Archive of Our Own ^beta

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 Lance realized too late that Galra could scent out werewolves. He was always a little confused when the Galra seemed more cautious about hurting him than everyone else but, he just chalked it up to his imagination. Until now that is. When Lance thought he was about to die, Sendak just turned away and said “We don’t hurt kits.”

 That got Lance a lot of strange looks before everyone else realized ‘oh shit he only meant Lance we gotta fight.’ You could imagine how much Lance’s little heart was flopping all over the place with almost being ratted out by the fricking GALRA. Even though he could hear his pulse race in his ears, he continued to fight. The battle was over fairly quickly because despite Lance fighting them, they put up no fight against him.

 As they walked back to their common room of sorts, Lance could practically hear the barrage of questions that would be thrown at him. He clenched his teeth together to hold in a whine. He was certain that if he had his ears out they would be lying flat against his head. He took a seat on the couch along with everyone else while Shiro and Allura discussed the mission. Luckily, no one needed to be put in a pod. They all made it out with a few scratches at most.

 Their was a brief silence after Allura and Shiro stopped talking before everyone turned to look at Lance. He curled into himself a little bit, barely suppressing a whimper. Pidge was the first to speak, “What was Sendak talking about back there?” Ever the inquisitive mind, Pidge leaned forward to clearly hear Lance.

 “I-I d-don’t know...” he fiddled with his hands and stared at the floor. 

 “Lance you’re terrible at lying.” Hunk, his best friend, who always knew when Lance was hiding something just had to rat him out like that. Lance knew that Hunk had always been suspicious of Lance being something other than human, and now he was worried that Hunk would share such suspicions with everyone else. 

 “Okay fine I know exactly what he was talking about.” Keith raised an eyebrow and Shiro gave him an expression that said ‘go on’. “I just really don’t feel comfortable telling everyone.”

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 Everyone groaned.

 “Lance, I’m sure that you sharing something about yourself won’t change how we view you.” Allura had her hands folded and her lap and she gave him a pointed stare. He fidgeted in his seat.

 “You don’t know that princess.” He glares at her and the room is shocked at the amount of hostility coming off of him.

 She put her head in her hands. Letting out a sigh and sitting back up she said “I promise not to hate you if you’re part Galra Lance.” He scrunched his eyebrows together.

 Just as he realized what she thought was happening the others nodded. “Wait wait wait- I’m not fricking Galra guys!” They all looked at him in confusion.

 “Then why did Sendak call you a ‘kit’?” Keith raised. Lance sighed.

 “I’m a... uh... I’m a werewolf.”

 Instead of the screams and running like he expected, they all just burst out laughing, save the alteans who stared at him in confusion. “Why are you all laughing at me?” Tears pricked in the corners of his eyes.

 His team didn’t seem to notice the look of distress on his face.

 “Very funny Lance, we all know werewolves aren’t real.” Shiro said after he stopped laughing. Lance blinked back his tears and sighed realizing that of course, no one would believe him.

 The alteans shared confused glances before Coran asked, “What’s a werewolf?” The paladins stopped laughing and turned to the alteans, realization flashing on their faces.

 “Werewolves are fairytale creatures on earth, typically a person who turns into a wolf during a full moon.” Hunk explains using wild hand gestures. Coran and Allura nodded before once again sharing confused glances.

 “But why wouldn’t they be real?” Allura asked.

The paladins started laughing again. “Werewolves are stories that someone made up to make sure children don’t wander away from their parents. Much like all of the other so called ‘monsters’ that people have made up.” Pidge said.

 Lance sighed. “Actually Pidge Werewolves are very much real, and we are definitely a valid reason for children to stay near their parents.” No one missed the way that Lance bristled whenever someone mentioned werewolves being fake, but they figured he was just a good actor.

 Then again he’s never gone this far for a joke before. “If you don’t believe me I can ask Coran to give you proof.” The paladins thought this over before nodding. They figured that if Lance wanted to pretend he was a werewolf then Coran would prove him wrong and all would be done with. That is, until his dna didn’t match up with a normal humans.

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 The comparison between Lance’s dna and Hunk’s put the paladins off. At first, they thought Lance had asked Coran to show fake results or something but, upon Pidge hacking into the system and searching for any signs of it being fake, they found nothing. Lance was disgusted that they thought he would go so far for a ‘joke’. It left him to wonder what else they thought he was lying about.

 Lance hoped that once they realized he was telling the truth that they would be excepting. That was not the case. He could tell that they still didn’t totally believe him, so he offered to transform. When everyone said the confirmation he started to shift.

 His ears were replaced with wolf ears, although one was slightly flopped over like a German Shepherd puppy. His canines turned sharp and long and he sprouted a fluffy tail. His icy blue eyes melted into a bright red. He looked around and saw everyone’s faces filled with shock and- his heart skipped a beat. Fear. They were looking at him like he was a monster. Well, considering werewolves were supposed to eat people and burn down villages he couldn’t really blame them but, he had grown to think of them as a replacement pack. It hurt to see them afraid of him.

 His ears pressed against his head and they took a step back from the sudden movement. “Guys I’m not gonna hurt you! Please don’t be scared.” A tiny whimper escaped him as Hunk shook his head and left the room, Pidge quickly following. Keith pulled out a knife and Lance shuffled backwards. 

 Thankfully, Shiro put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Don’t hurt him yet. If he doesn’t make the right decision you can do as you please.” Keith looked up at Shiro incredulously before he shrugged and left. Shiro turned back to Lance.

 “I expect you to be gone within 2 days.” 

 With that, Shiro left too.

 Lance turned around to look at Coran and Allura who were staring after Shiro with anger and confusion respectively. Coran walked up to Lance and pulled him into a hug. “Nothing is wrong with you m’boy. While the others may be surprised I’m sure that the shock will wear off and then they will apologize.” Lance shook his head.

 “I’m not so sure.”

 Allura walked over to them. “While they may not accept you for whatever reason, they do not have the right to kick you out of my castle. You shall stay here for as long as you want no matter what the black paladin may say.” Lance had never heard Allura speak ill of Shiro, nor had he ever heard her use such a hostile tone of voice. He nodded and she pulled him into a hug as well.

 He whimpered at the comfort she gave off and she squeezed him tighter. “We can move you further away from the other and closer to us if you wish.” She suggested. He nodded and snuggled into her neck. She didn’t seem to mind his affection so he decided that he could seek comfort from her as well as Coran. The older man scratched behind Lance’s ear before leaving the common area to switch Lance’s room.

 After a few minutes of Lance soaking in Allura’s warmth he pulled away from her. “Thank you for not hating me. I don’t know what I would do if everyone hated me.” She just gave him a sad smile pet his hair. His tail wagged a little and he blushed. 

 Allura smiled fondly at him, “You remind me of my puppy Ali.” She let out a giggle that caused Lance to start laughing, soon they were both laughing and trying to stay standing up.

 “Seriously, thank you ‘lura.”

 “Always Lance.”

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 Coran honestly couldn’t say he was surprised when a giant grey-blue wolf walked up to him while he was working on the ship. He let out a little sigh and scratched the wolf’s ears. “Hey Lance. Did someone bother you again?” The wolf just let out a little snort and sat down, still being equal height with Coran. He had to hold back a giggle when Lance started rubbing his head under Coran’s chin.

 Whenever Lance was in wolf form he would walk up to Allura or Coran and start rubbing all over them. At first the alteans were confused by his actions but they soon realized that he was ‘marking’ them as his pack.

 While Coran was reminiscing Lance knocked the wrench-like tool Coran was holding out of his hands. The wolf then picked up the tool and bounded a few steps away before turning and waving his tail. The older male rolled his eyes fondly as he started a game of fetch with Lance (after moving away from fragile equipment of course). The man hadn’t felt so young in a long time and he lost himself in the joy of playing with Lance.

 Until Pidge walked in that is. She looked at Lance as though he was a monster and Coran definitely noticed the wolf’s tail stop wagging and him hanging his head down in shame. Pidge just scoffed and breezed past them, grabbing her computer and leaving, not before throwing a hateful glare at Lance. Coran moves over to a small couch and patted his lap. Lance partially shifted back having his ears and tail out before walking over to Coran.

 The altean just let Lance hide his face in the older man’s neck and held the young werewolf. Coran had immediately noticed how young everyone was to be fighting in a war. If he could have let them go he would have. The fact that they were alienating Lance for something so stupid made his blood boil. Lance was the youngest of the group aside from Pidge, and the boy grew up with a huge family. Coran knew what being so far from home felt like and it was a terrible feeling. He wouldn’t wish it upon his worst enemy and yet here were these children being on the other side of the universe from their home fighting a war.

This wasn’t even their war to fight. As far as Coran knew, Earth wasn’t a target for the Galra. He knew that most of the paladins were just taking out their stress on the announcement that Lance made but, that didn’t make it justified. Lance was barely an adult in the laws of Altea  Coran knew of. But of course, Altea was gone. Along with Coran and Allura’s families and the paladins innocence.

 Some people say a child’s innocence is taken away as soon as they learn about a gun or a war. Fighting on the frontline of said war will rip a child to pieces. Coran’s afraid that the children are already losing themselves. Everyone had bags under their eyes, if you snuck up on one of the paladins you might get a knife to the throat.

 A soft whimper snapped Coran out of his thoughts. Lance had fallen asleep on him. The altean patted Lance’s head until the boy’s face softened. Coran laid his head on top of Lance’s and slowly dozed off with one thought.

 This was going to be a very long war.

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 The soft thump of his paws sounded like a police siren. The soft nightlights burned his retinas. The air around him was dry and rubbed his fur the wrong way. He felt drowsy and he could barely keep his head up as he walked around the castle.

 It was the night after an intense battle. His human form was too injured for him to be in so he switched to his wolf form to speed up the healing process. He flopped down on the floor and immediately regretted it as the sound it made burst in his eardrums, his body had long turned numb. He curled in on himself and closed his eyes hoping it would help the burning feeling go away.

 When Keith started walking to the training room because he couldn’t sleep, the last thing he expected to see was a giant wolf laying on the ground whimpering. He had never actually seen Lance in his wolf form, only heard descriptions from the others. His heart wrenched at the wail Lance let out when the lights automatically turned on sensing Keith. He moved to help Lance before he shook his head, he’s a monster. He doesn’t deserve your help. Leave him alone. 

 Keith rolled his shoulders and walked away, missing the longing look Lance sent after him. Lance didn’t mind though, he was a monster.

 Despite everything that Coran and Allura said Lance was losing himself. He could feel his certainty that he and his family weren’t monster slipping away. Even if they didn’t kill people they were still bad because they weren’t normal right? But then, he did kill people. Every single day Lance killed hundreds of people and robots. The others did that too, but it was different because Lance was technically related to them right? Who’s to say he isn’t part Galra? Maybe werewolves were just mutations of the Galra gene...

 If he went to the Galra would they except him?

 He shook his head and closed his eyes again, hoping that he could sleep despite the pain he was in. Even though he told himself he would never go over to the Galra, he still decided it would be best if he left. As soon as he was fully healed, he would leave and then send blue back to the castle. It would be easy for them to find a new blue Paladin, blue was always the most adaptable lion.

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 He was finally able to safely go back to his human form. He walked into the kitchen hoping no one would be there at such an ungodly hour. He blinked rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he quickly started packing rations that would last him for a while. He had debated with himself for hours on whether or not he should tell Allura and Coran and despite how much it would hurt him to leave his kin, he knew it was for the better if they didn’t know.

 He would just leave in the middle of the night, find a planet or moon, and return blue. He heard a growl in the back of his mind but he pushed it down with a muttered ‘not now blue’. He could sense her discomfort and it put him on edge. He rolled his shoulders and continued grabbing food and water pouches. As soon as he had an amount he deemed reasonable he scurried to the lions’ hanger.

Blue stared down at him. Black stared down at him. Red stared down at him. Yellow stared down at him. Green stared down at him. 

 He was terrified.

It wasn’t as though he expected Blue to let him leave super easily but, he wasn’t counting on all five lions crowding and trapping him. He crouched down a little bit and his his throat, because even though he trusted blue with his life all of his instincts were screaming at him to run and not submit.

 Just as he was about to run, he felt a wave of calm wash over him and he almost flopped onto the floor with how peaceful it made him feel. Everything he had been dealing with fizzled out and his mind went perfectly blank, filling with white static. It took him a while to figure out that there were four more presences in his mind then he was used to. The normal three, his human persona, his wolf, and blue, the latter two were perfectly fine with the envasion so he figured that he could trust the new presences.

 “Blue cub, we all need you to stay.” The voice was similars to blue’s but it was deeper and just radiated power. When he looked up at the lions he realized that they had all moved and were now forming a semi-circle in front of him. Black’s eyes were glowing so Lance figured the voice was her. But, that doesn’t make sense. Black is Shiro’s Lion, she shouldn’t be able to communicate with Lance. 

 “Cub you are able to communicate with all lions. We have recognized the way our paladins treat you and we know it’s unacceptable. You are the most important cub you can’t just leave us.” 

 He sighed. He realized that the soft comforting voice was much like Hunk’s used to be and figures that it was yellow speaking. He shook his head to try and clear the headache forming. “There is no way I’m staying here. I won’t sit through this anymore. Heck you could all come with me if I’m that ‘important’ but I’m not staying.”

 Despite the fact that giant sentient robots were talking to him in his mind, he was mostly confused by how they seemed to be considering his offer. “If you really wish to leave cub, then we shall go with you. We can’t lose you.” 

 He blinked rapidly and just stared at black in shock. The fact that she would even SUGGEST leaving her paladin left him astounded. He wasn’t even that important, surely anyone could replace him. He felt a rumble in the back of his mind, something between a growl and a comforting purr, come from blue. He walked over to her and she nudged him with her nose.

 “Love you too, Blue.”

 He turned back to the other lions and puts his head in his hands. “Guess we’re going on a road trip.” He felt chuckles roll of the lions and smiled, this was going to be hell when the others found out.

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 He couldn’t leave immediately, that much was obvious. He snuck around when no one was paying attention and the lions worked on slowly severing their connections with their paladins. To make sure the lions wouldn’t be tracked down by Allura, Lance disabled all of the tracking devices Pidge had implanted in them.

 Because he had to plan on all of the lions coming with him and never coming back, it took a week longer than he wanted it to for him to leave. The night was dark and still and the air was so dry Lance could barely breathe. He hurried into Blue and sighed at the familiarity she gave him. The lions all pulled on their connections with him and ‘woke up’ in a way. He felt terrible about leaving behind his kin and he hoped that they wouldn’t try to contact him. He didn’t know what he would do if their efforts worked and he had to be faced against them.

 This was basically the thing that he always promised himself he would never do. There’s a load of rumbles in his head and he chuckles softly. He knows the lions will not leave him even if he begs them to, believe him he’s tried. It wouldn’t do the paladins any good to be missing ALL of their lions. They slowly leave the castle, trying to make as little noise as possible. As soon as they leave the vicinity of the castle, the lions took off, startling Lance and making him almost fall off his seat.

 “BLUE!” He screams indignantly but blue just laughs at him. 

 ‘Perrito, we love you but, you need to get used to us tossing you around.’ 

 He huffs at green, “Just because you call me cute names and speak Spanish with me doesn’t mean I’ll be less salty with you green.” He can practically hear her roll her eyes.

 They slow down and just travel through space. Lance had a planet that he figured would be good to live on but, it was very far so the lions decided it would be, as Lance stated earlier, a ‘road trip’. He was planning on stopping by a planet for a little bit so that the lions could recharge when he got a distress signal. He was prepared for something along the lines of a small planet needing help against the Galra and hands yada yada.

 What he most definitely did not expect was the signal to be from the Galra. It had seemed as though they already knew that he left because it was requesting him specifically. He felt dread rear it’s head. There was no way he could take the Galra on by himself. He was definitely regretting his decision to leave. 

 The signal wasn’t far away at all and he was shaking with anxiety. Instead of a giant command ship or something, the only thing he found that had a Galra signature was an escape pod. He sighed in relief, it was probably just a prisoner who had escaped and didn’t know what to do. He stopped at the nearest planet and responded to the signal, soon enough the pod had landed next to him. He forgoed putting on his armor and stepped out of blue. 

 The last person/creature/thing he expected to see was the older, male version of Pidge. He tried to think back to what Pidge’s brothers name was. “Are you Matt Holt?” The guy looked at him like he was crazy.

 “How do you know my name? Did the Galra send you?”

 He noticed the panic in the man’s voice and quickly shook his head, “I know you’re sister. She’s a paladin of Voltron- you- she’s been looking for you for so long. You have to get to her!” Lance talked quickly barely remembering to breathe because Jesus Christ he just found Pidge’s brother! 

 “What is she doing our here?” He looked at Pidge’s older- Matt, and sighed. Of course he didn’t want his sister fighting in an intergalactic war.

 “That’s my fault, sorry. I found blue on earth and we kind of just... left?” 

 Matt nodded before looking at the lions and realization dawned on his face. “Is Pidge on this Planet?” Matt frowned when Lance shook his head.

 “Um no. I’m kind of leaving Voltron, they didn’t want me there anymore.” 

 Matt looked at Lance in confusion, “Why would they not want you?” Lance sighed.

 “I’m a werewolf. I know I’m a monster yada yada. Just please don’t hurt me.” Matt almost flinched as he realized how pitiful Lance looked. The boy who couldn’t have been more than 19 looked like he had suffered a lifetime of heartache.

 He walked over to the younger male and put a hand on his arm in what he hoped was a comforting way. “It’s not like you go around killing people, right? You’re not a monster just because of your heritage. Heck, I’ve met Galra who have helped me escape.” Lance looked at Matt and the older guy’s breath got stuck in his throat. Lance was ridiculously pretty.

 Matt was screwed.

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 Lance had become increasingly aware of everything about Matt. They had only been ‘living’ together, for lack of a better word, for 3 weeks and Lance had already developed a major crush. The fact that they were both major flirts (and terrible at being normal humans) did not make it any easier for Lance.

 “Hey Lance, did it hurt?”

 “Did what hurt???” 

 “When you fell from heaven duh.”

 He spent a day avoiding Matt after that because he thought his heart would explode. (Also he was embarrassed that he fell for it but no one needs to know that).

 Lance was messing around with the lions while Matt was fawning over their technology (again). The lions still hadn’t left despite Lance’s insistence, and he was getting worried that the others would try and get them back. It would hurt for the lions to leave but, it was for the best.

 “Can you turn into a wolf?”

 Lance stared at Matt and blinked. “Pardon me but, whAT THE FUCK?!” He got even more confused when Matt practically launched himself at Lance and covered his mouth.

 He looked at Matt with a ‘tf are you doing’ face and Matt slowly pulled away. “Children are not allowed to cuss.” Lance turned red and turned away. 

 “You only say that because you’re an old man.” Matt acted offended and threw himself backwards, knocking Lance off his feet. 

 “Excuse you nerd, I’m not even twenty yet.” 

 Lance fondly rolled his eyes and ruffled Matt’s hair with a ‘sure’. The older male looked up at him and he was vaguely reminded of a puppy. “So freaking cute.” Matt turned red and it took Lance a minute to realize that he said it out loud. “I mean uh-“ Matt just chuckled and smiled at him and Lance felt like he was going to melt.

 They stayed there for a minute just soaking in each other’s presence before Matt of course, ruined it.

 “My question still stands. Can you turn into a wolf?” Lance nodded and Matt made a ‘go on’ gesture.

 “Wait you mean right now?” Matt hummed in confirmation and Lance sighed before slowly starting to shift. It still hurt, but because he had been doing it at the castle so much he had gotten kind of used to it. Matt watched in awe as Lance walked around in wolf form. 

 “Can I pet you?”

 Lance walked over to Matt so he took it as a ‘yes’ and started petting Lance. When the giant wolf flopped down into his lap he suppressed a giggle and wrapped his arms around Lance. Having Lance reminded Matt of his dog back home and he smiled. He nuzzled into Lance’s fur as he pet him and sighed. He finally felt back home.

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 Coran and Allura watched the former paladins run around like headless mongooses for days. It still seemed surreal that all of the lions were missing, along with Lance. Allura had tried to contact or at the very least locate the lions but, she turned up with absolutely nothing. She figured that all of this had to do with Lance being treated like scum. 

 Despite everything happening and the horror of the situation, the paladins still found time to blame Lance.

 “It was only a matter of time before he ruined our lives.” Allura had heard this remark from Keith as she was on her way to try and locate the lions again. Her quintessence bubbles to the surface, trying to break out of her and strangle Keith. How could this boy who made Lance’s life miserable for something as minuscule as his ancestry get to say such things? Allura could easily turn into a Cosmic Wolf, but when she brought up this argument they all shut her down with a ‘it’s different’.

 Lance never went around killing people for shits and giggles, why is it any different just because they know he’s a werewolf? The paladins kill thousands every month but suddenly Lance, who killed the least people possible, is a blood crazed murder. Humans really are stupid.

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 When they arrived at the new planet, everything felt off. Lance’s protective instincts were kicking in and he was practically guarding Matt. The older sighed at Lance’s antics, not realizing the threatening atmosphere. 

 The hair on the back of Lance’s neck raised when he distantly heard the sound of engines. “Matt we have to get back to the lions. Please don’t question me just get to the nearest one you can.” Matt looked hesitant to leave Lance there but he nodded and ran off. Lance stayed back for just a few minutes to try and get a glance at what the threat was.

 Of course, it was the Galra. He ran as quickly as he could to the lions, subconsciously getting onto all fours and shifting, the pain unnoticeable to the building panic. He hopped into blue, who had come to get him, and got ready to engage in combat. He asked the lions which one had Matt and when Green answered he begged her to let Matt fly her. She relented and Lance relaxed a little bit, until he noticed that yellow and red were missing.

 ‘Where are yellow and red??!?’

 ‘The Galra took them cub.’

 At this moment he realized that black was also being taken and that without a pilot, there was no way they would have been able to fight it. He quickly threw on his suit and exited blue, telling her to go away so that the Galra wouldn’t have all of Voltron. He then asked Matt to do the same over the coms but, made it obvious that Matt didn’t have to if he didn’t want to. Matt just pushed away his worries and left Green in Pidge’s old armor.

 They watched as Green flew away and then quickly followed black, who was still being sucked in due to her bulky build. She let them in and they slowly entered the galran ship. 

 Now, you may be wondering why Lance and Matt are willingly going into enemy territory. Lance has a strong kinship with the lions and he would never leave them alone in a desperate situation. Matt is smitten with Lance. Simple enough.

 When they landed it occurred to them that neither of them had any idea what they were going to do. They were literally in the hands of their enemies. Black lowered her head without prompting and practically kicked them out. The Galra that were in the hangers looked at them with shock written across all of their expressions. Lance assumed it was because they didn’t expect anyone to be inside the lions. Needless to say, he was surprised when the started firing over him.

 “What is a kit doing as a paladin? You’re too young to be fighting!” One remarked while carefully checking him over for injuries. Another one was sniffing over him presumably checking for the sent of a pack. Lance could see the surprise in the galran’s eyes when they detected none. 

 “The kit does not have a pack!” That sent the Galras into an uproar and Lance cringed while looking over to Matt for help. Matt looked back with a vaguely amused expression before reaching in and pulling Lance close to him, effectively getting all of the Galran’s attention.

 A few of them let out low growls and Lance blinked in surprise before he realized what the problem was. He leaned up and whispered in Matt’s ear, “they know I’m a werewolf which is apparently similar to a Galra and the feel territorial over me because I’m technically still a puppy.” He grumbled the last part and didn’t miss Matt’s little chuckle. 

 The older male released him and the Galrans immediately stopped growling. A few of them reached out for Lance and he shook his head. “Matt’s not going to hurt me, I trust him. Besides you guys should be the ones being growled at you tried to kidnap my pack!” The galrans looked around in confusion.

 “You have a mechanical pack?” 

 Lance nodded and the galrans just looked even more confused. “My real pack is very far away. Besides, the lions are sentient beings. They have feeling too y’know and they don’t like being kidnapped.” A few of them had the decency to look ashamed and more joined them after the lions all meowed in agreement with Lance.

 “Still, what is a kit doing in a war?” 

 Lance shrugged. “Beats me. Blue just decided I was her paladin and then boom! I was forced to fight.” He heard blue apologize in the back of his mind but he brushed her off with an ‘it’s fine’. “Anyway what are you gonna do to us?”

 The Galra looked at each other and shrugged. “Normally we would take you as prisoners but chief may be interested in you.” Lance glanced over to Matt worriedly and the older shrugged with an uncertain expression. Lance sighed and turned back to the galras. 

 “Lead the way.”

Chapter Text

 She was biting back a scream and digging her nails into her arm to keep from lunging at those vile creatures. How dare they threaten her brother?! Her non-biological sweet innocent baby brother. She was on her last straw.

 “If we had never accepted Lance then we wouldn’t be in a position where we have no lions because he STOLE them! He’s so selfish!” The others nodded along with Pidge’s rant.

 “Honestly he should all do us a favor and off himself.” Keith comments. Hunk looks slightly uncomfortable and he doesn’t nod in agreement with Shiro and Pidge. It doesn’t go unnoticed.

 “What? Are you gonna try and help him because he’s your friend? You probably already knew he was a werewolf didn’t you Hunk? You’re probably just like him!” Pidge practically jumps at the chance to put blame on Hunk. 

 The yellow Paladin visibly gulps and starts walking backwards making frantic gestures, “I swear on my lion I didn’t know! I’m not like him I swear I thought they were myths until he proved it!” 

 Shiro walks over to Hunk and puts a hand on his shoulder, glaring pointedly at Pidge. “We’re not fighting between each other Pidge. You know as much as I do that Hunk can’t lie at all. He hasn’t done anything to betray us,” Shiro turns his glare on Hunk and squeezes his shoulder a little too hard, “yet.” 

 Pidge opens her mouth like she’s going to argue but stops when Shiro holds up a hand. “End of argument. Go train.” Pidge sighs and stomps out of the room. Allura looks on with a hateful glare, although she now holds a glimmer of hope that she can get him on their side.

 She clears her throat, grabbing the remaining three’s attention. “Hunk stay behind. Shiro, Keith, you’re dismissed.” Her tone drips with finality and she has a very obvious ‘Don’t argue’ face. The two nod and leave.

 “I-is there something you need Princess?” Hunk shifts on his feet and Allura’s face softens slightly.

 “You don’t really believe Lance is evil, do you?” 

 She smiles when Hunk shakes his head. “Good, welcome to the team. You’re going to help us get Lance back.” At Hunk’s look of confusion she sighs.

 “Lance is a good person. Him being a werewolf doesn’t change that fact. He doesn’t kill people for giggles. It’s disgusting how the others talk about him. Coran and I have been working on a separate mission to find Lance and we have a lead, it’s small and slightly shady but it’s the best bet we have.” 

 Hunk nods uncertainly. “I’m so sorry I was being so rude I just didn’t want the others to try and hunt me too. I guess that just proves that I’m a bad friend.” He looks at Allura with determination burning in his eyes, “I promise I will help you find Lance and then I will be the best friend I can be.” 

 She nods and gives him a grin, “Welcome aboard.”

Chapter Text

 Turns out, Lance is cursed.

 He doesn't know how and he doesn't know when he got cursed but he is most definitely cursed.

 'Why?' You may ask.

Well, turns out there's not one but, two chiefs onboard the ship.

Fun right?

 Lance had no idea who the, frankly beautiful, tall purple dude was but, he could tell he was a man of power. Lance did however, know Sendak. Just his luck.

 Sendak didn't hurt Lance, no not at all. Sendak came up to Lance and immediately started coddling the young male. Lance stood there listening to Matt snickering at him while Sendak looked him over for injuries and pet his hair. After Sendak stopped fawning over Lance he, reluctantly, went back over to the tall purple dude's side. Said tall purple dude introduced himself as "Prince Lotor." Zarkon's son. The person Allura warned them about.

 Fuck. 

 To Lance's (and Matt's) surprise, Lotor did not tell the guards to ship the lions off to Zarkon. He instead started flirting? With Lance, much to Matt's dismay. Lance held back a laugh at the expression on Matt's face before he realized, 'oh shit the emperor's son is flirting with me.' 

 Sendak also had a look of dismay while watching Lotor try to court 'his' kit. Well. to be honest, every guard in the room looked slightly appalled at what was happening. Lance felt a hand thread through his own and looked up to see a very protective Matt staring Lotor down. 

 "My apologies, I wasn't aware Lance already had a mate."

 Lance blushed at the statement while Matt looked on slightly confused. Matt leaned down and whispered to Lance, "What does that mean?"

 Lance covered his face with his free hand and quietly replied with a, "He thinks we're dating." Lance watched in fascination as Matt's face slowly turned bright red. "Hey, it's not the worst thing that could happen. At least he'll stop flirting with me." Matt looked at Lance incredulously and Lance just squeezed his hand with a tiny smile.

 "But he's much to young to be mated!" A guard spoke up.

 "I'll have you know I'm an adult! And I'm the tallest in my pack, why do you think I'm so young?" Lance bristled, offended.

 "To be fair Lance I thought you were like, a baby the first time I saw you." Lance punched Matt in the arm with a muttered curse.

 Lotor gave a small chuckle, "Apologies Lance but, you're around the size of a, I think you would call them a 'tween', for galra." Lance stared off questioning his existence while Matt almost fell over laughing, the only thing keeping him upright was Lance's hand. 

 "Shut up Matt you're like 4 inches taller than me." Lance glared at him as he just laughed harder.

 Lotor rolled his eyes, how does a glara even know what rolling their eyes is?, and cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. 

 "Now, as you all may know, we are obligated to take the lions and turn them in to my father." At this there were a few cries of outrage and Lance could feel the buildup of tears in his eyes. "However, I'm willing to make an exception. So long as nobody reports back to Zarkon. If I find out that someone betrays me, I will not hesitate to, displace, you. Clear?"

 "Vrepit sa!"

 "Swell. Now we must get working on sending back the blue paladin and his partner. We cannot keep them here."

 Lance and Matt shared a glance and seemed to both agree to trust the Galrans. For now.

Chapter Text

 It started so small.

 So dull and quick that he thought he imagined it.

 Then others started to notice it too.

 A panic went through everyone, trying to sort out the traitor or traitors from the loyal people.

 The station was hell...

 Lance was curled up in a sleeping Matt’s arms. He was trying to read a book that Sendak had translated for him without waking the older male. Lance was close to falling asleep himself when he saw it.

 A glowing purple orb.

 He rubbed his eyes and it was gone so, he shrugged and went back to reading. Nuzzling into Matt’s chest.

 The second time he saw it, he was hanging out with Lotor. They were searching for planets that hadn’t been noticed by Zarkon yet. They were also giggling like two school girls but if anyone asks they would deny it vehemently.

 Lotor was talking about a possible place for Lance and Matt to go to when the purple orb showed up again. It was right behind Lotor’s head and, fearing for the half-galra’s safety, he jumped up and tried to slap it; only for it to disappear in thin air.

 When Lance sat down Lotor have him an incredulous look. Lance just waved it off, ignoring the nagging feeling in his gut.

 After all, he was just seeing things.

...Right?

 The third time he saw it, other people started to see it too.

 They were eating dinner at a giant table. It was a little crowded thanks to the addition of two people and five decently big magical lions, but they made it work.

 Lance was rubbing Blue’s nose as she kept trying to nudge the table enough to make his plate drop so that she could eat it. As soon as she successfully snagged something off the table, the purple orb appeared right above the center of the table. 

 A few people yelped in surprise and everyone else looked at them as though they were crazy. 

 Lance shook his head. “It’s okay, I see it too.”

 Some of the Galra sitting at the table stared skeptically at Lance from the cryptic message before shrugging and going back to eating.

 One of the Galra who saw it, Hepta Lance thinks, looked side to side warily before making eye contact with Lance. “When will it go away?” He asked. More weird looks followed his question but Lance just shrugged.

 “It stays longer each time.” With that Lance stood up and swiped at the orb. It faded away once more and the few who saw it visibly relaxed.

 When Lance sat back down Matt leaned over and whispered in his ear, “What was all that about?”

 Lance gave him a soft smile and whispered back “I think you’ll see soon enough yourself.” Lance grabbed Matt’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

 They stayed with their hands interlocked until they had to go back to their rooms.

 The fourth time he saw it, so did everyone.

 How could anyone miss it? It was no longer small. 

 It was huge and had crackling electricity.

 Everyone was confused until Lotor let out a short gasp.

 “Haggar.”

 ...and Haggar was the devil.

Chapter Text

 Galra were trying to run away and find the mole while Lance just stood there in shock.

 He vaguely heard Matt scream his name before he was dragged away.

 Lance just stood there, experiencing the world around him through slow motion.

 And then he shifted.

 “Oh what a wonderful find! Our little hostage isn’t just human! Almost as interesting as their half Galra. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers, although, he is more akin to the beggar isn’t he?”

 
 Lance woke with a piercing headache. The confusing conversation happening around him didn’t help with his dazed state. It was vaguely obvious to him that he was in his wolf form. 

 But as he tried to stand he realized that he was chained down and immediately panic set in, his human retreating to the background while his wolf took control. 

 Haggar watched in amusement as he thrashed against the chains. She knew he wouldn’t be able to break them or shift out of them, seeing as they were enhanced with her own magic after all, and that only made it more amusing for her.

 She couldn’t help but compare it to taking candy from a child. But alas, the hostage’s role was not one of entertainment. He was purely there to lead the other Paladins to her, assuming of course that they show up. For all she knew (and cared) they could absolutely despise him, why else would he be chilling with her pathetic son and a bunch of low-life Glarans. She didn’t need him for the human (and wolf) part, she needed him for the mental bond of the lions. 

 The others were still minutely connected to their lions, if she could just reach them and reopen the bonds, she was positive the lions would urge the paladins to come help. But by then, she would be prepared.

 Meanwhile with the paladins

“Did anyone else get shivers just now?” Keith asked.

 Shiro shrugged and then sneezed.

 Odd, there must be a cold going around.

Chapter Text

 He was rarely ever taken off the table and Haggar kept changing him from human to wolf and back again. His feelings and thoughts were confuddled. Without the lions soothing him he had no solace. The. only things he was certain of are that he misses his packs. They were the ones who encouraged him to get up every day and now that he has nobody, he's starting to lose his sense of reality. Lance decided that he wasn't going to fight Haggar's underlings if only so he could save himself from more pain. He just hopes Matt is okay.

 Matt was panicking. Lance had disappeared and Green had been insistently telling him that they could no longer feel Lance's connection to them. Lotor had given Matt all of the possible locations that his mother could have taken Lance to. However, Matt wouldn't be able to check all of them without asking the paladins for help. Which meant he had to confront his friend and his little sister on the way they treated Lance. Needless to say, he was not excited. 

 With a little help from the Galra, Matt was on his way. To the castle of lions.

 When the transmission from the Galra first came in, Allura was immediately worried. How was she going to explain that they were down a paladin and didn't have their lions anymore? Turns out, the Galra didn't care about the lions.

 "Princess Allura, I'm calling a temporary truce. I ask that you bring your paladins into the room for this conversation." Allura was reluctant to trust prince Lotor, but when he mentioned Lance she was ready to sit through anything he had to say so that she could get a tiny sliver of hope to find her friend.

 She somehow convinced the paladins to settle down. It took almost all of her patience to get them to behave in a somewhat dignified manner before she started the call again. God, humans are stubborn. With a huff, she turned back to Lotor. "Please prince Lotor, continue." 

 He raised an eyebrow at the behaviour of the paladins before shrugging and going back to the matter at hand. "The blue paladin has been captured by my mother, Haggar. Without help from the rest of you, his mate cannot save him." Lotor sniffed at the paladin's looks of disgust. "Put whatever prejudices you have aside. I'm sure when you see his mate you will change your mind about helping them. Nevermind the fact that I have all of your lions at my base and if you don't help I will make my guards pilot the lions and do it themselves." 

 Allura met Coran and Hunk's eyes and with a small nod from each of them, she looked at Lotor again. "Of course we will help you prince Lotor." Ignoring Keith, Pidge, and Shiro's cries of outrage she continued, "Who is this mate you keep mentioning?"

 Keith sorted before butting in, "Yeah who would be stupid enough to date Lance?"

 Jaws dropped as Matt walked into the screen. 

 "I would watch my mouth if I were you Kogane." 

 Pidge spluttered at the amount of venom dripping from the word. "Matt you know Lance is a monster, right?!" She exclaimed, somehow unaware of the glares she was receiving. 

 Matt shook his head in disappointment. "Because he's a werewolf? Really Katie? I thought I taught you better than that. And for god's sake Lotor, please stop saying I'm Lance's mate." With the last sentence, he threw an exasperated look at Lotor. 

 Hunk and Shiro both spoke up at the same time however, each were relieved for a very different reason. 

 "Wait so you're not dating Lance?"

 Matt laughed. "That's what you're getting out of this? Wow, Lance was right, you guys really are dense. To answer your question, no, I'm not dating Lance."

 Lotor appeared on the screen again, "Yet."

 Matt swatted at him and Lotor ran from him, laughing the whole time.

 "Anyways," Matt started. "We don't have enough people that can pilot the lions here. So, we're reluctantly asking for help." 

 Coran piped up from the back, "How many people over there can pilot lions?"

 Matt leaned away and talked to someone off-camera for a moment before coming back in to view. "As of right now, there's only two of us. I can pilot the green lion and Lotor can pilot the red lion. However, there is someone else who Lance has been teaching how to pilot the blue lion, his name is Nix." Matt gives a little wave to somebody that they can't see and suddenly a meek person, half-galra maybe, is on the screen giving a shy wave. Matt gives him a gentle nudge, "Introduce yourself." 

 Nix looks up at the paladins before quickly looking down again and whispering something to Matt. The older gives a small laugh before shaking his head and looking back at the paladins.

 "This is Nix, Lance's brother.”

Chapter Text

 Needless to say, they were confused. And shocked. And all those other emotions that come with being surprised. 

 "What do you mean brother?" Shiro asked, recovering the quickest.

 "Well, the Galra wanted to test the similarities between werewolves and Galrans, and Nix here decided he would volunteer for the DNA portion. It was a coincidence that they were related. So, of course, Lace got tested with almost every other Galran on the base and the only ones we found related to him were Nix and his family. I don't get how they're related though, that's not my kind of science. The Galra weren't able to find out exactly how they're related but they said it was most likely that they were siblings. It's still up in the air, we're waiting until we can get back to Earth so that Lance can question his parents." Matt explained, or tried to, with his limited knowledge on the subject.

 "I guess that kind of makes sense. That's probably why they called Lance a kit too, instead of it just being because he's a werewolf." 

 Pidge had seemingly left behind her prejudice when she found something much more entertaining than picking on a werewolf. Her eyes were getting that glint they got whenever she was on the edge of making a scientific discovery.

 Matt sighed at his sister's behavior and continued. "Anyway, we should get back to the point. We need 2 more people to pilot the lions, maybe 3 if Nix isn't able to figure it out in time. We would prefer it if you could send Hunk and Shiro as those are the lions' real paladins. If you two don't want to come because you discriminated against Lance you can always stay there and we will find someone else to pilot the lions." 

 Shiro looked as though he was going to speak but Allura put a hand up, "Of course they will pilot the lions. When do you need them at your base?"

 Matt let Lotor step in here because he was the one that had most of the plan memorized.

 "Friday at the latest. We're planning to do the rescue mission late Saturday and we'll need about a day to get everything ready. Preferably we want them here tomorrow, but I understand this is kind of short notice.

 Allura took a moment to reconvene with the paladins because while she didn't agree with most of their views they all needed to agree on some sort of plan. 

 When they had figured out some a few ground rules they continued the meeting with Matt. Eventually, they all did come up with an actual idea. The castle of lions would warp to the Galran base the next evening, giving them 3 days to fully figure out what they had to do, and the paladins would try to rekindle the weakened bonds with their lions. It was decided that all of them would go even if only a few people were needed. One, to give the skeptics a way to make sure nobody would get hurt, two, so their forces wouldn't be spread too thin in case of an emergency, and finally, because Coran and Allura wanted to see Lance as soon as possible.

 Maybe it was a selfish reason, but honestly, Allura couldn't care less what these people had to say about her wanting to see the younger male.

 So they all went to bed thinking of how the next few days would affect them. Pidge couldn't deny that they were worried about what would happen when Lance saw them again. They couldn't help but feel guilty about how they had left things.

 Keith was also worried, for different reasons. He was suspicious about the Galrans. Even though Matt was there, and when he was younger he adored Matt, he couldn't help but feel... Weird, about the whole thing.

 Hunk was ecstatic. Sure he was upset that his friend was captured but there was no way anything that bad was happening to Lance. Right? Nope. He's not going down that path right now. Instead, he's going to focus on how happy he is to see Lance again, and how much better he'll feel when he apologizes for being a prick. Yeah, things will go just fine.

 Allura... didn't know how to feel. She and Coran had forgoed going to bed immediately. Instead, they had sat in the observatory, where Lance used to come up to them in his wolf form and beg for pets until they stopped thinking so profoundly. She almost expected to feel a cold nose nudging her hand.

 Shiro wasn't ready. He hadn't wanted to mention it for the sake of everyone else, but he was incredibly worried about the reaction he would have upon seeing Haggar again. And he knew it was Haggar that had Lance because who else would be able to infiltrate a base that big. No matter how hypocritical it made him, he just hoped Lance was okay. Never in his life would he wish what he had faced upon a child. A kid. Lance was just a kid. Shiro definitely wasn't getting out of this with a clear conscience.