Chanyeol led Victory pasted the pack house and the hospital and down a packed down dirt trail. Along the way, she noticed people passing glancing at them, most of them at her. She couldn’t read their eyes though, and it made her uncomfortable. Chanyeol must have noticed as well, since he picked up his pace.

After the short walk, he stopped next to a small cabin. He opened the door for her, and they went inside. The entry was split into a left and right room, one for women and one for men. “Go in there and their will be some spare clothes in a black bin,” he explained to her. “Just find something that fits and throw it on and take the back door out. I’ll meet you there.”

She nodded and did as she was told, walking into the left door, and he went the other way. Victoria glanced around and instantly realized it was a locker room. It was basic in design, one wall held the lockers and the other was tiled with thin curtains and shower heads.

Victoria found the black bin next to the door and rolled her eyes. When he said bin, she had expected a small box of sorts, not a dresser. Pulling open the first drawer, there were black sports bras of multiple sizes. She took out one and set it on top. The next drawer had t-shirts, the third had leggings, and the bottom had a few tennis shoes in different sizes. Lucky, they had hers too.

Changing was still difficult, but she managed and stuffed her other clothes into an unused locker. She marched out the back door and found Chanyeol leaning against the wall waiting for her. He looked her up and down and nodded. “That’ll work,” he grinned and nodded for her to follow him. Behind the back door was a second smaller dirt trail he led her down, until they entered a field. Victoria looked around to see multiple men and women sparing and working out together. “Training field,” Chanyeol explained. “Mostly only the patrol and generals use it, but everyone is encouraged too. I come here when I have nothing better to do.”

She nodded along as he spoke, looking out over the people. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she was looking for Baekhyun, but didn’t find him. She turned back to Chanyeol trying to hide her disappointment. “So what do you do here? Where do you start?”

“Usually Baekhyun or sometimes Andrew come with me, and we’ll spare,” he explain. He draped an arm over her shoulders and began leading her towards an overhang where a few people were lifting weights. “But I’m not going to try that with you.”

Shrugging his arm off, she frowned at him. “I know how to fight,” she argued. “What is it with everyone assuming I can’t defend myself?”

He grinned at her. “Oh yeah? You want to take on me?” Victoria crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her nose up at him. He took that as a yes. “Alright, hot ,” he laughed and began leading them over to an empty sparring mat. “Just don’t tell mom.” He stopped  walking and faced her with a frown. “Or Baekhyun. Mostly Baekhyun.”

Victoria smiled and shoved his chest. “I won’t tattle unless I lose.” He laughed with her and they skipped over to the mat.

The two began stretching together, and despite the soreness in her limbs, Victoria could help but see excited. She used to spare with Reese, but she was sure Chanyeol would be a much different story. He wasn’t human after all.

After stretching, Chanyeol waved over a taller man with light brown hair, the sides shaved but the top longer and slicked back. He had tan skin, and approached them with a grin. “Good to see you, Chan,” the man’s voice was only a few octaves above Chanyeol’s. He shook Chanyeol’s hand before he turned to her. “And I don’t think we’ve met.”

“Victoria,” she smiled and shook the man’s outstretched hand.

Chanyeol nodded. “This is Baekhyun’s mate. Vic, this is Gamma Carmen. He leads the patrol and military.”

Her eyes widened and she turned from Gamma Carmen to Chanyeol. “You have a military?”

Carmen laughed. “Only for emergencies,” he stated. “It’s mostly a formality, our patrol keeps most of the rogues away, but it is a pleasure to meet you.” He kissed the back of her hand before releasing it. “What a shame, I was hoping you were my mate.” He winked at her, and she couldn’t help the blush that came to her cheeks.

Chanyeol shook his head. “I’d pity her if she was,” he grinned. Carmen jokingly shoved him away and laughed.

“Well I’m assuming you didn’t call me over here to meet the beauty,” Carmen grinned.

“No, you’re gonna be our ref,” Chanyeol nodded to Victoria who simply watched them interact, and chose to ignore Carmen’s flirting.

“You two are going to spare? Baekhyun will kill you,” Carmen laughed.

Chanyeol  went to speak, but was cut off by Victoria. “Not if you keep your mouth shut.”

Carmen raised his eyebrows at her, the smile never falling from his face. “Oh you’re feisty too? Woman after my own heart.” Now it was Chanyeol’s turn to rolled his eyes. Carmen clapped his hands together, and his face became serious. “Alright, opposite sides.” He waited a moment while Victoria and Chanyeol moved to different sides of the mat. “Let’s have a clean fight. No groin strikes, no biting, no claws. I’ll call it when someone taps out, you get your opponents throat, or someone is knocked unconscious. Got it?”

Both of them agreed, and Carmen clapped his hands together again and said, “Fight.”

Victoria grinned and raised her hands up to guards her face. Chanyeol did the same as he inched towards her. She was waiting for him to make the first move. Not sure what to expect from him, she thought back to her fights with Reese. Reese always charged at her and made quick and precise attacks. She was quicker than him.

Somewhat lost in thought, she barely dodged out of the way of Chanyeol's fist as it came towards her face. Before it made contact, Victoria ducked to her right and brought her knee up to his gut. She made contact, but he wrapped his other arm around her leg. Using his extra weight and her off balance, Chanyeol stepped into her and pushed her to the ground with him on top of her.

She struggled beneath him, but he pinned her down with one arm beneath her and her other trapped between them. Chanyeol grinned and grabbed with his other hand.

“Stop,” Carmen called, and Chanyeol pushed himself up before helping her to her feet. Carmen approached them while Chanyeol looked her over for injuries. She swat him away. “That was good,” Carmen nodded at her. “I didn’t expect you to beat him, but that was a good dodge, and a good knee.”

Victoria took a breath and nodded. “I didn’t think he was that fast.”

Chanyeol grinned happily while Carmen continued his critiques. “Well you’re fast too, but you’re smaller than he is. He’s have strength and weight over you as well as training in combat.”

“I’ve been trained too,” she argued and crossed her arms. “Reese taught be how to fight and use his weapons.”

At the mention of Reese, the both of them looked uncomfortable. Carmen spoke on it. “Reese? Reese Morris? The hunter?”

Victoria brought her eyebrows together and frowned. “What’s a hunter? He’s my bodyguard.” Carmen looked to Chanyeol, who was trying not to acknowledge their conversation by watching a sparring match going on next to them.

Carmen turn back to her. “You said it was Victoria, yeah? Victoria Drake?”

“Yeah?”

“The daughter of Jacob Drake, the hunter?”

Victoria shrugged. “Well he goes hunting for duck sometimes,” she said. “I don’t see what it has to do with this.”

Carmen turn on Chanyeol, whose eyes looked ready to pop from his head. “This is a joke right? Chanyeol you’re ing with me, right?”

“Uh…” Chanyeol awkwardly laughed and his lips. “Well you see… it’s actually a funny story.”

“How do you know my father?” Victoria glared up at Carmen, who glared back at her. “And Reese? How do you know them?”

“Vic, I think we should go,” Chanyeol grabbed her arm and began pulling her away, but she struggled against him.

“No! I want some answers!” He ignored her and pulled her back down the trail. “Chanyeol! How does he know my father?!”

When they reached the cabin, he tried to pull her around it to the other trail, but she yanked her arm away from him and stomped her foot. Chanyeol turned and glared at you. “Okay, but not here, dammit,” he hissed at her and grabbed her again, dragging her with him. “I’ll explain, just not here.”

A kick to his side woke him from his unrestful sleep. Baekhyun blinked up at Kris who was pulling on a pair of shorts. He sat up groggily and glanced around. Memories of the night before flooded back, and he rubbed his eyes. After they had reached the pack, Kris let him crash on a makeshift bed they made on the floor of his room. A shirt hit him in the face, and he looked up at Kris who had finished getting dressed.

“Don’t care where you go but you can’t stay here,” he nodded to Baekhyun. He opened his mouth to say something more, but there was a knock on his door. “Come in.”

The door opened up, and an angry looking Julia glanced from Kris, to Baekhyun still waking up on the floor. “I figured he’d be hiding here,” she muttered. “Thanks for watching him, Kris. I’ll take him from here.”

Kris nodded and grabbed a stack of papers from the top of his dresser. He waved to them both and left his room. Julia crossed her arms over her belly and glared at her son. “Hiding at the pack house?” she shook her head. Baekhyun sighed and pulled the shirt Kris had thrown over his head and stood up. Julia helped him pick up the pillow and blankets he had slept on and place them on Kris’s bed.

Once they finished, Julia grabbed him by his ear and yanking him along with her. “Ow! Mom! I’m not a little kid!”

“Then stop acting like one!” she hissed at him, but let go. She continued marching out of the pack house, and he reluctantly followed. “What is this all about, son? Why are you torturing yourself like this?”

Baekhyun stuck his hands into the pocket of his pants and shook his head. “She’s complicated.”

“And you think you’re not?” she peered over her shoulder at him as she marched out the door. He followed. “You think this isn’t incredibly complicated and scary for her? She’s been attacked by creatures she previously didn’t think existed not once, not twice, but three different times!” She put a hand on one hip and pointed out with the other. A ways away from them, she pointed at Chanyeol and Victoria who were standing in the street talking. “And now a boy who is always mean to her is supposed to be her soulmate, and he doesn’t want her, but the scary animal in him does.”

Standing next to his mother, he watched his mate speak with his brother. Even with his incredible hearing, he couldn’t hear them over the other people walking around. Suddenly Chanyeol grabbed her and pulled her up against him. Baekhyun’s wolf growled, and he took a step forward only to be stopped by his mother. “No, you don’t get to go save her,” she hissed at him. “You don’t want her? That’s fine, but you don’t get to chase her or fight her battles for her.” he turned back to watch his mate. Chanyeol released her, and they had begun walking away again. “A mate gets to fight by her side. It’s a privilege, not a burden. If you don’t want her, then you don’t get to dictate over her. She will only become more reckless as she changes. If you fight for her, she won’t grow.”

“She’ll get hurt,” he argued with his mother and pulled his arm from her grasp. “If I’m not there-”

“Then she will fight for herself,” his mother faced him, the frown still on her face. “Don’t forget who saved you from that rogue in the water. Give credit where it is due.” Taking a deep breath, she reach over and rubbing his cheek. “Now go,” she smiled. “Do whatever you’re going to do. Just stop thinking it’s what you have to do.” Nodding slowly despite not believe a damn word she said, Baekhyun turned and headed after Victoria and Chanyeol, curious why his brother was bringing her to the field.

Once he caught up to them, he hung back a bit so she wouldn’t notice him. Chanyeol must have though, since he picked up his pace. He followed them to the cabin, and once he was sure Victoria had enter the women side, he snuck into the mens. Chanyeol stood by the door with his arms crossed.

“You want to tell me where you ran off too last night? Because now I’m babysitting,” Chanyeol didn’t actually seem angry about it, but Baekhyun wasn’t going to pry the anger from him.

He nodded. “I will later, but why did you bring her here? She’s not going to be able to do anything. You realize how much pain she’s probably in?”

Chanyeol shook his head. “No, she’s been fine after the fever went down,” he explained. “Amber had to help her get dressed this morning. Said she was sore, but other than that she hasn’t complained.”

Although he was glad to here she wasn’t hurting, he still didn’t want her training yet. “Whatever, just don’t spar with her, okay?” he sighed and turned away from his brother and opened his locker. Pulling out fresh clothes, he quickly changed, as did Chanyeol. “She’s probably feeling worse than she’s letting on.”

Rolling his eyes, Chanyeol agreed. “I hadn’t planned on it anyway,” he said. “Doesn’t seem like her cup of tea.”

“Her parent’s are hunters, Chan,” Baekhyun shook his head as he tied his shoes. “She can probably kick your if she wanted too.”

“Speaking off,” Chanyeol cocked his head to the side. “Remember when we asked her about them and she said she didn’t know what they did? How the hell have they been hiding it from her? And how do you not tell your kid that there are monsters, and they will kill you? That and how to Reese and Maggie know you were her mate?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said, “and they aren’t willing to talk.”

“How do you know?” Chanyeol was standing by the door now, wanting for his twin.

“Look, I’ll tell you everything later, okay? I promise.”