After they disappeared into the darkness, they erased every trace of their existence....well, almost. Not even a hint of effort was spared to clean up the mess they'd left behind in the forest. Twisted branches, scorched ground, and a few guards on the ground, unconscious, perhaps in a long, deep coma. But none of it mattered.
They were going home.
Yoon was going home.
Unbelievable, right?
From where he stood now, he could see it. Home. Just there, not in the deepest spot of darkness. Not in the never ending desert.
But beyond the slope of a hill, bathed in a soft golden light that didn't feel real. His body trembled. It wasn't weakness-it was too much. As if his veins were thrumming, his heart seconds away from rupturing. It was too loud inside his own skin.
He feels...wait. What the hell is that?
Something was coming. Fast. Horrifically fast. The kind of speed that shattered silence and bent the air. Instinct screamed.
Alarmed.
Fuck, can't he have one moment of peace? Just one?
He felt it-a blur, a pressure in the air, a headache blooming as the world spun around the trajectory of whatever was about to hit him.
Then, boom!
He was on the ground, vision flickering, breath punched from his lungs.
Something small, too light to be lethal but too bold to ignore, had tackled him. And now it was on his chest. Growling. Not in threat, but... pride?
A wolf cub. Snarling with the full confidence of a beast that thought it owned the world.
Of course.
Of fucking course. Who else would it be.
Laughter echoed above his head. Loud, and utterly amused. Nael was practically wheezing, tears in his eyes.
"Well done, son," he choked out between laughs, clearly enjoying Yoon's suffering far too much.
Nyxara just sighed, arms crossed, her voice a blend of exasperation and fondness. "Well, welcome back home, Yoonie."
Then the kicker.
"We didn't have time to tell you," she added, entirely too casual, "but Norin's already greeted his uncle, which is, you. The faster you accept it, the better."
Yoon lay there, a look of pure betrayal painted across his face.
This was his nightmare.
His worst nightmare.
A nephew.
A baby boy. A fucking baby boy.
No. Nope. He was not accepting this. Not this tiny terror. Not into their family. Not ever.
He stayed motionless, hoping the thing would lose interest. But the cub, Norin, apparently, was relentless.
Of course it is.
Yoon might as well have been dead for all the notice Norin gave. When minutes passed and the cub still hadn't given up, Yoon snapped.
He shot to his feet abruptly, flinging Norin off with a startled yelp. The cub landed with a thud, confused but undeterred.
Yoon straightened his clothes with exaggerated precision, dusting himself off like royalty snubbed by a street urchin. Without a glance back, he continued walking, stiff and composed.
But of course, the nightmare had legs. And teeth.
Norin latched onto his leg again, tiny fangs piercing into the side of his calf with all the ferocity of a plush toy declaring war.
Yoon kept walking, jaw tight, gaze forward. He would not acknowledge it.
If he gives it even a tiny bit of attention, it wouldn't go away. And would haunt him throughout his life.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Seven hundred years of sleep. Seven hundred years of silence and stillness. And this was what he woke up to?
This is the best the could ever think of?
A tiny wolf with entitlement issues and a family who thought this was a good idea?
This was not a homecoming.
This was hell.
This is his utter misery.
Yoon trudged forward with the determination of a man escaping a burning building, except the fire had teeth, was named Norin, and was currently attached to his leg.
Nael was still laughing somewhere behind him, the kind of laughter only an older sibling could manage: smug, and madly evil. Yoon didn't need to turn around to know he had that stupid 'I told you this would be fun' grin on his face.
"Seriously, Nael?" Yoon called back, voice tight with irritation. "You had seven centuries to develop some wisdom. This is what you do with it?"
Nael's voice came floating through the trees, still amused. "I did get wiser. I let you sleep through all the diaper years. You're welcome."
Yoon hissed as Norin readjusted his bite, a little too close to bone now." I don't want your welcome. I hate it, take it back.
I want a refund on this family."
"I want to have a word with the manager!"
Nyxara was suddenly beside him, quiet as always, a soft hum of magic clinging to her presence like a second skin. She glanced at Norin still dangling from Yoon's leg.
"He really likes you," she said, brushing some dust from Yoon's sleeve. "He's never done that to Nael."
"He's biting me," Yoon growled.
"Affectionately," she corrected. "You know. Like how Nael used to be."
Yoon rolled his eyes, affectionately, yeah.
Nael appeared next to them, arms slung lazily over his head. "I bit you. Twice. Once when you were three and once when you were eighty-three. And you still have a scar."
Yoon shot him a glare."Aren't you too proud?"
Nael smirked. "I'm usually."
Norin, apparently bored of gnawing on flesh, had begun trying to climb up Yoon's leg like it was a tree. He made it halfway up before slipping and catching himself with a tiny whimper.
Yoon flinched.
He should be laughing evilly, or groaning in annoyance, or just ignoring it.
But..
That sound… it was dangerously close to cute. Too cute, actully.
He froze.
What's happening to him? He can't fall in this thing's trap!
"No," he said out loud, to no one in particular. "You don't get to manipulate me.
I don't do cute."
Nael raised an eyebrow. "You used to."
"Not anymore."
Later that night..
Yoon is leaning against the windows of his room. Deep in thought.
Nyxara entered the room, without knocking.
Standing beside him, enjoying the silence.
She placed his head on her shoulder, caressing his hair.
Nyxara gave him a long, thoughtful sigh. "He needs you."
Yoon looked away. The trees felt safer than her eyes. "He has you."
"He needs you," she repeated, softer now." You're the only one left who understands what it means to be born like he was."
Yoon's throat tightened. Old memories stirred his silver eyes, quiet isolation, the way even the shadows had pulled away from him as a child. The way the elders had spoken around him, not to him. The long years before Nael had pulled him out of that silence.
And now this kid. Norin. Another child with a pulse too strong, a presence too wild, and a future too fragile.
Fuck.
He hated when Nyxara was right.
This family knows how to make him do things, too well!
With a resigned sigh, Yoon crouched down, meeting Norin's curious eyes. He followed his mother in.
The cub stilled, ears perked, tail swaying uncertainly.
This ugly thing...is so cute!
"This doesn't mean I like you," Yoon muttered. "I don't."
Norin yipped, wagging harder.
"Or that I'm your uncle."
Another yip. Higher pitched this time.
Nael whispered, "He likes you more than he likes me already. And he was in my balls."
Yoon extended one reluctant hand. Norin pounced, not to bite, but to nuzzle against his fingers.
Yoon's hand twitched, hovering for a second… then slowly, slowly, settled into the soft fur.
Nyxara smiled. "Welcome home, Yoon."
He didn't answer. But he didn't pull his hand away either.