--

14

--

You thought it was strange that Howon wasn’t at breakfast. You set aside some food for him just in case he decided to come by, something Sunggyu noticed.

“He woke up early to do laundry up at the house. When I asked him about it as he was leaving, he said he was running out of clean shorts.” Myungsoo and Sungyeol snorted into their breakfast as Dongwoo and Woohyun exchanged amused looks. Sungjong rolled his eyes, and you just looked confused.

“Oh. Are you all running out of clean clothes? I can do laundry today.”

All six males denied and said they would do it themselves, something you noticed they did around the coming of the full moon. You shrugged. It was one week you didn’t have to do laundry for seven dirty males.

--

The Full Moon Festival for that month was celebrated with a potluck in the town. There was a small bonfire where various meats were roasting, and different families brought different dishes to help feed the town.

Your desserts were the talk of the town, and you suspected that the kids were going to wake up with aching stomachs in the morning.

“The fire will be put out before the moon is full,” Sungjong said to you when you expressed your concern. The fire was a lot closer to the town than the one over at Seungho’s territory.

“That’s good,” you said, eyes wandering over to Howon. He was in charge of roasting meat, and you noticed that his gaze would wander over to you occasionally as well.

“So, you and Howon are pretty comfortable with each other now, aren’t you?” Sungjong asked lightly. He didn’t want to pry, but he’d seen all of the looks Howon had been giving you, and every now and then, he’d catch you returning them.

“I suppose. You were right. He’s not as bad as he seems.”

“Are you two… together?”

You sat still for a moment before shaking your head. You two hadn’t talked about that yet. He would steal kisses from you every now and then, but even then, he wasn’t really stealing them if you let him have them.

“Oh. Good. I’m not ready to give you up yet,” Sungjong said with a laugh. He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you closer to him. You shook your head and laughed before leaning against his chest and getting comfortable.

Sungjong’s smile turned smug when he saw Howon accidentally break something.

--

The fire was put out as the full moon approached. Sunggyu stood by the edge of the forest, rotating his shoulders. The rest of the pack officials stood by him, stretching. Howon kept his eyes on you as you stood at the back of the crowd, waiting for the full moon.

Finally, Sunggyu let out a howl, and the rest of his pack answered before running for the forest. Everything was a flash of fang and fur, and you were left standing by yourself in an empty town.

You were about to turn back and head for the town house when you felt something nudge at your side. You looked down to see a familiar wolf. He grabbed onto your shirt with his teeth and started pulling you to the forest.

‘Shift,’ you heard Howon’s voice say in your head. ‘Shift and come play with us.’

He pushed you into the forest and sat down, waiting for you to shift. Various other faces poked out, waiting for you. You looked around for a moment before closing your eyes and shifting into your regular form, the snow leopard.

Howon gave you a toothy grin before nudging at your side. You walked for a bit until he nudged you again, this time a little bit harder. You broke out into a run, and he let a howl out into the forest.

‘Yay! The shifter’s gonna play too!’

‘Come play, come play!’

--

The forest was an entirely different place bathed in moonlight. You and the kids ran around, pretending to hunt each other. The kids thought you had an unfair advantage because you could climb trees, but Howon just had to bash into the tree a few times before you came tumbling down.

When you ran, Howon was always at your heels, playfully nipping at them with his teeth. You were having so much fun, you almost forgot about the metal bit on your leg. You ran and burst into an empty clearing. The kids were gone and Howon was gone, and you