feel sick, the negative emotion admitting off of you making him want you out of the room and to protect you from how you were feeling. You glanced at his parents, your eyes shifting from the evil stare of his father to the soft gaze of his mother. He placed his hand on your lower back and guided you further into the room, following the royal red carpet up towards the solid gold thrones his parents were perched on.
The queen was wearing a beautiful dress, it was a deep emerald green that brought out her natural beauty, her hair flowing in curls down her shoulders, with a golden crown perched on top of her head. She looked kind, but you’d learnt throughout your years that looks could be deceiving. The king on the other hand, looked at you with a stare that could kill. You couldn’t deny that he was handsome. He looked a lot like Jeno, but with signs of aging and his black hair greying underneath his crown.
“What is the meaning of this Jeno?” The king spoke before you’d even finished approaching them. You heard Jeno let out a sigh from beside you, the both of you coming to a stop at the stairs leading up to the thrones. “I do not approve of this.”
“Father please ju-”
“Is she a wolf?”
“How would you kn-”
“Is she a wolf?!” His father’s voice raised in dominance.
“She is…You don’t understand, I can’t control who I love, because of my…condition. You have no choice but to accept it. Besides, I didn’t come here for your approval, I simply came here to introduce the future princess of the kingdom to you. Charia Kingdom will be lucky to have her as a member of the royal family.” Jeno’s voice was strong through his speech to his parents, his confidence in your relationship making your heart flutter. The queen had a smile on her face, and you immediately knew that you wanted to know more about her. Your own mother hadn’t ever been maternal towards you, and as soon as you could fend for yourself, she had left you and your older brother alone in the forest. So you hoped that she could feel the void your mother left.
“Jeno, I will not allow this!” His father’s voice started to raise and his face hardened.
“You have no choice!” Jeno’s voice rose to compete with his father. You could feel the anger radiating off of Jeno and you moved your hand to grip gently at his bicep, wordlessly telling him to calm down.
“I can assure you that I do.” The king’s voice lowered dangerously, and it sent shivers down your spine, your breath catching in your throat as you thought about all of the bad things that man could potentially do to you and your mate. “Don’t make a decision you’ll regret.”
“If anything happens to me, or her, then you won’t have an heir to the throne. That’s right, you’ll let your family bloodline lose the throne. Because you already got rid of one of your sons, didn’t you?” Jeno’s lips curled into a smirk, his eyes narrowing at his father. The kings face faltered before he quickly recovered his hard look, it looking harder than ever. “That’s right, I know about what happened with Renjun. You’re the reason I have this curse, so you’re the reason I am marrying a wolf like myself. Get used to it.” He snapped, grabbing your hand and dragging you from the room with long strides, causing you to jog after him so that you could keep up.
“Jeno, calm down.” Your voice was soft, but it fell on deaf ears as Jeno took you through the palace to your shared bedroom. His hand was shaking in your grip, and you could hear his heart pounding in his chest. You smelt the odd smell of arousal, your eyes widening at how he was horny in a moment like this. “Jeno!” He pushed you into the bedroom, slamming the wooden door shut so hard that it almost came off of its hinges, the wood shaking against the frame. He forced you up against the wall, and you knew if you were average like a human, he probably would have broken your back from how hard he shoved you. You let out a whimper which fell into his mouth as his lips smashed to your own. His teeth bit at your bottom lip, tugging at it before sucking it into his mouth. His hands sat on your waist as your hands came to rest on his shoulders, feeling the tension of his anger underneath your fingertips. The kiss was filthy and left you almost dripping down your thighs, your legs almost quivering at the need to feel his cock inside of you, filling you up perfectly how he had been since you’d met.
“You’re dripping for me already aren’t you baby girl?” He growled into your mouth, his fingertips gripping at your silk dress so tightly that the material ripped underneath his hold. You felt dizzy under his hold, his ministrations causing your hormones to rage around your body like a blazing fire. The fogginess of your head meant you’d missed when he lifted your body and threw you onto the bed like a ragdoll. He stood at the end of the bed, staring down at you with glowing amber eyes, his chest rising and falling fast as he tried to catch his breath, your scent making his head stir to the point where he couldn’t even think straight. You stared at him, feeling like prey underneath his flaming eyes. Crawling up the bed on his hands and knees had your legs automatically spreading, his body caging you against the bed as his lips came in contact with your chest. He’d tore your dress from your body, but you still had on your corset and panties.
“Jeno.” You moaned, his teeth nipping at the skin of your breasts as they bulged from the tightness of the corset.
“You smell so good, turn over.” Even though he instructed you to turn over, he didn’t give you a chance to, as he flipped you over and made quick work of the silk holding your corset together. His fingers were shaking so much from his eagerness to buried inside of you that he let out a dangerous growl, forgetting about untying the rest of your corset, pushing your body into mattress and shredding the material of your panties to get access to your soaking pussy. Your face smashed into the soft pillows, your hands laying against the mattress as you pushed your ass back into Jeno’s crotch. Jeno rid himself of his clothes, throwing them to the floor as if they were nothing but cheap rags as he buried his cock inside of you fast. He was in a complete trance of sex and need. You still had your corset on, but Jeno decided it didn’t matter anymore now that he had you where he needed you.
“Jeno,” You felt like the corset was constricting your body like one of the lethal snakes you’d came in contact with many of times throughout your life in the forest. Jeno was thrusting his hips at a fast pace, his cock hitting your insides at the perfect angle and making your eyes roll into the back of your head from the euphoric feeling bursting throughout your nervous system. “take it off of me!” You still weren’t used to wearing clothes, and it was the first time you’d ever experienced something as uncomfortable as a corset. You didn’t understand why women would want to wear something so horrid just to get a specific shape to their body. Humans really did confuse you. When he made no effort to pull the corset off of you, you felt yourself start to freak out. “GET IT OFF OF ME!” You screamed, pushing back against Jeno, and letting out another moan from his cock working wonders inside of you. He stopped thrusting when the scent of fright wafted through his air and infiltrated his senses.
“Okay, calm down my love.” He pulled your body from his own, gently pushing you back to be pressed against the bed as his used his strength to rip the silk holding the corset together, his biceps bulging. He plucked the corset out from underneath your chest and tossed it to the floor. “You’re okay, I wouldn’t let anything ever hurt you. It’s just material.” He understood why you freaked out. Whenever he was in his wolf form in the forest, he felt like the rural areas of the kingdom didn’t exist, and he became accustomed to forest life, so he empathised with how you were trying to adjust. You’d lived in the forest your entire lift and knew nothing else, so Jeno could understand why you would freak out over something as small as a piece of material too tight around your chest. You let out a sigh of relief and melted into his hold, his lips pressing soft kisses to your shoulder as his hips rolled into yours in a slower pace. You pushed back into his thrusts, your eyes drifting shut as his pace picked up again, the sound of skin slapping against skin and your sopping walls sucking him in perfectly, echoing around the room and making the heat of the room rise.
“Jenoooo.” You whined as he wrapped his arms around your body, lifting you to be pressed against his strong chest as cock hit new angles inside of you. You gripped onto his hands with yours, your nails digging into his skin so hard that blood trickled down onto the sheets underneath you. Jeno reacted by burying his face into your neck, breathing in your scent, and licking his hot tongue over the permanent mark he’d made on your neck the day you first made love.
“Mine.” He growled, and when his teeth nipped at his claiming mark, your orgasm washed over you with such a euphoric feeling that your body shuddered in his tight hold. Lightning struck behind your eyelids as you bathed in the bliss of the feeling of Jeno’s affection. You felt so sleepy from your high that you went limp in his hold, your head lolling back onto his shoulder as he tensed up. “Going to fill you up.”” His teeth nipped at your earlobe as his voice grumbled lowly, his words causing a small whimper to leave your lips at the thought of his seed spilling inside of you. “You’ll look so fucking beautiful when you’re carrying my baby, the future king or queen of this kingdom.” You knew he didn’t mean his words, well at least not at the moment. It was well known that wolves had a keen need to mate with each other, especially when it was nearing a full moon, the need to continue on with the wolf bloodline and nurture your own babies was so overwhelming sometimes that you could cry from the want of being a mother. But other times you could gag at the sight of children, them being your worst nightmare. Jeno had expressed his want for children only a handful of the times that you’d been intimate, but had made sure to tell you when his head wasn’t swimming with lust that he was happy to wait until you were officially married to start making babies. It was lucky that you were only fertile a handful of days every other month, the wolf breeding different to humans and other species, and you hadn’t experienced any of those days since having met Jeno, so you knew you were in the all clear of pregnancy.
The two of you fell flat on the bed, his breath ghosting over your neck as he panted to catch his breath. He let out a soft laugh and circled his hips into yours once more, eliciting a little mewl from your parted lips and a smile to tug on your lips. He stayed inside of you as he rearranged you both so that you were laying on top of him, your head buried in his chest as your nails scratched lightly at his skin.
“My little princess caused some damage.” Jeno held his wounded hand up to assess the damage that you’d done. It was only weeping with blood now because wolves tended to heal slightly faster than humans. You stared at it and then flicked your eyes back to his own adoring eyes.
“I can cause more damage than that if you get on the wrong side of me.” Jeno let out a loud laugh at your words, his hand coming down to lay on your lower back, the stir of affection pooling inside of you as you stared at his angelic features. His lips were a vibrant red from the abuse your lips had inflicted on them, his hair messy and cheeks tinged pink, the afterglow of sex looking divine on him.
“Get some sleep.” He whispered, his hand trailing with a featherlight touch up your back to play with your hair. You relaxed in his hold, feeling incredibly tired and needing to shut down. “Please don’t worry about anything that happened today with my father, you know you have my protection and forever my love. Rest well my angel.” His soothing voice was enough to have you passed out within minutes.
---
It was a few days later, early in the morning when the sun had hardly begun to make it’s ascent in the sky when Jeno woke up, sensing something was wrong. The heaviness he should have felt of you tucked up against his chest was missing, making him alert with panic striking through his veins. He gulped, his chest starting to rise and fall fast as his senses heighted, his palms sweating and his throat feeling like it was closing up. It felt like his head was being held underneath water as his hearing and sight started to blur, his own voice echoing around his head as he sprung up. He grabbed the nearest clothes he could find, throwing on the loose baby blue shirt and black trousers as his legs carried him out of his room. He paused, taking in a deep breath to try and pinpoint your scent, his lungs feeling like they were burning from the weak scent of your body that he could pick up.
“(Y/N)!!!” He bellowed through the echoing halls of the palace, his legs carrying him as fast they possibly could. People started to emerge from the rooms, concerned expressions marred on their faces as they watched the prince stumble down the hall, his body slick with sweat and his skin pale.
“Jeno!” Once Jeno heard the familiar voice of the castle’s wizard, Mark, he turned towards the source of the voice. “Jeno what’s going on?!” He grabbed Jeno as he about to run past him, stopping the panicked prince and holding him firmly by the shoulders.
“I-I don’t know where (Y/N) is.” He stuttered out, gulping down the lump in his throat to allow the air to flow through to his wheezing lungs.
“We’ll find her! Calm down, you know it’s not good for you to get worked up.” He didn’t want to verbally remind Jeno of the time he’d injured Mark’s significant other from getting worked up, but Jeno got the hint. “Can you track her scent?” Jeno nodded, the heat in his body making him lightheaded.
“It’s weak.”
“Track her.” Mark urged him, giving him a gentle push forward. Jeno gulped down his emotions, trying to get your taste on his tongue as he looked at his surroundings. He felt the burning inside of him before he could stop it, and his body suddenly erupted into his wolf form. He sniffed the air, your scent completely overtaking his head and causing his legs to take off before he could even think about it. It was as if he could see your scent, the only colour through his black and white vision sitting above the floor like a vibrant mist. His journey took him through the castle grounds, all the way to the gate. Jisung saw Jeno approaching and had opened the gate, letting Jeno run through as fast as he could. He could feel his heart in his chest, the adrenaline pumping through him like a spark on a trail of gunpowder. Your scent got stronger. He knew he was getting close. But seeing your body hidden behind a pile of barrels on the outskirts of the forest had him changing into a human faster than he ever had. You were peeking over a barrel, staring at the town folk as they went about their normal business. He didn’t care that he was barer than the day he was born as he ran up behind you and pulled your body against his own, your back hitting his chest so hard you let out a grunt.
“I thought you were gone.” He whispered into your neck, his lips scaling over your skin as his hands ran over your body, checking for any injuries. “Never do that again.” He held onto you tightly, relishing in your body heat and scent. You relaxed into his touch, your eyes never leaving the scene in front of you though. Jeno sighed, looking up and following your gaze. “What are you looking at?”
“My brother.” You mumbled, pointing at the tall man stood with a petite lady that had a child sat on her hip. Jeno’s eyes followed your finger and his grip softened on you. “I want to go home.” You turned in his hold, burying your head into his chest and letting out a soft sigh.
“Okay baby.” The trip back to the castle was slow. You both phased into your wolf forms and took a slow run home. It still felt strange for you to call the palace your home, but you knew you had to look to the future and stop dwelling on the past. When you got back into the castle grounds the both of you changed back into your human forms and were met by Mark, who gave you clothes to change into. After you were both dressed, Jeno took your hand into his tightly and directed you back to your shared bedroom, sitting you on the bed and taking his place beside you.
Silences ensued between you both for a few minutes, Jeno waiting for you to speak up first, but you just stared at your hand linked with his own. His hand was considerably larger than your own and fit perfectly in yours. You took a deep breath, exhaling slowly before starting to tell him your story. “My mother left me and my brother when we were young. It was just the two of us alone in the forest until we took a trip to the town. He met a girl, fell in love, and told me that he was going to live his life as a human. He left me alone and today was the first time I’d seen him since he left five years ago.” Your eyes drifted up Jeno’s arm to eventually settle on his face. He was staring at your hands until he noticed that you had started looking at his face. He stared you straight in the eye and gave you a sad smile. “I couldn’t help myself. Now that I live as a human most of the time, I knew I had to see him.”
“You traced his scent?” Jeno asked even though he knew the answer already. You nodded, confirming his suspicions. “You remembered his scent five years later?”
“He’s my only family Jeno, of course I remembered it.” You leaned in, laying your head against his shoulder which took him slightly by surprise. It was often him who had to initiate all displays of affection between the two of you, as you sometimes felt strange putting all of your love into him.
“I’m your family.”
“You’re my mate, there’s a difference.”
“We’ll make our own family.” Jeno moved you around so that his lips were pressed to your neck, his mouth parted and his tongue darting out to trail around in circles on your skin.
“Jeno you never told me your story.” You felt his hand land on your thigh, his fingers slowly massaging at your skin as his tongue pressed harder to your neck.
“You smell so good.” He clearly wasn’t listening, letting his hormones take over his brain to fog up his subconsciousness.
“Jeno.” You said sternly, ignoring the fire that he was causing to ignite in your stomach from the strong scent of hormones he was emitting. He growled into your neck before drawing away from you, his bottom lip tucked between his teeth as his eyes scanned your bedroom.
“My father fucked the witch, had Renjun as an illegitimate child that he hid from everyone, until Renjun’s mother told him, Renjun then confronted the king and the king had his mother killed, and then he tried to attack my father. Long story short, I got in the way and ended up being cursed as a wolf until I die. My father had a bounty put on Renjun’s head after Renjun ran away, and you saw me find out about the truth on the day that we met. Any questions?” He licked his bottom lip as he turned his head to stare at you. You gulped as you took in the information, your eyes wide at the drama that had gone on in the castle whilst you were living your life in the forest. It suddenly occurred to you that if Jeno hadn’t been cursed, then he would never have wolf instincts and you wouldn’t have been mates, so in a way you were glad that it had happened, even if you felt horrible selfish for feeling that way.
“Do you regret that it happened?” You leaned in, placing a timid kiss to his parted lips.
“No, it brought me to you…can I put my babies in you now?” He almost growled, dipping his head and running his tongue up your neck, his hormones and wolf instincts fogging up his head so much that he couldn’t supress his need for you. You knew that he didn’t mean his words, but the impending full moon had a huge influence on his instincts, and his head wasn’t thinking before his mouth was talking. You knew that it would be down to you to stop the baby making happening, because males suffer from the influence of the moon worse than females do. You took a deep breath, trying desperately not to succumb to his pleas, but before you could answer, the door swung open and hit the wall. You both glanced up fast, and you could feel the anger and annoyance radiating off of Jeno as he looked to see who had interrupted you.
“Prince Je-” Mark started; his eyes wide as Jeno cut him off with an annoyed bark.
“What?!”
“The King wants you. Now.” Mark’s face looked pale, and his eyes were wide, like he was afraid of something. You tilted your head, furrowing your eyebrows and looking to Jeno.
“Stay here.” He wasn’t asking you; he was telling you, and you didn’t want to piss him off when he was already on edge from the moon.
“He wants to see you both.” Mark gave you a lopsided smile almost as if he was silently apologising. Jeno visibly tensed, his nostrils flaring and his jaw clenching as he tried to suppress his anger.
“Fine.” He gently took your hand, a complete juxtaposition to how his actual mood was, and held onto it tightly as Mark lead you both through the castle halls. You noticed that Mark had his wand in his hand, which caused your head to tilt in confusion. In the whole time you’d been at the castle, you hadn’t once seen Mark use his wand or even have it in his hand as if he was ready to use it, and you’d seen Mark nearly every day of the short amount of time you’d been living there. You narrowed your eyes and stopped dead, feeling Jeno gently tug on your arm as he also stopped, glancing at you in concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Something’s not right.” You had a bad feeling in your gut, and you gulped, trying to fight the inner urge to run and leave the castle. You smelt something suddenly and quickly turned around as if whatever it was were behind you. You glanced around and felt the air leave your lungs in shock as you realised the smell. It was a smell you’d smelt many times in the forest, and it sent shivers down your spine, now it made sense as to why you couldn’t see anything. “There’s a demon in the castle…I can smell it.” Your words had Jeno’s eyebrows knitting together in confusion as he sniffed the air. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head, pulling you firmly. Demons were one of the only creatures of the night that shook you to the core. You knew how dangerous they could be, and even being in the vicinity of one was making you cling onto your mate.
“There isn’t, come on.” You highly doubted Jeno even knew what a demon smelt like, but you weren’t about to argue with him, especially as his grip on your hand became a lot tighter, signalling that even you were starting to irritate him. You both walked after Mark, your heart thudding so hard in your chest you felt like it was going to burst out. Walking into the grand hall, the first thing you noticed was that the King and Queen were perched on their thrones, opposite of the large double wooden doors that you were entering through. The next thing you noticed was that Mark didn’t enter the room, instead he stayed by the door and motioned for you and Jeno to approach his mother and father. Then you took note of all of the knights that lined the outer side of the room, making a makeshift walkway for you both like you were walking up the aisle on your wedding day. Even if Jeno noticed the panic and anxiety radiating off of you, he made no effort to mention it or acknowledgement.
“Nice of you to join us, son.” The King spoke in a sickly-sweet tone putting emphasis on his last word, his lips curling up into a smile that had your stomach swirling. Jeno let go of your hand once you reached the stairs leading up to the thrones, and you reached out to take his hand again but one daring look from the King told you not to.
“What do you want?” Jeno clearly didn’t care to uphold formalities, his tone coming out brash and demanding, like he wasn’t talking to his King. Also he had been interrupted during a time that he didn’t wish to be interrupted, and his excess of hormones flooding throughout his body didn’t make anything easier. The King simply chuckled, nodding his head towards someone out of your line of sight. At the King’s silent request, you felt someone grabbing you from behind, two pairs of hands taking one arm each and holding you tightly. Jeno reacted immediately, about to tear their hands off for touching his mate when he was grabbed himself and forced to kneel on the carpets.
“What are you doing?! Let her go!!!” He roared, his voice echoing through the hall like he was the only person occupying the room. You struggled against their hands, desperately looking to Jeno as they pushed you hard onto your knees. You wanted to change into your wolf form, at least that way you at least stood a chance, but before you could the King piped up.
“If either of you change into your mutt forms. I’ll have all of my men behead her in front of you.”
“Father! Please don’t do this!” Jeno resorted to pleading, his entire body starting to quiver in fear and repressed power. He was trying so hard not to change, he always struggled with his emotions causing his body to react before his brain could, but your life was on the line.
“I told you not to make a decision you’d regret.” The King stood up but made no effort to move from his spot. “Now’s your last chance Jeno. Make it quick.”
“I choose her! I don’t care if you disown me and kick me out. I’d rather that than lose her.” Jeno glanced at you, his eyes glistening as they glowed amber, his inner wolf ready to burst out. Your bottom lip wobbled as you held back tears, seeing your mate in distress was causing you distress, and you felt touched that he chose you over everything he’d ever known. You’d only known him for just over two weeks, yet he was choosing you because his instincts wouldn’t let him live if he chose otherwise.
“Who said anything about disowning you or kicking you out? No no my sweet boy.” The King laughed sinisterly, his smirk growing as he stared down at his son. “I wouldn’t do that to you, you’re my son!” He turned his head towards the guards holding you and nodded his head once more, his face falling into one of no emotion. “Kill her.”
“NO!” Jeno couldn’t hold it in any longer, and his body ripped into his enormous wolf form that had the knights holding onto him flying across the floor from the power. He let out a loud growl as he turned towards you, but by the time he had his eyes on you, one of the guards had their dagger to your throat. The cold blade pressed so tightly against your neck that you felt hot blood trickle down your chest, but it didn’t hurt, you had too much adrenaline rushing through you. As Jeno’s eyes focused on the scarlet liquid running down your throat, he swore to himself he would rip anyone to shreds that hurt you. All the surrounding knights drew their swords and pointed them towards you and Jeno, circling you like a pack of hungry wolfs about to devour a deer, only you never thought you’d be the deer of the situation. Your body was shaking, terror quaking your soul when you realised this could be the end. All because fate made the Prince of the Kingdom your mate.
Everything went silent and still as an emerald green light flew through the hall, it light up the room like a fire and hit a group of knights with such a hard impact that it sent them flying into the opposing wall. You couldn’t see what was going on, as you were being held so tightly, but you heard shouting and saw many more sparks in an array of colours flying through the air. Suddenly you were thrown to the floor, your body hitting the cold tiles hard, but it didn’t stop you from jumping up and taking a stance beside Jeno. You looked over towards the door where the sparks were coming from and you saw Mark holding his wand out with Renjun beside him, and Jisung on his other side. Renjun had his wand drawn, and Jisung’s eyes were glowing golden. Jeno had informed you before that Jisung was a dragon, but you had yet to see his other form, you’d heard stories about dragons and wondered if he could even fit in the grand hall in his dragon form. You soon found out, as Jisung’s body was swallowed up in flames and in his place grew a dragon that nearly touched the untouchably high ceiling. He used his tail and swiped at many knights, knocking them all to the floor hard enough that they didn’t get back up again. The other knights didn’t last long, as Renjun and Mark took most of them out, and Jeno lunged at the ones who had been holding onto you. You turned your head away, but the sounds of their bloodcurdling screams didn’t last long once Jeno had gotten his teeth into their necks.
Mark and Renjun rushed to you both, leaving Jisung in the entrance of the room to stop anyone else from entering. The King’s eyes went as wide as a full moon, his mouth opening and parting in shock at the sight of his runaway bastard, he also knew that he had no one to protect him now that all of his knights were either unconscious or dead.
“R-Renjun?” The King stuttered out, his fists clenching tightly as he looked at you all.
“Hello Father, did you miss me?” Renjun smirked, gripping his wand tighter as the thought of revenge for the death of his mother played on his mind. The King’s jaw tightened, and his eyes darted to the boy stood beside Renjun.
“Mark, how could you betray me like this?! You will be hung for this, after I hang your little bitch of a maid first.” He sneered, still thinking he had the right to throw his orders around despite being outnumbered.
“I was never hired to help you. My specific orders were to make sure your son was safe. I’m just doing as I’m told your highness.” Mark deadpanned, unaffected by the threat of being hanged. You looked over at Jeno, seeing how the fur on his back was rising as he growled. Without any more being said, he took off, running at his father with his teeth bared. But he suddenly stopped dead. The King had withdrawn a knife, and had the Queen in his arms, the shining blade pressed against her throat.
“One more move Jeno and your mother’s blood will be spilling on the floor.” The King said lowly with so much threat in his voice that it sent shivers down your spine. Jeno whimpered, his undying love for his mother ceasing all of his plans to kill his father. She looked panicked in his hold, her hands gripping tightly at his arm as large tears rolled down her pink cheeks. You would never have expected the King to turn on his own wife, but the evil glint in his eye proved to you that he had completely lost his mind, mad with power at his sons’ defiance. The King was too busy staring his son in the eye that he didn’t notice Renjun raise his wand. The spell hit the King in face, the magic black as night and not giving the King any chance to dodge it. The knife fell to the floor with an echoing clang, the Queen breaking free of her husband’s hold and running down the stairs to her son’s side. The King staggered back, his hands coming to his throat as he struggled to breathe, his mouth gasping for breath until his face turned purple, which quickly turned to an icy blue, just before he collapsed to his knees, and fell face fire onto the floor, lifeless.
Renjun had gotten his revenge, and he couldn’t stop the smirk that tugged at his lips as he saw the man who took his mother’s life away, dead on the floor in front of his own throne.
“Jeno!” You rushed to him as his body shrank back into his human form. His body sweating and his skin looking paler than you’d ever seen as he stared at the body of his father. You wrapped your arms around him and buried your head into his neck, hoping that your scent would calm him down, which it did, and he visibly relaxed in your hold.
“Baby…” He whispered, burrowing his nose in your hair, and inhaling your scent, thanking all the gods that ever lived that he wasn’t holding your lifeless body. He held you tightly, his chest rising and falling fast as he tried to catch his breath. You were still in mild shock at what had happened, and your neck was starting to hurt from the minor cut you had received, but it wasn’t bleeding anymore thankfully. Once Jeno had ran his hands all over your body to check for anymore injuries and had declared you safe, he turned his head to Mark and Renjun, also noticing that Jisung had changed back into his human form, covering himself up with Mark’s cloak that he’d passed to him clearly to keep his pride intact. “Renjun, how did you…?” He couldn’t find the words, but Renjun knew what he was implying.
“Mark has known where I’ve been since he started working here. He came to me and told me that you were in danger…I didn’t even think about it, I had to be here for you.” Jeno felt his eyes brimming with tears, the lump in his throat almost choking him as he stared at his brother. He no longer cared that he’d cursed him for life, because it brought him to you, and because in the end, Renjun, the person he’d grown up besides, was his brother, and he knew he should be happy about it. He then looked at Mark and raised an eyebrow, silently asking the question that was playing on your mind too.
“I had heard from someone that the King was planning on killing (Y/N), I knew I couldn’t take him down on my own, and you’re a big bundle of fur and emotions so you couldn’t do it alone,” He ignored the scowl that Jeno gave him as he said that. “So I got Renjun, however…I didn’t think it would escalate this much.” Jeno gulped and smiled, grateful that he had people who would put their own lives at risk for his life and his happiness.
“What about Jisung? Why is he here?” The Queen asked quietly, not happy that they brought the young boy into something that would surely turn into a fight, her maternal instincts flaring over the boy who wasn’t even her own son.
“I heard Mark talking to his girlfriend about it and there was no way I was being left out!” He grinned from ear to ear, clearly excited about the whole thing.
“Mother, did you know that father was planning this?” Jeno stayed sitting on the floor so that his mother didn’t see his private parts, he still wanted to keep his modesty. You clung onto him tightly, your hand rubbing his arm slowly to keep his emotions stable. The Queen shook her head with wide eyes, gasping at the question.
“Of course I didn’t, if I had then I would have warned you to run away. Nothing I could have said to him would have changed his mind, but at least I could have potentially saved your lives.” She took off her own cloak and handed it to Jeno, letting him lay it over his lap to hide himself better.
“Jeno.” Mark called out, gaining everyone’s attention as he walked past everyone over to the King’s body, picking up the golden crown from the floor by his head. “You know that this makes you the King, don’t you?” Jeno hadn’t even thought of that, and his mouth popped open in shock. Then it dawned on him, and he shook his head quickly.
“No. Renjun is the Kings son too, and he’s older than me. That crown belongs to him.” You could feel Jeno’s muscles tensing underneath your palms, indicating that he was getting uncomfortable. You weren’t sure how royalty worked, so you had no idea if what Jeno was saying was correct or not.
“But I’m a bastard Jeno, the Queen isn’t my mother…you have more of a claim to the throne than me.” Renjun’s eyes widened as he stared at the crown.
“You killed him, it’s yours.” Jeno argued softly, shaking his head as he glanced down at your delicate hands on his skin, letting his head hang. Renjun walked up to Mark, taking the crown from him, and inspecting it in his hands. He shook his head, walking up to Jeno and placing it on his younger brother’s head with a smile.
“You always wanted it, it’s yours Jeno.” He placed his hand on Jeno’s shoulder and patted it gently. Jeno looked up with wide, innocent eyes brimming with tears. You could see how much Jeno wanted that crown, and you had no idea that he was that desperate for it until that moment. “I always thought that King Jeno sounded a lot better than Prince Jeno anyway.”
---
A week later Jeno was coronated as King. The entire Kingdom rejoiced that the cruel King was dead and replaced with his son. The Queen had decided to stay in the castle, but she gave up her title as Queen to live a peaceful life, now ready to enjoy watching her son rule the Kingdom. Jeno had introduced you to the Kingdom as his Queen, but you weren’t officially the Queen until you married him, but neither of you cared for that yet, and that didn’t stop Jeno from putting the Queen’s crown on your head. The full moon came and went fast, and both of you had recovered from it with ease. Jeno had fucked you in your bedroom until the sun came up to release the pent-up instincts lingering inside you both, keeping you both away from the moonlight in an attempt to stop your bodies changing. It felt strange not going on a run in your wolf form during the full moon, but you’d both agreed to do that on the full moon after, since this was your first one as mates so you couldn’t take your hands off of each other.
Renjun had returned to the castle with his girlfriend, the bounty over his head completely abolished so he could live safely and peacefully in the castle where he was raised. Jeno had appointed him as his right-hand man, letting Mark keep his position as the castle’s wizard. It couldn’t hurt to have two wizards on hand, and Jeno was more than happy that he’d let go of his past anger towards Renjun and was instead loving having a big brother. The past four months had gone by like a dream, and you were still in mild shock at how much your life had changed just from protecting strangers in the forest from the man you now cuddled up to every night in bed.
As you stood on one of the castles balconies staring out at the setting sun as it shone across the Kingdom, you couldn’t help but let your eyes drift towards the forest to the side of the Kingdom, a soft sigh leaving your lips as you watched the shadows dance around amongst the trees. You sensed Jeno approaching you from behind before you felt him. His arms wrapped around your waist from behind silently, and he pressed a kiss to the back of your neck before settling his chin on your shoulder, staring out at his Kingdom with his love in his arms. You felt comfortable, like nothing could harm you when you were wrapped in his strong embrace.
“Do you want to go on a run tonight?” He spoke quietly in your ear, nibbling on your earlobe playfully and giving you a tender squeeze. You giggled and leaned your head back against him, humming in contentment.
“Can we stay here?” You lifted your head up when he made a strange noise in confusion, his eyes widening at your request.
“But you love going on runs?” He couldn’t quite understand why you’d choose staying in the confinements of the castle over running free and stretching your legs in your wolf form.
“I can’t change forms Jeno. Not for a while.” You whispered, slowly taking his hands from around you and instead placing them both on your flat abdomen. Jeno’s eyebrows knitted together as he thought over the reasons why wolfs can’t change forms. But the only one that poked out amongst the options was one that had the wolf inside of him yearning for you and causing his face to nuzzle into your neck more.
“How long have you known?” He rubbed his hands against your stomach gently, the pride inside of him making him feel like he was on top of the world at finding out about the baby he’d gifted you both with. He had noticed that your scent had changed recently, but he hadn’t thought much of it, as he didn’t know what a pregnant wolf would smell like.
“Not long, I assume it happened on the last full moon…I know this is a lot faster than we planned but it’s only natural for us to move fast, it isn’t about what our minds want-”
“It’s about what our hearts want.” Jeno cut you off and took the words right out of your mouth. You smiled and melted into his hold. “It’s also hard to control your urges, I’ve found it a lot harder to resist things since living like this.”
“I wouldn’t know any different.” You giggled, staring out at the courtyard of the castle.
“I much pr-” Jeno started talking but you cut him off quickly, gasping loudly and pointing out at one of the wooden doors that lead to the inside of the castle.
“There!” Jeno was on high alert now, his eyes following to where you were pointing, but he couldn’t see anything.
“What is it?” You started to shiver in his hold, your hand trembling as you gently pulled it in against your chest with your heart racing faster than it does when you go running in your wolf form. You continued to stare at the door as it swung open once more, before closing again, but there was no one opening and closing it. Jeno then noticed the door moving with no one making it move, his breath hitching in his throat as he dared to speak. “How is the door doing that on its own?”
“It’s not doing it on its own…” You whispered, dragging your eyes away to turn around and look Jeno in the eye.
“But…what could be doing that then without us being able to see it?” He frowned in confusion; worry littered across his face as he stared down at your own worried expression. You took a deep breath, knowing you were right all along about what you’d smelt on the day the King died.
“A demon.”
---
 (Wow it’s been so long since I posted Renjun’s part so sorry about that! Anyway I hope this isn’t flop city like the other two parts lol. I hope you enjoyed it and I’m so sorry about how fast paced this was and how much smut there was, but it’s vital to the story! Love you, thanks for reading and as per usual, feedback is wanted! If you reblog this pleeeease write your thoughts in the tags, as I check every reblog and get sad when I see no taggies. Also let me know if you spotted the hint in this story about the next story ;) Thanks!)
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wolfish-trickster · 4 years ago
Text
Advent kisses
15/24
Loki x female!reader
Word count: 1 146
Summary: Instead of chocolates, kisses are going to be recieved everyday until Christmas.
Tag list: @gaitwae @lucywrites02 @modestlyabsurd @winterfrostsarmy @spaceyempress @thefridgeismybestie @laramoonworld @birdgirl90 @nickkie1129
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He didn't want to go straight to cliché 'under the mistletoe kiss', but it happened. He can't undo it now. He wasn't even feeling himself when thet happened and couldn't enjoy the kiss how he usually does. He was still a little shocked when Thor told him humans actually like cold weather and they even have winter sports. Asgardians were raised to link snow to Jotunheim and its inhabitors, not fun and games how people do. Loki's relationship to snow and cold changed, but didn't get solved completely. He was neutral with cold now, but that doesn't mean he's instantly going to like it.
Next day came fast. Decisions were made, the Avengers suited up and went skiing. Those who couldn't ski either stayed in the house or went for a walk.
Loki decided to stay, he looked forward to spend some time with you, helping him sooth the weird feeling he had ever since he got surrounded by snow. He found you drinking something dark and hot in the significantly smaller kitchen than the one you were used to. You waved at him.
"Hi."
"Hello sweetheart, what are you enjoying?" he peeked into your mug.
"Hot chocolate, wanna taste?"
He took the offered mug and sipped. It was way tastier than a solid chocolate. Sweet and liquid with whipped cream on top. You certainly knew how to make a treat.
"This is quite good, will you make me one too? Please?"
"Of course," you immediately got to work.
While his hot chocolate was in making he started a chat with you. "Where is everybody? And don't tell me they went skiing, Thor doesn't even know how to. Same with Vision and at least two of Clint's kids."
"That's why everyone went to watch and laugh at your brother's and Vision's fail at skiing. I send Bruce to spend some quality time with Nat. And I ended up here all alone. With you," you handed him the hot steaming mug.
He took it. "What a shame. Any idea what we should do? Besides regretting not going to laugh at my brother's attempt to ski?"
You chuckled. "Yeah, I'm starting to regret it too. My original plan was to watch adorable kittens on youtube."
"Sound like fun, can I join?"
"Like you have to ask," you plopped down on the soft sofa already taking out your phone.
Loki sat down close to you and as usual brought you closer to him by his arm on your shoulders.
You went from kitten videos through funny compilations and ended up at How to train your dragon edits. Beautyful views of clouds and sea, dragons and birds, sunset and starry night.
He noticed your longing looks. "Did you ever wish to fly?"
"Who didn't when they were a kid," you turned your phone off, giving Loki your full attention.
"It's just..... to see everything from birds' perspective, to go everywhere you could, sky being your only limit. Who wouldn't wish for that?"
Loki smirked at you, stood up and offered you his hand, "Well, today is your lucky day, my sweet. Since you can't go outside and enjoy hardcore activities with your injury, it has become my duty as a God of Mischief and Fun to provide you with far better entertainment than your phone screen," he smiled charmingly at you.
You took his hand and he lead you by it to the nearest balcony, "Where are you taking me?"
His only answer was: "You won't freeze, I won't let that happen," and he made his old furry cloak appear on you. The one he wore a long time ago when he was on Asgard.
He opened th balcony door and closed it shut after you accompanied him. "Now darling, close your eyes."
You did as you were told. Loki closed his eyes, he let the seidr flow through his veins and out his fingers and palm. His clothes melted, leaving him in only his underwear momentarily. He felt his body getting longer, so long he had to fall on his hands to keep balance. His skin hardened and turned into pearly white scales. He grew snout full of razor sharp teeth. His black hair grew from his head all the way down to his new tail. His hands and feet turned into grey claws, still shining with his golden power.
He looked himself over, exact replica of your favourite dragon sorcerer. "Open your eyes," he couldn't speak with that long snout, he made you hear his voice in your mind instead.
When your eyes landed on dragon Loki you nearly cried, making him panic for a moment, until he heard you laugh.
"Climb on my back darling, and hold on tight. I'll show you a world from dragon's perspective."
He felt your body on his prolonged neck. Your hands wrapped around his golden horns. Your legs squeezed the sides of his scaly body, to keep yourself from falling. Like he would ever let that happen.
He pushed himself off of the ground, hovering in the air. You held onto him even tighter. He shot straight to the claudy sky, not too fast. His body made small twist and turnes in the air, sending you higher and higher. Taking you to touch the clouds.
He saw everything from up here. Mountains, forrests, little dots that are supposed to be the Avengers. You were right, who wouldn't wish for this?
Your body relaxed. You were visibly enjoying the ride, just as much as he was. He made few circles around lakes and nearby villages until he got too tired for any more flying.
He gently landed on all fours, leaning his head down to the ground so you could jump off.
Before he could telepathically tell you to close your eyes again you spoke up. "Thank you for the ride, my dragon prince," you hugged his snout to your face. He closed his eyes and breathed in the smell of you. It was warm and comforting. All of a sudden he felt your lips land between his horns, giving him a little soft kiss. Your forhead touched his after you ended the kiss. His clawed paw gently covered your eyes, so he could turn into his asgardian aspect again. He clothed himself with his seidr and took you inside. It was late, and world was getting colder.
"What the fuck-?"
"Man, not infront of my kids!"
Sam and Clint were watching news. Something what looked like a long mythical snake flying in the clouds. When they showed close up, it even looked like someone was riding the scaly beast. Loki and you only chuckled to yourselves, leaving both of them confused.
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