It was another fairly uneventful day at Ye-Ran high, stylishly erected architecture encasing the continuous throngs of summer-school students that darted from class to class, desperate to beat the bell. No one wanted to be sentenced to the hell that was running laps in this heat. M-21 however, basked under the rays of sunlight that caressed his skin like the reassuring, attentive hand of a lover.
Weeks had passed since the 'incident', as Tao had so aptly named the weeks of M-21 trying to distance himself from his family. Thankfully however, the household had pretended as if it had never happened in the first place. For which M-21 was eternally greatfull.
It was as if nothing had occurred and everything had reversed back to its comfortable, recognizable monotony.
Only, it hadn't. Not fully anyways.
Yes, M-21 was no longer waging a desperate losing battle against his inner wolf, but something deep inside, on an almost imperceptible level, had changed. Evolved in its basic nature.
It began as most evenings at their household usually did; with the children lounging about Frankensteins living room, a wide variety of colorful treats(American candies Suyi had brought back in conquest from her tour in the United States) being passed around in wonder and enjoyment. Much to the houseowners chagrin.
M-21 sat hunched over the black coffee table, hand fisted beneath his chin in thought. He felt...strange. Not necessarily in a bad way, more of a foreign, 'I-have-no-clue-what-this-means' sort've way.
His eyes continually found themselves focusing on the group of excited children happily gorging on junk food, along with a curious, wide-eyed noblesse and nobles. It wouldn't have been all that abnormal were it not for the fact that every time M-21 looked at them a possessive, fond feeling rushed through him.
It wasn't anything overwhelming, far from it actually. It was pleasant.
A sense of belonging.
Family.
HIS family.
"Ehhhhhhh? Ajhussi? You're starin at us all weird." Shinwoo cocked his head to the side, a teasing lilt to his voice. "You okay?"
"Yeah, you've been looking at us weirdly all night" Ikhan heartily agreed.
"I have no clue what you're talking about."
"I thought it was pretty cute actually." Yuna giggled softly into her hand while Suyi openly laughed at M-21's obvious embarrassment.
M-21 heaved a sigh and decided, with much internal debate on his part, to just let the kids think what they wanted. He wasn't looking at them weird. Nope, totally not. Everything was as normal as always.
He totally wasn't trying to convince himself either.
"It's okay Ajhussi, you don't gotta be embarrassed." Shinwoo flashed him a deceptively supportive grin. "We're kinda awesome so it pretty understandable why you'd be staring."
Exasperated by the red heads teasing M-21 was about to shoot out a retort when he noticed something that stopped him cold in his tracks. There were crumbs of wayward food stuck on the kids cheek.
Cub, his mind supplied, groom the cub.
Without another word M-21 brought his finger to his mouth, then reached over to grab Shinwoo by the chin, rubbing furiously, while still making sure to be gentle as the kit was delicate and squishy, at the mess on the teens face. Here was his cub, ungroomed and messy. That really wouldn't do.
Finally satisfied he released Shinwoo and sat back, regarding the now spotless cheek with pride.
"Ummm...Ajhussi?"
M-21 snapped out of his parental haze to find everyone staring at him, each with varying degrees of amusement present in their eyes. None more so then Tao and Shinwoo though, those two wore their best shit eating grins with pride.
"Ajhussi...are you my new mom?" Shinwoo reached over the table and grabbed M-21 in a bone crushing hug. "Imma call you momma-Ahjussi!"
M-21 couldn't do anything more than furiously blush and sputter uselessly at the kids words, but at the same time he felt happy. Content to be considered a parent figure to this child he cared so much for. With a halfhearted scowl, M-21 reciprocated the hug by reassuringly patting the teen back.
"Call me whatever, I don't care."
A resounding 'click' rang throughout the room as Tao held aloft his phone, commemorating the heartwarming moment with a sneak picture.
"Smile momma-Ahjussi!"
"TAO!"
OooOOooo
Once again a sigh escaped M-21's lips, he had been doing that a lot lately, especially considering the sudden onslaught of urges that screamed 'pack' at him whenever he was around his family. Which wasn't necessarily a negative thing. It was rather nice to feel like he had a cohesive unit to which he belonged and could protect, a solid anchor that tethered him to this reality he had so painstakingly fought for. Happily fought for.
It was more that he just didn't know where these thoughts were coming from. Also too that Tao now had a mountains worth of blackmail material, what with him getting all parental around everyone. Save Frankenstein and Rai, those two were leaders. Protectors. He looked to them for guidance and safety.
Once again catching his mind creeping towards that unfamiliar territory, as if trying to sneak in those thoughts that filled him with such a deep, profound sense of happiness.
Yes, he liked feeling like this, so interwoven into a healthy, familial dynamic. But the issue was he didn't know why. Why these thoughts were only now shoving their way to the surface.
Not that they weren't there prior, but they certainly weren't so strong.
So lost in thought, he didn't notice a presence at his door until a hearty knock jolted him back to the present.
"Come in."
Carefully opening the door, as if hesitant to break it (which was a reasonable caution considering the person), Seira poked her head into M-21's room.
"Dinner is ready, we called but you didn't respond. We were worried."
"Ah sorry, I was...preoccupied...with.. Uh...stuff?" M-21 rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, not really sure how to go about explaining his thoughts.
Seira stared at his face in that way only she could, seeming to pick a person apart with a single, knowing glance. Snowy brows furrowed in concern as she regarded him.
"Something is bothering you."
It wasn't a question.
M-21's gut reaction was to lie, to quickly obscure vulnerabilities that could be used against him. But something stopped him from crafting some fictitious explanation, a twinge that rocked through his body and kept him silent.
She was pack, family. An equal. He was causing he worry and pain by running away from his thoughts and once again attempting to distance himself.
A whine shot out of M-21's throat, he didn't want to hurt his pack. He was supposed to protect. He couldn't protect M-24 and now here he was, miserably failing his family once again.
Hunched over in self degradation, M-21 didn't sense Seira until she stood before him. Close enough that her scent, fresh pine and something dark he couldn't quite place, comforted him. Muscles he hadn't realized were tense, releasing at her reassuring presence.
Cautiously, as if unsure how to properly position her arms, she gave M-21 a tentative hug, gentle as if he were a fragile piece of porcelain beneath her hands. When M-21 involuntarily shivered with emotion, a visceral sadness that tinged his tongue with something bitter and grotesque, Seira became more sure of herself and gave her embrace more force.
More feeling.
In that hug, she laid bare the possessiveness that mirrored his own. He was family to the silver haired noble who seemed so passive in the turbulent world around her. As she and the rest of his family were his anchor amongst the raging chaos that seemed to seep into every facet of their lives, he was theirs.
Pack.
Family.
A smile played over his lips as he returned the hug, filtering as much gratitude and love into his movements as he possibly could.
"Thank you Seira, I... I've been more than a little stressed with everything that's happened lately." The words flowed without much thought, thought would only make him falter. "My brain seems to be changing and I have no clue how or why. I'm...scared I guess."
Giving him a reassuring squeeze, Seira rested her chin atop the crown of his head. "It is okay to be scared and unsure, M-21. Everyone is at one point or another."
"Even you?"
"Yes, even me. I have a lot of fears, losing what Regis and I have here among them. No one is ever completely free from fear, no matter how powerful a being they may be. One can only rely on others to keep them from becoming subservient to it, to trust I suppose you could say." With a gentile smile she pulled back, acceptance and understanding radiating from her. "We are here for you M-21, we all are. Now, let us go to dinner before the food gets cold. We're having pasta tonight."
Following Seira down to the dining room, M-21 couldn't resist the joy rolling around inside him. He was safe.
He was home.
00oooo000
It was a rather humid night, moisture weighing heavy in the inky darkness as light from the bustling city beneath M-21's feet permeated the night air, shooting through the sky like frenzied fireflies. Air whipped across his skin as he leapt from building to building, tearing at his suit and face. It was a pleasant feeling, that familiar sting of wind that came with running about at high speeds.
Why M-21 was running, he honestly didn't know. He didn't know a lot of things as of late what with his instinctual side slowly becoming more and more an essential part of him.
He wasn't so afraid of it all anymore, and while he certainly wasn't welcoming towards the change, he was no longer trying to run away. He trusted his family, and his family trusted him. With that fact settled firm in his mind, M-21 felt at ease.
Having a family, a pack, was strange. But somehow, it was something he was sure he could happily get used to.
Pausing in his step, M-21 halted, eyes roving over the active city skyline, teeming with life. He had always appreciated the view that came with being apart of a metropolis, much preferring it to the stark white planes and angles of he laboratories that, for so long, was all that M-21 was and would be. Nothing more than a disposable tool to poke and prod.
The phantom feeling of a cold needle poking into his skin made him frown. He hated when his memories hit him like that, made him feel as he was right back in that hell.
A strong aura made itself known in that moment, a familiar presence that burned like a super nova. M-21 should have felt fear, or even apprehension at the sudden intrusion into his night run, but in all honesty relief won out against everything else. It was nice to have a distraction from the unsavory route his thoughts had turned.
Anything not to feel the needle again.
"Why if it isn't M-21, fancy meeting you here." Muzaka leapt only a few feet away from where M-21 glared out into he distance, not even bothering to acknowledge the new arrival.
"What do you want?"
Muzaka reached a hand to clutch at his chest, grasping at the black fabric in mock hurt before snickering. "Oh how you wound me with your coldness."
"I don't see why I shouldn't be cold towards you."
Muzaka sauntered over to sit beside M-21, legs swinging over the edge as he too looked into distance, attempting to see whatever M-21 seemed so focused on. "Eh, you don't have to be any way you don't want to around me, I prefer honesty when it comes to people. Had way to many people lie to me, fake bastards that they were."
That got a glance out of the younger wolf, a brief glimpse but it was better than nothing. Sometimes Muzaka forgot that beyond his wild, fierce reputation, most really didn't know the type of person he was. Specifically in M-21's case, all the man knew of him was that he had put one of his pack members into a prolonged sleep.
Oh, and that he was really good at sex. Couldn't forget that.
"Yeah, lotta people tend to be afraid of the whole 'super powerful werewolf lord' thing, so they just be what they think will get them what they want. Better to put distance between someone that has the power to kill you at their whimsy." He shrugged. "So needless to say when someone is honest, even if I don't like what they have to say, I can at least respect them."
"That...sounds lonely."
Brows raised in shock, Muzaka shot him a questioning glance. He really didn't expect the man to respond.
"Eh, it is what it is. I never had the luxury of feeling sad about it, too many people trying to kill me and everyone I care about."
M-21 was looking straight at him, expression unreadable. It wasn't pity or disgust, but rather, it was thoughtful. As if he was processing Muzakas words with the entirety of his being.
This wolf seriously was too damn cute sometimes. It wasn't often the werewolf lord was met with such earnest honesty. This man didn't care about platitudes or faces, he was blunt but not ruthlessly so. It was just how he was, and he saw no reason to change that.
"You look like you wanna say something."
"I just think that way of living is lonely, not being able to trust anyone. Only knowing what it's like to have people trying to either kill or take advantage of you." M-21 turned to face the werewolf lord, understanding and empathy in his voice. "No one should have to live like that."
"You sound like your speaking from experience."
"I am, I guess." M-21 turned his head back to the skyline before taking a deep breath. "I only ever remember laboratories and doctors who were far too eager to inject things into people. Mostly me. I was made in a lab, made as a tool, a disposable one. My comrades around me died and I was unable to protect them. I remember the constant fear, the wariness and distrust. It's only thanks to Rai and Frankenstein that I can have this life."
Muzaka considered him for a moment.
"I hope you are able to find that life, nobody should be that alone."
M-21's words struck like a punch to the gut, enough so that Muzaka felt winded. Something he had not experienced in an incredibly long time. What did this wolf know about loneliness, about the loss he suffered?!
Of having to cradle the lifeless body of your only child.
For a brief, but dangerous moment Muzaka wanted so desperately to lash out in anger, in pain. But as his eyes met M-21's he saw something he hadn't seen before. Something he hadn't known to look for.
There was nothing but a kindred spirit there, familiar with the horror and unfairness that sort of life wrought. The man wasn't saying anything he surely didn't mean a hundred percent, that he hadn't excessively bled through himself.
This wolf continued to surprise him.
With a soft smirk on his lips, Muzaka leaned back, ignoring M-21's stare. "You are quite the interesting person M-21, I'm glad Raizel has you in his life."
M-21 chuckled at that, seeming far more relaxed than he was prior. It lasted for a short while until he faltered, looking uncharacteristically uncertain. Nervous even.
"So, uh, I have a question."
"Shoot."
"I've been feeling really weird ever since that time you-" M-21 stopped suddenly, a light blush coloring his face as he turned in embarrassment. "Uh...helped me."
Deciding not to embarrass the man further, Muzaka let the comment go, focusing on the matter at hand. He was feeling weird? What exactly did that mean?
"Explain."
"I keep having these urges to... Take care of everyone." M-21's face scrunched up as he struggled for the words to convey his predicament.
"What do the urges tell you?"
"Pack, take care of the pack, things like that. I have no clue where the hell this all came from."
Muzaka blinked, amusement coloring his features as he regarded M-21. "Did that peacock ever explain what was happening to you?"
"Peacock?"
"Sorry, Frankenstein."
"Ah, yeah, he told me something along the lines of I was maturing as a werewolf."
Muzaka sighed in exasperation, clearly the idiot scientist didn't properly detail M-21's progression into adulthood and caution him for what that would entail. Which meant it fell to Muzaka to help.
"Well, that's a start I suppose." He said, clearly expressing his distaste at Frankensteins failure to do what I'm his mind was a simple task. "Basically, as he said, you're maturing as a wolf. What that entails however is establishing ones role in a pack, and since you don't have a formal pack as it's understood, you've integrated yourself into the dynamic there, adopting them I guess you could say."
M-21 nodded in understanding, once again donning a thoughtful expression.
"Werewolves are very social creatures, lacking companionship from ones own kind can be dangerous. As your maturing you'll need to be introduced into our society, else you'll end up reliving that battle with your inner wolf daily."
Eyes wide in shock, M-21 tried to comprehend what the werewolf lord was telling him. It seemed so far off, abstract even, and if he tried he could almost convince himself it was all some lie.
"Oh and since we're on the subject, you remember the way you felt when you let your instincts go?"
His stomach churned with dread.
"That's what we call a 'heat'. Newly matured wolves experience them often, the frequency depending on the wolf. Wolves mark their partners to protect them, as I've done with you. Being unmarked is dangerous, especially for one without a pack."
M-21's hand shot up to his neck as if it burned, calloused palm resting against the bite mark at the base of his throat. He was wondering why the bite hadn't faded and with the knowledge of why, he felt sick.
He was property.
Again.
A tool.
Vitriol in his voice he snarled. "What are you getting at?"
Muzaka looked completely unperturbed by his sudden change in demeanor. Instead choosing to stand and directly face the defensive wolf, he knew what M-21 might be feeling at his words. Tact had never been Muzakas strong point after all.
"What I'm getting at, is that you are becoming an adult werewolf. You are no ones property M-21, in fact this is the complete opposite of that. Marking isn't made to control or force submission, its more of..." His mind whirred in its desperate reach for words. "A promise."
"A promise." M-21 repeated, disbelief radiating off him in pulsating waves.
"Yes. That I will protect you to my dying breath."
The mans breath hitched.
"You...can't possibly mean that..."
"I can and I do, I wouldn't have done what I did if I wasn't." Reaching out to tap the raised flesh of the bite, Muzaka poured certainty into his words. "Yes, you will go into more heats, but I promise you that you won't have to face this alone. You aren't alone anymore M-21, I know you don't trust me and that's okay. But I will never lie to you."
Hand returning to his side, Muzaka smiled as M-21 turned away, completely obscuring his expression. He didn't expect the man to believe him but at least the words had been said.
"I guess..." M-21 near whispered. "That means I will be seeing you around."
Heh, again with the surprises. This wolf really was something.
"Only if you want, I'll never force anything you don't want on you."
Images of their last meeting struck through M-21's head, concurring that his words rang true. Even at his most desperate, layers upon layers of carefully constructed armor peeled back to reveal that vulnerable beast within, Muzaka refused to do anything M-21 didn't implicitly ask for first.
Tensing the muscles in his legs, he prepared to jump. Turning his head he looked at Muzaka one last time and tried to keep the blush off his cheeks.
"I think...I would"
And with that M-21 leapt right back into the darkness, something inexplicable and alien pulsing through his heart. If he were being honest, and he was, it felt good.
000oo00
