SeokJin wasn’t sure what reactions he expected. What he wanted to see was joy on their faces. Joy, because their friend, who had gone to prison to protect them, was finally released. But SeokJin wasn’t naive; there were a plethora of other emotions running through his mind and no doubt through the others’ as well.

He stood in front of the team and scanned their faces, resignation sitting heavily in his chest. As he read their expressions, his anxious heart cracked as he saw hopeful tears well up in the three youngests’ eyes. Taehyung, Jimin, and JungKook had always loved Jordan; they regarded her as a second mother or an older sister. She was often the only one of the hackers who indulged them in their pleas to teach them parkour or fighting techniques. She always remembered exactly what brand and type of ramen or mochi they enjoyed. She treated them like adults, like they wanted to be treated, but would never fail to smother them with love should they ever want it.

“Why didn’t she tell us?” JungKook choked out. Tears dripped down his cheekbones as his eyes widened with a thought. “Why didn’t she come back?”

“We can only assume she has her own reasons, Kookie.” SeokJin reached out to ruffle his hair. “But she needs to know that she’s welcome to come home.”

“Hyung.” Jin turned to look at TaeHyung, who was gazing at him with horror in his eyes. “Is that why she isn’t here? Because she thinks she isn’t welcome?”

“What do you mean, Tae?” SeokJin asked gently.

“Do you think that,” TaeHyung gulped, “she thinks that we were the ones who sold her out?” His eyes widened as he searched the others’ faces. “Is that why?” Jimin and JungKook gazed at him, terror filling their eyes. Ice trickled down SeokJin’s spine; he hadn’t ever thought of the possibility. He glanced, panicked, at NamJoon, who was frozen in his seat. Is that why Jordan didn’t contact them?

“Oh God.” He whispered to himself. A twisting, roiling ball of fear burst into his chest. Jordan would never, right? She knew how much they all loved her, how much they looked up to and were inspired by her. It wasn’t a far stretch to say they would place themselves in Jordan’s position in a heartbeat. The remaining members of the group looked at SeokJin for answers, to which he could only reply with a shaky sigh.

“We can-” HoSeok cleared his throat, “How about NamJoon, YoonGi and I investigate who the mole was.” He looked to SeokJin for a response. “We might be able to find something. Meanwhile you guys try to locate Jordan. Get into contact with her and find out why she’s out of prison.”

“But Jordan didn’t tell us who else was on the team.” Jimin responded. “Where would you guys even start?”

“We still have the keys to her house.” NamJoon suggested. “Jin and I haven’t moved anything in her workspace, maybe we could look in her old laptops.” There were words left unspoken there: that NamJoon, YoonGi, and HoSeok combined may not be able to crack through the defenses on Jordan’s laptop, that Jordan may not have left traces of the team at all.

“Hobi and I will get started.” YoonGi nodded, tapping on HoSeok’s arms after discretely wiping at his eyes. He reached out to ruffle the younger members’ hair. “Don’t worry, guys. We’ll find her. We’ll sort this out.” He said softly. SeokJin nodded, reaching out for NamJoon’s hand.

“We should,” Jimin let out a shuddering breath. “We should probably head back, finish our mission from before.”

“Will you need me?” HoSeok turned to face them.

“It’s ok. You help YoonGi.” Jimin tilted his head towards YoonGi before the three youngest left the building, a despondent cloud hanging over their heads. SeokJin pulled out his keys, flicking through them until he stopped at a small silver key he had avoided touching for years. Removing it from the ring, he handed YoonGi Jordan’s house key and watched as YoonGi followed HoSeok out the door.

“Do you know where to start?” SeokJin glanced over at his boyfriend. “To find the rest of the team?” NamJoon bent over, resting his face in his hands.

“I don’t know, Jin.” NamJoon groaned. “Jordan was super secretive of the team for the very reason that she was worried about a mole. The best we can do is look for the people she may have been in contact with and hope we can contact them.”

“We’ll find her.” SeokJin instinctively rifled his fingers through NamJoon’s hair. “I’ll try to get into contact with some people, see if they know anything. We’ll bring her home.”

The bliss of making the meal, with Chen’s arms wrapped around her and his lips leaving imprints on her skin, was quickly extinguished as Jordan struggled to wrestle Chen into eating the vegetables he didn’t want to eat. But Jordan managed it, grinning triumphantly at the sulking werewolf sullenly chewing on the brussel sprouts that had been leftover from the week before. He begrudgingly washed the dishes afterwards, almost as if he couldn’t believe she was still making him do it even though he’d choked down his least favorite food ever. However, he behaved and shuffled around the family room as Jordan switched on the television and settled into the couch. As usual, he trundled over, taking a seat on the floor front and center, eyes twitching to follow the movements across the screen. Jordan, glancing at him, belatedly realized that she needed to prepare for the full moon tomorrow.

While making a mental checklist of things she needed, Jordan quickly noticed that Chen seemed restless. Every few minutes, he’d tilt his head right and left, stretching out his neck. He subconsciously stretched out his arms and legs, face wrinkling in pain as he did so. Even the television couldn’t hold his attention for long and he wriggled over the carpet towards Jordan before heavily lugging himself onto the couch to be with her. She instinctively moved her hands from her lap as his head fell onto her legs with a light thud. Chen shifted with a high-pitched groan, whimpering as he crossed his arms and shifted onto his side. Jordan tenderly her fingers through his hair, quickly bending over to press a kiss against his temple.

Jordan trailed a hand down his neck, brushing her fingers against the bare skin of his back, noticing that even though he was lying down, the muscles twitched and flexed unrelentlessly. She wasn’t exactly sure what time the full moon was supposed to come out tomorrow night, but it seemed to already be wreaking havoc on Chen’s system. He shuddered lightly at the touch of her fingers, but only curled a little further in on himself in response. Jordan prodded along the muscles on either side of his spine, noting the intense tension present there. As Jordan brushed her fingertips against the smooth expanse of skin, she swore she could almost feel each individual vertebrae trembling. She clicked her tongue in sympathy, wondering what she could do to help.

She reminisced on the times when the the younger members of BTS would come home sore from their missions, groaning incessantly about the ache deep in their muscles. Jordan would make them sit down, massaging out the knots in their shoulders and working out the tension. Jordan looked down at Chen. He had a different pain, for entirely different reasons, but she knew she could still help.

Jordan quickly tapped on his bicep and pointed to the floor. Chen groaned in protest, but slid slowly off the couch, ending up on the carpet in a pile. Jordan wasn’t sure if Chen was exaggerating his pain or not, given his drama-queen tendencies, but she was sure that he was uncomfortable. Staring at him she motioned to roll over and watched with a small smile as he wriggled around like an oversized worm until he was laying in a straight line, cheek pressed against the ground. Jordan snagged a pillow from the couch and gestured for Chen to put it under his face. He did so, laying prone on the floor.

Moving off the couch to kneel down next to him, Jordan grasped the top of his shoulders, pushing her thumbs into his trapezius muscles. Chen tensed slightly at the unexpected touch before and relaxing slightly under her hands. Jordan furrowed her eyebrows at the tension that she felt. The muscles barely had any give. After a few unsuccessful tries at rubbing away the strain there, Jordan rose and brought her leg over to straddle Chen’s lower back, leaning forward so she could exert more pressure. Chen’s head snapped up at the weight, glancing over his shoulder in shock. Jordan gently pushed his head back down into the pillow, ruffling his hair to try to reassure him. He cast her a questioning look, but slowly put his head back down. Jordan leaned her elbows onto the backs of his shoulders, putting her weight into the motion and moving in circles. Chen immediately let out a groan of pain, his hands clenching into fists. Jordan hesitated at the sound, easing off the pressure, terrified that she’d hurt him, but Chen quickly quieted.

When Chen’s hands were no longer clenched and his back muscles were relaxed, Jordan took that as a sign to continue, once again beginning to exert pressure through her elbows. She resumed massaging out the knots in his shoulders, making sure to soothe him whenever he let out a whine in pain. She could feel the knots moving and shifting under his skin. As gently yet forcefully as possible, she worked at the knots, feeling reassured as they slowly but surely began to reduce in size. The tension in Chen’s back did not escape Jordan’s notice, however, and she shifted down to relieve Chen of some of the pain, slowly pressing the heels of her hands down on either side of his spine and moving them up and down the span of his back. By the time Jordan’s arms shook with fatigue, Chen’s pitiful whines had transitioned into purrs. The vertebrae of Chen’s spine were no longer trembling, his shoulders no longer twitching.

Jordan continued pressing the heels of her hands down Chen’s back, encouraged by the pleased sighs that emerged. She kept going for a few more minutes until his breathing evened out in sleep. Jordan leaned forward, leaving a fleeting kiss against the back of his head before getting up, shaking her arms out as she moved towards the kitchen. She needed to get ready.

Jordan made her rounds, bagging non-perishable foods and granola bars before bringing them out to the car. She did the same with her toiletries and clothes, taking articles that she could hike in. Jordan had just about finished packing, in the middle of lugging a heavy blanket out to the car, when her phone rang.

Shifting the blanket, Jordan reached into her pocket for her phone. Swiping her finger across the screen when she saw Sylvia’s name pop up, she quickly stuck the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she rearranged the bundle in her hands and made her way to the car.

“Hi Sylvia!” Jordan greeted, slightly out of breath. “What’s up?”

“Hello Jordan, I was just wondering if you and Chen would like to join me for dinner tonight.” Jordan sighed. Sylvia’s home-cooked meals held enormous appeal, but Chen’s prone form on the living room floor reminded her that they had to go somewhere tonight.

“I’m sorry, Sylvia. We can’t tonight” Jordan responded as she ungracefully tossed the blanket into the trunk with a muffled grunt. “Chen and I were actually going to head out to go camping for the weekend. We’re going to leave within the hour.”

“Oh that’s alright, dear. Be safe up in the mountains!”

“Will do, Sylvia. We’ll see you when we get back.”

“Have fun!” The line clicked just as Jordan shut the trunk. Finally finished, Jordan went to rouse Chen, dreading the snowy drive up to the national park.

Waking Chen was difficult. The moment he woke, he greeted Jordan with a sleepy smile and engulfed her in a hug, dragging her down to the floor with him. Jordan half-heartedly groaned when Chen placed a slobbery kiss on her cheek, lightly smacking at his face to get him to stop. She sighed as she struggled against his hold, fighting to loosen his grip. Giving up, she waited until Chen dozed off again, lips pressed against the back of her neck, before slipping out and walking over to the kitchen.

To wake Chen up, she was going to have to go to her last resort: Dinosaur chicken nuggets.

To be honest, she was surprised Chen didn’t immediately wake at the crinkling sound of the bag. It was a testament of his body’s state of exhaustion that he didn’t dash into the kitchen like he usually did. After ten minutes, however, just as Jordan was about to pull the chicken nuggets out of the oven, she was alerted to a scuffle against the floor. She turned to see Chen rubbing sleepily at his eyes before stumbling his way over to lay his head on her shoulder. Jordan rolled her eyes as she disturbed his peace to bend over and pull the tray out using an oven mitt. Chen immediately reached out to grab a nugget before dropping it with a whimper, clutching his hand to his chest. Jordan sighed - she’d been doing that a lot lately - put the tray on the stove, tossed the mitt onto the counter and dragged Chen over to the sink to run his hand under cold water. After a few seconds, she grabbed a dishtowel and tossed it at him, leaving him to dry his hands while she turned off the oven and cleaned up. She made sure to let the nuggets cool; Chen had already burned his tongue several times before when he tried to steal nuggets straight out of the oven. Jordan only made one bag, since Chen would most likely hunt once he shifted. Setting aside a handful for herself, she poured the rest into a mixing bowl for Chen and set it on the table, gesturing for him to come over before sitting down herself.

The meal was quiet, mostly filled with the sound of Chen shifting the bowl around to get optimal chicken nugget exposure and his quiet hums of satisfaction. When they both finished, Jordan piled their bowls into the dishwasher - she was too lazy to bother washing them herself. Turning, she pulled Chen from his seat and shuffled him from the kitchen and into the garage. He took the hint and climbed into the passenger seat, surprising Jordan by fastening his seat belt. Jordan opened the garage door, breath catching in her chest as the sight of the swirls of snowflakes. According to weather reports, the snow in the mountains were supposed to be more intense and Jordan was terrified at the prospect of driving in it. But Chen couldn’t spend a full moon in the house so she was just going to have to it up and deal with it. Jordan steeled herself and sat down in the driver’s seat, starting the car and pulling out.

The drive wasn’t awful thanks partly to Chen’s singing and partly to the plowed roads. Jordan was relieved to see that all of the drivers were going much slower than the speed limit even though the roads were clear; she didn’t stand out.

Chen’s music taste was still as picky as ever so he was constantly fiddling with the dials until he settled on a song he liked. Jordan noticed that what he chose didn’t really have anything to do with the genre. He sang along to pop music, musicals, trot, rock, and anything in between. He was a relatively good singer, though Jordan couldn’t deny that his high notes - and his enunciation - could use some work. She was sure that they would improve with more practice and a better understanding of the human language. She did wish, however, that her ears could be spared from the practice sessions.

Jordan’s tension skyrocketed as they entered the mountain roads, which were dusted with flakes that floated down from the grey skies above. She reached over to turn off the radio, mindless of Chen’s pout. She inched down on the brake, slowing down even more. Her hands clenched white against the wheel as she rounded the sharp turns, her entire body tensing as the wheels worked against the road.

After nearly two hours of nerve-wracking driving, Jordan sighed in relief when the sign for the national park came into view and the park rangers’ office soon after. There were no people in line, and the ranger only opened the window a sliver to check Jordan’s park pass.

“You guys picked a hell of a time to come to the mountains!” They shouted over the sounds of the storm. Jordan wracked her brains for a reason to be there in the snow.

“We wanted to go snowshoeing.” Jordan replied, shrugging her shoulders. “We didn’t expect the snow to be this bad.”

“Well, I’d wait until morning. This storm's going to last all night! You’ll get good powder though. Drive safely!” Jordan smiled, and drove away. She followed the road to Sector 8, slowly making her way through the narrow unplowed roads before ending up at a familiar parking lot. Unable to see the lines, Jordan didn’t bother putting much effort into parking, pulling into a random place in the back of the empty lot.

Jordan let out a breath that she didn’t realize she’d been holding, glancing over at Chen. He was restlessly glancing out the window, knees bouncing. Jordan reached over to undo his seatbelt, catching his attention, and nudged him towards the door. Chen glanced hesitantly at Jordan, tilting his head towards the outside world. Jordan shook her head with a small smile.

“Go, Chen.”

She watched as Chen tentatively pulled at the door handle and stepped out of the car. Even as he walked away, he kept looking back, glancing over at her with a concerned quirk in his eyebrows. Jordan sent him another reassuring smile and heaved a sigh of relief when he finally put on a burst of speed and disappeared into the trees.

Jordan was exhausted; the stressful drive tired her out and her arms were extremely sore due to the afternoon massage and the constant clenching of her hands against the steering wheel. She shuffled from the front seat, grabbed her blanket from the trunk, and went to go lay down in the back seat. She dozed on and off until the sun retreated behind the mountains, rendering the air cold and unforgiving. When she finally fully woke up, Jordan spotted the full moon casting white light on the glistening snow. Glancing at the time on her phone, Jordan knew that the full moon had come out hours ago so Chen should have transformed.

Jordan couldn’t help but wonder what the wolf was like this time around. Last time, it had been more curious and non-aggressive, nudging her hand briefly before disappearing again. Despite the late hour, she pondered if it was safe to wander around outside and stretch her legs.

Unlike the last full moon, she hadn’t spent the entire day hiking and she did not like being cooped up in the car. But while the idea of stretching her legs did seem appealing, a flashback of a snarling beast with glowing cobalt eyes and the phantom ache in her left shoulder quickly extinguished the notion. Jordan reminded herself that Chen, in his current form, was a wild animal and therefore unpredictable. Despite the last full moon experience, she could not help but be paranoid that this full moon would be like the first, bringing with it the dangerous and aggressive version of Chen again.

Even though she wanted to stretch out her legs, Jordan had no problems with bundling up in her blanket, munching on her granola bars, and reading up on news in the computer science world using her phone. In the back of her mind, she hoped that the phone plan provided for her had a solid data plan, because she was going to be using a lot of it in the next couple of days. For her, she was in her natural couch potato environment and was therefore happy.

The wolf sprinted through the woods, relishing the icy wind and the undergrowth beneath its paws. In the recesses of its consciousness, it remembered the small confines of a human dwelling and the resulting lack of use of its muscles. The wolf dug its claws in to enjoy a luxurious stretch before shooting off into the mountains. For a few hours, both human and wolf were in synchronization, enjoying their separate freedoms after being restricted for so long. Hunger nipped at its belly and the wolf quickly hunted down a deer and an elk soon after. After its hunger was satiated the wolf was content to bound around the mountains, to take in the sharp scent of pine and the deep, cloying earthiness of the forest floor. It could hear the muted plod of hooves against the snow-covered ground, the liquid restlessness of the wind through the trees, the sounds of a forest similar to its faraway home.

The peace abruptly came to a halt, however, when the wolf was suddenly yanked in the opposite direction. Another consciousness came clawing to the surface and with it an incredible force in its chest pulling it in one direction.

That way.

That way.

She’s that way.

Driven by that unbearable force, the wolf suddenly found its paws plodding in the direction in which it was being pulled. It followed the tug towards an inkling of a person it once knew from another identity.

Jordan had just finished reading about a neuroscience and computer science collaboration in artificial intelligence when a muted bump against the car window caused her to nearly send her phone flying through the windshield.

The wolf stood there, monstrous, only slightly smaller than the SUV even on all fours. Clutching at her chest in fear, Jordan gaped at the creature peering in through the window. As the moments ticked by, the wolf pawed at the door, high-pitched whine escaping from its throat as it once again bumped its nose against the window.

Hesitantly, even though her common sense screeched at her to not open the door, Jordan pulled on the handle, watching as the wolf backed away as the door opened. Trembling, she set foot outside the car, right in front of the wolf. Closing the door behind her, she huddled into the warmth of her blanket, shrinking in on herself from the cold. The wolf immediately bumped its nose against her cheek and left a very slobbery that drenched half of her face. Jordan froze, half disgusted half amused. She knew who was more in control here.

“Hi Chen.” Jordan chuckled, wiping her face off with the edge of the blanket. Chen’s tongue lolled out, in what Jordan could only describe as a wolfy smile. The wolf leaned on its back legs with its sticking up, seemingly ready to pounce, tail waving jauntily in the air. Jordan, though cheered by the wolf’s antics, did not have to energy to play. Jordan turned away from the car and walked to sit down at the base of a nearby tree. Using her blanket to keep her from freezing, she sat down before holding her hands out to the wolf that bounded over. The wolf dropped to its belly, eyes closing in delight as Jordan scratched under its chin with both hands. She could feel the happy purrs rumbling through the ground she was sitting on.

After a few minutes, the wolf jumped to its feet again, shaking out its fur. It nosed at Jordan’s arm, opening its jaw to enclose sharp teeth around her forearm and pull her to her feet. Jordan tensed in fear, but she needn’t have worried, because she could only feel the slightest pressure of the wolf’s teeth against her skin. Jordan followed the direction of the gentle pull. The wolf then let go and trotted off into the woods, glancing over its shoulder to look back at Jordan. Letting the blanket drop from her shoulders, she caught up and walked beside it with one hand in its russet fur as it led her through the trees.

The going was slow. The wolf followed no path and led her through areas with thick undergrowth. Jordan struggled to not get caught in the brambles or trip over the tree roots hidden by the veritable blanket of fallen pine needles among the snow. On occasion, she paused to wonder at the mountains and their spiky, calm mystery. It made her wonder what Chen’s home was like, if it was like this with its pine and aspen, or more deciduous like the forests in the east.

After an hour or so, Jordan was beginning to shake from the cold and her toes were threatening to revolt and jump off of her feet. She glanced at the wolf next to her, wondering where it was trying to lead her. Her question was quickly answered as the wolf suddenly stopped short, tail wagging furiously. The trees cleared out in front of them, revealing a small clearing. A small stream, long frozen, ran through the middle. Overburdened pine trees lined the open space, branches slightly bent from their heavy loads of snow. The occasional aspen peeked between their taller counterparts, the black and white bark rendering them nearly invisible with the surrounding snow. The tentative rays of the early sunrise cast dappled light across the snow, creating blackened pits of the occasional animal track and scattering light off of icy crystals. Jordan felt goosebumps rise on the back of her arms as she cast a glance around.

Jordan went towards the edge of the clearing to sit down and take a break. While the cold had superficially taken her sleepiness away, she could feel her eyelids begin to droop again. She shuffled back and forth to look for a place with less snow, finally settling on a place with a lot of cover: under the branches of a large pine. The wolf snuffled around her before laying down behind her with a sigh. Jordan immediately leaned into the warmth with a smile. She brought her legs up to her chest and turned a little to the side, cheek buried in the wolf’s fur. In response, the wolf curled up, back legs and tail wrapping around her, head tucking in until Jordan was entirely circled.

“Thanks Chen.” Jordan murmured, running her hands through the wolf’s neck fur. She felt the wolf’s chest reverberate in response. The sound and warmth lulled her into sleep.

Jordan sat on a rocky beach, the sky a stormy grey. Gulls called out their songs in their lonely sky, wheeling in endless circles underneath the clouds. She looked out at the cerulean waves, slow-churning with young ice. Jordan grinned, a carefree smile stretching across her face as she breathed in the cold air and gazed out towards someone she didn’t recognize.

SeokJin sank down in his couch in disappointment. His day of searching had turned up fruitless. After hours of contacting Jordan’s old high school friends and teachers, none of them could remember if Jordan had mentioned anyone before she dropped out of school, most didn’t even know why such a bright student had left. SeokJin didn’t know what he had been expecting, Jordan had always been secretive and amazing at covering her own tracks. Today, NamJoon was supposed to contact colleagues that Jordan had worked with, but SeokJin didn’t have high hopes. Either way, SeokJin expected him to be home soon and pulled out his cellphone to wait.

Another video seemed to be circling through all of social media today. SeokJin tapped on the video with the caption “I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS,” dubiously waiting for an underwhelming video.

The camera immediately focused on a man’s face. He was grizzled and covered in snow, cheeks red with the cold. Just over his shoulder, SeokJin could see a backpacking pack, stuffed near to bursting.

“So,” The man whispered. “I’ve been doing a backpacking trip through the mountains. Started a week ago, was going to make a pit stop here.” The guy was panting. “And guess what I see?” The camera flipped, showing a different scene entirely. There’s a clearing, but the camera immediately focuses on something next to the base of a tree on the other side. SeokJin’s eyes widened. It was a wolf, but it was massive. SeokJin knew that no wolves naturally grew that large, only Variants did. It was one of the few things the public knew about werewolves.

“Do you see that?” The man whispered, finger moving into the camera frame to point at the wolf. “Do you see her?” The camera zoomed further, focusing on another figure partially hidden amidst the fur. SeokJin squinted and then covered his mouth in shock. There was a girl, face out of sight, asleep, tucked away alongside the wolf. Both wolf and girl were asleep, blissfully unaware of the man standing mere meters away from them. The camera focused on them for a few moments more before the video ended.

SeokJin immediately scrolled down through the comments. Most people seemed to think that the video was fake, because the government would have reported on it had it been real. Others thought that it was real, and that perhaps people were judging werewolves too early. Others took the video apart frame by frame. The wolf couldn’t have been real. It was a setup, that’s why the backpacker didn’t get any closer, the entire farce would be revealed. Some even claimed that the girl couldn’t have been human, especially if the wolf really was a werewolf. SeokJin knew why the government didn’t want to say anything; they had been trying to persecute werewolves and vampires for decades. While there were rumors of peace talks underway, this was only one unverified case of peaceful relations, the first of its kind, in a world where the public was convinced that all Variants were barbaric hybrids. Admitting that this information was true would probably send the media into a frenzy and wreak havoc, causing people to lose trust in the government and creating a setback for the rumored peace talks and secretive Variant research.

SeokJin, like Jordan, had always been a proponent for Variant rights and was pleased that a video like this was finally circulating around. He wondered if Jordan knew about it, wherever she was.

Jordan woke to a slobbery tongue wiping its way across her face. She scrunched her face together in disgust, batting her hands in the general direction of where she knew its head would be.

“Chen, why?” She groaned. Jordan wiped her face and sat up with a struggle; her had fallen asleep at some point. She clumsily got to her feet, groaning as her back cracked. Eyes squinting against the bright light, Jordan looked at the massive wolf that was currently lolling on its back, stomach outstretched for a belly rub. Jordan rolled her eyes, bending over to scratch its belly. “You big needy baby.”

Chen leapt to his feet afterwards, shaking the snow out from his fur. Jordan gestured for him to go, plodding away on the path Chen had led her on towards the car again. It was a good thing that the clearing was basically a straight shot from the parking lot, because Jordan would have gotten lost otherwise, stumbling along in the half-asleep daze as she was.

The wolf was nowhere to be seen for the next few hours, most likely gamboling through the forest on his own. As for Jordan, she grabbed her blanket from under the tree where it fell hours before, brushed her teeth and rinsed off her face using water from her water bottle. Glancing at the time, she ate a quick meal and then proceeded to look for the nearest trail.

Thanks to the snow, this round of hiking was more painful than the last, her toes nearly freezing in her hiking boots and fingers aching in her gloves. She made it back to the bottom of the trail, rubbing her hands together and trembling on her feet. She nearly cried in relief when the wolf came bounding up, tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth. Without hesitation, Jordan immediately ran up to it and buried her hands in its fur, pressing her freezing flesh against its warmth. Once they weren’t in danger of falling off, Jordan made her way to the car again, blasted the heat, and ate a late afternoon lunch, occasionally tossing Chen a piece, who didn’t stray far from the car. After an hour or so, without warning, he darted off again on his own wolfy adventures.

The rest of the afternoon was quiet; Jordan could barely summon up the motivation to go out into the cold again, but she dragged herself out and found another trail anyways. This time, she made sure to put on an extra layer of socks and gloves before setting out. She took a shorter trail, aware that the sun would be setting sooner now that winter had well and truly set in.

When she got back down again, the wolf lay by the driver’s side door, calmly waiting for her. It watched as she got out her blanket and some snacks before getting to its paws and nudging her towards the woods, gently leading her away to the clearing again.

The routine continued for another two days. The wolf came and went as it wished. However, when nighttime fell, it would always be faithfully waiting for her near her car to take her back to their little clearing.

When Jordan woke up on the third morning, she was not encapsulated in fur. Instead the heat came from arms wrapped tight around her. She opened her eyes to see Chen’s eyes and his sleepy smile. Once he saw that she was awake, Chen leaned in to press his lips against hers. Jordan smiled with a hum, eyelids falling closed. Chen pulled away, gently nuzzling his nose against hers. Jordan reached up to brush at the hair that covered his forehead, marveling at the way the light cast shadows across his cheekbones. She looked into his eyes, heart warming at the smile she saw every morning when she woke. Tracing her hand down his cheek, she tilted her head to press her lips against his.

Heart in , Jordan at the seam of Chen’s lips. Opening his own lips, Chen let out a sigh, shifting to cup her face in his hands. Nerves jangling, Jordan tilted her head and leaned in, tongue darting out to into his mouth. Chen hesitated, seeming to contemplate something before tilting his head in the same direction. Their noses bumped roughly against each other, causing Jordan to burst out into laughter. Grinning, Jordan placed her hands on either side of Chen’s neck, guiding him to her again. Though Jordan relished the soft slide of his tongue against hers, she noted Chen’s slight jolt. She remembered the first time she’d done this, remembered how weirded out she was by the sliminess. Jordan gave him a chaste kiss to placate him, gazing into his eyes to make sure he was alright.

Jordan could feel Chen’s chest rising and fall, his heightened heart rate bumping against her. Warmth rose on her skin as she followed his eyes, watching them dart to her lips and back up to her eyes, before dipping his head to kiss her again. Jordan let him explore, feeling him against the roof of , the side of her tongue, the inside of her teeth. She responded, and though their teeth clicked a couple of times and it took a few tries for them to find their pace, they grew more comfortable. Their movements became unhurried as they kissed. She pulled away often, since Chen seemed to have a much greater lung capacity than she did, placing a soft peck on him as compensation. Chen always pouted, drawing more attention to his lips, tempting Jordan to lean in again.

Jordan could feel it again. That small, hopeful thing quivering in her chest. It strengthened with every brush of Chen’s lips against hers until it expanded in her ribcage, sending liquid courage into her heart and contentment down her veins.

For a while, he was all Jordan could feel, the smooth glide of his tongue against hers and the rough fire of his hands against her cheeks. A soft sigh escaped her as they parted for a brief moment, foreheads together. Jordan leaned into Chen’s palm as he brushed his thumb along her bottom lip. Her breath hitched as he suddenly shifted, gently pushing her back and moving above her. Chen gripped one of her hands and brought it above her head, tilting his head down to kiss Jordan again.

Jordan blissfully tilted her head up to meet him, her other hand winding up to cup his shoulder blade. A thought jolted through Jordan’s mind at the feeling of his bare skin against her palms. Jordan pulled away abruptly, ignoring Chen’s whines of protest and pushing at his chest. Her eyes widened as she glanced down and promptly shoved Chen off of her. She rolled over and planted her blazing face in the snow.

She forgot.

Chen was completely

***

Hello!! I'm sorry that this update took so long! I am actually currently not in my home country so I needed to take some to adjust. That, and the awful monster called writer's block decided to attack again. But don't fret, things should be smoother sailing from here!

I'm very sorry for the formatting. AFF doesn't seem to work well with me. I'm really sorry about the lack of indents! I'm going to try to figure that out at the next update but it's really late over here, so I want to go to bed.

Thank you to Shooka24 for providing snippets and prompts that spurred my creative juices to flow! This chapter would have been a major struggle without you. (Not that it wasn't a struggle anyways, but nonetheless).

Special shoutouts to: kpop727, NotWeirdAtAll97, mell-cellaneous, aininurhana, Narrida, SHINeeTurtle, ImOneOfAKind, Runi_Puni, eunmi_18, 004down, dyo-nosaur, MissMong24, TheGermCafe, Noor7621, Flower-, Tcropper11213, Kpopsizzle, ohplsno, claireify, AttractiveJunmyeon, cassiopeianELF, risxeann, sapphirex05, average_aqua, Caniwi, Kwang-Sun, emchan, and thatdorkwithglasses. Thank you guys so much for upvoting, I love you all!

To answer one commenter's question: no, I am not a animal behavior specialist. However, I am a biology student (to put it broadly), so I guess that the studying animals bit is accurate.

As usual, keep the comments coming, I read them all! I don't know if you guys know how helpful they are, for both writing the story and keeping up my motivation. You guys all mean a lot to me and I can't thank you enough for reading!

As usual, see you guys next update!