The crunching of the cobblestones beneath the jeep's wheels makes the tension in Jeno's shoulders deplete, causing them to sag on either side of his head.

They had finally made it back to Chanyeol's territory without any further interference from the outside world.

Once the engine was cut, the entire house was engulfed in light as the front door opened to reveal the inhabitants filing out in an orderly line.

Chanyeol and the others got out of the car, coming around to join the rest of the house who had gathered around the back-left passenger door where Jeno rested with Jaemin pressed against his chest.

The human glanced around at their faces, noting that some looked on in relief while others were still grieving Jaemin's disappearance. The hybrid groans in distance at the spectacle that his return had turned into, burrowing even closer to Jeno's neck.

Without needing to be told, Jeno reaches out and grabs a hold of the door's handle. Holding onto it tight, he swings his arm back and listens as the metal slams back into place. His action gains various gasps of surprise with many members of the house looking on with wide eyes.

Jaemin didn't need to verbalize anything, simply cuddling closer by pressing the button of his nose against Jeno's neck. He takes a deep breath, letting the lingering scent of Jeno's cologne fill his lungs. On his exhale, Jeno's skin raises in goosebumps at the warm breath of relief fanning against his skin.

They sit in complete silence for a few extra minutes, neither one of them all that excited to see what awaited them in the outside world.

Jeno's head falls back against the window right next to him, leaving the expanse of his neck bare for Jaemin to nuzzle against to his heart's content.

As the hybrid continues to regulate his breathing by nosing along the slope of Jeno's jugular, the human is forced to watch as Chanyeol takes the hint and starts ushering the others back into the house.

Only two figures remain nearby.

Despite the cloak of darkness, the house lights provide Jeno with just enough visibility to take notice of Mark and Jisung lingering amongst the cobblestones.

They both stood straight up, their posture better than Jeno had ever seen either of them possess before. Mark stands with his head bent forward ever so slightly, while Jisung's was raised high on his neck.

A small smile dares to pull itself across Jeno's lips as he continues to watch the exchange. Though he couldn't exactly hear their conversation, he had a fair idea of what was being discussed.

While Mark wasn't often in a position to announce his apologies, Jeno knew that when he did have the opportunity, they were always from the depth of his heart.

He felt proud that Mark had chosen Jisung as the first person to apologise too. The person most affected by his words had been the youngest and for Mark to take notice of that... meant that he was still in there somewhere, not completely consumed by the wolf.

Jisung bobs his head in excitement, his high-pitch laughter echoing out against the darkness, Jeno was surprised to hear it despite the metal surrounding him.

He watches as Jisung jumps up into Mark's embrace, wrapping his arms around Mark's shoulders and holding on tight as his feet dangle from the ground. His best friend looks a little unsteady on his feet, but he manages to accommodate Jisung's weight long enough for their hug to satisfy the younger.

A sudden burst of cold creeps along Jeno's spine as Jaemin's fingers gently trace over the expanse of his neck. Jeno snaps back to their shared world inside the car.

His heart stutters in his chest at the sight of Jaemin smiling softly up at him from his position against Jeno's chest. No words were needed to portray exactly what Jaemin wanted.

He was ready to come home.

Jeno takes a minute longer than he should have, letting his mind savor this moment between them for a little longer. His finger gently brushes against an unhealed mark on Jaemin's face, noticing that it was a small cut on his lower lip.

Jaemin softens at his touch, his long eyelashes fluttering closed as he marvels beneath Jeno's warmth. His chin grows a little heavy against Jeno's palm as he molds to the shape of the human's hold.

Though neither of them really want to let their peaceful bubble pop, Jeno has to withdraw his hand. Jaemin's eyelashes flutter open to watch as Jeno reaches out for the door's handle. It swings open, giving them both a perfect view of Mark and Jisung who had just finished up with their own embrace.

Jaemin's legs were being cushioned against Jeno's as they maneuver out of the car, Jeno slipping an arm beneath the bend in the hybrid's knees before his feet finally landed on the cobblestones. Jaemin remains cradled against his chest, his face still hidden in Jeno's neck.

Mark and Jisung keep their distance, smiling politely as Jeno sends them both a quick glance before he begins making his way towards the staircase leading up to the house. From over his shoulder, he hears his door shut and a gentle locking mechanism falling into place.

The faint orange glow of the headlights flashed against the house for just a second before disappearing beneath the black backdrop of the night.

Jeno carries Jaemin up the staircase and gently eases him in through the doorway.

Upon their arrival into the front hallway, Jeno is bombarded with a wall of noise that pierces the sound barrier.

Yixing and Suho are fussing over Jaemin, asking him if he was alright and if he had any injuries. Sehun and Kyungsoo demand that Jaemin describe his attackers in the hope that they can try to locate any affiliated wolf-gang. Renjun and Haechan are adamant on taking him away to the living-room where they have a bunch of comedies queued up to make Jaemin feel better. While Minseok and Jongdae just want to know if he is alright.

Chanyeol demands that they all quiet themselves down, going so far as to step in front of Jeno and physically growl at anyone who dared to try and cross his order.

Jeno somehow manages to ignore all of it, walking right past everyone to the second staircase ahead that leads upstairs to their individual rooms.

From behind, Jeno can faintly hear the soft padding of shoes against the carpet. Someone is following them up from the front entryway, someone who obviously respects the quiet that Jaemin desires.

Jeno tries not to smile too wide.

While he had never been inside himself, Jeno had taken notice of Jaemin's bedroom door many times in his own way passing in and out of the hallway. It was situated just slightly further down the hallway than Jeno's, but it was decorated by an overwhelming amount of pink and white stickers that covered the entire length of the door. It was just so simply Jaemin.

With what might have been seen as practiced ease, Jeno gently places the hybrid down onto his feet. He holds onto him tight by the waist, while Jaemin grows accustomed to the familiar weight of gravity.

Jaemin moves before his body is ready and stumbles back up against Jeno who remains strong against him, providing him with a pillar of unmoving support.

Jeno doesn't rush him and Jaemin takes his time before taking another exploratory step. It's far stronger than his previous attempt, so Jeno eases up on his waist, letting Jaemin shift his weight onto his door handle.

He slips inside of his room without any complaint, hesitating in the doorway before turning to look back at his savior. He is unable to vocalize his gratitude, only managing to offer Jeno a small tired smile before turning his attention to Chanyeol.

"Will you be alright by yourself?" Chanyeol wonders, pausing to stand just behind Jeno. "I'm calling a family meeting downstairs to discuss the boundary problem, I can leave him here if-"

"I'm fine." Jaemin manages, smiling softly at his guardian.

Jeno catches how Jaemin's eyes linger on him for a second before returning to Chanyeol, but he doesn't speak out about it.

If Jaemin wanted him to stay, he would have said it. Jeno wasn't going to force himself on someone who might just want to be left alone right now.

"I'll be downstairs if you need anything." He admits, nodding his head as he turns on his heel to follow Chanyeol back down the hallway.

His heart aches in his chest as Jaemin simply nods his head and gently closes over the door, never uttering a word.

When himself and Chanyeol manage to get back down the stairs, they are met with a wall of noise from the other members of the household who are all shouting over each other in the hope of being heard. None of them seem to understand that their voices are simply bouncing straight off the communal noise and going straight back to them.

"Get into the kitchen!" Chanyeol screams, somehow managing to break through to everyone in the entryway.

His tone manages to shake everyone out of their temper, making many of the wolves quiver beneath his authority before high-tailing it out of the room.

Mark and Jisung slip in through the front door, smiling sheepishly at the intrusion. Mark takes it upon himself to close the front door while Jisung comes rushing up to Jeno who still hadn't found the energy to move down the remaining steps.

"Is he alright?" Jisung wonders, glancing over Jeno's shoulder at the darkened hallway above them.

Jeno tries to smile, keeping in mind that Jisung was still so young. He had seen first-hand just how much Jisung loved Jaemin, and how he had often thought of Jaemin as an important member of his family. He carried a heavy weight on his shoulders that had seen an additional toil take root in the form of guilt, something that even Jeno could see.

He doesn't know why he does it, but he steps out of the way and lets the younger pass by without protesting.

"I'm not sure," Jeno admits with a tired smile on his lips. "can you check on him for me?"

"Absolutely..." Jisung nods his head, looking a little lost by the blatant request. He glances over the banister at Mark who still hasn't made his way towards them just yet.

He clearly seems to have found whatever it was that he was looking for in him, because Jisung takes off up the stairs two at a time.

"Come on Jen..." Mark coaxes him from the staircase with a gentle hold on his best friend's shoulder. "Let's go talk this out, yeah?"

Jeno takes a deep breath, hoping that the air will help quell the ball of flame burning red hot in his gut.

_______________________

Jaemin has barely been able to make a dent in the distance between his bedroom door and his bed before a knock rattles his doorframe.

He manages to muffle the groan of pain that threatens to slip from his lips as he struggles to make his way back to the door. He gets roughly halfway before all of the air leaves his lungs and he's forced to call out that the door is open.

Jisung slips inside with tear trails on his cheeks and two beautifully glassy brown orbs that stare straight into Jaemin's very soul. He's sniffling and struggling to stop the sobs that are rattling his chest. His eyes are puffy and there is mucus everywhere, but he has never looked more childish than right now.

It pulls on Jaemin's heartstrings.

"Hyung-" His voice breaks before he can even get through the length of his sentence.

Jaemin winces at the smile that comes to his face, the action no doubt reopening the scab on his lip.

Jisung takes a deeper breath before continuing. "Hyung, I am so sorry that I wasn't there to protect you."

"Ji-"

"No," Jisung shakes his head, unapologetic for stopping the elder hybrid in his tracks. "Please let me talk first."

Jaemin would usually deny him that right on a normal day, but tonight his ribs ache and his healing wasn't working as well as it ought to be.

So, he takes the defeat.

"I was the reason that you went outside the boundary!" Jisung cries, causing even more tears to curve over the slope of his cheeks.

They roll down until they curl over the sharpness of his jawline before falling to Jaemin's wooden flooring, Jaemin doesn't worry about the mess as he is far more concentrated in making it closer to Jisung.

"I should have just given up with practice, I should have waited until morning! I shouldn't have hit the ball that hard because then it wouldn't have gone as far and you wouldn't have been kidnapped!"

"Sweetheart," Jaemin heaves for breath, concealing his pain by gently placing both of his hands on Jisung's shoulders. He puts a little more of his body weight behind the grip to keep himself upright, but if Jisung took notice he never mentioned it. "None of this was your fault."

Jisung shakes a little beneath his hold, his eyes fluttering closed as more tears trickle.

"None of us knew that there were people on the boundary, much less that they would strike so soon..." Jaemin struggles to wipe away the recurring tears. "Please don't think that all of this was your fault. Don't let this unfortunate situation ruin the memories that we made while playing. I haven't had that much fun playing ball before, we did manage to have some fun before that happened, right?"

Jisung sniffles, but he manages to nod his head, wiping his nose into the sleeve of his new hoodie. "Ye-Yeah. I had, I had fun with you hyung."

"Good," Jaemin smiles a little easier, though the burning in his lip remains. "Because I had fun with you too..." Jaemin tightens his grip on Jisung's shoulder as his other hand gently nudges the boy's chin upward so they could hold their eye contact. "Can I tell you a secret? But you have to promise me not to tell anyone else."

"Always."

"When they took me, I was thinking about you the entire time." Jaemin admits, watching as Jisung's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "I was worried that you might have been taken too.. and that made me really scared. Do you want to know what I did to distract myself?"

"What?"

"I distracted myself by imagining us still throwing that ball around. And guess what?"

"What?" Jisung giggles, nuzzling into Jaemin's hold on his chin.

"I was actually able to hit the ball a few times!"

Jisung's head tilts back as his laughter howls out throughout the room. "But you were so bad at it!"

"In my mind I got better!" Jaemin defends himself, pouting lightly as the boy continues to laugh and shake against him.

"Thanks hyung."

"Now, give me a hug." He demands, opening himself up for the embrace.

Jisung gently loops his arms around Jaemin's waist and cuddles against his chest as he finally allows himself to breathe easier. His grip grows a little tighter, but it only makes Jaemin's body jerk once. He bites on his lower lip and almost gasps at the pain that it inflicts, he immediately releases the hold he has on the abused muscle but then realises just now how much pain he is actually in.

Before his own tears could fall, Jaemin gently pushes Jisung away, reminding himself to have an equally wide smile on his lips as he does so.

"Now go on," he encourages with a genuine smile. "I need to have a shower and you need to eat something yummy! Tell Kyungsoo to give you anything that you want, alright? If he has any problems with it, tell him that I'll fight him!"

"Yes hyung!" Jisung giggles, skipping to the door with a smile on his lips. "See you later!"

Jaemin manages to hold on long enough for Jisung to leave and close over his bedroom door. He listens as Jisung's footsteps echo in the hallway before he arrives at the staircase.

Jaemin tries to catch the tears before they can fall, but he's surprised to find that he's already crying. When he takes his hands away from his cheeks, he lets out a small gasp at the sight of them quivering.

The sob pulls itself from his chest before he can even think to stop it.

_______________________

When Jeno and Mark walk into the kitchen, it's to another wall of noise that draws a small migraine to the forefront of Jeno's mind. He keeps his mouth shut as he enters the room, being careful to move around the bodies to make his way towards the fridge where he knows a sugar beverage is waiting for him.

Mark sticks by his side as they swerve around people, even reaching out to grab Jeno a glass so he has something to pour his drink into. He steals a chocolate bar for himself, not that bothered if he is caught doing it since everyone else was more focused on fighting with each other.

"Knock it off!" Chanyeol's voice carries in the room, deep and menacing like it had been back in the hallway.

Immediately everyone ceases all conversation at the sound of it, though Jeno continues to pour himself a much needed drink. Even Mark has made himself comfortable on the counter with his contraband.

"What kind of people are we if we fight over every little thing that happens in this world?" He snaps, looking at each of his housemates for a brief second before moving onto the next. "You guys aren't the only ones who are pissed over what happened to Jaemin, this shouldn't have happened."

"You're right." Jeno admits, his voice surprising Mark who shifts to look at him in complete surprise. "None of this should have happened, so why the fuck did it?"

"We examined the boundary after you guys left, it doesn't look like they've been there for very long-" Jongdae pipes up from the table where he sits next to Minseok.

"It doesn't matter how long they've been there, they shouldn't have had time to settle down!" Jeno's voice creeps higher as his fingers coil around the glass in his hand.

The bubbles blossoming in the glass make him acutely aware of the building frustration in his stomach.

"We've become too comfortable," Chanyeol agrees, his arms crossing against his chest. "Before you two arrived we used to patrol the border twice every day. That stopped when you arrived and your parents were here. We got too comfortable-"

"We left." Jeno hates how easily his voice breaks, he places the glass down onto the counter and turns to hold Chanyeol's gaze. "We left because we thought that it would take the focus off you, but clearly something is going on out there that they no longer seem all that interested in anyone else. You heard what those dipshits said back there, they want you to admit that you're the Alpha."

"Jeno-"

"Chanyeol." Jeno growls, fists clenching. Mark shrinks back against the backsplash. "You keep saying that people are safe here, but the past few encounters we've had with outsiders makes me think that that's no longer the case here. Chase has his eyes set on this house in one way or another. He clearly wants something and I have a good reason to believe that it's you."

"Jeno-" Sehun tries to interrupt the conversation, eyes hesitant as he takes a cautious step forward. Mark growls a warning.

"No." Chanyeol declines, holding his hand out to halt the vampire in his steps. "Let him speak," he turns his attention back to Jeno. "go on."

"That six man recon team came before any of the outsiders even knew that Mark and I were here, Chase sent them to scope you out, to see if you were the one with the authority. He didn't get any useful information out of them because we buried them by the lake. So, he sends along ten dickheads that re-traumatized Jisung with the excuse of looking into Caleb's death. They obviously know that you were involved in some way otherwise they would have never come here - they said it themselves, your pack is the closest one to the heritage park. Now they know about Mark. Then he decides to send two goons to camp out by your boundary in the hope that they might stumble upon a wolf they could take to torment him in the hope of him giving up your name. We keep thinking that Chase is looking for Jaemin, but maybe he's looking for a reason to get at you."

No one spoke for a solid minute, everyone just continued to stare at him as Jeno took a deep breath after his lengthy speech.

"I stand corrected, that was the longest I have ever heard him speak." Haechan holds his hands up which makes the plastic bowl in front of him spin against the table.

"I second that!" Mark speaks up from behind his best friend, happily munching on his stolen chocolate bar.

Jeno remains focused on Chanyeol, the two of them entering into their own staring contest. Jeno chooses to stand by his words, he wasn't going to let himself back down when he knows deep in his heart that he's right.

Things were weird here and the only consistent thing was that everything occurs on Chase's orders which seem to always circle around Chanyeol.

Jeno had figured it out during his absence from the house, shortly after he realised that there was no one coming after him or Mark. He had planned to tell Chanyeol in a controlled setting, one that didn't put the elder on the spot surrounded by the rest of the house. But his frustrations had been bubbling since they had rescued Jaemin from the warehouse, even now in the kitchen he could feel the anger sizzling beneath his skin.

A shiver runs down the length of his spine when his mind supplies him with another wave of deep vocals, quieter than before, but still eerie and frightening.

Let me out, Jeno.

It takes the air from Jeno's lungs, forcing him to put as much distance between himself and the rest of the house. He turns on his heel and walks out of the room, passing by Jisung who happily skips down the stairs after spending some time with Jaemin.

_______________________

Jaemin sits with his legs crossed in front of the mirror in his closet and holds back his whimpers as he pulls wooden splinters from his neck with a pair of tweezers. He reapplies the pressure of his cotton bud against the wounds, watching as the previously white material is suddenly flooded with red. He had finally withdrawn the final piece when another knock appears on his door.

Too tired to make himself look presentable, Jaemin announces that the door is open.

He watches through the reflective surface in front of him as Mark slips into the room with a small smile on his lips. It immediately disappears when he takes note of the healing wounds on Jaemin's neck.

"What-?"

"Don't." Jaemin sighs, wrestling his arms through his favourite pink sweater.

It has a soft fluffy interior that always makes him feel comforted, which made it a staple of clothing for the days when Jaemin was feeling like complete crap.

He takes one last look at the wounds before allowing the collar of his sweater to fall back against his clavicle, his attention returning to look at Mark through the mirror.

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come to apologise to you..." Mark admits, though his words trail off before the apology could actually slip through his lips. "Jaemin, what exactly happened to you in that warehouse?"

Jaemin can't help but scoff, blinking the tears that burned his eyes away. He couldn't crumble beneath Mark's gaze.

"What didn't they do..." He whispers before he could help it. A look of anger flashes across Mark's eyes, but it disappears before he could say anything further.

"Why aren't you healing?"

"I'm part vampire," Jaemin explains with a tired sigh. "they used silver tipped wooden weapons, so it will take a longer time for me to heal than it usually would."

"Can't you take some of Sehun's blood then?"

"It won't work on me." Jaemin lectures, turning around so that he could lay against his closet.

Mark stares down at him, but it's Jaemin who gets surprised when the new werewolf comes to join him on the floor.

"Why not?"

"I'm part vampire, the blood of another vampire won't help speed up my healing abilities. It would be the same for Sehun if he was to get hurt, I wouldn't be able to offer him my blood to help him. It's one of the consequences that comes with being one of the undead, we can heal others but not ourselves."

"Maybe not vampire blood," Mark hums. "but might other blood help? Like you said, you're part vampire, so won't feeding help speed up your ability?"

"Are you offering?" Jaemin wonders.

"No!" Mark's cheeks burn bright red. "Jeno told me that you have all of these policies about blood sharing and that you only accepted his because you were in danger. I wouldn't disrespect you or your customs but I would offer my best friend up on a platter if that was what you wanted."

Jaemin can't hold back his giggles, though he immediately groans at the ache in his ribcage. At Mark's raised eyebrow, Jaemin relents and lifts his sweater.

A series of red and black holes were riddled along the expense of Jaemin's left side, not having fully healed just yet. Then of course, there was the giant blooming blue and purple bruise towards the hybrid's upper ribcage which formed beneath the burly man's fists.

Though Jaemin had never complied with their wishes of naming Chanyeol as his Alpha, he would admit now that there were times throughout his torment when he had wished that he did.

"Jesus Christ..." Mark gapes at the sight of the injuries.

Jaemin allows his sweater to fall back into place, though he doesn't allow the new werewolf to see the remainder of his injuries. While his left side was by far the worst to the eye, his right-hand side had also received some attention from his kidnappers.

"Maybe you should let Yixing take a look at you?"

"No, I don't want any of them to know how bad I really am." Jaemin admits, not that surprised to find himself capable of admitting his thoughts so easily to Mark. "I only showed you because I wanted to make you feel guilty for taking Jeno away from me."

"I deserve it." Mark laughs. "Though, in my defense I really thought that by leaving, you guys would be okay. I guess I forced myself into believing that way because I didn't want to admit what you already knew-"

"That you were running away from Renjun and Haechan like a chicken?" Jaemin finishes for him, earning a sharp nod of acknowledgement in return. "What is your problem with them anyway?"

"My own insecurities." Mark admits, his lack of heart skip or sharp intake of breath indicates that he wasn't lying, though Jaemin was tired. He probably wouldn't have been able to tell the difference even if Mark was. "Jeno and I fought it out so the dickhead is out of my system now."

"That's good." Jaemin nods his head. "I know what it's like to grow accustomed to another voice in your head, but I also know what it's like to not have it anymore. The wolf does what it wants to protect you and because you weren't exactly comfortable here, it didn't want you to stay. So it made you leave, but now that you're back-"

"Just for a while." Mark cuts through with a sad smile on his lips. "We had been making plans to come back for the full moon when Jisung showed up on our doorstep. We didn't expect to be back so soon."

"Oh..." Jaemin feels the tears return to his eyes. His vision drops from Mark's gaze to the carpet beneath their feet. "Sorry about that..."

"No." Mark leans forward, cautious, like he was scared that he might make Jaemin recoil in surprise. "Don't apologise for what happened to you. You didn't deserve any of it. While I know that I didn't cause any physical damage, I do feel terrible for the part that I played in hurting you emotionally. What I did was completely unfounded and I want to apologise for it. I'm not looking for you to forgive me, but because I know you care about my best friend, I do hope that we will be able to care about each other in the future."

"I love him." Jaemin admits before he can stop himself.

Mark shakes his head at the revelation, eyes twinkling in complete surprise by Jaemin's honest reply. The hybrid's eyes widen, his heart tripping by the honesty behind his words.

"I-" He stutters. "Th-" he pauses, groaning. "That's the first time that I've said that out loud."

"I won't tell anyone." Mark rushes to comfort him, thinking that Jaemin's lingering tears were because of his sudden confession.

In reality he was hurting, the bruises and the past electricity was making his bones hurt.

Jaemin takes the out.

"Thank you." He exhales, letting the sorrow from his pain escape with the air.

"I should probably go before he realises that I'm not downstairs," Mark pulls himself up from the floor, gently swiping at his jeans.

Jaemin can feel the heat of his gaze, so after swallowing the lump in his throat, he allows himself to raise his gaze.

"I won't tell him anything. But I want you to know that he has some strong feelings of his own about you. He's been different after he's met you, not in a bad way... just in a way that I wasn't ready to see just yet. I am ready now though. So, please don't go breaking his heart, okay? He's had too many losses in his life, so be a good partner to him. Give him the family that he deserves alright?"

Now Jaemin knows that the tears threatening to spill from his eyes aren't just related to his pain any longer. Mark was finally giving him what Jaemin wanted from him; respect.

He's right.

While Jaemin might not completely forgive him just yet, there was a strong possibility that he would in the future, for Jeno's sake. If it was for him, Jaemin was willing to do anything.

So, he nods in response to Mark's wishes. Knowing deep down that if he were to vocalize his gratitude then he would crumble beneath the weight of the implications.

Mark, who was always so overprotective of his best friend, was giving him Jeno's heart with the hope that he wouldn't mess it up like the many others who had before. Jaemin still needed to learn more about the man that he adored, but having Mark's support was something he never realized he desired.

And that was how Mark left him, sitting with his legs crossed on the floor in front of his closest with a full heart and a slightly less aching body.

_______________________

Jeno decides to sit himself down in front of the fireplace, the heat a welcome embrace that immediately brings him comfort. As Jeno stares into the flicking flames, he allows himself to feel.

There had been something else that awakened in him after Mark's attack, something that he had been shoving down far too often for it to be considered healthy.

He would wave it off as a troublesome emotion that he had absolutely no time for, not knowing that the suppression of this particular emotion would only make it fester beneath the building pressure that it possessed.

Jeno had spent his entire life without it, vowing at a very young age to conceal it, to lock it away in the back of his mind like it was a monster that needed to be kept contained.

"You can't let it control you Jeno." Emma's voice had been stern as her sharp blue eyes bore holes into the core of Jeno's being. "You can't let it have the final say in your actions. You need to be the one in control, you can't let it make decisions for you anymore, not anymore. It's not safe for you sweetheart."

"But I saw it!" Jeno's voice had been filled with emotion. "It was in the mirror! I saw it!"

Jeno eyes his knuckles that burn white in the firelight. They had been bleeding and bruised that time when Emma had told him how to control himself, the repeated circular motion of the bandage wrapping had been how he learned.

"Round and round," she would say as she bandaged his wounds. "Keep it bound. In chains of gold it remains, at the back of your mind."

"Jeno?" Chanyeol's deep voice snaps him out of the memory, but not from the flames.

"Yeah?" He wonders, keeping his eyes focused on the dancing swirls of red and orange.

"I think you might be on to something with Chase." Chanyeol sighs as he takes a seat on the armchair closest to where Jeno is sitting. "I also found it to be quite the coincidence that the entire time that you guys have been here, Chase has been sending his minions into our territory. Though I must admit that I never thought that it was because of me, like you said I just figured that he had been suspecting that Jaemin was here."

"I never said that he didn't think that way," Jeno explains, unwilling to meet the taller's gaze. "I just think that Jaemin would have been a bonus that he would have been unaware of until he came here for you."

"You have a very bright head on your shoulders, do you know that?"

"Well my university doesn't seem to share that sentiment." Jeno admits with a humorless chuckle. "They pulled my scholarship."

"Yeah, Sehun told me about that." Chanyeol huffs, falling back against the back of the armchair. "I'll admit that I was considering writing to them, but Sehun advised me not to, he has a plan and he wants to use me as a last resort."

"Interesting." Jeno bobs his head. "He wouldn't let me talk to them, but I had to break that demand because they sent the email a week before I saw it."

"Yeah he mentioned that too." Chanyeol explains. "But he also said that you were able to get that sorted out by yourself."

"They gave me until the day of the full moon." Jeno laughs at the irony, finally allowing himself to pull his gaze up from the flames.

His eyes land on Chanyeol's hand and finds that it is covered in a white bandage. The image of Chanyeol's wolf sitting amongst the rubble of the warehouse licking the wound on his paw came to mind.

"What else is going on...?" Chanyeol wonders, shifting in his seat. "I might not know you for very long, but I have noticed something different in you since you've come back. There's a darkness in you, one that you're struggling with right now."

"My demons." Jeno lectures with a small smile that might appear sadistic beneath the firelight shimmering against him. "They've been growing louder over the past few weeks, something that I'm not really excited to admit openly. I'm of the opinion that it's better to force them away so as to not cloud my current judgments."

"You're so smart with everything else," Chanyeol's eyes flash red. "but you're stupid for thinking that shoving this down is the best thing to do. Everyone knows that if you let them fester, they get worse."

"I know that!" Jeno snaps, swallowing the venom in his mouth. Chanyeol leans back in his seat. "I know..." Jeno tries again, sighing when it comes out better than his first attempt. "but I haven't dealt with it before. I don't know how to control myself when I let it out-"

"Let what out?" Chanyeol's brows furrow.

"My anger." Jeno explains, his gaze falling to his fingers which are shaking against his lap. "I've learned how to control it, hide it, keep it quiet, but lately... I've been struggling."

"Maybe you need to start letting it out." Chanyeol spoke carefully, his eyes raking over Jeno's entire frame. "Maybe it's connected to whatever supernatural being you are. Yixing and I thought that you were bound, maybe anger is your trigger to get it to release."

"No." Jeno shakes his head. "You don't want to see me like that," Jeno admits with a gentle exhale. "I scared my guardian when I was younger, she wouldn't look at me the same way after that. I might just need to talk to Kyungsoo, maybe your wolf emotions class will help me mediate it."

"Or it might drag it to the surface even more." Chanyeol deadpans, Jeno's jaw clenches. "Look, listen to me. I used to be in the exact same boat as you. I used to hold a lot of my frustration in too, especially anger that was rooted in my younger years. But that got filtered through when I accepted it and actually let it come to the surface, my wolf was able to gain control of it too."

"But I'm not a werewolf."

"We don't know that yet." Chanyeol declines, shaking his head. "Clearly there is something important going on inside of you. Something that makes you special, that gives you healing abilities that are far superior to human standards-"

"But I haven't been healing." Jeno admits, lifting up his shirt to show his bruises to Chanyeol who gapes at their presence. "Mark and I fought pretty hard for an hour before Jisung showed up on our doorstep, I still haven't fully healed up yet."

"What?" Chanyeol moves closer, pulling himself out of the armchair. His eyes trail over the blue bruise at the base of Jeno's ribcage and the gnarly looking purple bruise creeping through his skin along the left-hand side of his torso from when he fell through the coffee-table.

"What does your logic say about that?" Jeno doesn't mean for it to come out with an attitude, but it does.

Chanyeol ignores it. "This makes no sense."

"My point exactly!" Jeno hisses, throwing his hands up into the air.

"Wait..." Chanyeol whispers, falling back against his heels. "there might be a reason, but I won't know for sure unless we test it."

This peaks Jeno's interest.

"Think back," He begins. "Think back to all of the times that you've been injured and healed while you were here."

There weren't that many to count. Just the wolf bite on his arm and the accompanying skinned knuckles, and of course the time when he got so weak that Jaemin had to carry him down the stairs without Jeno's knowledge.

"Where were you each time it occurred?" Chanyeol continues.

"I was bitten in the forest and my knuckles were also skinned there, but I was in the kitchen when I healed. Then with the blood-drinking, I was in my bedroom. I healed by the time that I made it down here."

Chanyeol's face grows paler despite the glowing colours of the flames. "Both of those times, who were you with?"

Jeno feels his heart stop in his chest.

His eyes widen as he stares down at Chanyeol who remains on his knees in front of Jeno.

"I was with Jaemin."

_______________________

Jaemin had been in the middle of towel-drying his hair when another knock sounds against his bedroom door. He releases a small huff, having never experienced more attention than he has in the past few hours he had been at home.

First it had been Jisung who had come to apologise. Then it had been Mark who arrived in the hope of setting their differences aside. Thirty minutes ago Sehun and Kyungsoo had arrived at his door as a joint force to ask him if he could stomach anything. In the following fifteen minutes it had been Yixing and Suho who had shown up with their metaphorical doctor caps on their heads to ask to inspect him of all injuries.

Renjun and Haechan were now standing outside his door this time with small smiles on each of their faces. Renjun was holding on to a giant bag of marshmallows, while Haechan's arms consisted of a bunch of different share bags of crisps and chocolate.

Jaemin's heart swells at the gesture, but his stomach churns at the sight of them.

"We figured that you might want to slumber it tonight." Renjun offers him a genuine grin. "We didn't want to leave you alone for the rest of the morning. We figured that you might like some junk food and maybe we could watch some comedies on Netflix?"

"We could stay in here if the living-room is too overwhelming." Haechan chirps. "I can always run to our rooms to grab the necessities!"

"Guys..." Jaemin sighs, still finding himself immensely exhausted. "While I appreciate the offer, I really just want to do my skincare and go to bed. I've been awake too long already and I don't think I could stomach all of that sugar right now-"

"No problem!" Renjun shrieks, hiding the marshmallow bag behind his back. "We don't have to do anything crazy! Just chilling in bed and watching TV sounds really good right now."

"I'm fine." Jaemin finds it difficult to smile, but his lips still manage to curl up just enough for it to appear genuine. "I'm just really tired right now. I promise. I'll be down for breakfast at the usual time, alright? Everyone can ask their questions then, I just want some peace by myself for a while."

"Are you sure? Jeno told you that day they left that you shouldn't bottle yourself up, are you sure that you're not doing that right now?"

"No." Jaemin giggles, managing to hide his grimace at the bruise on his torso. "I'm seriously fine. Like I said, I'm just really tired."

"Okay..." Renjun's voice is quiet as he nods his head. His eyes rake over Jaemin's frame, though he doesn't take notice of the hybrid favoring one side of his body. "Well, we're going to be in Haechan's room for the rest of the night if you need us. Please don't feel burdened to come and get us okay?"

"I promise." Jaemin nods his head, thankful to see them at least satisfied to have asked their questions.

Once they have turned on their heels, Jeno closes his bedroom door.

He leans his back against it, a tired sigh seeping out of his lips. The tears burn in his eyes as he tries to keep them muffled beneath his palm.

_______________________

"You doing okay?" Mark's genuine concern makes Jeno's lips curl upwards in a tired smile. "I've barely seen you since we came back, what's going on?"

"What isn't going on." Jeno laughs, wallowing in the quietness of the kitchen.

Most of the elder members of the household had called it a night and went to bed leaving just the younger members wide awake. Renjun and Haechan had taken a feast of sugar up the stairs to sit in Haechan's bedroom for the remainder of the dark while Jisung was set up in the living room with Chanyeol occupying the room with him, the two of them catching up on their favourite anime.

"Talk to me." Mark whispers, cornering his best friend against the fridge where Jeno had yet again claimed another Coke can, his second of the night. "What's going on?"

"I'm struggling," Jeno admits with a huff. "I've been struggling to keep it all at bay. Them taking Jaemin has me vibrating with adrenaline despite the fact that he's upstairs and that he's safe. I'm pissed off that they were even able to get to him and I'm annoyed that I wasn't here to protect him. We never should have left-"

"Hey." Mark gently slaps his shoulder, forcing Jeno to turn his gaze to him. "You're not the one to blame for this. I was the one who thought it would be a good idea if we left, I'm the one you can be angry with-"

"We've talked about this," Jeno groans, pushing himself out of Mark's hold. "I don't blame you for running away, I'm not mad at you. If there is someone that I needed to place this frustration on it would be the guy who keeps making power moves despite never once showing himself."

"Chase." Mark concludes, nodding his head. "Yeah, I figured that he was a problem, but I'm only beginning to see just how much now."

"This entire time we have been thinking that Chase has been sending his minions here because he thinks Jaemin's here, but what if he's doing it to scope out Chanyeol?"

"Why would he want to do that?"

"Because Chanyeol isn't exactly who he says he is."

"You mean the whole, looks like an Alpha but is actually an Omega thing?"

"There is no way that man in there is an omega."

"Hey," Mark holds his hands up in surrender. "I'm not fighting you on that one. I completely agree with you. I felt obligated to do what he said when we first got here, like I'm assuming most newly turned wolves would... but I don't feel that way anymore. It's weird actually.. I thought I would feel it again when we arrived, but I didn't."

"Why?"

Mark shrugs his shoulders. "Beats me dude, I'm still not used to all of this wolf shit yet. I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm supposed to physically turn into a wolf in the next few days. Not entirely sure if I'm excited to be a puppy or not."

Jeno laughs at the statement, allowing himself time to ponder what type of fur Mark's wolf would possess. Would it be brown like his hair? Or a different colour like Chanyeol's?

He gets gently shaken out of his thoughts by his best friend who is looking at him with a sparkle of mischief in his eye.

"Go up to him." He whispers, eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

"What?"

"You've been worried about him since you left him in his room, go see him."

"It's five o'clock in the morning, he's probably gone to sleep, like you should be doing."

"Can't," Mark's lips form a pout. "Kyungsoo banned me from heating my milk after Renjun ratted me out. I was going to join the boys in their anime rewatch, which you are not invited to."

"I have a bedroom here, you do know that right?"

"Yeah," Mark grins, walking backwards towards the doorway. "but we both know you're not going to use it. Remember, we have to go back to campus before Regina's shift ends at nine!"

"I know." Jeno groans, cracking open his stolen Coke can.

_______________________

Jaemin stares at his ceiling, never realising that it doesn't possess a single error throughout the entire canvas. No blob of paint, no cracking, no missed hair from the paintbrush. His ceiling was in pristine condition, unlike his walls.

He had painted them himself, a mix of hot pink and pale bubblegum. The backboard of his bed was pressed up against one of the hot pink walls, which meant that he was also facing a hot pink wall when he sat up in bed. As he had positioned his bed in the corner of the room, that meant that he was also right next to a pale bubblegum wall. It was lined with plushies that Chanyeol had bought for him after he had introduced Jaemin to the wonders of Disney movies. Beauty and the Beast had been Jaemin's favourite, naturally his heart would gravitate towards the story which saw the main character fall in love with a monster. It was poetic, but it was also his life.

Jaemin related to the beast in a lot of ways, but the primary one was because of the loss of his wolf. Becoming a vampire had made the voice go quiet in his head, so quiet that Jaemin often wondered if it was still there amongst the cobwebs of his subconscious. He missed it. His wolf had been a friend who had held Jaemin through the trauma that came with the death of his family, had stuck by his side when he was tormented as an experiment beneath Chase's command. But it had vanished after he awoke a vampire. Jaemin tried screaming for it, begging for it to come back. But it never did. The silence continued and Jaemin's heart grew cold at the loss of not only his former life, but a close friend.

He blinked back the tears, trying to stop his mind from relaying the unfortunate comparison; his wolf hadn't been there from him when he was kidnapped. It didn't indicate a light at the end of the tunnel. There was a very strong possibility that Jaemin had really lost all connection with his wolf, two long years without shifting had made him question, but tonight had felt like a conclusion.

A knock disturbs the thoughts.

Jaemin swipes at his tears, turning his head against the pink sheets of his bed. He glances at the door, wondering if he had misheard.

The knock returns.

Jaemin groans, pulling himself up from the mattress much to the hatred of his body which spasms beneath the sudden movement. Jaemin manages to catch himself from stumbling by grabbing hold of the door handle. He yanks it down, ready to curse whoever was behind it to high heaven.

"I'm f-" He hisses but the words fall short on his lips.

Jeno stares at him from behind the threshold, brown eyes bright but riddled with tiredness. He doesn't say anything for a moment, simply allowing his eyes to fall the length of Jaemin's body, starting from his head and landing at his feet.

"You're favoring your right side." Jeno notes, looking him in the eye. "Bruises or busted ribs?"

"Bruises." Jaemin is shocked by how easily he admits it.

"Your lip still hasn't healed properly yet." He continues, his gaze hot as he stares at Jaemin's lips. "Did they use something against it?"

"Silver blade." He reveals before immediately biting his tongue. What was he doing?

"Why haven't you healed yet?"

"I haven't fed since you left." Jaemin continues, letting his gaze fall to the floor beneath their feet. "I don't-"

"Like it." Jeno finishes for him, nodding along. "I know you don't. Renjun blabbed about you not doing well with the blood bags."

"What are you doing here?" Jaemin wonders, shifting his weight off of his left foot so he can stand a little easier without drawing pain from his torso bruise.

"I just wanted to wish you a good night, I heard that everyone's been keeping you awake with all of their check-ins. I'm heading back to my room, but I wanted to see that you're okay before that-"

"I'm not." Jaemin admits, blinking rapidly at his own betrayal. "I've been lying to everyone."

Jeno reacts like how he always does when Jaemin's word vomit comes out, with a small knowing smile and a gentle nod of his head. "Okay." He whispers. "Do you need anything?"

"Not unless you happen to be packing a supernatural painkiller in those jeans?" Jaemin glances down at the black denim and tries to stop himself from looking too long.

Jeno laughs. "No," he admits with a shake to his head. "I forget it in favor of the bat."

"Bummer." Jaemin grins despite the pain in his lip. "So you're heading to bed then?"

"Yeah," Jeno admits with a tired sigh. "I'm pretty sleep deprived. I'll leave you alone so now you can get some sleep too. Rest well Jaemin, I'm only down the hallway if you need anything."

"Actually-" Jaemin slams a hand over his mouth, hating how his own body is betraying him right now. Jeno stops in his tracks, his bright chocolate eyes staring so deeply into Jaemin's that he feels obligated to speak. "Would you mind if you..."

"Do you want to sleep in my room?" Jeno wonders, tilting his head like a puppy. Jaemin's heart flutters in his chest.

"Ah no.." Jaemin coughs to clear the surprise from his throat. "I was actually hoping that you might..." He struggles to hold open the door, but manages to do it anyway despite the pain. "Can you sleep in here with me tonight?"

"Are you sure?" Jeno's hands press themselves into the wood of Jaemin's doorframe, his feet lingering on the boundary of the threshold. Jaemin manages to hold back his giggle, refraining from commenting on how Jeno is acting like a vampire waiting to be invited inside.

"Yeah..." Jaemin admits, nodding his head.

He offers out a hand, which Jeno happily takes to step over the threshold. Jeno gently curls an arm around Jaemin's waist as he takes it upon himself to be the one to close Jaemin's door behind them. He provides Jaemin with support as they begin making their way towards Jaemin's bed - a double sized material with blush pink sheets and a pile of plushies lining the far wall. Jeno doesn't laugh, or giggle or chuckle at the sight of them. In fact he gently moves Lady back to her place by the way to help assist Jaemin in laying down.

Jaemin curls into the mattress like a cat would its bed, a gentle hum escaping his throat as the plushies welcome him to their side. Jeno remains outside the covers, smiling down at him with moon-shaped eyes. Jaemin's heart skips a beat. He's suddenly thankful that Jeno doesn't possess the abilities to hear how Jaemin's body reacts to his very move.

"Do you have any extra blankets?" He wonders, closing Jaemin in with his blanket. He tucks Jaemin into bed, bringing the blanket higher against his back so he wouldn't get cold from the wall.

"Blankets?"

"Yeah," Jeno chuckles. "Do you have any extra?"

"Why? I thought you were going to sleep in here with me."

"You wouldn't mind that?" Jeno's brows furrow, his warm hand gently caressing Jaemin's pink hair.

"No," Jaemin melts beneath the touch. "Do you mind that I'm sleeping on the left hand side? I remember you saying-"

Jeno takes a quick glance over his shoulder, his lips wide when his gaze returns to Jaemin. "This is perfect." Jeno whispers.

"You can get comfortable," Jaemin nuzzles deeper into his blanket, allowing just his eyes and hair to be seen above it. "I know you don't like sleeping in a shirt and jeans aren't comfortable."

"Do you have any sweats?" Jeno wonders, glancing around the room. Jaemin nearly keens as he takes off his shirt, almost forgetting that he was expected to respond.

"Why?"

"I'm not wearing any underwear."

Heat burns into Jaemin's cheeks as his eyes immediately fall to the waistline of Jeno's jeans. His heart doesn't stop thrumming until Jeno starts laughing quietly to himself. He unbuckles the button and Jaemin's breath hitches. When he sees the black underwear he almost feels disappointed for getting his hopes up.

"Good to see that you're actually interested in what I have to offer." Jeno cackles as he tackles the blanket from Jaemin's hold.

The hybrid lets out a scandalized screech which Jeno quickly muffles with a palm to his lips. Jaemin's eyes are wide as Jeno slips beneath the covers, coming closer to ensure that he has some blanket covering his back. When Jeno lifts his hand from Jaemin's mouth, he's no longer surprised by the sight in front of him. Jaemin's lip no longer has a scab on it, his healing abilities having kicked back into effect.

"You're so warm..." He whispers into the space between them. He inches closer, long eyelashes fluttering against his pillow.

"Do you want me to turn off the light?" Jeno wonders, gesturing with his thumb to the small bedside lamp that Jaemin still had on.

The hybrid nods his head and Jeno shifts around to comply with his wishes, when he shifts back he decreases the amount of space between them. Though he keeps his hands to himself for the moment, Jeno does allow their foreheads to touch ever so gently. His eyes adjust fairly quickly to the darkness, which allows him to see Jaemin's eyes still lingering on him.

"Go to sleep." He whispers, moving his head just enough so he can place a gentle kiss on Jaemin's forehead.

"Hold me." The voice comes back so quiet that Jeno is surprised that he was even capable of hearing it. "Please." Jaemin begs.

Jeno doesn't need to be told twice. He brooches the gap between them, rendering it completely nonexistent. He takes Jaemin into his arms, pulling him so that he's laying on Jeno's chest with an arm wrapped tight around his shoulders. Jaemin's body morphs to suit against the side of Jeno's, his left leg rising just gently to rest itself across Jeno's legs. With his other hand, Jeno gently reaches down to curl his fingers around it, his thumb gently rubbing the calming circles that Jaemin adored into the hybrid's skin. Jaemin gently purrs at the sensation, nuzzling against Jeno's throat as he presses a kiss of his own against Jeno's thrumming heartbeat.

They settle down for the remainder of the dark hours. Jaemin feels comforted to be against the wall and Jeno, while Jeno feels comforted knowing that he now stands in the way of anyone who might attempt to come through the door for Jaemin.