Jungkook knew well why he had treated Sori so rudely. He was ashamed of the pull he felt towards her, a turned-were. He had denied the connection he felt because it was impossible for them to be together and it was even more impossible for them to be mates, thus that weird longing he felt towards her irked him. It made it hard for him to ignore her, to let her do whatever she pleased, to not satisfy her needs. The first time he had with her Jungkook had felt the connection between them deepening and while it felt amazing, it also scared him less. There was no way he was falling for Sori. No way. Jungkook didn't believe he had a mate, he wasn't looking for one, nor was he looking for a relationship, not to mention with a turned-werewolf, thus he had left her as soon as she had fallen asleep. He couldn't allow her to discover how he was feeling, and he didn't want to think about it either. Unfortunately, it seemed like he couldn't just ignore her and carry on with his life. He kept looking at her, just in case something happened, but looking at Sori from afar didn't satisfy him. Jungkook literally couldn't ignore Sori. He needed to have her attention on him. He needed Sori to care for him. It worried him how visceral the need he felt was, but he masked it well and no one had noticed.

Jungkook had been taught not to feel anything towards women, as they were born to serve men. Watching Narae and Namjoon interact had made him realize that there could be more than that between a man and a woman, but he still found it hard to see all women as his equals. Narae was born in a rich family, she came from a rich pack and she was the mate of his alpha, which made it easy for him to think of her as his peer, but with other women it wasn't quite the same. That was until Sori came along and he ended up telling her everything that crossed his mind, wanting her to trust him and keep her close. That was also when he realized he was making the wrong decision, and albeit he knew it, Jungkook couldn't stop himself from wanting to be close to her. He could restrain himself during the day, but when everyone was asleep Jungkook let himself fall again in his sweet addiction and went into Sori's room.

He had been taught that turned-weres were disgusting and inferior. Jungkook had a hard time when he realized he had accepted Narae as a member of the pack and also recognized that she was hierarchically superior to him, but the hardest moment for him came when Narae accepted Sori as a member of their pack without thinking of their reputation and without even really caring about their opinions. It drove him crazy when Namjoon didn't even complain that much, especially because he never put Narae back on her place and expected his pack to accept the turned-were just because his made had said so. There are to words to describe how ashamed Jungkook felt when he discovered he had accepted Sori in the pack and in his life so easily too. Jungkook couldn't accept that all the notions he had learnt thanks to fists and wooden sticks had become so meaningless so quickly. He really couldn't accept it. His father had made sure he would know what was right and wrong, and now he was ruining everything. That was how Jungkook had started punishing Sori whenever he could for the way she made him feel. A part of him knew it was wrong because Sori's had done nothing bad to him, but he mostly thought it wasn't that much of mistake as it was Sori's fault he felt that way. Sori had to pay because she had dared to make him change his opinion.

As the time passed, Jungkook had lightened his punishments and diminished their frequency. He had reached the conclusion that if everyone had accepted Sori in the pack he had to do it too, otherwise he would only create tension in the pack, not to mention that he felt always less motivated to punish Sori. He hadn't forgotten she was a turned-were, but no one seemed to minding it that much and no one knew what they did behind closed doors. He told himself that if no one knew their business, then he had nothing to be ashamed for. Sure, she had changed his morals and ruined the social rules he'd been taught, but as long as his parents didn't know about it there was no problem. Everyone treated Sori like one of them, thus it didn't feel that weird to talk and joke with her along with the others from time to time. He felt like they were equals when they were alone too, and at times that made him question his choices, still Jungkook had found no reason to go back to his previous behavior. It was only when Sori crossed a line that he allowed himself to remind her what she was and where she belong in their social hierarchy.

It all had changed again when Minyoung had joined the pack. She had brought back all Jungkook had been taught by his parents and the shame had finally hit him. While he couldn't completely erase Sori from his life because he craved her company and body, Jungkook had started punishing her again and in a harsher way than before. He had to erase all the good times he had spent with her, burn all the positive words he had told her. Jungkook had to destroy her to destroy his mistakes, hide the embarrassing things he did with a colder mask and relegate his contacts with Sori to a closed room, where no one could judge him. Nobody but himself.

The problem was that this time Jungkook found it harder the first time though. He wolf had gotten used to Sori's presence and appreciated her. Jungkook himself had grown fond of their late night talks, of the squishiness of her body. He had basked in happiness knowing Sori trusted him, and now he found himself missing her. Jungkook knew he was lucky that Sori always forgave him easily, because he really hated having to apologize, his pride too easily hurt to honestly admit his mistakes.

Seeing that he wasn't able to ignore Sori, Jungkook decided to use Minyoung to show her what he wanted. Minyoung was the exact body type he had been taught to appreciate and exactly the body type he preferred, she was a born-werewolf from a rich family and daughter of a famous alpha., her pack shared the same beliefs of his old pack. She respected completely the ideal daughter-in-law for his parents. The perfect woman he needed to display to demonstrate his position in the pack and dignity. Fat people don't attract other people's attention in the right way, and they sure don't make people fell envious. Jungkook wanted Sori to improve her image, so that he could at least justify his attraction to her with her body.

From time to time Jungkook thought that it was easier back then, when men could have more than a wife or when men could have as many affairs as the wanted without having to justify themselves, so they could take one woman to satisfy society and their parents, and one that made them feel comfortable and appreciated them for who they were. That would have sure been easier for him.

When Minyoung had arrived and let everyone know she didn't feel too comfortable with a turned-were so close to her since in her pack turned-werewolves could only serve in their public canteen, be on clean duties or works as es, Jungkook had realized he had changed too much, because for him it wasn't like that anymore. He didn't share the idea that turned-werewolves could only be servants or -slaves. He didn't even think they had to be es to be useful to the pack. Not anymore.

At that point he knew he had to redeem from his mistakes and the only way he could think of to succeed was to act as rudely as he could and say hurtful things to Sori whenever he got the chance. The more people he saw and heard him the best it was, so that everyone would know he hadn't changed. He may have chose a different path for a while, but he still knew what was right and what was wrong, and being friend with a turned definitely belonged to the wrong side. Truth to be told, Jungkook wasn't sure anymore whether he was punishing Sori or himself. Sori was a turned-were who often forgot her status, but he was the one who made the mistake. Sori was hurt by him and his indifference, but he hurt himself in the meantime too. He found himself needing her like a dying man craves for air, and looking the pain in her eyes whenever he acted up against her made him feel disgusted with himself. Jungkook recognized he didn't mean the things he said, he tried to convince himself he wasn't in the wrong, but he felt like he was losing his mind whenever he heard Sori cry, which only made him want to do worse and say the worst things that crossed his mind because he couldn't be that weak. He couldn't be so stupid to actually fall for a turned-werewolf after all the things his father had taught him. He couldn't disappoint his parents like that. He couldn't. What would their pack even say if the rumor that Jungkook, the only child his parents had, was in love with a turned? He couldn't humiliate them like this.

Just when he thought things were going in the right way and he would finally be forced to let go of his feelings for Sori, this pack of lone, crazy wolves had appeared and his instinct of protection had resurfaced. He needed to know what Sori was doing, where she was, who was she with. His wolf needed to know why Sori preferred to spend time with other males instead than with him. Then she had suddenly been forced to leave the pack and he'd been left with nothing to hold on to. There was a big chance of Sori never coming back and whenever he thought about that possibility his wolf seemed to go crazy and try to take control. Jungkook really wanted to stop thinking about it and stop caring, but he couldn't anymore.

He had barely managed to keep calm when he had discovered Sori was pregnant with his baby. In that moment he had been one step away from running to EXO's house, break in a bring Sori back because he needed it, no matter how egoist he sounded. His wolf had never craved her presence more than he did that day.

And now what?

He stared at the ceiling of Sori's room as the sky turned darker and darker.

“Can you stop being so stubborn?”. Junmyeon had been fighting with Sehun for the whole morning about what they were going to eat for lunch. There was no changing the younger's mind once he made up his mind, and Sehun had decided he wanted pizza for lunch.

“Why don't you stop being stubborn, then? You're older than me, shouldn't you be wiser too?”, he whined again as rolled his eyes.

“We have to eat healthy food and it's also the food Sori and the baby's need. Yesterday we ate hotdogs for dinner because you wanted them, but today we're eating healthy food, end of the discussion”. Junmyeon was grabbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers, begging all the gods from up above to give him the patience to put up with Sehun.

“But I don't want to eat that disgusting mush! The color is weird and it stinks”, Sehun crossed his arms on his chest, “It's not like you're the one who has to cook anyways”, he muttered pouting. Sori couldn't believe she had found him attractive. The more she got to know him, the more childish he acted. She had believed that no one could be more childish than Taehyung when it came to food, but she was being proved wrong. It would have been an interesting social experiment to put Sehun and Taehyung in the same house to cook for their own meals, though.

“I heard that”.

“You were supposed to”.

“Can't we find a compromise? Like, Sehun can order pizza for himself and the rest of us will eat the soup?”, Chanyeol decided to speak up, fed up with that whole discussion.

“No. It stinks, I don't want to eat with that thing beside me”. Chanyeol rolled his eyes, and turned to look at his alpha, hoping that at least him would be reasonable.

“No. We are a pack, and we eat the same things. The soup is Sori's diet plan, and we will eat it too. It would be unfair to her to have to watch us eat pizza while she had to eat vegetables, not to mention that it wouldn't hurt us if we had something different from the usual garbage for once”.

“Oh, please, spare me”, Kyungsoo muttered before he stood up, “I can't stand the two of you anymore. The soup is almost ready, and you will eat it whether you like it or not”. He pointed his finger at Sehun just a moment before the younger started complaining again. “Shut that trap, Sehun. I told you're going to eat it and I don't want to hear you complaining about my food ever again unless you're willing to be the one to cook for the whole pack everyday from now on”. Sehun chewed on his lower lip, but didn't raise his head nor talked back. “Did I make myself clear?”

“Yes”, Sehun's answer was barely more than a whisper.

“Perfect. Now bring your fine asses to the dining room and be quiet. You gave a headache, for goodness sake”. Kyungsoo left the room still muttering under his breath about the stupidity of his whole pack.

To be honest, Sori didn't want to eat vegetables either. Actually, she didn't want to eat at all. As her belly swelled up, sitting down was becoming uncomfortable, and she hadn't had an appetite for the last couple of days. The doctor had advised her that it could happen if the father of the baby wasn't near and taking care of her, but she had discarded the information until the nausea had come back last week. At first it wasn't that strong, and it only came every once in a while, but the more time she spent away from Jungkook, the more Sori felt nauseous. Not like she could do much about it, anyways. On the other hand she didn't want to stir any trouble and annoy Kyungsoo, since he was always extremely kind and supportive with her, thus she always tried to swallow as much food as she could before she complained about her back being too sore or being too full. She was slowly losing weight again, tho, thus she needed to do something about it quickly. It was crazy how she spent years trying to lose weight and now that she didn't need to anymore, her body wasn't able to maintain a stable weight.

She followed the rest of the guys silently and took her usual seat.

“I don't want to eat it either, but let's do it for Sori, okay?”, Sori heard Chanyeol whisper from the other side o the table. It was cute that they would sacrifice themselves for her. Sure, it was a little burdensome too, but it was cute nonetheless. She couldn't help but wonder if BTS would have ever gone that far for her.

It took Kyungsoo another couple of minutes to join them. The pot he had used for the soup was huge, so Chen and Minseok helped him serve everyone and finally they got started with their lunch. It was actually very hot outside, which only made the soup less appetizing in spite of its heavenly smell. Fortunately for Sori, or unfortunately, she only had the time to eat a couple of spoonfuls of soup before the chatters suddenly stopped.

“Do you hear that?”. Many spoons simultaneously thumped on the table as the guys left the dining room to search for the source of the suspicious sound. It only took Sori a moment to realize what that sound was. Her heart was pounding almost painfully as she reached Jongin and Chanyeol on the porch. Junmyeon looked quite uncomfortable but not really surprised, confirming Sori's suspicions.

It took the car only a couple of minutes to reach their house. Sori balled her fists at the sight of its passengers. She glared at Junmyeon and made her way inside the house.

“You won't solve anything by leaving...”, Junmyeon, who had follower her back inside the house, yelled before Sori even reached the stairs.

“You knew they were coming, didn't you?”. She hadn't felt this betrayed in a while. Her rage was burning hot, and she felt as if she was about to lose control. She felt her canines becoming pointy, just like her nails. Why did no one ever respect her wishes?

“Not exactly. I...well, when Sehun told me about Narae's request last week, I suspected Namjoon was about to lose his patience and would come here soon, then I talked to him on the phone last week and I had a feeling he wouldn't wait too long to come and see you”, he shrugged, “I didn't know they were coming here today, though. I actually thought he would at least give me heads up before he popped here like this”. Sori eyed him, unsure she could trust his words, but his body language and voice seemed quite normal, which made her lean towards believing him and she managed to calm down a little. “You don't have to come out right away, but please, don't go to your room. They're already here, isn't it better to just fix the matter sooner rather than later?”. Was it really better to talk about it right now? Was there actually something to fix? Sori didn't know, yet she went back to the dining room. She fixed her shirt to make it look looser around her belly and put her phone in front of her face. She wasn't actually doing anything, she just wanted an excuse to not have to face her ex pack mates.

She heard the car stopping and the doors opening and closing. Her heart was beating crazily inside her chest, she could feel her pulse right in her ears. The chatters from outside were too soft for her to be able to distinguish every word when she was so distracted.

“Come in, we were just about to have lunch”, Junmyeon told them as he opened the door.

“I'm sorry for intruding like this, but seeing how things have been going, I thought it was best not to waste more time”, Namjoon apologized without really sounding that apologetic.

“What do you mean?”, Baekhyun asked. He was talking more formally and his body language was less aggressive than it had been only a week earlier when he'd met Narae, but his intention were still quite clear: they were not welcome. Namjoon smiled coldly and turned to Junmyeon.

“Do you mind if we talk about that after we will have cleared the air with Sori?”. At that point Sori could hear her ex-alpha's voice perfectly fine, and she couldn't help but wonder who “we” was.

“Sure, but please, don't forget that this is my pack's house, Namjoon. You are a dear friend of mine and I wish to keep our friendship intact, still I can't take back my word. I promised Sori protection and a peaceful environment. I'm allowing you to come in and meet her in spite of what happened, but don't make me regret it”. Junmyeon was staring Namjoon right in the eyes looking utterly serious, as he kept a hand on the other alpha's shoulder. Namjoon bowed his head to him once and put his hand on Junmyeons' shoulder too.

“Don't worry, hyung. I came here today with peaceful intentions, and the same goes for them”, he pointed at the members of his pack who had accompanied him, “we want to apologize to Sori and, if possible, convince her to come back with us. We all miss her dearly, but if she wants to stay here we will respect her wish. All we're asking for is a chance to explain ourselves”. It seemed like such a formal meeting in spite of the long term friendship that linked the two alphas together. Sori was quite moved by Junmyeon's words, and she made a mental note to thank him for them later on.

“I can respect that. However, Sori will not go back with you today, I'm sorry. Even in case she accepts your apologies, I want you all to slowly regain her trust and give Sori the time she needs to move on. If you are okay with this condition, I'll lead you to the dining room”. Baekhyun and Jongin were frowning, however no one dared to express their dissent.

It was always hard for alphas to be told what to do, especially because they always felt like they were entitled to whatever they wanted, so it was quite interesting for Sori to hear Junmyeon talking like that. She had never ever heard someone giving Namjoon an order before, and Junmyeon was clearly giving him an order, no matter how Junmyeon's tone disguised it. Still, Namjoon recognized Junmyeon's authority in these lands and in his house, and their friendship was important to his, so he tightened his mouth for a moment before he nodded.

“I will follow your rules, hyung”.

“Come on, then. Would you like to eat with us? We're having soup, and there's plenty of it left”. The ever cheerful and welcoming alpha lead the new wolves into the house with a bright smile on his face.

“If you guys don't mind, why not?”. There was still some tension in his voice, but Sori couldn't assess much more without seeing his expression. She wasn't even sure if it was only because he still felt tense after having received an order or because he was about to enter in a pack house as a guest. Namjoon wasn't really used to it as he preferred to invite people over rather than leave the security of his house.

Sori listened to the soft sound made by their bare feet on the ground as they got closer and closer to the dining room. Right before they entered, she brought her phone in front of her face once again. Her heart was thumping, but she had resolved not to look at them, thus when they stepped in the room she gave no sign of having noticed them. She could feel their eyes on her, still she stayed still like that.

“Hello, Sori”. Namjoon's deep voice resonated in the silent room and Sori couldn't deny the shiver it sent down her spine. It hadn't been that long since they'd last spoken, if Namjoon yelling at her and kicking her out of the pack could even be called that.

“Hey”, Narae spoke next. Her voice sounded quite unsure, yet Sori wasn't worried about it. She knew Narae was probably feeling guilty because they hadn't respected her wishes. Too bad. She kept ignoring them. Or better, pretending to be ignoring them, because she was hyper-aware of their presence in the room, she could hear each and every single sound coming from them, be it the sound of their breathes or the rustling of their clothes.

“Ya, did you turn deaf in the month I haven't seen you?”, came Yoongi's raspy voice. Surprised, Sori lifted her face to scrutinize his expression. She had smelled him when they had entered the room, but hearing his voice made her feel a little nostalgic. “Oh, I guess not”, a small smile stretched his mouth into a happier expression. That was when Sori knew she wouldn't be able to treat Yoongi the way she had planned. Yoongi who had always been nice to her, the one that had supported her in almost every occasion, who had always been there to comfort her when things turned bad with Jungkook, the one she could always trust to give her the best advice... no, Sori couldn't treat him coldly nor ignore him. Sure, he had often preferred to defend her behind her back, but Sori always knew he didn't hate her nor mistrusted her just because she was a turned-werewolf. Narae had done pretty much the same thing, but Sori was angrier with her than she was with Yoongi. Maybe she was disappointed because she hadn't stopped her mate, maybe it was because she was Namjoon's mate or maybe it was because Narae reminded her too much of her old pack, or whatever other reason. The fact was that while she didn't feel bad because Narae was uncomfortable, and she was really happy to see Yoongi after such a long time. “I'm happy to see you looking so good, how are you?”. Sori took a moment more to find her voice, and then quietly answered.

“I'm doing fine”, smiling back at him, “and you?”

“Just fine, you know, the usual”. He took the seat right next to her, the one where Baekhyun usually sat. Baekhyun started whining and glaring at him, but Junmyeon managed to make him shut up with just one side eye.

“Come on, guys, sit wherever you like”, Junmyeon invited them with a gesture of his hand as he took his seat. Namjoon sat next to him, and Narae took the chair beside her mate and they were now basically sitting in front of Sori. To her it felt like they were stealing her air, as if they were crowding in her personal space, but she didn't have the courage to say anything about it. What could she possibly say without sounding exceptionally dumb? “Excuse me, could you move to the other end of the table? You know, I don't want to see your face”. Yeah, that sounded pretty lame.

“We were having soup, would you like to taste it?”, Junmyeon offered. The wolves who had to move their dishes were muttering complaints under their breaths.

“Ah, yes, why not? I heard Kyungsoo is a very good cook, I might as well take advantage of your hospitality and taste his food!”. Namjoon's voice still sounded quite tense and he was talking in a way that he usually reserved for his clients and for alphas he didn't know well. Sori was quite proud, because it meant he was uncomfortable. It might not be much, but it made her feel better. He probably wasn't the only one who felt uncomfortable, as the whole room was completely silent aside from the sounds coming from the kitchen, where Kyungsoo was filling the bowls for the three newcomers, and a couple of whispers here and there. Or maybe the whole EXO pack was trying to make Namjoon feel uncomfortable, because so far Sori had never been such a quiet lunch. Junmyeon looked like he didn't know what to say to disperse a little bit of the tension and resolved to start with a little small talk.

“So, how are things going lately? I haven't seen your pack in a while”

“We are doing just fine. Some of us are experiencing some weird...new sides of themselves, but we are doing fine”. Sori gulped feeling the alpha's eyes on her, but she made it her mission to avoid Namjoon's eyes at all costs. He had decided to go there even though she wasn't ready to see him, and she didn't want to face him or hear what he had to say.

“Have you talked Jiho recently?”, Junmyeon decided to completely ignore Namjoon's reply. “I haven't had the chance to see him since we last trained together”

“Yes...actually that is the other reason why I decided to come here today”, Namjoon set his spoon down and cleared his voice, he shot Sori a quick glance, then he turned back to face the other alpha. “Earlier this morning we found that lone wolf's scent again along our confines. His scent seems to disappear into thin air every time we are tracking him down, and I thought it might be useful for you to check along your confines too at this point, for Sori's sake too, you know...we sort of think he's looking for a weakness and Jiho though it was better If I came here in person to figure out a plan”. Namjoon didn't need to say why he was looking for a weakness along their confines, then he was coming for her again. There was no getting rid of him again unless she moved away, but even then there would be a chance of him finding her again, just like he had found her even thought he hadn't seen her in the last four years. Sori couldn't pinpoint what he wanted from her from the very beginning and why he was so stuck on her. She was the emblem of the word “plain”. She was generally plain in looks and totally not able to steal anyone's attention for more than five seconds before turning awkward and boring. She had as much charisma as the bathroom's tiles.

“I haven't found any weird scent in my runs, did any of you smell that wolf's scent?”, Junmyeon asked to the rest of his pack. He actually already knew no one had smelled him, since he always asked the wolves on the control patrol to report to him as soon as they came back from their run, thus Sori reasoned him might be trying to easy the tension in the room by involving the others in the conversation. Unfortunately for him the rest of his pack wasn't willing to open up to the guests, so the most of them just shook their heads and the rest muttered a simple “no” as they were chewing. “Well, uhm...there's not chance for him to find Sori alone and my pack is very well trained, but if you have any suggestions to improve out security measures feel free to voice them out, we want her to be as safe as possible”.

Sori kind of tuned out from the conversations from the point on. She could still hear the guys around her talking and Yoongi's voice adding his own comments to the two leaders' conversation, but she didn't know what they were saying. She was lost in the memories of the night the lone wolf had found her and how EXO had rescued her. What would have happened if they hadn't arrived on time? Would she still be alive?