“Is she okay?” Luhan asked.
“I think so. Just . . . she was scared.”
Luhan snorted. “The way Tao made her out to be, I thought she’d be this badass woman. Guess Tao was wrong.”
Kris was about to ask what he meant, but closed his mouth. He could ask later, right now he needed to concentrate on Hyorim. Carefully, he slid his arms under her and lifted her up, surprised by how light she was. He had expected . . . more. He’d never realized how small she was. It was disconcerting, placing this small body together with her fierce attitude. It was even stranger to see her crying—he didn’t think she was capable. It placed her in a more venerable light, a different light than he had been shining on her before. Maybe she was much more scared than she let on.
“You done staring at her?” Luhan quipped.
“Hm? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking. Just take him back home. Take him to the shed, you know the one. I’ll drive Hyorim home and meet you there.”
Luhan and Chen nodded and headed off without Kris.
It didn’t take Kris long to reach where he had parked his car. He carefully placed Hyorim into the passenger seat and then got in on his side. He paused before starting the car, glancing at her. He turned his attention back to the road and turned the car on, his lips set in a firm line. As he pulled out into the road and started heading home, anger spread like fire throughout his chest. He understood that he was angry, but what he didn’t understand was why?
Hyorim’s body jerked, but other than that didn’t move. She was awake. They didn’t say anything for a long time. He didn’t know why she didn’t speak, but as for him, he wasn’t sure what to say. Until . . .
“What did they do to you?” Kris wanted to slam his forehead into the steering wheel for the blunt and insensitive question that had just popped out.
She didn’t say anything except stare out the window. “Suho told you.” She said tonelessly.
“It’s . . . we’ll just say he did.”
She gave a dry laugh and the sound made Kris uncomfortable. “Is that why you want me gone? I’m too scarred for you? Afraid I’ll turn on you? Turn Feral?”
She was turning sharp again and suddenly, Kris understood why. She was scared. Something in him clenched realizing some of the depth of her trauma. The sad truth of it was that those were the exact reasons he wanted her gone. He had kicked an injured animal. 
“You want the truth? Yes, that’s why I want you gone.” He said bluntly. He took a deep breath as she said nothing.
“At least you’re honest. You want to know what happened? Fine. It’s in the past anyway, so who cares?” You do, he thought, and then, I do, which was a bit of a surprise. He shook that thought off for now. It was obvious she hadn’t moved on, hadn’t healed. He gripped the wheel tight, his knuckles showing white. There was that anger again, burning his gut as it reached up.
“I was out camping with friends. We’d all just graduated high school. Out of nowhere, they attacked. We didn’t stand a chance. I ran away as my friends were slaughtered. I could hear their screams . . . I can still hear them. They caught up to me. They threw me to the ground and me and beat me and mauled me. This scar?” Kris glanced to see her looking at him, pointing to the scar marring her face. “The leader gave me this. When they were dead, they left me to die in the woods. End of story.”
But it wasn’t the end of the story, he knew that, it was just the beginning. Without warning, he slammed on the brakes and stopped off the side of the road. 
“The hell!” She yelled.
Kris was gripping the wheel insanely tight. His eyes were closed. What are you doing, you idiot? Kris didn’t know. If anything, her telling him exactly what happened should have put him more on edge. It was a fact that people who experienced trauma right before or during the shifting process had less control of their wolves, couldn’t separate the fear from the process. It was incredibly dangerous. Suho should have killed her, for everyone’s safety. But he hadn’t. Kris should kill her, but he wouldn’t. I wouldn’t? No, no he wouldn’t. 
Something about this woman had, in some strange way, gained his respect. She was aggressive, temperamental, violent, dangerous, but she was a survivor, still surviving the luck she had been handed. It was amazing she had lasted this long. 
“Are you listening to me!?” She demanded.
Kris looked at her. “I’m sorry, for what happened to you. And I hope those bastards get what’s coming to them.”
She was frozen, like she didn’t know what to make of what he said. Then she regained her composure. She huffed. “They will as soon as I catch up to them.”
Kris couldn’t help the small smile that curled his lips. For as much as she was afraid, she had some determination to spare. 

We arrived at the manor not long after our little . . . talk. Which had been weird. I didn’t know what I had expected, but not that. However, I was glad he never brought up the whole scene where I cried myself into a faint. God, that was embarrassing. 
But the worry was still there. I hadn’t gotten any stronger. In fact, I felt weaker. Those bullets reminded me how weak I really could be, weaker than I thought possible. And it terrified me. The terror had taken over and it was all I could think about. 
I followed Kris from the car and noticed we were going to bypass the house. “Where are we going?”
“Holding cell. Luhan and Chen will be there with our little friend.” He glanced at me. “I figured you’d want to get answers from him as soon as possible.”
Hell, yes. I clenched my fists, my stride stronger. It was payback time.
Then the door to the house opened and light was casted over. It was Lay. “I thought I smelled you. Where are you going?”
“We have a guest we need to question.” Kris said curtly.
“And you were going to let her go straight there without me removing those awful smelling bullets?”
Kris paused, then turned to look at me. 
“I’m fine.”
Kris shook his head. “No, Lay’s right. You need to be taken care of. I can’t believe I forgot.”
I bristled. “You’re not my Alpha! I—”
“But you are on my territory at my leniency and you will do what I say, are we clear?”
Oh, he was so on. I opened my mouth to fight back, when Lay interrupted.
“You have a way with the women, Kris. Hyorim, there’s a certain someone who wants to see you.”
That got my attention. I turned to look at Lay. “Sehun?”
Lay smiled. “He’s awake now.”