Sori had never thought about joining a pack. For two years now, she'd been living with her childhood friend, Mei. It was enough for her, staying in a small cottage in her parents' territory. She wouldn't have minded continuing to live like that, but one night, Mei expressed the desire to join a pack and hopefully meet a mate to start a family.

"Haven't you ever thought about that, Sori?" Mei had asked. "Being in pack, falling in love with someone, then having pups and raising a family?"

Sori had never thought about love, packs, any of that stuff. To be honest, she wasn't the best at socializing and meeting new people. She was fine just living on her own, but she cared deeply for Mei and worried for her. Whie Sori was tought and could handle herself just fine, Mei was the exact opposite. She couldn't defend herself if needed and she was too kindhearted to even stand up for herself.

With that in mind, Sori decided to enter as a recruit alongside Mei, hoping to end up in the same pack, moreso to be able to protect her friend and be able to watch over her. Having decided, the two began their journey to the Frostt Mountains where they yearly New Years Moon festival would be held. There, they would be able to sign up as recruits to join a pack.

Mei would have no problems being picked. She was a pureblood werewolf, with a kind heart and nurturing spirit. She made friends with anyone she met and was very caring. Sori, on the other hand, had no nurturing sprit whatsoever, an uncommon trait among female werewolves. Females could hunt and fight as well, but they would also carry those motherly traits needed to have a family in the future. As far as Sori could tell, she lacked in that department. Hopefully her skills in combat, hutning, and strength would appeal to the same pack as Mei. 

After packing up, Sori and Mei headed out, taking the five day journey to the Frostt Mountains. For most of the journey, they went as wolves, especially since it was winter and it was warmer to stay in that form. Sori's wolf form was larger than Mei's, her fur colored black and dark grey. Mei was small as a wolf, her fur all colored a beautiful cream color.

As they got closer to their destination, they began to cross paths with other packs and covens travelling to the mountains. Like Sori and Mei, the packs were travelling in their wolf forms. They gained an interest in the two females and many tried socialzing with them. Sori just stayed silent while Mei cheerily got to know all of the new faces.

One wolf was particularly friendly and sociable, his size the same as Sori(though considered small for a male) and his fur colored yellow and white. He talked a lot and seemed very insterested in them, becoming exstatic when he learned that they were going to be recruits.

That's awesome! Maybe you'll get to join my pack! The boy said excitedly, his tail wagging. It's one of the larger ones and it'd be awesome to have more girls around! There's only three right now, with eight boys! That's totally gotta be hard for them so adding more girls would be good for them!

Sori didn't really want to join a large pack, much less one with this chatterbox in it. She hoped that she and Mei would end up joining a smaller one.

Mei nodded her head at the boy. We'll have to see, then. Make sure to tell your Alpha about us kay?

The boy jumped up energetcially. I will! Totally!

Yah! Baek! Get over here! Came a deep voice. 

They looked to find a large male wolf with red and brown fur looking in their direction. There was a smaller female brown wolf beside him, nuzzling into his side.

Suho says we're going to set up for the night! Aera and Euna are both really tired!

Okay! The yellow wolf trotted over. He looked back at Sori and Mei. I hope we get to meet again!

Likewise! Mei called back.

Sori just looked away, feeling a little tired as well.

Come on, let's go find a place to lay down.

They found a place beside a large tree and layed there to rest. A couple of trees down, a smaller pack of seven also layed down to rest. From what Sori could tell, there were five males and two females. Both females clearly had mates. One of the male wolves was attending to each of the members, making sure everyone was warm and comfortable. He had a smaller build and had all black fur. Sori found it a bit odd, a male wolf being that nurturing.

The black wolf suddenly looked over and noticed them. Sori inwardly groaned as he made his way over. She turned away, hoping it would tell him to back off. It didn't.

Are you two travelling on your own?

Sori ignored him but, not to her surprise, Mei immediately responded.

Yes, we are.

You don't have a pack?

No, but we are planning to join one, hopefully, at the festival.

Recruits, huh? It was silent for a moment before he spoke again. You want to travel the rest of the way with us? It's no fun being on your own.

Sori hoped that Mei would realize her unwantness to take the offer and turn him down. However, she should have known better than to hope.

We would love to, right Sori?

Sori just shrugged, knowing there was no getting out of it. 

Excellent! Come on over and sleep with us! It'll be warmer for you this way!

And so, against her deep wishes, Sori followed as she and Mei were led over to the black wolf's pack, where they rested for the night. They were introduced to the pack members, but Sori was too tired to remember the names(plus, she didn't really care).

The next morning, they set out, making it the Frostt Mountains mid afternoon. On the way, Mei had chatted cheerily with the pack while Sori, you guessed it, stayed distant and quiet, only responding if she was asked something. Sori caught a few of the packs names, now remembering them. Onew was the name of the Alpha, his mate being Nara. The black wolf was called Key. That was all that she remembered.

After arriving at the village where the festival was being held, Sori and Mei dispersed from the pack to go sign up for the Choosing. The Choosing was where Sori and Mei would showcase their abilites and hopefully catch the attention of some pack Alphas.

It didn't take them long to find the shop to sign up, and Mei enthusiastically wrote their names down. Beside them at another table, a tall boy with white blonde hair was signing up as well. Cathcing his scent, Sori could tell he was a wolf. Mei, noticing, turned to him.

"Signing up too, huh?"

The boy gave her a slgiht smile, nodding. "Yes."

Mei smiled. "Any kind of pack in mind?"

"A large one." The boy answered. "Hopefully one with some wolves my age, too."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Ooh! Only a year younger than Sori!" Mei turned to Sori. "Maybe we'll all end up as pack mates!"

The boy chuckled. "Maybe. Could happen." He then turned to leave, calling back. "See you at the Choosing!"

"Yeah!" Mei called back.

Sori shook her head in awe. "How do you do it?"

"Huh?" Mei tilted her head to the side. "Do what?"

Sori pointed to where the boy was leaving. "That! Just strike up a conversation with any random person!"

Mei shrugged. "I don't know. I just can. Maybe it's a natural gift?"

Sori sighed. "Yeah, and mine's able to kick anyone's if they try to mess with me. Not exactly appealing."

Mei patted Sori on the back. "You're strong, Sori. A great fighter. And a talented hunter. Any pack would be lucky to have you."

Sori gave a shy smile. "You think so?"

"Totally! Now, come on! The feast'll be in half an hour! We need to get good seats!"

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

Sori and Mei found a table to sit at that was just a few rows back from where the main table was, the table of the Elders. Onew's pack quickly found them and sat with them. Soon, it was time for dinner and the Elders arrived one by one. 

There were six Elders, with three werewolves and three vampires. The eldest werewolf and vampire were the Heads, put in charge of all rules and laws. For the werewolves, the Head was Leeteuk and the other two were Shindong and Donghae. For the vampires, the Head was Heechul and the other two were Yesung and Eunhyuk. 

Before dinner was served, Leeteuk and Heechul stood up, the entire area going silent after they did. 

"Welcome, everyone! We are delighted to have you all here for the New Years Moon Festival!" Leeteuk said.

"Before we eat, as is tradition, we would invite any wishing to form a pack or coven to come up for the ritual."

Sori looked at Mei. "Does that mean us?"

Mei shook her head. "No, we're joining a pack. Sometimes, a group comes together to form their own pack or coven and they go through a ritual to make it official."

No one came up for the packs, but one group of vampires came up to form a coven. There were six boys and three girls. A boy with a buzzed blonde hairstyle bowed to Heechul.

"Head Elder Heechul, my name is Namjoon. I wish to bring those with me together as a coven, with I as their leader."

Heechul nodded. "And the 2nd in command?"

A smaller boy with crimson red hair stepped forward and bowed. "My name is Yoongi, sir. Namjoon has chosen me for 2nd in command, sir."

Heechul clapped his hands together. "Perfect! Let the ritual commence!"

Sori had no idea what the ritual was. She didn't even know that this was how packs and covens were formed. She watched curiously as Namjoon stood before his coven, all of the members knelt before him. Namjoon went to Yoongi first, kneeling down and firmly biting the boy on the neck. Sori's jaw dropped.

"What is he doing?"

"The ritual." Key, who was sitting beside Sori, explained. "Through a bite, the leader forms a bond with the members. This makes them able to know each other's thoughts and feelings, as well as if they are hurt or in trouble."

Namjoon went through all of the members, biting each one.

"Namjoon is clearly the strongest of them all, being the leader." Mei continued. "Honestly, any one of them could do the leader's part of the ritual, but a fight would have to take place to decide the leader."

"So, say a new member were to join that wanted to become leader..." Key said. "They'd had to challenge Namjoon to a fight and win. Then that person would do the ritual again, becoming the new leader."

Sori nodded in understanding. "Is it the same for wolves?"

Key nodded. "We bite as well, in wolf form."

Sori gulped. "So, when Mei and I join a pack..."

"You will be bitten by the Alpha, yes." Key chuckled. "It doesn't hurt that bad, so don't worry too much."

After Namjoon finshed biting his coven members, Heechul called the leader over to him, placing a hand on his forehead.

"From this moment on, you are all a coven." Heechul said. "Led by Namjoon. And the name I have chosen for your coven is... Bangtan Sonyeondan, also known as BTS."

Sori had heard that packs and covens all had names, some odd and unique. Bangtan Sonyeondan sounded really odd and unique to her.

With the coven ritual over, dinner was then served. The food was delicous. Sori couldn't think of a time where she'd had food that was this good.

Now came the time for the first part of the Choosing, the intoructions. The recruits would have to come up one at a time and introduce themselves. It was the part that Sori feared the most.

Leeteuk and Heechul stood up again and everyone went silent.

"Before we move on to the Choosing," Leeteuk said. "We have an announcement to make."

"As many of you know, this last year, rogue attacks were a huge issue." Heechul stated. "This year, more attacks and casualties occured than average."

"In the years before, only one or two large rogue attacks occured, most with only a couple casulaites." Leeteuk's face turned somber. "But this year, there were six large rogue attacks that happened around the world, three of which occured in our area."

Sori's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? I never heard."

Mei shook her head. "Me neither. So terrible."

"One attack was on a pack, a large one." Leeteuk continued. "There were four casualties. The other pack Alpha, his mate, a Beta, and an Omega."

Sori looked to Mei in shock. Mei looked distressed.

"And, sadly, two great tragedies occured with the covens." Heechul also looked somber. "An entire female coven was taken out, all four members. They had had five, but one had mated and moved to a different coven. Unfortunately, that coven was also attacked." Heechul sighed. "Three were lost in the attack, two female and one male. One female was the one who had joined previosly, and she perished alongside her mate. The last female who perished...was also mated. Her mate was seriosly injured, but survived."

Mei had her hand covering now, eyes teary after hearing the sad news. Sori felt more anger than sadness.

"In light of this past year, the Elders have agreed on a plan to increase safety amongs packs and covens." Leeteuk said.

"After the festival," Heechul continued. "There will be union between those of you here."

What he said next shocked everyone.

"The packs and covens will combine their territory together. Each territory will have two packs and two covens. This will be done to ensure safety and strength, in the hopes that no more tragedies will occur."