The next morning, Nakai, like everyone else, woke up with a stiff and sore body. Not only was Nakai sore from yesterday's activities, but Wang Bao had been tossing and turning all night, waking Nakai up every time he moved or jolted awake. Because Wang Bao was still tucked into his side, sleeping deeply, Nakai awkwardly stuffed his pillow beside Wang Bao before forcing himself out of bed. Holding back the urge to groan loudly, Nakai did a small stretch routine in the middle of the room to help get his body back to normal, and by the end of the quick session, it was only his ankle that was giving him grief. Nakai checked over the wound on his waist to see it was mostly healed aside from the light pink marks from Mana's teeth. Nakai also checked his ankle, and like his waist the black medicine had been absorbed but there was still a small open wound in the shape of Mana's broken teeth. Checking over Wang Bao one last time, Nakai then left their room to look for Kang.
Nakai didn't know where to find Kang so he decided to make his way to the main hall, but Nakai didn't make it to the main hall since he bumped into Kang who was walking down the corridors as well. Nakia could see Kang had been awake for a little while; seeing Kang walk the corridors with a slow pace and his hands held behind his back, Nakai felt Kang appeared more like an wise old man rather than an ancestral chief. Nakai greeted Kang warmly before asking Kang.
"When will your wolves arrive?"
Kang chuckled under his breath at Nakai's bluntness before answering seriously.
"Later on today, but we won't leave straight away. Mana is being executed tomorrow and whoever wants to follow her will also be executed. After that, a proper burial will happen and then we will leave with the new members."
Nakai continued to walk with Kang, and when he heard what Kang had said, he couldn't help but struggle to understand his leniency. As the pair made their way to the main hall, Nakai asked curiously.
"How can you be so trusting of her people? They could attack you at any given moment."
Kang already knew this and he nodded along with what Nakai was saying, but he was quick to reply.
"I understand your concern, Nakai but I think you are underestimating the bond between myself and the other packs. Because I am a direct descendant of our ancestors, that only strengthens mine and my son's connection with other wolves, werebeast or not. Take yesterday for example, Mana's wolves only surrendered to my pack because of my bloodline, had it been another alpha from another pack, they would have killed them without hesitation. My bloodline is what will keep me alive, but it doesn't mean I'll use it against them either. Changes are going to happen, and I'll make sure everyone is safe and comfortable."
By the time Kang finished explaining, the pair had made it to the main hall and Kang said a warm goodbye before walking towards another tunnel to wander through. In the main hall all of Mana's wolves were forced to stay put, along with the small group of Kang's wolves. Nakai was about to return to his room, when he caught sight of the elderly doctor sitting at the other side of the room, glaring at a bowl of porridge in front of her. Seeing the doctor, Nakai suddenly had the urge to discuss something with her and walked over, manoeuvring through the dense crowd of people and wolves. Once Nakai was finally in front of the elderly doctor, he crouched down to be closer to her eye level but before he could say anything, the doctor asked in a bitter voice.
"Is there something you want?"
Nakai ignored her grouchy demeanour and told the elderly doctor in a hushed voice that he wanted to discuss something with her; because Nakai was wanting to be secretive, the elderly doctor figured it had something to do with Wang Bao and she looked around with narrowed eyes before nodding towards the corridor Nakai had just come from, speaking in a similar hushed voice.
"We shouldn't talk here."
Nakai agreed and he helped the doctor up from the ground, following behind her small frame as they walked down the stone corridor towards the clinic. As soon as the doctor pushed open the swing doors, she scoffed at the empty cupboards then pulled over a desk chair. Nakai wasn't in the mood for sitting, choosing to lean against the wall instead. Once the doctor was properly seated, Nakai asked in a low voice.
"What else was that poison capable of?"
The doctor cocked an eyebrow up at Nakai then leaned back in her chair lazily. She sucked in a long breath, enjoying the impatient look on Nakai's face before she finally answered him.
"You most likely know that we wanted to experiment on Wang Bao; not only to try and grow the plant from the poison cells in his blood, but to also develop the poison into something more potent. Since you're here talking with me, I take it that the burning of his skin wasn't the only side effect of the poison; he's experiencing nightmares isn't he?"
The room became ice cold all of a sudden and the doctor couldn't stop a sick smile from appearing on her wrinkled tanned face. Nakai's thoughts were mainly on Wang Bao and whether or not he would be okay, but he also suddenly thought about Rara and how he had also been poisoned by a flower that wasn't native to Sea Country. Ignoring the sadistic look on the doctor's face, Nakai asked.
"What would this plant do to a child? Do you know how it would affect them?"
The doctor couldn't say for certain how a child would be affected since they were yet to experiment on one, but from the small amount of research she had done with various cells in her lab, she could hypothesise the outcome. As soon as Nakai heard that a child would become comatose, he knew that Queen Mother was also behind the attack on Rara; listening further with a clenched jaw, the doctor further explained how depending on the person, the poison cells would either bond to the person and lay dormant until the poison was reintroduced, or the person's body would destroy the poison cells and grow an immunity to it. Nakai was relieved to hear this is what happened to Alo, but he had more issues to deal with now than he had expected. There was no way at the moment for Nakai to find out what Queen Mother's big plan was, and it irked him to no end since it meant there was no definite way for him to protect the people around him. He couldn't even know for certain if Rara and Tira were okay or if Queen Mother had figured out their plan as well.
Before Nakai could continue to speak with the doctor, Wang Bao suddenly knocked on the door. His face appeared even more gaunt than usual while he had dark bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't just been sleeping for over twelve hours. As soon as Wang Bao caught sight of the doctor, he backed out of the room while keeping the door open enough to see Nakai, speaking in a quiet voice.
Just as the doctor had finished talking, Wang Bao opened the door. He paused once he saw who Nakai was talking to and slowly stepped out of the room. Talking quietly to Nakai.
"I was wondering where you went. I bumped into one of Kang's wolves and they told me you came in here to talk to someone, I'll go back to the room."
Nakai was already standing upright once he saw Wang Bao, but when he heard the young man want to retreat back to the room alone, he stepped forward while saying.
"No, I'm done here anyway."
With a look from Nakai the doctor gave a lengthy sigh then stood up as well; she pushed herself past Nakai and out of the door first, but made sure to look Wang Bao up and down with a hungry gaze, causing Wang Bao's blood to run cold. Nakai also caught the look in the doctor's eyes and pulled Wang Bao closer to him, but the doctor ignored him as she walked away while saying.
"It's a pity Mana's plan wasn't executed, you would've made a nice experiment."
Wang Bao instantly went pale while Nakai burned with anger, ready to give the doctor a piece of his mind but before he could do anything, one of Kang's wolves came down the corridor in their human form, wanting to return the doctor to the main hall. Instead of following behind the doctor to get back to their room, Nakai held Wang Bao back to check over him. When Wang Bao first opened teh clinic door, Nakai could see Wang Bao's dark circles but looking closer, Nakai could see Wang Bao gaze looked almost glassy. Wang Bao also felt cold and Nakai rubbed Wang Bao's cheeks tenderly, looking at Wang Bao with a deep look of concern. He wasn't sure how long Wang Bao's nightmares would last, but he hoped they would stop by the time they were ready to leave Mana's den.
. . . . . . .
In Zhang's bedroom, Luka was sitting in bed quietly watching Zhang sleep. He was no longer upset about what happened between him and Zhang, but he still had something important he wanted to discuss with Zhang, and he was patiently waiting for Zhang to wake up. Luka didn't expect Zhang to sleep for so long though, and he was about to reach the point of waking Zhang up himself when he heard the young man groan loudly, stretching as he slowly opened his eyes. However, before Zhang could sit up or wake up fully, he looked over at Luka but was surprised to see Luka was already looking at him, a serious look in his eyes. Surprised at the intense stare, Zhang looked away from Luka while asking in a husky voice.
"What's with the staring?"
Luka's serious stare instantly turned to one of nerves as he clenched his fists tightly. Seeing this confused Zhang even more but before he could ask Luka again what was going on, Luka suddenly spoke in a small voice.
"Do you see me differently than normal friends see each other, Zhang?"
Zhang was still waking up and he was busy rubbing his eyes roughly when he heard what Luka asked. Zhang's hands instantly froze and he slowly lowered them to look at Luka. Beside him, Luka was still staring at him, but instead of waiting for an answer, Luka suddenly lunged forward and straddled Zhang's stomach firmly, making sure to hold down Zhang's arms as well. This was all too much for Zhang right after waking up and he tried to shimmy Luka off of him, but he wasn't able to do too much since Luka started talking again, his words causing Zhang's body to freeze.
"I like you more than a friend, Zhang. My heart flutters whenever I see you and I always want to be around you. Do you feel like this too? Is that why you stick so close to me all the time?"
Zhang's brain was trying to process everything as well as come up with an appropriate answer for Luka. Because Zhang's mind had gone into overdrive, it caused the words coming out of his mouth to not make complete sense.
"You see, Luka. I...feel. Well, I think that we."
Luka's nervous expression suddenly changed, and he narrowed his eyes at Zhang with determination. Before Zhang could move or explain his thoughts, Luka dipped down and kissed him. The kiss was just a prolonged peck, but it sent fireworks off in Luka's brain; on the other hand, Zhang was frozen from shock before he finally returned to reality, and pushed Luka off of him. Zhang quickly got out of bed and started pacing while Luka sat on the bed like a scolded puppy, tears in his eyes. As soon as Zhang saw the sorry look on Luka's face, he couldn't stop himself from shouting at the young man out of frustration.
"Why are you crying, Luka?! I should be crying after everything you just did!"
Luka wasn't crying because he was upset; he knew it was a risk to tell Zhang about his feelings, but seeing Zhang stumble over his words while blushing, Luka thought Zhang liked him back. After being thrown to the side so roughly from someone he likes, Luka was now feeling embarrassed. Luka also hadn't been given a clear answer, causing him to become frustrated. Now that Zhang was yelling at him because of the kiss, Luka quickly became confused too. The mix of multiple intense emotions were hard to handle for Luka and he stood up from the bed, picking his bag up from the ground as he walked towards the door of the room. Just when Luka went to walk out into the corridor, he turned back and said with tears streaming down his flushed cheeks.
"You should have just said that you didn't like me. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable."
As soon as Zhang heard what Luka had said, as well as how upset he looked, he knew had made a mistake and wanted to go after him, but the door was quickly slammed shut. It was only a couple seconds later that Zhang could hear Luka banging loudly on Alo's door, and it was clear Luka wanted to be comforted by his brother rather than him.
Before Luka started banging on their bedroom door, both Alo and Mika were asleep. The loud banging woke Alo up first and he tried to get out of bed, but his leg that had been bitten was still healing, causing him to grimace in pain before falling to the ground. Mika went to help Alo up because the loud knocking at the door was scaring him, but when he heard his brother's voice on the other side of the door, Mika completely disregarded Alo's sorry state and opened the door. Alo felt his face darken seeing Mika open the door while he was still on the ground, but he forced the bitterness inside of him away as he pulled himself up. As soon as Luka was let in, he lunged for his brother, clinging to Mika tightly while crying loudly. This wasn't the morning wake up call both Alo or Mika were expecting, and while Mika pulled Luka towards the bed, Alo awkwardly shuffled to the open door while saying.
"I'll go see Zhang then."
With Alo gone, Mika tried to get Luka to talk about what happened since he seemed fine the day before, but Luka was too upset that everytime he tried to speak it would cause a series of hiccups and tears.
Next door, Alo and Zhang were sitting opposite each other with a dark silence hanging over them. Alo sat with his head in his hands while he kept muttering incoherently to himself; the images from Mika being naked in front of him, moaning loudly and freely, wouldn't stop playing in his head, no matter how hard he tried. He didn't know why they had done what they had done as well as what Mika meant by it being his fault, but there wasn't a way to find out last night since Mika fell asleep as soon as he got back into bed, leaving Alo to ruminate over everything alone. Opposite Alo, Zhang was also in a crisis of his own; he was trying to figure out when exactly Luka had garnered feelings for him, and at what time had he himself started treating Luka differently. Zhang knew that in the current moment of time, he did have romantic feelings towards Luka, but he wasn't about to act on those feelings for many reasons; Thinking over the various excuses he had for not wanting to pursue Luka, Zhang cursed himself again for not saying things clearly as it would have stopped Luka from experiencing his current heartbreak. Zhang didn't want to think about his own problems anymore because it was making him feel too much guilt, and he started listening to Alo's mumbled ramblings. He could make out a few words but he decided to ask Alo outright instead of trying to piece the few words together.
"What's gotten you so stressed?"
Alo quickly stopped his muttering and sat up straight, shaking his head. Refusing to answer because of how much shame he was feeling, Alo prompted Zhang to talk about his own issues by saying.
"I think it would be better to talk about why Luka came bursting into my room, sobbing like a baby."
Zhang didn't want to be the first to talk about his issues, but since Alo had already beaten him to withholding information, Zhang explained in a low grumble.
"When I woke up this morning, Luka confessed to me then proceeded to kiss me...But I threw him off of me and started shouting at him."
Alo's face quickly darkened before turning to confusion until he settled back on a dark expression. Zhang knew he was about to get an ear full from Alo and he quickly looked away. As expected Alo leaned forward and spoke in a quiet voice at first, but the more questions Alo asked, the louder he became from confused frustration.
"What do you mean Luka confessed this morning? You two have been attached at the hip ever since we left the mansion, everyone thought that the two of you were already pretty mutual on your feelings for one another...Now you tell me that you threw Luka off of you then proceeded to yell at him...Don't you have feelings for Luka, Zhang? If you don't, why do you treat him the way you do?"
Before Alo's long rant, Zhang had wanted to confess that he actually had feelings for Luka, but after Alo's long winded scolding, Zhang's pride was hurt and he became defensive. Narrowing his eyes, Zhang replied sourly.
"Don't yell at me, Alo. Luka is too young to understand his feelings."
Alo knew Zhang was hiding something from him but before he could dig any deeper, Zhang asked him about his own regrets again, and there was no way he could pretend he didn't hear. Alo tried to hesitate for a few seconds since he knew he was about to get an ear full from Zhang as soon as he said, but in the end he couldn't hold back from admitting despite feeling guilty.
"Last night...Mika and I...well we masturbated together...twice. At first It was weird because he said I had caused it, and he also had no idea what to do. Even though I didn't touch him and I kept asking if he was okay with it, I feel as if I violated him in some way."
Alo's confession was followed by silence which didn't help the guilt go away; when Alo looked over at Zhang, he could see the young man was struggling to come to terms with what he had just been told. Alo had expected a louder response from Zhang, especially one with some anger or harsh words, but instead Zhang slumped in his chair with the face of a lost puppy, suddenly admitting to Alo in a small voice.
"I lied earlier, I actually do like Luka...And when I realised my feelings, I felt as though I was doing something bad as well. Like I shouldn't like him."
Alo wasn't surprised when listening to Zhang, and both men let out a long sigh as they continued to sit in silence. They were in similar situations but with no idea on what to do next thanks to their heavy shame and guilt..
. . . . . . .
In the early evening, the other group of wolves Kang had called for arrived and everyone in the den was ordered to witness Mana's execution inside the main hall. In front of the large fire pit, Mana was kneeling by herself; she wasn't chained or bound by anything but everyone knew there was no point in trying to run or fight. Waiting at the entrance of each tunnel was one of Kang's wolves, their large silvery bodies creating a dark eeriness to the open space as they looked between Mana's people. Aside from the section where the execution would be held, the rest of the large main hall was filled with rows of chairs. Although they had been called upon to witness the execution, Nakai and his group chose to sit at the very back of the main hall, and had it not been mandatory, Nakai would have declined the offer to watch on behalf of everyone. He could see both Alo and Zhang who were sitting on his left were busy sulking about something, and Nakai didn't want something as gruesome as a public execution to trigger Luka or Mika, who were also currently ignoring both Zhang and Alo by sitting on the other side of him; not to mention Wang Bao was sitting beside Mika which meant he wouldn't be able to comfort Wang Bao if he were to see any of the execution.
While everyone sat quietly, waiting for the execution to start, Kang slowly walked out of the tunnel behind Mana in his human form. The image of a weathered old man was nowhere to be seen as he strode forward with strong steps, instead he looked extremely powerful and domineering, especially once his crystal blue eyes landed on Mana's shameful expression. Kang continued to walk forward until he was beside Mana, then he looked towards the crowd but with a slight softness to his gaze. After staring across the large full room, Kang started to speak in a calm yet loud voice that carried over the entire room.
"I want to start off by apologising to everyone here. I'm sorry for the way I dealt with Mana's outburst over ten years ago, and I'm also sorry that I had to barge my way in here; things should have gone differently. I believe the way I acted over ten years ago caused a gap between both of our tribes, which is something that I never wanted to cause. Now, it's because of my past mistakes that I have been pushed to make a hard decision to execute Mana, based on the multiple counts of kidnapping, wrongful imprisonment, inhumane experimentation and lastly treason. Before Mana's execution is carried out, I welcome any from her tribe that do not wish to follow me up the mountain."
Following his offer, Kang slowly looked across the many faces in front of him. Most people bowed their heads to show their allegiance, but unsurprisingly there were a handful of people that stood up and made their way to the front. Nakai watched carefully as a group of five guards knelt down on either side of Mana, and he wasn't surprised when the elderly doctor slowly made her way up to the front as well. While she slowly knelt down, her dark eyes lingered on Wang Bao, causing Nakai to clench his fists painfully tight. While Kang signalled for his wolves to move forward, Nakai leaned closer to Mika and Luka to whisper in their ears.
"Close your eyes, you two don't need to see this."
Without hesitation, both Luka and Mika shut their eyes and even covered their ears tightly with their hands. Nakai was about to warn Wang Bao to do the same, but he saw that Wang Bao was asleep and decided to let him get some rest, rather than wake him up. When Nakai turned his attention back to the front of the room, he could see Kang's wolves had stood behind a person each, and off to the side Kang held a serious expression then nodded towards his wolves once more. The main hall was suddenly filled with the sound of low rumbling growls, causing Wang Bao's eyes to shoot open in time to see the wolves bite the head off of the person in front of them, sending out large sprays of blood.
In an instant, Wang Bao suddenly found himself in the body of his younger self and he looked around anxiously. While looking around frantically, Wang Bao could see he was in a play area outside that he used to visit with Wang Lei; everywhere around him were small trees and luscious grass but it wasn't an inviting or calming space for Wang Bao, in fact it made him feel extremely scared as if something bad was about to happen. All of a sudden, Wang Bao saw a shadow run out from behind a tree towards another tree. He couldn't see whether the shadow was human or not until the shadow jumped towards him. Falling backwards with a scream, Wang Bao found the shadow was only a chubby black cat and he couldn't help but giggle at his silliness of being scared. Wang Bao slowly reached his chubby hand forward, and he was happy to see the black cat rub against his palm warmly. Forgetting he was in a memory, Wang Bao continued to pet the cat until he heard someone approach him from the side. With the cat on his lap, Wang Bao looked up at the new person when his blood suddenly ran cold. Standing above him darkly was Queen Mother, and she had an intense look of disgust on her face. It was hard for Wang Bao to tell whether she was looking at the cat with such an ugly reaction, or himself but he felt it was the latter since it was an expression he had seen before.
Wang Bao could see his Mother open her mouth as if she was speaking, but his hearing had gone completely muffled while flashes of red coloured his vision intermittently. Wang Bao wasn't sure what was happening but he knew he longer wanted to be in the memory and he screamed out loudly. As soon as he screamed, the flashes of red stopped, but in front of him was suddenly the disfigured body of the black cat. Wang Bao's black eyes widened in horror as the shrill sound of his Mother's screams pierced his ears. Wang Bao covered his ears as he started to cry, thinking he wasn't going to wake up but in the distance underneath the loud screams surrounding him, he could hear a deeper voice shouting his name.
"Wang Bao, wake up!"