Victoria woke again in the same room as before. The throbbing in her head worsened  as she opened her eyes and pushed herself up into a sitting position. A groan escaped her lips as she rubbed her temples with her fingertips.

“Take it easy, you must be feeling a bit overwhelmed,” a deep voice spoke next to her. Victoria’s head shot over to the large man from before sitting on a chair next to her. Now that she got a better look at him, he was strikingly handsome. He had midnight hair that was sliced back on his head. Chocolate eyes smiled at her as he leaned back in his chair revealing a tight muscular frame. “I’m sorry my son can be hot-headed.”

“Y-your son?” Victoria choked out. There was no way this man could be anyone’s father. He barely looked twenty-five, and Baekhyun told her he was one of five children. The twins being the youngest!

He chuckled at her. “I know it must be awfully confusing for you. Baekhyun has neglected to inform you about any of this. I assumed he wanted time to grow with you first, but I’m afraid that is not the case.” He suddenly stood and stretched. “If you’d like to learn more about what’s been happening, I’d be more than happy to inform you. Though if you would like to leave, I will not question your choice and can arrange for one of his siblings to walk you home.”

Victoria was quick to stand and shake her head. “I would rather know than not,” she told him.

The man nodded and gestured for her to follow him. After opening the door for her, Victoria got a better look at where she was. Buildings surrounded the one she was in, thought a thick treeline surrounded it. There were ten or twenty building that she could see, some larger than others. People bowed their head to the man with her as they pasted.

Before Victoria could get a good look around, the man was walking down dirt road. She caught up to him as he began speaking. “Before I begin, I would like to inform you that under no circumstances should you feel afraid of anyone in our pact. As far as we are concerned, you are one of us as well. Baekhyun is having trouble accepting that, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

“I guess I should just start with the basics then. My name is Tanner Byun. I am Baekhyun’s father, and I have five lovely children and one on the way with my mate Julia. I age coming up to two hundred and forty-eight years old. I know that must be confusing for you, but my species ages much slower than yours. I am still considered quite young. I am the Beta of our pack, and when I am ready to step down, Baekhyun’s oldest brother, Andrew will be taking my place. If he declines, Baekhyun or Chanyeol would be equal Beta’s. You’ve met Kris, I’m sure in school. He is middle child of the Alpha of our pack. Since his sisters cannot be the ack Luna without their mate, he will become the Alpha when his father steps down.

“Our pack is the Night Sun Pack, and our Alpha, James, is a part of the king’s council as well. He is away often with council business, so until Kris is ready to take over, I spend most my days running the pack for him with help from our Carter our pack Gamma. I know this is probably a lot to taken it, but it’s easier to get it all out there and explain after.”

By this point, the two of them had walked to a large wooden cabin-like house towards the center of the town, or pack as he called it. As we approached the house, one of the women from before opened the door and smiled brightly at us. She had bright fiery hair that huge over her shoulders in tight ringlets. She had bright green eyes and pale skin with freckles doting over her nose. She grabbed Victoria into a tight hug as she pulled the girl inside.

Awkwardly, Victoria hugged the woman back. The woman let her go and held Victoria’s shoulders, a bright grin on her face. Victoria was a few inches taller than the woman, and quickly was beginning to feel out of place.

It was as if the woman didn’t even register the awkwardness of it all. “I have been waiting so long for one of my babies to find their mates,” she explained. “And look at you! You’re gorgeous!”

“Victoria, this is my mate, Julia,” Tanner explained. “I was still speaking with her, love.”

“Oh!” Julia said. “I’m sorry, dear. I was just-”

“Excited, I know.” He kissed her cheek as he headed passed her into a large kitchen.

“Sorry about the mess!” Julia called over her shoulder as she led Victoria past the living room and into the kitchen with her mate. She placed Victoria on a stool at the island. “Five pups who don’t bother to help me!” She shouted the last part and looked up a staircase the led out into the kitchen. Then she smiled back a Victoria with a hand on her stomach. “With this one cooking you think they would even offer!” She laughed at herself and turned to a pot on the stove top.

Victoria turned back to Tanner who was sitting on the counter behind her smiling at his mate. “You must be starving, dear,” Julia continued. She placed a bowl of stew in front of Victoria and took a seat on the stool across from her. “I can whip you up a sandwich of two if you like. Oh, you need a drink! I-”

“This is plenty,” Victoria spoke up. “Sorry, I, uh.” The smell of the stew was heavenly to her and her stomach growled. Come to think of it, she couldn’t remember when she last ate. “I’m actually starving. Thank you so much.”

Julia smiled at her as she began eating the stew. It was full of vegetables and chunks of beef. Vic couldn’t remember when she had something this good. Maggie didn’t even compare. “We can continue our talk after you eat, if you’d like,” Tanner said as he came around to stand next to Julia.

Pausing to chew and swallow, Victoria shook her head. “No, please. Don’t stop on my account.”

He gave her a nod and sat down across from her. “Where was I?” As he thought it over, Julia set a glass of cold water in front of Victoria with a smile.

“Gamma Carter,” Victoria said softly. “You were going to explain the ranks to me, I think. But assume it follows the military coded alphabet I think I understand. Alpha, Beta, and from the looks of it c through f is skipped until Gamma.”

“That’s basically it, yes,” Tanner smiled at her. “Alpha James is our leader. He leads our pack and his mate is our Luna Anna. Julia and I are below them as pack Betas, and Carter and a mate, when he finds his, is below us as pack Gamma. It runs through the families. The strong of our wolves comes from our rank in the pack as well. Alpha and his family being the strongest and so on down the line until you reach those without a title. They are all equal. Do you have any questions?”

Victoria had finished her stew by now and had begun to feel much better than before. Declining Julia’s look for seconds, she took a sip of the water and a deep breath. “I don’t think so… Just to clarify this for me though, a mate is like a husband or wife, yes? And if so, why did you call me one of your children’s mate?”

Julia looked uneasily at her husband but he just nodded his head. “It’s somewhat similar to a husband and wife. A mate is a wolf’s soulmate. It’s the one other wolf to perfectly match yours. It’s the only person your wolf will ever be truly happy with.” He paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “I honestly cannot express the importance of a mate to you. It’s something you just have to feel to truly get. Which brings us to the topic of Baekhyun. You see, Victoria, you are Baekhyun’s mate. This is incredibly rare, as a human is almost never a wolf’s mate, but there isn’t a way to deny it. Baekhyun’s wolf is incredibly draw to you, it’s one of the strongest mating bonds I’ve personally seen.

“The problem is that Baekhyun himself is rejecting the bond. Between you and me, I think he fears it. The thing is it is a mates job to protect one another. He can feel inside him when you are in danger and jumps into action. The problem is, being human like you are, you can’t protect yourself from things like rogues. The man who had attacked you in the woods was a rogue, and if Baekhyun had been a second slower, you would be dead by now. Hell, Baekhyun barely made it out himself. The bastard must be another Beta or strong. I trained him myself, I know Baekhyun can take down-”

In seconds Tanner’s eyes had transformed from brown to blue as he began to ramble off. Victoria jump out of her chair and backed away as Julia grabbed his arm and settled him down. Quickly he cleared his throat as his eyes faded back to chocolate. “Forgive me,” he said,and gestured to the chair again. “Like my son I-”

His sentence was cut short by a door slamming open and someone yanking Victoria behind them. She heard a deep growl rumble from their chest as a hand held her against his back. Victoria shivered at their touch as electricity ran up her arm from where his skin met hers.

Tanner’s chuckling sounded again. “You see?” he laughed. “Just as I said. Whenever you feel you’re in danger.”

Victoria slowly pulled away and stepped around to lock eyes with Baekhyun. His eyes glowed a bright blue as he snarled at his parently. His canines had extended, but realizing there was no danger, the slowly went back into his gums. Dropping her arm, he glared at his father. His eyes faded from blue to brown again, but he didn’t look at her. “Very funny,” he hissed at them before turning away from her and stomping over to the stairs. “Go home, Victoria.”

“She is home, Baekhyun,” Julia shouted at her son. “Whether you accept it or not!” She scoffed when he ignored her and went up the stairs. “I’m sorry about him, dear.” she told Victoria, easing the girl back onto the stool. “And my mate too, he didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s alright,” Victoria said softly. She had picked up the spoon again and was fiddling with a mushroom she hadn’t eaten. “I’m used to him.” As much as she wanted to call them all liars, she couldn’t deny that fact that she knew exactly what the mate bond felt like. She had been feeling it for four years now.