WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of extreme violence and some gore. Please exercise caution when reading.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Yongjae wondered, hovering over the table where Hyunseung and Junhyung were working.

“Do you want the truth, or the answer that will make you feel better?” Junhyung returned.

“Clearly I want the truth,” the werewolf sniped, “I’m not going to walk into this fight if you guys are carrying malfunctioning flamethrower.”

“You just worry about doing your part,” Hyunseung  remarked. “Leave the weapon business to the people who are actually going to be using them.”

Across the room from where Hyunseung and Junhyung were building flamethrowers – watched by the critical eye of Youngjae – Yongguk, Neris and Dongjoon were still trying to figure out their plan of attack.

“There has to be some way of trapping this thing,” Dongjoon mused. “We can’t run the risk of it escaping into town; there’d be a bloodbath.”

“We could dig a pit and put spikes at the bottom and cover it all with netting and leaves,” Neris suggested. “Or we could use a good old-fashioned bear trap….and electrify it.”

“Yeah, but we’d have to know which way it was coming from,” Yongguk disagreed.

“The only other thing I can think of is a circle of mountain ash,” she went on, “but it needs to be activated by a human. Taemi’s the only human that knows about this stuff, and there’s no way in hell I’m risking her for this.”

“Not to mention the Wendigo would probably be more difficult to put down if he smells a human nearby,” Doojoon added.

“Good point,” Neris conceded.

“What if we lured it into some place and cut off its escape,” Yongguk suggested slowly.

Doojoon straightened up, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. “That could potentially work. Where were you thinking?”

“The basement of the herpetology building.”

“That place has a basement?” Neris wondered, her lip curled upwards in distaste.

“There were only two entrances to the basement, but for different sections that don’t connect.” Yongguk elaborated. “One was used as an archive and the other held all the generators in case of power failure.”

“We could lure the Wendigo into one of the sections, cut off the exit, and just let it starve to death,” Doojoon suggested. “That way there’s no risk of bloodshed.”

“There’s also no guarantee it’ll die,” Neris argued. “A wendigo instinctively knows how to last long winters without food, hibernating for years at a time.”

“Okay, starving it is out,” Yongguk sighed. “Any other ideas?”

“Does anyone know how to make a bomb?” Neris wondered.

“I’ll answer you once you tell me where this is going,” Doojoon interjected.

“Well, if it looks like we’re not going to win with strength and flamethrowers, the bomb should be a last ditch effort. We set it up somewhere in the basement, and I’ll distract the wendigo long enough for anyone else in the basement to get out.”

Himchan stood up from his spot at the other side of the room, a look of fearful concern on his face. “But then you’d be caught in the explosion too.”

“It’s a risk we have to take,” she argued. “Either one of us plays martyr or we all die and the wendigo gets loose. It’s coming after me, so I seem like a pretty fitting choice.”

“But you could die!”

“The times I’ve almost died could fill up both hands; I think I’ve dodged fate enough times.”

Himchan stared at her, almost shaking as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. “How can you be so nonchalant about all this? Do you understand what it would do to me if you died?!”

“I can’t just think about you right now, Himchan!” She shouted, standing up and slamming her hands on the table. “The guilt I’ve felt after I’ve killed would be nothing compared to what would happen if we just did nothing! There are countless of lives at stake if we fail! With the collector guy gone, the wendigo doesn’t have a steady supply of bodies to keep him sated; he’ll roam free and this town will be razed to the ground if he’s allowed to hunt. All those innocent lives…gone! So don’t you dare be selfish at a time like this.”

Himchan’s head was bowed, his fingers clenching into the wood so hard that it began to splinter. “I’m not going to let you die.”

“I don’t want to die either,” Neris admitted. “So let’s hope that plan A works out.”

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Neris and Hyunseung were stationed outside of the entrance to the herpetology’s basement. Yoseob and Junhyung were inside installing the explosives  in case their attack plan failed. The wolves were running the perimeter and the remaining three hunters were leaving a scent trail to lure the Wendigo to them.

So far, everything was running smoothly. Then again, nothing had actually happened yet.

“How are you feeling?” Hyunseung ventured to ask.

“My heart is in my throat, I feel jittery and I’m really hoping this guy is just strong and not actually a good fighter.” Neris confessed, her voice shaking slightly.

“Don’t worry, we’re all here for you.” He reassured her. “With all of us here, it’ll be a piece of cake.”

But it wouldn’t be; Neris knew it wouldn’t be.

And she was right.

It had started well enough – the wolf pack and hunters gathered back at the herpetology building. Himchan and Neris were inside the basement flanked by Junhyung and Hyunseung, both armed with their flamethrowers.

Doojoon and Kikwang – as well as Yongguk and Daehyun – were stationed on the floor above the entrance to the basement as back up, ready to jump down if a second wave was needed. They were also responsible for closing off every escape route in case the explosive needed to be detonated.

The remaining members were stationed further out, making sure no humans accidentally stumbled into the battle zone.

And then the Wendigo showed up.

It was blasted with fire almost as soon as it entered the basement. The door swung closed behind it, the second wave team having jumped from their spot upstairs in preparation.

But when the fire ceased, the Wendigo was nowhere to be found.

“,” Neris breathed through gritted teeth.

It came from behind them; fast and its razor sharp teeth bared. Himchan noticed a split second before the others, pushing Neris out of its line of attack. In his haste, he accidentally propelled her against one of the generators, her side impacting with one of the squared edges. Her sharp cry of pain distracted Himchan long enough for the Wendigo to latch its teeth on Himchan’s shoulder, biting deeply.

Himchan roared in pain and he took his own claws and dug into the Wendigo’s side, tearing the flesh into thick ribbons. The Wendigo hissed and cast Himchan aside, most likely to return to him once its intended prey was disposed of. Before Himchan had even hit the ground, Junhyung and Hyunseung unleashed their flames on the Wendigo, causing it to shriek in pain and attempt to move backwards, but its route was cut off by a vise-like grip from Himchan from his place on the floor.

From behind the hunters, her eyes completely out save for the bright red iris and her talons unsheathed, Neris leapt and tackled the singed Wendigo, not caring if the flames were still spraying in its direction. They hit the ground, Neris taking the opportunity to wrap her fingers around its throat, her talons digging into the flesh at the nape of its neck. Though momentarily fazed, the Wendigo quickly shoved Neris aside and flung her backwards, immediately clamping its teeth on her side.

Neris gave a shout and brought her elbow sharply against its temple, dazing it slightly. It wasn’t enough to get it to let go completely, but just enough for the bit to slacken. Neris grabbed the back of the Wendigo’s head and pulled it off of her, the teeth dragging along her skin. Ignoring the pain, Neris took her hand and shoved it through the Wendigo’s chest, breaking through muscle and bone in her fury.

“Never mess with a siren’s mate, ,” she ground out, grabbing ahold of the Wendigo’s heart and ripping it out of its chest, the thin tissue shredding from the force and her talons.

The Wendigo gurgled and seized violently as blood began to flood its insides. Neris felt herself being pulled back and looked up to see Junhyung and Hyunseung, muted horror on their faces.

“It’s over,” Neris muttered, and the blood loss coupled with the dissipating adrenaline sent Neris into a dead faint.

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Neris woke up in Himchan’s bed – his scent gave it away before she had even opened her eyes. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, squinting as the sunlight steaming from the windows hit her directly.

“She’s up!” She heard Junhong yell, hearing rapid footsteps towards where she remembered the door to be, “Everyone, Neris noona is up!”

“Where’s Himchan,” she asked, half disappointed that he wasn’t there when she woke up and half worried that the wounds from the Wendigo had done more damage than she thought.

“He’s still getting fixed up” Junhong informed her. “He wouldn’t let the others touch him until you’d been taken care of.”

Himchan burst through the open door, shirtless with a large piece of gauze covering the wound on his shoulder. He didn’t say anything, only falling to his knees and taking her hand in his, his forehead gently resting on their intertwined hands.

“You’re such an idiot,” he finally muttered, his world muffled by the close proximity to the bedsheets. “Who told you to be so overprotective and territorial?”

“Territorial?” She chuckled, wincing as she rolled over onto her side. “You’re the one who led by example. You’ve been that way since we met. And how am I the idiot? I mean, what was that? Shoving me out of the way – you left yourself wide open.”

Himchan said nothing, instead lifting his head and pressing his lips against hers. “Don’t scare me like that again.”

Neris gave a soft smile, “I honestly don’t think a situation like this will happen anytime soon.”

Himchan returned the smile, leaning to reclaim her lips.

“You guys are so weird,” they heard Junhong mutter, having forgotten he was still in the room.

“You don’t have to be here you know,” Himchan growled teasingly, shooing the younger wolf out of the room so he could return to kissing his girlfriend in peace.

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Neris didn’t stay in Bonghwa Eondeog forever. Eventually she returned to the U.S. to go to university, fulfilling her promise to her pack to be reunited with them.

But she didn’t return alone.

Himchan wouldn’t admit it, but it was a little difficult for him to adjust to a different culture, a new language, and a new wolf pack. He wasn’t completely a part of Scott’s pack, only having followed Neris, but he was soon cracking jokes with them as if he’d known them forever.

As Himchan and Neris walked along the campus, their hands intertwined, Stiles ran up to them, slightly crumpled papers in his hand.

“Werebears,” was all he could mutter through his panting.

“Werebears,” Neris repeated tonelessly.

“This university has tunnels underground and a bunch of werebears go there to transform. Look,” Stiles shoved the papers towards them.

“Stiles, as interesting as that sounds, what exactly do you expect us to do?” Himchan wondered.

“Are you kidding? They’re werebears! We gotta find out who they are!” Stiles explained emphatically. “Where’s Scott? We gotta tell Scott.”

The pair smiled and trailed after Stiles as he pulled out his phone and began rapidly texting Scott. Himchan leaned over and kissed Neris on the forehead, pulling his hand out of hers and placing his arm around her shoulder.

Normal? They wouldn’t ever be truly normal.

And they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Thanks to everyone who has subscribed to and read this story. A huge thank you to all those who have commented! 

I hope you've enjoyed this story, even though it's taken us a while to get to the final chapter.

This won't be my last story, though I don't know when the new one will be posted.

Thanks again to all of you, and stay gold!