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Taehyung What are you so nervous about? Mark mutters as we walk over to the main pack house, my legs barely able to drag me to our destination. We need this training! What use is our gift if we can't use it? I know he's right but that doesn't stop the fear somersaulting in my belly. My father always said I was weak. What if my power truly is weak and worthless? Then what? Then we learn to fight like any other fucking mutt! Mark growls in annoyance. Hoseok and ji-won walk silently behind me, both equally nervous for our first day in our new assignments. Min-jun appears to be the only one excited to visit the aqua river wolves. To keep herself calm, ji-won holds her butterfly in her hand, the beautiful creature crawling along her finger and fluttering its wings. She had kept it in her room since we arrived in aqua river and it seemed to give her comfort. I would have to thank jungkook again. As for Hoseok he fidgets with the sack lunch that I prepared for him this morning, wrinkling the paper bag with his fingers. To my surprise, he took the lunch willingly and my heart only soared higher when I noticed he was still wearing the colorful bracelet I gave him. I just hope he will still be okay with me when he reads my note today. Quit worrying. We were smooth, Mark grins. We finally approach the pack house, jooheon already waiting for us with his young pup cradled in his arms. "Come with me ji-won" he smiles warmly at her before turning to Hoseok and I. "Hyungwon is in the entertainment room waiting for you." Hoseok and I exchange nervous glances and make our way to the entertainment room where we find hyungwon sitting on the floor with his eyes closed, minhyuk combing through his hair with tenderness, as if his hair were made of silk. Changkyun sits on the couch, watching the two with friendly disgust while Rio sits lazily at his feet. Minhyuk leans in close to his mate and kisses his temples, murmuring soothing words in his ears. The fem-male king looks completely relaxed in his lap as he begins to gently stroke his hair, his breaths slow and steady. It almost feels wrong to watch such an intimate moment between two loving mates and I feel a pain in my heart. Would Hoseok ever trust me enough to let me care for him, I ask myself as the dog Rio jumps up to greet min-jun and the two roll around the floor playfully. "Please sit" hyungwon says, his eyes fluttering open as minhyuk stops playing with his hair. Min-jun stops his play for a moment and we bow our heads in reverence to the timid fem-male king. "My brother will be here soon for you, Hoseok. You can wait here while I take taehyung to the training grounds. Min-jun can stay at the daycare or here with jooheon and ji-won. It's up to you and what you feel most comfortable with." "Here" Hoseok replies almost immediately. "H-here, please." The fem-male king smiles brilliantly at him as he rises to his feet with minhyuk's help. "Then it shall be so." Minhyuk grabs his coat and car keys from the coffee table and prepares to take off. "Be safe" minhyuk murmurs as he kisses his mate on the cheek before he glares at me . "If you hurt him, I will kill you. Understand?" he threatens, his voice a low growl. I nod obediently, swallowing the lump in my throat. Hyungwon rolls his eyes at his mate and pacifies him with a kiss. "No you will not," he chuckles. "You cannot heal on your own" he argues. "If he hurts you during training-" "Then I will heal him," a voice calls out from behind us. "So go huff and puff somewhere else and let my brother train." We all turn around to the source of the voice and find fem-male that looks similar to king hyungwon standing by the door. This fem-male's eyes being silvery grey while hyungwon's are a golden honey color. Hyungwon wastes no time running towards the fem-male, embracing him in a tight hug. "You literally see each other every fucking day" changkyun exasperates, minhyuk rolling his eyes at the gamma wolf. The fem-male lifts his middle finger up at changkyun, hyungwon giggling hysterically. "Hoseok, taehyung. This is my fraternal twin, jungmo," he says as he steps back from his hug. "Satan's spawn is more fitting," changkyun mutters, jungmo sticking his tongue out at him. "If I'm Satan's spawn, then what are you? His asshole?" Jungmo retorts with a bored look on his face, Hoseok snorting as he tries to hold back his laughter. "Anyways, where's this hoseok? I'm running late, so we gotta go." Hoseok presents himself and jungmo looks him up and down as if assessing him. He then exchanges looks with his brother and sighs. "Okay, I'm going to say it" he says, stepping closer to hoseok, hyungwon giving his brother a warning growl. "What? We have work to do." Storm clouds swirl in jungmo's silver irises as he scowls and points an accusing finger at hoseok. "Watch your fucking attitude" he warns. "I don't give a fuck about your ex or what you've been through because I can guarantee, our girls and boys have gone through far worse. They need someone who won't flinch away from them or look at them like they're maggots. They're broken and they need help. I'm not taking you anywhere until you promise hyungwon and I that you will set aside your own feelings and help me take care of these girls and boys." A calm but stern look washes over jungmo's face as he crosses his arms and waits for a response. "I promise," hoseok nods, never once flinching from the cold tone in jungmo's voice. Jungmo stares intently at him as if to catch any hesitation but Hoseok remains unfazed, as if used to being scrutinized by others. "I like him" Jungmo suddenly turns to his brother and smiles at him. "He's a bitch like me." Hyungwon shakes his head disapprovingly at his brother and clears his throat. "He didn't mean that." "No, I most definitely did," his brother shrugs with an innocent smile on his face. "Now let's go. We have a long day ahead of us." He grabs hoseok's hand and before I even blink an eye, the two fem-males vanish into thin air. Min-jun looks in awe at the spot were hoseok once stood wrapping his arms around my legs. "Were did eomma go" he asks, "eomma will be back later tonight," hyungwon reassures, getting down on his knees and speaking in a soothing tone to the little boy. "In the meantime, you can stay here and play with Rio. Would you like that?" Min-jun grins and nods. Hyungwon instructs changkyun to take min-jun upstairs to jooheon's office before the three of us walk to the training grounds. My hands shake uncontrollably at the thought of using my gifts so I shove them in my pockets, willing myself to calm down. "Don't worry" hyungwon reassures as we arrive to the grounds. "Today is all about exploring your ability and helping you figure out exactly what you can do." The entire training grounds is empty, with all of the equipment stored away and all trainers and fighters gone. "I had the grounds cleared for us to work in peace," he smiles sheepishly as he leads me to a sparing circle. "I figured you wouldn't want an audience today." He turns to changkyun and grins. "Changkyun can leave too." "Not a chance," he replies, sitting down on a bench. Hyungwon heaves a heavy sigh and rolls his neck. "Okay, so let's see what you can do." I remain frozen in place, unsure what to do with myself but hyungwon once again offers a reassuring smile. His calm voice enters my mind "Telepathy can be a little scary at first. It's a lot of voices in your head and they can be ... overwhelming." He says, sitting down and patting the ground in front of him, urging me to do the same. "How did you know I was a telepath?" I ask as I take a seat before him. "I can sense your walls," he says, his eyes scanning me thoroughly. "The only other person I know with walls is my brother and he is also a telepath. The walls help block out the voices and keep out intruders. I can usually make my way into a person's thoughts and their memories without them noticing but it wasn 't so easy getting into your head. It was like there was this massive force trying to push me out" he says, miming an unseen force in front of him. "I got into your thoughts with a little push but you felt me enter your memories ... didn't you?" I nod, remembering the pinch in my temples when he entered my memories and saw my past. "Does your wolf help you with your gifts?" he asks. No, Mark snarls. He locked me out for years! It wasn't until hoseok came into the picture that the bastard finally let me through. Because you didn't help! I argue. Because you didn't trust me! Hyungwon frowns at us. "Enough! There's no point in blaming each other. This just means you both need to learn to work together." I furrow my brows at him. "I thought I already was..." "No" he chuckles softly. "I made our connection. I'm inside your head. Now I want you to do the same with me and make a new connection." "How?" I ask, growing nervous with hurting him as I remember all the failed attempts I had made on ji-won. She would go into a catatonic state for hours after my attempts of reading her mind on purpose. I couldn't do that to the fem-male king. The king says nothing for a moment and I fear he has already cut our connection and is now expecting me to make contact but he only smiles at me, holding out his palm. Out of thin air, a small ball of fire forms inside his palm and he cradles the flame like a fragile flower. "You have a lot of fears, taehyung... " he murmurs. "And that is very dangerous. Fear and anger make you irrational.... they make you lose control." As if to demonstrate, the flames in his palm grow bigger until they engulf his entire fist. "You can hurt a lot of people unintentionally by letting your fears get the best of you" he adds, the violet flame growing hotter. "As you can see, I can manipulate the fire element but it is very difficult to control. My flames are fueled by my emotions and if I let them get the best of me, I can lose control. I stare at the large flame nervously to my fears... " he closes his palm, the flames going out in an instant. "I became the one who controls the flames. It's the same principle for you if you ever want to control your gift. You need to learn to let go of your fears and trust in your wolf to guide you." "I don't know if I can do that .." I mutter. "You'll never know if you don't give him a chance to show you his worth," he smiles. "Just like you seek a connection with your mate, Mark seeks a connection with you. "I don't like him", mark mutters. "He's an idiot". Hyungwon frowns at me. "You will not earn his trust by belittling him," he says sternly, mark rolling his eyes at him. "Don't make him feel more ashamed of himself than he already is, Wolf. You know his pain better than anyone." He doesn't trust me! Mark snarls. I watched for years what appa did to us and did he ever let me in to help? No! He put me in a corner and forced me to watch him suffer! I could feel the hurt in his voice as he growled out his frustration. "I ... didn't even like myself ..." I reply. "I didn't think you'd like me either or want to help... so I thought it was better to put you away." Mark doesn't reply, wallowing in his own frustration." I stare at my hands, afraid to look hyungwon in the eyes but he suddenly moves closer to me and holds my wrists "and he feels like you don't care or listen," he says quietly. "But Mark is your other half and he will never leave your side ... no matter how much you hurt him. He is part of your soul." I pull at the mat on the ground before I finally speak to Mark. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I locked you out. I didn't know what else to do...." l whisper. I'm sorry too, he sighs. I should have fought harder to break through. "Okay ... this is good," hyungwon smiles. "Now work together to enter my head. I'll put my walls down to make this easier- " "But how do I enter your mind?" I ask , looking over at Changkyun who looks bored by our silent staring contest. "Every time I enter someone's head on purpose, I hurt them." Hyungwon nods as he assesses my concerns before replying. "Think of thoughts as rivers. All of them are flowing at different speeds and currents and unfortunately, they are all coming towards you. You, however, have the power to build dams and slow the rivers down or stop them completely from coming at you. To enter my mind, all you really have to do is let my thoughts come through. Build a dam to block the other rivers you hear. It's not about forcing your way into my head, it's about letting the river flow between us. Once the connection flows between us, you can build little dams and slow down the current of information that's coming at you so that you can see and hear only what you want to see and hear. So just let the river flow" he says before he closes our connection and sits patiently across from me, closing his eyes and giving me his trust. Okay, we can do this... I reassure myself, closing my eyes and stepping into the dark abyss of my mind. Just let the voices flow like a river ... Mark encourages. I slowly let my walls down, both changkyun and hyungwon's voices entering my mind at incredible speed. I almost put up the wall again when mark's voice comes through. Build the dams and slow the rivers down ... he reminds me. I imagine myself physically blocking the voices and they start to slow down until I can understand them. "Why are they just sitting on the floor with their eyes closed? Are they meditating?" Changkyun's thoughts come through. I build a dam until changkyun's voice fades out , leaving me only with hyungwon's. "Can you hear me?" I call out, nervous as hell that I may hurt him. "Yes" he cries. "You are doing so good! Don't be afraid. Make your way around if you like. What do you see?" "Nothing" I mumble, looking around at the empty blackness. "That's okay" he says. "Just listen to the thoughts. Follow the river." I keep looking around but all around is pitch black, until I suddenly hear a small scream, so faint, I almost don't hear it. Follow it, mark instructs. I walk into the emptiness where the sound came from until I hear it again, this time louder, sharper, more desperate. A sudden bright flash blurs my vision and my eyes burst open so that a ray of light beams out of them like a movie projector, small images taking form on the ground in front of me. Hyungwon and changkyun gather around me and stare at memories that play like a film for us to watch. It appears to be memory playing from hyungwon's point of view and we see several kids gathering around him, holding their books and backpacks up like weapons. They seem to have cornered him at the back of a bus, hyungwon cowering on the ground with his arms raised above his head. Hyungwon looks up at the bus driver as if begging for help but he does nothing, ignoring the cruelty that is about to take place. The kids throw the books at him, spitting on him and kicking him until they grow bored and settle back into their seats. The memory blurs for a moment before coming into focus again. Hyungwon remains on the floor, too afraid to move until the bus comes to a halt at a pack, most of the kids eager to get off. Hyungwon gathers himself off the floor, limping to the front while wiping the blood off his face. The bus driver doesn't even spare him a second glance, snapping at him to hurry up and get off. The memory blurs even further from his tears as he stumbles his way down a road until he reaches a large pack house. He uses a back entrance and silently limps down to the basement, throwing his tattered backpack on an old cot. He gets down on his knees and shoves his hand under the cot until he finds a small sharp razor. Blinking away his tears, he waddles over to the bathroom. My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach as I watch him lock the door with shaking hands. He covers the mirror with a large towel, his eyes refusing to meet his reflection. Hyungwon turns on the cold faucet and holds his wrist over the sink, revealing a sea of scars on his tender flesh. I want to stop the memory but I can seem to close my eyes as I watch in horror what hyungwon does next. The razor breaks through the skin with ease as hyungwon slides it across his wrist, a trail of blood following in its wake. Blood trickles down his arm into the sink but he only raises the blade again and makes a second cut, throwing his head back in pain ... and relief. Unable to watch any further, I force my eyes shut, tears spilling onto my cheeks. For a long time, the three of us remain frozen in place, none of us uttering a word about what we just witnessed until Changkyun breaks the silence, shifting into a large brown wolf with green eyes. His wolf settles beside his fem-male king, laying his head on his lap and "It's alright, minwoo" he soothes him as he whimpers. "I survived. I'm okay now." Minwoo (changkyun's wolf ) only whines, his heart breaking for his male-Luna. As his gamma, he felt his pain almost as if it were his own and it hurt him to see him so broken at one point. "I am so sorry" I say through our connection. "I didn't know ... I didn't know that-" Despite the tears in his eyes, he smiles warmly at me. "It's not your fault ..." he sighs. "At least now we know that you cannot only see and hear my thoughts and memories, but you can also project them out for others to see. Even I cannot do that. I can still sense a lot of power in you so it's likely there's more to your gift. We'll just have to keep practicing." I am both shocked and relieved that he is not angry with me for exposing such a sensitive memory to his gamma and that he is willing to continue our training. "I think this is a good place to stop for now ..." he says, stroking minwoo's head. "We can pick it up again tomorrow when both changkyun and I feel ... better." Minwoo rises to his feet, nudging the fem-male king with his head to get on his back. Hyungwon obliges, climbing onto his gamma and the three of us return to the Pack house.
