Flopping down on the finally cleared off couch, you let out a hefty sigh. When your brother first suggested moving to this town, you were skeptical. A college town that was surrounded by woods. You were sure that he would get discovered, accidentally changing around a party of students or some other avoidable event. But he insisted on this place and since you swore to stay by his side… well, you didn’t really have a choice.

Unpacking was certainly the worst part of moving. The fact that you were the kind of person that once you started you couldn’t really stop just made it worse. However, you were finally done after doing nothing else since breakfast thanks to zero help from your big bro.

Speaking of the devil, Lon came waltzing in the front door, whistling to himself.

“Well, now this place looks like home!” he cheered.

You glared at him. “Yeah, no thanks to you.”

He blew you off, heading into the kitchen and going straight for the freshly stocked fridge. Opening the door and letting the cold air out, he just stood there, studying the shelves like he was practicing for the Bar Exam.

Pushing yourself up off the couch, you came up behind him, already in tune with whatever he was thinking. “I’m not cooking you dinner, too.”

He whined, “But your food is so good. And you know how I am in the kitchen.”

“Yeah… useless.” Sometimes, you really had to make yourself remember that he was nearly two years older than you.

Growing up, you were always looking after him. Especially since he used to be so tiny. The other boys in the pack would pick on him, bully him to no end. Well, when you all were still a part of a pack.

No. Nope. You didn’t go down that road. You no longer dealt with wolf business and that was how you liked it.

“I guess I’ll just have a sandwich then,” Lon grumbled.

You rolled your eyes. “Don’t you mean six sandwiches?”

“I take offense to that,” he scoffed.

You crossed your arms as he turned to face you, letting the fridge door close with a thud. “It was meant to be offensive, idiot.”

Lon pounced, putting you in a loose chokehold before you could get away. Stupid jerk. You fought against his hold, grunting as you tried to gain some sort of leverage. You didn’t get any.

“Say you’re sorry and I’ll let go,” Lon mocked.

What were you, five?

“Not a chance,” you grunted stubbornly. Eventually, he’d let go. Right?

“I’m stronger, sis,” he laughed. “Always have been, always will.”

Irritated, you took the low road and elbowed him in the stomach. He groaned, his hold loosening enough for you to escape.

“Cheater,” he huffed.

Grabbing your leather jacket off the back of the couch, you saluted him. “We each have our ways. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Where are you going?” Lon jutted out his bottom lip. Ugh. You hated it when he pouted. Someday he’d learn that he wasn’t a cute puppy anymore.

“Out,” you answered simply before closing the door behind you. He was the one who chose this place, it was only justifiable that you got to explore it on your own as well.

It was well into the new semester. The air was starting to warm up as spring approached. College students were bucking down for their midterms, but that didn’t stop most of them from going out on a Friday night.

A small art festival was taking place in the downtown area so you decided to check that out. It was held in a large open area where dozens of white tents were set up in rows for the artists to display their works. Some had potter up for sale, other’s jewelry while most stuck to classic paintings and sketches.

Plenty of people were milling about, weaving in and out of the tents with treats in their hands from the food trucks parked nearby. You could easily hang around without attracting too much attention, blending in and not being noticed. Not that you actually looked like an artsy person with your worn leather jacket and ratted black jeans with massive holes in the knees. You made a note to yourself to remind your brother that your converse would need replacing soon.

A particular tent decorated in black and white and sepia photos of old ruins and worn objects caught your eye. You moseyed on over to it, squeezing around a small group of girls that were huddled around the entrance. Taking your time, you flipped through the photos that were housed in black cardboard frames to keep them from bending.

You were absolutely fascinated. More colorful pictures were hidden behind the grainy ones that originally caught your eyes. Beautiful blues and greens that made up the northern lights. Golden sand that contrasted against the almost-white blue sky. Waterfalls and hot springs. But your absolute favorites were pictures the photographer had somehow gotten inside the Chernobyl disaster area.

There were crumbled up books, decaying buildings, and even an old typewriter. The ones that really drew you in, though, were the many pianos that were falling apart. Dust and cobwebs covered the chipping wood. Many had missing keys and their rusting stings inside were exposed for the world to see. The last one you came to had fallen onto its back, the pieces still left barely holding together.

You felt a lot like those pianos. A shell of your former self. Where there used to be a once happy and carefree little girl who wore dresses and got along with other kids, now there was only a bitter woman who preferred to left alone. You were crumbling away inside with no desire to tape the pieces back together.

“See anything you like?”

Glancing up, you rolled your eyes as you pushed the stack of photos with your index finger back to their original position, leaning away from you for the next person to sort through.

A fairly tall boy with blonde hair and tanned skin was holding himself up against the table of boxes that housed the artist’s work in a manner that he probably thought was suave and cool.

“Not interested,” you deadpanned. Stuffing your hands in your pockets, you walked around him and away from the breathtaking pictures. It’s not like you had extra money to buy them anyway.

“Now that’s not very nice.” The guy had long legs and so he caught up to you in less than two strides.

“Do I look like I do nice?” you snapped. Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him.

In your peripheral, you saw him rake his eyes up and down. “I’d say you look nice. A few rough edges, maybe, but I think I could smooth them out.”

You lost it. Whirling on him, you put up your wall and riled up your tough girl act.

“Listen,” you growled. “I. Am not. Interested. So go chase a short skirt that might actually care about your pathetic attempts at flirting.”

With a set jaw, he opened his mouth to-

“Tao!”

He clamped his mouth shut tight and his eyes flashed yellow, just for a second.

. You pissed off a wolf. Your brother hadn’t mentioned that there were other wolves here. He probably didn’t even know. The idiot.

Two other tall wolves stood about ten feet away. The one in front of you - Tao - whined before throwing you a glare and running off to join his pack members. The tallest one with a very authoritative aura to him grabbed Tao by his neck and started dragging him away. Tao let out a few cries of pain, but that didn’t deter his brother.

Just before you could go about your business, the second wolf caught your eye. He had a soft face outlined by light brown hair and ears that stuck out a bit. Dark, contrasting brown eyes stared at you in fascination. His eyebrows were pulled together in confusion. An uncomfortable feeling settling in your stomach, you backed up a few steps before turning around and inserting yourself into the crowd that was moving in the opposite direction of the wolf.

You decided it was time for you to head back home and you left the art festival and walked along the empty sidewalks of the business district.

To no one’s surprise, your brother was sprawled out on the couch, munching away at sandwich number who knows what. As soon as the door was shut behind you, you marched up to the couch and slapped your brother upside the head.

“Ow!” he whined through a mouth full of food. “What was that?”

“Did you even do any sort of freaking research before choosing this place?” you yelled.

Tossing the sandwich down on the coffee table, your brother sat up. “Of course I did! Do you remember what happened last time?”

Of course you did. The idiot didn’t realize that a particularly nasty pack had already settled in the area a few months back. Your brother had needed several days to heal up after that encounter while you searched desperately to find anywhere else to live that wasn’t there. The worst part was that you actually liked the area.

“Why the hell do you think I’m asking?” As much as you loved your brother, he could be a real idiot sometimes. “Did you happen to miss the wolves that already live here?”

Lon shook his head. “No, I know they’re here.”

You blinked. Several times. “Excuse me?”

“I met one of them when I was scouting the place out,” he elaborated. “I was bouncing around the different auto shops, seeing anyone had any openings. I came across a new shop that was looking for hire. The owner spotted what I was right away. He doesn’t care. It’s his pack that claims this territory, but as long as we don’t cross them, we’re fine.”

Okay with your brother’s presence or not, you were not satisfied or comforted by his explanation Or the fact that he left that important detail out. “And you didn’t think that maybe I should know about this?”

“Nope.” God, he even did the lip pop on the “p” that you hated so much. “I knew you want to find a different place and I like it here. I start at the shop tomorrow and we already signed a six month lease on the place. So chill out.”

He was absolutely correct. You would have fought tooth and nail to go somewhere else. You didn’t trust wolves. After the the pack pulled against your family… well, let’s just say that if your brother didn’t turn into a big hairy dog every once in a while, then you would have made sure to extinct that part of your life forever. Even so, you did a pretty good job of avoiding the supernatural.

“Fine,” you grumbled. Walking around him, you snatched up his sandwich before heading down the hall to your room.”

“Hey!” Lon called after you.

Officially claiming the sandwich as your own, you took a large bite out of the corner. “You’ve had enough!”

**

Honestly, you should probably get a job. It might cure this boredom you had. But your brother insisted on being the only breadwinner in the family and didn’t really agree with you finding full time work as well.

You could always take classes. The college might actually take you. You had decent grades in high school. Not honor society worthy, but still not bad. You’d taken some college courses in the past after you first graduated, but the idea of staying in a lecture hall for over an hour while some old guy yapped away like what he was saying was actually important wasn’t how you prefered to spend your time.

With no other appealing tasks, you once again set out in randomly walking around the city. Out of the seven days you’d been settled in this place, this was about the fourth time you’d spent it this way. Each time, you hit a different area, memorizing the street names and buildings located there but always avoided the college. According to your brother, most of the pack was enrolled at the university and you didn’t feel like having another run-in with any of them. Lon hadn’t really met of them either, but he wasn’t too worried. His boss apparently was of the higher ups of the pack and treated him well.

Thinking about your brother made you realize that you hadn’t gone to visit him at work yet. While you knew where the shop was located approximately and what it was called, you hadn’t physically been there yet. You decided that could cure an hour or so and you brought up the shop on your phone, following the map until you were outside the entrance.

There was a car in each of the three slots of the garage with a few mechanics milling about. You shifted back and forth on your feet while your eyes searched for your brother. You had the right shop, didn’t you?

“Can I help you?”

The really tall wolf from the night at the festival walked up to you, wiping his hands with an already dirty rag.

“Um,” you scratched the side of your neck. “I’m looking for Lon?”

A look of epiphany lit up the wolf’s eyes. “Ah. you must be the little sister.” He held out his hand. “I’m Kris.”

Hesitantly, you took his hand, shaking it politely. “(y/n).”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Kris smiled. He motioned with his head, “Follow me. Lon’s under a car right now.”

Oh. That explained why you didn’t seem him. You followed Kris to the car all the way to the end of the garage. Lon was lying on a shop roller on the floor underneath a blue convertible. Kris hit his palm against the door twice.

“Hey, Lon, you’ve got a visitor.”

Your brother pushed himself out from under the car. “(y/n)? What are you doing here?”

You shrugged. “I was bored.”

Lon grunted as he got to his feet. “Sorry, Kris.”

Kris waved it away. “Don’t worry about it. Family’s important. Besides, the owner won’t be picking up until tomorrow. No rush.” He looked at you and nodded. “It was nice to meet you.”

You gave him a slightly forced smiled. You couldn’t help it. Too many years spent being weary of other wolves. “You, too.”

Now just the two of you, Lon sighed, shaking his head at you. “Did you at least bring me lunch?”

“No,” you scoffed. “I was just walking around, figured I’d kill some time here, see what you do with your day.” You leaned against the car, stuffing your hands in your pockets.

Like the annoying brother he was, Lon pulled the beanie from your head and then tugged on your jacket. “Don’t scratch the car. I’ll have to pay for that.”

Rolling your eyes, you swiped your hat back and stuffed it in your pocket before straightening up. “Yeah, right. You could fix a small scratch in your sleep without spending a dime.”

Lon had always loved tinkering with cars ever since he was kid. He’d go on and on about cylinders and nitro gas and racer movies. A permanent smell of grease followed him everywhere. Your dad always encouraged it, buying him old clunkers that Lon would spend hours pulling apart and putting back together again. You’d usually hang out with him in the garage doing your homework or just sitting on the floor, watching him. The garage was where he was happiest and seeing your brother happy made you content.

That was always the height of your emotions: contentment. You weren’t exactly sure what “happy” was anymore. That was a feeling you hadn’t had for a very long time. Neutral was where you stayed most of the time, teetering on angry. Angry at the old pack, angry at your dad, angry at the world. Usually, you were able to stamp it down. Anger was useless when you had nowhere to direct it.

“Still,” Lon scolded, flicking your forehead, “don’t lean on the car.”

Looking around the shop, you watched as the mechanics as joked around and teased each other. Their laughs echoed off the walls and made the atmosphere an enjoyable one.

“Do you like it here?” you asked.

With a big smile, he nodded. “Yeah. I like it a lot. Kris is a good man to work for. And I don’t have to hide what I am.”

You frowned. “Are the others-”

“Nah,” he didn’t even let you finish. “Just Kris knows. But that means I don’t have to hide it from him if… something were to happen.”

You didn’t exactly want to think about what could happen if your brother was to accidentally lose his temper.

“That’s good.”

“Kris!”

Your head snapped around to the voice that had called for the shop owner.

Ugh.

It was the brown haired wolf from the festival. Tao wasn’t with him, thankfully. This time, a different sandy haired boy was with him along with a literal incarnation of a puppy. So much for no more running into them. Weren’t they supposed to be in school?

Kris looked up from the engine he was currently looking at. “Hey, guys! What’s up?”

You turned back to your brother. “I’m going to go ahead go. I’ll see you at home.”

“Okay!” Lon threw an arm over your shoulder, pulling in so he could plant a kiss on the top of your head. You shoved him away, trying to feign annoyance, but it didn’t work. You loved affection from your brother.

Now the trick was to sneak out of the garage without being noticed. You were almost in the clear, taking quick but quiet steps. The sidewalk outside was almost in your reach….

“Hey, wait!”

You didn’t wait. Your pace quickened, hoping that your obvious determination to not stop would deter his chase. Unfortunately, not.

“Hey!” The wolf grabbed your arm and brought you to a stop before spinning you around to face him.

“What?” you growled.

“I’m Chanyeol,” he blurted.

You raised an eyebrow. “So?”

As hard as it was, you tried not to focus on his face. Cute boys weren’t your type at all. Especially cute boys that didn’t understand that you obviously didn’t want to be bothered. One would think that after his friend being shot down last week, the hint would be painted on a billboard sign that you weren’t interested.

But then you really met his eyes.

Your heart was doing something funny. It was speeding up and not in the usual flight or fight way that you were used to. A smile grew on Chanyeol’s face. It was a little lopsided as it crinkled the sides of his eyes. It just made your heart jump even more.

No. Hell no.

“What’s your name?” he asked softly.

“Not a chance.”

You wretched your arm out of his grasp and took off. As fast as your feet could carry you, you raced back to your apartment, not stopping until you were safe within its walls. Collapsing against the door, you slid down to the floor, releasing a sound that was a mix of a groan and a whine the whole way.

This was so not happening to you. It wasn’t going to happen to you. Not on your watch.

Taking off your jacket, you rolled it up into a ball until your noticed your pockets were empty. Searching all around you and even risking being found to look outside your apartment, you desperately wanted to find your purple beanie. It was your favorite and it was nowhere to be found.

Great. Just freaking great.

One week here and you hated this place already. Hopefully, you dropped it back at the shop and your brother was able to pick it up. If not - you didn’t want to think about the possible alternative. From now on, you were going to have to become a recluse. And you had make sure that your brother never found out.