𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2,850 words

𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐨

The castle was breathing in silence. A silence wound up by the fear of making the smallest wrong movement that would cause a catastrophe to enroll.

Yunho drummed his fingers against the backrest of a chair by the dining table, feeling distinctly anxious about how the mood had changed so quickly. He didn't know what was happening, or why even. He only knew that Prince Yeosang had looked terribly ill and that it was affecting Wooyoung poorly which furthermore had him react to the shift to the air.

His wolf hopelessly howled at him to do something about the other prince's suffering, but he just couldn't figure out what to do. It wasn't like he just could tell Wooyoung that everything was going to be fine again when that obviously was not something he even believed himself.

The despaired call across the dinner table, the crease of brows, and Yeosang's head lifelessly rolling back all limp- Yunho had nearly thought that it already had been too late to save the fairie prince's life.

And yet, now, he still did not know what had happened afterward Seonghwa had left the dining hall. After all, it could really have been too late to save his life.

Yunho glanced over at Wooyoung across the table but the expression he wore only made the churning of his insides even worse. And Yunho couldn't do anything about his fret. He desperately needed his wolf to understand before he would be clawing the eyes out of the person closest to him. That wouldn't be a pretty sight.

Somewhere.. deeper down.. he knew what was going on. He knew all about his thoughts of wilderness and hunger for violence. But he couldn't let it slip now. Not when Wooyoung was so scared.

A finger that poked his shoulder had him roughly turning around, the vicious bite in his mouth pressing against his shut mouth. Surprisingly enough, it was the crown prince of the merfolk reaching out for him, and a quick look on his face made Yunho acknowledge the obvious worry he shared with everyone else in this room.

"Yunho, you're.." but San's sentence drifted elsewhere when his gaze settled onto something above Yunho's eyes.

His throat bobbed as if unspoken words accumulated on his tongue and Yunho could not help the threatening growl coming from his chest. San's hands were clasped together in front of him, clearly as a way to stabilize his wavering feet.

"You're.. your head is.. your hair.."

Yunho paused. Then he froze. Then his expression fell as he tried to put together what the other prince was saying.

His hand slowly raised to his hair, feeling around the outline of his crown before his fingers slid over the item and toward the middle of his head. The tip of his fingers suddenly collided with something he had not expected to be there at all. An instinct crossed his mind and he flew toward the nearest window, arms throwing his entire weight against the giant windowsill as he looked up into the dark skies of the night... Well, into the night there happened to not be dark at all. The instant his eyes shifted up, they started burning their golden colour into his eyesockets reflecting the full moon's powerful shine that he so feared to be the reason for the unusual shift of extreme sensitivity.

Yunho would have a few minutes at most before his body would start to transform into the beast he truly was.

And he feared he would not be gentle.

The werewolf turned around again, his eyes scrambling across the other princes as his heart rate quickened with every breath of air. He pressed his growing nails into his palms in order to keep himself anchored in the moment but his head was a whirlwind of rage. 

Yunho clenched his jaws as he forced his wolf to stay put instead of breaking free. He knew what it meant to let go and embrace his true nature; he knew what would happen when he lost control of his own body. But within the walls of this castle, it was different and so much more dangerous. The transformation was not safe to do here as it was under the influence of the full moon in his pack. Not when the change would make him go ruthless like the feral kin he had been named to be. Ferocious, savage, inhumane.

Cursed.

Yunho tried his best to stay calm, but the jittling nerves in his arms were slowly spreading to the rest of his body.

Another thread of control snapped when his eyes landed upon the vampire staring at him with an equally unsettled expression on his face. He knew what was going on. And somehow, he also seemed to already know that he was currently not in Yunho's favour.

The werewolf growled.

'Let me go!'

The doors went open as the demon prince returned to their gathering. Yunho barely heard the words he said when the ground around him was changing so damn quickly.

His heart beat the exact number of three times more when strong arms wound themselves around his body and pushed him right into the wall. Yunho's head moved out of his control and suddenly his long canines were biting into flesh as his bones breaking and reforming had him howling in agony. Faintly, the werewolf felt how his legs dangled in the air before his feet rammed into the vampire's legs as he deepened his teeth into the throat he was currently tearing into a bloody mess. Yunho threw his head to the side while still holding onto the throat and Mingi's body was forced along with the motion.

There sounded a bone-chilling crunch.

Then the vampire stumbled a few steps toward the middle of the room before he lost his balance and fell to the floor, having Yunho follow him down. The werewolf landed on his paws, his jaws going slack as he pulled his muzzle out of the vampire prince's throat while hungrily licking the blood off his snout. His glowing eyes cast shadows around where he gazed up on the remaining princes in the dining hall. 

Words were shouted around at each other but Yunho didn't hear any of them, his eyes fixed on the one in the more glittery clothing. Then he stepped forward, cautious with every single step as his low rumbling spread in the air.

The prince he had his eyes on stared at him, eyes timorously changing as he leaned away from his spot. And Yunho could smell the raw fear coming off him in strong waves. The wolf made a jerk with his head as he lowered his head between his shoulders, fur bristling and teeth bared in a snarl. He was close, he knew from the pleading words coming from those sweet lips of the other prince, but it didn't seem like no one dared interfere with his lost control.

"Yunho, please, it's me- Yunho, it's me Wooyoung, I know you're still somewhere in there! Please listen to my voice!" the prince cried out, his breath staggering the more words flowed out and both of his hands held in front of him in defense.

Defenseless.

The wolf shook his head with a loud snarl, throwing off the words.

"Please."

His sensitive senses felt the shift of air a moment before the dragon prince hit the corner of the table and yelped at the pang of pain. The wolf leaped forward, nails scraping against the stone floor as he reached the other prince. Wooyoung screamed.

Throwing him off, the wolf tangled its long, furred body around the prince's legs in a protective manner, head throwing to the side as he snorted out in dissatisfaction at the other's reaction. He paced around the prince a few times before pushing Wooyoung further away from the table and the other princes standing on the other side of the table.

"Stay out of the way!" someone exclaimed just before Yunho turned his head and a strong force splashed against his body and separated him from Wooyoung. The wolf tumbled a few meters back, his senses quickly readjusting to the sudden attack as he threw himself on his legs again, shaking his head full of anger. A blend of spit and blood dripped from his open mouth as the wolf growled more outraged than before.

A huge amount of water came streaming from the grand doors into the dining hall, gathering just behind the other princes. San had his arms slightly stretched on both of his sides, hands not overgoing the height of his shoulders as his fingers lay mostly flat right now, nearly not moving. The wolf did not feel the threat.

"Holy fuck, Wooyoung get away from there!" the demon prince exclaimed but was soon stopped from whatever he was about to do as the siren prince grabbed his shoulder.

The wolf took a step forward, growling intensifying as he saw his way around the best strike.

"San, you'll drown him if you do that! He can't breathe underwater!"

"What do you want me to do then!? I don't know how else to deal with a raving mad werewolf! He'll kill us all if we don't knock him out!"

As San's hands started shaking, the water began trickling away from its gathering behind him, circling around San as it slowly flowed toward the wolf. Yunho was not bothered by the motion, his paws planted into the floor as he stood his ground.

Then it broke.

Tons of water were forced forward at the same time, throwing Yunho slightly off as he could only stare at the heavy mass heaving above him. A hand tore through his fur as it jerked his head around, steering him toward the door at the end of the hall.

"Come on move!"

Slightly confused by it all, the wolf moved along with Wooyoung, ramming into the door until it opened, and they both flew out of it. When it smacked close a loud bang slammed against the surface and someone was soon screaming Wooyoung's name.

Drops of water quickly flowed from the cracks in the door, but the wolf's confused mind hadn't time to think much about it before a body threw itself around his neck. Wooyoung pulled him in closer, his heart beating like crazy in his chest as he tried to stabilize his breathing again.

"You could never hurt me," the dragon mumbled, hands running down the wolf's fur in a way that made him rouse in a new way.

Wooyoung was startled when Yunho suddenly let out a new rumbling sound, his arms tensing around him as he froze.

Yunho was a deadly creature, and Wooyoung had only now gotten a taste of that realisation. But he did not move away from where he had his arms wrapped around the killing beast. The wolf could only see how the other prince slowly loosened his arms to move his head closer to the wolf's neck.

"I once read that this was a way to calm a werewolf.. I apologize if this bothers you," Wooyoung whispered. 

Then he started rubbing his neck against Yunho's neck, slow and soft, but with enough pressure to feel it against his scent glands.

The wolf whimpered. Closing his eyes as he leaned into the touch.

Unconsciously, from the corner of his own mind Yunho was trapped, he knew he should have stopped the other from partaking in this dangerous game of his. But everything about Wooyoung was just so sweet and alluring.. so caring and perfect. 

The wolf wanted him.

And now he was marked with Wooyoung's scent.

_____

𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠

Wooyoung ran with the wolf to his room, not wanting to cause any more trouble now that he had calmed Yunho down.

His hands fiddled with the handle of the door before he shakily let them both in before locking the door. When the dragon turned around, the wolf was sitting on the floor, staring right up at him with his golden eyes. With Yunho's golden eyes. This was Yunho he kept telling himself; nothing was different from Yunho's human form. Except for maybe, that this wolf had just ripped Mingi's throat out.

Wooyoung tried to swallow as unnoticed as it was possible but that did not seem to be possible when the wolf was staring that intensely up at him.

"Okay," Wooyoung breathed, drawing a hand through his hair as he tried to calm himself, "This is no different."

But the wolf- Yunho- didn't even blink with his eyes.

"Fuck.." Wooyoung muttered to himself, "What the fuck just happened.."

He turned on his heels and walked to his wardrobe before pulling off his waist-length jacket and fetching a hanger to hang it in. Wooyoung pulled out a drawer and fetched a new pair of silk pajamas in a shiny champagne colour. He then ran off to his bathroom.

Before the wolf could react, Wooyoung had already locked the door, trying his best to exhale slowly and deeply as he slipped over to the sink. He lifted his head and glanced at himself through the mirror. His scared self was looking back at him and he reached out to pull his crown off his head.

So the moon must be full today.

Quietly, the dragon undressed, pulling his black, slightly see-through shirt off, followed by his shoes and socks, then his dress pants. Wooyoung lifted his head up at the mirror again, looking at himself. He ran a hand above his flat stomach and held it there. He had promised himself to protect his child, and yet he had nearly failed just now. He wasn't safe within this castle. No one was.

He had thought he would be safer.

Wooyoung tensed when he heard the shuffle against the door, a paw full of sharp nails perhaps, scraping down the shutting surface. Then a whine interfered with the sound, soon turning into little whimpers and it made the dragon prince nervous.

"Yunho?" he called, alarmed, "Are you okay?"

At the sound of his voice, the wolf's distressed sounds only got louder as he howled with deep misery. Had anyone gotten into his chamber? Was someone hurting him?

Wooyoung's thoughts were running away from him.

His hands grabbed the nearest towel he could find and threw it around his bare body before he quickly switched the lock open to see what was going on on the other side.

As the door opened, the huge body of the wolf fell into the bathroom, his legs landing just in front of Wooyoung's feet. He stared down at the golden eyes of the whining wolf without recognising if anything was even wrong.

The dragon only followed how the other's sight drew to the piles of clothes behind him. Wooyoung held his breath.

Yunho went forward and nipped the corner of the towel around Wooyoung, giving him a pull until he was forced to follow the wolf out of the bathroom without having the shower he initially had in mind.

"Where- where are you-" the prince started when he was pushed onto the bed right in the middle of his questioning.

The movement had him falling into the mattress, his hands flying behind him to stabilize himself. It resulted in his towel falling down from his shoulders and revealing his nearly naked body underneath. Wooyoung couldn't move as the wolf now stood on top of the bed, right in front of him. His heavy gaze fell down on every nook of his body.

And Wooyoung feverishly blushed in his panic. He would be such an easy target right now.

Paws neared his body, carefully placed down onto the surface as his head dropped more and more. But there weren't any bared teeth to discern in front of him, only the intensity of eyes searching down his body for something. Something he found delicate.

Wooyoung's breath sharpened when he felt the soft fur cross his legs before the wolf was so close to him that his chin touched his stomach. Without any control of it, the dragon let out a deep rumble from his throat, an arm covering himself protectingly as he finally scooted further back until his shoulders hit the backrest of the bed.

Calmly, the wolf only followed his movement as he this time lay down on top of Wooyoung's leg, Yunho's head resting on top of his shading arm.

Wooyoung was petrified - his head only thinking of when the creature would be sinking its teeth into him and eat him alive. He couldn't bear to perceive it himself so he shut his eyes close as if that would be of any help.

Instead, a warm icky sensation moved across his arm until a snout pushed the arm out of the way and the stickiness was smeared all over his belly. Surprised, Wooyoung let out a squeal as his fingers reached out to push the sensation away from him. His eyes opened the immediate second he realised Yunho was licking his belly with his warm and wet tongue. But his own hands still rested unsure against the wolf's snout, not entirely trusting the movement, but still not having the heart to move Yunho away. He must have smelled his distress from the bathroom before and this was his current way of soothing him.

Wooyoung covered his face with his hand when he blushed at the way the wolf was staring up at him.

♛