You ran. It was stupid, but it’s what you did, not really seeing any other options. You ran to your bedroom, slamming the door closed and locking it before running for the window. The clasp on the window was rusted from lack of use, making you work hard to shove the damn thing open. Before you could start climbing out of it, Eun Na’s face appeared before yours.

“Boo!”

She laughed maniacally as you scrambled back. Her two goons yanked you up by your arms, holding you in place while Eun Na stepped back inside.

“Running from witches?” she scoffed. “Not a very smart move. I mean, did you actually think you’d get away?”

“Just leave me alone!” you screamed, the force ripping at your throat. “How can any of this be worth it?”

The smirk disappeared from her face before you could blink. She stepped up so she was nearly toe to toe with you. Her voice lowered to a menacing tone, sending a shiver down your spine.

“You have no idea how worth it all of this is.”

Her eyes left you, motioning with her eyes for the ones holding you to move out. When you got back to the living room one of them let go of you, heading to Jongdae and throwing him over his shoulder. A hand covered your mouth, only a cloth separating your skins. You fought against the hold, trying not to breath in the chemical you knew the cloth was soaked in. It took longer than you’d imagined, but eventually you lost the fight and consciousness.

**

After waking up in the middle of the forest again, you were really considering the thought of never seeing another tree for the rest of you life. This time, though, you weren’t scared. You were angry. Angry that you were once again in this position and that really this was all your fault. You were the one who wanted to stay in your vulnerable apartment instead of surrounded by the safety of the pack. If you hadn’t asked to stay in the city, you wouldn’t be here in this position.

Now, you were lying down on a ritualistic slab of rock, your wrists chained above your head, making escape impossible. Looking around, you seemed mostly alone in a meadow, save for Jongdae, who was so chained down to his own concrete column he couldn’t even save himself. You pulled at your restrains that were digging into your skin, rattling the metal against the rock. The noise seemed to wake Jongdae from his unconsciousness.

“(y/n)?”

You tried to sit up, but your ankles were also locked down, keeping you from changing positions.

“I’m okay,” you reassured him, adding to yourself, “for now.”

Jongdae growled, wiggling back and forth to loosen his restraints. It was pointless. As strong as he was, there were at least five layers of brand new chains wrapped around him, keeping him firmly against the column

“Oh, goody, you’re awake.”

Eun Na, along with her with her coven, emerged from the trees. They were back in those black robes. Out of desperation, you pulled at the chains again and again. A useless effort, but one you couldn’t quite stop until Eun Na was right next to you and she put her hand on your wrists, stopping the movement gently. A strange gesture considering the circumstances.

“Get away from her!” Jongdae roared. He went ignored.

Eun Na’s eyes were nearly unreadable when she looked down at you, but what you could catch was a sadness. You prayed that there was enough of a conscience in her to change her mind at the last minute and let you go, however miniscule that hope was. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the vial that held the potion that was supposed to keep you alive.

“Did you enjoy my little gift I sent to you?” she mused. At sympathy was gone from her gaze, the evil smirk had taken over. “Considering you didn’t use this little protection spell when you had the chance, I’m assuming so.”

“You really wanted me dead that much?” you whimpered, your voice catching for a second in your throat.

“It wasn’t about killing you,” she corrected, putting the vial back in her pocket. “It was simply about making sure you stayed unmarked. See, as soon as you were marked, you’d be useless to us, protected by the same magic that protects all werewolves from us. And thus we wouldn’t be able to use you to break that protection. That’s all I cared about. When I caught wind that the two of you might actually be coming together as mates, I couldn’t take the risk of you being marked before I could get to you again.”

Taking a deep breath, you closed your eyes, fighting the tears that were building up in your eyes. You were so sick of crying, so sick of being in this position. But this was the explosion you predicted to Jongdae during your argument just a few days ago. You hadn’t expected it to come this soon.

“Just tell me why, Eun Na,” you whispered. “Why you are so hell bent on breaking the treaty and killing the pack?”

Jongdae had told you about the treaty Junmyeon’s great-great-grandfather had made with the coven head during his time. They all simply wanted peace in the town they called home and so they agreed to live without fighting, to no longer harm the other and their families. It’d lasted generations and now it was being torn apart.

Eun Na lowered down so her eyes were mere inches from yours. “My sister.”

Your jaw dropped. “Y-your sister?”

She’d never told you about having any siblings. You always assumed that she was an only child. Then again, she never divulged any information about her family. It was mind boggling as you thought back, realizing how little Eun Na talked about herself, never really giving you details about her life beyond the classroom.

“Eun Bi,” she mumbled. “My baby sister.” She straightened up, her eyes settled down, looking at nothing in particular. “She was such a bright light. Not an evil bone in her body. I was so scared when she went off to college because I wouldn’t be there to protect her. She wanted to do something on her own without me hovering over her so she took off to a distant university. I should have been there to protect her.”

Eun Na looked off to the tree line, pausing to keep herself together before continuing.

“When I discovered she was dating a werewolf, I tried to warn her that she would get hurt. But she didn’t listen. And she sounded so happy on the phone that I couldn’t keep arguing with her. And then that bastard found his mate. He dropped my sister without thinking twice about it, simply telling her sorry. She was devastated. She couldn’t think straight. She went to go plead with him and he lost his temper when she started talking about how his mate ruined them.”

Her fingers were digging into the rock, her nails scraping against it as her grip tightened on the edge. “He shifted and attacked her, clawing her face and neck down to her collar bone. She’s lucky she still has her sight, but now she’ll be scarred for the rest of her life. And even after that, she still declared that she loved him, that she wanted him. So, she tried to break the mate bond between them to get him back. She didn’t know that one of them needed to be a willing participant in the spell, so she failed. But the coven she’d joined found out about it and had her expelled from the order. She can never join another coven, never have another family to accept her. All in the name of love for a mongrel.”

A fire was now raging in Eun Na’s eyes, making you feel the heat from where you were. She grabbed your chin, her fingers squeezing your jaw with a fierceness you’d never experienced from her before.

“That is why I am doing this. That is why I am willing to do whatever it takes to eradicate those stupid dogs from the face of this earth. For my sister’s sake.”

“But it wasn’t someone from this pack, was it?” You hoped it wasn’t. None of the mated wolves had mentioned anything about an Eun Bi or accidentally attacking someone out of anger.

“No,” Eun Na answered between clenched teeth. “Eun Bi was going to school in a coastal town. But it doesn’t matter. Once I’m powerful enough to destroy this pack, I’ll continue to wipe out each wolf I come in contact with until I make it to his pack. I’ll save him and his mate for last.”

“You’re insane,” you concluded.

Eun Na pursed his lips, contemplating your comment. “No. I’m simply willing to do anything for my family. Now, it’s time to say goodbye, (y/n). Because once the ritual is done and poor Jongdae here has watched you die, he’ll be the next one to go.”

“You crazy !” Jongdae screamed. “Don’t you dare touch a single hair on her head!”

Eun Na barely acknowledged him over her shoulder. “Ha. I don’t think you’re exactly in a position to be making threats.”

“No, but I am.”

Junmyeon emerged from the trees along with the pack.

Eun Na pulled a knife out of her robe, pressing it against your neck.

“Take one more step and I’ll cut ,” she warned.

“No, you won’t,” Junmyeon countered. “You need her, you won’t just kill her outright.”

Eun Na’s determined face flickered for a moment from being caught in her bluff. She turned to her coven.

“Now!”

The one you remembered from the bonfire, Tonya, was closest to the pack and threw a powder into the air, making the boys scramble back. As soon as the powder reached the grass, a wall of fire sprung up, separating the two groups, keeping you and Jongdae on the wrong side.

Eun Na began chanting, putting all her concentration on you and spreading what you recognized as wolfsbane ash around you on the slab. You stared past her, keeping your eyes on the pack. You watched them all transform into their wolf selves, ready for battle as pieces of fabric sprayed everywhere. Bravely, they all jumped through the wall of flames, chasing after the coven members that were scrambling to keep Eun Na protected as she completed the spell.

Three of the wolves went to Jongdae, clawing at the chains and breaking them little by little. Soon, he was free and immediately ran towards you. All the wolves flanked him, attacking any human that dared to try and stop him and block his way to you.

Jongdae tackled Eun Na before she could finish, pinning her to the ground.

“It’s time to end this,” he growled, lifting his hand back behind his head as his claws grew to deadly talons. He was going to kill her. As much as you wanted to be free from her wrath, you didn’t want her death on your conscience.

“Jongdae, no!” you screamed.

He stopped before he could swing, his eyes flickering back and forth between you and Eun Na. Instead of killing her, he swung at the chains holding your wrists hostage, freeing you.

You sat up as the white wolf you recognized as Sehun ran towards the three of you, stepping on Eun Na to keep her down as Jongdae scrambled up to you.

There was only way to end all this without death being involved. At least, without Eun Na’s death.

“Jongdae,” you choked as he pulled you into his arms, tears spilling out of both your eyes and his.

“It’s okay,” he murmured, rubbing your back soothingly. “You’re safe.”

You shook head, staying in the comfort of his embrace. “No. I won’t be until as long as I remain like this.”

Stiffening, Jongdae pulled back. “What do you mean?”

“You need to mark me,” you declared, getting the solution out before you changed your mind. “Right now. That’s the only way this can end.”

He shook his head violently. “No, (y/n). You said it yourself that you didn’t want to take that risk. We don’t know if it’ll work.”

“I’m willing to take that risk now,” you urged. There wasn’t time to argue about this. The rest of the pack was still fighting the coven, trying to avoid the fire that was building up around them. The only way for them to give up, for you to live in peace with your new family, was to make yourself useless to them. Just like Eun Na said. “Please, Jongdae. I have to do this.”

“It’s not supposed to go this way,” he growled, cupping your face in his hands. “Not like this.”

“Jongdae.”

Seeing the desperate plea in your eyes, he finally nodded. “Okay.”

He went back to Eun Na, taking the potion from her as she struggled under Sehun’s weight. As soon as the vial was in your hands, you broke the seal and tipped the glass against your lips, trying not gag as the liquid trickled down your throat.

With a shaky hand, Jongdae pulled your shirt away from your shoulder, exposing the skin. He looked you in the eye one last time. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” you whispered.

His fangs grew in his mouth and, as he squeezed his eyes shut, bit down on the space where your neck and shoulder met. The feeling of his teeth sinking into your flesh and tearing it apart was a pain you’d never experienced before. You let out a scream, the only outlet you could think of to ease the pain.

“No!” Eun Na screamed.

As Jongdae pulled away, he watched you as your eyelids flickered, struggling to stay open.

“(y/n)? (y/n)!”

You felt yourself weaken until finally, you went limp.