---

Sehun took a spot next to Jinhye on her front porch, crouching into a comfortable position. The girl scooted over a tiny bit to make room for Sehun, but he was having none of that. He, too, moved over and practically sat on top of Jinhye’s leg. Before she could more away again, Sehun wrapped his arm behind her back to hold her in place.

“What are you—?” Jinhye began, her face growing redder by the second. She was sure she was going to explode at any moment from the all the heat she was feeling.

“Shh,” Sehun cut in, taking one of her arms into his hand. He inspected the small cuts and scratches that were left behind from the night she was attacked. It was weird to Sehun to see someone who didn’t heal as fast as him and his pack members. It worried him that she was so…fragile.

He began over the cuts, tickling the girl in the process. Before she could comment, however, Sehun began again.

“Do they still hurt?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“Hmm?”

“The cuts,” he mumbled again, tracing a particularly long one. Jinhye followed his fingers, almost going into a trance due to the relaxing motions.

“Oh…no, they’re fine…” Jinhye responded, not really knowing where Sehun was going with this.

“I wasn’t able to fully protect you,” he muttered, eyes growing dark. “I shouldn’t have let you go off the path…”

“But, really, I’m—”

“You wouldn’t have been put in danger, you wouldn’t have known what I was, you—”

“Wait. Are you saying you would have just continued letting me think you were just a wolf?” Jinhye asked, snapping out of her calm mood.

“I—”

“Do you regret showing me who you really are?”

“No, but—”

“Your secret’s safe with me, Sehun, if that’s what you’re thinking… You can trust me…”

He raised his hand, motioning for her to stop…and calm down. She took a deep breath and waited for him to continue.

“I like that you know about me…I like that we can talk like this,” he stated, motioning between them with his hand, “its nice being human. I like being able to keep you company…”

Sehun trailed off and Jinhye hung on his words with a small smile before something dawned on her.

“But…?” she asked.

Sehun took a deep breath, beginning his rhythmic tracing again.

“But…you could get hurt…” he stated before pausing but Jinhye didn’t interrupt this time. “My pack…we’re on the brink of a war…we don’t know who’s attacking us or what they even want, but its dangerous… The fact of the matter is…you’re just a human…so fragile.”

For some reason, those words stung as they hit Jinhye. She was confused and she felt her heart constricting…which confused her even more. From what Sehun was saying, it sounded like he was going to leave again – Jinhye didn’t think she could handle that again.

“I…just…I need you to be safe, Jinhye…I just don’t know what would happen if you got hurt again…it would be my fault and I could never forgive myself.”

Her eyes were burning at the threat of tears but she tried to stay composed. She inhaled sharply, causing Sehun to look up from her arm.

The boy’s eyebrows creased in confusion at Jinhye state of becoming unraveled. He cocked his head slightly before pulling her closer. She wasn’t quite resting against him, but she was close.

“I won’t leave you… Doing that would just hurt both of us,” he murmured into her hair, inhaling the scent in the process. “We’ll just have to find a way to make it work.”

It felt like all the weight was lifted off of her in that moment and it took everything in her not to crumble into him.

“Just promise you’ll never leave, okay?” she whispered, clutching at his arm as if to hold him in place.

“I could never…I promise.”

---

The two had retuned to a comfortable silence after they had both calmed down. Sehun went back to her arm – a newfound favorite hobby – while Jinhye rested her head against his shoulder as she asked more questions.

“So, what’s it like being a wolf?” she asked, the autumn sun shining down on them. Occasionally a cold breeze would arrive and she would nestle closer as Sehun tightened his grip around her.

“Oh, you know—”

“No.”

Sehun laughed before her back with his finger.

“Just better senses…fur…nothing really too special… I mean, I have better senses than any humans do, but they’re even better in wolf form.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re great,” she joked, rolling her eyes. Sehun smiled, his eyes turning to slits as he nodded. “So I bet you could smell me from miles away.”

“Oh yeah, of course. Probably even my pack…members…could…” Sehun trailed off as his ears picked up voices… Three distinct voices…Voices that shouldn’t be this close to Jinhye’s house…

“Sehun…?” Jinhye began, noticing Sehun suddenly on edge. He slowly slid into a standing position off the steps, staring towards the trees at the opposite end of her lawn.

“Jinhye…just be very quiet…” Sehun uttered in a voice that was barely audible and Jinhye wanted to question it, but since Sehun’s face was blank and seemed to be void of color, she decided against it at the moment.

Sehun continued to stare off in the distance for a few minutes before Jinhye picked up rustling in the trees.

Jinhye was sure her eyes could fall out at any second once she laid eyes on the two boys that stepped out from the trees. They were tall and lean; the first one had black hair and bags under his eyes.

Jinhye immediately recognized the second one – the golden-haired boy – as the one who was watching her the first day she came home from school after finding her wolf. From the way he looked, she was sure he was the golden wolf that had brought Sehun back to her: Lu Han.

Sehun was on full-out panic mode. Number one, they shouldn’t even be here. What concerned him even more was that he couldn’t see Kris. He knew he had to be around – Tao never went anywhere the alpha wasn’t.

Sehun’s eyes darted between the two, taking in the killer look on Tao’s face and the nervous and apologetic look on Lu Han’s.

I’m sorry, Lu Han mouthed and suddenly the whole situation seems twenty times worse to Sehun.

Sehun took a few steps back towards Jinhye as Tao drew closer and closer. Oh, how Sehun hated that superior act he put on. So what if he was Kris’ favorite? It gave him absolutely no authority at all, but he sure liked to act like it did.

Soon, Tao stood right in front of Jinhye with Sehun trying his best to prevent anything from happening.

A low growl was emitted from Tao’s throat and Sehun could sense Jinhye flinch and tremble behind him. Sehun wanted to rip Tao’s throat out just for scaring Jinhye, but he sensed Kris around and knew that would only dig himself deeper and Tao knows it too.

Tao smirked at Sehun before he reached around him and tugged Jinhye up by the forearm, spinning her until Tao’s back is to Sehun, the latter unable to reach around to grab her back.

“Just one human…a girl,” Tao seemingly announced to no one, but Sehun knew it was directed to Kris.

Tao leaned in close, too close, and pressed his nose against her hair, inhaling her scent. Sehun was ready to break him in half.

“What a delicious scent you have,” Tao purred, his dark eyes boring into Jinhye’s. She was trembling uncontrollably and the bruising grip he had on her arm really hurt. “You’ll make a wonderful dinner for our pack.”

A squeak left Jinhye and that was the final straw for Sehun. His anger was boiling over and at that point, he could give two s if the alpha was lurking around. Sehun shoved Tao hard, causing him to release Jinhye in the process. Tao recovered quickly, getting in Sehun’s face and letting out an intimidating growl.

Before either of them could make a move, Sehun spotted Kris emerging, looking as icy as ever with his trademark glare plastered on his face.

Tao took several steps back to make room for the alpha. Lu Han made a motion to stand by Sehun, but Tao yanked his arm, pulling him to stand beside him.

Kris slowly made his way forward, authority dripping from every step he took. Sehun, too, took a few steps forward – mostly to stand far enough away from Jinhye – meeting Kris in the center.

Sehun was unable to look up at Kris’ face, the alpha’s energy too strong to confront.

“Maknae,” Kris begins in an almost mock-cooing tone. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Suddenly Kris’ tone became harsher and every word felt like a slap to Sehun’s face. “Sneaking around and associating with that human?”

All Jinhye could do was widen her eyes as the alpha – it had to be him – allowed his eyes to flicker to her for a brief second and she could feel all the hatred he had for her. She gulped as he turned back to Sehun.

“Hyung…I-I’m sorry…” Sehun stuttered out, but soon all the words we gone from him as Kris lands a perfectly placed punch to Sehun’s gut, sending the latter to his knees as he wheezed for air.

Jinhye wanted to jump up and run to Sehun’s side but she caught Lu Han’s eye. He shook his head the slightest bit, keeping her from moving. She looked at Lu Han for a few more seconds after he turned back towards the maknae and alpha, a look of sickness plastered on his face. She remembered that Sehun was Lu Han’s favorite…he had to hate this just as much as she did.

“Sorry is no excuse for what you’ve done. Shifting without our permission? Associating with humans? And worst of all, you snuck around behind our backs. You don’t have the right to do these things. You’re making a fool out of the pack and me to an extent. I’m your alpha. I believe you know the consequences.”

Sehun nodded weakly from his spot on the ground, trembling as Kris’ words sank in. He was no stranger to the way Kris ‘disciplined’ the pack members that stepped out of line.

“Don’t think for one minute that I haven’t noticed your odd behavior. I’m not stupid. Now is not the time to be traipsing around with some…siren. Our pack needs to be strong and united – especially at this time.”

Kris reached down and yanked Sehun up by the fabric of his shirt until he was standing limply on his feet. He was in so much pain – physically and mentally. He knew Kris was going to do everything in his power to keep him away from Jinhye and that was too much to bear.

“I’ll be having Tao and Chanyeol keep a close eye on you from now on. If I even sense you aren’t with the pack…the consequences will be grim.”

Kris shot a glace at Jinhye, insinuating she would be the one put in danger. Sehun quickly caught on to the threat and all of his fear turned to anger. He didn’t care if he was the alpha or not, he would not allow anybody, anybody, to hurt his Jinhye. He wouldn’t allow it.

Sehun suddenly gained a burst of anger and he met the alpha’s dark and threatening eyes with a glare of his own.

“You don’t get to touch her,” Sehun bit back, giving Kris the worst look he could muster.

Kris’ look of shock disappeared just as fast as it had come and was quickly replaced with rage. Before he could land another punch in Sehun’s gut…or chin, Jinhye decided she had had enough. She darted from her spot by the front steps and stood between Sehun and the alpha.

She glanced quickly at Sehun, hoping one look would make everything better. Unfortunately, Sehun looked shocked…and terrified. She turned back in time just to see the angry alpha take a step closer.

She hadn’t really thought it through and now looking up at the glaring alpha didn’t seem like the best idea in the world.

She gulped as she collected her thoughts, holding Sehun’s arms behind her back.

“U-uhm…Mr. alpha, sir… Please don’t blame Sehun-ah. It’s not his fault; it’s mine… I kept asking him to come back. I can keep your secret and—”

“Excuse me? What do you know, girl?” the alpha interrupted, cutting Jinhye off with a sharp tone, making Jinhye realize her mistake with saying too much.

“I-i…uh…”

“You told her everything, Sehun. You have a death wish, don’t you? Never has a wolf in the history of our pack done something as stupid as you have.”

Kris made his way forward, resulting in Jinhye taking matching steps backwards, pressing her back against Sehun’s firm chest.

She tried her best to hide her nervousness, but Kris could see right through her façade. Kris smirked, taking more steps to loom over the frightened girl.

“Step aside, little girl,” the alpha glared, taking a final step forward. She shook her head slowly, maintaining eye contact with the alpha.

“N-no! You’ll hurt Sehun! I can’t let that happen, it’s not—” Jinhye stuttered but Kris was having none of that. Before she could finish her sentence, Kris had his hand on her forearm, shoving her to the side with a rough push. Jinhye all but flew to the side, crashing into the ground at an awkward angle as a cry of pain escaped her.

“Jinhye!!” Sehun yelled but before he could even make a motion to go after her, Kris had grabbed Sehun’s shoulder to hold him in place.

“Don’t disrespect me further by going after that piece of filth!” Kris spat, tightening his grip on the maknae.

Sehun had half a mind to shrug Kris’ arm off, but after catching the sight of Lu Han viciously shaking his head, he thought better of it. Kris smirked after there was no sign of movement from the maknae.

“Now, shift,” Kris stated, releasing Sehun from his grip. Sehun met eyes with the alpha, the latter one’s eyes starting to water. He shook his head the slightest bit, causing the alpha’s smirk to drop from his face. Before Sehun could even attempt to argue, the alpha had landed a sharp punch in the corner of Sehun’s jaw, sending him back to the ground while clutching his cheek in shock as more tears welled up.

Sehun looked up through the hair that was hanging in front of his eyes, taking in Lu Han’s worried expression, Tao’s -eating grin, and Jinhye’s confused and frightened look.

“Jinhye! Jinhye!” Sehun shouted, pulling her attention back to him. “I’m sorry! I’m—”

Kris was fed up and was not putting up with Sehun anymore. That maknae was making a fool of him and he wasn’t going to allow it to go on any longer. He kicked Sehun in the side, effectively shutting up the maknae who was inhaling sharp breaths.

“I said shift,” Kris practically growled. Sehun nodded his head slightly before stealing a glance at Jinhye who was still scared and confused.

Sehun shifted faster than Jinhye’s eyes could process and soon, a white and grey wolf sat limply in his spot.

Jinhye watched as Tao shifted next to Lu Han, turning into a black and grey wolf that was slightly larger than Sehun. The dark eyes that appeared in his human form transferred over to his wolf form as well, giving him an even more intimidating look. She watched his movement as he made his way over to Sehun, now noticing the giant black wolf standing over Sehun. It had to be the alpha, she was sure. The black fur was different from his blonde locks, but the stern glare and piercing eyes matched identically.

Sehun was sitting in between the two larger wolves, his ears pressed tight against his head as he kept his eyes trained on the ground. The large alpha – way larger than Sehun’s size – latched onto the nape of Sehun’s neck, carrying him back into the woods with Tao in tow.

Jinhye watched in shock as the three left the scene, low whines escaping from Sehun’s throat.

It hadn’t really hit Jinhye yet, but slowly, slowly, the idea that Sehun was gone yet again was sinking in.

She took deep breaths from her place on the ground, her fingers twinning in the grass.

“Are you okay?” a voice came from behind and Jinhye jumped in her spot.

Jinhye turned to see Lu Han crouching behind her. She cowered slightly away from him, but he raised his hands in innocence.

“I’m sorry about all of this,” Lu Han gestured toward the woods and Jinhye nodded slowly. His slightly deeper voice didn’t match his youthful face. “I tried to keep Sehun’s secret…but Kris? Kris is good at figuring things out. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time.”

“It’s…alright, I guess,” Jinhye whispered but Lu Han shook his head.

“I know it’s not, human…Jinhye,” Lu Han muttered, pulling himself into a standing position. “Don’t worry, though. I’ll make sure things work out for the two of you.”

With that, he took off in a light jog back into the woods before Jinhye could even question it.

Jinhye took a few shorter, sharp breaths before she slowly made her way back into her house. The second she closed her front door, she slid against it while sinking to the floor. Finally, it hit her. Sehun, her Sehun, was gone again.