“Hey. Wake up.” I groaned and dug my head further into the sheets. “Hyorim, baby, you need to wake up.”

Baby? Groggily I turned and through sleep heavy eyes I looked at Kris. “Baby?” I mumbled.

He grinned. “You sleep like one, so why not?”

I snorted. “Don’t call me that.” I sat up and tried to wake up, stretching my muscles and back.

Kris eyed me, a rather wolfish grin on his face. “You’re right. You’re definitely not a baby with that body.”

I gaped at him and he laughed at my face. My face turned red and I slapped his arm. “What is with you!?” I should be uncomfortable with the slight innuendo, but strangely, I was only embarrassed.

He laughed. “I don’t know. I can’t help myself. I just feel good. Hm, I need to think of a nickname for you though.”

I rolled my eyes. “No, you don’t.”

“How about babe?”

I groaned. “That’s the exact same one as before!”

“No it’s not.”

“Fine, you can call me babe and I get to call you baboya!” I snapped.

He pouted, puffing out his cheeks. I had a strong urge to slap my hands on both his cheeks and push all the air out. I shoved down the childish urge. “You’re no fun,” he complained. Then he grew more serious. “Lay came in and we talked. So everyone knows I’m okay now. He told me how you took charge while I was out. You’re a great Alpha.” He couldn’t mask the pride in his voice.

I mumbled something and looked down. I didn’t really take praise well.

“I’m starving. Let’s get something to eat.” He got up off the bed and I was mesmerized by what I saw. He was shirtless, his upper torso exposed, despite the few remaining bandages—of which he was currently removing to reveal healed skin. Saliva gathered in my mouth and a low burn set in my stomach. I promptly swallowed and tried to stop the heat rising to my cheeks.

“Hyorim, stop looking at me like that.”

I lost control and blushed, turning my ears, face, and neck deep red. “S-sorry.”

Kris gave a low chuckle and I noted it was much lower than usual. He leaned over and gave me a long kiss. I clenched my legs together in an attempt to stop the heat from spreading, to relieve some pressure, but it wasn’t really working.

Suddenly, the door opened. “Hyorim—whoa!” It was Sehun. I didn’t realize my body had moved, that I was pressing Kris closer to me. It was a very scandalous pose. Humiliated, I quickly pushed Kris away and he gave a very annoyed look at Sehun. I kicked his foot and he gave me that same look. I mouthed at him, “Stop that.”

“U-um. I d-didn’t mean to interrupt, b-but, um, there’s some food . . . waiting for you?” He finished it like it was a question.”

“T-thanks, Sehun. We’ll be right out.” Sehun nodded and closed the door as fast as he could behind him.

“That kid! Is he attached to you at the hip or something?” Kris demanded as he ran his hand through his hair.

“Yah, be nice to him. He’s like a little brother to me.”

Kris eyed me. “He doesn’t happen to love you too, does he?”

I was growing tired of his continuous suspiciousness and possessiveness. Remembering what Sumi had said about how fun it was to mess with male Weres, I quickly pushed down the grin. I blinked innocently at Kris. “You didn’t know? Sehun is in love with me.”

Kris stilled and looked at me. I got up and walked closer to him and he watched me like a hawk. “We used to sleep together, you know.” He snarled at this. I got a little closer and pushed back the hesitation as I walked my two fingers up from his abdomen to his chest. “He would hold me so tight, sometimes.”

“Hyorim,” he said lowly, in a warning.

I finally couldn’t take it anymore and broke out into a grin. “Give me a break, Kris. If you actually believe Sehun and I were ever together, you really are a baboya. He loves me like a sister. We’re pack. Nothing more.” I blushed as I admitted, “No one’s even kissed me before you. So stop worrying. Trust me, would you?”

“Hyorim . . .” There was a low tone in his voice that turned it husky. It sent a pleasant shiver down my spine, but it also made me nervous. My whole plan of making Kris flustered backfired.

“G-get a shirt on. I’ll wait for you outside.” And I quickly made my escape.

Kris stared at the door a few moments, then slowly turned to the closet. What in the world? He had never expected this kind of behavior from Hyorim. He had expected to be working on and with her for a while before ever reaching kissing without asking and even longer to reach this bantering level. It was making things hard on him, making it hard for him to restrain himself. But, then again, Hyorim didn’t seem to mind too much on that front either.

She was one damn confusing enigma.

He changed slowly, thinking about her and the unexpectedly violent ways he reacted to her. And apparently, she to him. He pulled on a shirt, and because his pants were a little too tight on him, he changed into sweats. Thank God Lay kept every closet in the mansion stocked with a few outfits. But he kept thinking and realized that this wasn’t some relationship that would come and go. Not for him.

He was too far gone.

He admitted to himself that he wanted her by his side for eternity. He suddenly envisioned them as mates, married or not didn’t matter—marriage was a human legality that meant nothing to them—and then he remembered how she looked with Sumi’s kid. His gut clenched, turning that baby into theirs. They would have children, lots of them. He would make sure of that. They would raise them and love them and grow old together. They would—

He shook his head. He was thinking much too far ahead when there were too many variables in the equation. He had no idea how far Hyorim was willing to take their relationship, no idea how she’d feel about anything. For her, this was all new and, more than likely, overwhelming. He didn’t want to push too much and have her run away from him—a fear always at the back of his head that turned his blood cold. He would let her set the pace, and so far, it was much faster than he thought it would be.

But there had to be a point where they sat down and talked it all out. Probably after all of this was over, when there was peace and quiet.

The door opened and Hyorim stuck her head in. “Are we going together or not?”

“I want to,” he said quietly.

“Huh?”

“I’m coming.”

The entire pack greeted Kris as we walked through the door. Lay placed heaping plates of food in front of him, knowing full well that the healing process took up most of our energy. Kris plopped down and shoveled it in as I sat down next to him. Lay placed a plate in front of me.

“Did your kiss wake him up?” I looked up only to lock gazes with Kai. What was wrong with this Were? He was always looking for ways to push things over the line. I ignored him and continued to eat.

“In a manner of speaking,” Kris supplied.

Wide-eyed, I turned to Kris. He was smiling, staring at Kai, but the smile wasn’t friendly. He was staring Kai down, challenging him to step up. Kai immediately wilted and went back to his food. Kris noticed me and gave me a wink, before going back to his food. I shook myself and continued eating.

Even though Kris had at least six more plates than me, we finished at the same time. Kris wiped his mouth, then turned to Tao. He was all business now, stepping back into his Alpha role easily. “You and Luhan were told to instruct Suho’s pack on fighting techniques, correct?” They nodded. “Good. But Luhan, I need you to do something for me—meet me in my study later. Chen will take your place.” He eyed Chen who was standing rather protectively over Ai Li who seemed quite annoyed by the fact. “Suho.”

Suho stepped up and I wondered where Sumi was—probably feeding her babies again. They were ravenous monsters, poor woman.

“I need you to contact the other five Council members and see who is willing to assist us when we go to attack the Master’s den.” I was a bit curious as to why he was ignoring the obvious issue of Taejoon. “You’re better at diplomacy than I ever could be. Can you do that?”

Suho nodded and let the room.

“Ai Li, have you gotten anywhere on the old and new shard?”

She nodded. “I’ve got a counter against the Demon Damper and that new shard . . . I knew I had seen it before. It’s in the Werewolf Treatise. It’s a Moon Shard.”

“Moon Shard?”

“The name was based off the tale that your forms shifted only on the full moon. That said, it was supposed to allow a wolf to change outside that period. But it’s more like an enhancer. The curse that you all are under is intensified in the individual it’s embedded in. It allows a much stronger demon to take over. But . . . I can’t see how someone would survive that.”

“He didn’t,” I said absently. They turned to me and I realized I had said it out loud. “He was dying before I killed him. He was bleeding out from his nose, ears, and mouth and this . . . black goop was mixed in with it.”

“Black goop?” Ai Li murmured. “That sounds like ichor, or demon blood.  The demon was eating him from the inside out.”

I shuddered at the thought.

“Is there a way to combat against it?” Kris inquired.

Ai Li shrugged helplessly. “This is . . . much more complicated than the enhanced Demon Damper. It’s also more dangerous—it affects anyone and everyone with a demon in them. And I can’t handle that right now . . .” She looked anxiously at Chen.

Kris huffed and slumped back in his chair. “Fantastic. We need to find a way to match these monsters because there’s no way any one of us will be able to fight against that and win without severe loses.” And then a light lit up behind his eyes as he turned to me. “But you did. You fought it and killed it and survived. How did you do that?”

Taejoon’s word, unbidden and unwelcomed, entered my head. You weren’t synced with your wolf yet. I wanted to help you, so I did. “Sync with my wolf . . .”

“What? What does that mean?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. Taejoon said he sent the Feral out so I would sync with my wolf. But . . . something did happen. It was like . . . my wolf and I weren’t separate anymore. I felt so much stronger and capable. Even now, I . . .” I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

“Taejoon? Who is Taejoon?” Ai Li asked.

I waved her off, motioning that now was not that time for that.  “But how would he know that?” I asked myself. “He’s been a Were as long as I have and I’ve only been able to tap the surface of this world. How could he know any of this?”

Kris was watching me, a curious look on his face. “Hyorim . . .” He started, but he didn’t say anymore. He turned to everyone else in the room. “I need to speak with Hyorim. Alone. Leave.”

Everyone obeyed and left. After a few moments of silence, Kris started to talk.

“Hyorim. I don’t think you know yet, so I’m going to ask you to think about some things, okay?”

I furrowed my brow. “Okay?”

“Why was he in my territory in the first place?”

“He said he smelled me and—”

“Let me finish. Why was he in my territory? Why didn’t he ask for Permission? I may be intimidating, but I’m fair. There is an unwritten law among Alphas to always ask for Permissions before entering another’s turf. The only reason this law is disregarded is either the fact that the Alpha wants to claim another Alpha’s territory, or he’s trying to lay low.” Something was forming in my gut that I didn’t like. “That being said, how did he come across that shard? We haven’t heard of or used these things in the Were world in at least a millennium, so how did someone so new to our world get their hands on it so easily? Even more, how was he able to control that Feral? How was he able to use it to his advantage? No one has been able to do that, no one that we know of except for—”

“The Master.” I said quietly. This revelation was surprising, but not as surprising as it should be. I went back to when we had first met and every time I had felt something was off, something was just wrong with everything. I remembered how I was told by our past prisoner: I’ll let you know one other thing. He’s very interested in you. And then how Ai Li had told me that she had connected, briefly, with the Master, how he seemed to latch onto the memory of me and how familiar he had been about my image.

“I think I knew.” I whispered. That’s how happy and desperate I had been. I wanted to pretend, for just a moment that my life hadn’t completely changed. I had someone who understood what I was feeling, had been where I had been. I had ignored every sign there was that he wasn’t a friend—not anymore. He was the enemy.

“Are you okay?”

What stupid question. “Of course I’m not. Do you not understand what all this means? I have to kill him. Me. Myself. I have to kill Taejoon, a man I had thought was my friend.”

“Who says you have to kill him?”

“It’s my duty . . . in honor of our past friendship, I need to do it. I have to. I have to.”

“You don’t have to do anything. His choices were his own, not yours. He may have been your friend in the past, but that was in the past. The current him deserves nothing from you.” He gently grabbed my chin between his forefinger and thumb and turned me to look at him. “Do you understand? You’ll never have to face anything alone anymore. Just let me help you.”

I closed my eyes, then opened them and nodded my head.

He smiled at me. “Good girl. I need to go and speak with Luhan. Do me a favor and check on Chen and Tao. Since you know what it was like to fight one of them, teach them what to expect and prepare for.”

I nodded.

Luhan was already in the study as Kris opened and closed his door. Luhan lazily turned his head to acknowledge his leader.

“What’s up, duizhang?”

“I want you to go back to the place we were attacked and track down where these guys are currently hiding. I want you to be as discreet as possible and return fast.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s all. Go and ask Ai Li to give you some written directions—she knows where they are.”

“Right-o, duizhang.” Kris eyed his pack member, somewhat worried by his cavalier attitude. “Do you understand the severity of what’s going on?”

Luhan gave him an odd look. “Of course I do. They hurt you and tried to hurt our Alpha’s mate. As soon as you let me, I’m going to ing kill every one of them.”

Kris was somewhat taken aback by the fierceness that emitted from Luhan. Luhan looked rather fragile and delicate, but it was times like these that reminded everyone just how lethal Luhan was. Kris nodded. “Soon,” He promised. “If you want, you can take Xiumin with you. Maybe talk him down while you’re at it. He’s not handling my and Hyorim’s attack very well, or so I hear from Lay.”

Luhan rolled his eyes. “He needs to learn to control his emotions. We had to lock him up in his room and he ing tore it part. God, do you know how much work it’s going to take to clean all that up?”

Kris couldn’t help but chuckle. He made note to spend some more time with Luhan every once and a while—he was more entertaining than he had ever given the wolf credit.

“Anyway. See you later duizhang. I’ll go look for Xiumin now.” He was about to close the door behind him, when he turned around and stared at Kris.

“What?”

“Will you do me a favor? Can you and Hyorim just screw each other already? Because the tension between you two is driving everyone nuts.”

Kris was speechless at Luhan’s brazenness and was still speechless as Luhan smiled and left. He took everything back. He didn’t want to get to know that wolf anymore than he already did.

I did exactly as Kris told her to do. I showed them some moves I thought would be beneficial, both in human and wolf form. As the training went on, I noticed from the corner of my eye Luhan and Xiumin, in wolf form, running into the woods. Not long after, Kris came out of the house and approached the training packs.

As he got closer, my heart started beating faster and a bubble of excitement welled up in my chest. I hadn’t realized I was smiling until he snapped out of his deep thoughts and turned his attention to me and smiled back. He took a seat next to me.

“How are things progressing?”

“As well as they can.”

He hummed and took to watching with me. Without really thinking much of it, I leaned into him and he absently clasped hands with me. For some reason, any kind of touching between us was both soothing and exciting. I wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.

“I like it when you touch me,” I breathed. And then I realized what I had said and my face flushed.

Kris stilled, then relaxed. “I like it too.” We sat in a comfortable silence for a while before Kris spoke up again. “I sent Luhan and Xiumin out to locate Taejoon’s den. I’m not sure how long it will take. I just hope a few other packs will be able to help us out.” He sighed “I wish I had taken this threat more seriously earlier.”

I nuzzled his shoulder, breathing in his scent. It washed over me and my body felt tingly. I took a deeper breath—who knew I woud ever love someone’s scent as much as I would Kris’s?

Kris craned his neck to look at me. “I think we’ll continue our training in the mornings. Just you and me. How does that sound?”

I nodded, my face rubbing against his shoulder. “Sounds good.”

A week had passed since Luhan and Xiumin had left. I was worried, but Kris said he would give them at least a month before he started chasing after them. Suho had gotten a hold of a few of the Council members and was able to convince two of them to come and help us. Suho said that the Russian and European main packs would be arriving sometime next week.

Kris and I had been training. A lot. Kris was still merciless, pushing me to my limits. Sometimes, too far. I’d snap at him and just storm away, but I always came back. Today was no different—he was just as critical and stern as before. But I felt good today and his harsh tones slid off me. He was really close to me right now, correcting a stance.

I was in a very playful mood—a mood I usually only had around Sehun. Without warning, I tackled Kris to the floor, giggling like mad.

“Hyorim, what—ah! Ha! S-stop-p!” Without thinking I started tickling him and I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears as he started laughing and thrashing about. I started laughing harder and got more aggressive, determined to find everywhere he was ticklish.

“Oh my God! You’re ticklish! You’re ticklish!” I was kind of in a deliriously happy mood. Why? I had no idea. I should have been rather sober because of the serious situation we were in, but as of right now, I didn’t care.

“Hyorim! Enough! Enough!” I yelped as he flipped me over. He was laughing and smiling before he returned the favor and started tickling me. I was still giggling. “I’m not ticklish.” I proclaimed.

He pouted. “No fair.” He whined.

I giggled and we stayed in that position as we regained our breath. Rather suddenly, I became aware of our position. Kris was on top of me, propped up by his hands and legs which were on either side of me, trapping me in. Our faces were only inches apart and I became intensely aware of anywhere our bodies touched.

And just as suddenly, Kris leaned down on his elbows and was kissing me, deepening the kiss almost immediately. Pleasure shot down my spine, making me arch my back and press my body into his. One of his arms encircled my lower back and one of his legs tucked itself between my own legs. Both of my hands hiked up his shirt and was touching his abdomen, which rippled beneath my fingers. They crawled to his back and were laying against his shoulder blades, my nails biting into his back.

He groaned and all I could think was how much I wanted this. I really wanted this with him. I wanted him to show me what loving someone could feel like. I wanted him to erase those horrid memories I had of monsters taking my body forcibly. I wanted to know what it felt like to give my body willing to someone I care for, someone I loved.

“Kris,” I breathed as he let me breath and moved his mouth to my jaw and collarbone. “Kirs, I love you.”

His grip on me tightened and he became even fiercer. I tensed for just a moment when I felt his own hands go under my shirt and he paused.

“No . . . keep going.” My voice wavered as a little bit of fear trickled into it.

And Kris heard it. He pulled back, panting. He was barely controlling himself, even I could see that. He tightly closed his eyes and forcibly removed himself from me, sitting up and turning away from me. The loss of his heat was almost painful and I wanted to pull him back.

“I don’t want you to be afraid.” He finally said.

“But I’m not—”

“Yes, you are. You may not see it, but I do. I just want to make sure you’re ready, okay? I don’t want you making a decision in the heat of the moment or for the wrongs reasons and end up regretting it. Just . . .” He gave a frustrated puff of air, running his hand through his hair. “This is what we’ll do. Tonight. Make your decision tonight. If you’re ready to . . . to take our relationship that far, then come to my room. If you’re not, don’t come.”

“But—”

Kris stood up. “I’m going to take a shower.”

Kris made his escape and was in the showers in no time. He turned the shower as cold as he could and stood under it. Damn. Things had escalated quickly, both in the gym and in their relationship as a whole. He felt a little bad, running out like that, but he had barely been restraining himself. But on top of worrying about her regretting things, he also didn’t want their first time to be on a gym floor.

The only thing he could really think about was her decision for tonight. He groaned and leaned his head against the tile. He prayed that she chose yes.

After taking my own shower, I started looking for Sumi. I had been going over Kris’s proposal over and over in my head. I was both touched and utterly exasperated that he was so considerate of me. I was pretty sure I knew my answer, but I wanted to talk to Sumi about it. Sometimes she knew me better than I knew myself. And I was completely lost in this area of life—she knew much more about it than anyone I knew.

I knocked on her and Suho’s door. The one who opened it was Suho, looking tired. “Is Sumi in here?”

He nodded and stepped aside to let me in. Sumi was sitting up on the bed, her back against the wall as she read a book. For once, the twins weren’t attached to her—they were in a crib to the side. She looked up at me and smiled, dog-earing the page she was on and closing her book.

“What brings you here?” I looked nervously at Suho and she got my hint. “Suho, it’s girl time. Shoo.”

Suho nodded and walked over to give her a chaste kiss on the forehead before leaving. I sat down next to Sumi when she patted a spot on the bed. “What do you want to talk about?”

“It’s about Kris.”

“I figured. What’s going on?”

I suddenly had no idea what to say or where to begin. Honestly, I hadn’t thought much about how I was going to broach the subject or exactly what I was going to ask. “Um . . . I’m thinking about . . . sleeping with Kris tonight.”

Sumi laughed. “About time! The tension between you to has been so thick, I’m pretty sure we could have cut it with a knife.”

I gaped at her. “W-what?”

She waved her hand. “Nothing. So what’s the problem?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. We almost . . . did it in the gym, but he stopped and said he wanted me to make my decision tonight.”

She gently nudged me with her shoulder. “And? Have you decided?”

“I think so. I just . . . I trust you. Do you think I’m ready for something like this?”

“You want my honest opinion?” I nodded. “I have no idea. The only thing I know is that you’re ready to be loved and to love someone. You need to decide what that all entails. I can only tell you what to do to a point, and that point was reached some time ago. Now I’m just here to guide you and support you with whatever you decide.”

I sat in silence. That’s not what I wanted to hear, but I think it was what I needed to hear. “Thank you, Sumi.” I said quietly and sincerely.

“It’s what friends are for.” I got up and I was almost out the door, when Sumi said, “But you know, it would be great if my kids had playmates. Just saying.”

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SO. I would like to make it known--I don't write . It's too embarrassing. BUT I will write . . . somewhat graphic/sensitive leading up parts? (Think about what I wrote here between Kris and Hyorim--and other scenes--and add just a bit more and voila. That's how 'ty' it gets). Just thought I'd let all ya'll know in case you were wondering. 

Also, this is still building up. 
I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I both LOVE it and HATE it. Gah. I'm not sure if I like how this is leading up to Kris and Hyorim finally sleeping together(*gasp* did I just give something away!?!? *slaps hand* Bad author!)--I feel like it's forced or something. Is that just me? What do you think? I honestly can't decide.