Luhan stared at you, opened mouthed and very confused. For the past few hours, he’d held while you cried, eventually coaxing you over to the couch so you could sit down. When your tears had run out, he’d kept holding you and for that you were grateful. But while two of you had been standing in silence in your living room, not sure of what to say to fill it, your mind had been turning. Apparently, Luhan didn’t see the logic behind your plan that you had concocted in that quiet time.  

“So you’re going to steal it anyway?” he asked, exasperated.

“Yes,” you nodded affirmatively. “But not to give it to my family. Once I have it, I’ll burn it- destroy it. That way there’s no reason for anyone else to get hurt.”

Luhan scoffed. “Your family are hunters, (y/n). They don’t need a reason to come after us.”

Okay. That one stung a bit. “It would still be better if they didn’t have the book.”

“But destroy it? That’s so much history – our history. We can’t just throw it away.”

Releasing a groan, you rubbed your eyes with both of your hands. You couldn’t make him agree with you, that much you knew. Because he was right. Or so you think, from your limited knowledge. You’ve never read the book yourself, obviously, but you’d heard enough of the rumors to guess what was written down in its pages. No matter how rich in history those pages were, in the wrong hands, it was potentially dangerous. Genocide-level dangerous.

Luhan stepped forward, wrapping his arms around you. Your head against his chest was the most comfortable place in the world to you now. It was natural to rest your cheek over the space where his heart was kept, listening to it speed up at your closeness.

You were the mate of a wolf. A freaking wolf.

All your life, you’d been told that – while human mates were normal for the male-dominated species – is was impossible for a hunter to be mated to a wolf. The hatred for the beast ran too deep to be susceptible to such a thing. Did that mean you were faulty? Was there something inside you that made you vulnerable to this kind of situation? Something that made you so different from your family?

No. You didn’t really believe that. You believed the stories – that it was simply fate that brought the two of you together, connecting your very souls into one. Luhan was the opposite of you in every better way. He was soft and compassionate and open like you’ve never known someone to be before. Even knowing what you were, he didn’t seem to be fighting the pull between the two of you. You didn’t deserve him in anyway, but you couldn’t bring yourself to walk away either. He was handing himself over to you just like that, full of trust and kindness, even after what you’d done.

Against your hip a phone vibrated and you stepped back enough for Luhan to pull it out of his pocket. When he read the caller ID, he put a finger against his lips, telling you to keep quiet. You nodded.

“Hey, Junmyeon,” he answered softly as he turned to face away from you. “No, I’m okay. I promise. I just… needed some air.” There were short pauses in between his replies and you were dying to know what was being said on the other line, especially to know what damage you had done. “You did? Good. That’s good. Yeah, I’ll be home… soon. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way.” When he hung up, he turned back to face you, conflict flickering in his eyes.

“You should go,” you told him.

He shook his head. “It doesn’t feel right, leaving you here.”

“You need to be with your pack,” you insisted. “I’ll be okay.”

Releasing a long sigh, Luhan finally nodded, agreeing. “Okay. Please, don’t do anything else without me.”

“I can’t promise that.” At least you were being honest.

Luhan shook his head before stepping up to you, cupping the back of your head and kissing your forehead. He made it to the door, his hand even on the door knob, before turning back once more to look at you.

“I don’t hate you,” he said softly. “I… hate what you did. And that’s going to take time - for me to get over it. But I don’t hate you.”

You swallowed back the lump that was forming in your throat. “I can’t change what I did. I’m not sure what I would do if I could do it all over again, but I’ll try to make it up to you. Somehow.”

“Just stick around,” was his reply.

He left you alone in your apartment with those three words to mull over. He wanted you to stay, with him in this small, university-centered city, turning your back on your family and living among the wolves. Right now, in this moment, that was what you wanted. You didn’t think you could go back to your old life, anyway. Not now that you’ve met Luhan and you discovered who you were. You weren’t a hunter, not anymore. Maybe you never were. Sure, you were fast and had good aim, but you weren’t a killer, never have been. Now that you were accepting your place as Luhan’s mate, you couldn’t associate with the organization anymore.

But could you really sever all contact with your family? Forever?

You told Alli you would come back to her. She was your baby sister and you’d always protected her.

Sighing, you sat back down on the couch and laid your face in your hands. You’d figure out the family situation later. Right now, you needed to focus on your next step here. You meant it when you said you would make it up to Luhan. And that meant getting the book so no one else could use it against them ever again.

**

Junmyeon put his phone back in his pocket after Luhan hung up, feeling much better now that he’d spoken with his brother and knew that he was alright. He smiled at the others standing around the living room when he entered from the kitchen.

“He’s fine,” Junmyeon said immediately when they all turned to look at him. “He just needed some air. He’s in town, but he said he’d be home soon.”

The tension in the room eased just like that, if only by a fraction. Now they were all accounted for and everyone was safe. For the time being, that is. From what Junmyeon read, Minseok would be fine after a day or so. They couldn’t be completely positive about the outcome, but Junmyeon held on to hope. He had to.

“Junmyeon.”

Turning to look at the stairs, Junmyeon found Kris leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a strain between his eyebrows. He motioned with his head for Junmyeon to follow him downstairs before disappearing into the basement. Junmyeon headed that way as well, seemingly unnoticed by the rest of the pack. Or they just knew better than to try and join in on an alpha meeting.

Evie was also in the basement, pacing back and forth with Mei in her arms so the poor thing could get some sleep. It was almost like the child had a sense that something was wrong in the house and had been wailing and screaming since Junmyeon came home, probably even before that. Maybe when Minseok was first brought in after being injured. She finally had quieted down within the last hour or so and he felt a twinge of guilt when Evie threw him a desperate look not to do anything that might wake Mei up again.

Kris stopped only briefly to place the gentlest of kisses against Mei’s forehead, giving his fiance the same before heading into his room. Junmyeon passed on a sympathetic smile before closing himself in with Kris in the bedroom.

“We can’t let this happen again,” Kris growled.

Junmyeon nodded. “I agree, but what do you supposed we do?”

With his long fingers, Kris ruffled his hair as he let out a huff. “We have to figure out who the hunter is. Maybe lure them-”

Knock, knock.

Both alphas turned towards the door. For a moment, nothing occurred. Junmyeon thought for a moment that one of the pack members had wanted to speak to them and then changed their mind. But the door swung open slowly after a few more seconds and it was Kun who was standing on the other side.

“I heard one of your wolves was injured by the hunter,” he said monotonously. He inclined his head in a show of respect. “My condolences.”

“Thank you. But he’ll be alright,” Junmyeon informed him. “We found a cure for the poison in my family’s book.”

“So it’s real,” Kun whispered. Closing the door behind him once again, he sighed. “More rumors have reached our ears while we were searching the area. Apparently, your book is exactly what the hunter is after. It’s secrets - whatever is hidden in it’s pages - is what the hunter wants.”

“All this for some book?” Kris scoffed.

“A book with all our history,” Junmyeon confirmed, looking as his fellow leader. “And our anatomy. Weaknesses, strengths. Certain things that the hunters have never learned even after all these centuries.”

Kris shook his head. “And your family thought it was a good idea to write all of it down?”

“It’s important for all the generations to know and understand who we are as a species,” Junmyeon argued. “My family thrived because of it. If you don’t understand your history, you’re doomed to repeat it.”

“Thank you, professor.” Kris sarcasm was only just barely worse than his bark.

Junmyeon ignored the urge to bite back, a plan formulating in his head. “Kris… you’d said something about luring the hunter. Into what? A trap?”

“Yeah, that’s where I was headed.”

“What if we used the book to set the trap?”

At first, Kris stared at him, confused. Then the dots started to connect and Kris’s frown morphed into a somewhat sinister smile. “Let word get out as to where the book is located, then sit back and wait for them to try and take it.”

“Exactly what I was thinking.” An almost gleeful emotion was bubbling up inside Junmyeon. Maybe they would finally have the upper hand. “I’ll make announcements in all my classes that my office hours will be limited because I’m studying the book for a research project. No one talks like college students. Word will spread eventually. I’ll keep the book in my office and soon the hunter will come for it.”

“It’s a good start,” Kun agreed. “We’ll keep searching as well. That hunter won’t stay hidden for long. And then,” he narrowed his eyes, smirking, “revenge will belong to the wolves.”

**

Now this was probably the stupidest thing you’d ever done.

Three days. You couldn’t go three days without doing something stupid like this. You’d been in contact with Luhan, brief phone calls and a few messages here and there, just to make sure that the other was alright. But you hadn’t told him what you heard, what you were planning on doing. Because he would have stopped you. He would told you how idiotic you were being and would have found someway to stop you. But you had to destroy the book.

Throughout the entirety of Monday’s daylight hours, you’d spent them on the university’s campus, sticking close the wolf professor’s building. Most of what you’d gathered were students complaining about the amount of homework and how their teacher had shortened his office hours at the most inconvenient moment in the semester. It wasn’t until the afternoon that you finally heard the reason why.

He was studying a book in his office, an old book that related to his folklore studies. While his students questioned the importance of the book, you knew just how priceless it was. Breaking into his office was going to be much easier than the museum. At least, you hoped it would be.

You were hiding out in the bathroom, waiting for the sun to set. Then you could strike. Once you had possession of the book, you were going to light it up and take pleasure in watching it burn into ash. After that, you would have to figure out your next move.

Your phone vibrated at one point and you smiled down at the name that appeared on the screen. Luhan.

“Hi,” you answered quietly.

“Why are you whispering?” Luhan asked in an equal low voice.

“I’m in the book store,” you lied. “It’s natural to talk quietly in a bookstore. Why are you whispering?”

“I’m… hiding from my brothers.”

“Hiding?” you frowned. “Why are you hiding?”

“Because they dragged me to the gym like they don’t work out enough at home and one of them wanted to spar.”

You giggled at the thought of Luhan strapping on gloves and stepping into the ring to exchange punches with one of his pack members. Poor thing probably didn’t stand a chance. “Was there something you needed?” you asked as the conversation lulled.

“No,” Luhan sighed. “Just missed your voice.”

You scoffed. “That’s so cheesy.” But strangely, it made you a little weak in the knees. “I could… maybe… make you dinner tonight?” You cringed at your own suggestion. You weren’t even that good of a cook outside the microwave, but you missed him, too. And… you kind of needed to tell him that you went ahead and stole the book. After you did, of course.

Luhan laughed just a little. “I’ll try to come over tonight. Minseok is fine and walking around, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get away.”

“Okay,” you smiled. “Just let me know.”

“Okay.”

And that was how you said goodbye.

Another hour later, you decided it was time to head out. All the lights in the hallways were still on, but a majority of the offices were pitch black, their occupants having long gone home. Your eyes searched over each name plate as you passed, only vaguely remembering where the alpha’s office was.

When you came to it, your heart was pounding in your chest. This was it. You already couldn’t turn back, but this decision felt even more final as you placed your fingers on the handle. It didn’t turn. Hardly a surprise, you came prepared.

Bending down so you were at eye level with the lock, you took out a little tool kit that was just barely the size of your hand from fingertip to wrist and pulled out to metal rods that seemed better fit for a dentist’s office. While Carter was best at hacking computers, you were pretty handy with old fashioned key locks.

As soon as you heard that tell-tale click, you shoved your tool kit away in the side pocket of your bag and pushed the door open. Weighing your options, you decided that turning the light on was much less suspicious than searching around with your flashlight. You went to the desk first, pulling the drawers open and peeking under papers to try and find where the book may be. But all you found were graded essays and test answers.

“Looking for this?”

You gasped.

The professor was standing in the doorway, the book you’d been searching for all this time between his fingers. Fire sparking in his eyes, he stalked towards you. Even though he’d seen your face, your flight instinct kicked in.

Jumping over the desk, you just barely stayed out of his grasp as you headed for the door. But you weren’t quick enough. A hand grabbed ahold of your ankle, yanking you down to the flat, harsh carpet. Your head bounced off the floor and you were still shaking off the black spots when you saw the professor shut the door to freedom and lock it. He stood over you and crouched down, grabbing ahold of your left arm. In one swift motion, he ripped the leather cuff from your wrist.

A ferocious growl erupted from his throat when his eyes landed on your hunter tattoo. He pressed his other hand against your throat and cut off your air as he squeezed tighter and tighter. You clawed at his hand with your nails, but his supernatural strength was too much for you. Soon, the lack of oxygen was too much and you out.