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At this point of life Changbin is used to many things: for example, the way Felix always sleeps on his chest instead of the pillow, throwing one leg over his body in an attempt to be even closer, or how Felix pouts in his sleep when he has to get up earlier than normally.
They’ve been sharing a bed ever since they mated all these years ago, and by now Changbin has already memorized all of Felix’s little sleeping habits, so most of the time he doesn’t even pay that much attention to them.
Sleeping together with Felix has become a habit in itself for him: unlike the others, who still have their own beds despite being mated and sometimes sleeping together, Changbin and Felix built a big bed for themselves many years ago.
What Changbin, however, can never get used to is waking up to a hot, sweaty body sprawled on top of him, the sound of a dry cough still echoing in his ears even a few minutes later.
Tonight is exactly one of those nights, and Changbin’s first instinct is to gently touch Felix’s forehead with his palm just to make sure that he, indeed, has a fever.
It isn’t that surprising, considering that Felix took his sweet time swimming in the lake yesterday – which would’ve been a normal thing if only Felix did that in his wolf form or if he at least didn’t walk all the way back home in his wet clothes.
Changbin wasn’t there to scold him for that because he was helping Chan chop the wood the pack will need when the days start to get colder, and it was already too late to do something about it when Felix looked at him with those sparkling eyes of his, excited and happy to share this story.
He could only sigh and nod with a small smile as he wrapped Felix in a thick blanket, shushing his pouty protests with a quick kiss that left Felix blinking in confusion. Changbin didn’t have the heart to lecture Felix, not when he already did something and it was too late to stop him from that, but he tried to express his concerns in a kiss, hoping that Felix would still understand it.
And now Felix has a fever.
It’s not unexpected at all, but that doesn’t make Changbin any less worried, especially when he notices that Felix is shivering even with both his own and Changbin’s blanket wrapped around them.
“Felix,” Changbin calls him quietly, not wanting to wake up the rest of the pack. “Lixie…”
Predictably, Felix doesn’t react to that at all: he’s never been a light sleeper, and when he gets sick he barely understands what’s happening around him and spends most of the time half-asleep.
Changbin knows that, so right now he carefully untangles Felix’s limbs from his body, which isn’t such an easy task because Felix is twice as clingy tonight as he usually is, and lays him on the bed, pulling the blankets over him and letting him sleep for some more time while he tiptoes out of the room.
The house is quiet and dark at this hour, but Changbin has every corner and every floorboard memorized, so he quickly makes it to the kitchen and starts the fire to boil some water. They’re out of most of the potions (ironically, Felix was supposed to start making new ones today), and Changbin can only hope that his improvised herb drink will somehow help to at least ease Felix’s fever.
He’s never been the stealthiest of them, and the sounds he inevitably makes while searching for the herbs that help with the flu among Felix’s impressive collection of dry and fresh herbs are loud enough to wake up Minho.
“Why are you up at this hour?” Minho asks, leaning on the doorframe as he rubs his eyes sleepily. “Is everything alright?”
“Felix has a fever,” Changbin responds shortly.
He adds catnip and meadowsweet into the mug and then pours hot water in it, nodding to himself when the strong smell starts to fill the kitchen.
Changbin half-expects Minho to say that he’s doing everything wrong, because even though he spends a lot of time by Felix’s side helping him pick and dry all those herbs when he isn’t helping Chan or hunting with Jisung, somehow, Minho is way more natural and skilled when it comes to such things.
Minho, however, doesn’t say anything: he simply hums at Changbin’s very eloquent explanation and lets him leave the kitchen without any more questions, for which Changbin is grateful.
He knows that Minho will most likely not be able to fall back asleep, and he does feel slightly guilty for that, but he also knows that Minho isn’t going to be annoyed by this inconvenience – if anything, he’ll probably make an extra effort to prepare nutritious breakfast so that Felix can get better soon.
It’s an unspoken rule of their pack: when one of them gets down with a cold or something more serious, there is no blame or guilt put on their shoulders, and even if things are hard, they make sure to surround this person with care and support.
Tonight, Minho plays the role of the pack leader because Chan and Jisung are yet to return from their hunt, and Changbin once again thanks the spirits for blessing them with Minho’s presence in the pack. He may not say it as often as he should, but Changbin truly believes that they’re extremely lucky to have Minho as their brother.
When Changbin returns into the room, Felix is tossing in their bed, still coughing and all but gasping for air, both blankets thrown onto the floor, voice hoarse and even lower than usually.
Changbin almost drops the mug and the candle at the sight, because he dared to hope that things wouldn’t get worse in such a short time span, but he somehow manages to stay collected at least on the outside despite the poisoning feeling of worry gripping at his heart.
He quickly sets the candle on the table next to Felix’s scabbard and strides towards the bed, holding the mug tightly as he kicks the blankets out of the way with his foot.
“Felix, hey, wake up,” Changbin shakes his shoulder, firm in his actions this time. “You need to wake up right now, Lix.”
Felix only mumbles something incoherent at that, but he does open his eyes, looking up at Changbin in pure confusion before another cough lets him know what exactly is happening with him.
He groans once he spots the mug in Changbin’s hands and buries his head under the pillow: Felix never liked herbs if he had to take them himself even though he is the pack’s healer.
Felix rarely gets sick, but when he does, it’s always serious and he spends days tied to bed, and more often than not Changbin has to coax him to eat and then wipe away all the sweat on his body after he inevitably throws up less than an hour later.
This time it isn’t some seasonal flu and, thankfully, not something worse, but even knowing the reason why Felix ended up in a state like this doesn’t make Changbin any less worried.
He helps Felix sit up and holds the mug next to his lips while Felix takes small sips, grimacing at the bitter taste of the drink. The mug is still hot, but Changbin ignores the itchy burning feeling on his palms that can be felt even with how calloused his hands are.
“Ugh— It’s so hot,” Felix grumbles with his eyes half-closed and almost knocks the mug out of Changbin’s hands as he falls back onto the bed.
Changbin has to stop him from stripping out of his night shirt and pants, mostly because he knows that soon Felix is going to whine about how cold their house is again, but also because he knows how important it is to let all the bad things leave one’s body through sweat in order to start getting better.
He spends the rest of the night by Felix’s side, gently wiping his body with a wet washcloth every now and then while Felix keeps tossing in his dreamless sleep and coughing all the time.
At some point, Minho enters the room, his steps are quiet so that no one else wakes up, but he still makes his presence known with a single knock on the door to avoid startling Changbin too.
“How is he?” Minho whispers as he hands Changbin a new washcloth and a bowl with warm water to replace the previous one.
“It has to get worse before he’ll start to get better,” Changbin notes grimly. “If only we had any potions left or at least some elderberry… but he just had to wait for the waxing moon, and now all I can do for him is this.”
“I can stay with him,” Minho places his hands on Changbin’s tensed shoulders, making him flinch slightly. “If you get elderberry, Seungmin and I will try to brew something to help Lix.”
The offer is tempting: while Minho and Seungmin aren’t great at making potions, they can still brew quite decent things because Felix taught them both in case something would happen to him.
However, Changbin takes a few moments to contemplate that, because he doesn’t want to leave Felix like this, especially knowing that he will most likely be a crying mess by the time Changbin returns.
Felix is a strong wolf, that’s how the life hazards shaped him throughout the years, but deep inside he’s still a child who craves the love and care he never received from his original pack. If Felix wakes up in a state like this, when his brain is clouded and his body feels like it’s falling apart, and realizes that both Changbin and Chan are away and potentially in danger, he’ll sure be a handful to deal with.
Changbin’s heart clenches at this thought, but he knows that it’s the only right choice if he wants Felix to feel better soon, so he nods, squeezing Minho’s hand lightly to let him know how much he appreciates this.
The sun is only starting to rise, and the ground is still damp after yesterday’s rain, but none of those things bother Changbin, because the only thing he has in mind is finding the elderberry trees for Felix. They do grow in the wild, and Changbin knows where to find them, but that would mean hours of running through the forest, so he makes a risky decision to sneak into a garden linked to a rich mansion not too far from their house.
It still takes him almost an hour to get there, and he spots two armed guards walking back and forth, who will not hesitate to shoot their arrows at the faintest sound, but even that doesn’t stop Changbin.
He carefully, slowly crawls over the stone fence in his human form, holding his breath and calculating the time for his jump so that it happens at the same time the guards stop to talk with each other for a moment.
Once inside, Changbin hides behind the bushes until they both leave and only then quietly runs up to the elderberry tree, where he picks as many berries as he can fit in a small bag that he later ties to his belt.
Somehow, he manages to slip out of the garden unnoticed, and by the time he returns to their house the sun is already high up in the sky. Hyunjin greets him on the porch, but he doesn’t say anything about Felix, instead goes back to honing his knife as soon as Changbin gives him a short nod, and Changbin takes it as a good sign.
He knows that he would’ve felt it anyway if something bad happened to his mate, because the blood connection between them helps them all notice such things with the same accuracy that the pack leader has, but Hyunjin would’ve also immediately delivered the news if Felix’s state got much worse.
“I’m not hungry,” he hears Felix’s weak voice and sighs in relief as he opens the door to their room.
Jeongin sits on the edge of the bed with a bowl of soup in his hands, and he looks like he’s one second away from placing this bowl on Felix’s head. Jeongin’s never been the most patient when it came to dealing with people despite having fox blood in him, which is supposed to make his patience stronger, and Changbin perfectly understands how difficult it must be for him to look after Felix.
“Thank you for helping out, Innie,” Changbin says, ruffling his hair and making Jeongin huff at that. “I’ll handle it from now on, can you please give this to Minho?”
“Where have you been?” Felix asks with a cough once Jeongin leaves the room.
“Searching for elderberries,” Changbin decides to give him an honest response. “We ran out of those, but you need it to get better. How are you feeling?”
He reaches his hand to touch Felix’s forehead and hums upon noticing that his fever isn’t as bad as it was a few hours ago. Changbin suspects that it’s because Minho did something while he was away, but doesn’t voice that, instead chuckles when Felix complains that he isn’t a kid to be treated like that.
Changbin doesn’t say that most of the time Felix all but demands to be treated like this either, because he knows that it’s the stubborn wolf speaking in him, the one that hates being a burden for the pack.
“You have to eat this soup then if you want us to stop treating you like this,” Changbin shrugs, pretends to be unbothered, that Felix’s pout has no effect on him. “It’s your choice.”
“Give me that soup.”
Changbin hides his grin behind the sleeve of his shirt when Felix grabs the bowl from his hands with a snort and prays that Felix never finds out where exactly he got those elderberries.
////
“They’ll be back soon, don’t worry about it so much.”
“I’m not worried,” Changbin protests with a shrug.
“And I am not mated with Hyunjin,” Seungmin rolls his eyes and lightly elbows Changbin to make him scoot over. “Move.”
Changbin lets out a low laugh as he watches Seungmin join him on the sunlit porch, where for the past half an hour he’s been sorting through the herbs they picked and dried together with Felix a few weeks ago.
He believed that he did a pretty decent job hiding his worries from everyone, but, apparently, he’s not as discreet as he would like to be.
“Weren’t you supposed to be fishing with Jeongin?” Changbin asks in an attempt to change the subject.
Seungmin just hums in response and catches his wrist before he drops a handful of dried berries into the wooden bowl.
When Changbin looks down, frowning in confusion, he notices that one of the berries is actually poisonous and he nearly missed it. Of course, Felix might’ve had a plan for this specific lonely berry too, but Changbin doubts that: if anything, he feels dumb for letting feelings cloud his usually clear head.
“Jeongin said that I’m annoying him, and he’s better at fishing than me, so I decided to come bother you instead,” Seungmin laughs as he pretends that nothing happened.
Changbin is grateful that Seungmin doesn’t comment on that, because they all know what being worried sick about your mate while not knowing anything about where they are or whether they’re even still alive at this point is like.
“I just wish that he at least told me where they were going,” Changbin sighs, throwing away some more poisonous berries. “They were supposed to return yesterday.”
“I know,” Seungmin places his hand on Changbin’s shoulder. “I’m worried, too.”
Changbin looks up at Seungmin and sees that his eyes aren’t sparkling with curiosity and joy like they usually do when Hyunjin is around, like they do on peaceful days. Instead, Seungmin’s eyes are cold and almost lifeless, and Changbin thinks for a second that he really admires Seungmin for being so strong no matter what happens to their pack.
If anyone has the right to actually be worried right now, it’s Seungmin, because Hyunjin, Minho and Jisung went on a hunt almost a week ago and still haven’t returned. It doesn’t mean anything yet, doesn’t mean that something bad necessarily happened to them, but Changbin knows that he would’ve probably eaten himself alive if he lost Felix like that for a whole damn week.
Chan was actually supposed to set off on a hunt with Jisung, but the pack couldn’t wait for them to come back, not with their limited food resources, so he ended up taking Felix with him, because Felix volunteered to go the moment Chan frowned, so the leader didn’t even have to say anything.
Changbin volunteered as well, but couldn’t disobey when Chan told him to stay in case he would need to protect the pack – it’s not that Seungmin and Jeongin aren’t capable of defending themselves, but you can never be too careful with the hunters constantly lurking around.
Felix promised to be careful, they both did, but the more time passes without any of the pack members returning, the more nervous and impatient Changbin becomes.
“I want to go out there and look for them,” Changbin says as he clenches his fists, making Seungmin sigh at the sight. “What if they’re in trouble?”
“We must wait until at least one of them returns,” Seungmin insists, though it’s clear as day that saying this pains him too. “That was Chan’s order, we have to trust him with this.”
Changbin can only growl at this, because he wishes he was there on a hunt, not Felix or Minho, who aren’t even used to it because they spend most of their time taking care of the house – not because they’re weak, but because they don’t like fighting, chasing and cornering prey, killing.
They would both much rather sit here on this damn porch and sort these herbs, but for some reason it’s Changbin who’s doing it right now, while Felix and Minho are spirits know where.
All Changbin knows is that Minho, Hyunjin and Jisung went to search for new hunting sources outside of their own forest, so for them taking so much time to come back home made sense. The path they chose led through the town, and this plan was already dangerous in itself because none of them mastered the art of fooling other humans into believing they weren’t wolves.
It was a risky idea suggested by Jisung, but after a few days of thinking it through and discussing it with the pack Chan made his decision and allowed them to go and explore that new area.
They were almost starving, because all they had was a crate of vegetables, so it wasn’t exactly the time to be picky and careful, not even after Changbin brought home a few dead rabbits.
Everyone understood that it wouldn’t help them survive for more than a week, that they had no other choice, and the only thing that was left for them was hope and faith in each other.
Changbin tried to go with them, too, but Chan insisted on him staying – both to defend the pack if necessary and to occasionally chase down a rabbit or two during his own short hunts not too deep in the forest.
Now that it’s just the three of them left in the house, Changbin almost starts to go crazy: he hoped that working on herbs would help him calm down at least a little, but all it did was fuel his worries even more.
It’s not him who should be doing this.
“Where are you going?” Seungmin asks, startled, when Changbin angrily throws dried hemlock back on the porch and grabs his spear. “Changbin!”
“On a hunt,” he responds shortly, only because he doesn’t want to add more to Seungmin’s worries if he doesn’t return in the next few hours.
Seungmin is really admirable, because despite living with this constant fear of having his mate taken away, injured or killed, despite being just as worried right now as Changbin is, he still manages to focus on the important daily tasks as though nothing happened.
Changbin can’t even imagine just how much strength and willpower Seungmin has to keep pretending that everything is alright, to keep taking care of their meals and clothes while Changbin and Jeongin try to bring home at least something akin to good food.
Running through the forest helps Changbin a lot: fresh air and being one with nature clears his head and takes away the negative thoughts for the time being, but he only manages to catch one squirrel that won’t be enough even for soup, even for the three of them.
To make up for that Changbin tries to pick some mushrooms, but these past few weeks were so dry that there’s barely anything in the forest, so he ends up coming back home almost empty-handed.
There’s still no sign of Felix, Chan, Hyunjin, Jisung or Minho, and the atmosphere of the house is grim and quiet tonight: though the soup Seungmin made is surprisingly filling, they barely talk as they eat, and afterwards they all go straight to bed in hopes that tomorrow will bring some good news.
Changbin is abruptly pulled from his sleep into reality the moment he hears quiet voices outside, but he unconsciously relaxes just seconds before he grabs onto his knife: the voice that sounds the clearest belongs to no one but Jisung.
Both Seungmin and Jeongin meet him in the hallway, knives still ready just in case it’s a trap set up by the hunters – though Seungmin would’ve felt it if his mate was in distress, they all believe that it’s better to be safe than sorry.
“Hyunjin!” Seungmin all but cries out as he runs down the stairs and pulls Hyunjin in for a tight hug.
Not daring to interrupt their sweet reunion, Changbin and Jeongin rush to help with the two huge deer that they somehow managed to bring all the way to the house. Changbin notices that Jisung carefully supports Minho, who is limping and wincing in pain every few steps, but doesn’t really question that until they all go inside and light the candles.
“You’re bleeding,” Changbin states, nodding at the bloody trace Minho left after him. “We need to take care of the wound.”
“It’s nothing—” Minho tries, but whimpers when Changbin crouches down to examine his leg.
“Seungmin?” Changbin calls, making him stop fussing over Hyunjin’s bruises and look at Minho instead. “Can you clean this up while we deal with the deer?”
Seungmin nods and disappears in Changbin and Felix’s room to get everything he needs, but Minho, Hyunjin and Jisung seem to be confused by this.
“Where’s Felix?” Jisung asks.
“Out on a hunt with Chan,” Jeongin explains, sighing at their reaction. “We didn’t want to die while waiting for you to come back.”
As Seungmin quickly cleans up Minho’s wound and applies some stinky orange ointment on the injured skin, they drag the deer onto the porch.
Jisung shares that it took them this long because they didn’t expect to get so lucky and had to look for a way around the town to avoid having people stare at them and ask unwanted questions. Hyunjin confirms that with a hum, also adding that Minho injured his leg in a trap, and just like that, with them working together, the night passes by.
It’s a bit easier to not think about Felix and Chan now that they’ve got their hands full of things that need taking care of, but now the moments when Changbin does let himself wonder whether everything is okay with them become even heavier.
After all, they shouldn’t have gone too far, so each passing hour feels like a whole damn day for Changbin, who tries to direct all this negative energy into practicing with Jeongin and Jisung.
He grips Jeongin’s fur with his teeth, once again ruining the sly plans with his strength, and he’s just about to scold Jeongin for not watching his sides just as attentively as he watches his back when he flinches because of a human body suddenly hugging him tight.
Being in his wolf form lets Changbin recognize the faint scent immediately, and he doesn’t waste any more time before he turns human and envelops Felix in a bone-crushing hug.
“Is everything alright with you?” is the first thing he asks, sighing in relief when Felix nods enthusiastically. “Don’t ever scare me like this again.”
“The hunters almost got us,” Felix breathes out into his neck. “They were chasing us for days, but we managed to get rid of them eventually. Next time—”
“Next time I will go with Chan,” Changbin cuts him off. “I don’t want you to risk your life like this anymore, the pack needs you, and I need you too.”
“But I—” Felix tries, only to be interrupted by a quick peck on the lips.
“Only when it’s safe for you to go, alright?”
It’s not like Changbin has any right to make Felix stay at home all the time: they’re a wolf pack, after all, and their life goes hand in hand with risky things, but he still wants to keep his mate safe from all that – as safe as he can without overstepping.
Thankfully, Felix always understands what he wants to say, and right now, too, he smiles and hides his face in the crook of Changbin’s neck again.
“Alright.”
////
Felix has always been selfless and showed it many times since Changbin joined the pack many years ago, but this is just too much even for Felix, who, however, strongly disagrees with it.
A few hours ago they were contacted by a wolf, who kept his distance and almost begged for Felix to help his pack do something about the plague that’s been first completely draining and then killing them for the past weeks.
It’s not that Felix is a famous healer among the wolves, in fact, their pack barely interacts with others, but in desperate situations people are ready to believe even the faintest rumors – and one of those rumors was that Felix is immune to this plague because last year he helped save the travelling pack’s leader and didn’t get sick.
The rumor is partly true: Felix did that and came back home in one piece, but it was most likely just luck and nothing else. Now that he’s asked for help, however, Felix feels the strongest urge to risk everything for it, because the pack leader swore to give them any and all the resources they would need to survive the winter if Felix could somehow save them.
They do need those resources, because the forest didn’t gift them with anything this year, instead nearly took Hyunjin’s life away, but nothing is worth risking Felix’s health for it, and for the past hour Changbin’s been trying to prove that to him.
“We’ll manage somehow, Lixie,” he says again, almost losing his patience because of how stubborn Felix remains. “We always did, no matter how harsh the winters were.”
“I don’t want us to starve!” Felix insists.
He doesn’t notice how he raises his voice, so Changbin has to remind him about the need to be a little more quiet because Jisung and Hyunjin are still catching up on rest after the hunt that nearly became Hyunjin’s last one. If Felix wakes Hyunjin up, Changbin just knows that Seungmin will end them both sooner than any plague can.
“We almost lost Hyunjin just a few days ago,” Changbin hisses, placing his hands on Felix’s shoulders. “We can’t risk your life too.”
“Listen,” Felix sighs and wiggles out of his hold. “I know that you’re worried, and I understand that, and… appreciate it a lot, too. But if I don’t try this, then we can lose the whole pack, because even last winter was harsh on us, and last year we at least had enough food.”
Changbin knows that by saying “enough food” Felix means that they were on the verge of starving but still somehow managed to survive the winter by risking their lives to steal from humans in the town.
It wasn’t their brightest idea, and the scars on Changbin’s own back will forever remind them about it, but they had no choice, because each of them always puts the pack as a whole before their personal needs.
Right now, it makes sense that Felix wants to do the same, but the stakes are too high and it isn’t even about them being a mated couple, though it sure plays a big role in making Changbin so nervous about it too.
Running away from enraged humans, hiding in dirty basements for days without food, even fighting with hunters, it’s all safer than trying to dictate your rules to a plague, something that comes from the nature itself.
“Listen, Lix…” Changbin tries again with a sigh, feeling more and more helpless as the conversation keeps coming back to a dead end. “This isn’t even your decision to make.”
It isn’t his, either, but he hopes that he can at least somehow influence Chan, who probably already sees it as something that should not even be discussed.
However, by the look Felix gives him, a guilty yet somehow challenging too, Changbin understands that Chan has already made his mind.
Arguing with the pack leader in situations like this, when it’s about survival, when Chan already has it the hardest because it’s him who takes all the responsibility on his shoulders, has no meaning, so Changbin is forced to give up and turn to praying to the spirits to keep Felix alive.
They will get the food and other resources regardless of the outcome, that is the oath made by the struggling pack, but Changbin would rather die himself than sacrifice Felix’s life for this.
“Maybe I was chosen by the spirits,” Felix whispers, leaning in to rub his nose against Changbin’s cheek. “We have to use this chance, Bin.”
And Changbin knows that, he knows that they’re still going to have to put themselves in danger in one way or another, because otherwise they have no chances of making it through the cold season without losing someone. This might be their lucky day, but it may also bring suffering and grief, so Changbin can’t accept it so easily.
His hands find their way to Felix’s waist, pulling him close and holding tight and he gives Felix a desperate, slow kiss on the lips, making him clutch onto Changbin’s shoulders for his dear life as he all but melts into that kiss.
“I’ll be as careful as I can, I promise,” Felix mumbles in his lips and then he pulls away to start packing the necessary things.
This promise is the only thing Changbin is left with for the next two weeks, where each passing day makes him more and more angry.
When he ends up lashing out at Jeongin, who didn’t even do anything wrong but simply asked for help, Changbin realizes just how messed up he is right now, and to avoid hurting the pack even more he runs away on what’s supposed to be a hunt.
He called it a hunt, but in reality he didn’t even bother to set up any traps, let alone try to be stealthy and track down someone to bring back home to feed the pack.
Instead, he runs with no destination in mind, just to keep all the poisonous thoughts out of his mind, following an old saying suggesting that when the wolves run, all their thoughts stay tangled on the tree branches and shrubs like spider web.
Minho once said that he believed Changbin was fearless, because he never expressed his darkest fears, because he swore to remain collected in any situation, no matter how hard it is on him.
Changbin promised himself to become a strong shoulder to lean on, because he took responsibility of becoming a pack defender at such an early age as well as he took responsibility to always protect his mate.
When they decided to take this step and have a mating ceremony instead of just being together, they were both still very young, and Changbin knew they would encounter many hardships as the first mated pair in the pack. He perfectly understood that life wouldn’t get any easier just because they would have their bond approved by the spirits, so he swore to make sure that Felix would never regret this decision, that Felix would be safe with him, even if at the cost of his own life.
Changbin isn’t fearless, he just never lets the fear take control of him, but this time, when there’s nothing he can do other than pray, Changbin feels totally helpless.
Chan finds him by the lake, throwing stones into the water that hasn’t started to freeze yet, but doesn’t comment on that and simply takes a seat next to him on the cold ground. It’s already dark, but Changbin isn’t sure how many hours have passed since he stormed out of their house – days are only growing shorter as winter gets closer and closer.
Perhaps it would’ve been smarter for both of them to stay in their wolf forms, but Changbin doesn’t mind the cold: in fact, he doesn’t even notice it despite having sat here for hours on end without moving. There are far more important things occupying his brain than this, because the loud, toxic thoughts came back the moment he stopped running upon reaching this lake.
For some reason, Changbin guesses that this was actually how Chan found him so deep in the forest at such a late hour, because his distress must’ve been more obvious to the pack leader than the scent.
“He is my blood brother, you know,” Chan starts quietly after spending some time just giving Changbin his silent support and understanding. “I’m worried about him too, but I had to make this decision for the sake of the pack.”
Chan doesn’t say that there was no other choice, because they’re both aware of how many different choices they actually had in this situation – it’s just that all of these choices still involved risking something precious for them.
“Have you heard any news?” Changbin asks instead of responding, but doesn’t let himself actually get hopeful.
They haven’t heard anything from that pack ever since Felix left, which made sense since they live in a different forest yet it still hurt all of them, even though they tried to pretend that the house wasn’t missing Felix’s cheerful sunshine-like presence.
“Not yet,” Chan shakes his head. “But if we don’t get anything within a week, I’ll have to look for information myself.”
“I’ll go,” Changbin interrupts him.
“I’m the pack leader,” Chan reminds with a tired smile. “It’s my responsibility and my choice.”
“That you are,” Changbin hums in agreement. “That’s why the pack needs you here more than they need me.”
Even in the faint glow of the first stars appearing in the sky Changbin can see it clearly that Chan wants to argue with this, so he simply turns into a wolf to show that this is the end of their conversation. This wouldn’t stop Hyunjin or Jisung from still trying to bug him about it even in their wolf forms, but Chan has never been the one to insist on something unless it made a big difference.
They don’t talk about it anymore, but words aren’t needed for Changbin to understand that Chan trusts him with this – however, the spirits are merciful enough to not test this bond between them, because six days later Felix comes back home after spending enough time on his own to make sure that he isn’t contagious.
“Maybe he is the chosen one, after all,” Minho whispers to Changbin after the celebratory dinner they have for this occasion.
And maybe he really is, but the only thing that matters to Changbin on that night is that Felix is back in his safe embrace, where he lets himself stop smiling and shares just how exhausting and scary those weeks were for him.
////
“But you can’t just go out there on your own!” Felix insists in a loud voice, not giving a damn about the late hour. “What if they’re all dead at this point?”
Changbin can only sigh at that, his patience going really thin at this point because in the past two hours they’ve been through this conversation at least five times, and yet Felix still doesn’t want to let him go.
A few months ago, Chan made an agreement with one of the small packs that they would offer their help in helping this pack rebuild the house that was nearly burned down by the hunters in exchange for the rare yet much needed for their own pack seeds.
Minho and Jeongin got really into trying to grow their own vegetables, and their attempts last year were quite successful despite the dry summer, so Chan didn’t really hesitate to take up this offer.
Jisung, Changbin, Chan and Hyunjin spent almost a week working on rebuilding that house, but the seeds were promised with the first flowers, so now Changbin volunteered to meet up with the pack leader and bring those seeds home.
The only problem with it is that they haven’t heard from that pack ever since, and the winter was very cold – so cold that even they ran out of the chopped wood that was usually enough to keep their house warm.
For all they know, the pack can actually be dead, either from the harsh season or after encountering the hunters, but Changbin never liked guessing things: if anything, he now wants to go there even more just to check it himself.
It is potentially dangerous, but not any more than other things that Changbin does on a daily basis, and both him and Felix understand that. However, in the past weeks Felix has been extremely sensitive to everything, so it is only natural for him to make such a fuss over this situation.
Changbin knows that arguing with Felix won’t make any sense right now, but he has no idea what else to say if not even the pack leader’s word that is stronger than any possible law managed to make him accept the inevitability of this happening.
“Why can’t someone else join you? Why can’t I go?” Felix huffs, still clutching tightly onto Changbin’s warm cloak.
“Because you’re all needed here, and because this is supposed to be a task for one person,” Changbin explains again, though he knows that Felix isn’t going to listen to him.
“Then go!” Felix suddenly loses it, and Changbin notices crystal tears forming in the corners of his eyes, ready to spill out if he says something wrong. “You and Chan are the same, you both underestimate how dangerous it is!”
Changbin opens his mouth to say that they’re actually well aware of the possible hazards, and that is exactly why he decided to take this risk – because he’s strong enough to handle it, because even if something bad happens to him, the pack will still have its leader. He cares about Felix deeply, loves his mate more than anyone else in the whole white world, but Felix is also part of the pack and not just his mate, so Changbin has to put this task before his personal feelings.
He wants to say this, but Felix doesn’t let him: he grabs his own cloak and then throws it onto the floor, instead running out of the room with one last glare at Changbin, who soon hears how Felix storms out of the house and into the dark night.
All Changbin can do is sigh at that: after all the years spent side by side with Felix, he knows that it’s better to let his mate calm down instead of following him into the night even if he really wants to – and oh does he want to.
“What happened with you two?” Seungmin asks, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he comes into the room not even bothering to knock.
Or maybe he did knock, because that’s Seungmin, the nicest person Changbin could’ve ever met after Felix and Chan, and Changbin simply didn’t notice that – but what does it matter now?
Predictably, where Seungmin goes, Hyunjin inevitably follows, and right now he’s also tailing after Seungmin, hugging him from behind and dragging his tired body to wherever Seungmin steps.
“Felix was so loud,” Hyunjin complains somewhere in Seungmin’s shoulder. “Is that because you’re leaving in the morning?”
“Mhm,” Changbin confirms with a short nod. “He doesn’t want me to go alone.”
“Are you planning to look for him tonight before you leave?” Seungmin asks, placing his hands over Hyunjin’s patiently to stop him from making them shift from one side to another every five seconds.
Changbin finds the sight cute as always, but doesn’t say that out loud, instead offers the pair a small smile as he grabs onto his knife and silently walks out of the room as well.
He isn’t really going to follow Felix right away, even though he can almost feel where exactly Felix ran, because Changbin respects his desire to let it all out while on his own somewhere deep in the forest – that is what they all do sometimes to clear their head.
Changbin understands that, but the protective side of his is screaming for him to at least make sure that Felix is safe, because the night forest has its own surprises waiting around every corner, even though the bright moon is your most reliable guide.
Even if the forest was the safest place of all, Changbin would still be worried, because Felix can simply unintentionally hurt himself when he’s in a mood like this, and that isn’t something Changbin would ever want to happen again. There was already a time when Felix did this in the middle of winter, and though it didn’t take long for them to find where he was hiding, it was one sleepless night for the pack.
It’s almost pitch dark, but Changbin quickly gets used to it as he turns into a wolf and inhales the chilly air: the snow is yet to completely melt away despite the first few flowers already blooming from under the snow banks, so the nights are still freezing cold.
He deliberately goes to the opposite side from where Felix went, just to make his search a little longer and give Felix more time with his thoughts before gently coaxing him to return to the house.
“I’m sorry,” Felix lets out a quiet low howl when Changbin carefully approaches him from behind.
He’s shifting nervously on his paws, and Changbin chooses not to say anything, instead bumps Felix’s head with his and nods in the direction of their house in hopes that Felix will agree to have this conversation in the warmth of their room.
Sometimes, Felix can be very stubborn, and, honestly, if that was the case tonight, Changbin would’ve stayed outside for as long as Felix would want him to, but it seems that he’s feeling the cold too, so he lets Changbin lead the way back home.
They are wolves, and it sure lets them tolerate the cold weather, but they’re also not fully adapted to living outside, so it’s just a matter of time for them to start feeling that the cold is actually biting them instead of only bringing slight discomfort like it feels right upon leaving the house.
The fire was put out for the night, because they were actually both planning on sleeping and catching up on the much-needed rest before Felix started this whole unnecessary fight. Changbin half-expects to come back to a slightly chilly room, but he can’t hold back a grateful smile when they open the door and see that Hyunjin and Seungmin took care of it for them.
They don’t have a fireplace in each of the rooms, so one could think that they simply started the fire to keep themselves warm, but Changbin knows that this isn’t the case. Hyunjin much rather prefers when it’s a bit cold in their room, while Seungmin doesn’t mind just cuddling up against his side if they share a bed and pulling the blanket up to his nose, so they did this with a pretty clear intention behind it.
Now that they’re both probably sound asleep, however, Changbin can only hope that Felix will thank them tomorrow on his behalf too.
“Why didn’t you even put on your cloak—” Changbin says with a sigh when he notices that Felix is still shivering.
Felix doesn’t respond, instead keeps staring at the floor as though it’s the most interesting thing to look at in the world, head hanging low as though to show that he feels guilty. Changbin truly appreciates that Felix is always ready to apologize when he’s in the wrong, but tonight he isn’t having it.
“Come here,” he whispers as he crawls into bed and waits for Felix to join him under the blankets.
“I know how important it is for the pack,” Felix mutters into his chest after a moment of silence. “I was just being moody because of the season change. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Changbin starts to play with his hair to calm him down. “There’s nothing wrong with being worried, I just wish you didn’t run outside like this.”
“I regretted that as soon as I left the house, but it felt stupid to come back two minutes later,” Felix admits. “I just thought… I wanted to return right away because— what if something happened and the last memory of us would be this?”
This is such a Felix thing to think about that Changbin isn’t even surprised, but it doesn’t mean that this hurts him any less simply because he’s already used to Felix saying such things.
“Shh, don’t let those thoughts invade your pretty head,” Changbin whispers quietly as he leaves a tender kiss on Felix’s forehead. “How about we forget about it and go to sleep so that this doesn’t leave a trace in our memories?”
“But you will be gone after I wake up!” Felix almost whines.
“It can’t take more than a few weeks, I promise I’ll come back to you soon.”
Felix looks up at him, eyes sparkling with hope, and Changbin nods, sealing that promise with another kiss, this time pressed to his lips.
They both know that Changbin’s promises are the second strongest thing after Chan’s orders, because Changbin is a man of principles and never promises things that he won’t be able to fulfill.
Of course, this isn’t exactly his decision whether he will make it out of there alive, because they have no idea what’s going to wait for him at the meeting spot, but with this, Changbin shows that he’s going to try his best and fight against the nature itself, if needed.
For Felix, that promise is enough.
////
“I don’t think that it’s safe to keep moving!” Hyunjin signals, shaking his head at the three of them.
When Hyunjin and Seungmin asked them to tag along and help a couple of old farmers, the only humans they respected, chop the wood, bring some water and clear the snow out of their yard since it was getting more and more difficult for the pair to do it on their own, this was not a part of the plan.
Getting stuck in a snowstorm has never been a plan of theirs, it simply can’t be, because such things are chaotic and happen at the worst time, but knowing that there was no way to predict it other than by a bloody red sunset yesterday doesn’t make things any easier now.
They’re still far from their house, but returning to the farmers isn’t an option either, and judging by how lifeless everything around them looks (as much as they can see with the wind and the snow almost knocking them off their paws) there aren’t any places nearby where they’d be welcomed at this time of the year.
The sun is about to set, painting the sky with the blood that never got to spill today too, and the weather doesn’t seem to be getting better any time soon.
Changbin glances at Seungmin and Felix, who dig their paws into the snow in an attempt to steady themselves, then looks up at Hyunjin again and they exchange an understanding look, nodding at each other when they get the message across.
As wolves, they don’t necessarily need to communicate through growling and howling, sometimes a light twitch of your ears is already enough to be understood, and in such weather that proves to be very useful.
“We’re staying here until the storm calms down,” Changbin says through a swing of his tail.
It isn’t the best decision in itself, because spending the night in the middle of the forest during a snowstorm is one of the scariest and most dangerous ideas, but in this particular situation there’s nothing else they can do.
As the storm only gets worse, both trying to move forward and back to the farmers’ house is dangerous, because there’s a very high chance that they will get separated and eventually lose each other.
Hyunjin suddenly remembers that they passed by a huge rock that can at least provide them with some kind of protection from the strong wind, and though Changbin isn’t sure about looking for it when they can barely see their own paws, Felix’s loud whine makes him sigh and tell Hyunjin to lead the way.
“Are you sure that we’re going in the right direction?” Seungmin asks carefully after a while, when it starts to seem as though they’re simply walking in circles.
A particularly strong blow of the wind makes Seungmin bump into Felix, who doesn’t expect that and lands right into the snow bank, growling when Changbin rushes to get him out of there. Changbin ignores Felix’s way of saying that he isn’t a pup that needs to be dragged out of a snow bank like this, but then firmly announces that they’re not moving any further.
Something flickers in Hyunjin’s eyes for a second but disappears just as quickly and he agrees, looking all guilty for only getting them more confused about the place they’re currently stuck in.
Though Changbin isn’t the pack leader and age doesn’t matter to them, he is the strongest one among the four, and this means that he has the final word on everything right now, that everyone is going to listen to him.
He bumps Hyunjin with his head lightly to show that this isn’t his fault and then points at the group of trees that aren’t as good as that big rock but can still help them at least a little.
“Let’s huddle up all together,” Changbin suggests when they get there, a quiet but eloquent growl.
Staying together during the evening and night is perhaps the only thing that can get them out of this snowstorm alive and in one piece: by keeping each other warm with their fur and tails, they are going to reduce the chances of any of them getting sick.
Before anyone gets to say anything, Hyunjin already volunteers to lie down on the snow – predictably, to make sure that none of them, and especially not his mate, will have their body freezing during those long hours. Hyunjin has really thick fur compared to everyone else, so it makes sense, but Seungmin still tries to protest, because he also wants to take care of Hyunjin and most definitely doesn’t want him to get cold.
Eventually, he settles for curling up against Hyunjin’s side and wraps his fluffy tail around Hyunjin’s body, checking it twice that the tail also covers Hyunjin’s nose, because that way they will both feel warmer.
In any other situation Changbin would’ve probably rolled his eyes at that, but right now he simply urges Felix to join them too and then plops down as well, half-hugging Felix with his paws and covering them all with his tail as much as he can.
“If you feel that anyone starts to fall asleep, you know what to do,” Changbin barks into Felix’s fur.
He receives no response, but knows that they all heard and understood him. After that, everyone goes quiet for a while, saving their energy as the snowfall only keeps getting worse, covering their fur with hundreds of new snowflakes each second.
Changbin keeps staring at the white ground until it gets so dark that he can’t make anything out anymore, and then, a few hours later, he almost starts to doze off himself.
By the time the moon shows up in the sky, bright yet unreachable, covered with lots of tiny clouds, the storm starts to slowly calm down, but they don’t scramble to their paws right away – they all understand that this might be an empty momentarily relief.
No one can guarantee that the snowfall won’t come back twice as strong just half an hour later, and that simple rule is something humans often forget about – and pay for it with their lives later.
It’s all about patience, but Changbin must admit that his heart clenches in pain when he feels Felix shiver under him: each of them is strong enough to get through this night, Changbin doesn’t doubt that even for a second, but it simply hurts him to know that he can’t do anything in this situation other than try and keep them all warm with his body.
This isn’t the first time their pack encounters a snowstorm like that, hence them being so calm about it, and yet Changbin can’t help but worry about Felix, who wants to be seen as an independent strong wolf and does everything to prove that, often hurting himself in the process.
It’s not a surprise for anyone that Changbin is one very overprotective mate, especially during the winter season, and he knows that Felix secretly appreciates that, but sometimes he feels angry with himself for being so unnecessarily dramatic.
He constantly has to remind himself that Felix isn’t the kid he was when they first met, that he isn’t a puppy who can’t walk on his own, and while he often easily lets Felix do dangerous things if he insists on that, Changbin can’t do anything about the need to always protect his mate burning in his blood.
“I’m alright,” Felix tells him by lifting his head a little to lick Changbin under the jaw. “We’ve been through much worse.”
And that is true – Changbin guesses that over the years they’ve faced all kinds of hardships, so something as trivial (dangerous, yes, but still trivial) as a snowstorm shouldn’t scare them at this point.
After this Felix’s gentle gesture Changbin lets himself relax a little, but hugs him tighter, which makes Felix let out a loud sigh, though he seems to accept it and doesn’t insist on not wanting to be treated like a pup.
Soon the storm fully calms down, and Changbin decides that they’re more or less safe to move, so they shake off the snow that nearly turned their fur into some sort of a snow bank and spend a few minutes trying to navigate in the dark forest, where every path they know is now covered with crunchy snow.
Eventually Seungmin, who has the best sense of direction of the four of them, leads them through the trees and all the fresh snow banks, and after another few hours of struggles they finally see their house.
It’s quiet, but once they open the door, they are immediately greeted with four relieved faces, and the familiar feeling of being at home, right where he belongs, puts an involuntary grin on Changbin’s face.
“Let’s never agree to help Hyunjin and Seungmin again?” Felix murmurs later when they snuggle by the fire, still trying to warm up after being out in the snow for so long.
Changbin only laughs at that and leans forward to steal a quick kiss from Felix’s lips as he pulls the blanket up to their faces.
Even though they’re both still shivering slightly, Changbin’s heart is warm.
////
+ 1
Felix feels so nervous as he stands before the door of their house with a whimpering puppy cradled in his arms that Minho has to place a hand on his shoulder, a reassuring gesture that helps Felix muster up enough courage to finally enter the house.
It was supposed to be another calm day of picking herbs and berries to make more potions later this month, but things took an unexpected turn when they heard someone whining behind the bushes.
At first, Minho was wary, but they had no other choice other than checking it, so they both turned into wolves – just in case it was a trap – and went to examine the source of that sound, taking careful, quiet steps.
They were quite deep in the forest, and still, Felix expected to see anything but not a dead mother and a weeping little wolf, who somehow survived while his whole pack was wiped out. The sight was indeed suspicious, but at that moment Felix couldn’t care less about how they ended up there, because the only thing that mattered to him was making sure the puppy would be safe.
As he went to pick the baby up from the ground, Minho crouched down to take a better look at the dead wolf and voiced his assumption that she was trying to run from the hunters and that she probably gave birth in her wolf form, so the child was born as a wolf and not human.
This isn’t anything unusual in their culture: those who are born as humans later learn how to shift into wolves, and for children born as wolves it simply takes a little longer to understand their human form. Other than that, there is barely any difference, because even as wolves the puppies still grow up understanding what they’re being told in human language – as long as they’re also werewolves.
The puppy in Felix’s arms is definitely a werewolf who only survived by a miracle, and, somehow, he immediately recognized Felix’s gentle embrace as safety, so there was absolutely no way Felix would leave him there – even if Chan would be against it, even if the whole pack would get furious.
Felix knows that this would never be the case, especially not after he’s been talking about wanting to adopt a baby into the pack for a few years by now, but right now, with the puppy clinging onto him and lightly scratching his skin with the claws, he feels worried. Felix is ready for any kind of reaction that will follow from the pack, ready to beg if needed and he knows that Minho will surely have his back on this, but he is scared of how Changbin is going to react to this.
They have discussed it countless times, and Changbin was nothing but supportive on this idea, because only a blind person would not be able to see that Changbin is literally made to be a defender, a leader where needed, a father to someone – and there’s no need to see this, because it can be felt through every action Changbin takes and every word he says.
Still, that doesn’t mean that Changbin is going to be pleasantly surprised and happy when Felix brings a child into the pack without talking about it with him first, and that is exactly why Felix is nearly trembling right now.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Minho says quietly behind his back. “We’re ready to take care of a kid, and Changbin adores you too much to ever say no to you.”
Felix can only nod at those words, but before he gets to take a step in the direction of their shared room, two doors open at the same time and both Changbin and Jisung come out into the hallway, frowning in confusion.
Minho smiles at Jisung sheepishly, while Felix stands there frozen, cursing himself for being so forgetful: he didn’t even realize that everyone in the house would be able to feel the new scent in their house.
While it will take years for this wolf to develop actual scent, he still carries the smell of his mother and his pack, and all wolves are extremely sensitive when it comes to such things appearing in the pack house without a warning.
Jisung opens his mouth to say something, but Minho shushes him with one glance and he simply shrugs, understanding flickering in his eyes as he nods towards their room.
Minho pats Felix on the shoulder and follows Jisung into the room, the usually quiet click of the door now echoing like the loudest thunder in Felix’s ears as he keeps staring at Changbin, who takes a while to process what is currently happening.
“There’s something I need to do,” is the only thing Changbin says eventually.
And just like that, but not without leaving a kiss on his forehead, Changbin runs out of the house, turning into a wolf the second he steps on the porch and soon disappearing somewhere among the tall trees.
Felix sighs, feeling slightly disappointed but also relieved that Changbin didn’t downright reject the idea – if anything, he seemed to perfectly understand what Felix was heavily implying by bringing this child into their house.
Together with Jisung and Minho they take care of the food for the puppy and Jisung’s first meeting with their new child almost turns tragic because the little wolf – still nameless – constantly tries to bite Jisung’s finger and succeeds on one of his attempts, making Jisung hiss and roll his eyes as he gives the baby to Minho.
After that, Jisung goes outside to start building a bed frame – they won’t need it for a while, first letting the kid adjust to the scent of his new “parents” and the other pack members, but Jisung still decides to work on it today because he’s got nothing else to do.
While he busies himself with that, Felix starts to prepare dinner and Minho takes it upon himself to be the best uncle and entertains the puppy as they quietly discuss everything that needs to be done if they want to keep him in the pack.
The only person who has at least some experience at dealing with kids is Chan, because he often had to babysit for Felix in his first years, who was also born as a wolf, while the adults were out on long hunts. Ironically enough, he is also the person who will have the final word on whether they will keep the puppy, but Felix finds himself grateful that both Minho and Jisung seem to adore him already.
When they hear the door open, Felix’s heart skips a beat, but it isn’t Changbin, so he sighs, feeling slightly guilty when Chan, Hyunjin, Seungmin and Jeongin, all worried, rush into the kitchen to see what’s going on and what happened while they were away.
“Is that… a kid?” Jeongin asks, slightly dumbfounded as he stares at the puppy who has almost fallen asleep in Minho’s arms.
“Are we having a baby?!” Hyunjin tries to peek from behind Chan’s shoulder, excited as ever. “For real?”
Felix looks at Chan with pleading eyes, ignoring the rest of the pack, because at this moment the leader’s word is the only thing that matters to him – if Chan says no, he will remain firm on that even though Felix is his blood brother.
“Where’s Changbin?” is the first thing Chan says, however, but he reaches his hand to pet the puppy’s fur.
The question makes Felix look away, because that’s been worrying him for the past few hours too.
“Apparently, he just stormed out when he saw the kid,” Minho responds for him.
“Maybe he went to look for the parents..?” Hyunjin suggests, although unsure. “You know, if the pack discovers that you stole their pup, even with good intentions—”
“We didn’t steal him,” Felix interrupts Hyunjin, almost offended at the assumption, though he knows where Hyunjin’s coming from with that. “His pack was killed, we found his mother dead.”
“Hmm… I think I know where he went then, but this isn’t something I can share, Lix, I’m sorry,” Chan’s face softens when the puppy seems to recognize his natural strength. “Do you want to adopt him?”
“If Changbin agrees to that, then yes,” Felix sighs. “I guess that this is something you get to decide, right?”
He can’t control the tone of his voice and the smallest quaver in it, but Chan only laughs at that quietly and ruffles his hair.
“Yeah, and I don’t mind that at all,” he says, and Felix beams at him. “We’ve got everything we need to take care of this baby, and if Changbin doesn’t want to be his father, well, he’s going to get six amazing uncles and one father anyway. But don’t stress about it, you know that Bin is going to be whipped for him. What’s his name, by the way? Have you thought of anything yet?”
“I have one in mind,” Changbin suddenly announces behind their backs. “Lix? Can we talk?”
Felix wonders how he managed to miss the moment Changbin returned from the forest, but doesn’t dwell on it for too long: he gulps but nods and follows Changbin into their shared room, leaving the child with the rest of the pack. He will have to get used to the pack anyway, and Felix guesses that it’s better if they have the serious conversation between just the two of them.
“I’m sorry I left without saying anything, that was an ass move, but I… I went to make this.”
Changbin hands Felix a beautifully carved wooden amulet which has all the herbs that are traditionally believed to guard the child from the evil and sickness inside, and Felix’s breath hitches for a second.
He then all but throws himself onto Changbin, hugging him tight and whimpering something barely coherent in his shoulder as Changbin chuckles and hugs him back.
Usually, right after the puppies are born, be it in a wolf or a human form, their father goes out into the forest and spends a few days looking for the necessary things before carving the amulets for all the children.
It is considered the first magical ritual in their life that also strengthens the bond between the parents and their children, and the fact that Changbin instantly rushed to do this even though this isn’t their child means the world to Felix.
It means more than words ever could, because with that Changbin shows and proves that all their previous talks weren’t for nothing, that he is serious about it too, that he wants to take care and protect now their child from all the hazards of the world.
“I’ve wanted this for so long,” Felix whispers, unable to hold back a smile when Changbin pulls away a bit only to start showering his face with kisses.
“You’ll be the best parent, alright? We’ll teach him how to shift, how to hunt, and how to mess with Jisung for fun, too.”
“I believe he’s already figured that out,” Felix responds with a laugh. “You said that you had a name in mind… We’ll never find out what his real name is, so—what was that?”
“How about Yeonjun?” Changbin suggests, and Felix guesses that this name must’ve meant something to him in the past, but he doesn’t ask.
“He does look like a Yeonjun,” he agrees instead, and that earns him a smile.
“Let’s go back to the others, there’s a lot we need to do now.”
“Indeed,” Felix nods, but steals another quick peck before they actually return to the kitchen.
There is, for sure, a lot to be done, and their lives will change drastically from now on, but in this short moment Felix feels happy, because he has nothing to worry about right now: he knows that Changbin and his brothers will always be by his side, and together they’ll make the moon smile at them and will be able to overcome all the hardships.
They’ve already proven that countless times – and will do it again if needed.