You tried to focus on your breathing as Junmyeon led you back down that hallway to the room storing the werewolf artifacts. How fitting.

Once the door was closed, Junmyeon turned to you and opened his mouth. “(y/n), I am so-”

“No.” You put up a hand to stop him. This was your speech to give. Afterwards, you’d let him have his say, but you had to go first. “Let me go first. Please. I know that you have something that you’ve wanted to tell me for a while. But, please, I need to get this out.”

Junmyeon nodded, keeping his lips tight shut together.

Taking a deep breath, you just poured out the words, not really stopping to think in fear that you might clam up when you needed to make sure it all came out. “Okay. I realize that we both have been idiots in this situation. I jump to conclusions because I believe my eyes way too quickly and you at properly explaining things. The blame for the fights and the avoidance and the misunderstandings comes down on both of us. Agreed?”

Junmyeon nodded wordlessly.

“But,” you swallowed thickly, “despite all that, I can’t say that I would go back and stop myself from going into the woods that night.” A spark lit up Junmyeon’s eyes when you told him that and it was exactly the encouragement you needed to go on. “I know this might not be fair for me to ask again, but,” you your lips, “you don’t… have feelings for Soomi like that, right?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I used to have a fleeting crush, but that’s it. And those feelings are long gone.”

“So, she wasn’t you mate?” Oops. You didn’t mean to ask that one out loud; you were just too relieved at his answer. The happiness in your voice at his answer was just too apparent to hide.

With a chuckle, Junmyeon shook his head, “No. She’s not my mate.”

“Okay. Um.” You were shifting your weight from foot to foot, building up the courage you needed to go on. “So, I don’t know entirely how the whole ‘mate’ thing, works, but-”

Oh, god. Here it comes. Were you about to make a complete and utter fool of yourself? Most likely. But this is what you prepared for, right? The possible rejection? The absolute need to know the answer no matter what it could be?

Keeping your gaze fixed on your intertwined fingers, you whispered, “Can I be your mate?”

When you risked peeking up at Junmyeon, you expected him to be shocked or sorrowful right before he turned you down. What you received instead was well beyond any hopeful expectation you could have guessed.

Grasping your face in his hands, Junmyeon pulled you towards him until his lips collided with yours. He moved softly against you, but there was also a sense of eagerness behind it that grew as the kiss went on. By instinct, your own hands came up and wrapped their fingers around Junmyeon’s wrists, binding him there because you never wanted him to move.

Those lips that you never thought you would actually be able to taste were now locked in with yours.

Too soon, Junmyeon slowly pulled away. You stayed trapped between his palms, lips swelling and tingling, itching for more. Electricity was surging through your body and all you wanted to do was just grab his sweater and bring him back for another kiss.

Instead, you restrained yourself and asked, “Does that mean yes?”

Bowing his head, Junmyeon laughed before looking up at you again. “That’s what I was trying to tell you on the porch, (y/n). You are my mate.”

Your jaw dropped. “W-what?”

“It’s not a pick and choose process,” he explained as he caressed your cheek. “From the very beginning, you’ve been my mate. From the moment I saw you sitting there in my classroom.”

Rather than squealing or jumping for joy, you shoved Junmyeon. It wasn’t too forceful. You didn’t actually want him to go away, but you were certainly a little irritated.

“Why didn’t you just tell me that from the beginning?” you whined. “All of this could have been avoided. Did you think I would run away?”

With soft fingers, Junmyeon brushed his knuckles against your cheek. His smile had dimmed a bit as he mulled over the words stuck on his tongue.

“I didn’t think you would run away,” he countered quietly. “But-” he sighed. “But I did worry that you would still choose to leave. I was scared of you accepting me and then leaving, never knowing when you’d come back. I didn’t want to hold you back or make you feel like you had to stay.”

“Don’t you think that should be my choice?” You crossed your arms, waiting for his answer.

“I-” He sighed, nodding, “Of course, it should be. I was just… scared.”

You raised an eyebrow questioningly. “The big bad wolf? Scared?”

Junmyeon scoffed. “I’m hardly the big bad wolf. I just didn’t want you to feel obligated to stay.”

Biting back a laugh, you kissed his cheek. “That’s sweet, but I can make my own decisions.”

The smile on his face grew once more as he wrapped his arms around your waist. “I’m sorry.”

“Just clue me in next time,” you chastised. As he leaned in to kiss you once more, your brain pulled you in a completely different direction, remember his earlier statement as to why he was here. The curiosity was eating at you, desperate for answers. You jumped out of his arms, turning towards to the artifacts instead. Ignoring the slight whimper coming from behind you, you asked, “What exactly was it that you were researching on?”

Sighing heavily as he realized where your attention now lied, he stepped up next to you. He pressed an index finger up against the glass panel that separated the worn leather book and you. “Soomi’s… apprentice? I’m not sure exactly what to call her….”

Junmyeon glanced at you from the corner of his eye, perhaps looking for any sort of reaction to Soomi’s name being mentioned. You waited patiently for him to continue. What use was the feeling of jealousy when you were his mate? Junmyeon’s eyes were on you and only you. Not even the mention of an old crush was going to bring you down from that fluffy cloud nine.

“Anyway,” he went on with a grin, “I guess she’s one of the few witches who can see the future, although it’s random and not as helpful as one would think. She senses that something is coming for the pack, but she can’t see exactly what it is. I was hoping there might be a hint of what possible threat could be coming.”

A threat?

“Did you find anything?” you asked desperately. The fact that something could come and harm your new family before you even got a chance to really get to know them frightened you and made your blood run cold.

Junmyeon shook his head. “No, I didn’t. The worst thing we’ve ever come across was a pack of hybrids and we were able take care of them without too much incident.”

“Well, that’s good. Wait,” you frowned, “what are hybrids?”

Running a hand through his hair, Junmyeon scrunched his face. You could see the wheels churning in his head as he tried to figure out how to define this new creature that had entered your ever changing world.

“They’re wolves who have been changed into vampires,” he explained. “The combination is unstable, but the ones who make it through the transition are extremely powerful.”

“How did you guys handle that?” you gasped.

Junmyeon smirked. “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

“Um.” You clicked your tongue, unsure of how exactly to respond to that. “Okay.”

It was simple enough to interpret that he meant the pack worked together to take them down, but did he have to phrase it that way?

With a laugh that rose deeply from his chest, Junmyeon clapped his hands a few times. You couldn’t quite understand what he was finding so funny. Was he laughing at his own dorky sentence?

Still chuckling at your confused expression, Junmyeon cupped your jaw and kissed your cheek. “I’m sorry,” he sighed happily, “but when I say things like that, the guys tell me to shut up or roll their eyes. The fact that you just went with it is refreshing.”

“You poor thing,” you giggled. Pushing through the palms still holding your face, you kissed Junmyeon enthusiastically. The fact that you were now able to do that almost any time you wanted made you feel all bubbly inside.

Removing his hands and sliding them down to grasp your fingers, he kissed your nose. “At least I have someone on my side now.”

You cringed. “Eh, it would depend on the situation whether or not I’m on your side.”

That just made Junmyeon shift his gaze up to the ceiling, exhaling deeply.

“Come on,” you laughed as you stepped away. “If you couldn’t find anything here about what the threat might be, we should try the university library.”

“The library?” Junmyeon questioned. “Why there? It’s not like there’s a secret stash of ancient scrolls saying ‘beware of these monsters’ just waiting there to be read.”

You bit back the more sarcastic comment you wanted to let out, instead saying, “No. But there’s still a lot on folklore creatures. If you’re real - and vampires and witches - aren’t the odds in the favor of others being real, too?”

Junmyeon huffed, knowing exactly how right you were.

“Also,” you added, “I have class that I can’t be late to. Let’s go.” Before you could make it two steps towards the door, Junmyeon pulled you back. You stared up at him, confused. “What?”

“You know,” he swallowed, eyes trained down on your hands, “we can’t be… together like this, at the school. We have to be careful, at least until you graduate.”

Oh…. right. Before, you’d been focused on that aspect. It’d been the perfect excuse to distance yourself from Junmyeon, reasonable and understandable. But now that you discovered that your feelings had validity and you were his mate, that little detail had gone out the window. It didn’t seem important to you anymore until Junmyeon point it back out again.  

“Yeah,” you sighed. “That’s true. I guess, I should just go by myself. You did cancel class, so most of the students probably think you’re hungover.” Pursing your lips, you asked, “Is the research the reason you canceled class?”

Junmyeon scrunched his face. “No… it was because of you.”

“Because of me?” you repeated.

“Yes,” he nodded. “Going to class and seeing you try to hide all the way in the back was torture. I knew I needed to speak with you, plead with you to let me explain, but I couldn’t do that in the lecture hall. So, I gave myself a break before trying to catch you in a more appropriate location. Finding you in the museum was pure luck on my side for once.”

“Or fate,” you shrugged.

He smiled broadly. “Yes. Fate.” Kissing your forehead, he released your hand from his grip. “How about I take you to dinner tonight?”

You raised an eyebrow. “What happened to keeping it lowkey?”

“I know a place where we won’t be caught.” He added a wink to the end, like a visible period.

“Okay,” you scoffed playfully, “I’m going to leave before you get any cheesier.”

That made Junmyeon pout. “I finally get to tell you that you’re my mate and you just brush me off.”

You didn’t actually feel bad, but you pulled him into a hug anyway. “If it weren’t midterms time, I’d skip class to spend all day with you.” Leaning back, you looked up at him, “But it’s my senior year and I really can’t afford to do that.”

Unable to resist, you kissed him one more time before heading for the door.

“I’ll see you tonight! At the park!” You waved to him. “Don’t be late!”

You ran out of the museum, simply to keep yourself from giving in to the urge to skip class and spend the rest of the day with Junmyeon even as his laughed followed you out. It was too tempting, but you took deep breaths, making it to the bus stop in time to catch your ride back to the university.

Bringing your fingers up to your lips, you reminisced about that first kiss, the one that took you by surprise after such a simple question. You didn’t think that the answer would be yes, let alone that you had been Junmyeon’s mate all along. You felt a little dimwitted. The signs were there. How else could you so quickly become one of the most important people in his life? Just because you knew his secret?

“Stupid,” you whispered to yourself. But you were grinning from ear to ear.

**

You’d had a date with Junmyeon every night this week and you were absolute heaven. It’d been a bit of an adventure, sneaking around, making sure you didn’t get caught. But you didn’t want to do for the rest of your life.

None of the time spent with Junmyeon was extravagant. You either went on short walks through the park, did take out in your living room when you knew Cam and Gemma would be gone, or twice you went to a little mom and pop restaurant that was hidden on the edge of the business district and easily missed. In all honesty, it was hard to keep yourself from stealing kisses or burying yourself in his side while out in public, but you pushed through it, keeping your hands to yourself. Until the two of you were only, that it.  

At first, you wanted the end of your last year of college to come so you could get the hell out of here. You still wanted to experience dig sites. You still wanted to go out and explore the world, but you were less eager to run. Now you wanted the end to come just so you could be somewhat normal with Junmyeon while still keeping those possibilities in your line of sight.

You were bouncing in your seat as you drove down the dirt road, getting closer and closer to the farmhouse on this beautiful Saturday morning. There would be no need to be careful, no need to look over your shoulder, and no need to worry about being caught. Junmyeon had asked you to come over and there was no way you could say no.

A few other cars were littered in the front yard when you pulled up. Apparently, it would be a full house today. It was understandable, considering school was calming down before fall break hit. It didn’t matter to you as everyone in the pack already knew about you and didn’t care that you were a student in Junmyeon’s class.

Hopping out of the car, you barely made it to the top of the porch steps before Junmyeon came outside. He didn’t waste any time picking you up into a bear hug, your feet coming up off the ground while he was breathing in your scent through his nose that was buried in your neck.

“Hi,” you giggled.

Junmyeon put you down and kissed your deeply before greeting you. “Hi.” Releasing a long breath, he intertwined your fingers with his. “Come inside. Everyone is gathered in the living room. We’re going to talk about the vision.”

“They don’t know yet?” you gasped.

“Not yet,” he admitted. “I took your advice and went over all the books I could find in the folklore and fables section of the library, as well as my own research. Nothing really stuck out to me, but hopefully Soomi’s apprentice will see something again soon and give us another clue. I wanted to see if I could find more answers before worrying the rest of the pack.”

“You know, I’m still surprised you didn’t think of looking there yourself, Professor,” you teased.

Junmyeon narrowed his eyes at you. “I’m sorry. I had a slightly more pressing matter to figure out first.”

“And who’s fault is that?” you mocked, tapping his nose with your finger.

Shaking his head, he sighed at you. “Let’s just go get this meeting over with.”

At least ten boys were all shoved into the living room, several of them accompanied by their mates, explaining the many cars parked in the front yard. Jiyoung waved at you enthusiastically from Jongdae’s lap on the floor. You bobbed your head in response, a little embarrassed at your last encounter.

Junmyeon sat you down in one of the few single chairs that looked like it’d been taken from the kitchen table while he took the empty seat beside you. The same couple that you remembered from the first morning you came to the farmhouse were the last to come into the living room: Kris and his mate. They took the last empty space on the edge of the long couch, the girl sitting on the tall wolf’s lap as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Slapping his knees with his palms and pushing himself up to his feet, Junmyeon instantly commanded the attention of the room without uttering a single word. It awed you, the kind of energy the alpha could give off. “So, I’m sure you’re all curious as to why I called a meeting.”

One of the younger wolves with sandy blonde rolled his eyes. “If this is you trying the chore chart again, Junmyeon, I’m leaving.”

He exchanged a slight chuckle along with another white blonde wolf. They looked like a couple of trouble makers. You put together that they must have been the Sehun and Tao that Junmyeon told you about. But which was which?

“No,” Junmyeon frowned deeply. “This is serious. Apparently, a witch that is training under Soomi had a vision and-” He sighed, ruffling his hair with his fingers nervously. “Something’s coming.”

A hushed silence fell over the room. Several looks were thrown across the room from one wolf to the other while each evaluated the news.

“Well, that’s… vague,” Jongdae snorted.

Junmyeon nodded solemnly. “I know, Jongdae. But she didn’t see much. Just that something was coming.”

“I’m assuming that it imposes a danger to us,” the tall wolf said, actually taking the situation seriously.

“That’s the notion Soomi’s apprentice got.”

“But how does she know that it’s dangerous?” the silver haired one asked. That must have been Chanyeol, based on Junmyeon’s description from dinner the other night. “She didn’t even see what is was, right? Besides, what could be worse than the alpha pack?”

“It’s still good to be prepared,” Junmyeon insisted. It was obvious he was getting frustrated from the lack of concern from the pack and you wanted to reach out and squeeze his hand reassuringly. But Junmyeon was the leader. He’d handled things like this without your help, he could do this as well.

Kris asked, “Did she see anything else that could hint at how we prepare for whatever it is?”

With a shake of his head, Junmyeon replied, “No, unfortunately. Soomi said she would let me know if Nia sees anything else, but until then we just have to be extra careful. I need everyone to keep an eye open for anything suspicious and stay alert. Let me or Kris know immediately if anything catches your attention. We’ll investigate it from there.”

There must have been some sort of ending signal that you didn’t catch as the boys all started dispersing throughout the house, some whispering to either each other or their mates but none of their voices sounded concerned.

Junmyeon held his hand out to you, motioning with head for you to come with him. You gladly took it, letting him lead you through the kitchen and out the back towards the trees where the two of you could finally be alone.