“Why is it that I’m not surprised to see you stalking me; I’m sorry, standing in front of my house,” Neris corrected sarcastically as she stepped out of her car.

“I’m sure you’re aware that we keep tabs of all things supernatural in this town,” Doojoon reminded her. “And when we hear of things that concern us, I figured I should check in with you. You know, see what’s going on.”

“Ah yes, ‘keeping the balance’ and everything,” Neris snorted. “Come inside, mighty leader of the hunters; grace my home with your presence.”

“I could do without the sarcasm,” Doojoon remarked as he followed Neris inside.

She threw a smirk at him. “That’s the only flavor of hospitality we serve in the Sangster home, sorry.”

She led him into the kitchen and gestured for him to sit at their breakfast bar. After taking a couple sodas from the fridge and placing one in front of Doojoon, she cracked her soda open and looked at him expectantly.

“Well?” Neris quirked an eyebrow as she took a sip. “You had ‘concerns’?”

“You said you were a neutral party,” Doojoon spoke, taking the soda in hand though leaving it unopened.

“I am. Your point?”

“My point is that we’ve gotten word that something has happened which would potentially compromise your neutrality.”

Neris merely blinked as she took another sip. “Speak plainly, hunter boy. I’ve had a long and annoying day, and I’m not in the mood for a runaround.”

“You kissed Kim Himchan.”

Neris sputtered, coughing on the partially inhaled soda. “God, you really are a stalker! And for your information, I only kissed him because he got all weird territorial over me. It was either I kiss him or he goes off on three defenseless teenage girls. And potentially injure them…or worse!” She held out her two hands as if weighing her options, “Kiss wolf-boy or three maimed schoolgirls. I just picked the lesser of two evils.”

Doojoon paused, studying Neris as she huffed. “He got territorial?”

Neris rolled her eyes, “Is that all you heard?”

“Oh, no; I heard it all,” he informed her. “That point just stood out as it poses yet another problem. Wolves only become territorial when they’ve chosen the one they want to mate with. Himchan wants you to be his mate.”

“Yeah, I know,” she waved it off. “He’ll get over it. I’m just humoring him until he does.”

“Lie. You find him attractive. Perhaps not to the extent that you want to be his mate…yet.”

“I’d be an idiot if I said I didn’t think he’s attractive, but that doesn’t mean I want to be his mate. I’m trying my damnedest to stay out of the supernatural world because that’s the only way I can go home. If I keep turning Himchan down he’ll hang around me, and then my mom will find out and I’ll lose my chance to ever return to Beacon Hills before I graduate. At least if I humor him there’s a chance he’ll get bored before my mom returns from her business trip of undetermined length and I get off scot free.”

“He won’t get bored. You do know that, right? Their breed of werewolf mate for life.”

“So I’ve heard, but nothing lasts forever. Especially not with a siren involved,” she added bitterly.

“Should my team and I keep an eye out for any ‘conspicuous events’ related to that?” Doojoon quirked an eyebrow.

Neris shook her head, “No, as long as I keep him at arm’s length he’ll be fine. But if there’s any inclination of romantic intentions from my side…” she clicked her teeth and made a slashing gesture across .

“I know you don’t mean that.”

“No, I don’t,” she admitted. “And thanks for recognizing that.”

Doojoon shifted in his seat, an unreadable expression on his face. “I have to admit I didn’t come here just to talk about your...yeah... I do have another reason.”

“Please don’t ask me out.”

“What? No,” he shook his head wildly. “No, that’s not the reason. It’s just that we’ve heard reports from a few towns over about a mysterious disappearance.”

“Mysterious?” Neris leaned in, her interest piqued. “What’s so mysterious about it that you had to come find me?”

He took in a steadying breath, “Because Yoseob believes – and I’m inclined to agree – that the missing person wasn’t human. We don’t exactly know what they were, since we’re not very well-versed in creatures that aren’t native to our territory. We managed to get some intel about their living quarters; Yoseob thinks they’re not human because whoever owned the property had a pet goat with these symbols carved into its horns.”

“Symbols? Do you know what they are?”

“Um…spirals that branch out and connect in the center?” Doojoon struggled to describe.

Neris pulled out her phone and searched for an image of a triskelion, showing it to him. “Is this it?”

“It is; how did you know?”

“It’s a triskelion; I’ve seen a lot of them,” she admitted dryly. “Triskelion…goat…it was a Fomoire. In Ancient Irish myth they were described as goat headed sorcerers, but that’s completely false. They could only manipulate water – you know, create storms, fog, blizzards – and spread diseases, but they always had a goat familiar.”

“So, you think Yoseob’s right? The person that disappeared wasn’t human?”

“Yes, but more importantly I think they were taken. A Fomoire would never leave their familiar behind.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” he murmured. “I knew you’d have information bout species we’ve never come across before, but now I’m more concerned than grateful. You need to be careful, Neris.”

 “Aw, Doojoon. Are you worried about me?”

“I’m serious, Neris. If you’re right and this was a kidnapping, there’s a chance you could be in danger. This Fomoire isn’t native to our lands, and neither are you. We’re here and the wolves are here to look out for you, but just in case…”

“Hey, hey,” Neris cut him off gently. “Thanks for the thought – really, I do appreciate it – but I’ve had my life threatened a number of times. I can take care of myself. Besides, an incident is just an incident. There’s nothing to go on to lead us to believe it’ll happen again.”

“Let’s hope you’re right.” He replied, not totally convinced.

|||

Junhong stared at Neris, his eyes narrowed at her, as she stood outside the school gates.

“Are you going to let me pass, or are you going to keep being weird?” She wondered, cocking her head at the youngest wolf.

“You smell,” he uttered.

“Well that’s just uncalled for.” She huffed.

“What’s uncalled for – whoa, you stink!” Youngjae coughed as he and the two oldest pack members came up beside her.

“Why do you smell like hunter?” Himchan asked, his face hardened as his territorial side began creeping up on him.

“Doojoon was over at my house yesterday.” Neris mentioned casually. “It’s weird you still smell him – I took a shower.”

“You’re on first name basis with him?” Himchan went on, his fists tightening to the point where his knuckles turned white.

“He needed my expertise on rare supernatural creatures. There was a disappearance – suspected kidnapping, he thinks – in another town and he needed confirmation of something. It’s not something to get worked up over,” Neris explained. “Geeze, I really hope you don’t get like this over everything. The last thing I need is a PMS-ing wolf.”

“Actually, it’s more like PFMS,” Yongguk interjected.

Neris blinked. “You lost me.”

“Pre-Full Moon Syndrome,” Yongguk clarified. At the still blank expression on Neris’ face, he sighed and shook his head, “You didn’t really read the information Youngjae gave you for your bestiary, did you?”

“Still not seeing your point.”

“The full moon is coming soon. We’ll be at our strongest – ”

“Same as the wolves back home,” Neris interrupted.

Yongguk ignored her, “but least likely to be in control. There’s the overwhelming urge to shift, heightened bloodlust – ”

“ – which explains Himchan’s attitude – ”

“ – and heightened libido, especially the wolves who’s found their mates.” Yongguk finished, a small smirk teasing the side of his mouth as Neris realized the implication.  “Not so mouthy now, are you?”

“Ooh, hyung and noona are gonna do the nasty!” Junhong teased in sing-song.

“What do you know about ‘the nasty’?” Youngjae scolded, flicking the youngest on the forehead. “You’re twelve!”

“I’m not twelve!” Junhong insisted, turning to follow after Yongguk and Youngjae as they made their way to the school.

“Could’ve fooled me, what with the way you’re acting,” Youngjae fired back.

In their wake, Himchan and Neris shifted awkwardly in their places, neither meeting the others’ eyes.

“We should…um…class…” Neris motioned vaguely towards the school.

“Yeah…” Himchan agreed, the pair walking unsurely up the path.