Author's Note: I have been writing on the beginning of this story since the beginning of last week. It has taken so long to get it up because have been busy and depressed. It isn't the kind of depression where I don't want to do anything. It's the kind where I don't want to write. It's been rough, but here is the beginning of this.
I took an extra long nap today and dreamed the rest of the first chapter and bits of the second. I had today and tomorrow off so I can work on at least four chapters. Maybe more, but don't expect too much. It's still in the beginning stages.
But this story is extra special for one simple name. The main female character is named after one of my teenagers who tragically lost her life a few months ago. The character doesn't have the same personality as her, but she has her name. That was a simple way I knew I could remember her.
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Leo watched as Baye and Jeongmin hustled their boys to the departure gate. They were going on an extended trip to New Zealand for a visit as well as business. They were going to be gone for nearly six months, the longest they had been away from their friends and pack.
Life had been good since the showdown with the wolves nearly two years ago. People had forgiven each other and the pack had expanded. They were now up to twenty-five wolves. Extra houses had to be purchased around the neighborhood for everyone to live together. So far it had gone well for so many people. They had a family now to back them up.
When the news of the summit had come down, Baye hadn't wasted any time in getting things ready for her family to leave. She had called her parents and had informed them of their stay. She had talked to the members of F4 about keeping an eye on the wolves while she was gone. She hadn't been nervous about them being alone, but they hadn't been separated for so long. The children (there were now six – Jae Mi, Jae Kyun, Jenissi's daughter Hyun Joo, Hansol's newborn Han Byul, Shin Woo who Ji Hoo was fostering and B-Joo's younger blood brother Byung Soo who was technically sixteen) had been her main concern but since Jae Mi and Jae Kyun were going with her, her thoughts had gone to the other four.
Luckily the relationships with the Guardians had gotten better since the wolves had lived with them. There no more Darklings or Shapeshifters. They were united no more than ever. It didn't matter what their pasts had been. They were now family. And family meant dealing with the other's problems no matter what they were.
Not two days ago, Yi Jeong had called Leo to the studio to ask him something. Everyone had seemed to know how restless the former Darkling leader had been recently. He had been cranky and quiet, even to Baye. She hadn't seemed to mind she was used to his silence. She had continued to do what had always done as he had followed her around silently.
So when he had met Yi Jeong, he had been surprised when the older man had asked him to go on a trip. He was due in New York for a meeting with the Elders of each group since Baye was going to the International Summit. Jun Pyo was in Japan with his branch and Woo Bin was in the Philippines on a good will trip. Ji Hoo was going to stay in Seoul to take care of the family. That left Yi Jeong.
The older man had already asked Hyuk to join him, but since technically he wasn't an adult in the Guardian world he couldn't go alone. Yi Jeong was considered a special guest so he would need at least one guard. No one else had wanted to go and Leo was crabby.
So he had agreed to go. Their flight was leaving the same day as Baye's so he got to see her off before he left as well.
Hyuk seemed way too excited as they waited for their flight to be called. The purple head bounced up and down way too much. Yi Jeong simply laughed at the maknae's antics but Leo was steadily getting annoyed. He barely kept his temper in check.
Once they boarded the plane Hyuk settled down. After takeoff, he put his headphones in and went to sleep. Leo stared at his book as he tried to settle his nerves. He hated planes. He hated the sudden turbulence. He always felt like his stomach would churn out of his body.
And another thing, the person beside him irritated him. Yi Jeong had gotten three first class tickets to New York's JFK Airport. It was a fourteen hour nonstop flight, and he was sitting by someone who was so peaceful it was sickening.
She was asleep, her capped head resting against the window. She was covered from shoulder to toe with a light weight blanket and was using a neck pillow to support her head. She was very pretty with her light skin and dark eyelashes hitting her rounded cheeks.
She adjusted her position and turned her head with a sign. Her eyes fluttered open briefly before she pulled up the blanket around her shoulders. Her head was a few inches from his shoulder but she never touched him. He could see white wires coming from her ears. She was listening to music to pass the time.
After fourteen long hours, the plane finally touched down in New York. First class disembarked first. Leo met Yi Jeong and Hyuk in the terminal and headed into the airport. They checked in with customs and went to wait outside for their car as teenage girls took their pictures. It was always like this when traveling with Yi Jeong.
As they were waiting, the woman walked by him with about eight men following her. They were talking up a storm but she ignored them and hopped a bus. Leo heard Yi Jeong laugh as the men were left dumbfounded. She was obviously very popular here in the States.
Their car arrived and they piled in with their luggage. They were a tight fit and Hyuk was crazy once again. He was bouncing around in the back seat. Leo had to bop him over the head a few times to get him to stop, but even then he still talked the whole time.
They arrived at their hotel and were ushered to their suite. It had three bedrooms and a huge living area. The Council had gone all out for them. Then again, Yi Jeong would have made their reservation for something with this class. He wasn't going out of town without a plan.
Their itinerary was on the coffee table. They had a dinner function to attend that evening and back to back meetings the following day. They were going to be busy for the next two weeks. Yi Jeong hadn't been kidding when he had said that he hated going to these things. He had also cursed Jun Pyo for going to Japan when it was technically his job to come to these meetings. He was the son of Kang Hee Soo who was the daughter of Kang Yong Hwa, a Council member. It was his job. But since he was in Japan, it fell to Yi Jeong.
Leo showered and changed clothes slowly. If he prolonged it, maybe they could be fashionably late. Luckily the dinner was casual formal. He could get away with wearing a pair of Khakis and a blazer that matched his grey eyes. It was the one thing he had actually liked about his powers. They had changed his eyes with the amount of us. He would be blue eyed by the time he died. They all would. Well, he wasn't certain about Baye since she was the Wild Power.
Yi Jeong knocked on his door to tell him it was time to go. Sighing, he looked in the mirror at the dreaded look. He much preferred jeans and a loose sweater. In fact that was what he had packed. He hadn't known he was going to be attending fancy dinners.
He stepped out and a gentle smile broke through the annoyance. Hyuk was enjoying the attention. The youngest member was very excitable and in this instance it was fine. He was young and couldn't join political meetings unlike A-Tom and Yano who had been born in the same year and were two months older and two months younger than him respectfully. In the wolf world, they were already allowed to help make decisions. Hyuk wasn't in the Guardian world. He wasn't considered an adult until the age of twenty-three. He also wasn't allowed to marry until that time. Technically Jeongmin wasn't supposed to either since his birthday in '94, but his mate was the Wild Power. No one had been about to tell him he couldn't.
Hyuk bounced around Yi Jeong with that goofy look on his face. He turned into a big puppy when he was excited, and this time the puppy had purple hair. Leo couldn't argue. He had red hair at the moment that was way brighter than his natural black. Yi Jeong had dyed his to a simple brown but it wasn't as outstated as the other two.
Luckily for them, the dinner was taking place in the ballroom on the first floor. They wouldn't have to leave the hotel until the next morning when they had a breakfast meeting. Leo stuck his tongue out as Yi Jeong held the door open to their suite. He just wanted to stay home, eat a banana and watch the free television, but that was too much to ask.
Once in the elevator, Yi Jeong turned the middle man to him and pulled out a container of hair gel. He smeared it on his fingers then ran it through Leo's hair. Leo sighed as he let the older man do it. There was no use in fighting. Baye had done it to him so many times he was used to it. From her. To have Yi Jeong do it was kind of weird but he knew better than to fight the potter. Yi Jeong didn't fight often but when he did his words were lethal.
He finished just as the elevator hit the ground floor and the doors opened. Briefly Leo saw his hair swept out of his face and standing somewhat straight up. It didn't look too bad, but he would rather be in his PJs. Nonetheless he stepped out with Yi Jeong and Hyuk and walked to the ballroom.
It was already packed by the time they got there. Yi Jeong looked at his watch. They were on time, but there were Council members and ambassadors from one hundred fifty countries. Everyone was wearing translators so personal ones couldn't have to follow them around. Everywhere they looked people's ears were blinking red. They were given one as soon as they walked in and they could hear all the conversations.
They milled about for several minutes. Yi Jeong talked to anyone who came up to him because he had to explain where Jun Pyo was and who the guys with him were. Leo looked around to see all the people who were there.
The double doors to the ballroom opened again. This time three women walked through. Leo instantly recognized the middle one as the woman from the plane who had slept the entire way to New York. He had never thought that she would be coming here as well. As he looked at her, he noticed that there was something completely different about her compared to all the other women in the room. There was something wild, feral about her.
Without preamble she and her friends walked towards them. She gave a slight nod and looked to their little group. She smiled at them then looked back at the host of the evening. He looked a little shocked as well.
"Dasha. I did not expect to see you here this early," he said.
The woman smiled in return. "I cut the last one early. I figured I should be here just in case." She turned to Yi Jeong. "How is Cho Donghyun? Dae Jin is worried that her brother would show up."
Yi Jeong smiled. "Donghyun has his hands full being a full time nanny. I think he enjoys it much more than being a Guardian."
The woman on Dasha's right sighed. "Thank goodness. I thought Oppa would surely show up. He doesn't know what I do."
The young man nodded. "Let me make introductions. This is Shin Leo and Min Sang Hyuk but we call him Hyuk. Guys, these lovely ladies are Cho Dae Jin – Donghyun's younger sister – Benji Smith, and Dasha Chan. They are the three the Council calls when someone has to be eliminated or when a meeting to this scale is called."
"Why only three?" Hyuk asked.
"Dasha has the best of two worlds. She can easily go between the Wolves and Guardians without a hitch. Her father was a high ranking wolf and her mother a Guardian turned Darkling. She has both wolf markings and Guardian marks," their host said.
Leo looked at Dasha. He suddenly placed why her features were so wild. Her dark hair curled around her face, but it was her eyes that told the whole story. They were a deep gold, almost as deep as Jenissi's. She was an Alpha's daughter, but she also had Guardian blood running through her veins. Her Guardian mark was obviously on her collarbone but where would her Wolf mark be? Usually they were somewhere visible.
She made eye contact with him and smiled. "My Wolf mark is on my shoulder if that's what you're wondering. They balance out."
Yi Jeong laughed as Leo looked shocked for him. "You're a telepath aren't you?"
Dae Jin smiled. "Eonni can do many things. Eonni, we have to go."
Dasha inclined her head and allowed the two women to escort her away. They walked over to a few other people who were waiting on them and struck up a conversation.
"How long have you relied on her?" Yi Jeong asked.
"She has been in the Council's services since she was sixteen. She is our only fully trained hunter," the host answered.
"Hunter?" All three men looked at him. Yi Jeong was the most nervous. "Hunters aren't allowed in Council meetings. And why is someone so young a hunter?"
"Dasha is a telepath. She can tell who the killer is no matter if they are Wolf or Guardian. Wolves have natural barriers from Guardian powers. It's a checks- and- balances thing, but Dasha is both so the barriers don't apply to her."
Hyuk leaned over and whispered to Leo, "Does that mean Hyun Joo will have the same abilities? Her mother is a Wild Power and her father an Alpha?"
Leo shrugged. "I don't know."
Something stirred in him and he looked at the shadowy places of the ballroom. He felt uneasy all of a sudden, like something had crept into the room and refused to leave. If a full hunter was here, it meant things were going to get nasty. He tried to see into the shadows but something blocked him. That was very unsettling.
Even though he couldn't figure out what was bothering him, he was going to have to pay attention until he figured out what was going on. He was wary that someone was going to get hurt, and without Ji Hoo, there was going to be a lot of pain.
