You swallowed thickly. This was exactly what the mothers feared: you losing control. And being found out by others. Would the pack kick you out now? Would they fear you? Hate you? Nothing else seemed like a better idea in that moment than to simply disappear like the smoke from the still smoldering floor.

But you were stuck there in that room, with countless pairs of eyes staring at you with emotions that ranged from curiosity to confusion to fear.

“It was just an accident,” Soomi insisted, coming to your rescue when you still couldn’t find the words. She rushed over to your side, crouching down and putting her hands on your shoulders in a protective manner.

“An accident?” Kris scowled. His eyes flickered over to the circular burn pattern around the bed. “This looks a little precise to be an accident.”

“Soomi, is this one of the powers you were talking about?” Junmyeon asked suddenly. Your eyes went wide as you whirled around to face the one person who you thought would never tell. It was against her character to go against the wishes of the coven.

Soomi looked at you with guilt. “Someone had to know, in case something like this happened,” she explained. To Junmyeon, she nodded. “But this has never happened before. Not in her sleep.”

“Wait, so (y/n) made the fire?” Jongdae exclaimed. “While sleeping?”

“That is both terrifying and impressive,” Baekhyun commented.

“Wait,” Tao looked at the others frantically, never letting his gaze settle on you, most likely out of a small amount of fear, “so what exactly can she do?”

Soomi answered for you, which made you feel relieved that you didn’t have to speak up. You were still in shock from the fire… and the vision. “(y/n) was born with the ability to manipulate the elements. It’s rare among witches and… it’s not the easiest thing to control.”

Kris looked over at Junmyeon. “Don’t you think that you should have shared that with the rest of us, especially since she’s staying in our house? With Mei?”

“She would never hurt any of us,” Junmyeon defended. You were thankful that at least one of the alphas was on your side. Even if you actually tried, you were sure you wouldn’t have been able to support yourself properly.

“I wouldn’t exactly call her powers ‘under control’,” Kris spat back.

Soomi shook her head, her protective grip on your shoulders tightening. “They’ve never surged like this before. A splash of water here and there and-”

“Splash of water?” Baekhyun’s eyes grew wide along with a mischievous smile. “Was that you at the restaurant?”

“The restaurant?” Soomi looked to you. “What happened at the restaurant?”

Everyone was staring, waiting for answers. Some you had, some you didn’t. The pressure and the tension brought you back to when you were just a child, brought before the mothers of the coven, the first time your powers manifested.

Fire. It was always fire. The first time had terrified you. It wasn’t obvious – in your eyes, at least – that it had been you to cause the candle flames to surge and grow until Mother Cypress’ ceiling caught fire as well. It was put out before any true damage could be done, thankfully, but it didn’t end there. The other kids had pointed to you as the culprit. You didn’t understand. All you had done was cry and yell. Ronin had stolen your favorite stuffed animal and refused to tell you where he’d hidden it. Next thing you knew everyone was running and screaming because of the candles. Not too long after, the mothers had figured out just how different you were.

And here you were again, surrounded by accusatory stares mixed in with fear of the unknown. What else could you do besides jump to your feet and run out the door? In your mind, there was no other option. And no one stopped you. Several of the wolves even jumped out of the way, perhaps scared that you’d set them aflame if they didn’t.

Outside, the unexpected chilly air stabbed at the exposed skin of your arms and legs. Almost immediately, your teeth started to chatter. It seemed the weather was finally saying goodbye to the last bit of summer and fully transitioning into fall. Which went the blood moon was getting closer as well. Even with the heavy cover of clouds in the sky, you could still see the faded orange of the sun rising. It was morning already.

Too cold to go any further, you sat down in the dewy grass, the water adding to your icy state. But you didn’t move. Part of you hoped that maybe you would simply freeze over in that spot, a permanent statue that no longer had to deal with the cards life had handed you on the day of your birth. Burying your face in your knees, you willed the water around you to come over you and solidify in an attempt to become that statue. As per usual, your so-called “power” ignored what you wanted. They only seemed to want to cause chaos instead of obeying your orders.

Was that their true purpose? Were they really meant for chaos? The mothers had tried to keep you on the road of light magic, of good, but what if you simply weren’t made for it? What if your destiny was to take the other path and all this effort was simply prolonging the inevitable? Could that be what the visions had been trying to tell you all along?

Something warm suddenly fell onto your shoulders, causing you to flinch. In a glance you saw an oversized jacket now covered you as protection from the cold. The owner of the clothing item stood in front of you, his hand out as if waiting for you to take it.

“Come on,” Sehun said softly.

You pulled your arms in tighter to your chest in defiance. “I’m not going back inside.”

“I’m not taking you back inside,” he countered. The fact that he continued to be unfazed by your snappy attitude was not lost on you. But he already knew, didn’t he? He already knew about your powers. Even so, you were a bit amazed that he wasn’t keeping his distance after witnessing the extent of what you were capable of.  “Just trust me.”

Somehow, those three little words did it. Without even hesitating, you took his still outstretched hand and let him pull you up to your feet. In that motion, however, the jacket slide off your shoulders, exposing you to the cold once again. Before it could fall to the ground and become covered in water, rendering it useless, Sehun snatched it from the air.

“Here.” He adjusted the jacket in his hands and then slide one of your arms into the sleeves like a child. But you didn’t fight him or slide in some comment about being able to do it yourself. You let him wrap you up in the warmth that smelled like him, even biting back a smile as he zipped it up nearly to your chin. Satisfied with his work, he grabbed your hand and said, “Let’s go.”

It was a slow walk towards the woods west of the farmhouse. You’d never gone this way before so your mind was reeling with the possibilities of your destination. Though he wasn’t speeding ahead, Sehun seemed to be walking with purpose, giving you somewhat of a hint that this wasn’t an aimless stroll.

After ten minutes or so, the trees began to thin again, revealing a second, man-made clearing. Three different structures were in varying stages of construction on the property. The largest one resembled the bare bones of a house, only the wooden beams that would hold up the walls to dictate where the rooms were going to be were built.

“This is our second home,” Sehun explained. “The farmhouse is getting too crowded, so Junmyeon started this a month ago or so. The space might be nice, but I like having all of us together.” The sadness in his voice was evident and you squeezed his fingers in an effort to comfort him. This whole time he’d kept a protective grip on your hand and still, he didn’t let go. You didn’t want him to, either. The warmth passing back and forth through your palms was the only thing keeping you upright, stopping you from crumbling away.

Over and over, you swore to yourself that you wouldn’t fall in the same trap that Soomi did. You wouldn’t fall for a wolf that clearly wasn’t yours.

But you wanted him to be.

You wanted to lean your forehead against his shoulder, eyes closed, and take him in. Everything about him calmed you down and sped you up at the same time. Your heart was racing, but your mind was at ease. Could he feel how hard the blood was pumping through your veins? Did he feel the same way?

The sudden panic of getting too close surged up in your stomach. You tried to step away, put space again between the two of you and free your fingers from their wanted cage, but he didn’t let you. He wasn’t holding them hostage in a grip that would turn the tips of your fingers white, but he did hold firm, conveying his wish to keep you beside him without uttering a word.

Still remaining silent, Sehun tugged you along to get closer to the construction site. He ignored the yellow caution tape to bring you almost to the center of the house. If you let your imagination run, you could almost picture the painted walls, the kitchen, the living room, all of it really, with you in the middle of it. It almost made you laugh; how could this empty, shell of a building feel like… home?

“I’ve been coming here a lot lately,” Sehun randomly confessed as he let you go. He took a few steps until he came to a foundation beam, holding onto it with one hand and leaning back. His gaze was up at the sky as if he were searching for words to say or an answer to a dilemma that had been haunting him. “Just for some quiet or think things through, it doesn’t matter. No one else comes here. They don’t care since it’s not finished. I almost don’t want them to finish it. I don’t know where I’d go after that.”

You were a little put out by his tangent since you thought him bringing you here was about making you feel better, but on the other hand… it was doing a decent job of getting your mind away from that dark place. Was that his real intention? Helping by pretending to not be helping?

Shrugging away the lack of answer to your riddle, you stepped up to the same pole Sehun was pulling on and leaned up against it with the corner pushing into your shoulder. You stared up at the orange-haired wolf until he tore his eyes away from the sky to meet your own.

“The forest is big,” you told him. “I’m sure you’ll find another hiding spot.”

Sehun inhaled deeply through his nose, holding it in for a few seconds before letting it out slowly through his lips. “Maybe I should stop hiding.”

There it was again. That electricity in the air that charged up every time he started to lean in. His eyes flickered back and forth from your gaze to your lips in debate. The difference this time around was the fact that it didn’t feel teasing or restrained. It was charged, serious.

“What are you hiding from?” you asked in a voice so soft it couldn’t even be deemed a whisper. It was merely breath leaving your lungs and yet the words were understood.

But Sehun ignored your question, leaning in at an agonizingly sluggish pace. You felt your own calves raise you up to shorten the time it would take for him to reach you. Then you felt the first drop land on your cheek. Looking up at sky, you found the clouds had thickened once again and were releasing the water that was now too heavy to continue carrying.

Drip… drip… drip… drip, drip, drip.

Faster and faster it came down, no roof up above to save you from the pouring rain. Sehun cursed under his breath and grabbed your hand, making a run for the trees that hardly created an adequate cover as the two of you hurried back to the farmhouse. By the time the two of you stumbled into the kitchen through the back door, you were soaked.

“(y/n), oh, my god!” Soomi rushed up to you, cupping your face in her hands as she inspected your current state.

Junmyeon sighed in relief. “Thanks for finding her, Sehun.”

You raised an eyebrow at the wolf after he didn’t correct the alpha’s phrasing. He hadn’t found you, he was the reason you were out in the rain in first place. Now he was practically on the other side of the kitchen. As soon as you were inside, he’d let go of your hand, making you feel colder than ever. You were hurt by how quickly he’d flipped the switch, how easy it was for him to create distance after coming in so close.

“Let’s get you changed out of those clothes,” Soomi said, pulling you out of the feelings that were currently drowning you. She led you towards the stairs, not slowing down even as you kept looking over your shoulder back at Sehun, who was whispering some story to his alpha that you couldn’t interpret.

Instead of going towards the bedroom, however, Soomi steered you towards the bathroom once arriving on the second floor. She started the shower and let the water warm up as she helped you strip out of the ruined clothes. You stared silently at the black jacket that had gotten the worst of it. Pools of rain water formed on the tiles where it lied. If only you could melt away like the water.  

“Go on and get in,” Soomi ordered. “I’ll put some clean clothes on the counter for you and then… well, then come downstairs. We all need to talk.”

Fantastic.

Alone in that shower, you contemplated the consequences of never getting out again. Your skin would wrinkle and shrivel, maybe even dry out from the heat of the water. Eventually the hot water would run out and nothing but cold water would be spitting out of the old showerhead.  Soomi would get worried and barge her way back in, pulling you out if need be. Or worse… she’d enlist the help of the other mates or even a wolf.

Now that hiding in the shower was ruled out as an option, you decided to stop being a coward and face the trial that would be waiting for you downstairs. You knew you would have to tell them about the dream – the very realistic dream you were sure was much more than a manifestation of your REM-induced brain. You were still drying your hair with a towel when you came down the steps. Everyone was in the kitchen, as to be expected. Sehun had also changed into dry clothes and was seemingly avoiding any chance to even peek in your direction.

“I swear, I think we’ve had more family meetings in the past year than we have since the pack formed,” Baekhyun grumbled. You shrank back in your spot, knowing a lot of them were most likely because of you. Was there any way you could make it back up the steps without being noticed? No, probably not.

“It’s important that we all know what’s going on,” Yixing reminded him.

“I’m kind of curious about the fire,” Minseok asked very pointedly.

“(y/n)?”

You didn’t want to look at the kind alpha, but you could feel everyone waiting for your response, so you lifted your chin, barely glancing at him. “Yeah?”

“Do you know what- what caused your powers to… surge like that?”

You swallowed thickly. The words came out in a scared, squeaky voice that you hardly recognized as your own. “I, um, I had another… vision.”

“A vision?” Soomi gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“There wasn’t exactly a good second to do so,” you pointed out.

“What was the vision?” Kris questioned.

“I was in that clearing again.” Him, you absolutely refused to look in the eye. By the time you were through here your cuticles were going to be nonexistent thanks to that nervous habit. “The woman was there, too, but she was behind me. I still didn’t see her face.”

Junmyeon waited a moment for you continue. When you didn’t, he asked. “What were you doing?”

“She was… urging me to use my power,” you whispered. “Fire, to be exact. Using it in the vision must have triggered something to make it happen in real life.”

“What were you doing with the woman?” Jongin’s question was meant innocently, from what you could tell by his tone, but it set off a domino effect of panic.

“What were you doing there?” Baekhyun emphasized in an accusatory voice.

“It sounded like you were on her side,” Jongdae added. While the accusation stung, you didn’t blame him for thinking down that way.  

Chanyeol pouted like a kicked puppy at you. “You wouldn’t join her, would you?”

“I bet they’ve been working together this whole time.”

“If that were true, why would she tells us about this?”

“To make herself look innocent after setting the house on fire.”

“That’s a solid plan.”

“She can’t stay here. What if she loses control again?”

“Or sets the house on fire on purpose?” 

Louder and louder the voices grew, intersecting and overlapping until you could no longer tell what argument was coming from which wolf. A small select few still seemed to believe in your innocence, but most were deeming you untrustworthy.

“ENOUGH!”

You flinched at Junmyeon’s outburst. You’d seen him frustrated and agitated, but you’d never seen him lose his temper in this fashion. His jaw was set, teeth grinding against each other while his glare roamed over his pack.

“The fact that any of you would think for a second that (y/n) was plotting against us….” He shook his head. “I’m disappointed in all of you.”

“But they had good points, Junmyeon,” Kris argued. “And we must always put the pack first.”

Junmyeon scoffed. “So, what do you want to do? Throw them out?”

Kris shrugged. “It really might be best if they don’t stay here anymore. We can’t be completely sure that this won’t happen again. And next time, it could be worse.”

“But what about the woman? (y/n)’s visions?”

“They’re not constant. If she has one, then they can come over and describe it to us,” Yixing said. Guilt was apparent when he looked at you, but he quickly ended the contact, squeezing Ming’s hand protectively.

Junmyeon opened his mouth to argue, but eventually closed it again. His shoulders slumped, admitting defeat.

“You can’t just kick them out!” Sehun shouted.

“I don’t have a choice, Sehun.” The alpha was breaking. His voice wasn’t as strong as it had been a few seconds ago. He was going back on his promise to Mother Willow to protect you and Soomi and it was killing him to do so. You didn’t understand how any of them could be okay with seeing their leader this way. “I have to put the pack first. Always.”

A roar ripped through the air that made everyone jump.

“She is part of the pack!”

Sehun marched over to you, taking ahold of your wrist and pulling you into his side. With an expression that was scaring even you, he made a declaration that you wouldn’t have been prepared for in a thousand years.

“She’s my mate.”