♦ - ♥ - ♦

It really went to show how much Somin's family, or any of her father's pack members, cared about her, when she was able to walk in through the front door of her house soaking wet, and no one would notice. Even if they did, she was incredibly doubtful anyone would care about the Im runt looking like she'd just nearly drowned.

Runt.

The name made her frown, though she wasn't sure why. It was a term used in the wolf world by those who had quite the foul mouth, wolves who were snobs, cherishing only name, and blood. Wolves like her father, and their pack. Runt was a derogatory term. While it was sometimes used to tease a wolf who was small, as one would think, its more common use was for unwanted family members. Family who would never belong to the pack.

Naturally Somin would never be a wolf. She was female. But still, even females were considered pack members because they were family. Mates, wives, sisters, daughters, they were all pack. But Somin wasn't. Everyone made that very clear. She didn't belong in her family, and therefore had no place within the pack.

She was a runt. 

At this point, Somin had accepted the awful word, and had come to terms with it, but she didn't know why it was sticking in her head so much today. It only left her mind when she headed into the shower to wash the cold salt water off of her body that her thoughts strayed away to her time at her little hiding place.

Summer was practically here, and the water was getting a bit unpredictable these days, so she'd grown accustomed to hearing the occasional, distant sound of waves crashing. Sometimes dead trees and other vegetation would fall in, making soft splashes that blended into the noises of water hitting rock.

But something was bothering her about today, and the noises she heard. Yes, there had been her own noises of occasional splashing, but something felt...off.

Frowning, the young Im girl stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself.

What was it? Had the water been higher today? Had one of the bigger trees fallen in, and her subconscious was only now realizing its absence? Or...were there possibly wolves out there?

No. That wasn't it. If any of her dad's pack members had been out, and had seen her, or smelled her, she'd be downstairs getting yelled at by her parents for daring to leave the house where someone else could have seen her.

Then what was it?

♦ - ♥ - ♦

Apparently none of the pack members had left the night before. She'd learned via teasing from Junhoe, another son of a pack member, one of Hanbin's friends. Well--they were pack members now, it seemed. As Junhoe had told her with a sneer, everyone had been in a meeting after dining together to tell the sons that they would all become "official" members of the Im pack. Everyone had been invited, said Junhoe. Everyone except Somin, was what he meant. He was trying to be snooty, as if the fact that her father liked the boys--liked everyone--better than her were a surprise.

But anyway, the information had given her something to think on. So there wasn't a wolf spying on her at her hiding place. That was good, it meant she wasn't caught yet. However, it continued to beg the question, what was out of place?

It seemed it would remain a mystery until she could sneak out next, and be able to thoroughly examine the spot.

Speaking of a next time, she was already considering one. Apparently with the whole "everyone's getting added to the pack" bit, the families would be staying in the Im residence until after the next full moon, so that they could go ahead and have their we