*Kikwang’s POV* 

The two days had gone by faster than I hoped. I wasn’t ready to go out, especially knowing what we’re going into. For the past two days my mind was racing with all kinds of thoughts. Anything could happen!

Keomi could be put in danger. Should I have left her at the orphanage?

Doojoon and I sort of made up, but the tension between us was still uneasy.

And…I didn’t get to say goodbye to Taecyeon. I don’t know him all that well, but he was friendly and extremely helpful. The least I could’ve done was say bye instead of disappearing like this. But I had no chance of sneaking out.

But I am glad to be with Youngjae and Jaehwan, and everyone else. Hopefully it stays that way.

All of us followed Daehyun and Jongup, whom had possession of the card. We had left early this morning only to end up in some random part of the woods.

I walked closely behind Doojoon, as well as everyone else who remained close to their respective mates. Keomi was sat on Junhyung’s shoulders. She had stayed with Yoseob and Junhyung throughout most of the trip. It was Yoseob’s idea, he didn’t think it was safe to have her near Doojoon yet.

“Are you sure we’re going the right way? Because I feel like we’re just walking aimlessly.” Himchan spoke up. Daehyun just shrugged. “There’s an arrow on the card that’s directing us where to go.” He said.

“It’s starting to get suspicious.” Bang observed, gripping Zelo’s hand.

“Something doesn’t feel right.” Hyunseung agreed. He was right. We were way deep in the woods with no sense of direction.

Daehyun and Jongup stopped in their tracks.

It was silent.

“Why did we stop?” Yoseob asked nervously, taking Keomi off of Junhyung’s shoulder into his own protective arms.

“The card is blank.” Daehyun announced in confusion.

“What do you mean it’s blank?” Himchan questioned, not appreciating the lack of information. “The arrow is gone, and the card turned white.” Jongup explained.

We dropped silent.

Bang growled in frustration, about to say something when, It’s my friends!” A girl appeared, hanging upside down from a tree, nearly scaring the living daylights out of me. “And you brought company.” She squealed, flipping out of the tree onto her feet.

The girl had a multitude of long, thin braids tied back into a thick ponytail. She wore a semi-casual red dress that reached just above her knees that matched her red shoes, making her almost look like a young school girl. “Your hair has changed since the last time we met.” Jongup said, being friendly. “Yes, I don’t like to keep the same hairstyle for long.” She flashed a smile. “It looks nice.” Daehyun complimented.

“Do you think you can take us to the person who you said can help?” Jongup asked.

“Of course!” The girl said.

However before anything productive could be done, people jumped from behind the trees dressed in all black, surrounded us. Some of them had weapons while others bared their fangs and claws. The rest of us stood defensively, ready to fight.

The girl rolled her eyes in sheer annoyance. This confused me.

At that moment a tall man dressed in black camo appeared behind her. “Aiyanna, are you alright?” He asked concerned. “Do I look harmed to you?” The girl sounded extremely irritated.

The man just rolled his eyes. “Who are these people?” he asked, staring each and every one of us down. “They’re my friends.” The girl named Aiyanna answered.

“All of them?” He quizzed, not sounding convinced. “Yes. And they’re here to see my sister.” A devious smile grew on her face.

The man raised an eyebrow at this. “Is this true?” he asked us suspiciously, now coming off more intimidating than before.

“Ye-Yees…” Daehyun answered slowly, unsure of what we were getting into.

The man thought for a bit, studying everyone, especially the two purebloods and Alphas. “Fine. Follow us. If I see any of you guys step out of place we’re cutting you down.” He threatened, receiving a few head nods.

“Yay! Let’s go!” Aiyanna clapped, skipping away. The man followed close behind her, Daehyun and Jongup followed him, then the rest of us took suit. The camouflaged people trailed us, keeping us in a close-knit group.

We walked through the wooded area in silence. The further we walked, the taller the trees seemed to get, as if it served as a barrier for something. And that something so happened to be a huge white mansion that stood elegantly in its glory.

The landscape was large, and well groomed. The bright green grass was perfectly cut and kept lushes. The dark green bushes, that bordered the extravagant home, were trimmed evenly, every angle a sharp 90 degree angle, no exception for any bush.

A large water fountain sat in the center of the neat lawn, pouring out crystal clear water. The place was a completely different world as the sun beams glowed gently over the property and the gardeners worked gracefully, not even noticing our presence.

A prominent woman stood by the front double doors. She wore a serious face complementing her tight black bun. She was dressed in a white long-sleeved, button up collar shirt, tucked under a long maroon skirt. “Aiyanna! You’re okay.” She seemed relieved. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I?” The girl sounded annoyed.

The woman frowned. “Next time don’t go out without telling anyone. This is the last time I’m telling you this. Next time I am going to go straight to your sister.” She threatened. Aiyanna sighed. The woman’s attention turned towards us. “Who are these people?” She asked.

“Aiyanna claims that they’re her friends.” The man said.

The woman looked at the said child. The girl just smiled and turned towards us. “Friends this is my caregiver, Ms. Choi.” Aiyanna introduced.

“Don’t introduce me to some strangers.” Ms. Choi scolded. “They’re here to see Chantelle.” Aiyanna said.

Doojoon scrunched his brow. “What’s wrong?” I asked him. He quickly shook his head. “It’s probably nothing.” He brushed off. I nodded uneasily. I wondered what he was thinking. Was it something the girl said?

Ms. Choi’s face dropped almost in fear. This made me curious. “You know your sister doesn’t take visitors.” She sounded frustrated. “I don’t even know why you’d bring them here.” She sighed stressfully, looking at us.

“Come in…I’ll see if she’ll accept you guys.” She sounded uneasy. She opened the grand doors, allowing us inside.

A few of us gasped over the grandiose of the inside of the mansion. “This is a castle.” Keomi whispered. Aiyanna chuckled, hearing the 8 year old.

“I’ll go get her. Aiyanna…just….stay away from them for now. I don’t want to get into any more trouble for leaving you alone with them. I already allowed them inside. Hopefully I live after that.” Ms. Choi said. Aiyanna pouted. “Fine~…” with that Ms. Choi walked up the velvet spiral stairway.

“This Chantelle girl sounds scary.” Yoseob whispered.

“She’s not scary. Ms. Choi is just overreacting.” Aiyanna brushed off. “Easy for you to say, you’re her sister.” Hyunseung remarked, earning a smile from the girl.

“Hey, what are you? I get two different scents from you.” Bang suddenly asked. Zelo hit the pureblood’s arm for his rudeness, but it made no difference. “That’s because I’m a half succubus and half vampire.” Aiyanna said, her famous smile never leaving her face.

This made Doojoon scrunch his brow even more. “How old are you?” He suddenly asked, throwing everybody off guard, including our new ‘friend’. “16.” She answered, and with that she went off to her own room, somewhere on the upper floors.

“What was that all about?” Hyunseung asked Doojoon. “I’m just thinking. But…I don’t know.” The pureblood thought deeply, as if trying to figure something out.

The 19 of us waited there for what felt like five minutes, making us feel uncomfortable and more uneasy than before.

Instead of Ms. Choi returning, a different lady appeared.

All of our mouths dropped open at the new person’s appearance.

She shared some similar features as Aiyanna, but she looked much more mature, considering that she was older. Her lushes dark brown hair was curled and gently brushed the tips of her shoulders. She wore a long fancy red wine colored dress and heels to match along with the same colored lipstick. She also wore a pure silver-hooped, decorative earrings. She was beautiful!

She stopped three fourths down the stairway, her dark brown eyes studying each and every one of us. Doojoon’s eyes widened, instantly recognizing her. A huge smile appeared on the beautiful young lady’s face.

“I can’t believe it.” Hyunseung gasped. All of the other Beast members seemed to recognize her as well…except for me. “This is a surprise!” She clasped her hands together.

“Chantelle!” Yoseob squealed, seeming like he wanted to run up and hug her. “Hi Yoseob.” She waved her fingers. “Did you plan to go somewhere this afternoon? Since…you’re dressed up.” Hyunseung asked.

“Actually, I’m supposed to leave in 15 minutes to go to this party, but I think plans have changed.” She smiled.

“Sorry for intruding.” Doojoon said, emotionless, unable to look at her.

Chantelle rolled her eyes playfully. “It’s no intrusion. I go to those type of things all the time. So, not attending this one is fine by me. They get boring after a while.” She noted. “Plus, I would love to have a little reunion and meet your guys’ handsome new friends.” She winked at Bang, causing him to nearly blush, but he quickly caught himself, clearing his throat.

“Oooh~ Mc. Choi~!” Chantelle called.

The said, head servant quickly ran to the owner of the home. “Yes ma’am?” she asked. Chantelle whispered something in her ear. Ms. Choi nodded before leaving us for a second time.

“It’s about time for dinner, won’t you join me?” Chantelle’s attention immediately returned to us. We all looked at each other, not seeing a reason to decline. “Um…sure.” Yongguk struggled to keep his voice firm. Chantelle sled, “Follow me.”

We obeyed, following her down the vast foyer into the long hallway that led straight to an elegantly decorated dining room. The room was maroon themed, just like the rest of the grand home. A long mahogany table, draped with an off white linen table cloth, stretched down the center of the room under a large crystal chandelier.

Chantelle sat at the head of the table and the rest of us sat down afterwards. Surprisingly, there were more than enough seats for everyone. In fact there were several left over. “Why so many seats?” Junhyung asked.

“You never know when you might need plenty of chairs, and sometimes my employees eat their meals here.” Chantelle answered. “Employees?” Zelo repeated. “Yes, I don’t like the word ‘servant’, so I call them employees.” She explained.

“So who are these new friendly faces?” Chantelle asked, referring to everyone that weren’t part of the Beast clan, including myself.

Each of us introduced ourselves and stated what clan we were part of. I was the last one to introduce myself. Chantelle seemed intrigued by my introduction. “You’re part of the Beast clan? A human?” Chantelle found this amusing. I just nodded.

“You weren’t scared of Doojoon? I’m curious. How did this happen?” Chantelle questioned, seeming extremely interested on how a human got in on the Beast clan. “He’s my mate.” Doojoon answered.

Chantelle seemed shocked by this. She was speechless for a split second, but her smile returned without delay.

“Oh my gosh! Joon you have a mate? I thought you were gonna end up single for the rest of your life. Awe~, I see that you’ve grown up now. You chose well, he’s a very attractive kid.” Chantelle winked at me. I blushed at the complement. “I bet you’re happy, since you guys have been together for a while, I’m assuming. If you have any problems Kikwang, just let me know. I’ll rough him up a bit.”

I only nodded, actually taking her offer into account. “You seem to know Doojoon very well. How come?” Zelo asked curiously.

“I’m hurt Junhong. You don’t remember me.” Chantelle frowned.

All of the BAP members’ eyes widened at how she called Zelo by his first name, even Bang seemed surprised. “How do you know my real name?” Zelo questioned.

“You were pretty young when I met you. I was the girl who taught you all the street rules. You didn’t like me at first because I was always around Doojoon. I always called you little Junnie.” She recalled.

Zelo’s eyes slowly widened in realization. “Oh my gosh! I remember now! You dated Doojoon at one point!” he announced remembering who she was.

All of us were taken aback by the sudden information (except for the Beast members). “It’s so good to see you again!” Zelo exclaimed oblivious to the sudden shift in the atmosphere.

“You dated Doojoon?” Daehyun repeated. The hostess nodded very nonchalant. “Yeah, we dated longer than I had actually planned. He was too uptight for me. But back in those days I was prone to dating powerful men.” She simply stated as if it were nothing.

I started to feel uneasy. This girl was Doojoon’s ex? She’s so pretty and confident…and wealthy. How can I match up to this? Especially considering mine and Doojoon’s strained relationship.

Chantelle instantly detected my anxiety. “Don’t worry, Joon is like a younger brother to me now.” She assured me.

“Oh! I heard of you. You were that girl who dated pretty much all of the most powerful demons including Alphas, purebloods, and so on. And they never got over you when you dumped them.” Hakyeon spoke up. Chantelle just chuckled, confirming his statement.

“What? You never dated me. I was a powerful demon.” Bang said, slightly offended. “You probably weren’t that powerful when I was there. Otherwise I would’ve went after you.” Chantelle brushed off, sipping her cup of water. “Yeah, she only dated the top of the line. She was even close to dating the youngest member of the Elders, Changmin.” Hakyeon explained.

“Wait, I think I’ve heard a little about you. I was always curious as to why you went for powerful guys. You even dated the son of the owner of a huge company and he was human.” Himchan noted. “Well…I had a specific reason for doing so.” She began. We all listened carefully.

“When I was younger, I grew up in a dirt poor home. It was pretty much a safety hazard living there. My dad was a decently strong vampire, but he was a drunkie. He drank, made money through selling drugs and spent the money on useless things like more drugs, alcohol or parties. Sometimes he took me on his little drug ordeals to teach me the business.”

“My mother was a weak succubus. She worked as a servant for rich families in order to try to provide for our basic needs. My dad was abusive and he hurt her almost every day. I hated it. I hated him. I hated the lifestyle. My mom raised me the best she could but she was just so broken down and depressed. But the best and only advice she gave me was to only date powerful men. I could feed off their strength and make myself stronger, so when I do get a mate he could never treat me that way…”

“But I took her advice further. I learned their business skills that allowed me to be just as successful, if not, then more successful. I utilized every new