Victoria woke the next morning to sharp pains shooting all over her body. She rolled around in the bed, trying to find a position that didn’t hurt too little avail. After what seemed like hours, she felt a hand against her back, and glanced over her shoulder to see Amber smiled at her. The other girl helped her to the bathroom and drew a hot bath for her, claiming it would help. Although Victoria assumed the girl had no idea what she was talking about, she thanked her and got in anyway.

The warm water did little to soothe her, and her stomach growled for food. Even with it’s growling, Victoria felt nausea swimming in her gut. Closing her eyes, she sunk down into the water and leaned her head back against the wall of the tub. Her turning stomach offered a distraction from her aching limbs as she tried to focus on not filling her bath with stomach acid. “Will mate come home today?”

She ignored the question. The last thing she wanted to deal with right now was Baekhyun and his attitude. Half of the time, it felt like walking a tightrope. Victoria was waiting for the burst of wind that would send her to the sharks below. After all of his complaints about her being too weak, she assumed the infection would make him happy. It was his DNA after all; if she understood the doctor like she thought she did, they would be equal after the ‘transformation.’

Victoria scoffed and shook her head, sending ripples through the water. They all talked about it like it was some grand privilege, but she’s seen werewolf movies before. It was always painful, and the creatures went crazy afterwards. Eating peoples hearts, killing that jogger. As much as she tried to forget it, the back of her mind always went back to the poor man. He had been so deep in the forest. Was he still there? Did he have a family looking for him, wondering where he went?

She shook the thought away. As much she pitied him, there was nothing she could do. Victoria debated asking about it. Did Baekhyun tell them he was there? Did he even see him? Was Victoria the only one who knew he was there? “We should go see him.” No, she thought back. Victoria did not want to see him again, not like that.

A knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts. “Victoria?” AMber called from the other side. “Are you alright in there?”

Clearing , she sat up in the tub again. The nausea had subsided now, and her limbs felt more stable than before. “Yeah,” she called back. Pulling the plug for the drain, Victoria climbed out and grabbed the town from the towel rack.

“I’ve got you some clothes,” Amber said. The doorknob turned slowly, and she peeked her head in. “Do you mind?”

Pulling the towel a bit tighter around herself, she shook her head. Although she did not really like the idea of Amber seeing her this way, her legs still shook, and she wasn’t sure she could get dressed alone. Amber was kind enough to face away while Victoria dried off, setting the clothes on the counter. “I didn’t bother with a bra,” she explained. “I figured it would be more hassle than it was worth.”

Amber turned with a black hoodie in her hands. The smell hit her like a brick, and Victoria took a small step back. The clothing stunk of overbearing perfume and powder. Victoria covered her nose as Amber laughed and sniffed it. “You don’t like it?” she asked. Victoria shook her head quickly. “Sorry, I just grabbed something from my closet. I can go get something else.”

“No, it’s fine,” Victoria said quickly.

She reached out for the hoodie, but Amber moved it away. “I’ll just grab one of Baekhyun’s.”

“Don’t,” Victoria grabbed the girl’s arm and shook her head. “I don’t want to deal with it if he found out,” she explained. Amber frowned at her, but gave in and handed the jacket to her. She helped Victoria pulled it over her head then helped her into underwear and sweatpants. The whole thing made Victoria uncomfortable, but her shaky legs made Amber insist.

After getting her dressed, Amber helped her down the steps and into the kitchen. Julia sat at the counter with Chanyeol sipping on what Victoria assumed was tea while her son finished his breakfast. The two looked up to the girls, and Julia was quick to her feet. “Are you hungry, dear?” she asked already marching to the stove.

Amber tried to pulled Vitoria to a seat, but Victoria broke away from her and went to the stove. “I’ve got it, really,” she smiled at Julia, who shook her head. “No really I can-”

“She likes to argue this morning,” Amber laughed. She had taken a seat next to her brother and began picking at the bacon on his plate. He didn’t seem happy about it but said nothing.

Julia just smiled and sat Victoria in a stool. “You need rest,” she said. “You’ll feel worse if you try to over do it.”

Sighing in defeat, Victoria slouched in her seat. She was used to Maggie cooking for her, but the was Maggie’s job. It felt weird for someone she barely knew to be doing some much for her. Something in her comfortable with it, but more of her felt the opposite. She looked up to Chanyeol, but he didn’t meet her eyes. “Still gone?”

The boy squirmed in his chair, but nodded. He kept his head down and ate his breakfast, and Victoria sighed and turned to Amber. “So, what do you do all day? I know Tanner and Andrew go do some government thing.”

Amber snorted at this and shook her head. “They mostly do paperwork,” she said. “I work with the foods that come from the farmers.”

“The farmers?”

She nodded. “How do you think we eat?” she laughed. “The King’s got private farms and ranches all over the country. We get shipments from them to limit our shopping with the humans as much as we can.”

Julia slid a plate in front of Victoria and sat next down. “Thanks,” she smiled and began picking at the scrambled eggs and sausages. She was about halfway through it when she became nauseous again and had to push the rest away. Chanyeol called dibs before his sister and finished it all off.

After they ate, Amber and Julia left for work, stating that Chanyeol was incharge. “But I was going to practice,” he argued with his mother at the front door.

“Well you can blame your brother,” Julia frowned at him. “If he was here, you would be fine to go off, but someone needs to be here with Victoria.”

Victoria pouted on the couch. “I’m really fine,” she said softly. She didn’t really want to argue with the momma wolf, but she also didn’t need a babysitter. The shooting pains in her chest argued her point. “I’m just going to take a nap anyway.”

“Then he should have an easy day,” Julia nodded once before she walked out the door with Amber.

Chanyeol flopped onto the couch with Victoria and joined her pouting. “What a buzzkill.”

Victoria rolled her eyes and hugged one of the throw pillows to her chest. “Just wait like ten minutes and then go do whatever,” she stated. “I won’t tell.”

“And if something happens while I’m gone?” he rolled his head back against the couch and lazily looked over to her. “She would literally kill me.”

“Is there a landline?” Victoria returned his lazy stare. Chanyeol nodded over to the wall where a phone hung up next to a dry erase board. “Just leave your number, and I’ll call you if something happens.”

The boy shook his head. “What if she comes home to check on us? If I’m not here-”

“I’ll say you went to get me some ice cream,” Victoria picked at her fingernails. They beds of them felt like pins and needles, and she was not happy with it. “I’ll call you to make sure your are getting the right flavor. Then you-”

“Or you can just come with me,” Chanyeol cut her off. “You and I both know you were just going to leave after I left anyway.” His cocky grin made her frown and stick her tongue out at him. She hadn’t gotten that far yet, but he was likely right. He laughed and patted her leg. “Let me go chang, and we’ll head out, okay? If you behave I might even get you ice cream.”

Rolling her eyes at him, she watched him jog back into the kitchen and up the stairs. The pins in her fingers were more of an unpleasantness than actual pain, but that wasn’t the same for the occasional pain that shot through her chest. She wasn’t sure if it was from her wolf, the changing, or possibly Baekhyun. Her mind trailed off to the missing boy. She thought back to the hospital, when he agreed to bite her. She remembered the burning pain that came from it, but not much else. It was as if her body shut down, and there was a blank gap of time she was missing. Her memories skipped from the hospital to waking up in the bedroom. Hours of time that were completely gone.

Amber had mentioned her wolf being awake in that time, and Victoria wondered if her wolf saw everything she did. For a second, she thought she heard the soft voice in her head again, but couldn’t make out the words. She closed her eyes and leaned back into the cushions. The voice never came, but in her mind, she could barely picture the black wolf, her wolf. The wolf sat quickly in the darkness of her mind, the blue eyes staring right at her. The wolf sat tall, it’s head held high, almost as if it was looking down at her. Then, the voice came, I want to meet mate.

Victoria mentally rolled her eyes at her stubborn tone. “Well he’s not here,” she whispered. “And I’m not going to chase off after him. We have dignity.”

The wolf turned away from her and laid down. You do not understand. It scolded her. I do not care for the boy. I care for mate.

“You mean his wolf,” she whispered, suddenly getting why the wolf never used his name. She was never asking for Baekhyun, she was asking for his wolf. “Well ‘the boy’ is making the calls. You have to get through to him if you want to meet mate.”

“What are you doing?” Victoria’s eyes blinked open, the image of the wolf disappearing, and looked up to Chanyeol raising an eyebrow at her. “Taking a nap?”

She sat up quickly, shaking her head. “No, I was talking to her,” Victoria stood up slowly and stretched. Her limbs still felt a bit sore, but she could deal with sore. “She always demanding Baekhyun’s wolf. It’s annoying.”

You’re annoying.

Victoria rolled her eyes again, and Chanyeol laughed. “Oh, I remember that,” he said. She looked at him confused, and Chanyeol waved for her to follow him. “It’s like when I was a kid. You two don’t have a mental connection yet, so you have to talk to her like you would talk to me.”

“You don’t have to talk to yours?” she followed along, hardly keeping up with his long strides.

He noticed and slowed down slightly. “No, after a while you just kind of know what they want to say or do or are thinking. Like they are a part of you.” He smiled down at her and pat her head. “You’ll get there eventually. If it goes like mine did, you’ll start finishing her sentences, or feeling what she does, then you’ll just stop hearing her. Except for emergencies, they speak up when they feel it’s important.” She nodded along as he spoke, taking it in. “Do you want to meet mine? See what it looks like?”

She looked up at him, and he was already looking down at her, his eyes a bright crystal blue. “What do you mean?”

Chanyeol stopped walking and faced her, a wide grin on his face. He cleared his throat, and offered his hand. “Hello, Vicky.” His voice was raspier, and she could have sworn it was a bit deeper too. Confused, she shook his hand. He cleared his voice again. “Forgive me, I am not used to this. Chanyeol does not let me talk much.”

She shook her head. “Very funny, Chanyeol,” she stuck her hands into the pockets of the hoodie and leaned back on her right leg. “You can’t just change your voice and-” In a flash, he grabbed her arm and yanked her towards him. His grip was tight on her arm, and she gasped as she collided into his chest. “Hey wha-”

“I am not lying to you,” he snapped down at her. She glanced up to see his eyes fading from the crystal blue to a deep brown. Her arms was released, and he took a few steps away. Chanyeol rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry about that,” he mumbled, offering an awkward smile. “He’s moody.”

Victoria rubbed her arm and glared at him. “What the hell was that?”

“My wolf,” he said. “I didn’t think he would get rough with you like that. He’s usually only like that with men.”

A breathy laugh left . “With men?” she whispered, rubbing her hands on her face. “What the hell have I been dragged into?” Chanyeol laughed softly at her. She took a deep breath and tucked her hands into the pocket again. “So when Amber said my wolf took over at the hospital?”

Chanyeol nodded. “It’s not a figure of speech. We can give them control, or they can take it. It usually only happens when our emotions run high, but it’s not impossible for it to happen anytime. You’ve met Baekhyun’s a few times now.” Victoria thought back to the times she seem in with those too bright blue eyes. As beautiful as they were, something told her they were dangerous as well. Chanyeol proved it. “Basically anytime he’s in his wolf form,” Chanyeol continued to lead the two of them to where ever he planned on taking her. “Or when you first got here, that was his wolf too. They haven’t been on good terms lately, so his wolf has been extra demanding.”

“What do you mean ‘good terms?’”

He shook his head and laughed. “I think you know the answer to that.”