The cool night air fell around you, your back hunched as you crouched, your knees digging into your chest and your sneakers pressed against the cool, moist earth. The moonlight illuminated a few of the trees around you and the rest of the pack was ducking behind dark bushes or shrubbery.

Jaehyo lightly touched your arm.

You glanced at him and nodded.

From a few bushes away, there was a slight rustling sound. You snapped your head toward the sound with wide astonished eyes.

“Dongho.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Through the darkness, you could make out the familiar strong, muscular body of Dongho’s, his muscles rippling through the thin shirt he was wearing. His normally smiling face was serious, and it was all you could do but run forward and hug him.

Zico had previously mentioned that the pack was going to meet up with whatever was left of Dal’s and negotiate with them. He had appointed you as the representative because he knew you were held of high esteem among the students.

You stepped forward, swallowing. You had though Dongho died, and much less expected him to be the representative of Dal’s.

He had clearly been expecting you, because his eyes were dark, with no astonishment or amusement shining in them.

“Hello, _________”

You wiped your hands on your pants. “Hi, Dongho.”

He continued speaking in a serious voice, and it was so low it was nearly monotone. “I speak to you on behalf of the students and staff of Dal’s Academy for werewolves. I understand that we are to create an alliance to defeat former student alphas, Lee Sun Hee and Lee Hana, as well as Nana, another student. We have decided to negotiate with you to confirm our alliance as well as our strategy.”

You had to choke the words out. “Please inform us of whatever strategy you have had on mind.”

“Well, a majority of werewolves have been persuaded by those three to join their team, and those numbers are very close to ours, in fact, they may even greater than ours combined. Our strategy would be to defeat as many of those werewolves as possible, then spread out and search for the two alphas as well as Nana. A formation layout map has been prepared for each member of your pack.”

Two of the students stepped forward.

Hyun Jae and Kevin held out a small pile of paper. They both handed them to you, and you felt Hyun Jae lightly touch your arm. However, Kevin did not give you a second glance before abruptly turning around and returning to the large group of students.

You felt a pang stab at your heart, but you firmly pressed your mouth into a thin line, praying it wouldn’t waver. “Thank you.”

You spun around and delivered one of the maps to each person in your group. Zico patted your back and stepped forward, his eyes skimming quickly over the paper.

“Thank you very much. We shall go over the information and execute the plan to the best of our ability. I believe that it is reasonable and rather shrewd and our team would be happy to follow your plans.”

They shook hands and Zico waved his hand, signalling for the pack to fall back.

You didn’t realize you were shaking so badly until your pack was safely tucked into bleak darkness again.

You felt Jaehyo’s familiar hands grab your own.

“Are you okay?” He whispered quietly, his voice drifting softly into your ear.

You nodded, swallowing again before crouching down again.

It was hours before you finally heard a loud rustling and a large army of werewolves charged out from bushes away.

You blinked at the sudden movement, unsure what to do.

“Let’s go!” Jaehyo grabbed you and hauled you up, his eyes wide and alert. The two of you began running, where many other unfamiliar werewolves had started gathering and growling. You assumed those were enemy wolves and you held back a scream as one of them lunged at you.

It never reached you however, because someone had kicked it away. You cast a terrified glance behind you and saw Kiseop, his eyes dark and narrowed.

“Run.” He said.

And you did.

Jaehyo continued pulling you along, and finally dove into some thick shrubbery, his chest rising and falling quickly. It was just the two of you in the darkness, your bodies pressed against each other’s.

“Promise me,” Jaehyo said, grabbing your hand, “You’ll stay safe.”

“I promise.”

In the dark, he fumbled to press his lips to yours one last time before the two of you went out to battle and would be separated.

“I love you.”

You smiled in the dark as both of you pulled away reluctantly. “I love you too, Jaehyo. Stay safe.”

And that was that.

You turned and ran out, energy flowing through your veins. A werewolf lunged at you, and you threw your hands in its direction. A stream of familiar dark black and silver power knocked the wolf away and it skittered across the ground, its body lifeless as it transformed back into a young woman’s body.

You breathed out, relieved it wasn’t anyone you knew. Your heart was pounding.

Your first real kill in a battle.

I can’t think about this now. I have to keep moving forward, to find Hana, Sun Hee, and my best friend.

Nana… I’m doing this for you. Not to kill Sun Hee or Hana, but to get you back.

You sprinted, your hands still glowing. When a wolf lunged at you, you just aimed your hands at them, daring not to look back at them as you continued.

You headed toward the middle, and morphed into your wolf form. Another wolf lunged at you from behind and closed its mouth on your hind leg. You screamed, turning back into your human form, pain burning intensely through your calf. Grimacing, you took your hands and aimed for the wolf.

You missed.

Teeth clenched, you shook it angrily off your leg and knocked it to the side. You bit your lip as it ripped away a large area of skin.

Your eyes watered as the world began to fill up with darkness, and just as you were about to fade, you felt a cool hand touch your leg.

You blinked away the darkness, recognizing the familiar person in front of you.

Kiseop’s eyes were narrowed, golden sparks encasing your calf as you felt the pain begin to fade to a dull throb. After a few seconds, the sparks faded and the only sign of the injury was the faintly pink patch of skin on your leg.

“Thanks..” You breathed, staring at him.

He stood up and morphed into a wolf, sprinting away into the violent darkness.

You glanced back at the wolf you had kicked away, wondering if you had killed it.

It had morphed back into its human form.

“Nana..”

~~~~~~~~~~~