"She's a-"

 

"A wolf, yes." Kris said calmly. He'd stolen Jeah away for her lunch break and all Kori said was "you kids have fun" as they walked out the door.

 

Jeah stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. "Is everyone part wolf?"

 

Kris stopped and pursed his lips. "This is a lot for you, isn't it?"

 

"You think?" Jeah rolled her eyes.

 

"You wanna see something really cool?" He gave her a hopeful smile.

 

She shrugged. "I suppose it's better than seeing something uncool."

 

"You and your sassy mouth." Kris scoffed and pulled her toward the woods.

 

"If I didn't trust you so much this would be really weird."

 

The street disappeared behind them and they picked their way carefully through the foliage.

 

"What are you doing?" Jeah gasped as Kris bent over and his body started elongating. Thick black fur sprouted up along his spine and he doubled in size.

 

She would have run away if she hadn't just watched her boyfriend transform into a giant wolf.

 

She slowly skirted around the creature.

 

'How could this possibly be Kris?'

 

His big brown eyes blinked at her and she felt her heart melt.

 

"YOU'RE SO CUTE WHY CAN'T YOU LOOK LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME?" She snuggled his furry face.

 

If wolves could roll their eyes, he did.

 

"Get on my back." Echoed in her thoughts.

 

"Are you inside my head?" Jeah looked at him incredulously. "Get out of there!"

 

Wolf-Kris shook his head and dropped to his belly.

 

"Isn't this supposed to be the other way around?" She giggled and stepped around to his side. The wolf twisted his head to glare over his shoulder.

 

"Alright, alright." Jeah grumbled and jumped onto Kris's back. He emitted the animal equivalent to "oof" and stood up on all fours. Shakily, Jeah grabbed fistfuls of his silken fur. He started to trot, letting Jeah get used to the idea of riding a giant dog around the woods. When she seemed comfortable, he picked up speed and darted through the trees.

 

She leaned forward and hugged his thick neck, squeezing her eyes shut and burying her face in his fur. The blurry view rushing by was making her nauseous.

 

"Open your eyes."

 

Jeah cracked an eye open and looked around. They were at the top of a high rock cliff, looking down at a familiar clearing.

 

"What are we doing here?" Her eyes grazed over the place Kris once stood before being attacked by Suho, the gray wolf. Also the place she stood with Yixing, who she no longer trusted even though he tried to pull her to safety.

 

Kris shrugged his human shoulder, which was feverishly warm to the touch. Jeah looked down at her legs wrapped tightly around his torso.

 

"When did you-"

 

"The problem with you humans is that you pay too much attention to yourselves and not enough to the world around you." He looked out over the clearing.

 

Jeah slid down and stood next to him. "I was a little preoccupied."

 

"I think you're the first person to get motion sickness while riding a wolf." Kris chuckled.

 

"How many people have ridden a giant wolf?" She asked shrilly. Kris shrugged meekly. "Why are we up here?"

 

"Because it's the highest place we can go." He balanced on the edge of the cliff. "I'm more comfortable up here."

 

"Suho stood up here once." Jeah sneered, her voice low. "When he had to 'show you who's boss'.

 

"It's his place too." He shrugged again. "But I could tear him to bits if I wanted to."

 

"Then why don't you?" Ill feelings toward Suho had been festering over some time after watching what he did to Kris. Jeah would enjoy his pain.

 

Kris rubbed the back of his neck. "I needed to join the pack. They thought I was dangerous alone."

 

"What would have happened if you didn't?" Jeah folded her arms and looked around the treeline, half expecting the others to materialize and interrupt them again.

 

"They would have kept you away." He looked down, past his feet and the rock to the forest floor. "And it would have eventually killed me."

 

"Killed?" Jeah squeaked with bulging eyes.

 

Kris chuckled. "I'm very attached to you, Jeah."

 

"Yes but killed?"

 

"It hurts to be away from you." Kris said, dark eyes burning holes into her sockets. "From the moment I met you, you're all I think about."

 

Jeah gulped.

 

"Too much?" He mumbled.

 

"No." She said, oddly sure. She took his hand and squeezed it. "Not too much at all."

 

 

 

 

"I said you didn't have to wait for me."

 

"It's getting late." Tao scoffed, walking behind her. "A girl like you can't be walking around at night."

 

Byul rolled her eyes. "Want to rephrase that?"

 

"Fine, a girl that looks like you shouldn't be walking around at night."

 

"Anyone who thinks about pulling something really needs to assess their life's values." She stopped suddenly, Tao came within an inch of slamming into her. "You're just worried I won't come home."

 

They were silent the rest of the way to the apartment.

 

After she showered, Byul pushed herself up to sit on the kitchen counter, wearing one of Tao's large shirts as pajamas.

 

"Why do you let the others treat you like that?"

 

He just shrugged.

 

"You know you're better than them, right?" She egged on, leaning forward slightly while he raided the fridge. He stopped and stood across from her, folding his arms over his bare chest.

 

"Yixing took me in when I was younger. He gave me a family when I had none." Tao said evenly. "Do you expect me to throw it all away because of a power complex?"

 

"You don't have to let them push you around." Byul squinted at the floor. "You outrank all of them."

 

Tao shook his head and started for him bedroom.

 

"I want an alpha." She called after him. "Not an omega."