Waking up anywhere but her own bed was something Seongmi had never done. She always made sure to return to her room after a long night just to avoid her father's wrath. Not this time and as her head pounded with the faint drum of a hangover she knew she was as good as dead.

Seongmi was sitting on an unfamiliar bed in a room with an overpowering yet recognized scent. Cedar and rain was the scent that she had come to learn – only last night – belonged to Sehun, who was not currently present in said room that reeked of him. Only after she registered how dead she was did she bother to check the condition of herself. Throwing the blankets aside she was pleased to see she was still fully dressed, though they were horribly crumpled.

Combing her fingers through her rat nest hair Seongmi got to her feet, barely noticing her shoes were nowhere to be seen and left the room (cellphone still snugly shoved in her back pocket). At least she was just at the base and not somewhere ridiculous, though that small positive thought quickly turned sour as she turned a corner in the hall to see two familiar figures arguing by the head of the stairs. For the first time in her life a sense of shame washed over her as her pace slowed.

“– responsibility Kyungsoo! She's yours until I win the match against the Noir pack,” Minseok shouted at the lower ranked male. “All you have to do is keep her under goddamn control for -sake”

And like that Seongmi's shame dissipated. What had she even felt ashamed for? She hadn't done anything egregiously wrong, she merely snuck out and stayed over at the base instead of her home. She was nineteen and capable, not some hopeless child.

“It's not that easy Minseok,” Kyungsoo stated. Seongmi could hear the growl he was biting back.

“ it isn't,” Minseok sneered.

“No, Mr. Do is right,” she spoke up. Her arms crossed as she neared the end of the hall, heated gaze flickering from the seething beta to the bruised face of her tutor. Even drunk, Seongmi was impressed with the power she was able to put behind that punch. “It's not easy Minseok. Wanna step odd your high horse and give it a try?” she challenged with a snide half grin.

Minseok's gaze bore into her as his pupils danced with fire. Seongmi was treading thin ice and she knew it, but she had reached her limit. She just didn't care anymore.

The beta stepped away from Kyungsoo and marched over to Seongmi, towering over her with his teeth bared like he was readying to attack. “When you're mine you better have a better attitude, because I don't deal with mouthy es,” he hissed at her.

“Sounds just like out alpha,” she commented dryly.

Minseok smirked proudly.

“It's not a compliment dip-,” she scoffed disgustedly as she brushed passed him down the hall. “Oh and I'll never be yours. I have standards,” she added as she made her way to the stairs.

From behind she heard a roar that held a word that sounded like blunt that echoed off the walls of the long corridor. She snickered in dark amusement as she reached the staircase. Before she descended them her gaze fought her better judgment and stole a glance at Kyungsoo, who was staring at her with wide eyes and knitted brows. His mouth was pinched into a thin line, the already fading bruise coloring the left side of his jaw and cheek a yellowish green. There was a hallow feeling inside her chest as her pulse sped up for a moment, like there was an echo of an emotion inside that had long given up trying to be heard.

Shaking hr head Seongmi tore her gaze away from her tutor and made her way downstairs hoping her shoes were at the front door (they were her favorite sneakers). To her relief they were and she quickly yanked them on as she ignored the whisperings of the other pack members on her appearance and her stay at the base instead of going home. There was no way to keep the news from her father, Ginam probably already knew, it was already noon – according to her cellphone that she checked as she moved for the door to leave. She didn't even get to lay a hand on the door knob when a ferocious voice barked out her name from behind.

Seongmi's spine went rigid as her heart went to work overtime. She was beyond dead meat, she was as good as six feet under by the tone her father was using. Turning around she prepared for the worse as she came face-to-face with the fuming forty-two year old. She felt the bruises along her torso ache at the look in his black eyes as he stood in the archway of the foyer and kitchen. They were barely healed, especially after all the alcohol last night, even with a werewolf's superior immune system and accelerated metabolism and now she was definitely in for another punishment.

“Where were you all night?” Ginam demanded.

“Out,” she merely answered.

Ginam's already red face darkened more, a vein popping out on the side of his neck at the skyrocketing blood pressure. “Out where?” he ground out through clenched teeth.

She could be honest and rat Sehun out alongside her, but Seongmi didn't feel like burning that bridge yet. There was something about the orange haired werewolf guy that understood her, not the struggles she had, but the way she had come to handle those problems. Sehun was fun and he didn't belittle her. It was only one night, but Seongmi was sure some sort of friendship was forming out of it.

Opening to feed her father some half-assed lie Seongmi was interrupted by pounding footsteps coming down the stairs and a voice speaking its own lie. Ginam and Seongmi turned to see Kyungsoo reach the bottom floor as he addressed the alpha with a respectful bow for the interjection.

“We were out starting her studies Boss,” Kyungsoo said. “I took her to the site of the ceremony and we didn't get back until almost dawn, so she crashed here.”

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