The best feeling in the world is ultimate freedom, and that's what Choi Jinri constantly craves. To be free. Untied from the chains of constant expectation that everyone has built for her. To be herself, to be free, and to finally live. These nights, when the moon is full and high above the horizon of the ocean, she runs free. They don't last long enough, not near enough to her feel complete, but when the wind brushes her fur back, when her ears hear every sound in the forest beside the ocean as she runs, she feels a little more alive than before. 

These rituals are one she's used to doing alone. She doesn't remember quite how things came to be this way. She remembers playing by the forest as a child, and then waking up alone. Her parents were nowhere to be found, and the only evidence she had of anything happening was a strange bite mark on her wrist, and the nausea settling in her stomach. Still, she walks home. A house by the ocean, where she was born, and resides there until today. It isn't until the first full moon after that night that she realizes what has happened. 

Searing pain, change taking place against her will the moment the moon rises high. Like venom, her blood sears and boils beneath her skin, and her bones shift, breaking and healing instantly as they shape into what she has inherited. She's warm, like being covered by a blanket you can't take off; her senses are heightened to new levels, seeing and hearing distances she never thought imaginable. She is hungry. 

And in the ignorant way of a child, giving in to what she knows to be inevitable, she hunts. 

It's been almost ten years since that first full moon, and now Jinri has grown accustomed to the hunger. Accustomed to the pain that comes with such a burden, both emotionally and physically. When she attends school, she is tired; dark bags under her eyes and a frail looking figure is what she presents to her peers. She imagines that she's looked this way for many years now, but she gives it no chance for a second thought. This is how things are. 

She doesn't have friends. There are a handful of classmates she might associate with on the occasion, though. Soojung, a girl in her grade with remarkable beauty, but an icy expression that makes Jinri wonder if they share the same lonely complex. In her gym class, there's a tomboy who occasionally likes to sit and talk with her. A foreigner named Amber who has charming looks that makes girls sway and boys envious. The last is a bright and cheery girl named Sunyoung. The star of all things musical and dance in their academy, Sunyoung should be rather popular with their peers. Jinri notices her sitting alone in the library more often than not, however, simply staring at the pages of her books. It wouldn't be that big of a deal; studying in the library is a common thing among students. It's just that Jinri knows that blank expression. The way her eyes don't move, and the stillness of her posture. Sunyoung is in another world, only pretending to study to keep others off of her back. Jinri knows because she does the same thing, but not in the confines of the school's library. This is how Jinri lives her life, except the other world isn't just merely in her mind, it's her way of living each time the full moon rises high. 

Sometime in the middle of her senior year of school, they get a new Culinary Arts teacher. Song Quian is her name, and she's from China but would rather they called her "Miss Victoria." She's pretty, so pretty in fact that Jinri has to remind herself to breath the first time she sees her. Jinri has never liked cooking, but she confided in Soojung once that she'd get her schedule changed if just to be in the presence of the pretty Chinese teacher. Soojung giggles, but the blush on her cheeks told Jinri that she's thought the same. She also thinks that she and Soojung grew a little closer then. 

A few weeks later, days before the full moon, Jinri is asked by her homeroom teacher to bring some books she brought for Victoria to her classroom at the end of the day. She accepts, of course, desperate to see the pretty woman once more before she has to take the next four days off from school to recover. She knocks on the door, and after she hears a very muffled "come in," she peeks into the room. Victoria is standing on a stool in the back of the classroom, attempting to reach something that's been placed on a higher shelf, out of her reach. Jinri approaches but doesn't say anything, somewhat amused. The teacher's arms are far above her head, and her scarf has covered resulting in the muffled reply she received earlier. Jinri was just about to ask if she could help in any way, but then something prominent under the hem of Victoria's shirt catches her eyes. 

It's barely visible, a light pink on Victoria's otherwise perfect skin. Just below the hem of shirt, raised due to her current attempt at reaching whatever it was on that shelf, there is a scar. Normal people have scars, Jinri thinks. That's absolutely normal, we all have a past. It's when Jinri realizes that the scar on Victoria's hip matches the one on her wrist that she starts to freak out a little bit. Her nerves bounce around her insides, and she misses Victoria turning around to greet her properly. She misses the look in Victoria's eyes when she see's Jinri looking at her wrist, and the intake of breath when she sees the scar. Jinri is anxious now, too anxious, and before anything can be said, she runs out of the classroom, dropping the books and not looking back. 

Before she leaves that day, she finds a note in her locker with Victoria's address on it, and a message:

This is my address. We need to talk. Preferrably before the full moon. 

Be at this address tomorrow night before the sun sets. 

I'll take care of you. 

The next school day goes by quickly. Jinri has decided, after arguing with herself since she left school the day before, that it wouldn't hurt. It couldn't be a bad thing to know others like herself. But how do other wolves interact? Is it possible for wolves of her nature to even be in packs? What if Victoria is some sort of secret hunter, looking to expose her? Constant doubt streams through her brain, but when Victoria smiles at her in passing, she decides it's going to be okay. Besides, what does someone as lonely as her have to lose? 

Victoria's house is huge. Surprisingly, it wasn't far from her own, just around a bend or two, several miles off the coast. It's three stories above ground, but there's a basement below that isn't visible to the eyes. The house is surrounded by the forest she runs, so she thinks she has a back up to run if anything goes wrong. 

When she gets there, she sees one other vehicle beside Victoria's beamer and wonders who else is here. Who else could there possibly be? She's even more surprised when she goes inside, and is greeted by three other smiles besides Victoria. Amber is sitting on the couch, a game controller in her hand, and Soojung is next to her, yelling that she should use her combo instead of single attack or the dragon isn't going to die. There's a delicious smell coming from the kitchen, and when she follows her nose, she can't help but smile when she sees Victoria rushing around her natural habitat, cooking for everyone there. Sunyoung is there, too, sitting in a chair by the dinner table with a book in her hands. Her eyes are moving this time, and Jinri realizes she's actually reading, very happily judging from the smile on her face. 

"What is this?"

The question sort of falls from Jinri's lips, and she expected everyone to stop and look at her weird but nothing changes. Sunyoung simply looks up from her book and flashes a smile at her. Victoria answers. 

"This is where we live. All of us. After tonight, we really hope to have you with us as well. You aren't alone anymore, Sulli." 

The name fills Jinri with familiarity, but she doesn't know where it's from. Sunyoung answers this time. 

"When you're changed, your alpha generally gives you a new name. Amber is just Amber because she was given that name by her alpha, and even though she lives with us, it's what she prefers. Soojung is actually Krystal, which comes from her own name, actually. Her alpha gave her that name. Since we don't know who your alpha is, and judging by how off you get at the full moon, neither do you.. Victoria wanted to make you feel more at home with us. So she gave you that name. Sulli." Sunyoung smiles then, big and bright. "It's cute. Just like you."

Jinri's cheeks feel weird, and it takes a few moments before she realizes that she's smiling like an idiot. She looks back at Sunyoung, setting her bag down and sitting at the table across from her. "So, then.. What's your name?"

Sunyoung tilts her head, and Jinri is reminded instantly of the way a puppy tilts it's head when it's curious. She giggles. "Oh, mine? Right.. I gave you everyone else's but not my own." She laughs at herself, and Jinri finds her odd character somewhat comforting. "My name is- "

Victoria walks over then, and sets a few plates on the table in front of them. " - Luna. Her name is Luna. Like the moon." Victoria smiles, and one of her hands Sunyoung's cheek and hair before she leans down and places a soft peck on Luna's lips and walks back to get more food for the table. Sunyoung is blushing when she looks back at Jinri, and she tries to form words but they don't quite come out. Jinri helps her out a little, a grin somewhat pulling at her lips. 

"So, Victoria is your alpha?"

Luna opens to answer, but another voice does so for her. 

"Alpha.. Among other things." 

Jinri can't help but giggle at the grin on Amber's face, and the snicker she hears from Krystal behind her as they enter the kitchen. Luna only huffs, somewhat flustered, and returns to her book. They all laugh, and for the first time, Jinri feels a little less alone. 

It's almost time, and though she was nervous before, Jinri.. No, Sulli, finds herself a little less anxious, and a little more excited for this full moon. They eat together, and tell her all about what living in a pack is like. It hasn't even happened yet, but they discuss plans on what they'll do after she moves into the mansion with them. 

She's smiling. She's happy. She isn't alone. Choi Jinri was just a past life. 

Sulli is home.