Tao tried to block out his own pain - mostly from the gash on his forehead - while he drove at lightning speed back to the farmhouse, thought it would still take a few hours before they’d arrive. Every couple of seconds, he would check the review mirror to make sure that Kris was still breathing.

The alpha was strewn across the backseat, groaning from the wounds he’d suffered. By how the edges were looking, it seemed that the holes made by the arrows were finally beginning to heal. Tao couldn’t understand what was slowing down the process of one of their natural gifts, but he suspected it had to do with the arrowheads being dipped in something. He hadn’t heard of any metal being that lethal for them just on its own, but just the tiniest bit of wolfsbane could do the trick.

In the car behind him, he could barely make out Luhan leaning his head against the window with Minseok behind the wheel to keep the former from turning back around. Tao couldn’t blame his brother, though. With her just… disappearing after the blast, the anxiety had to be killing him. At least he knew where you were. At least he had an - albeit probably very dumb - idea to make things right.

The driveway to the farmhouse finally came into view. Tao began to relax just a fraction of the tension that was straining in his hands, giving the steering wheel a bit of mercy. Sehun was sitting on the porch steps and when he saw the two cars pull up, he ran into the house, coming out a few seconds later with the entire party herding out after him.

Opening the car door, Tao stepped out, wincing just a tad from the bruise on his side that hadn’t quite healed yet. One of the hunters got a good piece of him with their steel-toed boot. He didn’t think the rib had fractured in any way, but it still hurt like hell. Brushing aside his own injury, he pulled open one of the back doors to help Kris to his feet.

“Kris!” Evie shoved through the crowd to get to her wolf, panic and fear making her eyes wide and round. She pulled on his face as she cupped his cheeks, inspecting the wounds with horror.

“I’m fine, Evie,” Kris groaned.

Wrong thing to say, Kris, Tao thought. That just made it worse.

“Fine?” Evie snapped. “You call this fine?”

Tao was struggling not to laugh. He wasn’t sure what about the situation was funny. Maybe it was just an overall feeling of being uncomfortable since the more Evie pulled the more strain was put on Tao’s neck from Kris’ deadweight. The jerk wasn’t even helping.

“Kim Minseok!”

Oh, no. Now the real show was about to start.

The steam could practically be seem coming out of Jiyeon’s nose and mouth as she stormed up to Minseok, who stood knowingly and patiently by the driver’s side of Luhan’s car. Jiyeon’s fists were balled up by her sides, ready to make a violent connection. For a moment, she just stood there, like she was gathering up all her strength to deal the blow of a lifetime; the kind of hit that would knock any wolf on his .

That made the wordless yell that was released from an unexpected turn.

“God, I want to hit you so bad, but I can’t!” she yelled.

“You can hit me,” Minseok reassured her quietly, a ghost of smile on his face. He knew he’d caused her worry, purposefully didn’t tell her about taking off. Judging by her hair and bloodshot eyes, she didn’t sleep even a second all through the night. She’d already lost him once and he’d put her through that fear all over again. He was going to have some making up to do.

“No, I can’t,” she argued through gritted teeth. “Because that makes me the bad guy. You were the one who went to go help your brother and-” No other words could come out. Jiyeon broke down. Minseok didn’t hesitate at pulling her into his chest, rubbing her back soothing and whispering endearments in her ear while she buried her face in his chest. Her fists did make a few pathetic attempts, but they barely thumped against his shoulder before she balled his shirt in her fingers.

Junmyeon stepped up, looking past all of the loving scenes in front of him to the lone wolf who stood quietly in the back, staring at the ground. “Luhan? Did you find her?”

Still not even glancing up, Luhan nodded.

“I’ll tell you inside,” Kris whispered.

“Thank god, I already put Mei down for her nap,” Evie sighed as she took Kris’ other arm and draped it around her neck, taking the duty of helping the idiot limp over from Tao. “She’d be hysterical if she saw you like this. Talk about traumatizing your child.”

Kris swooped in and kissed his mate. “Once I have clothes on again, I’m waking her up. I need to see my baby girl.”

Evie made a face that said she wanted to protest, but there wasn’t any real reason to deny Kris’ request. The poor guy was nearly killed, he’d earned it.

Tao stayed behind as the large crowd shuffled back into the house to hear all the gory details of their late night rescue. “You’re still thinking about going back, aren’t you?” he asked when he leaned up against the car next to Luhan.

Luhan started to shake his head, but then he simply sighed. “I shouldn’t have just left like that. I should have looked harder.”

“She’s a tough person,” Tao reminded him. “Even though the others didn’t survive, she did. I’m sure she did.”

“I know.” Luhan turned to look at him with determined eyes. “But that doesn’t mean I’m just going to sit around and hope she’ll show up again.”

Tao allowed himself to smile again. “I wouldn’t expect any less.”

As the two of them stood there in silence, staring off in the distance at nothing in particular, Tao’s own wheels began to turn in his head. He couldn’t put off seeing you again. He needed to make things right this very second. Luhan wasn’t giving up on his mate even when hope seemed miniscule. While Tao had never given up on you, he couldn’t let his fear take away any more time he could be spending with you.

**

You stared at the bright screen of your phone, dumbfounded.

Meet me in the parking lot of the old grocery store.

Please.

The fact that Tao had texted you to meet him was enough of a shock. You had to read the “sent from” line over and over again just to make sure your eyes weren’t tricking you. But why did he want to meet at the old grocery store?

The place had been closed since you were a child. It was a small building on the outskirts of the city, near the woods. Seeing an opportunity, a national chain came in and built a larger store near downtown that was easily accessible to the entire population. Eventually, the original store went out of business and the building had stood empty all these years.

It was a strange place to meet… unless you were a serial killer. But didn’t things like that didn’t happen in broad daylight, right? Weren’t those the stories that took place in the dark?

Paranoia aside, you were left with nothing but confusion. Two days ago, he wanted nothing to do with you. From what you gathered thanks to some fellow students, he wasn’t at the university yesterday or today for class. When your phone vibrated during your statistics lecture, you figured it was your mother answering your question regarding dinner. The possibility of it being Tao was a hope you hadn’t dared to entertain. And you were torn. If you went to see him, would it end in heartbreak all over again?

Your will, it seemed, was nearly nonexistent as you headed off for your car. Multiple times you asked yourself what the heck you were doing and if this could really be the right choice. The answer was given when you pulled into the parking lot.

Tao was leaning up against the hood of his car, arms crossed over his chest and staring down at the asphalt. For the first time since you’d met him, he was dressed down in a plain white t-shirt and ordinary jeans. A bandage was taped to his forehead, just above his right eye. Your heart thumped in your chest as you got out of your car. It got even worse when he looked up at you and smiled softly.

“Hey,” he greeted in a low voice.

You nodded back. “Hey.”

It was dead silent as the two of you stood there, looking at each other and then not looking at each. You shifted from foot to foot, agonizing over what had prompted this.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “For the other day. I shouldn’t have pushed you away like that. I just… I didn’t want either of us to get hurt.”

“I think we both ended up getting hurt anyway,” you pointed out.

He nodded in agreement. “Well, if you’ll let me, I’d like to make it up to you.”

You crossed your arms in a faux show of defiance. “And how will you do that?”

“By telling you everything.” Releasing a sigh, Tao pushed off the car and held his hand out to you. “I need to show you something. Come with me.”

You let his hand hover in the air. “What do you mean you have to show me something? Why can’t we just stay here?”

“I’ll explain everything, I swear. Why I didn’t come crawling back after you asked to try again. Why I felt the need to push you away. But I can’t do that here,” he urged.

“You said you were no good for me,” you whispered. “Is that still true?”

“That’s something you’ll have to decide for yourself.”

His ability to be so cryptic grated on your nerves, but you wanted the answers he was dangling in front of you. And besides, the temptation to feel his skin against yours was just too great. So, you slipped your hand into his and allowed him to pull you towards the trees.

Tao kept going farther and farther into the woods until the city was no longer visible behind you. A small clearing barely ten feet around seemed to your final destination as he slowed down before coming to a full stop. You ripped you hand away from Tao, feeling what you thought was the beginning of another game. Either that, or he really was a secret serial killer.

“What are we doing here?” you demanded.

Tao took a deep breath and turned to face you. “Look, (y/n), I know if I say it out loud, it’ll just crazy, which is why I’m going to have to show you first and then I’ll explain what it has to do with you and me. Just, please, don’t leave yet.”

You frowned. “Show me- oh, my god! What are you doing?”

Tao had started to remove his shirt, tossing it to the side before reaching for the button of his jeans. You immediately slapped your hands over your eyes.

“Tao, I don’t know if this you trying to make up for walking away or if this is some sick game, but I am not interested in that in this moment. Put your clothes back on and take me back. Now.”

But you received no answer. No sarcastic remark or pleading words. Curious to the sudden silent treatment, you removed your hands and gasped.

Tao was gone and in his place was a dark gray wolf standing next to his piles of clothes. The wolf stared at you before taking a few steps in your direction. Trying to get away, you stumbled back, falling onto your . You were in too much shock to move when the wolf came closer. This was it. This was how you died, being ripped apart by sharp teeth, left to bleed out in the woods.

However, the wolf never growled or made any menacing actions towards you. Rather than attack you to fill his stomach, he rested his head on your legs, ears back and eyes turned up at you, a puppy seeking attention.

“T-Tao?”

In reply, he lifted his head back and nodded.

This was impossible. People who turned into giant dogs… they didn’t exist.  Had you fallen asleep in class and were now dreaming up this unbelievable scenario?

To try and see if you could wake yourself up, you slapped your cheek. Hard. Hard enough to not be able to hold back the “Ow!” that came with the hit. But you didn’t wake up. So that meant this was very, very real.

Apparently put out about you harming yourself, wolf-Tao nuzzled the top of his head under chin in what you thought was an attempt to sooth the stinging skin. As soft as his fur felt against your skin, you needed a more verbal explanation of what he was and how it all tied back to you.

Gently pushing on the wolf so he was forced to step back, you said, “I still don’t… completely understand.”

Rather clumsily, Tao put a paw over your eye, making you catch a few of his hairs in your mouth. As you spat out the fur, you could have sworn you heard something resembling a laugh come from the animal’s barrel chest. You were about to ask what all that was about when he headed back to the pile of clothing.

Oh.

Thankful for the warning, you covered your eyes – for both his decency and yours – and waited patiently for Tao to change back.

“(y/n).”

A hand fell on your shoulder, signaling the all clear. Tao was sitting in front of you, his features twisted into a mix of happiness and worry.

“So,” you swallowed, “you’re… well, a….”

“A werewolf, yes,” he chuckled. Scooting closer, he took one of your hands in both of his, running a thumb over your knuckles. “We all are, my brothers and I.”

They all were. How many did he say lived together? Twelve? The world was beginning to tilt just the slightest, but you pushed out a question, hoping that maybe focusing on the answers would help it right itself. “Can you just… change like that? Whenever you want?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “Although, sometimes if we get too angry or upset, we can lose control and shift. But we’re all fairly good at keeping our tempers. For the most part, anyway.”

“And were you all… like… bit?” Wasn’t that how it worked?

Tao laughed. “No. We’re born this way. You can’t become a werewolf. You just are.”

You nodded shakily, taking in what he was saying.

So, Tao was a werewolf. Not an ordinary human. Basically a different species if you thought about it too much. And you were definitely thinking about it too much. The world was not moving back to its original position and you were getting dizzier by the second. Although you were sitting down, you began to sway back and forth, a churning sensation building in your stomach.

“Whoa, whoa, (y/n), are you okay?” Tao jumped up to his knees, hands on your shoulders to help steady you.

“Yeah, I just need a minute,” you told him. And he gave you that time, letting you breathe in and out at a pace that helped your stomach calm down and your brain stop hurting.

“I know it’s a lot to take in,” Tao admitted after a while. “But I didn’t think you’d believe me if I just told you.”

“You’re right about that,” you chuckled. If he’d just blurted it out, you would have definitely thought that he was insane and in need of a doctor. “So, now that, um, that is out of the way, can you explain how that me knowing that is supposed to connect to… well, to us?”

Suddenly, shy Tao was making an appearance. He sat back on his feet and took your hand once again. “All wolves are granted one special person – their mate. It’s the one person that they’re meant to be with and will protect them and love them for the rest of their lives.”

You scoffed at the fairytale notion. “And how are you supposed to know who that person is?”

With the back of his knuckles on his free hand, he traced the outline of your jaw. “All it takes is one look. And we just… know. The pull is created and no one can severe that connection.”

It’s because he saw you, (y/n)!

Kendall’s voice echoed in your head and it was like a bulb slowly started to turn on after years of being unused. “So… I’m your mate?”

Tao nodded, his smile growing bigger than ever as he pulled you to his chest. “Mine. All mine.” Clearing his throat, he looked down at you, a faint fear dimming his light just a bit. “Only if you want me, that is. You still have a choice.”

“A choice?” you echoed.

Did you really, though? Because you knew if you chose to walk away, you’d regret it. Or you’d just turn right back around and run towards him at full speed. Now that you had him, you weren’t ever going to let him go.

“Well, then,” you smiled up at him. “I choose you.”

Your little reply erased all doubt and insecurity that he was holding on to. Letting out a laugh so loud it bounced off the trees, he flip you over to your back, the leaves and grass creating a soft landing, while he hovered over you. He wasted no time diving in, kissing you deeply and desperately as if he’d been dying of thirst and your lips were the only way to rehydrate him. Matching his rhythm, you looped your arms around his neck and pulled him closer. The uncomfortable scratching of the ground beneath you against your skin wasn’t enough to deter you from drinking Tao in. One little thought, however, did nag at you.

“Tao?” You pulled away just enough to look and speak at him.

He frowned at you, confused. “Yeah?”

“After today, no more skipping class.”

While you were completely serious, Tao turned into a giggling fool, giving you his answer in the form a very heated kiss.

**

You stayed in the car even though Tao was already out and at your door, pulling on the handle to swing the barrier open.

“They won’t bite,” Tao said cheekily. You threw him a rather dirty look in response to his stupid joke, but eventually you exhaled and stepped out onto the grass.

You’d only been aware of Tao’s secret world for a few days and already he had insisted you come out to the place he called home and meet the rest of the pack. To say that you were nervous would be an understatement. Connected mate or not, you worried about the possibility of his family not liking you. He reassured you over and over that they would love you, but you still took extra caution in getting dressed this morning in order to make a good impression.

Taking your hand, Tao kissed your cheek before guiding you up the porch stairs and through the front door.

Since it was a Saturday morning, most of the house’s occupants were still in the kitchen working on breakfast and waking up. The sheer amount of noise hit you like a train as soon as you stepped foot in the room. Mates and wolves were strewn everywhere, either eating, helping at the stove, or just waiting around for the next course.

The chattering died down as eyes starting falling on you. You shrank into Tao’s side for a bit of protection. One girl – tall with soft, motherly eyes – stepped away from the oven and waved as she walked over.

“Hi,” she greeted softly. “You must be (y/n). I’m Evie.”

You nodded shyly, but managed to remember to take her hand that was outstretched in front of you. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” This one. You definitely liked this one.

“Are you hungry?” Evie asked.

“She’s starving,” Tao answered for you. Que dirty look number two. Yes, you’d said as much on the ride over here, but your natural instinct was to immediately turn down any offers of food or drink when at a stranger’s house.

“Great. There’s plenty, so let me make you a plate.” Over her shoulder, Evie called out, “Kris, make some of the boys move so she can sit down.”

You waved your hands erratically. “No, no, no, please don’t! There’s no need!”

The tallest wolf who you suspected was Kris laughed at your reaction. “Don’t get so worked up. Most of them have had their fill. Besides, you’re a guest here. It’s the least these idiots could do.”

Well, for that, you had no rebuttal.

As if coming to your rescue, a little girl not even a year old came crawling up to you, reaching up with her tiny hands while giving you the widest smile. You knew exactly who she was. Tao hardly ever stopped talking about his niece, Mei, when there was just the slightest reason to bring the subject up in the first place. Bending over, you scooped the child up and cradled her on your hip like a professional.

You glanced over at Tao. He was giving a very readable longing expression.

“No,” you mouthed at him. You were so not ready to have one of these yourself. You needed to make it to graduation first. And then find a stable job. And then… maybe in a few years.

That boy actually had the nerve to pout at you.

It was then that several other mates and wolves began to approach you, introducing themselves and asking questions. The surprise you felt when you realized that this whole “meeting the family” thing was not as overwhelming or intimidate as you’d been expecting came as a relief. You were still very new to this world, but you weren’t alone and you very, very thankful.