Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They didn’t waste anymore time. This was going to end today, whether it ended in the death of the Tribe, or in the death of the katchlari, it was finally going to be over, and for that, Suho was infinitely thankful. He would rather die with his Tribe than allow this...this war that had already hurt so many of them to continue.

He saw Kris running towards Tao, dodging around Seunghyun’s body to get to his mate. Before the enemy Beta could chase after him, Chanyeol and Baekhyun had already collided with him. In the back of his mind, Suho felt his Spirit pressing forward, ready to tear Jiyong’s miserable head from his miserable body, and he had to bite back his snarls of fury.

On his left, the Alpha saw Chen and Xiumin charging towards Youngbae, a furious looking Lay right behind them. The look on their faces was unmistakable-you tried to kill our Tao, you are going to pay.

On the other side, Sehun and Luhan moved past him, sharing one look before parting ways. The Beta attacked one Hunter while his mate took the other. Kyungsoo followed Sehun without looking once at his mate before he collided with his enemy, bowling the taller Hunter over.

In that moment, Suho went from knowing everything that was around him, to be so focused on what was happening to him that everything else kind of blurred together. At his side stood Kai. The Hunter’s face was blank, but his eyes held all of his fury, all of his pain, and all of his fear.

Suho looked back at Jiyong, who hadn’t moved the entire time, his eyes on Suho and Suho alone.

Their eyes locked, and Suho attacked.

Time seemed to slow in that brief intermission between his decision to move, and his collision with Jiyong’s body. Throughout those achingly long seconds, Suho was hyperaware of everything that was happening around him. He saw his Tribemates, each and every one of them, looks of pure fury on their faces, fighting with what he knew was everything they had. He saw the katchlari, they themselves furious, but for different reasons.

And right before he hit Jiyong, he saw the other Alpha, and his Spirit took control.

Suho wasn’t very aware of what happened after that. He didn’t think, didn’t analyze, he simply did. His fury was at the forefront of his mind, and he let that, alongside the Lion inside of him, control every movement, every breath, everything about him.

In the back of his mind, he heard a wailing noise, but he couldn’t bring himself to look, because he knew that if he did, he risked this entire battle.

“Admit it.”

Jiyong growled. “Never.”

“You’ve lost, Jiyong. Your time, the katchlari’s time, is finished. Your Hunters are dead-”

The Alpha on the ground snarled, and arched, so his face was mere inches from Suho’s. “The katchlari will never die. You think the loss of Seungri and Daesung means anything? They knew they would die, whether it be today, or a hundred years from now. I can replace them. You killed the pawns, Suho, but you haven’t killed the King.”

A short growl answered his words, but it wasn’t from Suho. Kris pushed the others out of his way, and came to stand over Jiyong. “Would you like me to? Because Jiyong, I want to murder you.”

Jiyong shrieked with laughter. “You don’t get it, do you? I’m not talking about myself, I’m not talking about any of us!”

The long silence that followed was broken by Luhan. “He means Seunghyun.” The Beta raised a hand to pat at the blood on his head, and fell silent, his eyes closing once more.

Kris inhaled sharply. Right.

“Oh, now you understand.” Before Kris could stop him, Jiyong hauled himself to his feet. “You think you’ve done well today, Kris, you’re wrong. You may have killed Seungri and Daesung, and you very well might kill Youngbae and I today, but the katchlari will remain, because my fucking mate is still alive, and still out there, and he’s going to come back to kill you all.”

“You sound awfully confident in that.”

Jiyong’s eyes found Suho. “Wouldn’t you?” He prowled forward, ignoring Kris’ warning growl. “Would you not move sun, stars, moon, and earth to avenge your mate? I know I would. I know Kris would.” Jiyong turned towards Kris, and they held each other’s gaze for a long time. “Do it then.”

Kris came forward, a growl building in his chest. He stopped not a foot from Jiyong, before cocking his head to the side. “No.” Jiyong raised an eyebrow. “You don’t deserve to die. You deserve far, far worse.”

They gathered in the center of the clearing that night, under the full moon. Kris and Suho sat at the head of the party, their mates nowhere to be seen. Lay was tending to Tao, who had been, for a while, near death.

Beside each Alpha was his own Beta. Baekhyun was held close against Chanyeol’s chest, the Seer murmuring soft words against his neck. Luhan and Sehun were pressed up against each other, side to side, hand in hand.

The Hunters had sat down in one clump of four. Xiumin and Kai hadn’t spoken yet, their eyes closed in either pain or exhaustion, but Chen and Kyungsoo were happy to fill in the blanks of the conversation.

“Seunghyun?”

Luhan sighed. “We have to find him. I don’t think it’s in anyone’s best interests to allow him to rebuild what Jiyong left. He cannot be allowed to come back and kill anyone. I’m not going to allow it, and I doubt anyone else will either.”

Chanyeol spoke slowly. “I think I can find him. I can See again, now that Youngbae’s in chains.”

A long silence fell over them. Finally, Kris spoke. “I’m going to go check on Tao. I think we all need some time alone with our mates. It’s been a trying day, for everyone.”

Chapter Text

“Come here.”

Xiumin reached out and took Chen’s hand as his mate approached him. He pulled Chen against his side and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “We’re going to be okay. The Tribe’s going to be okay. I promise.”

Chen nodded slowly. “I know that. Deep down, I really do. But I just can’t stop thinking about Jiyong and Seunghyun and all of it. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. You and Kai and Tao almost died. I don’t think I’ll be able to go through that again.”

Xiumin nodded and wrapped his arms around Chen’s waist. “Then I’ll make sure you don’t have to. You’re the light of my life, Chen, I’m not going to let anyone hurt you anymore. We’re going to stop Seunghyun.”

Chen rested his head against Xiumin’s chest, content just to listen to his mate’s heartbeat. They stood there for a long time, just breathing, in and out, before Chen spoke. “What if we can’t?”

Xiumin growled, and Chen looked up at him. “Don’t talk like that.” Chen rolled his eyes, but before he could respond, Xiumin was pressing him backwards into a tree. “Stop. I don’t want you to think like that. We’re fine, we’re alive, our Tribe is alive, everything is going to be okay. And if it’s not, then we’re going to deal with that if it happens. Not right now. We’ve dealt with too many ‘what-ifs’ in our lives, Chen, and I’m sick of it.”

Chen nodded slowly. “So no more speculation.”

“None. If Kris and Suho and Luhan and Baek want to talk about what might happen, they can. It’s not our job, never has been, and I refuse to accept it as such now.” He kissed Chen again, this time on the mouth. “Let’s just be us, right here, right now. Please.”

Another nod. “I can handle that.”

“Good.”

Chen whimpered when Xiumin pressed his lips to the skin behind his ear. “You’re mine. All mine.” The younger Hunter nodded quickly, fingers wrapping desperately around Xiumin’s forearms. “I’ll going to protect you.”

Xiumin nudged his knee in between Chen’s legs, and slid a hand up to cup his jaw before pressing another kiss to his mouth. “You know that, right?”

Chen blinked quickly, and nodded. He leaned forward, arms wrapped around Xiumin’s neck, and tugging him forward. “I know. I love you.”

Someone coughed awkwardly behind them, and Xiumin swore softly against Chen’s lips. He pulled back about six inches, as Chen whined, the fury underneath the sound obvious. “What do you want, Kris?” Xiumin chuckled as he turned his head, keeping Chen caged against the tree.

The Alpha glanced between the pair of them a few times. “Suho wants to talk to you two.”

Chen rolled his eyes. “Well, Suho can go fu-”

Xiumin cut him off by placing a hand over Chen’s mouth. “Tell him we’ll be there as soon as we can.” Kris nodded slowly, before backing away and vanishing into the forests. Xiumin turned back to Chen, and removed his hand. “Be quiet.”

Sehun found Kyungsoo standing on the edge of the lake, facing the water. The Hunter had his eyes narrowed, and Sehun could see the anger on his face.

Sehun walked up beside him before coming to a halt and speaking. “What’s wrong?”

Kyungsoo glanced at him once. “Nothing.” Sehun snorted softly, and then Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “It’s Kai.”

“Trouble in paradise?”

Kyungsoo smacked Sehun, hard. The Omega hissed and scampered away from him before the Hunter continued speaking. “He got hurt again, during the battle, and his old injury wasn’t completely healed.” Kyungsoo sighed. “It was my fault. I’m supposed to protect him, I’m his mate.”

He ran a hand through his hair anxiously, but Sehun grabbed his hand. “Stop.” The Hunter turned to him, confusion in his eyes. “You can’t blame yourself for any of that. You were both protecting your Tribe. It wasn’t your fault.”

“How the hell can you say that?”

“Because it’s not, Kyungsoo. You can’t take responsibility for something like that, the only person we can blame is-who was he fighting?-Jiyong. That bastard is a lot more powerful than I care to admit, and, speaking as someone who’s fought him before, what he did to Kai should have killed him.”

“So you’re saying I should just be glad that he’s not dead.”

Sehun shrugged. “Yeah. I guess I am. Isn’t that all we can ask for in this world?”

Kyungsoo opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again. He nodded slowly, and pulled away from Sehun. “Thank you. I’m going to go see him now, if that’s okay.” Sehun nodded, and Kyungsoo backed away, but not before he spoke again. “Sehun?”

“Mmhm?”

“Do you think Seunghyun’s going to kill us?”

Sehun turned to look him in the eyes once more. “I don’t know, Kyungsoo. I don’t know.”

“What do you think they’re going to do?”

Youngbae turned his head to glare at Jiyong. “Best case? Kill us. Worst? I don’t know. Something horrendous. Something you would do.”

“Don’t look at me like that.”

The Seer growled, low in his throat. “If you didn’t want me to be angry at you, maybe you shouldn’t have fucked up so badly, Alpha.” He poured as much venom as he could into the last word, and the only thing that stopped Jiyong from attacking him was the chains that held him back.

“Shut up, you moron.” Jiyong hissed at him, still fighting against his chains.

Youngbae snarled. “No, you shut up. I’ve had about enough of you.” They stared at each other for a long moment. “Why did it have to be you who survived? I would rather be stuck with Seungri than with you.”

They both fell silent. “You don’t mean that.”

Youngbae bit his lip. “No. I do, Jiyong, because you are literally the most infuriating person I have ever had the misfortune of meeting.”

He heard Jiyong’s breath hitch. “Stop.”

Youngbae shifted onto his knees. “I don’t know why I joined your stupid katchlari, but it was by far the worst decision I have ever made.” Jiyong growled. “Oh, what, Ji? Are you going to cry? I thought you were stronger than that.”

Chapter Text

Darkness.

It surrounded them, choked them, threatened to pull the light, the life, the existence out of their very beings. It was ready to end them, end everything the light had ever created. It would be simple. Just push and push and push, until, inevitably, they crumbled under the pressure.

That was what had happened to the last ones, the last ones who had embarked on this foolish journey. They had vanished, and soon, so would these newcomers. It would start small, with something that seemed so wholly insignificant. They would ignore it, cast it aside as though nothing was wrong.

That in itself would destroy them.

The darkness was ready, waiting for its chance to move in, and its moment would come sooner than any of them had anticipated.

A lone figure rose to his feet, and stared out into the darkness. “I’m not afraid of you.” He was met with silence, a sound so very quiet it threatened to deafen him. “I’m not, I never was, you don’t scare me.”

You don’t sound very sure of yourself. The voice sounded in his head, shook him to his very bones. In fact, it sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself more than you’re trying to convince me.

“That’s not true and you know it.”

I know that you like to pretend you’re stronger than you are, and I know that it tends to get you into bad situations. I know a lot about you, perhaps more than you know.The voice was practically purring now as the darkness wound itself around the object of the voice’s fascination. I’ve been more than patient with you. I have betrayed my family to help you, and where have you gotten me? Nowhere. So I would be very, very afraid, if I were you.

A long silence followed his comments. “I apologize. I won’t fail again.”

I would hope not, for your own sake.

“What are we going to do with them?”

The inevitable question yanked all four of them out of their thoughts. Luhan gazed at Suho for a long moment, trying to clarify exactly what the Alpha meant. “We can hardly leave them alive. Think of everything they’ve done to us, to the Tribe. You really think any of them would be okay with us allowing the katchlari to live?”

Baekhyun nodded in agreement. “I know it’s rare that I agree with Luhan, but he’s right. I don’t think allowing Jiyong and Youngbae to live would be in the best interests of the Tribe.”

Kris cocked his head to the side. “We do have to keep in mind that Seunghyun is still alive, and still out there hunting us.” Suho looked at him, one eyebrow raised in question. “We all know how strong the Mate-bond is. If we were to kill Jiyong, it would throw Seunghyun into a state of absolute madness. He would stop at nothing to get revenge, which would involve killing all, or at least as many as he can, of us. I agree with both of you, allowing them to live isn’t ideal, but we have to look at the bigger picture.”

Suho openly gaped. “You’re not serious.”

“I am.”

“Kris!” Baekhyun and Luhan spoke in unison, which seemed to surprise both of them. Luhan continued, cutting Baekhyun off with a wave of his hand. “Did you not see what they did to Tao?”

“Of course I did, Luhan, and believe me, I wanted to destroy every single one of them. But I’m an Alpha, I have to think of my Tribe before myself, and killing Jiyong can only result in Seunghyun getting more pissed than he already is, and taking it out on all of us. I can’t risk my Tribe in that manner. Not now, not ever.” He fell silent, chest heaving as he stared at Luhan.

Baekhyun’s soft voice seemed to startle them. “When you put it that way, Kris, it makes a lot of sense. I think you’re right, killing Jiyong would be a mistake. But think about Youngbae. Think about what he did to our Seers. My mate was terrified, he wouldn’t talk to me because of his fear. And Lay?” The Beta turned towards Suho. “He wasn’t much better.”

Suho bit his lip. “I still think killing them is our best option. But if Kris-” He glanced once at the other Alpha, and inhaled sharply. “If Kris disagrees, then I think we should wait before we make a decision, watch to see how the situation develops.”

Luhan closed his eyes and nodded. “Let’s just pray that it doesn’t spiral out of control before we have a chance to fix it.”

Chapter Text

It had been a week. A week since they had last discussed the issue of Jiyong and Youngbae. And by the gods it was putting Baekhyun on edge. It was putting them all a little on edge, really, but Baekhyun felt it the most. He could almost feel those powerful Spirits radiating off of the pair. He had yet to identify exactly what they were, but they were powerful, they were volatile, and they were dangerous, gods dammit.

So of course Baekhyun was stuck guarding them.

He and Youngbae had come to a silent agreement that they didn’t speak to each other. The only communication between the two of them was their glares of fury-Baekhyun because he hated his job, Youngbae because he didn’t particularly like being trapped here.

It wasn’t only Baekhyun that Youngbae glared at. It was everyone, Jiyong included. When they talked to each other, it was usually a back and forth of insults until they fell silent to stew in their anger.

Not that Baekhyun minded the silence. He’d rather have that than listen to their bickering, if he was being honest with himself, because when they argued, all it did was remind him of how he and Luhan used to trade insults. He didn’t particularly like being reminded of that, but what he hated more was seeing the similarities between himself and these morons.

The pair had just finished their most recent argument. It was one of the more brutal ones, one that made Jiyong almost shrink into his own skin. He had never cried, but he had gotten damn close to it.

That in itself was what worried Baekhyun. Tribes-even Tribes like the katchlari- weren’t supposed to act the way Youngbae and Jiyong were acting. It was a little bit unsettling, for Baekhyun, simply because he had never encountered anything like it. Everyone in his Tribe got along, for the most part-because, he figured, he and Luhan were bound to fight sometimes.

The chains were more than strong enough to hold them, he had tested that. It might not have been the safest thing he had ever done, but it had been necessary. No one else had bothered to see if Youngbae or Jiyong could escape, so Baekhyun had taken it upon himself to ensure that, even in a fit of rage, neither of them could break free.

With a sigh, the Beta got to his feet and walked away, ignoring the glares that the pair behind him shot his way.

“Chanyeol.”

The Seer turned around to look at him, and grinned. “I thought you were babysitting.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, and came to stand beside his mate. “I was. They’re not going to try anything, they can’t escape. You’d be able to See it if they planned to try.” He sighed softly. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean?”

Baekhyun shrugged. “I dunno. Something just feels really…off, and I can’t tell if it’s this whole katchlari situation or if it’s something else.”

Chanyeol wrapped an arm around his waist. “We’re going to be okay. The katchlari have been detained. I haven’t Seen anything important.” Chanyeol rested his chin on top of Baekhyun’s head. “Besides, even if something does happen, we can handle it. We’ve handled everything that’s been thrown at us in the past, I don’t see why now would be any different.”

None of them were expecting any of it, of course.

That had been the plan.

Before any of the Tribe could process exactly what was happening, a massive hole had been blown in the ground, and Jiyong was all but exploding out of the earth.

Sehun screamed as the Alpha descended over him, rocks and dirt falling out of the sky. Xiumin threw himself over Chen’s body, doing what he could to protect his mate. All around them, panicked shouts and growls filled the air.

A whimpering Kyungsoo clung to Kai, their bodies pressed close together as they watched Jiyong and Youngbae approach. Baekhyun pushed past the pair of Hunters, and stopped in front of Jiyong, bringing the katchlari to a halt.

“Enough.”

Baekhyun’s voice wavered at the end, but the word was enough to make Jiyong hesitate. “Excuse me?”

Baekhyun glared at him. “No more of this...this fighting.” Jiyong merely raised an eyebrow. “We’ve killed your Hunters, you know that if you continue with this that you’re going to end up dead. So what’s the point, Jiyong?”

Youngbae answered before his Alpha could. “You really don’t get it, do you? This is never going to be over, Baekhyun, no matter how hard you try to end it. Because even if you kill us, the katchlari are eternal. We come and go throughout the years, but we have always been here, and always will be.” He inhaled sharply, and glanced over his shoulder at Jiyong. “You want to kill us, fine. But you know it’s not going to do what you want it to.”

Baekhyun fell into stunned silence. His mouth opened and closed, like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words.

Luckily, Luhan could. He pushed past Baekhyun, in the same way Youngbae had pushed past Jiyong, and got within a foot of the Seer before he was speaking. “Since when are you and him on good terms? You hate each other!”

Chen had a hand on Luhan’s shoulder before Youngbae could answer. “Because. It’s his trigger.” The Hunter walked right past Youngbae, ignoring the Seer’s angry growl. “Isn’t it, Ji? That’s what makes your Spirit lash out, it’s what makes you lose all semblance of control. Youngbae took advantage of that. He played you, and you were too stupid to realize it.”

Jiyong glared at Chen. “So what if he did? He got us out, didn’t he? I told you, his loyalty is to me, never to anyone else.”

Those words had Youngbae spinning on his heel, shoving Chen to the ground, and punching Jiyong in the nose.

Chapter Text

“Do you understand why any of that happened?”

Luhan sighed as he leaned back against the wall. He cast a look at Baekhyun, but when the other Beta didn’t speak, he rolled his eyes. “Bits and pieces. It’s all very confusing, and it did happen very quickly. But, from what I’ve heard from Lay and Chanyeol, I think I get some of it.”

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. “Oh, do tell.”

“I don’t appreciate your tone.” The pair glared at each other for a long moment before Luhan continued. “Baekhyun mentioned the arguments that Youngbae and Jiyong were having, and Chen said something to me a while ago - and I’m pretty sure he mentioned it the other day, too - about triggers. It didn’t mean anything to me for a while, but in light of recent events, I’ve seen the connection. Youngbae wasn’t...he wasn’t actually angry at Jiyong. He was trying to trigger his Spirit, to...start the reaction, if you will. Jiyong has the most powerful Spirit I’ve ever seen, and when he loses control of it...well, we’ve all witnessed that.”

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure Youngbae wasn’t doing that just because he was a little upset?”

Luhan glared at him. “You really don’t listen to your mate, do you? I’ve spoken to Chanyeol about it a few times, about how different the bond is between Youngbae and Jiyong. It’s not the Alpha-Seer bond, like Suho and Chanyeol have. It’s closer to a mate-bond than anything Chanyeol’s seen, but it’s definitely not a mate-bond, in and of itself. They aren’t mates, but they’re not just an Alpha and a Seer.”

Suho blinked slowly. “So they’re…together?”

“You’d have to ask them, frankly. I don’t know, from what I heard, Chanyeol doesn’t know.” Luhan sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s irrelevant now, though, seeing as they’re dead.”

Kris broke the long silence that followed. “What about Youngbae punching Jiyong, what was that all about?”

Luhan shook his head, but Baekhyun seemed to have an answer. “I think it kind of goes back to what Luhan said. Youngbae and Jiyong were more than just Alpha and Seer, and I don’t think Jiyong...realized that. I think Jiyong’s statement made Youngbae realize that maybe Jiyong didn’t feel the same way about him. That, coupled with Chen’s very confusing commentary, most likely set him off.”

Kris hummed in the back of his throat. “That makes sense. Though I will have to talk to Chen about what exactly he means by trigger. I think that’s something we need to be looking into, especially now that we’ve got Seunghyun all riled up and ready to murder our asses.”

Luhan cleared his throat. “I think...there’s something we need to talk about, Kris. It occurred to me the other day, and I brought it up with Baekhyun, and I’m pretty sure we agree on what we think about it.” Kris and Suho raised an eyebrow in unison. “This whole territory thing. I don’t know - and I’m sure the Hunters don’t either - where our borders are. After the old Tribe came here and we united, everything got kind of...weird. We had good territory up where we lived before, and I don’t want all that to go to waste.”

The Alphas nodded, their gazes flicking back and forth from Beta to Beta. “Luhan’s right. We can’t just leave that land up there.”

Kris pressed his lips together in a tight line before speaking. “We don’t have the Tribe power to hold all that land, though. What with...the loss of my old Tribe, and then all of your former Tribemates having left out of anger, or dying in that battle, we simply don’t have enough to be able to defend all of this area.”

Luhan nodded. “That was my concern. But we can’t let that go to waste, we can’t let another Tribe take that land, especially not a hostile Tribe.”

Baekhyun made a noise of exasperation in the back of his throat. “What exactly are you proposing we do, then, Luhan?”

Luhan met Kris’ gaze across the cave. “You remember Doojoon?”

“Can I have a hand, Chanyeol?”

The younger Seer nodded as he crossed the clearing towards where Lay was seated beside Xiumin. The Hunter was lying on the ground, eyes closed, but Chanyeol could tell from the clench in his jaw that he was awake. “What’s wrong?”

Lay ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. It’s nothing I’ve ever seen before. This morning, Chen came and told me that he thought Xiumin was sick, and now here he is. His Spirit’s going haywire, I can’t See anything, it’s like having Youngbae in my head all over again.”

Chanyeol sat down beside him, and put a hand on Lay’s shoulder. He rubbed reassuring circles on his back, trying to calm the Seer beside him.

Lay was right, there really was nothing to read about Xiumin. His Spirit was fading and then lashing out at random intervals, so quickly that anyone else would have missed it. Every time Chanyeol tried to look for something, his Sight was blocked.

“Get Suho, or Kris, or someone, please, Lay.” Chanyeol fought to keep his voice calm, and somehow, he succeeded. Lay rose to his feet, and walked away, hopefully to search for one of the Alphas.

Even as Lay walked away, Kai came towards Chanyeol, supporting - more like carrying - Sehun. “Chanyeol, I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He can’t speak, can barely move.”

Chanyeol swore under his breath. Sehun’s spirit was doing the same thing, fading almost to black, and then bursting out in a fury.

Suho was the first to say something when he arrived with Luhan. “What...what happened?” Chanyeol shook his head, and then glanced up at Luhan. The Beta was frozen in place, wide eyes on Sehun’s limp form. His lips seemed to be caught in the middle of saying the Omega’s name.

“Where is my mate?!”

Chen’s shriek shocked them all out of their silence. The Hunter pushed past Luhan, spotted Xiumin, and fell to his knees. “No. No no no. No!”

Behind him, Kris sucked in a sharp breath, and knelt beside Chen. He wrapped an arm around the Hunter’s waist, and held him still. “It’s okay. He’s going to be alright.”

Chanyeol turned his head and looked Kris in the eyes. The Alpha shook his head, almost imperceptibly, and Chanyeol looked down at the pair in front of him. Behind him, he could feel Baekhyun’s body pressed against his back. “I...Lay, can you get them out of here, please? Chen and Luhan can stay, but I need space.”

Baekhyun’s grip tightened on his shoulder, but Chanyeol simply shook his head. “No, Baekhyun. Stay with Kris and Suho.” The Beta growled softly, but backed away, pulling Kris with him.

Chanyeol ran a hand through his hair, and then motioned Chen and Luhan closer. “We need to move them inside. Could you guys…” The Beta and Hunter nodded. They crouched, almost in unison, to lift their mates, and began to walk away.

Chanyeol rose to his feet, and, with one last look at Baekhyun, followed.

Chapter Text

Chanyeol didn’t speak when he wrapped his arms around Baekhyun’s shoulders, and pulled the shorter man back against his body. He inhaled slowly, trying to memorize the scent that was so uniquely Baekhyun that he could get enough of it. Baekhyun lifted his hands to tangle their fingers together, a contented hum coming from his throat.

“They’re going to be okay, Chanyeol. You and Lay are going to figure this out, you always do.”

Chanyeol’s grip tightened, and he held Baekhyun even closer than before. “Whatever this is, we’ve never seen it before. Lay’s never seen anything even remotely similar to it. But,” He paused to take a deep breath. “But we’re not going to let it hurt the Tribe. Kris knows this other Tribe that supposedly has a super great Seer, and he’s going to send some people to try and work something out with them.”

Baekhyun broke out of his grip and turned so he could press a kiss to Chanyeol’s lips. The Seer hummed, low in his throat, and linked his arms around Baekhyun’s waist. “You’re going to be fine. Xiumin and Sehun are going to be fine. The Tribe is going to be fine.” The Beta took Chanyeol’s face in his hands, and pulled him down for another kiss. “Jiyong and Youngbae and Seungri and Daesung...they don’t matter anymore, they’re dead.” Chanyeol opened his mouth to respond, but Baekhyun cut him off. “Don’t interrupt me, I know you’ve been thinking about them. You have to let it go, Chanyeol. There are two things you need to be thinking about - the Tribe, and me.”

Chanyeol took a shaky breath. “I just can’t help...it was my fault, what happened to-”

“Stop it.” Chanyeol snapped his mouth shut, and, just for good measure, Baekhyun placed a hand over it. “What happened to Tao is not your fault. It was Jiyong’s, only Jiyong’s. Kris doesn’t blame you for that, why would Tao, why would you?”

“I was supposed to be protecting him, and I failed!”

Baekhyun had never been very good at controlling his temper, especially when Chanyeol got in one of his moods. There had been countless incidents, times where Baekhyun would move just a little too quickly, push a little too hard, grab a little too tightly, and Chanyeol would end up crying.

It didn’t really surprise Baekhyun, though, when he found himself seated on top of his mate, Chanyeol’s wrists trapped over his head. Chanyeol simply looked at him, but he still had that look in his eyes, the look that Baekhyun knew all too well.

“Enough.” Baekhyun leaned down, their mouths meeting again, Baekhyun’s teeth catching Chanyeol’s bottom lip. “Enough of this. You can’t be everywhere at once, Chanyeol, you can’t prevent everything. And remember, you healed Tao, you saved his life more than once.” Underneath him, Chanyeol had finally let his tears fall, which only made Baekhyun more upset. “I don’t want to see you cry, I never want that. It wasn’t your fault, it could never be your fault. The Tribe would never blame you for that.”

“I blame me for that, Baekhyun! I should have protected him, if I had done a better job, Tao wouldn’t have gotten captured-” Baekhyun cut him off by kissing him again, the Seer’s words dropping into a low moan. His hands finally managed to break Baekhyun’s grip, and he pulled Baekhyun closer to him by the hips. “Can we...can we have this conversation later?”

Baekhyun nodded quickly, fingers tangling in Chanyeol’s hair. His free hand held tight to Chanyeol’s neck, and his soft breaths washed over his mate’s face. “I love you.”

“And I love you.”

“I want you to hold onto me, and don’t let go, please. I need to see what’s going on inside of their heads, and I need you to keep me grounded here in our plane.”

Lay’s voice was serious. Suho wasn’t sure when he had last seen his mate smile, but he didn’t have time to worry about it now. He took hold of Lay’s free hand, and held it tight in his own. “What happens if I let go?”

Lay looked at him for a long moment. “I would slip into the Spirit plane and it would be ridiculously difficult to bring me back. Chanyeol doesn’t know how, so I would advise against letting me go.”

Suho bit his lip, and nodded. “I won’t. I never will.”

Without another word, Lay stretched out his other arm, and placed two fingers on Xiumin’s forehead.

Images flooded his mind, moving too quickly for him to understand what was happening. There were voices, roaring in his ears, voices that Lay knew, but couldn’t quite place. They were screaming, shouting, yelling at him, but he couldn’t make out a single word.

Without warning, it all fell silent, and still, and his mind went blank. There was nothing, nothing but the black shadows that surrounded him, and the ringing in his ear. He turned, slowly, eyes gliding over the horizon as he did so, searching for something, anything, anyone.

There. He could see something on the horizon, a stark white against the darkness. Lay moved towards it quickly, sensing he didn’t have much time left before he would be thrown out. This place was not for him.

“Hello, Lay.”

That voice, he knew that voice, better than he cared to admit. He spun on his heel, the white having vanished from his sight. Before him now stood a single figure, hidden in shadow, but Lay could pick out bits and pieces. There was his face, twisted with malice. A hand, moving at his side.

“Looking for your little friends?” Lay’s head jerked up. Their eyes met, across the space, and the dark figure laughed. “I know you are. You wouldn’t be here, couldn’t be here, if you weren’t.” The figure came forward, smirking now, a dark glint in his eyes.

“Where are they, Youngbae?”

“How would I know?” Youngbae laughed softly under his breath. “You see, Lay, I may have designed this trap, but the Spirits put them where they are, trapped them here.”

“Why? Why, Youngbae? Haven’t you had enough of this war?” Lay’s voice cracked at the end, and Youngbae’s smirk vanished.

“This war, Lay, is never going to end, not even if you get your little friends out of here. You and your pathetic little Tribe killed my friends, and my Alpha, and I can’t let that go unpunished. So no, I haven’t had enough. Whatever I do will never be enough, not for me.”

“You don’t mean that.” Before Youngbae could speak again, Lay was answering his questions. “You never wanted to be involved in this. You tried to convince Jiyong to just let it go, but he didn’t. That’s how you got sucked into it, Youngbae. Because you couldn’t recognize your own emotional attachment, you got pulled into something that you despised.”

He watched Youngbae take a deep breath. “I don’t...I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do. Jiyong was never just your Alpha, was he? He was something more, at least to you, Youngbae, and you never got over the fact that he chose Seunghyun over you. You, who would have given him the sun, the moon, the stars, just to make him happy.” They stared at each other for a long moment. “Am I wrong?”

Youngbae opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Lay was surrounded by shadows, the darkness flooding his senses, and he was thrown out of the Spirit Realm, back into his own.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure this is the right thing to do?”

Kai’s worried voice snapped Kyungsoo out of his thoughts. He glanced up at his mate, and then nodded. “Absolutely. If Chanyeol and Lay can’t help them, then we have to find someone who can.” Kai nodded slowly as he came to sit beside Kyungsoo. “You know I’ll come back, please promise me that you know that.”

“I promise.”

Kyungsoo smiled softly, and then leaned forward to press a kiss to Kai’s mouth. “You mean more to me than the whole world.” Their fingers linked together, bringing the pair closer together. “I need you to take care of Sehunnie and the others until I get home, okay? I need you to make sure that they’re safe. Can you do that for me, Kai?”

Kai nodded slowly, and then pulled Kyungsoo against his chest. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t.”

“Promise you’ll come back to me.”

Kyungsoo smiled against his mate’s chest. “I promise.” He pulled back just slightly, and placed a hand on Kai’s jaw. “I will always come back to you.”

They stayed like that for a long time, before Suho broke them out of their little world. “Kyungsoo? It’s time to go.”

The smaller Hunter nodded, and rose to his feet. He squeezed Kai’s hand in his one more time before he walked away, following after Suho. Before the pair exited the camp - Luhan trailing slowly after them - Kyungsoo turned and cast one more look at Kai. The message behind it was obvious.

Take care of my family, please.

Kai nodded once, and then rose to his feet. He watched them leave the camp, allowed them to vanish from his sight, before he moved.

“Lay.”

The Seer glanced up at Kai from where he was seated beside Sehun’s limp body. “Kai. Is there something I can do for you?”

“Tell me my mate’s going to be okay.”

Lay inhaled sharply, and turned quickly back to Sehun. He didn’t speak for a long moment, and when he did, Kai had to strain to hear him. “Kai, I...I wish I could, but I don’t know. I haven’t seen anything. That’s either very good, or very, very bad. We don’t need another Youngbae on our hands, Chanyeol and I aren’t equipped to deal with that kind of thing again.”

Kai settled on the ground beside him. “Alright. I’m sorry.” Kai took a deep breath, and then looked at Lay. “What exactly was it that Youngbae did? I mean, obviously you guys couldn’t See, but how did that work?”

Lay seemed glad to take his mind off the issue of Kai and the others who had left. “Youngbae was…gifted, in a sense. He had a better grip on the Spirit world than most of us, and he could travel back and forth between our plane and the Spirit Realm very quickly. One of his...specialties, I suppose you could say, was going through the Spirit Realm and poisoning the Spirits of others.” Kai raised an eyebrow. “He was the Spirit of the Black Mamba, one of the most poisonous animals on the planet.”

“So he poisoned your Spirits and that’s why you and Chanyeol couldn’t See?”

Lay nodded. “Yeah. He corrupted our Spirits, all but broke our connections to the Spirit Realm, which made it damn near impossible for us to See anything other than what he wanted us to see. Which, if you remember, ended in Chanyeol and I damn near breaking because we just wanted him out of our heads.”

“So it was definitely Youngbae, then?”

Lay laughed softly. “Chanyeol thought it wasn’t, for a while. Turns out Youngbae was just so good at blocking not only what we could see, but everything we could feel from the Spirits, that we couldn’t identify anything.”

They were interrupted by Chanyeol’s arrival. The Seer was shaking, hard, and tears were forming in his eyes. “I, um, Lay?”

Lay was on his feet in about two seconds. “Talk to me.”

Chanyeol inhaled, long and slow. “It’s Tao.”

”I didn’t think you’d be coming back here so soon, Lay. Doesn’t seem like the place for you.”

Lay growled, low in his throat. “As if you’re not the one bringing me here.” The man across from him didn’t respond. “Where are they, Youngbae?”

Youngbae laughed - no, he giggled - and rose to his feet. “You know, you’ve asked me that every time we’ve spoken, and even though I’ve made it perfectly clear that I’m not going to tell you where they are, you insist on asking.” A soft sigh left his lips as he circled around to stand behind Lay. “And no, dear Lay, I’m not the one bringing you here. Maybe I do offer an...invitation, of sorts, but you are the one who makes the decision to come here. Every. Single. Time.”

Lay made a move to get to his feet, but Youngbae placed a hand on his shoulder, and held him down. “Oh, none of that. You’re here because you want to be, whether you realize that or not. And you know what, Lay, I don’t think you’d leave, even if you knew how to, at this point, because, let’s face it, you need answers, and you think I can give them to you.”

The seated Seer bristled. “Let me go.”

Youngbae rolled his eyes. “You’re more than welcome to leave, whenever you want to. But, again, I don’t think you will.” He released his grip on Lay’s shoulder, and stepped back, but Lay didn’t move. “And before I forget, Lay, there’s someone here who wants to speak with you, if you’d be so kind as to grace him with your presence.”

“Are you really giving me a choice?”

Youngbae laughed quietly. “You’re getting better at this, I see.” Lay didn’t respond. “Very well. No, I’m not. You’re going to see him whether you want to or not, because I already told him he could speak to you.” Lay let out a long sigh. “Oh, don’t be like that. I don’t think you understand just how much it took to orchestrate this whole thing, seeing as neither of you know how to fucking die.”

“I-”

“Oh, do shut up, Lay. No one needs to hear your voice.”

“Seunghyun?” Lay was on his feet in all of about two seconds, and was approaching Seunghyun before he knew what he was doing. “You fucking-”

Youngbae put a hand on his chest to stop him. “Enough. I might hate Seunghyun, but I didn’t bring the pair of you here just to watch you tear each other apart. Are we clear on that?” Both of them nodded.

It was Seunghyun’s turn to move forward. He got so close to Lay that the Seer could almost feel the fury rolling off of his Spirit. “I don’t have a lot of time, Lay, because, quite frankly, I have more important things to do than deal with you, but know this. Your Tribe is done. Once I get my hands on them, there’s going to be no stopping the inevitable. You thought the battle against Jiyong was hard, this is going to be a thousand times worse.”

Before Lay could respond, Seunghyun had vanished into the darkness. “Alright. Now that that’s settled, you can leave.” With a wave of his hand, Lay was thrown backwards, and soon, he too was pulled out of the Spirit Realm.

Chapter Text

“Why us?” Kris dragged his eyes off of Tao and set his gaze on Lay before he continued speaking. “Why does everything horrible have to happen to us? Why is it always my Tribe that gets hurt?”

Lay could hear the tears that he was choking back, and didn’t comment on it. “I don’t know, Kris. I don’t know.” He turned back to the three bodies in front of him, and bit his lip. “What I do know is that Suho and Luhan and Kyungsoo are going to get help. And I know that they’re going to come back, and our Tribemates - your mate and Sehun and Xiumin - are going to be absolutely, completely, and utterly fine.

“You know, I’ve heard that a lot recently.” Kris took a deep breath, and then took one of Tao’s limp hands in his own. “But every time that things seem to be going fine, something else happens to fuck that up. And I’m sick of it.”

Lay nodded. “I know.”

Kris ran his fingers through Tao’s hair, and pressed his lips into a thin line. This was spiralling out of control, faster than Kris had previously cared to admit. But he couldn’t afford to lose his cool, not with half of his Tribe unable to help them. With Suho gone, someone had to be in control.

At this point, he could only hope and pray to whatever god was listening that Suho and Luhan and Kyungsoo found this Tribe, this Alpha, this Seer that they were looking for, because if they didn’t-

Kris had to force his mind off of that track. He didn’t want to - he couldn’t - let himself think like that. It wasn’t helpful, could never prove useful to him.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Lay placed a hand on his shoulder. “Just...don’t forget that the Tribe is what matters most right now.”

Kris nodded as Lay rose to his feet. Something was bothering the Seer, that much was obvious. Suho had spoken to Kris about it before he left - about something Lay had dabbled in, something that had left him quivering in fear.

Anything that could leave Lay that shaken was something that Kris was afraid to even ask about.

“My love, you are my only dream in life, without you I can't survive. Your touch heals me for sure, your eyes speak a lot to me, your love has a calming effect. My love, I truly love you, and I want you to know, that I may not show, but you stay in my heart forever.”

“Let him sleep, Luhan.”

The Beta turned slowly to look at Suho. There was something in his eyes, something that the Alpha couldn’t quite place. Something Suho had seen before. “He’s worried. About us. About this mission. About his Tribemates. About Kai.” Luhan ran a hand through his hair. “His sense of loyalty is...amazing, to say the least. I’ve never seen anything like it, not in another person.”

Suho nodded. “We’re very lucky to know someone like Kyungsoo.”

They lapsed into a long, easy silence. “We’re all worried. Not just Kyungsoo, not just you, not just me, everyone. You know what Baekhyun told me before we left? He told me that we would be lucky to come back alive, much less come back with who we’re looking for.”

Luhan straightened just a little bit, and strode towards Suho. There was a glint in his eye now, a spark of pure, undiluted fury. “So tell me, Suho. What exactly have I gotten myself into? Because I don’t think Baekhyun would say something like that if we were going somewhere relatively normal.”

It was only when Luhan got this close to him, less than a foot away, that Suho remembered that the Beta was an inch taller than him. Suho raised his chin fractionally, in an attempt to throw some more dominance into his stance, but Luhan didn’t so much as blink. “Don’t look at me like that, Suho. You know Baekhyun wouldn’t say something like that unless it was a real threat.” Luhan’s jaw clenched. “Tell me, Suho. Tell me what’s so fucking dangerous about this situation or I swear-”

Suho cut him off with a look. “Just let me handle it, Luhan. You know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt my Tribe.”

Luhan didn’t realize he was moving until he had Suho pinned to a tree. “Then tell me the fucking truth! Because it’s not just your Tribe that’s dying, Suho, it’s my mate, my family, and I’m not going to let anything get in the way of saving them.”

A hand on Luhan’s shoulder was the only thing that stopped him from hurting Suho. “That’s enough, Luhan. Let him go.” The Beta backed away, but kept his glare trained on Suho. “Fighting isn’t going to save anyone.” Luhan rolled his eyes. “No, Luhan, I’m not taking his side. Trust me, I want to know what the hell is going on just as much as you do, but this isn’t the way to go about it.”

Suho sighed, and sank to the ground, his back still pressed against the tree. He looked up at Luhan and Kyungsoo for a long moment before he spoke again, his voice cracking with the strain of holding his anger back. “I have to protect them. I have to protect my Tribe, no matter what it takes.”

Chapter Text

“Suho.” Suho didn’t turn as Luhan approached him. “Suho, listen to me. We aren’t alone.”

The Alpha spun on his heel to pin an angry gaze on Luhan. “What did you say?”

“I said,” Luhan came forward, until he and Suho were nose to nose. “We are not alone.”

That was the only warning they had before dark figures were dropping out of the trees and surrounding them. Within seconds, Kyungsoo and Luhan had leaped into battle, eyes flashing with anger.

Before Kyungsoo could so much as land a blow, he was pinned to the ground, a snarling body crouched on top of his chest.

Luhan fared only a little better, managing to plant his foot in the chest of one of his attackers before he was pinned to a tree, one hand trapped behind his back. His teeth sank into the free hand on his adversary, and the man screamed, stumbling backwards. But before Luhan could continue moving, another man had twisted both arms behind his back, and held him still.

Upon seeing the Beta and Hunter taken down, Suho went still. He caught the gaze of the man who was just now hauling himself off the ground, and took a step back. “Who are you?”

“We would first know who you are, whose Tribe you align yourself with, and what your business in our territory is.”

Suho glanced around at his Tribemates. Kyungsoo’s captor had a hand on the Hunter’s throat. Luhan was still fighting, but every moment looked like it pained him. “My name is Suho. Those are Kyungsoo and Luhan.” He took a deep breath, gaze moving back to the man in front of him. “Our Tribe is my Tribe, and our business is our own.”

“Unless you want your people to die, Suho, I suggest you tell us why you’re here. Otherwise...well, our Hunters haven’t killed in a while, and I do believe they’re getting very bloodthirsty.”

Suho’s eyes narrowed. “Are you threatening-”

“Your Tribe?” The man laughed. “Why, yes, I believe I am. Now tell me, Suho, what you’re doing here, or so help me, I will end these two before you can say Spirit.”

Suho took a deep breath. “My Tribe is dying.” The figure across from him raised his eyebrows. “Any more than that I will disclose only to your Alpha.”

The man nodded slowly. “Very well.” His gaze flicked over to his friends. “Minho, Kibum, let them go. We’re taking them to camp.” The one he had addressed as Minho opened his mouth to complain, but he was cut off. “Don’t argue, Minho.” He stepped closer and grabbed Minho’s elbow. “If this is who I think it is, if they’re from the Tribe I think they’re from, Onew will want to hear about this.”

Minho didn’t release Luhan until his Alpha had ordered him to, and even then, it was relunctant. It was only when the Seer - a sharp eyed, sharp tongued kid named Taemin - had entered the room that he relaxed.

The other Hunter - Kibum, that was his name - had vanished from sight almost as soon as they had arrived.

The Beta - who had identified himself as Jonghyun - had whispered a few things into his Alpha’s ear before backing away into the shadows. He was still there, Suho could feel him.

“Let’s not play this out any longer, Suho. What is it you want?” The Alphas looked at each other at last. “Jonghyun says your Tribe is dying. Says that’s all you told him. So - it’s Suho, isn’t it?” Suho nodded slowly. “So, Suho, let’s fill in the gaps.”

Suho took a deep breath. “Do you really want me to tell you the whole story? Because - Onew, is it? - it’s long, and complicated, and I don’t have much time.”

Onew smirked. “You want my help, don’t you?” Suho nodded. “Then you’re going to have to earn it, because I don’t help just anyone.”

A long pause followed his comment. “Okay.” Suho glanced at Luhan and Kyungsoo. “My Tribe lives to the North of here, across from where Kris - you know Kris, right?” Onew nodded. “Across from where Kris used to live - I’ll get to that soon, just listen. A few years ago, his Tribe and my Tribe were involved in a little bit of a war - primarily territorial, but there were other things fueling that fire. Anyway, we got past it, up until about three months ago.

“My Seer, and Kris’ Seer, they had been having visions, the same visions they had had right before the war started. So I sent word to Kris, politely asking that he come for a visit so we could discuss this. We figured the whole thing out, came to the realization that someone was toying with us. It wasn’t until - well, some discoveries were made, and we ran into some…issues along the way.

“Onew, have you ever heard of the katchlari?”

Onew went still. “Where did you hear that name?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Suho took a deep breath. “Kris and I did something…rather unprecedented. We united our Tribes to become one.” Suho heard a noise of disbelief from behind him. “His Seer, Lay, is my mate, and my Omega, Sehun, is Luhan’s.”

A long silence followed, interrupted only by Taemin’s critical voice. “What do the katchlari have to do with this?”

“They attacked us, and subsequently, we killed them. Well, almost all of them. But that’s irrelevant. The fact of the matter is, Onew, my Tribe is sick, dying, because of something that Youngbae did before we killed him, and we don’t have the experience to fix it. Kris mentioned that your Seer might know something about it.”

Onew raised a hand, and Taemin drifted to his side. They exchanged a few words, words that Suho couldn’t hear. Clearly Luhan could, because the look on his face went from blank, to angry, to confused very, very quickly.

Onew turned to look at Suho, a strange look on his face. “I need to discuss this with my Tribe. Minho, show them out.”

Chapter Text

Suho wasn’t entirely sure how he had convinced Onew that the Tribe was worth his time, but he had. He only hoped that Taemin would be able to do something to help Tao, and Xiumin, and Sehun, because if he couldn’t, if this supposed miracle of a Seer couldn’t do anything, then no one could.

They had crossed into Kris’ territory yesterday, at Onew’s insistence that they move as quickly as they possibly could. He wanted to get this done, Suho understood that.

Onew’s Hunters didn’t seem to care much for any of the newcomers, and Minho seemed to especially despise them. That pair had taken to avoiding any and all contact with Suho and his Tribemates, with the exception of when Onew forced them to speak to each other. The only time Suho found Minho to be at all tolerable was when he was with Taemin, which was a rare occurance, given that Taemin just didn’t stop talking to Luhan.

“So your mate, Sehun...he’s from Suho’s Tribe, originally. But you...you’re not? You’re one of Kris’?”

Luhan nodded. “Sounds accurate enough. We’re the primary reason for the two Tribes uniting. Suho likes to think he’s part of it, but his situation is...secondary. It took him about a week to figure out that Lay’s his mate.”

“How long did it take you to-”

“Three hours, give or take.” Taemin whistled softly. “Sehun’s special, anyone in the Tribe can attest to that. I’ve never met an Omega like him.”

“He’s an Omega?”

Luhan nodded. “One of two. The other, Tao, is Kris’ mate.”

In that very moment, something popped into Luhan’s head, and he froze. “Oh, no.” Suho turned, and, upon seeing the look in Luhan’s eyes, rushed to his side. “Suho. Suho, we have to get home. Now.”

“Why? Luhan, talk to me.”

Luhan exchanged a glance with Taemin, who had pressed his lips together in a thin line. “He’s right. I can feel them. Your Tribe is in danger, Suho.”

“Chen, Kai, Baekhyun, get them into the cave, quickly.”

Lay glanced around as his Tribemates scrambled about in a panic. The remaining Hunters were hoisting Xiumin and Sehun off the ground, and moving them into the cave, followed closely by an irritated looking Baekhyun, with Tao in his arms. Chanyeol was off to the side, eyes closed, his thoughts cast off into the Spirit Realm.

“I told you you were in trouble, Lay, didn’t I? And you just had to ignore me. It’s only natural, I assume. You don’t tend to have much tendency to trust anyone that you’re not fucking.”

Lay clenched his jaw. “Get out of my head, Youngbae.”

“Mm, no. You see, I quite like it in here. If you want me to leave, Lay, you’re going to have to make me leave.” A long pause followed his comment. “We both know you aren’t strong enough to do that.”

Across the clearing, Lay caught Kris’ eye. The Alpha cast him a confused look, but Lay shook his head. There was no point in troubling the others with this. It was his burden, and his alone. No one was going to want to deal with it, hell, he didn’t want to deal with it.

Even as Lay made to push back against Youngbae’s influence, he felt someone else press in behind his Spirit.

“Mm, what’s this? I was wrong, wasn’t I? You trust a whopping total of two whole people!”

Lay opened his eyes, and looked at Chanyeol. He walked quickly towards the other Seer, an angry comment on his lips. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing? Get out of my head, Chanyeol.”

“No.” Chanyeol had opened his eyes by now, and Lay could tell just by looking at him that he was deep in the Spirit Realm. “It’s not just your Tribe he’s hurting, Lay, it’s mine too. Sehun was my Tribemate before he was yours, let me help him.”

“Ladies, ladies, that’s quite enough. If the kid wants to help, Lay, then let him help.”

Lay sputtered for a moment, before coming to his senses. “No. Absolutely not. Chanyeol, you don’t know what you’re doing, you could end up hurt, or even dead, and then what would Baekhyun do to me? I’d be dead before I could say Spirit, and where would that land the Tribe?”

“On that note, Chanyeol, you’re more than welcome to just...jump right in. Go ahead. Come at me.”

“Shut up, Youngbae!”

The pair of Seers spoke in unison, their voices mixing together. Their collective power was enough to block Youngbae out - at least for now, Lay thought - but before they could relax into the silence, Kris was beside them.

The look in his eyes was enough to tell Lay everything he needed to know. “Kris, I can-”

The Alpha silenced him with a glare. “No. Don’t try to tell me that this is no big deal, Lay, because I can tell that it’s not. Something’s been bothering you for a while now, and I will be damned if I let it continue to do so, especially if it’s Youngbae doing it.”

Lay nodded slowly, but before he could respond to Kris, a huge crash and a bunch of flying rock sent both him and Chanyeol to the ground.

A heavy silence settled on the camp when the dust cleared, and they could finally see their attackers - or rather, their attacker, and his accomplices.

“You complete and utter fools.”

Lay glanced around, and his eyes landed on Chen across the clearing. They shared a worried look, the same fear that Lay felt in the pit of his stomach was mirrored on Chen’s face.

“Jiyong warned you. He told you I would be returning, and you still didn’t listen. And you,” Lay glared up at their adversary. “you knew it would happen, Youngbae all but told you that I was coming back, hell, I told you I was coming back, and you still didn’t listen.”

Kris turned to look at Lay. “You knew about this?”

Lay opened his mouth to respond, and then closed it. After a brief moment of thought, he looked at Kris once more. “Yeah.”

Kris growled, low in his throat, but whatever he had been about to say was cut off by their attacker’s next words. “Does it really matter now, Kris? We’re going to kill you all anyways.”

“Not on my watch, you’re not, you son of a bitch.”