Jongdae felt your body go weak. He lifted you up, cradling your face in hands, fear washing over him like a cold shower in the middle of winter. “(y/n)? (y/n)?”

Everything around him had settled down, all the witches under control as they were all surrounded by the pack with nowhere to go. His brothers growled and snapped their jaws to keep them in line.

The only reason he wasn’t panicking or crumbling into a million pieces at the moment was because he could see your chest moving up and down just enough and he could feel your breath leaving your nose against his skin. He pulled you in close to his chest, listening to your heartbeat.

“That’s it, baby,” he sighed, “keep breathing.”

“NO!”

Eun Na managed to wiggle out from Sehun’s paws to the point of grabbing hold of the knife she’s dropped earlier. Before anyone could react, she plunged the knife into Sehun’s shoulder. The wolf howled in pain, allowing Eun Na to break free. She ran towards the mates, fire and rage in her eyes, knife still in her hand and pointed straight at Jongdae, her new prey.

Quick to action, Jongdae laid you back down on the slab and pounced. He pinned Eun Na to the ground once again, but not before her knife found its way to his side, tearing at the skin and muscle, but thankfully only gliding by creating a surface wound. A groan escaped from Jongdae thanks to the piercing pain, but he held on.

“Get off me!” Eun Na hissed as she kicked and fought against Jongdae’s grip. He put pressure on her wrist, making her let go of the knife so he could kick it away.

Junmyeon phased back into a human, running up to them. “Are you alright?”

Jongdae nodded. “I’ll be fine. Nothing I can’t heal from.”

The alpha looked releived. “Okay.” His ears twitched and he looked out into the tree lines. “Soomi’s here.”

Sure enough, the fairy-like witch emerged from the forest followed by several older women with frighteningly stern looks. Eun Na began crying under Jongdae, seemingly recognizing who had come for her. The rest of the coven fell to their knees, heads hung in shame. The oldest woman with a face layered in wrinkles and wild gray hair that fell down to her hips stepped forward, an intricately carved cane helping her keep her balance.

“Where is Eun Na?” she called out in a remarkably clear voice.

Grabbing ahold of the witch with a firm grip, Junmyeon hulled her to her feet. “She’s right here.”

Jongdae scooted back until he was pressed up against the slab. Your arm was dangling off the side and he took your hand, kissing the palm before placing it against his cheek, feeling the blood still pump through the veins steadily.

The old lady nodded to two women behind her who then came up to Eun Na, zip tied her hands together, and dragged her back to the group. The rest of the new witches did the same to the remaining members of the coven. No one put up a fight. Soomi joined the wolves who were in human form, handing Junmyeon a pair of sweats.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, sliding them on to be decent in front of the other women.

Jongdae held onto his side. The wound was already healing, but it still hurt like hell.

The crone nodded to the wolves before ushering the witches out of the area.

“What are they going to do to them?” Jongdae asked.

“They’ll all stripped of their magic,”Soomi informed them.

Jongdae raised in an eyebrow. Why hadn’t they tired that before?

“Only witches that have broken the sacred covenant have their magic taken away,” Soomi explained, practically reading his thoughts. “Harming an innocent. Hundreds of years ago, witches promised to cause no harm to someone who had not first harmed them. Mostly to protect ourselves from repeating the witch trials. Every witch, male or female, takes the oath when they reach of age, swearing to never break the covenant. To do so is to take on the ultimate punishment. It takes a full circle of mothers and crones to take away a witch’s power. They’re going to have a long night ahead of them.” She turned to Jongdae, eyes drifting down to the blood dripping from his side. “We should take a look at that.”

“No,” Jongdae shook his head, scrambled up and lifted you into his arms. “We need to look after (y/n) first. I’ll be fine.” He had to hold back a groan. Lifting you was easy, but he could feel the blood leaving his body, weakening him.

Nodding, Soomi stepped up to him, placing her fingers gently on the side of your face. “The potion certainly worked. I think it’s mostly shock that caused her to black out. I doubt being bitten is a pleasurable experience.”

“It’s supposed to be,” Jongdae murmured, staring down at you. Everything about the two of you had been so messed up, so off course, and it was his fault.

“We should get her back to the house,” Juhnmyeon suggested. “Let her rest somewhere comfortable while you and I have talk.”

Jongdae winced, knowing he was in trouble. He never even told his alpha that he was taking (y/n) off the land and to the city. He’d heard his phone vibrating multiple times last night as well, but chose to ignore it, too lost in holding you to take the calls. Trouble didn’t even begin to describe what he was in.

**

You were shocked when you woke up. It wasn’t a peaceful eye-fluttering awakening either. You’d been dreaming; a nightmare. Eun Na had succeeded in killing you and your ghost was forced to watch her pick off the pack one by one, forbidden to help, useless, even as you watched the other mates die in an attempt to rescue the wolves. It was a miracle that you’d woken up at all, gasping for air and pushing yourself up off the bed you now found yourself in. A familiar bed with a distinct calming smell you’d grown so used to. However, the space beside you, usually occupied by a clingy, warm wolf, was now cold and untouched.

Twisting around and adjusting your sitting position, you glanced around the room. Everything seemed to be the same since you left it who knows how many days ago. Your purse was even still hanging from the closet doorknob where you’d left it. Your neck was sore and when you reached up to feel it, you found gauze had been taped over your mark. Your mark.

You laughed softly to yourself. You were alive. That potion actually worked and you were alive. But happened to the others? To Eun Na and her coven? Were any of the boys hurt?

Hurried footsteps alerted you to someone approaching the room from the hallway. The door swung open and Jongdae stood in the entrance, huffing from his run to get to you. You smiled at him and he slammed the door shut before shrinking the distant between the two of you in the blink of an eye, pouncing on you.

Every inch of you, clothed or not, was covered by Jongdae’s kisses as he smothered you in affection. You couldn’t help but giggle, his touches tickling you on accident. After Jongdae was satisfied that his mouth had touched nearly every part of you, he brought your face to his, stealing the very breath from your lungs with his lips against yours.

Pulling away, you smiled at him, saying the only thing you could think of.

“Hi.”

Laughing at you, Jongdae pulled you into lap, cradling you to his chest. Your index finger tapped against his collar bone absentmindedly while you sat there in silence.

“You scared me there for a bit,” he admitted in a hushed voice that you would have missed if he hadn’t been so close. You looked up at him, frowning. Kissing your nose, he explained, “You’ve been out for two days. Soomi thinks that she might have accidentally put too much of something in the potion and it kept you asleep until it could burn off.”

“Oh. And…,” you swallowed, a little fearful of the answer, “what happened to Eun Na?”

“Soomi brought the head crone of this region,” he answered steadily, “and the coven was put on trial. They had their magic taken away. Eun Na won’t be able to hurt you or anyone else ever again.”

You knew that wasn’t true. It didn’t take magic to hurt someone, but you stayed quiet, your mind drifting off to Eun Na’s motivation instead.

Jongdae tapped your forehead, concerned at your silence. “What are you thinking about so hard?”

“I…,” you sighed. “I’m just finding it hard to hate her.”

A growl rippled through his throat. “How–”

You put your hand over his mouth, stopping him. “She was heartbroken over her sister. A wolf had hurt her, emotionally and physically. Wouldn’t you want to go after someone who hurt one of your brothers?”

Jongdae removed your hand as he frowned at you. “I wouldn’t try to kill innocent people in the process.”

“I’m not condoning her methods,” you argued, “just that I can’t completely blame her for wanting revenge. She was simply blinded by her anger. Remember, I spent months with her as my best friend. I saw a side of her that you never did.”

Letting go of you, Jongdae leaned back, a guilty looking spreading across his face. “Not exactly.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

He scratched the back of his head, huffing. “You’ve been told that being away from your mate for long periods of time causes pain?” You nodded. “Well, after meeting you at the party, I tried to stay away. But it got to the point of being unbearable so during the summer… I kind of… followed you around, to ease the pain a bit. You were with Eun Na a lot and so that’s also what kind of made us hesitate on whether or not she was up to something. She seemed to genuinely be having fun with you. But I mean, we can’t really kn- ow!”

You’d punched his chest, irritated. Between each word, you continued to add in a punch with your fist. “You. Stupid. Jerk. You. Were. Stalking. Me!” A pout pushed up at your lips that you couldn’t stop. You were sure you looked ridiculous rather than the mad you were going for. “And you still were fighting it? God, you’re an idiot. You had it so bad but you had to be stubborn–”

Rolling his eyes, Jongdae lifted you and laid you out on your back so you were trapped between him hovering above you and the bed underneath you. He kissed your cheek before planting one on your lips.

“I love you,” he smiled down at you.

“Oh, no,” you grumbled, trying to squirm your way out, but it was useless. “You really think you’re going to butter me up? I almost died for you, I deserve a lifetime of servitude from you.”

Like an actual puppy, Jongdae flopped down next you, cuddling up to your side. “I’m already your servant,” he mumbled into your shoulder, planting a few kisses on it as if you hadn’t received enough yet. “Whatever you say, goes. As long as it doesn’t put you in danger. Or get you killed. Or leave you alone with another man.”

You laughed and then flinched as Jongdae slowly removed the gauze from your neck. You couldn’t see the wound his teeth had left and you weren’t given the chance to as the second you tried to move, his hold on you tightened. With gentle lips, he kissed the newly forming scar. The pain wasn’t as intense as you’d prepared for, more like a slight irritation rather than a piercing sting.

“Does that really make you feel better?” you asked, running your fingers through his hair.

“You being alive makes me feel better,” he whispered, his own fingers roaming around the hem of your shirt before getting braver and slipping up to meet your cold skin.

You smirked, turning on your side and hooking a leg over his hip, erasing any space between the two of you. “Well, I guess that makes two of us.”

Rumbling with a low growl, Jongdae grabbed your thigh, pulling you even closer. “You’re playing a dangerous game, (y/n). Everyone will be able to hear.”

Sighing, you shrugged out of his tight hold, bringing your leg back on your side of the line. “You’re right. Let’s just lay here instead.”

Jongdae’s jaw dropped. “That… is just-”

You kissed him and you could feel him smiling against your lips. Right where you wanted him.