“So you made out with her?” Joy crossed her arms, her back was against the orange painted wall inside Seulgi’s room. Seulgi could feel her friends’ eyes are on her.

“Yup.” She threw her body on the bed.

“Isn’t it dangerous for a new beta to mate?” Wendy suddenly in.

“Exactly!” Jisoo said, she looked frustrated. “What if you hurt her?!”

“Nothing happened! Okay? That’s why I wanted to leave.” Seulgi sighed. “I felt something very different inside.” Seulgi looked down, she felt a little bit guilty for not resisting Irene on the first place.

“She’s sorry, guys. Seulgi is still learning. And she will keep learning. Just let her slip.”

Seulgi thanked Yeri inside her mind.

“Alright…” Joy stood straight. “I just don’t want anyone in our pack hurting innocent people either it’s intentional or by accident.”

“I got it, Joy. I’m sorry.”

---

After bid them goodbye, Seulgi laid down on her bed. She stared on the ceiling for a quite long time until she heard footsteps from the stairs, revealing her mother a few minutes later.

“Seulgi? Honey?” Her mother peeked inside her room. “I thought you are at a party.”

Seulgi sat up, replying her mother with a smile.

Seulgi had told her mother about what happened to her, what the people who saved her actually are. She was so ready to get kicked out, but her mother just hugged her and thanking God, because that change kept Seulgi alive.

“Are you feeling okay?” Her mother settle herself beside Seulgi.

“Yes, mom. I feel okay.” Seulgi chuckled.

Her mother smiled softly, she caressed Seulgi’s brown locks.

“You know you can tell me anything, sweetie.”

“Thanks, mom.”

Seulgi was more than glad that her mother was always by her side. Ever since her father deceased, it was only her and her mother. They tried their best to support each other. Seulgi remembered when she was eleven years old she had to help her mother working as waitress in her aunt’s diner. But, thankfully, because of her mother’s hard work they were able to open their own café. It started small and it became one of well-known cafes in their neighbourhood.

Seulgi wanted to help there, but her mother told her to focus on studying; so she did.

“You know, when I was a kid, I had this puppy-“

Seulgi clicked her tongue before she whined.

“Mom, I’m not a puppy!”

Her mother laughed.

“You technically is, honey!”

Seulgi pouted at first but then she ended up laughing with her mother. The woman sighed in relief, seeing her daughter smiled again. She cupped Seulgi’s cheeks.

“Everything is going to be okay, Seulgi. You are a strong girl then, and you are a strong girl now. Even stronger. And most importantly, me, and your pack will always be there for you.”

Seulgi leaned in on her mother’s touch.

“Thank you, mom” Seulgi rushed into her embrace. “You’re the best!”

They broke the hug and smiled. But, her mother decided to Seulgi for the last time before exiting Seulgi’s room.

“So, you’re like- what now? Bear-puppy hybrid?”

“Mom!”

---

The seniors were assigned to join a workshop that would help them to choose the major they wanted to take when they were going to college which would be within a few months. Seulgi, you could say that she was a well prepared person, so she already knew what she wanted to do in the future; obviously she checked the ‘Art’ section on the paper that were given to them in their last period. Some students were complaining about this extra section, saying that it wasted their time and such. Most of them were the popular students of course. Seulgi and Jisoo were also forced by Boa. Yeah, having their alpha as their teacher in the school would never be good.

They had to choose at least three things that they wanted to do in the future. Seulgi did not want to do anything beside art so she just copied Jisoo’s paper which the girl had check mark on the History/Mythology and Hospitality. The first five minutes in hospitality class, Seulgi had fallen into her deep slumber; causing Jisoo to slap her hard when the class had ended. She was getting excited when she stepped into the art class, unlike the boring people in hospitality, the art class was fun, some students got to show their talents and they even played some games. Seulgi got to hear Jisoo’s voice which got her so surprised because she did not expect the chicken maniac who happened to be her friend had a really beautiful voice. And of course, Wendy. Seulgi wondered what the vampire actually could not do. The girl was literally perfect.

Turned out that Wendy also ticked that History/Mythology box. So, Seulgi, Jisoo, and Wendy sat close to each other.

“So, you guys, interested in this subject?” Wendy asked.

“Not really, I just don’t know what else to tick.” Jisoo chuckled. Wendy’s attention turned to Seulgi.

“Same.” The cat-eye girl simply answered.

“Well, not too much student in here,” Wendy looked around. “I suspect that this will be boring. I mean I pretty much had lived in this time period.” The vampire said, showing them the guidance book she had in her hands.

“Ha! You were not in the hospitality class.” Seulgi scoffed, sinking her face into the desk as she was ready to take a nap again until Jisoo nudged her.

“Looks like she is the only one who is excited about this class.” Jisoo said. The three of them were looking at Irene who entered the room with her eyes totally open; ready to take whatever the myth that would be thrown at her.

“Ah…” Wendy nodded. “I see why.”

Wendy’s guidance book was opened in the page that had ‘LYCANTHROPE’ written on the top.

“Of course. Why did not I see that coming?” Jisoo said sarcastically, glaring at Seulgi.

“She could’ve died if I didn’t.” Seulgi argued.

“Hi, guys! Hi…Seulgi.” Irene shyly greeted Seulgi and took a seat behind the pack, she started to open her book and reading it quietly.

“Since when did she get so friendly with you both?” She asked her friends.

“I don’t know. Maybe because nobody is joining this class except that boy in the corner that nobody knows what his name is?” Jisoo spoke.

“Fair enough.” Seulgi dipped her head again on her arms. She could hear the footsteps of Boa and some other people. She assumed that they were the experts of this subject.

Boa introduced them to the class, but Seulgi did not hear anything or did not actually care, actually.

Seulgi glanced at the projector, showing them some power points that did not even make her excited. She focused her hearing on Irene who was sitting behind her. The tiny girl was writing notes on her book and quietly spelling each words she wrote; which was cute in Seulgi’s opinion, it made her smile somehow until she realised how determined Irene was about finding who—what saved her life in the wood that night.

Boa had told her about the hunters; they were not much of them these days but they were still out there, hiding.

What if Irene is a hunter?

She shook her head, brushing off the stupid thought inside her head.

“There was a very famous myth of all time about lycanthropy.” The professor said. “Can anyone tell me what that is?”

Wendy raised her hand.

“La Bête du Gévaudan.” She answered with perfect pronunciation. Making the professor’s face lit up.

“That’s right.” He said. “The beast of Gevaudan.”

“Legend said he was a soldier on the edge of his life, seeking power from the devil; drinking from the puddle that wolves had left their marks on.”

Seulgi finally raised her head she was actually getting a little excited—or maybe because she felt that Boa was boring a hole onto her head.

“—He killed so many people in the war, but everything comes with a price. He could not stop killing, the beast inside him had taken over his body. He became addicted to killing. He would come out at night, kidnapping children, eating their flesh. He would take women, bring them into the wood and them. And he would not hesitate to kill whoever was in her way. Those women he were just something he used, to build an army of creature like him. Once they were all delivering his children into the world, he would kill the women, one by one, to feed them to his children-“

“But, not every one of them are bad, right?”

Irene’s voice suddenly cutting the professor’s lecture—or story time Seulgi would like to call it. The professor just replied her with a smile, maybe thinking that Irene had disturbed his routine of scaring the of high school students.

“Now where was I? Ah right.” He mumbled before continuing his story. “Once in a while, the folks would make a sacrifice, they would leave the unlucky ones in the darkness of the wood, letting them to be taken by the beast and his army. It was continuing until the woman named Marrie-Jeanne Valet had to lose a son for the sake of other people in the village, that had done nothing for her. Everyday, Marrie-Jeanne would train herself in the wood and comeback to the village before dark. The people called her crazy but she was just a woman seeking for justice. She made weapons from all the silver she had; some villagers that thought that she was not crazy actually helped her discovering a plant called aconitum. Or, also called wolf’s bane. The rumour said that any creature, even human, did not want to go anywhere near this plant because it caused hallucination…on human. But on supernatural creatures, it would cause instant death.”

Wendy suddenly turned her head to Jisoo and Seulgi.

“What if you’re already dead?” she whispered.

“I don’t know, just…pay attention.” Jisoo answered, pushing Wendy gently.

“—Marrie-Jeanne haunted the beast, she made a few traps for him. And finally, she got what she wanted, the beast had chased her into the woods. He was fast, and so was she. She as ahead in front of him. She took the silver spear she had hidden in the pile of thick snow; the tip was covered in wolf’s bane. And when he was close, she was ready. The spear went through his chest; the snow was covered in red of his blood.”

“What is this?” The beast finally said.

“Wolf’s bane.” She answered.

He fell down on his knees, slowly shifting back to his human form, making her fell back, eyes widened in disbelief when she saw her husband that she thought was dead in the war. She knew that it would haunt her forever, but she decided to move on. Hunting every single one of the army the beast had created.”

The professor ended the story and Seulgi was sure she had never cringe that hard.

---

“Are you sure that’s not just a fairy tale?” Seulgi asked Boa who was walking beside her.

“He was a bit exaggerating. But, that was based on true story.” Boa chuckled. She pulled Seulgi closer, as she whispered.

“You need to be a bit careful with Irene. Sooner or later, she will know what’s going on.”

Seulgi nodded. Boa smiled at her before she walked inside her office.

---