We met Lay in the kitchen. “Hey, wifey.” Kris greeted.

 I was taken aback by Lay’s vehement reaction. “I’m a man, Goddamnit! Would you stop calling me wifey? Because of you, everyone’s calling me mom now too.” And then he grumbled, “Anyway, someone has to clean up after you guys and cook or else we really would be animals.”

The smile that found its way on my face was amused. Something in me had my heart clench painfully. 

“Whatever you say. Make some food for us.”

Lay continued grumbling but obeyed anyway. “I’m going to spit in your food.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kris turned to me and even I could feel his affection for his pack members. He grew more serious when he turned to me. “I’m going to get directly to the point. What did he mean when he said his boss was interested in you?”

My gut clenched and something cold cascaded down my back. I could tell that Lay was listening in. “I don’t know.” I really didn’t. All I could think about is back when I was being held prisoner. A sudden question popped into my head. “The others . . . were they all together? In one room?”

“They were all together.”

“All together . . .” But I was separate. I was . . . separate. I had thought it was just because I was a she-wolf. But now . . . there had to be more to it. But why was this new threat so interested in me? My life had been ruined enough as it was with my first encounter with them. Why did they persist to stalk me?

Kris eyed my fists. “What are you thinking?”

“I just feel more confused than ever. I feel like every answer we’ve gotten so far has only gotten us more questions.”

Lay placed some food in front of us but I was suddenly no longer hungry. Lay sat down and dug into his meal while Kris leaned on his elbow, his cheek against his fist as he stared at me. “It’s been a long day. Don’t worry too much about it right now. We’ll try and get more out of him tomorrow.”

I was quiet as Kris turned to eat his meal. I suddenly felt so . . . isolated, so lonely, and tired. "Kris.”

“Hm?”

“I want to talk to Sumi.”

“Of course.”

I waited for someone to pick up the phone, and when it was answered, I felt my heart clench. “Kris?”

“Sumi?” She sounded so tired and her voice sounded hoarse.

There was a pause. “Hyorim? Is that you?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, thank God. Kris said he had you but . . . anyway. How are you doing?”

There was so much, so much I wanted to tell her. But I couldn’t. I didn’t know how to say any of it or where to start. “I’m okay.”

“And Sehun?” I remembered him, laying on the bed. I also remembered what Lay had told me, about how uncertain everything was. “Hyorim?” She gently prompted.

“He’s . . . he’s doing better.”

She gave a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear it. I—we were all so worried about you. We had to restraint Chanyeol when he—” She cut herself off. “I’m just so happy you’re okay.”

I felt her love. It was the most bizarre thing, but I could actually feel her love for me. And it hurt. “Are you . . . Kris said you guys can’t come up because of you and the baby?”

She sighed. “I’m having a few . . . difficulties.”

My heart started hammering against my chest. She wasn’t a she-wolf—of course she was going to have difficulties. I knew that. But . . . to actually hear it scared me. “Are you okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. The baby is just giving me a hard time. I’ll be fine. I’m due soon.”

I wish I could be there, but I didn’t say that. My other worry, the question that nagged at the back of my mind, needed to be voiced. “Kai and Beakhyun . . . are they okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, well, I haven’t seen them in a while, but they were fine last I saw them. Why?”

It was like something, some weight, was lifted off my shoulders. “I left them in the middle of the attack. I never knew if . . .”

“Oh, oh honey. They were fine. A bit torn up, but fine. Someone helped them out.” I wondered who did that. “Oh. Oh. . .”

“S-Sumi?” I had never heard her curse before.

“I-I have to go. Ow! I think . . . I think—Suho—!”

And then I was listening to a dial tone. I shakily put the phone back down and stared at it a bit. I was worried, but I couldn’t let it bother me too much. Suho was there—he’d take care of Sumi. I got up and headed to my room.

Kris tapped his fingers against his desk, going over everything. And it was giving him a headache. He tossed back the alcohol in his cup and rubbed his head. One thing was for sure—he needed to take care of this Master. Honestly, he wasn’t too worried. It was probably some uppity, arrogant youth who thought he was better than his peers. He wouldn’t be the first, or last, as far as Kris was concerned. And thus far, he had put each one of them in their places.

This one was just a little better at what the others had tried. However, he had to admit that the whole ‘breed an army’ angle was new. Disgusting bastard. Just because of that, Kris knew he couldn’t let the sociopath live. He groaned as he laid his head down on his desk.

Sometimes he hated being one of the highest ranking Alphas. It put responsibilities on him that were just a burden. If he wasn’t so duty-bound he would probably just let everything go, maybe even disappear altogether so he could live peaceably. He turned his head to the door when he heard footsteps. He knew who it was—no one had a step that exuded ferocity like that except for Hyorim. And then all he was thinking about was her.

Honestly, it seemed that when he wasn’t thinking about how to handle this new trouble, he was thinking about her. He noticed that the way he thought about her was starting to change. At first, he had just wanted her out. She was a danger to his pack and it made him antsy and anxious. He had no idea if she’d turn on them—either because she went Feral or because of some other reason. He didn’t know her and that made him extremely cautious. He’d been bitten more than a few times by being too open about strangers before.

It didn’t help that it seemed she was defiant about everything he did or said. It drove him insane. Had he given her any reason to distrust him? Did she have no respect? No sense of preservation? He huffed and sat up to poor himself some more liquor. He wondered how Suho had housed her for so long without losing his mind.

But that was the way he used to think about her. Albeit, he still had his reservations about her and she still drove him insane, but now . . . now it was a little different. She had, he grudgingly admitted, gained his respect. She was clever, fierce, daring. She didn’t take from anyone. She fought back. And with everything she had been through, dare he say it, he admired her.

The only problem was the fact that she was still clinging to her past. She tried to appear as if she had moved on, but she hadn’t. It seemed like her every action was dictated by her fear and her anger. It made her a ticking time-bomb, temperamental. As he poured himself yet another drink, he thought back on their conversation on the way back. Anger ripped through him and he jumped when the cup in his hand shattered. He sighed and grabbed a handkerchief to stop the blood flow. Her story shouldn’t make him so angry, but it did and he didn’t know why.

For some odd reason, he remembered when he walked into Hyorim’s and Sehun’s temporary room. Now there was a scene he didn’t understand. All he remembered was walking in, seeing her clutching the boy tightly to her chest and the next thing he knew, he was letting loose a growl that definitely wasn’t human. Everyone had been startled. Hell, he had been startled, but not just by the growl. But by the rush of anger and possessiveness that had washed over him. She wasn’t a part of his pack, would never be a part of his pack. It made no sense, those emotions.

Maybe my wolf is getting confused. He thought. I’ve been spending a lot of time with her—maybe he thinks she is a pack member. It was the only logical answer he could fathom. His wolf was just confused and it was making him act funny. Something at the back of his mind nagged at him, but he brushed it off.

All he knew was that, because of her, he wasn’t thinking clearly and that was dangerous for everybody. He needed to be focused and clear of mind to handle the present situation. He couldn’t wait for her to finally leave.

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Oh oh oh. It's not a double update, but a TRIPLE update hahahaha

One more after this for today. Hope you guys enjoy it :)