Neris had learned that the cat-dragon’s name was Himchan – the very Himchan that would be sitting in front of Neris at school, though she left that fact out – and the five other boys that had stood in front of her home with him were all in the same pack. Their Alpha was the broad shouldered man that had broken – and subsequently forgotten to fix – her front door. Neris was still pissed that she had to repair it on her own. The boy she had saved was their youngest member, Junhong, who they affectionately referred to as Zelo. Daehyun was the one who had informed her that turning into wolves was common for them. The remaining two were Jongup and Youngjae.

All this information was information Neris neither wanted nor needed. But, she let Himchan ramble on in hopes that he would tire himself out and leave.

“So, what are you?” He asked, catching Neris off guard.

“I – what?”

“You don’t smell human,” he explained. “And you knew what Yellow Monkshood was – something not even Yongguk really knows about.”

Neris was silent. There was no logical reason to not answer, and yet Neris found herself hesitating to do so. He and his pack would be more likely to stick around, to ask favors of her. If she was to maintain a supernatural-free lifestyle she couldn’t have a wolf pack sticking around, much less the hunters that were following them.

She was being selfish, she knew that. Neris was unfortunately a selfish person. She usually acted the hero because she was going along with what her friends were doing, oddly enough. She was someone who was quick to anger, who acted first and thought later, and though she was smart she often left reason at the door. She could very easily grab Himchan and throw him out of the house, using her manipulation abilities to make sure he never approached her again.

And yet, there was a thought nagging in the back of her mind: What would Scott do? Scott McCall, her best friend and True Alpha, was one of the few people in the world who was a genuinely good guy. Regardless of his own desires, Scott would want to help. And Scott would understand Neris’ inability to stay out of the supernatural.

‘She can’t stop us from going to the same college,’ he’d say in consolation.

Stifling the groan that was threatening to escape, Neris resolved herself to be sacrificing – knowing she would probably regret it very soon. “I’m a siren.” She told him. “Like Greek mythology, though the legends are mostly wrong.”

Himchan stared blankly at her.

“You…don’t really know what I’m talking about, do you?” She asked grimly.

He shook his head slightly, “Greek mythology isn’t really something that’s focused on in our school.”

“Fair enough,” Neris acquiesced. “I essentially had to teach my own pack about it; why not another one?”

Himchan sat up straighter, “Wait, you were part of a pack?”

Neris held up a warning finger, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?”

She motioned for Himchan to follow her to the bookshelf, which she promptly pulled back to reveal the door to the secret basement. She’d already – sort of – revealed it to Yongguk and now she was showing it to Himchan. For a secret basement, it was doing a poor job of staying hidden.

The basement in her new house was much like the one at her old one. A standard-sized endless pool lay on one end of the large room, an assortment of equipment – a punching bag and a wooden training dummy, to name a few – was organized nearby. Neris was leading Himchan to the spot nearest the entrance, the place where all their supernatural relics were held.

 Neris pulled out a small, thick, leather-bound tome and handed it to Himchan, “This has all the information you’ll need about what I am, and about the other things in this world. It’s called a bestiary.”

Himchan flipped through is curiously, “You’re not Korean, though; why is this all written in Korean?”

“It once belonged to a former neighbor of mine,” she explained. “I lived in New York City’s Koreatown – it’s why I can speak Korean – and one of my neighbors was half-goblin. He was nearing the end of his supernaturally extended life and gave this to me. I guess he knew it would come in handy. Anyways, there you go. Now you don’t have to bother me.”

Without a word, she turned and made her way back upstairs leaving Himchan to follow helplessly behind.

“Just one more thing,” Himchan began as Neris shut the basement door and hid it with the bookcase. “Yongguk –”

“I don’t want to be part of your pack,” Neris told him flatly. “I have my own pack, and I’m not looking to replace it. If you guys are injured and near death, then fine, I’ll help. But that’s all I’m willing to do. Take it or leave it.”

She was being harsh and she knew it. The way Himchan’s face fell tugged at her heart, but she shoved it down. She was in too far already. There were hunters going after the pack he belonged to; Neris wasn’t about to have another target placed on her because of them.

“But, aren’t you curious why we can turn into wolves when you’re under the impression that it’s rare?” He pressed, hoping for her answer to change.

Yes. She was. But she wouldn’t admit that.

“I’m sure it’s in one of our other bestiaries.” She gave a shrug. “You should get back to your pack; it’s late.”

|||

It was hopeless to think she could avoid them at school. The way her luck had been recently, it was no surprise that the whole pack were her fellow students. She was walking alongside Taemi when she spotted them in the school courtyard.

“Ah, looks like Yongguk and Himchan are back today,” Taemi mused, staring in their direction. Neris only gave a small grunt in reply.

As the pack caught sight of her, one of the boys – either Youngjae or Jongup, since Neris didn’t have a face to put the names to yet – came bounding up and enveloping her in a hug with his nose stuffed in her hair. Neris stiffened as the boy breathed in deeply, casting a bewildered glance at the girl beside her.

“Hey, sophomore! What do you think you’re doing?” Taemi shouted, trying to pry the boy from her new friend.

“Jongup, enough,” a deep voice ordered, Neris recognizing it immediately.

So this was Jongup; she could finally see his face clearly as he was pulled away by Yongguk. He had tanned skin that framed his cat-like features and almond shaped eyes nicely.

“But hyung,” Jongup whined. “What if we have to find her? We should know what she –”

“Enough,” Yongguk repeated, his voice more stern as he gave a warning glance at the younger boy.

Neris cast a scathing glare at the Alpha, “Control him better, will you?”

Not allowing him to respond, Neris looped her arm through Taemi’s and led the girl away with a huff of annoyance.

“That was so weird,” Taemi muttered as they neared the school’s front entrance. “Jongup’s normally the shy one of that group, and there he was just smelling you.”

“Trust me, that’s not the weirdest thing that’s happened to me.” Neris admitted ruefully.

|||

It was a bit harder for Neris to concentrate in class that day – thankfully, neither Yongguk nor Himchan made any attempt to talk with her. Lunch, however, would be a different story. There would be no teacher to scold them for disruption.

“I never did ask,” Neris began as she sat across Taemi at one of the lunch tables. “Why do you sit alone?”

“What do you mean?” Taemi wondered, her head slightly cocked to the side.

“Well, you’re pretty and I assume you’re pretty smart since I heard you’re ranked third in the senior year.” Neris explained. “Now, I don’t know about your money situation – and, personally, I don’t really care about that stuff – but if you do have money then you have all the ingredients to be a…what do they call it? Oh, yeah, a ‘queenka’.”

Taemi gave a small, unattractive snort. “Yeah, I could be a queenka if I wanted to be.”

“Then why aren’t you?” She wondered.

“Because I have a very low tolerance for bull,” Taemi admitted frankly.

Neris gave a slow clap as she looked on with an approving grin. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”

Taemi laughed and shook her head at her new friend with a wide smile on her face. Her smile faded slightly as her eyes drifted towards the entrance of the cafeteria. “Oh, incoming.”

Neris turned around to see five of the six boys walk in, greeted immediately by the sighs and giggles of the majority of the females in the cafeteria. The five boys paid them no mind, but Neris was wide-eyed in surprise.

“Tell me that didn’t actually just happen,” Neris spun around to Taemi. “Tell me these girls aren’t actually fawning over those boys.”

Taemi gave a small shrug. “Afraid I can’t do that.”

“But this is high school. They have fangirls in high school? Come on.”

“What can I say, the boys of B.A.P. are hot commodities at this school.” Taemi informed her just before slurping a spoonful of soup. “Nearly every girl wants to date them – even Junhong, the only freshman in the group. Although, I don’t see him here today. Must’ve gotten detention.”

“Hold on,” Neris held up her hands to stop the flow of conversation. “They have a name?”

Taemi chuckled. “Best Absolute Perfect. They didn’t make it up themselves, but they haven’t exactly told people to stop using it.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Neris couldn’t believe it. This was high school and these boys were named as if they were a boy band.

“It’s the unfortunate truth,” Taemi slurped another spoonful. “And you’ll hate this bit: they’ve even got a fan club.”

It was official. This town was far weirder than Beacon Hills.

“I heard some guys talking after school yesterday,” Taemi went on, a teasing smile on her face. “Looks like you’ll have one too, soon.”

Neris gave a heavy groan, her head falling against the table in despair causing Taemi to chuckle.

“Just don’t start dating one of the B.A.P. boys,” Taemi more. “Cause then their fangirls will go after you, and your fanboys will start defending you. This school will be torn apart by a fan war.”

Neris lifted her head to glare at her new friend, “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Taemi shrugged playfully, “It’s about time something interesting happened in this town. Ooh, can I come over to your house? I might make some money selling your things to your fanboys.”

“Taemi!” Neris half-shrieked, half-laughed, knowing full well the girl was joking but smacking her arm regardless.