A sharp, stinging slap rang out as Riga struck Neris across her cheek.

“You promised me.” Her mother was seething. “Do you know how worried I was when the call got cut off? I heard you hit the ground; I heard you get dragged away. This is exactly why I moved us away from Beacon Hills.”

“I don’t see how getting kidnapped – which, by definition means it happened against my will – is all of a sudden my fault.” Neris bit back, staring her mother down. “And since you seem so worried: yes, I’m fine.”

Riga’s eyes flickered over to Himchan, who had been standing awkwardly by. “We’ll talk about that later. Who is this boy?”

“I’m sorry, are you suddenly trying to act like a mother? I think you actually have to be present for that to be effective.”

“Don’t give me that kind of attitude, Neris. Your shenanigans are getting out of hand. Do you have any idea what you’ve put me through?”

Neris stared at her mother, “Do you have some kind of victim complex? I mean, really – what I’ve put you through? For half my life you made me terrified of what we are and even now you’re constantly trying to get me to pretend to be something I’m not. I’ve just come back from getting kidnapped and tortured – again – and the first thing you do is hit me. Who the hell are you?”

“I’m your mother.”

“Are you?”

It was either from anger, frustration, or an attempt to mask her own guilt, Riga reared back to deal another blow. This time, it was stopped as Himchan caught Riga’s wrist gently in his hand.

“I had hoped to meet Neris’ mother under better circumstances,” he spoke evenly, his voice not betraying whatever emotion he was feeling. “But her mother or not, I won’t ever tolerate someone laying a hand on my mate.”

Neris’ mother’s eyes grew wide as her gaze shifted from Himchan to her daughter. “Mate?”

Neris simply stormed out of her house. She didn’t know what emotions would come pouring out of her if she stayed, and she had no intention of finding out. Himchan followed after her, neither saying a word as they walked out with not even a word coming from her mother.

“Can I stay at your place tonight?” Neris asked as they made their way down the sidewalk, her voice betraying her as it gave a slight crack.

“Of course you can,” he told her. “Are you – ”

“Please,” she cut him off gently. “Please don’t ask me. Not right now.”

|||

He let her cry.

Most of it was out of frustration – anger at her mother and the way she reacted to the recent events. But Himchan knew that it was also the fear and shock sinking in. Regardless of the fact that Neris was strong and capable of defending herself, she was also put in a dangerous situation yet again.

As they lay in his bed, wrapped in bundles of blankets, he held her close as she cried hot, angry tears. He wouldn’t push her to talk until she was ready.

Finally, she calmed down, soft hiccups popping up here and there as she spoke.

“She wasn’t always like this.” Neris spoke softly. “We actually used to be close. But when things in Beacon Hills started to get more dangerous, she just – I guess she just broke. She reverted back to how she was when my dad died; scared…paranoid. I don’t even know why I bother trying to get her to stop.”

“She’s worried about you, even though she’s going about it the wrong way.” Himchan rubbed her back gently. “No matter how much I want to, you never let me step in and protect you. But I’m always going to keep trying, because I care about you and want you safe.”

Neris sniffed. “Are you sure that’s not the mate thing making you say that?”

He chuckled, the deep sound sending vibrations through Neris’ body. “Well, I can’t say for sure, but I do think that it makes those feelings stronger. All I’m trying to say is that we each have our own way of going about things. Your mom might be pushing you away because she doesn’t know how to help, not because she’s afraid of you.”

“Maybe,” she muttered, burying her head into the crook of his neck.

Himchan breathed in deeply, humming as he exhaled. He rolled over so he was hovering over Neris, his nose skimming against hers as a soft smile spread across his cheeks.

“You’re not going to…”

He shook his head lightly. “We can save that for another time.” He closed his eyes, gently rubbing the pad of his thumb along her cheek. “Having you here, in my arms, do you know how happy that makes me?”

A pink tinge crept across Neris cheeks as she turned away to hide. “Oh my god, that was so corny.”

“What, you don’t like it?” He teased. “You don’t want me to tell you how you make me feel? Like my heart is so full it’s going to burst? How every time I see you I just want to take you in my arms and kiss you silly?”

“Okay, no more,” she couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her lips. “You’re cut off.”

Himchan chuckled and rolled back to his original position next to her, his arm draped over her stomach. “I hate to break it to you, but I’m only going to get worse as time goes on.”

He was surprised when Neris placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Thank you.” She whispered, her warm breath tickling his skin.

He shifted so he was facing her, his arm tightening around her waist. “What for?”

“For being normal…for a werewolf, I mean.” She added, her hand coming up to play with the ends of his hair.

His eyebrows furrowed. “Not that I don’t appreciate the remark, I’m just a little confused.”

She gave a small smile. “You…your pack…you talk about things so easily with each other. Back in Beacon Hills, there was always this overhanging threat of the next ‘big bad’ that would come and make everything fall to that we didn’t have a lot of opportunities to just be normal. I envy you, you know?”

Himchan reached up and took Neris’ hand in his, bringing it down to hold against his chest. “Neris,” he spoke softly, his eyes holding an intensity she had only seen a few times before.  “You’re my mate; you’ll always have a place in our pack. And even then, I’ll never leave your side, and I promise to be so mediocre you won’t know what to do with it.”

Neris rolled her eyes, but snuggled up to him regardless. “You’re ridiculous.”

“You love it.” He teased.

“I do,” she spoke softly, so softly that someone with normal hearing wouldn’t have caught it.

He wouldn’t push her to repeat herself, knowing she was emotionally spent from the events that night. He was satisfied with the small confession he got then. There’d always be another chance to get her to admit her feelings.

|||

Neris and Himchan woke up to the sound of a cellphone blaring. As they disentangled themselves from the other they fumbled for their respective phones, trying to find the source of the noise.

Himchan reached his first – answering the call that had pulled the duo out of their sleep. “Yongguk, what is it?”

“Tell him to call back later,” Neris groaned, shoving her face further into the pillow, attempting to fall back asleep.

“Her body….Jinhee’s body was taken.” Yongguk informed him, sounding utterly bewildered and – Himchan hated to hear it – fearful.

“Jinhee’s body is gone?” Himchan repeated.

Neris shot up, all thoughts of sleep banished. “Who’s body is gone?”

“Jinhee, the girl who ended up not being a runaway but a victim of that collector guy.” Himchan explained quickly before returning to the phone call. “Are you sure? Are her parents, her pack…are they absolutely sure?”

“I don’t see how they can’t be, since the mortuary door was completely ripped open and the cell where her body was stored is empty.”

“So, could the person who took the body be like us?” Himchan wondered, “I mean, not human.”

Neris grabbed the phone from Himchan, ignoring the disgruntled noise that came from him. “Yongguk, please tell me you thought to look at the CCTV footage.”

There was a pause on the end of the line, “No, I didn’t.”

She let out a huff of air and shook her head. “Wow, you guys really have had it easy here. Okay, here’s what we’re going to do: you’re going to the footage, I’ll get my bestiary just in case, and Himchan and I will meet at your place to review the footage. Okay?”

“How am I supposed to get the footage?”

“Get her parents to ask – it’s their daughter,” Neris instructed. “Now, get to it; Himchan and I will be at your house in half an hour.”

She hung up the phone and tossed it lightly to Himchan, who was staring at her with an eyebrow raised.

“What?” She wondered defensively.

“Nothing,” he chuckled lightly, “it’s just interesting how much experience you have with this stuff that you’re able to come up with a game plan so quickly.”

“Trust me, interesting is not the word I would have chosen.”

|||

They had sifted through hours of footage from the cameras in the mortuary. No one that worked there had any idea when the body was taken, since the mortuary was closed for a private viewing that lasted nearly a full day.

Finally a figure appeared on the screen, tearing the door open and walking calmly into the mortuary. The figure looked human, male, and there were no distinct features save for his inhuman strength to make him seem anything other than human. When he took the girl’s body from the cell and slung her over his shoulder, everyone leaned in closely to catch a glimpse of the mysterious man’s face as he turned towards the camera.

“Pause, right there,” Yongguk ordered, and Himchan struck the corresponding button so swiftly he was afraid he might’ve broken it. “Neris, can you figure out what it is? I mean, with features like that, that’s clearly not a human.”

“Yeah, I can tell what it is…and I don’t even need my bestiary.” She replied grimly. “Milky white eyes, shark like teeth…it’s a Wendigo. A cannibalistic shapeshifter that craves human flesh and blood; they’re crazy strong, and very crafty. They’re pretty much the perfect predator.”  

“Then why would it go after someone who’s already dead?” Yongguk wondered. “And if it eats human flesh, why pass up all the other human bodies there and go for a werewolf instead?”

“Wait…the first victim of the collector,” Himchan began. “The Fomoire…its body was never found. And Jinhee was also a victim, and now her body has been taken. It’s a possibility that the collector could have brought the wendigo here.”

“No, it’s me,” Neris moaned, her head falling to her arms. “I’m ing cursed.”

“You’re not cursed,” Himchan patted her head lightly.

“Oh yeah? Well, if you’re right, that means that the Wendigo is following the path of the collector. Which means he’s coming here next.”

“So we fight it.” Yongguk decided. “The hunters took care of the collector; we can take care of this Wendigo.”

“Yongguk, you don’t understand. A Wendigo is strong enough to not only fight against an alpha werewolf…but it’s very possible that it could win. And to be completely honest, I’m not confident the pack could win against one without suffering some of the worst wounds imaginable and possibly even dying.”

“Then how do we kill it?” Himchan pressed.

Neris huffed and leaned back into the chair she’s plopped herself into. “The only time I’ve come across them was when the bounty list was circulating and every supernatural creature had a target on their back and a price on their head. They were taken out by someone we called The Mute – an incredibly well trained military fighter…who didn’t have a mouth.”

“Hang on…a human took one out?” Yongguk wondered. “Then what was all that about not having confidence in the pack?”

“I never said he was human. We just didn’t know what he was.” Neris corrected. “He killed almost an entire family of Wendigos in their sleep, and the remaining one that he took out later was just a teenager. This guy," she pointed to the image on the screen, "is fully grown.”

“Then what do you propose?”

“We need to team up with the hunters again.” She replied. “And also we need to get our hands on a couple of flame throwers. Or several. One for each of us is preferable. Well, except for me, since I can do that on my own.”

Himchan nodded knowingly, having been told all about the abilities granted by the Strophalos branded into Neris’ skin. Yongguk, however, was utterly confused.

“Wait…you can what?”