Yeri ran at full speed, dodging the thick trunks of the trees and the spiky branches on the leafy ground. The forest was completely dark and the moonlight didn't filter through the treetops, she could barely see beyond her own nose and thanked her damned genetics for having inherited the ability to see in the middle of the night. She could hear her pursuers nearby... they were organized and they knew how to work very well as a group, it was just a matter of minutes before they could reach her

She was a wolf.

However, the little experience she had in dealing with this type of situation didn't help much. At just 19 years of age, Yeri had never encountered such situations before. She heard some other wolves and different people talk about how cruel the so-called 'hunters' were and she knew she should avoid them like the plague just because, once they recognized her as a wolf, they would get rid of her with a luxury of cruelty and violence.

Yeri turned her head around and heard the voices closer to her. The hunters didn't have a special scent, they learned to camouflage said scent over the years in order to deceive wolves and make them easiest preys. Yeri was very hesitant about turning into a wolf right now because it was a rather unstable transformation, turning now would end up hurting her more than hurting the hunters. Her body moved forwards in a strong jump to evade a thrown trunk and, just as she jumped, she felt a sharp pain in her left leg that made her fall to the ground in the middle of a scream. Ironically, the moonlight now allowed her to see what happened: she was shot

They used a silver bullet and Yeri wanted to laugh more than cry. The hunters still had the stupid idea that the wolves had a special weakness to the silver bullets which never had been true, at least not in the world in which they lived at the moment. However, that didn't mean they didn't hurt and Yeri could only hold her leg as she watched the blood gush out and felt all her alarms ignite inside her body... out of nowhere her instincts were fighting to come out violently, she wanted to transform, she had to turn herself into a wolf

The light of a lamp shone right in front of her face and Yeri didn't make the slightest attempt to cover her eyes

"Unnie, I found her!"

More steps were heard, it was the usual group of hunters or at least that was what Yeri could hear even in her wounded state. Two lamps joined the previous one and, soon, a heavy hunting rifle pointed at her face

"She is younger than I thought."

Yeri complained again and felt another spurt of blood seeping from her leg. With utter terror, she looked up to find three women completely dressed in black from head to toe, each with a clothing thick enough to withstand the claws of the wolves and with rifles designed to fight specifically against them. The woman holding the rifle made eye contact with Yeri and the younger girl immediately felt something running in that piercing green gaze that shone like two gems in the middle of the darkness... something so human that wasn't understandable for Yeri. The woman lowered her rifle and left it on the side of her body

"Unnie? What's wrong?"

"Yeri-ah!"

A loud growl echoed through the forest and Yeri was relieved to smell that particular citrus scent that showed her she was finally safe. Furious claws made contact with the leaves on the ground and, finally, from the middle of the darkness came a huge wolf with dense fur, as big as the size of an adult bear and perhaps much larger than any wolf ever known by mankind.

The woman with the rifle immediately raised it and pointed towards the beast

"Oh my God!" exclaimed another of the women "That's the biggest wolf I've seen in all my ing life!"

"Sooyoung, Joohyun-unnie, stay away from all this"

Yeri would have burst out laughing if it wasn't for her obvious disadvantaged situation. If the woman with the rifle really believed that she had a chance to beat that monstrous wolf, she was definitely really crazy or maybe she had too much confidence in her abilities. After all, Yeri knew that the hunters were nothing more than the result of constant experiments and genetic modifications in children over the years made by radical madmen who wanted to exterminate the wolves, in addition they underwent a special kind of training where they took away all kinds of emotions in order to create an authentic killing machine.

And they said they were the beasts...

The female with the rifle loaded her gun and shot the wolf once. The shot hit on point, right in the animal's chest but it didn't even move. The beast attacked the hunter and its jaws opened wide, trying to catch the woman between them.

Now, Yeri could see the hunter was quite small and looked very fragile but her agility and skill with the rifle were so good that the battle looked like a real work of art.

Who knows how much time went by between the first shot and the first claw but they were fighting without a sign of fatigue.

That was until one of the other hunters decided to intervene

The woman with the rifle was cornered, her back against a tree and her ammunition depleted. She held a knife firmly in her hands but knew there would be no result against such a tremendous beast. The huge wolf slowly approached, stalking its prey and everyone could only look... yet that hunter had enough courage, for some strange reason she chose to come out of her hiding spot and start a fight against the wolf. Just as the woman with the rifle was about to die from a furious, heavy claw, one of the other hunters stepped in the way of the claw and the fighter

But nothing happened to her

The wolf had stopped before it even raised its claw in the air

And that was the perfect opportunity for the remaining hunter to shot a bullet right in its side. The fifth shot that had struck its body in the long battle

The wolf collapsed with a howl of pain and little by little it lost its beast form to reveal a woman of toned silhouette. The lamps shone on her and Yeri choked a gasp in when she realized that she was covered with wounds and blood while she struggled to breathe, probably the result of the bullet that had just hit her in the side.

"Seulgi-unnie!" Yeri shouted and tried to move only to scream again at the pain in her leg

'Seulgi' tried to get up, only to show the hunters that that bullet hadn't been enough. But her body was already at its limit, she collapsed back to the ground and held the wounded side tightly before slowly losing consciousness

The hunter who shot the accurate bullet approached Seulgi ready to give the coup de grace

"Sooyoung, no," said the woman who protected the other hunter, who now approached Yeri with cautious steps "Pick her up. We'll take her back to the camp"

"Unnie, what are you saying?" Sooyoung immediately demanded "When she wakes up she'll kill us!"

"Do not question my orders, pick her and return to the camp" Yeri looked at the woman as if she was a savior, an authentic goddess because now that she was only a few steps away from her she could see how beautiful she was... she never saw a physical representation of Aphrodite but she knew that this woman was the perfect example of her. Yeri wondered if that beauty was a side effect of the genetic modification to which they were subjected.

The woman reached her hand

"Do you think you can walk?"

Yeri took the hand without hesitation and, in the midst of grunts and great effort, stood up

"I'm fine"

"My name is Bae Joohyun, you will come with us to the camp, wolf. And we will know what to do with you and with that... beast right there"

"She isn't a beast" Yeri immediately complained and was about to let go of the woman's hand if it wasn't because she thought maybe she would fall to the ground once again if she let go "She was just protecting me..."

Joohyun said no more and just held Yeri by the waist to help her walk while Sooyoung was carrying Seulgi on her shoulders.

Yeri then learned that maybe not all the hunters were as inhuman as they said.

---

"I've never seen anything like this before: her body practically spit out the bullets and heals the wounds, there's no trace of her shots"

Joohyun checked Seulgi on a surgical table while she was connected to all kinds of devices that measured from her heart beat to her breathing. Seulgi still didn't regain consciousness and Yeri was sitting at the other end of the small place inside the camp with her bandaged leg and the biggest expression of concern on her face. It wasn't normal that her unnie was still unconscious, the regeneration process had already taken effect but... she still hadn't woke up

The regeneration process was different for each wolf. Usually experienced wolves healed faster while young wolves had much more difficulty recovering and could die from small wounds or, if persecuted by hunters, be killed at the first shot. Yeri used to stay away from danger for this very reason and, on those rare occasions when they were in danger, it was Seulgi who fought and protected her. That's why now she was so afraid that finally that limit had arrived in which Seulgi would no longer defend her

The machines connected to Seulgi immediately began to beep violently signaling that she had regained consciousness, the long-haired woman sat on the bed quickly while Joohyun jumped back and Yeri opened her eyes with surprise. Seulgi transformed into a wolf once again and now that there was no longer a shadow covering her, Joohyun could see that beast in all its might: dense copper-colored fur closer to bronze than to brown, it definitely looked more like a bear because of its size, its pointed ears were raised in alarm and its honey-colored eyes reflected confusion.Joohyun had an emergency weapon tied to her left leg but she knew there was enough confidence to talk with Seulgi

"Easy, Seulgi..." Joohyun raised her hands as she approached her. She knew beforehand (thanks to her training as a hunter) that the moment a wolf showed you her furious fangs, then that was the moment when it declared war on you. However, when it showed itself the way she did, Joohyun knew she was submissive and waiting for an order. Seulgi grunted and shook her body to then let out a slight whine as her gaze alternated from Yeri to Joohyun

"We are safe, unnie" Yeri tried to calm her as best as she could "Joohyun is a good person, she was just checking you to look for any injuries"

Seulgi stared at Joohyun and recognized her as the woman who had gotten into the middle of her claw and the other hunter body with the intention of protecting her. Joohyun began to approach Seulgi until she was only a few centimeters away, her hand reaching out to touch the huge wolf's head and ruffle her fur a little. The wolf then approaches  Joohyun's neck to be able to smell her

"She won't hurt you" Yeri said with a wide smile "But if you want her to trust you, you should let her memorize your smell, it's something that wolves do normally"

Joohyun closed her eyes as she felt Seulgi's breath go through her body very carefully and, after several moments, she let Seulgi give her a long on her face making her laugh out loud and caress her fur once more with a smile on her face. Yeri laughed in the same way and, as she could, approached her unnie to hug her while Joohyun gave them a little more space and Seulgi returned to her original human form

"It seems that Seulgi is very kind" Joohyun expressed with a smile while watching Seulgi embrace Yeri and caress her hair "She is much more friendly than half of the wolves I have had to deal with"

"Unnie would never hurt anyone, Joohyun" Yeri spoke as she pressed her ear to Seulgi's chest. Her heartbeat had always been her lullaby since she was a child, she never knew a calm as big as the one she felt next to Seulgi "She just wants to protect me"

Seulgi turned to look at Joohyun. When she used her human eyes to look at her, she was a definitely a beautiful woman: black hair, perfect shape and physical condition, light brown eyes that looked menacing... no doubt, she was a 'someone' she had never seen before.

Her look must have been too deep because Joohyun retracted a bit on herself. Seulgi now began to suspect that this was a common habit in the girl when she felt weaker than normal. While she was fighting against the other hunter, Seulgi could look at her paralyzed behind a large trunk trying to hide from the battle. At first she thought she was a coward, now she knew that it was probably because she had no idea what to do

After all nobody leaves home expecting to meet a wolf the size of a bear

"I'm so sorry," Seulgi said as she pulled away from Yeri to kneel and lower her head right in front of Joohyun. "It wasn't my intention to hurt you in any way."

Joohyun almost immediately tried to stop Seulgi and took her by the shoulders to help her get up

"Oh no, there's no need for you to do that!"

Seulgi raised her head and their eyes collided once more. Joohyun could see that Seulgi's eyes weren't very different from the ones she had seen in the wolf that attacked them right in the middle of the forest. They were honey-colored and full of kindness... how was it possible for a beast to have such gentleness inside her body?

What if she wasn't completely a beast?

The sound of a gun ready to fire caused everyone to turn their heads towards the door of the makeshift office where they were

"Get away from her" another of Joohyun's female partners pointed at Seulgi with her rifle "Get away before I rip open your skull with a shot"

Yeri tried to move but her legs didn't respond and ended up looking like an act of cowardice, as if trying to escape. Joohyun was speechless and Seulgi quickly changed her look: there were no longer eyes full of kindness, but anger

"She wasn't doing anything, Sooyoung" Joohyun spoke with a soft voice "She isn't dangerous"

"Get away, you beast!"

Seulgi took a step forward and was about to transform herself. Yeri knew how to recognize the tension in her muscles and the battle pose she assumed almost immediately. However nothing happened, in a matter of seconds the other hunter was in the middle of them. Yeri jumped in surprise, her speed was definitely inhuman but it wasn't something that should be surprising when she knew the origin of the hunters

"Sooyoung. Control yourself"

"How can I control myself when Joohyun-unnie is in danger?!"

"Seulgi wasn't doing anything, Seungwan" Joohyun broke her silence with a firm voice unable to face away from the conflict "She is not violent, she was apologizing for what happened at the forest"

Seungwan alternated her gaze between Joohyun and 'Seulgi' to finally stop on Yeri who continued in a corner too hurt and surprised to move.

"It's enough, Sooyoung." Joohyun took the girl's gun barrel and gently lowered it, although her movements weren't friendly and her voice sounded too threatening. "No one is at risk, nor are you. Both the girl and 'Seulgi' are harmless"

Sooyoung stared at her boss. Perhaps without being able to understand the words they were telling her after the fierce battle she saw in the forest. However, Joohyun's powerful gaze was enough to reassure her and make her forget her main objective of killing Seulgi.

Sooyoung turned around and left. Joohyun stayed in the middle of the place

"You" Seungwan pointed at Seulgi with her index finger while Yeri limped to her to hide behind her body "Come with me"

Seulgi answered in a firm voice

"I won't go anywhere with you"

"Do you think she would hurt you after she protected you from her own kind?" Joohyun crossed her arms, her body creating a perfect S-shaped silhouette as she balanced the weight of her body on one of her feet.

Seulgi walked to Seungwan without saying a word. Yeri tried to maintain the balance one of her foots and Joohyun helped her by taking her by the waist while both saw those women leave the tent and get lost somewhere in the place

---

After leaving the tent, Seulgi could see that the outside wasn't very different from what they had said about it.

It was an open field full of tents as big as the tents of a circus. Everything was protected by a metal barrier that served as the main gate, heavily guarded by a pair of hunters. The flow of people was constant and a couple of things caught Seulgi's attention: the first one that there was no person who walked around the place without first bowing to Seungwan. The second that there were too many small children with uniforms similar to those of the hunters being sent to one of the tents

Children? In a hunter camp? What kind of things could a child do in a place like this?

"Attention!"

Seulgi looked up with interest at the sound of a soldier screaming. The heavy door of the entrance began to open slowly and from it emerged a group of three people who were guarding a fourth person whose hands were handcuffed behind their back and a necklace was secured to their neck, their clothes were covered in blood and they had at least four bullet wounds that had already healed. Their head was covered by a plastic bag and Seulgi couldn't see their face however, the scent around them was too familiar. Seulgi clearly distinguished that they were a wolf

"The Once Unit did it again!" Another soldier shouted excitedly and the people outside the tents cheered happily. Seungwan took Seulgi hard by the wrist and, when the wolf tried to go away, turned her head to look at her with that pair of green eyes that seemed to melt her soul

"Keep quiet if you want to live" were the only words Seungwan told her and, almost immediately, Seulgi knew this group of people were dangerous

Soon the group of people passed in front of Seungwan and Seulgi. One of them stopped in her tracks and turned her head to look at both women. With a raised eyebrow she stopped the rest of the group and approached them. Seulgi looked down at the heavy assault rifle she carried and the hunter's suit without a single scratch

"Lieutenant Son" the woman said without doing any kind of honor towards Seungwan "It's been such a long time"

Her voice sounded so cheery... so out of place

"Apparently your team did their job again, Captain Minatozaki"

The woman smiled widely

"It's just a matter of luck. This wolf was hanging around in the woods and we didn't hesitate to get them" Her gaze then turned to Seulgi and, although her eyes darkened with an unknown feeling towards the werewolf, she smiled at her in the same way that she smiled at Seungwan. "I see that you also had some luck with a capture"

"It seems the forest has been the place they enjoy the most lately" Seungwan looked briefly at Seulgi and then returned to the woman "We have a treasure in our hands"

Suddenly, almost spontaneously, the wolf they captured let out a loud growl. Seulgi stepped forward to try and defend herself but it didn't make sense, the necklace the wolf had on their neck emitted a powerful electric shock that left them screaming in pain on the ground. Apparently it wasn't a common discipline method since even Seungwan was surprised with what she had just seen

Another of the women accompanying the wolf approached them and checked them carefully

"Isn't it a wonder, Lieutenant?" The woman said, still smiling "It's Lieutenant Tzuyu most recent experiment and it seems to be perfect to help us with these beasts, is not used yet in the whole camp but it probably will be soon"

The wolf complained with pain again and rose with difficulty from the ground. Seulgi still looked in an astonished way at the scene and Seungwan kept a sepulchral silence that didn't help much to calm Seulgi's wolf instincts

"Anyway, we have to leave... there is a lot to do with this monster" the woman raised a hand and made a sign to say goodbye and then left with the rest of the group to one of the most remote tents. Seungwan and Seulgi stared at them

"Let's go" Seungwan signaled to Seulgi to follow her "With those guys here it's going to be difficult for you to transform again"

Seulgi didn't question much and just followed Seungwan

---

After several minutes of walking. Seungwan and Seulgi came to a part of the forest inside the camp. It was a piece of meadow surrounded by trees and, because of the different targets around it, it was used as a shooting range by hunters.

Seungwan stood in the middle of the meadow and Seulgi stared at her

"Who are those guys?" The werewolf was the first one to speak "Why do they catch wolves?"

"Those guys are no joke" Seungwan answered in a firm voice "They're the Once Unit. The woman who spoke to us is its current Captain, Minatozaki Sana. Stay away from them"

Seulgi raised an eyebrow

"Why?"

Seungwan was silent for a moment and then spoke carefully

"They are the original hunters. They have no trace of humanity left, they are the perfect experiment... real killing machines. I'm surprised to see they brought one of your kind here and I don't have the slightest idea what they will do with them"

Seungwan's gaze made contact with Seulgi's

"Don't even think for a minute about facing them"

Seulgi wanted to ask more questions but ended up nodding and trying to understand the requests of that beautiful woman. If Joohyun was a marvel, Seungwan was a true work of art.

And Seulgi couldn't help but feel attracted to her like a fly towards the light

"You'll wonder what I brought you here" Seungwan raised the sleeves of her uniform up to her elbows "I have no intention of hurting you but I'm interested in your skills, never in my life had I seen a wolf with your size and strength"

Seungwan put on a battle pose and smirked

"Do you think you can fight with me again?"

Seulgi smiled back and then giggled

"Of course"

The girl only took a few steps back before her body transformed into the amazing beast that Seungwan saw in the forest and shook her fur before looking at her directly in the eyes

"Come at me, Seulgi"

---

Seungwan jumped back, evading a claw from Seulgi. The hunter's body pushed forward almost at the same time it went back and the edge of her knife barely scraped a few hairs of Seulgi's fur without managing to do her any harm. The wolf took a few steps back, trying to stay away from danger

Seulgi breathed rapidly while rubbing her eyes with the back of her paw. There were a couple of wounds under her fur that burned with every drop of sweat but nothing was too serious when her regeneration process was so fast however her body was reaching its limit. She could feel it in her uncontrolled heartbeats echoing in her ears and the puffs of air that were getting longer and longer, each time burning more after entering her lungs.

And Seungwan was intact. She didn't even look tired. There wasn't a single wound on her whole body. The most drastic change she had was her black uniform full of dirt spots

They had been fighting for hours, from the middle of the morning until the sky was covered with the colors of sunset. The wolf's pride made her not stop fighting but it was too much and even pride itself told her that. Without her wanting it, her body began to return to its human form and Seulgi collapsed to the floor with arms and legs outstretched, screaming for a much needed rest. There were days when she completely forgot that she was supposed to have a human side

Seulgi looked at the sky while trying to calm her ragged breaths and her racing heart. Seungwan let out a laugh after the girl finally gave up and spun her knife over the palm of her hand, tucking it in a small sheath that was tied to her boot.

"Is that enough for now, Seulgi?"

Pride went back to pump adrenaline through the girl's body. Seulgi tried to get up again by leaning on one of her knees only to fall on her back once more and growl with fury at the frustration of losing against a hunter

"Come on, let's go back to the camp"

Seungwan took a few steps towards her and held out her hand, Seulgi didn't hesitate a moment to take it right now she didn't have enough confidence in her legs to stand up on her feet. As soon as she got up, her whole body complained about fatigue but she held it back as best she could and started walking just behind Seungwan.

The way back home was complete silence that Seulgi was thankful for mainly because she had no conversation topic with Seungwan but mostly because of the nature around her; the sounds of the forest that surrounded the camp were mesmerizing and filled her with calm. She never had time to admire those small signs of life and the enchantment of the landscapes in this world, now that she could, she looked at them like a treasure chest filled with gold

The camp was fully illuminated by the time they returned, the night had finally been drawn over the clear sky. The flow of people was much slower than a few hours ago. Seulgi kept following Seungwan as if she was the main guide, like the light at the end of the tunnel. What worried the wolf was that she didn't know how much it affected that she was an enemy wandering around a territory that wasn't hers. She just wanted some protection behind Seungwan's back.

The silence remained even as they approached a tent that looked familiar to Seulgi. Seungwan lifted the heavy plastic with which the tents were made and the scene behind it left her paralyzed. Seulgi stayed right behind her trying to see what was going on.

Sooyoung was unconscious on one of the beds, her hunter uniform hanging on the wall covered in bloodstains. Joohyun was right next to her, checking closely all her vital signs. The tent worked as the bedroom of the three hunters. There were exactly three mattresses and small furniture to store their belongings. The neatness of each spot revealed who it belonged to and for now Joohyun was the one who best took care of her little corner in the camp

Seungwan approached them with cautious steps while Seulgi stayed at the entrance to the tent with her arms crossed and the immense curiosity to ask what the hell was going on

"What's wrong, unnie?" Seungwan spoke in a deep voice.

"Sooyoung went to tent number 12 three hours ago but... nobody regulated the process. They found her in there and now she is like this"

Seungwan sighed and approached the girl on the bed, touched her forehead and withdrew her hand almost immediately, as if she touched something worse than the mere human skin of her teammate. Sooyoung was burning with fever, and if it continued that way, it would surely end up having serious effects on her body. Probably at this point she had already convulsed and suffered from acute pains... those were the effects of entering that place without a damn supervision.

The lieutenant crossed her arms, her face no longer reflected any expression not even one of anger. Seungwan alternated her gaze between her teammate in bed and her unnie who seemed as confused as she was. Maybe Joohyun worked as the doctor of their team but these kinds of consequences were always very difficult to deal with.

"I'm going to be monitoring any changes, Seungwan" Joohyun spoke with a thin voice

"Don't hesitate to call me if something happens. Write down all kinds of changes, I'll be right back "

Seungwan turned around and made a sign with her hand to Seulgi to follow her. Seulgi pretended not to hear anything and stared at Joohyun, who was now holding Sooyoung's hand tightly and looking more distressed than a few minutes ago.

"Seulgi" Seungwan spoke with a firm voice and broke the girl's thoughts "Come on"

The wolf said nothing more and followed Seungwan closely. In her mind Seulgi only recorded the scene she'd just seen... if the hunters were such heartless beings as they all said, then why Joohyun was so concerned for Sooyoung? It wasn't simply a 'leader's job'. Why did she spare Yeri's life in the forest? She could've pulled the trigger when she wanted to but she didn't. Those were things that left Seulgi so confused, she couldn't really understand them

Not even as she followed Seungwan once more as a puppy follows its owner before eating

"What was Joohyun talking about?" Curiosity won over Seulgi and she couldn't contain her question no matter how hard she tried to.

Seungwan didn't stop walking to an indefinite point and neither answered Seulgi's question. They arrived at a well-lit open area with tables and trays full of food, just then the wolf forgot all of her doubts, she cared little about the situation while her stomach growled violently. In the midst of all the disaster that had been her last days she completely forgot she hadn't tasted a single bite and surely her body was already begging for food

"This is the dining room, Seulgi. You can take what you want as long as it's time to eat, when you finish, go back to the tent where we were "

Without saying more, Seungwan took another turn and left. Seulgi stayed in that kind of newly discovered paradise for her. She ran to the trays and took a clean plate to start serving everything that was there without taking into account that there were other people lining up, people who lived there and obviously had more authority than her. It was then when someone pushed her just as she was about to finish serving, all the contents of her plate were thrown on the floor and Seulgi just looked at them without expression

"Get out of here, dirty wolf" someone spoke with a threatening voice among the people around her. Seulgi didn't pay much attention and pushed the voice to the back of her head and instead took a new plate to serve herself a new amount of food. Perhaps if she was distracted by the fury of her stomach then it would be easier to calm down the wild howl of the inner wolf

"Here, this food is already served and clean"

A plate almost full of food appeared in front of Seulgi and she took it carefully, staring at the person who had delivered it. It was a woman only a few inches taller than her, with long purple hair and eyes as blue as the sky itself, the features of her face perfectly defined with such symmetry that one could immediately make out her special selection of genes. She wore casual clothes: a white long-sleeved shirt, black pants and shoes of the same color

Seulgi narrowed her eyes because for some reason the image felt like a deja vu

"I think I know you... you were with the wolf they captured" Seulgi spoke almost in a whisper. The alarms in her brain went off, specially after the warning Seungwan had given her

The woman grimaced and then nodded a couple of times. Seulgi couldn't if ignore how her face distorted into a expression of sadness as soon as she spoke about the wolf. Maybe the perfection of her face made her unable to hide anything

"Yes, I was with them. My name is Kim Dahyun" she made a slight bow "Some people can behave like s here but you shouldn't pay attention to them"

Seulgi's survival instinct screamed that she shouldn't continue the conversation with that girl. She was part of the Once unit, it wasn't a joke... Seungwan herself had said that they were completely dehumanized people but the woman in front of her didn't look threatening or dangerous. She looked like a person capable of establishing a good relationship with anyone

Seulgi flipped a metaphorical coin in the air, risking everything

And ignored Seungwan

"Don't worry, with time it's easy to get used to it" Seulgi walked to one of the tables with her plate of food. Dahyun followed her closely and sat in front of her at the same table

"You are with Seungwan, right?"

"Well yes... so it seems. We were training all day" Seulgi began to devour from her plate without control, leaving all the manners she had learned lying at some point of time. She spoke with still full of food "I'm too damn drained"

Dahyun raised an eyebrow at Seulgi's antics

"So it seems... you're devouring your food" Dahyun kept her eyebrow up and took the cutlery to eat

"I had days without eating anything, I'm sorry" Seulgi continued chewing uncontrollably, wide open. Dahyun frowned and decided that it was best to completely ignore the attitude of that very happy girl, she began to eat without saying another word

They spent a few more minutes in silence until Dahyun broke the ice

"What did Joohyun bring you here for? Where the hell did she find you anyways?"

Seulgi wiped with the back of her hand and shrugged. She was telling the whole truth to Dahyun, and she didn't know why the hell she had been brought here

"I don't know why I'm here, Joohyun found me and another girl in the forest now she has us in her tent and I don't know why"

"Wait" Dahyun raised a hand in the air "Is there another girl?"

"Yup. Her name is Yeri, she is also a wolf but she is much younger than me "

Dahyun remained silent and nodded a couple of times. She rested her hands on the table and kept them in a completely thoughtful pose, her ocean-colored gaze losing itself between the plate full of food and the details of the wood. Seulgi raised an eyebrow (while chewing with an open mouth) when she saw Dahyun's attitude

"Since I shared something with you" Seulgi interrupted the train of thought of the hunter "Don't you think you should tell me something too?"

Dahyun stuck her back to the back of the chair and placed her hands on her lap

"What do you want to know?"

"What is the tent number 12?"

The hunter's body tensed but then let out a long sigh. With it, all the physiological responses of her tension were gone

"Who told you about that? Joohyun?"

Apparently that place wasn't as friendly as Seulgi thought. She decided to take the conversation cautiously to get the most out of it... Seungwan wasn't yet someone she trusted and Dahyun could give her information good enough to keep up with the hunters activities

"I only heard of that while coming here" Seulgi shrugged

"It's a place inside the camp" Dahyun started and crossed her arms "Only hunters in training can go there accompanied by a captain and a doctor. It is the place where the hunter's emotions are erased"

Seulgi lost her appetite suddenly

"Erase the emotions?"

"Yes. The process of dehumanization they call it. There is a huge machine inside that projects different memories that have the purpose of causing an emotion in you. When the machine finds brain activity related to emotion, it erases a part of it. It practically 'numbs' you and you won't feel that emotion with the same intensity"

The wolf was now interested to the fullest. Yeri had talked about that "dehumanization process" but Seulgi never thought it would reach such an extreme point. The hunter creation program appeared to be such a glory from the outside but inside it showed its darkness and pure manipulation.

"Erasing an emotion is a process that takes many years and they shouldn't be deleted in a single session so the doctor and the captain should regulate the process. If someone tries to erase the emotion from the very beginning then it will hurt its body" Dahyun took a breath and began to list various consequences with her hand. "Convulsions, severe pain, loss of consciousness, nose and ears bleeding, high fever... I don't know, the list is eternal"

Seulgi kept silent

"You aren't allowed to enter that place. No matter what"

"Don't worry, I won't... it doesn't sound very fun"

"It's not a joke" Dahyun's voice turned threatening. "Now that you know what that is, mind your own business. That's a place only for hunters"

Seulgi nodded like a scolded child

She didn't ask anything to Dahyun anymore

---

Yeri entered the tent where Joohyun was. She had been there when two hunters dragged Sooyoung with blood flowing through her nose and ears and in the worst condition she had ever imagined.

Joohyun didn't explain what happened and Yeri tried to respect that idea even when she wanted to investigate further. Yeri knew that maybe she could get information about what had happened but that would alter the trust of the group and it would be even more difficult to obtain information that could help her.

She loaded a bowl with damp rags and ice-cold water. Yeri offered to take care of Sooyoung while Joohyun ate something and regained some strength. Seungwan promised to return a few minutes ago but it had been an hour already and she still hasn't returned. Seulgi was somewhere in the camp, probably gorging on food and desserts

That left the youngest sitting in a chair next to Sooyoung. She took one of the damp rags and removed the water residue by squeezing the cloth tightly, then folded the cloth in half and, with great care, placed it on Sooyoung's forehead. The hunter gave a slight jump after the temperature change and hissed, complaining a little and tried to remove the rag without success because she had no strength, her limbs seemed made of the same rags. At least little by little she managed to regain consciousness

"Don't do that, don't take the cloth away" Yeri warned as she placed the rag in the correct position once again "That'll lower your fever"

"I hate it" Sooyoung spoke in a low, harsh tone barely understandable "It's cold"

"I know, but this will make you feel better"

"Take it off..."

"I can't, damn it. It'll lower your fever"

Sooyoung complained one more time and closed her eyes leaving Yeri to place the rag on her forehead. The silence of the room only broke when Yeri dipped the cloth in the water and squeezed it.

Yeri took some time to look at Sooyoung

She looked pale, exhausted, as if she had just fought a brutal battle against some force a thousand times more powerful than her. What exactly had happened to her? Damn curiosity that left Yeri on the verge of committing a stupidity. Yeri plunged the rag into the water and with it, drowned her curiosity. With the back of her hand she touched the forehead of the hunter and sighed when she realized the fever was going down, that was a sign that finally there was an improvement

The tent opened slowly and from it Seungwan emerged with a tray of food and some boxes of medicine on it. The hunter stopped halfway to look at Yeri sitting next to her teammate

"Where is Joohyun-unnie?"

"She went to eat something, shouldn't take long. I was taking care of Sooyoung while she returns"

Yeri didn't miss when Seungwan's gaze softened at that sentence

"You ate something?"

"No, I'm fine for now" Yeri left the bowl with the water and the rag under Sooyoung's bed and then got up from the chair, walking up to Seungwan to take the tray with food and medicine. The lieutenant didn't even show resistance to Yeri taking the tray, she was in a kind of trance

Yeri returned to sit next to Sooyoung and checked her temperature with the back of her hand. She had finally reached the normal levels even though her ragged breaths still worried her. Yeri placed a hand on Sooyoung's forearm and squeezed it lightly trying to get her attention

Sooyoung didn't move

"Sooyoung?" Seungwan was the one who spoke, trying to provoke a reaction "Can you hear me?"

"A few minutes ago she woke up" Yeri tried to explain "She must be too tired"

It was there when Sooyoung, little by little, managed to move although they were very faint movements. Seungwan took a few quick steps forward but stopped when Yeri raised a hand to stop her. Sooyoung slightly coughed and grimaced at the possible pain she felt

"Sooyoung?" This time Yeri called her "Try to wake up... Seungwan brought food and medicine for you, it'll do you good"

Just at that moment the front tent was reopened and this time it was Seulgi accompanied by Joohyun. Both too respectful to say anything and break the sepulchral silence that covered the tent without rest. They stayed near the door, a few steps away from reaching Seungwan

"It hurts" Sooyoung muttered once again "It hurts a lot..."

"What hurts Sooyoung?" Joohyun interrupted only to be stopped by Yeri, the youngest placing her index finger on her lips to show silence

"Take this" Yeri helped her digest one of the painkillers that Seungwan had brought. After a couple of failed attempts, Sooyoung managed to digest the painkiller and fall back into a deep sleep.

Yeri reclaimed her place on the chair, Seungwan stood by her side and Seulgi remained at the entrance to the tent

"So those are the effects of tent 12..." Seulgi whispered without realizing that she had said it out loud. Joohyun immediately turned to look at her and took a couple of steps forward

"Who told you about tent 12? Where did you hear that?"

Seulgi stood firm

"I was just curious... I wanted to know why Sooyoung got like this"

"And who the hell told you how it worked? How do you know about these consequences? "

"Unnie, it's not the time" Seungwan tried to regulate the conflict before it escalated into something more serious "Perhaps the best thing is that they find out about this"

"Who told you, Seulgi?"

"Kim Dahyun"

Joohyun frowned and took the knife hidden in one of her boots, placing it over Seulgi's throat, too close to her vital points. Seulgi kept a glazed look while everyone was in complete silence

"How did you even dare to talk to one of the Once? Nobody told you it is dangerous?"

"You aren't my boss, Joohyun. Have you forgot you're my enemy?"

"Bae Joohyun. You have 10 minutes to leave the tent next to the wolves and Son Seungwan. Park Sooyoung stays inside there"

A voice shouted from the outside of the tent and Joohyun immediately left without caring about the problem with Seulgi. Tzuyu, the lieutenant who Sana mentioned before, was outside with her loaded gun and her uniform ready for battle. Joohyun raised an eyebrow as she gripped her knife hard

"We know what happened with Park Sooyoung and you also know the rules were broken. Get out of there, I'll take care of her"

"You can't do that..." Joohyun felt that the hundreds of days of training were useless, they couldn't prepare her for something like this and she was speechless. She knew very well what those words mean for Tzuyu

However, Joohyun couldn't say anything

Because a reddish wolf pounced on Tzuyu with a claw. The woman stepped back and pointed at the beast with her rifle

Seungwan looked at everything from the front tent and opened her eyes in surprise, she hadn't seen that wolf before

"Yeri"

---

A/N: Welcome to the new series of this story, my friends! This used to be a SeulRene fic until I realized it had no future and changed to WenSeul expecting everything to get better. I hope this time I don't up any chapter

I managed to get another chapter before WenSeul month ends so that's a milestone right there. Thank you very much for reading! You guys are great