“We’re close to figuring out what happened that night,” Joy was saying. “The vampire Jimin said that the werewolves were the ones having fun with Yeri. And we found the wolf charm bracelet in her bedroom. It’s enough proof to conclude that Yeri was romantically involved with at least one werewolf...”

Jungkook sighed, resting his head on his knees that were pulled up to his chest. “Could it be possible that she was messing around with them for fun? I mean, we know she always enjoyed attention, and she was cute. Maybe they met by chance…Maybe she was intrigued by the supernatural so she went looking for them…Or it could have been the other way around, that some of the werewolves were curious about what a human girl would feel like…”

“Oh, Yeri.” Joy shut her eyes, shaking her head slightly. It was hard to think of their best friend that way, but it could be true that she was sleeping around with the pack when she was murdered.

“Perhaps one of the wolves truly loved her, and got jealous of the rest of the pack giving her attention. If she couldn’t be only his, she couldn’t be anyone’s. So he killed her. That way, her soul would eternally be his...”

“Stop.” Joy abruptly stood and slung her purse over her shoulder. “I’m going down to the wolf part of the city. Come along if you want but just stop with your theories. Please, I can’t take it today.”

The two of them took a cab to the edge of the city’s human border, right where the wolf territory started. The cab driver stared at the teenagers as if they were insane and took his money from them, speeding away in the late afternoon.

“Let’s go,” Joy said, leading Jungkook into the thick forest.

They shivered from the cold and pulled their jackets tighter around themselves. They trudged through the overgrown greenery for a long time, thinking they were lost, when all of a sudden there it appeared: the neighborhood. They gasped as they took it all in, and Jungkook excitedly snapped photos on his camera. It was a clearing, with huts and tents and a huge pile of logs to make a fire in the middle. The wolves themselves were nowhere to be found.

“Where could they be at this time of day?” wondered Jungkook.

“Jungkook, you take watch while I search the place. Text me if they come.” Before he could protest, Joy set off to search the huts and orange tents. She was looking for a wolf charm bracelet that would match with Yeri’s, and possible some of her old clothes that were still reported missing. Maybe some love notes were hidden in one of the tents? Joy desperately hoped she could grab something useful. Anything.

“Come on, come on,” she muttered to herself, while her hands rummaged through drawer after drawer. At last, her fingers came up with a wrinkled-up piece of lined paper. Some words were written beautifully onto it:

When the moonlight is shining brightly and your brothers are dreaming, meet me underneath the tallest tree.

-Your moon.

Joy frowned, lost in thought. This was Yeri’s handwriting, but to whom was this love note addressed to? Buzz, buzz. “,” she whispered, quickly stuffing the note into her jeans pocket and hurrying out of the tent to find Jungkook. He was crouched behind a tree just outside the clearing. They waited silently, watching the werewolves who were, of course, in their human form, since it wasn’t a full moon tonight. Some of them looked younger than others, especially one with dark brown hair and an innocent-looking face. Surely he wouldn’t have been involved with Yeri, right? But then again, he seemed closer to her age…

One of the men froze, his nostrils flaring. “Everyone, stop what you’re doing!” He sniffed the air. “There’s a human among us. No, maybe two. The scent is everywhere.”

It was time to reveal themselves. Joy and Jungkook stepped into the clearing slowly, taking each step with caution while never taking their eyes off the pack. Their hands were up in the air. There appeared to be about fourteen in total, and none of them were overly muscular or huge in height, as Joy had feared.

“We come in peace!” Jungkook shouted.

The same man who had sniffed them out glared at them. “What are your names, humans? You have no business here. Who are you?”

“I’m Jungkook, and this is Joy. We’re Yeri’s friends.”

Instantly, some of the pack’s expressions darkened. Joy’s eyes flitted to each and every guy, trying to decide who looked guilty or sad upon hearing Yeri’s name.

The man with the unique orchid and pink colored hair frowned. “I'm Suho, leader of Exo. You’re her friends? Why have you come to our territory? You’re trespassing.”

“So Yeri wasn’t trespassing when she came here to hang out with the pack?” Joy narrowed her eyes.

Jungkook elbowed her in the ribs, shooting her a look that said to shut up. “Uh, we’re here because we suspect that your pack was involved with our friend. We want answers.”

Suho nodded. “All right. Since you’re her friends, I’m allowing you ten minutes to talk to any of the guys here. But beware: if you say or do anything out of line, I’m going to make you wish you had never come to this place. Your time starts now.”

They each wandered off to talk to different people. Joy focused on those whose expressions had changed, and sought them out within the crowd. She stood in front of a man with midnight-black hair, facial piercings, and metal chains dangling from his clothes. He truly gives off the appearance of being a vampire instead of a werewolf, thought Joy amusingly.

“Really, me?” he asked. “I’m flattered.” He forced a smile, but Joy saw past the fakeness into his eyes, which seemed to gleam with sadness. “I’m Baekhyun.”

“I’m Joy, but you probably already knew my name, if you’re who I think you are.”

“I did.” Baekhyun laughed. “Joy, the smart, pretty best friend. Yeri told me all about you.”

“Well, Yeri told me nothing about you. Guess you couldn’t have been very special to her, huh?”

He crossed his arms, his smile turning into a bitter smirk. “She made a blood promise with us not to tell anyone. She was our little secret.”

“Us? So she was involved with other people than just you?” She felt a sickness churn in her stomach. No. Yeri, why would you do such a thing…?

“Why, of course. She especially loved the way I touched her when nobody was looking…”

“Don’t make me regret asking you. If you say even another snide remark about Yeri…” her voice trailed off.

Baekhyun suddenly grabbed the back of her head, pushing her close to his chest. “Threatening a werewolf, now, are we? Not very smart of you, Joy. I knew you weren’t as fun as her. No, you’re the smart and responsible one.” He took a deep, long sigh, releasing her from his tight grip slowly. “If only Yeri had used more of her sense too, then perhaps she would still be alive today, and you and I wouldn’t be standing here having this conversation.”

“She deserves justice,” was all Joy could manage to squeak out.

“If justice is what you seek, then you shall start finding some better answers over there.” He flicked his index finger towards a guy whose head was covered in short raspberry waves. He wore a sleeveless black jersey with matching shorts and an empty expression.

“Thank you,” whispered Joy, and she gathered up all of her courage and approached the man Baekhyun had pointed at. “Do you mind if I speak with you for a moment?”

He shrugged. “Go on.”

“Baekhyun told me to come to you for more answers. What was your relation with Yeri?”

“Are you this blunt with everyone?”

“My best friend was murdered and I’m on a hunt for answers. So, yes, I’m blunt, and you’ll answer me.” Joy almost wished she could take back the words as soon as they slipped out of .

His nostrils flared in annoyance. “I’m Park Chanyeol, and Byun Baekhyun is my best friend, by the way. But damn him for pointing me out to you, that bastard just wanted to get away from your questions.” Chanyeol turned his head away, staring at the ground in sadness. “Yeri was my girlfriend.”

Joy narrowed her eyes. “If Yeri was your girlfriend, then why was she also flirting with some of the other members of your pack?”

“Here in the pack, nothing remains a secret for long, and just as we share our meals and clothes and a home, we share females. It may sound absurd to you…and it may even anger you,” admitted Chanyeol softly. “But we shared Yeri, and only after she expressed her desire of doing so.”

“You treated a girl like she was a chewable toy.”

“Yeri was the love of my life, my sweet moon. She was officially mine, but I permitted my pack brothers to partake in my activities with her. We all made a blood promise with her so that our relationship would stay a secret from everyone else outside our pack. She still belonged to me first and foremost before she belonged to anyone else. Nobody will ever replace her. I will yearn to be reunited with her for as long as I live on this cursed planet.”

Joy could sense that he spoke sincerely from his heart, and in that moment, she felt pity for the werewolf. He was clearly depressed and trying to cope with Yeri’s death, just as Joy and Jungkook were. “I’m sorry for your loss, Park Chanyeol. I just can’t help but feel that Yeri’s spirit is uneasy, but if we solve the mystery surrounding her untimely death, her soul will be at peace.”

Finally, he met Joy’s curious gaze, and his warm brown eyes sparkled with something that resembled a fragment of hope. “I didn’t kill her like you may believe, and nor did the werewolves that shared relations with her. But the rest…These days, doubt lingers in the air because of the murder and other matters at hand.”

“Can you please give me the names of the other werewolves that…s-shared…Yeri with you?” asked Joy anxiously.

“From Exo, it was Baekhyun, D.O., Sehun, Kai, and Xiumin. Three werewolves from iKon joined us: Yunhyeong, Jinhwan, and Junhoe.”

Joy noted the names within her memory just as Suho announced that their ten minutes had ended. She bowed, thanking Chanyeol for his cooperation before joining Jungkook at the center of the werewolf camp.

“If you decide to cooperate with the ongoing investigation led by the human police, we can stronger our bonds as werewolves and humans that co-exist in the Dark City just as we live with vampires,” suggested Jungkook, speaking to no one in particular but rather the camp itself.

One of the werewolves bared his teeth and let out a deep growl that sent shivers running down Joy’s spine. “We are very different from those filthy vampires that feed in your city streets late at night. We don’t feed off humans to fulfill our hunger. Don’t compare us with them, you miserable human.” It was strange, but he was the only werewolf that really frightened Joy.

A guy with black hair that fell into his small eyes spoke up as well. “Your ancestors and those vampires invaded our land and built their homes upon the ground which we had walked upon for centuries. Humans pushed us onto this side and demanded for a boundary line to be established so that we would never be able to cross over to where you all live. Unlike vampires who are able to further bloodlines by turning humans into vampires and humans who conceive children as a way to ensure their DNA is carried on, werewolves cannot conceive or turn others into werewolves. Back when this planet was still new, we were created from the blessings of the sun god and the moon goddess with the purpose to watch over the beautiful lands of the planet and to guard the sun and the moon’s treasure, which was this planet. We are the only true werewolf species that exists on this planet, and it is impossible to create more of our kind, at least through natural methods, and it has never been achieved before with success. We were an unwanted pack of werewolves left to die out here all alone and isolated, but we raised up from the ashes of discrimination and bloodshed to grow stronger than ever. We don’t need your people anymore after spending two centuries here on our own. Nor would we ever want to mix with those evil creatures that took the side of the humans all those years ago.”

Suho glared at Joy and Jungkook, but he was handsome even when showing anger, with his tousled, prettily-colored hair and oozing self-confidence that only a leader could possess. “Junhoe and Bobby, I’ll handle this. Humans, stop making yourselves look even more ridiculous than you already have by coming our territory uninvited. Leave now. I know how to guide my pack members and B.I leads his pack well. We are investigating the murder ourselves while also taking care of other, more pressing issues at the moment that you have no part in. That is all. You may leave now.”

Joy and Jungkook turned away and started making their way back through the forest, but before they disappeared from the view of the camp, Joy cast one last, long look behind her at Chanyeol, who was once again wearing an expressionless mask as he completed the chores that Suho instructed.

She understood why her best friend had fallen so deeply in love with a man like that. Chanyeol only had eyes for Yeri, and he had loved her more than he had loved any other girl. And the scary werewolf was called Junhoe, who had also shared Yeri with the other pack members. Even though he had been apparently close with Yeri, he also seemed especially dangerous and wild. Could he have been one of the werewolves present at Yeri’s murder scene? It was certainly a possibility. Yes, Joy was beginning to see things clearer now…