There was a knock on the door, which made Zendala look up from the documents in front of her. She fixated the door with her eyes before she said "Come in" in a neutral tone. Nobody had made an appointment with her, so she readied herself for anything. The door was slowly opened by a figure hidden under a cloak. Zendala knew that it was Shiela in an instant, which made Zendala let out a breath.

"You scared me for a second, sister", the female warlock commented and leaned back into her arm chair. Shiela let the cloak's hood fall from her head. She wore a light frown on her face which usually foretold that she was bringing bad news. Zendala leaned forward again.

"I bring bad news, sister", Shiela started, but instead of continuing to speak she stepped to the side and let another person enter the room. Reinhard. The tall hunter with the black mask let the door close behind his back and for a moment he just stood there with nothing but calmness radiating off him.

The look on Zendala's face became dark and she slowly stood up. A bad feeling was tugging at her. Even though Reinhard didn't really show it, Zendala knew he had something on his mind she would dislike greatly. It also worried her that Reinhard was obviously aware of Shiela and her relationship to Zendala.

"What is this about?", the blue-haired warlock demanded to know, looking straight into Reinhard's eyes. The tall hunter didn't show any reaction and let Zendala' eyes pierce through him without an eyebrow twitching before he began talking.

"I have come to question your motives and loyalty and how many more secrets there are I should know about", Reinhard said calmly, yet Zendala was able to pick up the faint trace of anger in his voice. The female warlock straightened her back and didn't break eye contact with Reinhard. She wouldn't back down. Not now, not ever.

"For someone who has declared me their queen this is an unbelievable and also insulting accusation", Zendala retorted and crossed her arms over her chest. A spark of anger was seen in Reinhard's eyes but he remained calm.

"You want to kill every last supernatural creature because you feel wronged by them, proving that they are nothing more than monsters even to their own kind. You joined forces with me because I want the supernatural creature gone as much as you do. I declared you my queen, because I saw your brilliance, passion and your leading abilities. I admired you but as time went on I saw how many secrets you have, how many things you try to hide from the world, from me. This made me question what your true endgame is supposed to look like", Reinhard stated in a firm voice and then he glanced at Shiela. The second Reinhard would raise a hand against Shiela would be his last.

"It made me also question who else is your ally, or a person you want to protect from your own plan. Who is out there that you treasure?", the hunter continued and fixated Zendala with his eyes once more. The woman with the dark blue didn't budge for a second and just continued to stare into the hunter's eyes. Zendala knew Reinhard was asking about Han Jisung and she also knew she couldn't hide the boy's relation to her much longer.

"Shiela is my source of information for a lot of things. She has to stay undercover no matter what, or we might loose the things she can provide and for Han Jisung. He is my son and was my hope for this terrible world until he was taken from me. If he is hurt or killed I can't guarantee for anyone's safety anymore", Zendala said lowly, not breaking eye contact with Reinhard for even a second. The hunter showed no reaction until he slowly nodded and broke eye contact.

"I understand now. I'm sorry for questioning you, my queen", the hunter apologized and bowed his head lightly. Zendala only narrowed her eyes, knowing Reinhard wasn't one hundred percent sincere but neither was she.

"If you can't trust me, trust in our goal", the female warlock stated, not taking her eyes off the tall hunter. Reinhard nodded again without looking into her eyes.

"I will think about that, my queen", he simply replied and then turned to leave the room, not looking back at Zendala once. The blue-haired woman watched the tall male leaving the room and then met the concerned eyes of her younger sister.

"How did he find out?", Zendala sighed, rubbing her temples. Shiela rubbed her arm nervously and didn't dare to meet Zendala's gaze again, which made the slightly older woman walk around her desk and to her sister.

"He took me off guard and then guessed correctly. He could read the answer from my mimic", Shiela finally brought out, slowly looking up to Zendala. The older warlock only sighed again and laid her hand onto her sister's shoulder.

"It's not your fault. Reinhard is a cunning man, which was why I had hoped he would be blindly in love with me a bit longer, but now he considers me suspicious, which makes everything a lot more dangerous for us", Zendala admitted and unconsciously looked to the door.

"Why did you even tell him about Jisung? Now, Reinhard knows how important Jisung is to you, making him your most obvious weakness", Shiela asked cautiously. Zendala turned her head back to her sister. She had a neutral look on her face and just seemed to be very objective about the topic while in reality she hated herself for telling Reinhard.

"Some time ago, Reinhard started to question why Jisung was so important to me and wanted to know why. Ironically the situation we were in was quite similar to this one if I am honest. Back then, I dismissed the topic quickly and didn't tell him much to his displeasure", Zendala began, dryly chuckling to herself. Shiela looked back to the ground and mumbled a barely audible "I'm sorry". Zendala just lifted her sister's chin and smiled lightly.

"Don't be sorry. Reinhard just showed once more that he isn't an idiot, which was one of the reasons I chose to form an alliance with him", the blue-haired warlock said and let her hand drop while looking into her sister's eyes. Shiela's eyes were blue but a bit darker than Zendala's sky blue orbs.

"I shouldn't have underestimated Reinhard. You warned me, after all", Shiela muttered but she did look into her older sister's sky blue eyes, the ones her only son inherited.

"Do you think Reinhard will go after Jisung to hurt you?", Shiela asked cautiously, trying to not upset her sister. Zendala took some steps back and leaned onto her desk. She looked at the ground before she raised her gaze back up to her younger sister, who looked concerned.

"I don't know. He is obviously doubting my loyalty to the hunters, so it wouldn't be unlike him", she began, once again looking at the door while her gaze hardened. "But I also warned him. If he hurts or kills my son, the last bit of my hope dies and I will end all hunters before taking on the supernaturals no matter the costs", Zendala ended in a cold tone, which almost let the room freeze.

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If Felix was honest with himself he felt strange when he listened to Taeyong, who was summing up everything that happened at the meeting today. He was feeling that way not because of what Taeyong said, no, he had the feeling he was sitting alone in the meeting room, even though his whole group was there. He hated that feeling, especially because he never had it ever before in his whole life.

The ginger always had people around him he was close to may it be family or friends. He never experienced the feeling of loneliness, but right now he had the feeling he couldn't trust anyone, even though it was absolutely ridiculous. Even if he couldn't trust his friends he still had Minho, his brother, the one who promised to never leave him.

Felix glanced at Minho, who was sitting beside him. He couldn't explain why but at the moment he felt like even Minho was out of his reach. Was it because Minho was so focused on his mate or was it something else? The cat hybrid mentally slapped himself for thinking that. Minho wouldn't leave him for Jisung or would he?

The cat hybrid with the ginger hair shook his thought away and focused on Taeyong instead of answering that question, whose answer he thought to know. The red-haired guardian had explained in every detail what they found out about the main facility of the hunters and how it was surrounded with rather complex spells to protect it from intruders. Felix had no clue about magic and understood only half of what Taeyong was saying, but glancing at Jeongin was enough to know that at least the kitsune understood what the guardian was taking about.

Next thing Taeyong explained in detail was the plan he and the leaders had worked on in the course of the meeting. It was a pretty solid plan that required some groups to work together as one. ACE and IZ were probably the best example for that, since they were basically completely put together into one rescue party.

The plan sounded rather simple if Felix was honest. Taeyong along with Johnny, Yuta, Doyoung and Jungwoo would sneak into the hunters headquarter first and disable every bit of security they had may it be magical or not. The next part of the plan didn't sit well with Felix and also the other members of Stray Kids, because it included the vampires lead by Changbin.

The vampires along with Wonpil were there to quietly take out the hunters nearby with the help of Doyoung and Jungwoo, who would distract them, using their special voices. This was necessary so they remained completely unnoticed.

Taeyong's rescue group and the vampires lead by Changbin would have to sneak through the headquarter to get to the third basement floor, so Yuta and Taeyong could open a portal there to let the other rescue parties in.

Another part Felix didn't really understand was when Taeyong talked about the warlocks, who would have to stay away from the hunters' headquarter to make sure the portals were safe and stable, so escaping was easy for the groups in the "lion's cave" as long a magical creature was with them.

At that point Taeyong told them that the ones, who have been chosen to stay back of the Stray Kids were Jisung and Seungmin, but Jisung was assigned to another group, since they didn't have two magical creatures. That group was BTS, which at first didn't sound like a problem, but then Felix remembered that Taehyung was in that group. He glanced at Minho for a brief moment to see his brother's reaction, but the older cat hybrid stayed surprisingly clam, which made Felix mentally let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.

Taeyong also clarified that not everyone knew about Jisung being Zendala's son, mainly because it was Jisung's secret to tell and not the ones of the leaders. It also wasn't implemented in the plan, since they hoped to not alarm and/ or meet Zendala at all. If that did happen to one group they all would need to bail no matter what. The way Taeyong said that also made it pretty clear that this was probably the most important part about the whole operation, since the whole mission would be of no use if the rescue parties were captured, or worse killed.

After Taeyong had explained the plan, he informed the group and teenagers and hound adults that the training for the rescue mission would start tomorrow. Every magical creature had to learn the portal spell if they haven't mastered it already. Of course, everyone also needed to train with their assigned rescue group, which for the most part was their normal group, but since some were merged and some had to help another one it was important to adjust some things. Maybe even train some combo moves, even though they didn't have much time to perfect them.

After Taeyong finished he also suggested that everyone should head to bed to rest and then left, probably having to organize some other things too as well as preparing his own group. Hearing how the guardian suggested that they should go to sleep let everyone in Stray Kids realize how much time had past and that the sun was already disappearing behind the horizon.

Felix sighed deeply and leaned back, pressing his back lightly into the chair. He looked up to the ceiling and let everything he had heard sink in for a moment. The plan was more or less finished, everyone now had their official role and in a few days they would really try to free the cat hybrids of the Sky Clan and whoever was still alive of the vampires from the royal palace.

Felix felt a little sting in his heart when a picture of his parents entered his mind. He didn't want to imagine what they must have been through ever since they have been kidnapped. It was just too hard on him.

"Byungho-hyung and I should head home for today", Seungmin spoke up, breaking the silence the room had fallen into after Taeyong had left. "And everyone of you should really head to their room to sleep", the redhead continued, glancing at Changbin for so short moment.

Felix turned his head a little and looked the at redhead, who at first seemed calm and collected, but the cat hybrid noticed even with Seungmin being on the side of the room, that the younger's eyes seemed a bit more dull, indicating that he was exhausted. Felix was pretty tired too if he was honest with himself.

The whole group ended up leaving the little meeting room together and then splitting up. Chan, Changbin and Hyunjin were seeing Byungho and Seungmin off and Minho, Jisung, Jeongin and Felix were supposed to go back to their rooms.

Nobody really said anything until Felix felt someone lightly pulling at the sleeve of pullover. He looked to the side in confusion to see that Jeongin was the one pulling the fabric. It was like the kitsune wanted the ginger to follow him but the blond only slowed down until they both stood still.

"Hyungs I will walk around for a bit before I go to sleep. I want to think everything through", the blond said, looking at Minho and Jisung. The two stopped as well and turned around to look at their group members.

"I will go with him, so don't worry. I think I need it anyway", Felix answered naturally. Both Minho and Jisung seemed a bit confused but only lightly. Felix looked at his older brother with a bit of a plead in his eyes, in hopes of getting the other to agree.

"Alright. Just don't take too long", Minho sighed. Both Jeongin and Felix nodded and then watched how Minho dragged Jisung along, who seemingly wanted to protest, but didn't find the right words.

"Thanks for the help", Jeongin quietly mumbled beside Felix and let his hand drop. The cat hybrid looked at the younger male and lightly smiled. It came almost natural to him to help Jeongin out and it really sounded nice to walk around a bit before bed.

"It's not a problem, besides I think I really do need to walk around and think for a bit", the ginger admitted, casually taking Jeongin's hand and then started to walk. Jeongin's hand was a lot bigger than his, but Felix didn't mind at all. After all, the blond boy's hand was always pleasantly warm.

The kitsune matched the cat hybrid's pace instantly and quietly walked beside the ginger. Felix internally thanked Jeongin for the opportunity to get his feelings sorted and it was also nice to hold someone's hand while doing so.

Over the course of just walking through the corridors of the headquarter, trying to avoid anyone they saw walking around, Felix thought back to the things he felt while listening to Taeyong. The feeling of loneliness, which had clawed at his ribcage like a hungry animal. The cat hybrid noticed that it had disappeared now, maybe because he was holding Jeongin's warm hand or maybe because it was just a one time thing.

Wandering around mindlessly while not talking, was indeed good to mentally work things out, but a disadvantage was that you will at some point meet a dead end. That happened to Jeongin and Felix too. They stood in front of a wall at the far end of a corridor on the second floor. It was probably one of the few in the whole headquarter.

"Never knew they had dead ends here. Kinda expected the corridors to just be in a circle-like structure", Felix commented, trying to be funny, but when he turned to the kitsune he was just met with a hug.

The cat hybrid blinked in confusion before he eased into the hug and put his arms around Jeongin, slowly getting worried about his blond friend. He laid his head onto the kitsune's shoulder while closing his eyes, so he could focus more on his hearing and his nose in case something was up with Jeongin and he just hid it, but their was nothing out of the usual.

"Is something wrong?", Felix gently asked the younger, lightly patting the other's back. Jeongin didn't respond immediately and held Felix a bit tighter. The cat hybrid felt almost small in the blond's embrace, even though they were about the same height.

"I'm sorry", the kitsune apologized out of nowhere, confusing the ginger. There was no reason for the blond to apologize as far as Felix was concerned.

"There is nothing for you to be sorry for", Felix answered, turning his head to gently nudge Jeongin's head with his nose. Jeongin's blond hair tickled the cat hybrid's nose a bit, but the ginger referred from laughing.

"There is. I'm not taking part in the rescue mission. I'll just stay here while everyone else is trying their best to save the people that haven been captured", Jeongin muttered and then hid his face in Felix's shoulder.

The cat hybrid was silent for a good minute. Jeongin was right about that, but he had no real reason to participate in the rescue mission unlike Felix, who wanted to free his parents at all costs.

"You shouldn't be sorry for that", Felix replied, hugging the kitsune a bit tighter. He wanted to reassure the younger male, that it was totally fine for him to stay back, to stay in the safety of the NCT headquarter away from any harm.

"You don't have a reason to take part in the mission and besides you aren't staying back alone. There are other people who aren't participating for a variety of reasons", the cat hybrid continued, rubbing the blond's back when he felt the other's muscles tense while trying to stay composed.

This was the first time Felix had seen Jeongin get this emotional, so he did his best to comfort the kitsune, who was lightly trembling in his arms. It was one of the rare moments where Felix realized that Jeongin was indeed the youngest of his friends, the youngest of Stray Kids. Sure, he was a kitsune and overall a gifted magic user, but he was only sixteen years old kid. Taking the blond's age into consideration didn't make things better though, since Felix wasn't even half a year older than Jeongin.

The cat hybrid pushed those thoughts away and loosened the hug a little bit. Jeongin on the other hand continued to cling onto Felix, making the older of the two internally coo. He felt kind of honored that Jeongin didn't want to let him go, but he wanted to look into Jeongin's eyes when he reassured him once and for all that it was okay that he didn't participate in the rescue mission.

"Innie could you look at me for a moment, please?", Felix asked in a gentle voice while using the younger boy's nickname. At first Jeongin just held onto the other a tad tighter but then let Felix slowly rearrange their embrace, so they could look each other in the face.

When their eyes met Felix could see the distress Jeongin must be feeling shimmering in the kitsune's dark brown orbs. They reflected how worried, scared and guilty he felt on the inside. The cat hybrid had the feeling something stung his heart when he saw this, but it also made him wonder how long Jeongin kept quiet about it, how long he had hidden it behind a facade. Just thinking about this made the cat hybrid gently cup the blond's face with his hands without breaking eye contact.

"Listen to me. It's okay to not take part in the rescue mission. Nobody blames you for that and you aren't the only one, who stays back either, alright? Don't be so hard on yourself because of that", Felix began talking in a tone that was both sincere but also serious. He wanted Jeongin to believe him.

"Besides you do your hyungs a big favor by just being safe and sound", the cat hybrid then added in a quieter and much softer voice. Even though, Felix said "hyungs" and was sure the others would agree with him, he meant more himself. He wanted Jeongin out of danger at all costs.

Slowly, Jeongin's eyes got watery and his lips lightly wobbled, but he didn't move or say a word. Felix just smiled gently and a part of him really wanted to just protect Jeongin from everything that could harm him.

When a single tear made it down Jeongin's cheek, Felix gently wiped it away with his thump. The kitsune's cheeks were really soft and warm like he was blushing even though they weren't red in the slightest. Somehow when thinking about Jeongin blushing, Felix got the urge to kiss the blond, but he had no clue why. It was a normal reaction though, right?

"Hyung, can I try something?", Jeongin asked in a small voice. Felix quickly shooed away his previous thoughts and simply said "Sure" without properly thinking about Jeongin's question. Before the cat hybrid could fully realize it the kitsune pecked his lips.

In the brief moment where Jeongin's and Felix's lips touched the cat hybrid swore that he heard the word "mate" echoing through his head but only after he had fully realized what Jeongin had just done, he was certain that Jeongin was really his mate.

"You're my mate", Felix said to himself, but unfortunately out loud. The cat hybrid let his hands drop from the kitsune's cheek, but he had no idea where to put them now, so he just retracted them completely. There was this short moment in which neither of the two had a clue what to do or how to react, so they just avoided looking into each other's eyes.

"I know", Jeongin then mumbled, making Felix's ears perk up. "I- I began having a crush on you, but I was just overall confused, so I asked Hyunjin - or better - tricked Hyunjin into telling me. It's a siren ability to see who you have a crush on or a connection with and back then he accidentally said we had the same bond as Jisung-hyung and Minho-hyung, and Chan-hyung and Byungho-hyung and from then on it really wasn't hard to get what was going on after Minho and Chan said they were their mates and-", Jeongin was just ranting on and on.

Felix had to refer from chuckling since for once Jeongin didn't seem like the witty fox spirit he usually was. Jeongin seemingly noticed the cat hybrid's amusement at some point and stopped ranting at once with cheeks as red as roses. This made Felix finally crack and start laughing while Jeongin got more red by the second.

"You are just adorable, Innie", Felix laughed. Jeongin seemingly wanted to argue that but the words seemed to be stuck in his throat, so he just opened his mouth and closed it again, while his face became more red.

"Stop laughing, will you", the kitsune finally brought out after some difficulties. Felix slowly calmed down and then flashed a big bright grin at him, which let the fox spirit suddenly become dumbfounded. The cat hybrid liked the flustered Jeongin more than he had initially thought.

"Never knew our savage little maknae could be this cute", Felix cooed, just for the sake of teasing the other. Jeongin crossed his arms defensively and looked to the side but he didn't look mad or anything just more flustered.

The cat hybrid just looked at the younger, who was his mate, and kinda understood why he could never truly describe how he felt about the kitsune in the past. The reason why he was never one hundred percent sure if his feelings towards the kitsune were completely platonic.

"Hyung?", Jeongin's voice ripped the cat hybrid out of his thoughts and let him focus back onto the blond, letting their eyes meet once again. Jeongin seemingly caught hold of himself again even though his cheeks still showed a faint trace of pink. The younger's dark orbs shimmered with a little bit of concern which made Felix smile a little bit. The kitsune's honest concern got cuter every time Felix saw it.

"I'm fine. Don't worry", the cat hybrid answered to the question which was basically written all over the younger's face. The cat hybrid straightened his back a little and then held his hand out for Jeongin to grab. The kitsune naturally took the other's hand, intertwining their fingers automatically.

"We should go back to rest", Felix suggested, slowly starting to walk. Jeongin followed his lead, matching his pace easily. The cat hybrid had always liked having the kitsune by his side, but now he just wanted to stay with the other as long as he could. It made him think of something.

"Oh, do you think your aunt would mind if you slept in the room next door?", the cat hybrid asked, trying to seem casual. It was obviously a question with intention, but Felix tried his best to hide it. He just really wanted to just cuddle the kitsune all night.

"I think she would be okay if it", Jeongin chuckled. The sound of Jeongin chuckling had always been adorable in Felix's opinion and he wouldn't allow anyone to ever disagree. The cat hybrid showed the kitsune a bright smile, being glad about the answer.

"Good because I plan on not letting you go that fast", the ginger replied happily swing their intertwined hands back and forth in a calm rhythm.