The short dinner with their new neighbor left Youngwoon with more questions than there were answered ones.

*~*~*~*

It started when he received a call from Taeyeon yesterday about the mother and son that moved in the old house across theirs. He remembered joking about how she should refrain herself from flying off to their new neighbor and just let them rest for the meantime, which she answered with a cute huff and a mechanic beeping of a disconnected line. In short, he was not the least surprised to see brightly lit rooms in the once empty house. What surprised him was the fact that his spirit wolf actually woke up from its peaceful rest inside of him and was fully aware of each and every movement in that house.

It's not a hostile awareness that roused his wolf. It was the feeling of wanting to be near whatever or whoever is in that house, calling to him, like moth to a flame. But not as intense as his need to be with his mate every hour of the day.  He got off his car and observed the shadows moving inside the house.

Ignoring the compulsion to go over and knock on the other door, he ran the short distance from his parking space to their door. He hadn't fully inserted his keys yet when the door opened and was greeted by his lovely wife. And all was forgotten.

No other feeling is half as strong as his desire for his mate. He will enter heaven and hell if that is what it would take to be with her. He would kill every other creature on Earth, human or not, if that would make her safe. And he would carve out his heart and serve it to her on a silver platter if that would make her happy. Love is too weak of a word to describe what he feels for her.

He stretched his arms for his usual welcome home hug as he entered the foyer. She stepped closer to allow him his little comfort but the scowl on her face still evident. She's still upset with his little joke earlier that day. "Should I be afraid for my life now?"

He said as he bent lower to kiss her temples. Her scent drowning him to fall deeper into her.

Her comparatively small frame, in addition to her soft voice and graceful manner, made her look fragile to other people. Little do they know that she can tear a person to pieces as easily as a well-oiled chainsaw can cut the hardest wood. Joking with her could be fatal sometimes, but he took his chances and was rewarded with an almost smile.

They ate dinner with the rest of the pack. He loved seeing his wolves in their playful selves. It makes them look like the normal teenagers and young-adults that they are. He also made sure that his wolves can talk about almost anything to him and his mate regardless of their rank in the pack, and they do. They sat around the table with him at the head and Taeyeon by his right side, and they talked, all at the same time. Some were telling her what happened in school that day, some were telling him about the silly project they were assigned at work. The sound of their usual banter filled the big dining room. And then his attention was caught by a particular member of his pack.

"Seungcheol, what's wrong? You haven't said anything at all today." The conversations halted and everyone turned to the boy beside his mate.

While the said teenager is naturally silent, he's also one to join the games the others play during dinner, sometimes even suggesting a game or two himself. But there was something to him that night. His silence not out of habit but out of deep thought. "Huh, yeah... Wait, what?" That the boy was startled was enough for Youngwoon to be alerted. Seungcheol is never someone to be caught unaware.

"Well, that's new." A slim woman with strawberry blonde, short hair shifted from her seat to fully turn to the said boy. "I would love to know what made you lose your mind kiddo~." She pushed away from her lounge on her mate to lean forward on her chair and rest her chin on her left hand atop the table. Her smirk and the teasing way one of eyebrows were raised earned a low growl from the teen, thus stirring agression from the woman's mate beside her.

Through his bond with his pack, Youngwoon sensed danger in the way their wolf spirits are unusually alert."Stop!" He laced a bit of his power on the command, making sure that none of his wolves or their spirits will be able to disregard him.

Taeyeon held his hand that rests on the table which partially calmed him.

"Sooyoung, I don't think this is the time for such jokes." He told the slender woman, then turned his attention to the two boys. They have stopped with the growling but that does not mean they have relaxed their stances a bit. "And I would appreciate it if the two of you would relax a bit."

Sooyoung's mate looked at him, eyes still fired up from the disrespect he thinks his mate received. "But…"

Youngwoon did not let the other man finish his sentence. "Enough Chanyeol." His tone trying to calm the other man but still has a bit of power on it. "Sooyoung provoked the response that she got, and you may well be thankful that the reprimand is given lightly." Chanyeol's shoulders dropped slightly then wrapped his left arm around his mate to pull her closer to him. Sooyoung tapped him lightly on his chest before murmuring a low apology to the younger across the table. "And while I let you guys treat each other lightly, I will not tolerate any disrespect on my table especially, in front of me and my mate." He looked at everyone around the table before settling to the teen again. "Seungcheol, I would be talking to you once dinner is through." The teen nodded slightly.

With that, dinner was resumed although with an air of awkwardness surrounding the pack. Ravi, who is one o