Note: You really do have to go back and re-read Chapter 17 - I changed a lot about that chapter and you'll miss a really spicy Nomin grind session - so be warned before continuing! Now go grab your tissues, you might need them!

"Have you completely lost your mind?!" Haechan's scream echoed off the four walls of the living-room.

Renjun stood right next to him, eyes equally wide in surprise at his ex-boyfriend's demand.

Jeno remained frozen on the couch, his eyes locked on Mark as he lingered in the centre of the room. He smiled beneath the attention, pivoting on his heel to hold Haechan's gaze.

Jeno felt numb.

Not even the condensation from his chilled Coke can was enough to snap him from his thoughts despite the burning sensation along the pads of his fingers. Droplets ran freely along the curve of his hand before free-falling to the carpet beneath his feet.

"No," Mark countered. "In reality I'm the only one here that's thinking about this rationally! Those wolves came here because of me and Jeno. We can't stay here if they think that one of us killed Caleb. You saw for yourselves how they were when they found out that we were hiding someone!"

"We dealt with it!" Renjun snaps, grabbing a hold of Haechan's hand. Jeno recognizes it as a familiar comforting gesture that the elder had practiced many times throughout his relationship with Mark. "Jeno and Jaemin threw them off with whatever it was that they did. Those invading wolves were so uncomfortable that they forgot all about their reasoning for being here!"

"And how long exactly do you think that will last for?" Mark wonders, glancing over to Chanyeol who remained lingering by the doorway. "I don't understand this world." He admits. "I don't think that I ever will. But I learned something today, we are all in way over our heads here. I have barely gained a grasp on anything wolfy related the entire time that I've been here, only to find out that we're on the cusp of a war that I am not ready to fight in."

"Do you honestly think that any of us are?" Jisung pipes up. His words made Mark's jaw snap closed. Jeno watches as Jisung turns his entire body so that he's now facing Mark entirely. He stands taller, taller than Jeno remembers him being. "I'm still a teenager, but at least I know what I'm fighting for. I'm fighting to ensure our survival here."

"Ji, they don't have to be involved in this if they don't want to-" Chanyeol tries to reason with the youngest, but Jisung just turns to look at him with a scoff.

"They might not have wanted it, but they're in it now whether they like it or not." Jisung comes closer, his eyes heavy as he stares eye-to-eye with Mark. "You were turned against your will, we get that, you won't stop reminding us about it. But that doesn't mean that you can't help us out here. Fight for something, even if it's for something as simple as revenge."

"Jeno killed the guy that I needed to satisfy my bloodlust. I don't hold any cards in this little game of yours-"

"You think that this is a game?" Haechan cries, face bright red as he spits out his frustration-filled words. "Our lives are on the line and you think that it's something to take lightly?!"

"Don't lie to our faces." Renjun continues, voice void of any emotion. His gaze is less heated than Haechan's but his facial expressions are pinched just enough to highlight his own hidden frustration. "We both know that there is something deeper going on here, something that you either won't or can't admit to."

"Regardless," Mark huffs. He drags his hands back against his chest, leveling the room with his own sharp glare. "We brought them here. They came here because they sniffed me out, we're just lucky that they didn't connect Jeno to the scene-"

"But you mentioned him being there." Chanyeol reminded the room, making Jeno have to crane his head upward so he could hold his gaze. "You told them that your best friend was in the house, so they know that you weren't alone and that there is someone else here that knows what happened. I'm sure that they'll have questions about that when they reflect on our interactions."

"Exactly!" Mark yells, his arms falling to either side of his hips. "Which is why I'm telling him to get his shit so we can go back to the dormitory."

"What, do you think that you'll be safe there?" Sehun wonders, brow raised. "You'll be out in the open, without a territory to protect you. They'll find you."

"Look," Mark sighs, hand raising to gently rub against his forehead. "we all knew that this wasn't going to last forever. You all knew that when I was healed there was a possibility that we would leave. This wasn't supposed to be a long-time thing. We were going to leave eventually, why the hell are you all so unwilling to let that happen now?"

"Maybe because we thought that we had developed a genuine connection?" Haechan scoffs, his eyes narrowed as Mark is forced to turn back to him. "Maybe because we thought that after all of the movie nights, the countless hours playing games, or the lengthy late night conversation... there was something more going on there?"

Mark remained mute.

"So, what?" Renjun shrugs his shoulders. "You want to take the get out of jail free card now because things are getting a little tough at the moment? If you two go back to the dormitory right now, we will have no way of knowing what could happen to either of you."

"Us leaving will make sure that no one else will show up here unannounced." Mark speaks solely to Jeno now.

His best friend is still frozen on the couch where Jaemin had placed him, his fingers still coiled around the can that Jisung had brought him.

"If we leave right now, they won't come after Jaemin."

Jeno's heart stutters in his chest.

"You don't get to speak up for me." Jaemin hisses, standing up from the fireplace with a blazing fire of his own in his honey irises. "Don't bring me into this for your own benefit."

"You know I'm right." Mark ignores him, continuing to keep his gaze on Jeno. It's heated but there is no venom behind the glare. "We brought them here man, it could happen again."

"Jeno..." Jaemin's eyes are wide when Jeno finally manages to draw his attention away from his best friend. "There's no one at fault here-"

"He killed Caleb-" Mark snaps.

"To save your ass!" Jaemin yells right back at him, his sclera bleeding red from his frustration. "This isn't his fault. Stop trying to pin the blame on him!"

"Mark there is no way of knowing what could happen if you were both to leave right now," Chanyeol tries to grab ahold of the situation, especially since Jeno doesn't look like he was planning on speaking at any point in the near future. "You could be leaving for a bloody mess outside our territory. We can't help you in the city."

"Oh, and being here is better for that?" Mark scoffs, shaking his head. "Has anyone here even been in a fight before?"

"Knock. It. Off." Renjun speaks through gritted teeth, his knuckles shining white against Haechan's hand.

"What?" Mark questions. "Is that too hard of a question for you people to answer?"

"Jeno...?" Jaemin comes to sit directly in front of him, crashing to his knees right between Jeno's spread legs.

Jeno's eyes remain trained on Mark who is still staring straight through him.

Jaemin's hands feel cold when he gently takes Jeno's cheeks in his grip and tries to pull Jeno's gaze to him.

"Jeno." He calls again as a last resort.

Jeno finally manages to pull his gaze away from his best friend long enough to find Jaemin's eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"This isn't your fault."

"I killed him." Jeno whispers. "I killed Caleb and then I killed the remaining scout team member. If I hadn't done any of that then they would have ever come here. They would have never found you... Jaemin, my scent was around Caleb's body. They might not have realised it right now but they'll eventually register it. I'm too dangerous to be around you right now."

"No," Jaemin declines, shaking his head. Jeno lets his eyes fall shut as he allows himself the opportunity to nuzzle into Jaemin's touch. "No. Please don't let this get to your head. I'm fine. You protected me, you did everything to protect me like you said that you would. This isn't your fault, it's just really poor timing."

Jeno finally gains the confidence to open his eyes. Jaemin's tear streaked face is the only thing in his line of sight, his thumbs continue to gently swipe against Jeno's cheeks.

He looks absolutely devastated.

"I can't keep putting you in danger, I'm not going to stay here if I know that I'm one of the reasons that this keeps happening."

"You can't leave me." Jaemin sobs, his voice trembling as he speaks. "What happens if they come back here and you're not here? You swore that you would protect me but you won't be here-"

"That won't happen." Jeno denies, surprised to find his own voice wet with emotion. "If we leave, we will take the focus off of you guys. They'll lose interest in you and chase after us. I can do that for you."

"Jeno-" Jeno begs, but his sobs prevent him from continuing.

"Mark's right." Jeno sniffles, tilting his head just enough to fall into Jaemin's touch a little better. He tries to keep himself calm, but the building emotions were getting unnerving. "We led them here."

"No." Jaemin shakes his head. A sob rattles his chest when he sees the way that Jeno is visually closing off right in front of his eyes. "No. Please, don't do this to me."

"I need to protect you." Jeno whispers, gently coiling his fingers around Jaemin's wrists.

All the emotion that Jaemin thought he heard in Jeno's voice was gone, with nothing but conviction left.

For a second Jeno can feel the thundering of the hybrid's heartbeat, it beats rapidly against the pads of his fingers.

"I need to be able to protect all of you. I need to be able to protect you. Even if that means that I can't be around you anymore to do it."

"Please." Jaemin's voice is broken when he finally whispers what he's been keeping hidden for so long. "I can't do this without you."

Jeno presses a single kiss to Jaemin's left wrist before letting them fall from his grip.

The hybrid could do nothing as Jeno pulls himself up from the couch and drags himself from the room. His sudden departure made the rest of the room fall silent, instantly terminating all conversation.

The only thing left was the delicate sobs wrecking themselves from Jaemin's frame.

_________________________

"Look, I don't know what you want from me." Mark admits. He heaves a breath of frustration from his lungs as he shivers beneath Jaemin's harsh glare. "It's not like I'm doing this because I hate this life that I'm in or anything... I'd had my fun here but we need to leave. I'm genuinely concerned for everyone here."

"Yeah," Jaemin scoffs, crossing his arms against the chest. They block the deep red SM University logo, the lettering a bold contract to the pale grey of the sweater. "It sure feels like you do."

"Jaemin, they followed my scent here. Who's to say that they won't come back to try and win me over again?"

"Whose to say that they will bother?" Jaemin bites back. "I can see right through you Mark. You might think that you're doing this for everyone in the house, myself included, but we both know that you're running away from things here."

"You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." Mark growls which causes Jaemin's lips to pull back and form a small smirk of victory.

"No, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You're running away with your tail between your legs like a coward and using me as an excuse to get Jeno to follow you. Why can't you just grow some balls and face them head on? Or is that not your style after all?"

"I don't want to hit you, but you're making it really hard-"

"Try me." Jaemin begs, looking across the short distance that separated them. "It will make me feel better putting you on your ass."

"Play nice." Minseok slips into the conversation, his eyes narrowed as he shifts his gaze from Jaemin to Mark and back again. "I don't want to spend my afternoon cleaning blood off the cobblestones. I'll have Jisung nagging me for a month that I didn't do a better job than he did."

"My money's on Jaemin!" Haechan cheerfully declares as he jumps down the last few remaining steps of the front porch. "You pissed him off pretty good. One good smack and your head will come right off."

"Maybe we could hollow it out and use it as a candy bowl for Halloween next year, beats trying to find a pumpkin." Renjun continues, smiling happily as he throws Mark's backpack into the back of Chanyeol's truck with too much force.

It clangs against the metal bed and earns a sharp glare from the owner, who was certain his new laptop was now dented.

Renjun pays him zero attention as he comes to stand beside Jaemin. The hybrid allows his friend to pull him closer by looping their arms together. In response to the pull, Jaemin comes to slump against the magic user's shoulder and uses his new position to continue glaring at Mark.

"I know that I'm disrespecting your wishes," Jeno keeps his voice low as he speaks to Chanyeol on the porch. "I understand that you had hoped that it wouldn't come to this. I know that night you said that Mark was free to go whenever he wanted, but you were unsure about me-"

"Jeno I may not know what you are yet, but I've come to admire your strength over the past few weeks that I've been in your proximity. I feel honored to have been given the pleasure of knowing you, which is why I'm not all that concerned about you leaving anymore. You've proven yourself countless times that you're more than capable of looking after yourself and others. I just hope that you won't need your abilities during our parting." Chanyeol explains, smiling proudly as Jeno nods his understanding. "Don't let yourself be a stranger, okay? You know where we are if things get a little complicated, okay?"

"Thanks Chanyeol."

He meant it.

They could both see how hard this was affecting the other.

Chanyeol didn't want them to go and Jeno wasn't all that pushed about it himself, but Mark was right. Clearly there was a storm brewing that they needed to stand alone for.

At least their absence would ensure that Jaemin remained protected, isolated against any outward threat.

When they left Jaemin would be safe.

"Don't forget about your promise to me." Chanyeol warns him, before handing over his car keys.

Jeno takes them with a faint smile on his lips, recalling the lengthy discussion they had in Jeno's bedroom while the younger worked on getting some of his stuff packed.

"I won't." Jeno holds his gaze.

Chanyeol nods his head.

"Here's the rest of your stuff!" Jisung huffs, colliding his shoulder hard against Jeno's arm as he makes his way towards the staircase.

Jeno groans at the hit but Jisung never turns his head to apologize.

His feet stomp down the wooden staircase before his boots then start to crunch the cobblestones. He completely ignores Mark who offers to take Jeno's new bat from him. The clanging sound it makes after he tosses it over the edge and into the bed of the truck echoes off the trees.

"Let him be." Chanyeol sighs, head hanging between his shoulders. "I'll have a talk with him when you guys leave."

"No," Jeno offers him a small smile, eyes still lingering on the youngest of the house. "I'll talk to him right now. I'm in no rush out of here."

"Stay out of trouble, okay?" Chanyeol gently pats him on the shoulder.

Jeno nods his head.

"I'll see you next week." If he said that louder than Chanyeol needed to hear, than he wasn't going to admit that outright.

Like clockwork, his words immediately draw the attention of the others lingering around the bed of the truck. Their heads snap to look at him as he makes his way towards them. He throws his backpack over the edge of the truck and tries not to let his frustrations get the better of him.

He keeps his eyes locked on Jisung who seems to have made himself smaller beneath Jeno's intense gaze.

"What did you just say?" He whispers, voice unsteady.

"I said that I would be seeing Chanyeol again next week." Jeno explains, turning his attention back to his backpack. His fingers linger on the zip, before he finally makes the decision to pull them open. "I promised Mark that when he first arrived here, that I would follow him wherever he went."

"Jeno Lee." Mark scoffs, though there is a small smile on his lips at the memory. "I was dying on your couch at the time, when I asked him to promise me that he would stay with me when I stayed here."

"And I've kept that promise." Jeno explains, keeping his attention on his backpack. He realizes that he had brought everything that he could think of, which leads him to zip it back up.

Jisung's gaze is curious when he finally lifts his eyes to him. "You might not like it right now, but I promised him that no matter where he went, I would follow him. That's because he's still my best friend, despite the fact that he's being an unreasonable dickhead lately."

Jisung sniffles. "That's an understatement."

"I also made another promise." Jeno explains, watching slightly amused as Mark and Jisung pull themselves closer to him, intrigued by his words. "When Mark was holed up in the infirmary I promised him that I would look after him in this new wolfish life he is now in. So, to keep that promise, I made a promise to Chanyeol." Mark's brow raises, but he lets Jeno continue. "I promised that I would help him train Mark for the full moon. If he thinks that I'm going to let him transform into his fuzzy puppy self in our dorm room he has another thing coming. I promised that I would drag him back for the full moon next week."

"Dude-" Mark tries to interrupt, but at his best friend's freakishly scary glare, his lips slam closed.

"So, you're coming back?" Jisung wonders, eyes sparkling.

"Yep." Jeno nods his head, keeping his eyes on Mark. "It's the only way that Chanyeol would allow us to leave. I promised that I would bring Mark back for the full moon and I'll do it whether he's kicking and screaming or not."

Mark huffs out his defeat, rolling his eyes.

"So, I'll see you next week?" Jisung questions, bouncing on the tip of his toes in his semi-hidden excitement.

"Yes, you will." Jeno grins, finally letting his gaze drop back down to Jisung who is practically vibrating with excitement.

He groans when Jisung throws himself at him.

The youngest of the house nuzzles against his neck, taking in a lungful of Jeno's cologne as his arms tighten around Jeno's torso.

Jeno allows himself to let himself embrace the younger, pulling him closer and keeping him tightly against him. Jisung takes another loud sniff before allowing himself to pull away first.

"Okay," he breathes, eyes teary. "Can you pinky promise me?"

"Lee Jeno doesn't break promises ." Mark's voice rattles them out of their conversation. "We'll see you in a week kiddo. You might want to practice that throwing arm of yours. I'm going to demand a battle of baseball from you, the first one to send the ball flying without the bat wins!"

While Jisung was still suspicious of Mark, he still nodded his head and tried his best to smile.

"Okay," he agrees. "You're on."

"I pinky promise." Jeno stops him from retreating to the house with a gentle hold on his shoulder.

He offers out his pinky finger which immediately draws a blinding smile to Jisung's lips.

The youngest raises his own pinky and links them both together, sealing the promise and making Jisung's racing heart finally calm in his chest.

Jisung demands one last hug before he's finally satisfied and comes to stand right next to Renjun who looks sorrowfully at Jeno.

Though he doesn't say what's on his mind, Jeno knows. He offers his best friend's ex-boyfriend a small but genuine smile before he turns on his heel and makes his way towards the driver's seat of the truck.

Chanyeol had been nice enough to give it to them for their journey back to the dormitory, with the hope that they'll bring it back a day before the full moon.

Sehun had been the one to place Jeno's motorcycle into the truck's bed so he would at least have his own mode of transportation when they arrived back on campus.

"Do we really need to come back here next week?" Mark huffs as he buckles himself into his seat on the passenger side of the truck.

"Did you want Chanyeol to lock your ass in the basement?" Jeno deadpans, looking at his best friend with little to no emotion.

It takes Mark completely off guard.

"N-No." He stutters, earning a quiet huff from his best friend who turns on the engine of the truck. "I just don't understand why it's a good idea-"

"We can talk about all of your woes when we get back to the dormitory." Jeno announces, pausing when he takes a glance out the rearview mirror.

They remain sitting there, the car unmoving.

Mark dares to turn his head to face his best friend, only to find that the chair was empty and the door was wide open.

How had Jeno done that without making a sound?

He watches through the mirror as Jeno walks over the cobblestones of the wolf pack's front entryway to Renjun and the others.

Jaemin tries to hold back his surprise, especially when Jeno comes to stand right in front of him.

Renjun and Haechan grab Jisung and take a few shy steps backward as they tremble beneath Jeno's void expression, even Jisung seems unnerved by the sight of it.

"I'll be back next week." Jeno announces, but Jaemin had already heard his conversation with Jisung.

"Yeah?" Jaemin nods, swallowing back his tears. "I heard."

"Will you stay out of trouble until then?"

Jaemin shakes his head, surprised by the bluntness at a time of obvious emotional turmoil. He tries to speak, but the words struggle to come to the surface.

So, he simply dips his head and tries to look relieved that this isn't a final goodbye between them.

"Don't close yourself off after what happened today." Jeno orders and Jaemin is again surprised to hear it. "Let Renjun and Haechan in, talk to them. Don't bottle up your feelings. Let them help you through this."

"I'm not shutting them out..."

"Good." Jeno nods his head, taking one last look at Jaemin in his university sweater before he tries to turn on his heel and make his way back to the truck.

He tries.

Jaemin can't help but scoff, the sound making Jeno freeze in his steps.

"That's it? That's what you're leaving me with? A lecture about not bottling myself up after today?"

"It was pretty triggering." Jeno explains, his eyes incapable of raising themselves from the ground beneath them. "You'll probably struggle to sleep tonight because you'll be riddled with memories and you'll probably think that this whole thing is all your fault."

"I know that what happened today wasn't my fault."

"Okay."

"Really, just, okay?"

"What do you want from me?"

"For you to tell me why the hell you're still standing in front of me right now!" Jaemin hisses, feeling his eyes flash.

He takes notice of the blue that reflects off Jeno's brown orbs, which makes him take a deep inhale. He needs to keep himself calm right now, there is no time to get emotional right now. "You've made your decision, you're choosing to leave. So, go."

"I am."

"You're loitering."

"I promised Jisung that I would be back."

"I know."

"Then why aren't you happy?"

"Because I don't want you to leave, period. I wanted you to stay, but clearly you don't give a shit about what I want."

"I'm doing this for you."

"No, you're doing this because of Mark. You just don't want to be the person who breaks a promise, regardless of the fact that it could cost you everything."

"Will it?" Jeno wonders, tilting his head.

Jaemin struggles around the ball in his throat. "What?"

"Will my leaving cost me everything?" Jeno asks.

Jeno had come with nothing and he was leaving with nothing. But material things weren't what they were talking about.

Jaemin knew that.

Jeno seemed to have figured it out.

"Will my answer have any effect on this?" Jaemin looks over to Chanyeol's running truck.

Mark continues to huff like a toddler from the front seat.

"No." Jeno concludes. "But it will make my actions mean something."

"Ask me again when you come back." Jaemin determines, too fragile to play games right now.

He's gone through an emotional rollercoaster today.

He hates that Jeno is even allowing this to happen, but he's too tired to try and fight him on it. Especially since there was no way a different outcome could happen.

Jeno had made up his mind.

Jaemin needs to respect that.

He's not going to be a controlling dickhead. He isn't going to use himself as a bargaining chip to get Jeno to stay.

He's not built that way.

He can't do that to himself. He's tried to fight for himself before and it resulted in him transitioning into a hybrid. If he tried it again, he could risk losing Jeno completely.

"No," Jeno declines, taking another step closer. Their noses gently touch and Jaemin's entire world feels like it's been forced off axis. "Answer me right now. Will leaving cost me everything?"

Will it? Jaemin asks himself.

Will he force himself to hide the feelings that he had developed for the courageous handsome man that he's spent mere days falling for over the past week that they've known each other?

When Jeno comes back like he promised, will Jaemin be able to hate him for leaving in the first place?

Or will his feelings come back ten-fold?

Jeno who stands right against him with his heart wide open, his eyes glistening with an emotion that Jaemin can't quite put a finger on, though he knows it, has seen it before.

Jeno has looked at him with this look before and the tension then had been almost as unbearable as it was right now.

"No." Jaemin admits, after a short time contemplating. "You won't lose everything."

He knows deep down that he had fallen hard for the man standing right in front of him. While it may have been ridiculously quick and completely absurd, Jaemin allows himself to finally admit it.

It makes him feel weightless.

"Good." Jeno whispers before doing something that Jaemin would never be able to forget.

He closes the gap between them with ease and takes Jaemin's lips against his own. The suddenness of the action has Jaemin gasp in surprise, his wide eyes falling shut as Jeno's tongue takes full advantage of his astonishment.

Jaemin practically melts into the kiss, his knees wobbling as his fingers clutch onto Jeno's shoulders to keep himself standing. Jeno wraps both of his arms around Jaemin's waist, pulling him right up against his waist which makes a small moan slip from Jaemin's lips.

When they finally do pull apart it's to Jaemin's heaving breath and Jeno's bitten bottom lip. They stare at each for a moment, wondering (on Jaemin's part) if that actually happened.

He only snaps out of it when Jeno glances at the others over his shoulder.

"Keep him out of trouble." He demands looking at them each before his eyes return to Jaemin's flush face. "I'll see you next week."