"Don't let go the rope, Krystal! Don't let it go!"

Sky was wearing a harness around her waist and down around her thighs, hanging from a rope that it was breaking wire by wire every second. She was the last one in the row of three people climbing the big rock. From where she was, it was hard to see the highest point. The view seemed endless as the fall if Krystal let the rope go.

Her breathing was trapped deep in her lungs, seeing herself in a situation that seemed to have a bad ending. The trees, the immense forest closed under 5 young people who had camped for two days just to make it to the end of their visit. Sky squeezed her eyes closed, her heart pounding hard against her chest. She only wanted to see the sky from the top, admire the beauty of the place and not die in it. The rock of dreams was a story that people in the small town on the outskirts of the forest used to tell tourists for centuries. It was a story that lived in the minds of those who were born near that green paradise. According to those who believed in this legend; there was a rock that was born in the middle of the vast forest that seemed endless, from which you could see the sun rise on the horizon, cutting a line dividing the tops of the tallest trees and the sky. A rock granting a wish if it came from a sincere heart, because only the purest of heart had the right to have this great force that fulfilled what they wanted the most.

"Hold on tight, Sky!"

Her hands closed around the rope through her gloves, her jaw tightened when her knee hit the rock. Unfortunately and because of the evil in the world, greed and envy, desires didn't came true many years ago, leaving the rock as just that, a rock to which the climbers came as a challenge because of its great height.

"You have to hold you on that rock, Krystal!"

A small sound of the rope breaking took her breath away. Sky's knee scraped against the rock and she whined of pain feeling the heat down there.

"I can not!"

"You can!"

Sky exhaled her fear. Krystal was not going to make it and the rope was breaking every second. And although she achieved, Krystal couldn't bear the weight of both.

Sky Taylor was the youngest in the group. Her older brother, Liam, led the group next to his best friend, Donghae. All she knew about climbing it had learned from her brother and his love for adventure. That was how she and her best friends, Krystal and Amber, had ended in a backpacking trip to a rock that not many people dare to visit. Sky just wanted to see the morning light on the horizon, feel the peace in her body when she can see the beauty of a new day in front of her.

"Don't do it, Sky." His older brother gasped when he looked down. His sister looked at him in the eyes for a few seconds, with the small knife on the rope. "Sky, no!"

What was this strange feeling inside her? Her heart was pounding and she felt it in her ears. Her eyes focused on something far from the rope while she used her left hand to cut it. She could not hear what her friends shouted, and she could not see anything when gravity earned her the desire to live, and she fell into the void.

Her cold hands moved, her fear drowning the cry of terror coming from her, but the others could scream. The seconds became cruel minutes, or so it seemed. Sky disappeared among the branches of the trees. It made her frail body disappear before the eyes of her family and friends. But then, she disappeared into the trees only to be caught by something soft. A warm pelage that protected her from the cold of death, a beautiful creature she never thought it would exist saved her. Her eyes moved with heavy eyelids, and a bright light from the sky made her close her eyes when her mind vanished completely.

…

Sky felt her body heavy, as if she was sinking into the seabed. There was a pressure in her chest that wasn't letting her breathe: she breathed hard and felt a twinge of pain inside. She complained in her sleep, her hands closing around something warm that wrapped her body.

She woke up, and her eyes looked the strange place she had ever seen. Her breathing stopped when she got up on one elbow, listening only the firewood crackling in the fireplace because of the heat. It was a one room cabin with a bed, a fireplace and a sofa on the right side of the place, a small improvised kitchen and a large bookcase on the left side.

She gasped and pulled the blanket out of her. She was wearing a large woolen sweater that was not hers under the shorts she was wearing when she fell.

She was not dead.

Her hand gently touched the bandage around her right leg, and she felt her heart pounding in her ears again. She was scared. She was sure her brother was looking for her, but she was in the house of someone else. Sky felt she was going to throw up, and she got out of bed only to fall on her hands when her knee could not bear the weight of her own body. Her hands burned by pain and she sat in the warm wooden floor. Her eyes burned with tears that she wanted to shed, but still on the ground, she put her military brown boots that were next to the bed and she walked to the door. Her leg sent a pang of pain to her body every time she touched the ground, and her hand froze in the open door when she noticed that the forest in front of her seemed endless. Why she was not with her brother? Why she was alone in a cabin?

Sky walked away from there, praying phrases in her mind for someone to find her. There was no sound but the nature, with birds singing a melody in the morning. It was like walking on a green a paradise, with trees that never stoped to appear in front of her. Sky just wanted to find the way back home, she wanted to thank she was alive and be able to return to her life, but all the paths she watched seemed to be the same. The constant creaking of the branches under her feet only made her feel like running...

But then Sky stopped, and she heard more branches creak close to her.

She turned around, but nothing appeared before her eyes. She looked over her right shoulder, but she seems to be alone in the vast place. What it was worse? Being alone in a vast forest, or not being alone at all? She looked forward, and then her body froze when she saw a cougar, a real cougar a few steps from her.

Her lips parted as she tried to breathe, but nothing came from her lungs. The adrenaline was installed in her body, pumping blood to her heart. Sky could not move, and her eyes observed the animal that bared its teeth. Sky was so small compared to the animal, but it felt threatened, and it attacked.

Sky's body fell to the ground when the animal's legs pushed her down, claws of its right paw on her injured leg. Her arms covered her own face, as if that would protect her from its attack. Like the first time she was about to die, the seconds seemed like hours, but then the growl of a wolf broke the silence in the air, and the creature jumped on the animal, the wolf's teeth closing on its skin, and the wolf removed the animal from Sky's body.

Sky sat up with difficulty, and she watched without believing how the wolf of white pelage surround the animal, as if it was trying to protect her. The wolf was twice the size of a normal one, his pelage was bristled in the most savage way, and the creature growled like it was about to attack. Sky saw the cougar felt threatened, and it turned around and then got lost in the woods. She swallowed the lump in , watching the wolf turned to her and looked into her eyes.

Its white pelage softened, and she saw something that seemed infinite in its eyes. The wolf whined, as if it was trying to say something, as if it was trying to communicate with her. The wolf approached to her cautiously, always looking into her eyes, and it squatted in front of her to be at her height. Sky kept the air in her lungs, but the wolf never attacked. Sky shook her head slowly, making no sudden movement if that bothered it, but the wolf seemed to understand. The creature complained again, moving closer to her. Sky rose laying the weight of her body on her left knee, and she walked slowly toward the back of the wolf. She just knew what to do, so her hands gently touched its pelage, feeling the same softness she felt when she fell from the rock...

She was about to say something but the wolf got up and trotted carefully. It was not an ordinary wolf, and she recalled the other part of the legend that villagers told them; it was said that the wolves were immortal beings guarding the forest. Sky's hands were losing strength gradually, until she had to lie on its back before losing consciousness.

...

When Sky woke up, she experienced the same feeling of panic when she saw the cabin for the second time. She breathed, removing the blanket over her body as she sat on the bed. The door was ajar. The wolf was not in the room so she got up from the bed. Dejavu was a feeling inside of her, and her legs gave out and her hands hit the ground again. With eyes clenched in pain, Sky felt a presence near her, and her eyes met with those of a young, tall guy, with brown eyes that she had seen before.

"Let me help you." He knelt before her. His hands gripped her arms gently but firmly, and he easily lifted her up until Sky could sit down in bed. "Lie down..."

"Wait." Sky's hand caught his as he touched her arm.

She had so many questions in her head.

"I won't hurt you." He looked scared, as if her fear was the worst feeling for him. "I promise. I just want you to be okay."

She didn't know what to say, but she just nodded and sat in the middle of the bed. He was more relax now, and he took the corners of the blanket to cover her carefully.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Minseok." He sat on the end of the bed, smiling slightly.

"Are you..." Sky did not know if it was okay to ask. The stories about transformations only made sense in the books. "This is not possible, but... were you the wolf?"

"I was. I am."

Sky could not believe it.

"How is that possible?"

"Not everything possible makes sense." He smiled as if he was trying to make her understand. "It happened many years ago."

"So... the story is true?"

"Almost." He chuckled as if histories about wolves were a fairy tale. "The story told by the villagers didn't mention that wolves can... change."

"The other wolves... can also do it?"

"Yes, but they don't prefer to be human." He looked around, and then he looked at her. "I like being a human from time to time... I can not turn the page of a book when i am a wolf."

Sky chuckled, a little surprised, a little fun.

"You saved me?"

"Yes." He was silent for a few seconds. "I felt... your scent from afar so I followed you. I could feel you were in danger."

"My brother... my friends." Sky opened and closed a few times. "How long I have been here? Nobody tried to find me?"

"That happened two days ago." He looked at her as if he was trying to apologize. "No one can enter this part of the forest... It is forbidden to humans."

"Can you take me with them?"

What was that feeling that she saw in his eyes?

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay. Your leg was very hurt when I caught you."

Sky shuddered at the memory of her fall. She had cut the rope to... Die? Now that it had taken a different turn, the idea scared her to the bone. She wanted to save Krystal, because Sky did not know what might have happened if both fell. Die was not the worst that could happen. Drown in your own pain, that was unthinkable. Sky finally felt the pain in her knee, which seemed to burn, and she knew her knee was now in a worse condition than ever. If she was not careful, it would never heal.

Under his gaze, Sky lay down on the bed on her left side, her knee throbbing painfully. He had saved her, so nothing bad would happen if she stayed there, at least until her knee heals.

...

Sky had never walked in a forest in such detail. Forests hiding wild animals that were born in the beautiful nature, as dangerous as they are beautiful. Her knee had healed, almost, and slowly, and with the passage of time until Sky could walk with difficulty, but it felt good for her to walk. During those days in bed, Minseok had read for her the books he had about the theories of wolves, their offspring, stories, legends. Sky had learned much about nature; animals, plants, but the most important and something she never read a book, was how to breathe clean air.

Sky stopped at the foot of a rock near to a beautiful lake that the water reflected the brightness of the sky, and from which she could see some fish swimming. She sat there with one leg stretched and still bandaged. Life in nature was so quiet, and she wished she could feel this happy for a lifetime. There was no noise, or people in a hurry to get somewhere. In that place there was no time, because everything happened at their own pace. But people...

"Sky..." She turned at the sound of his voice. Minseok was close to her as he knelt beside her, holding something in his hands. "Look…"

He spread his fingers slowly, until his hands were opened, where he cradled a baby bird. It was a beautiful bird that used its beak to scratch under its wing. Sky looked at it with bright eyes, never in her life seen a bird so closely. The little baby lifted its head, standing up in its little legs, jumping from here to there.

"Take it." Sky extended her hands and he let it gently on them. "It's about to fly."

The little bird sang a melody that Sky would remember forever, and then it opened its wings and spread it to the air. Sky saw it fly for the first time as a wonderful experience. Minseok missed the show when he found something more beautiful to look at. The way she smiled toward freedom, the way she watched the movements of the bird without realizing that someone else was looking at her as if she was the one flying.

"I know this will sound silly, but..." She laughed and her laughter took him by surprise. Sky looked at him and he smiled waiting for her question, hiding the fact that he was watching her before. "Can you understand animals?"

"Yes." He sat beside her. "It's not a verbal communication, it is something like a connection."

What kind of life was his? How many years had lived alone? Sky wanted to know more about him, his life, his thoughts, his feelings. Too much? Sky exhaled instead of talking when she heard the creak of a branch, and sound brought to her the bad memory of the cougar watching her soul when it looked into her eyes. Sky was so scared with that memory. This was the first time she walked out of the cabin.

"Sky..." Minseok held her hand and the heat made her look at him. "Nothing will hurt you. I promise. I'll protect you, you don't have to be afraid."

Sky expelled the air in her lungs in a deep breath, exhaling the fear she felt. During those days, he took care of her, he had protected her from the beginning. She nodded, feeling calmer.

"Thank you."

As the sun began to set, they returned to the cabin. Sky had learned to distinguish a path that led them back home... home. Sky clenched her hands on the grip on its pelage, without hurting it, without it noticing that she was afraid to not go home. Sky never thought she would live this experience, meet a person who could transform into a wolf, or maybe it was the other way around, maybe it was a wolf who could transform into a man. She had never met anyone like him, and her feelings had nothing to do with him and that wolf thing. It was his way of looking at her, the way he treat her, the warmth with which he looked at her, the way he showed her a different life than she had.

Minseok had never shown her how he transforms. Sky only saw him disappear behind the cabin as wolf and returned as a human. The same happened when they arrived at the cabin now, and just when he met her at the entrance, they heard a howl in the distance and it passed them by like an echo. He looked in the direction from which the sound came.

"Is something wrong?" Sky had never asked for them, but she knew they knew about her presence in the forest. "You have to go?"

"Do you want to come with me?"

The question took her by surprise. Sky was very curious about them, and about what kind of people they were when they lived in a human form.

"Are you sure?"

Minseok smiled.

Before he returned to become a wolf again, Minseok had told her that each member of the pack had a place in the forest that should take care of, and every so often, they gathered to inform the leaders of the pack if everything was ok or not. The wolves were responsible for caring the rock of dreams, they were responsible that humans not remain longer allowed in that part of the forest.

At one point the road, when they already were about to arrive, Sky descended from his back and Minseok returned to human form walking behind a tree. Under the cold moonlit night, Sky observed in the distance a campfire, a warm red jutting into the darkness.

"Do wolves normally make campfires?"

Minseok laughed walking beside her, and though he looked relaxed, he was pending if walking became difficult for Sky.

"I think they knew you were coming."

"Of course we knew!" A young brown hair guy came out of the bushes, smiling under the moonlight as he walked toward them. "I think everyone has felt your essence."

"Hey..." Minseok pushed him slightly. "Don't make jokes like that."

"My name is Luhan." The bright-eyed young man held out his hand to Sky. She took it and shook it gently. "I am one of the guardians of the south."

Sky smiled also letting go of his hand, and the three walked toward that warm light. Minseok, Luhan and Chen were the guardians of the south.

"I think he looks more like a deer." Sky whispered and Minseok laughed.

"Deers think the same, that's why they like him so much."

There were two people waiting standing near the fire, and Sky thought they were the leaders.

"Hey... we all knew we have to come in our human form." Luhan laughed approaching them.

Sky stopped behind Minseok when they looked at her, somehow, they had an essence that felt around. As leaders, like wolves.

"Welcome to our home, Sky. My name is Suho. We... know what you did for your friend. It was very brave thing you did for her."

For a moment, Sky thought Minseok had told them the story.

"That was the essence that we capture." Kris said, and he smiled proudly. "We were miles away and we all feel it."

"That was very brave." Luhan said with surprise. "Are you a wolf too?"

"I don't think so." She said. Sky was surprised and confused at the same time. "I just... didn't want anything bad to happen to her."

"Hyung!" A group of boys appeared at the other end of the place, but one in particular, a boy with black hair approached Minseok and hugged him from behind. "Hyung, I thought you would never introduce us to your girl."

"Baekhyun..." Suho said, and Baek stopped to listen to him. "Didn't we talk about manners?"

Baek dropped his shoulders and nodded, but the smile returned to his face and he smiled at Sky.

"My name is Baekhyun. I am one of the guardians of the north."

Sky was speechless, he was not unlike her male best friend.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She said.

"Let's sit down." Kris said. "We need to start."

Sky sat between Minseok and Luhan on the logs that were around the campfire. The leaders took turns talking about life in the forest and the balance still remained in it. All guys around, and although they seemed to be like a university boys, all remained silent and listening intently. Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Suho were the guardians of the north, Kris, Tao and Kai were the guardians of the east, and D.O, Sehun and Lay were the guardians of the west. In one night, Sky had learned more about their way of living, but she could not help but ask herself if living alone was a life.

The meeting ended without Sky know what time it was, but before they leave, Minseok was calling for their leaders, and the boys took the opportunity to ask Sky about the outside world.

"Well... there are many places to see. The world is very big." Sky said, unsure of how to respond. Should she mention the evil existed in the world too? "You can't walk out of here?"

"Only adults can leave the forest, noona." D.O said. "But some choose not to."

"When Minseok hyung returns, he only does it with books." Sehun laughed.

"And what more should he come back with?" Kai asked, and both laughed as if they were sharing a private joke.

"Are you going to stay forever, Sky?" Chen asked. "It's nice to have someone new in the neighborhood."

Sky laughed with courtesy, but she looked at Minseok. Her leg was already healed almost completely, and Sky knew that meant she would have to go home soon. She wanted to see her brother and her parents, go back to school and tell everyone that she was fine. Her heart was confused, she loved this place, and she knew she could make a living here or go with which she already had. Minseok looked in her direction because he could feel her, and smiled secretly to her before again look to their leaders.

"Although it is hard to believe... we don't know a lot of girls." Chanyeol laughed.

"Hyung is so lucky." Baek said and pouted. "He is the first of the pack who has a mate. That had never happened."

"What does that mean?" Sky asked innocently.

"You and he are meant to be together." Lay laughed, as if it was the most obvious answer. "Wolves only get a partner for life. It is a connection that is created at the time of their first meeting."

"And is forever." Luhan said.

"There is no other option." Tao said.

Sky held her breath. What did that mean? She could not go home? This connection... was stronger than her? Sky wanted to go where he was and get from him all the answers to the questions that appeared in her head. But she knew how to control herself and answer the other questions, and above all, she knew how to smile without looking nervous when they mentioned that she was Minseok's girl. But this was a wolves thing, and it almost sounded like an obligation.

"Everything okay, Sky?" Minseok stopped in front of her when all walked away to say goodbye. "Don't listen to the things the kids say."

Sky was getting used to be there.

"I know." She smiled trying to look natural. "They are not so different from my friends."

Minseok smiled to look natural too, but inside of him, something moved when she mentioned her life. He knew that Sky would go when she healed, and although he was not aware of time passing, he knew that each new day was a day less for her to be at his side.

…

The cabin was dark and Sky thought of the hours while she was lying in bed. During the days of camping she had decided not to take her watch with her, and now she thought how curious the time worked. There were times that Sky would have liked that lasted forever, but at that moment, time seemed to run very fast. But the bad times, these seemed to last an eternity. Sky was 22 years old and she felt she had lived her life correctly, doing what she wanted to do, what she wanted to study, enjoying the things she wanted to do. Sky was in her final year as a veterinary student, but she knew there was still a long way to go before becoming a professional. Time, it was all about the time. Life was made to enjoy it but everything had its time; born, grow up, and die in some point. Where did it fit the "live forever"?

 "Sky... Are you awake?"

She was lying on her left side and lifted her head to hear his voice in the silence of the night.

"No." She laughed softly to blend with the pleasant silence of the forest.

"What are you thinking about?"

"In some things." It was a simple answer to itemize every thought she had in her mind. "Did you know that i was awake?"

"Your breathing changes when you sleep." He whispered from the sofa. "I can feel how your body rises and falls with each breath." He was silent a moment, realizing what he had said. "That sounded better in my mind."

Sky laughed.

"It's okay, but... you really can feel me?"

"Yes. It's something inside me, like a feeling."

"That happened that day? You said you could feel I was in danger."

Minseok thought about it for a few seconds. Be honest or not. Say more than she could perhaps accept.

"I felt you since you entered the forest."

"How is it?"

He could tell her everything from that feeling that made him look in the direction in which Sky was, even miles and miles away from where she was.

"It was like an electricity, something inside of me moved. A new sense that led me to you, like an aura around you that enveloped me completely."

"It Is the essence they were talking about?"

"Something like that. They felt that thing shining around you, I felt what's inside you."

"Why it's different?"

Wolves, unlike other animals, were born to find a partner to share their life with. As a piece of the puzzle that will only fit with only one piece. As the moon shining in the sky, wolves waiting to find that unique being.

"It's not something I can explain in words."

"How could you explain it then?"

"I would need to show you."

Sky was afraid to know the truth, but part of her wanted to know it too.

"Show me."

"Now?"

"Now."

Sky waited for a few seconds for a response that never came, and instead, Minseok rose from the couch and she sat in bed. Her eyes were coupled to the dark just to see that big wolf standing in the open door. The moonlight shone through the window and allowed Sky see the features of that majestic wolf stretched his forelegs down for her to climb on his back. The creature was so big it had to bend down so she could get on its back, and when she did it, the warmth of its pelage wrapped her completely. The wolf trotted a little faster than normal to the path that Sky could not see because of the dark forest, but the wolf moved nimbly skipping some fallen logs and dodging trees as if it could see them perfectly. Sky did not know where they were going exactly. The road broke in front of her slowly and she began to see better all around her when the wolf climbed a hill and seemed increasingly steeper. Sky held on tight when she saw what they left behind and she noticed that they were going up very high, higher than any other rock she had seen.

But then it stopped right at the top, from where she could see the tip of the trees as the sun's rays in a few hours would break the line dividing the horizon. It was the rock of dreams. They were there and Sky had never seen the moon so close. She got down from the back of the wolf and walked forward, staring at the sky that seemed infinite.

"Make your wish." She heard his voice but did not dare to turn around. Without telling him, he knew why Sky had traveled to find the rock. "If you make it from your heart, it will come true."

Sky sighed. Many years struggling with a disease that had no cure, so many disappointments by listening to the same diagnosis of various medical sources. So many sleepless nights thinking it might not be a tomorrow. Sky had clung to the idea that her wish would be fulfilled, because hope was all she had inside. The earth beneath her feet felt different, and she made that wish she had kept inside for years. Please, let it happen. The air suddenly ran when she made it in her mind. The wind would bring better days, with a little more faith.

"How do you feel?" Minseok was behind her and sounded impatient. "Do you feel different?"

She turned to him, her gaze in his eyes. He knew more about her, a secret that she never had confessed. The air turned to run and brought a twinge in her chest that took her breath away. Sky held a hand against her chest and he gasped as he took her in his arms.

She had not asked that her heart disease disappeared. She had lost a chance to heal, and live.

"What was your wish?" Minseok looked at her, his eyes reflecting the fear he felt inside. "You didn't ask for you?"

"Will it work?" Sky straightened herself, enduring the pain settled in her chest. "Do you know whether it will work or not?"

"It will work." He looked at her as if he could not recognize her. "What did you ask for?"

"I asked my brother to be healed." She could not hide the happiness or surprise in her voice. If he said it would work, perhaps her brother would be feeling different at this moment. "He is sick... but not now, right?"

"Yes." Minseok let her go slowly. "Why you didn't ask for yourself?"

"I never asked for me to heal because I had already accepted that this should happen to me, if I would do it now, it would not have been a wish from my heart. It would not have worked."

Minseok looked at her, losing himself completely in the sincerity with which her eyes shone. Did she knew how beautiful she looked in his eyes? The way she moved, the way she thought for someone else before herself, the way she spoke so confidently. She was not a wolf but she protected the people she loved most, like Krystal, her older brother. She was not a wolf but she protected her loved ones as if she was one.

What they called connection was what humans called love. It was not an obligation, it was a feeling that no humand being could control.

Minseok moved her hair from her face in a smooth motion, and he pressed his lips against hers. It was a feeling she had never experienced before and that he was sharing with her without realizing it. The fusion of their lips made her feel everything he had felt since she entered the forest. The way she moved her hair, the way in which the corner of her lip curled up into a smile, the way her eyes were smiling too, everything he loved about her. It was like being under a spell and he loved it because for the first time in many years, he felt he belonged not to a place but a person.

"You can stay with me if you wanted to." He whispered against her lips, still unable to let her go.

But unlike him, Sky pulled away.

"There is a reason why we don't allow humans stay here longer than they should. Over time, they would become part of the forest until they definitely belong here."

The boys had said they could not leave the forest, and Sky felt a lump in .

"That will happen to me? I will not be able to leave the woods?"

"There is still time." Sky watched the sadness in his eyes. "Wouldn't you like to stay? Here... nothing bad will happen to you, your heart may beat forever here."

At the moment Sky cut the rope, she knew the fate that she could have. Dying was a terrifying idea, but she had not fought it because she couldn't. That was her fate and she was convinced that it should be that way. But live forever... also was a terrifying idea. What would life mean? People lived because they knew that life would not last forever, but if it did...

"Sky..."

"I don't know." She pulled away from him. "Living forever... I am afraid of that."

"You can do it if you find the right person."

Sky thought of her family and her life. The university, movies, books, animals that she wanted to help. She not only would have more time to live, but it would mean that time would no longer be part of her life. Being with him, it would not be an ordinary relationship. A commitment that would last forever.

"I'm very tired."

Sky tried to ignore the disappointment in his eyes.

"Let's go home."

…

Sky's leg had healed completely, and although there was still a little pain there, she no longer had to use the bandage and she could walk normally. She used to walk out of the cabin to keep moving her leg as a therapy made on her own. It was a morning in which Sky walked out while Minseok was not there, in which she came to be face to face with this cougar watched her from afar with those eyes that made her feel so helpless. Sky looked over her right shoulder without making any sudden movements, ready to run into the cabin.

"You don't have to run, I will not hurt you."

The deep voice that came from the cougar took her by surprise and she was frozen in place watching the cougar approached her.

"You can talk?"

"Of course I can." The cougar sat a few steps from her, and yet was much bigger than her. "Everyone in this forest can talk... in their own way."

"Can you also transform?"

The cougar looked at her with cold eyes.

"I never learned how, so I'm trapped in this body."

Sky swallowed, afraid of knowing the truth.

"Are you... you were a person?"

"I was, long ago." The cougar wagged its tail. "I stayed here longer than I should, and the magic that surrounds this forest absorbed me. When I tried to leave, I could not do it."

"How long have you been here?"

"More time than I would like."

"I heard... that some animals can leave the forest. Why not you?"

"The forest allows a few to go out and see the world. To those like me, it condemn us to walk by this place."

Sky recalled the fear she felt when the cougar attacked her the first time. It was as if time ran in slow motion when the cougar jumped on her that day.

"If you can understand... Why did you attack me?"

"Don't take it personally." The cougar lay down, but never took its eyes off her. "Sometimes the animal instinct is stronger. Besides I hate to see you're in here when you have a life out there."

"Do you think... choose to live here is wrong?"

"If you are pure of heart and you can show the forest that you will protect it, it will let you go out and live in the world, but there is a force here that brings you back. It's like being at home, like a magnet that pulls you back here."

"But that's my decision."

The cougar laughed, getting up to walk around. As stalking.

"Would you live here forever just for love?"

Sky followed its movements, but although the cougar could easily jump over her, she no longer felt afraid.

"I've seen you with the wolf. It is clear that you were born to be his mate, in your human form, or like a wolf. It is a connection that nobody can explain, but it's bigger than you and me, is bigger than the world itself. Not much you can do against it."

"What does that mean?" She paused, maintaining a firm position, and the cougar also stopped. "There is no force in this world that is stronger than a person. Either animal or human. If I decide to stay, it will be by choice, not because something compels me to do so. And if I do, if I decide to take the risk to do so, it will be because I feel that it is right."

The cougar was silent a moment, then it chuckled.

"Even if you try to deny it, you were born to be a wolf too, Sky. This forest felt the force that you keep in that weak heart with which you were born from the moment you set foot in here. The forest chose you, now you must decide if you choose it too." The cougar slowly moved to get away, but not before looking at her for the last time. "Choose wisely, Sky."

And after said that, the cougar ran away and disappeared into the trees.

What should she do now? Now that she no longer feared to be in the forest alone and nothing could hurt her, Sky walked down the path with a twinge of pain in her knee. Sky was only 22 years old but looked like she had lived longer. Being so young, Sky seemed to be facing a turning point in her life, even after accepting her illness. What did she know about love? People mistrusted the love of the young people, because their love was as unpredictable as the people who swore to feel it. But she always trusted in the day that she loves, she would do it forever. Without fear, without conditions, without regrets. She did not know much about love, but she believed in the love she could give to someone else. Was it enough?

Sky walked and walked but she did not notice, her mind was lost somewhere far from the forest. But she had reached the end of the forest as if it had been a few steps from her. Sky climbed a rock on that hill, feeling the wind on her face as it moved her hair in a gentle rhythm. She could be free in a world that would not harm her heart, living in a world that would not subject her heart to stop beating at the least expected moment. Her freedom was in the image of the city in front of her, or it was behind her in a world that would coined her fragile body.

"Sky?"

Sky turned back toward the voice that promised peace for her. Minseok stood a few steps from her, and his eyes shone reflecting the fear he felt inside.

She could live for now, or stay there forever.

What would you choose?

............

Hey there! This is my first Xiumin story and i really hope you like it. Like i said, english is not my native language; sorry for the mistakes here. 

Let me know if you like it or not, i'm open to every opinion. 

Thanks for reading!