___________ ahh, the dramatic music comes! ___________

{ 52 }

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The ticking clock was all I heard in the silence of the room. My heavy breathing soon erupted as I had a mild panic attack inside and I gave them a disbelieved look. They had decided this so suddenly. Without including me in it, without, probably, the thoughts of how I had reacted.

I knew the betrayal in my face wasn't hidden, as much as I wanted it to. I didn't want to be the clingy girlfriend, nor the possessive lover. But to choose now out of all times? Couldn't they postpone it for awhile? They knew what my position was. How broken I felt. How confused I was. How I was lost in a mind full of wandering and depressed thoughts. How near I was to falling off the cliff and into the rushing waters, as I drowned in the deep recesses of the ocean.

And they were just going to go. All of them.

One of them reached out and touched my shoulder. I flinched backwards as if his touches were fire and I was being burnt by it. The heat itself was traumatic and I steadied myself by counting backwards and digging my sharp nails into the palms of my hands.

Broken. Untouchable. Fragile.

The recent events had left me so, so vulnerable. And they knew it.

"My love, we're so sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry that you'll leave me alone?"

"Of course not! It'll just be a short trip-"

"Then why can't I go with you?!" I yelled and pushed him away from me as I stormed out the room. They followed me and stopped me before I could reach the front door. "Just tell the truth! I know there's something going on!"

"We...we're just visiting some relatives." The oldest soothed. "Don't worry, mei-mei."

"Worry? Of course I won't!" I spat and shoved my feet into a pair of boots. "Yes, I'll just let you guys go on a trip to another country with all your things packed in suitcases! While you're at it, have a little fun, won't you?!"

"Mei-mei..." ~~~~~ said and cupped my cheek. I whacked his hand away instantly, fearing that the simple brush of our skins would melt down the growing fury inside of me. I wanted to feel mad at them. I wanted to feel the anger run through my veins, the feeling of betrayal wash through my once calm brain. They deserved this.

"Just leave." I sighed and wiped away the maknae's tears as it trailed down his face. I backed away when I saw his hand evidently twitching as it reached for me and I felt the twinge of sadness as a look of hurt crossed over his face. "I'll see you guys later. In three weeks, right? Have fun."

The door shut behind me before I could hear a reply. The six boys stood still in the foyer room, frozen, shocked at my rash behavior.

The fourth oldest looked to the alpha. "We made the right decision, right?" He asked hesitantly. "Are you sure we should do this?"

The alpha's eyes darkened with remorse and he turned away. The rest of the boys didn't have the chance to see his eyes as they were covered by his bangs. But they knew how he felt, they all felt it. The guilt, the shame, the longing to just run out and pull her back into their arms.

"Let's go." He said quietly. "They don't have enough time left. And she'll get hurt if we stay here any longer."

The boys watched as he transformed into a wolf and ran out the house and into the dark forest. They sighed and gave one last look towards the closed front door, before turning back around and following their leaders with large ripping sounds of clothing and growls.

The last member pulled a velvet box out of his pocket and placed it in front of her doorway with a sad look.

"I'm sorry, my love." He whispered and closed his eyes. A tear streaked down his cheek as images of his mate flashed through his mind, with her long and beautiful cascading hair and lovely bronze eyes. Her confident stature and the way her face would light up with that heavenly smile...

A howl struck his thoughts and he stiffened. The howl was an order. He shouldn't keep them waiting any longer. He turned away before the longing urge became unbearable. He jumped off the stairs and landed on the floor, transformed, and tore through the house swiftly. Once the cool night air rushed through his fur, he threw his head back and let out a howl of himself.

I stopped in place and cupped my mouth as I leaned against the trunk of a tree. The moon moved out from behind the grey clouds and shined down on my figure as I slid down and buried my head in my knees. Tears slid down my face as the chorus of their howls filled my ears.

I slammed my palms on my ears to block out the sounds as I squeezed my eyes shut painfully. The agony of our separation ripped through my heart and I hiccuped as my throat constricted from my sobbing.

"This is goodbye, angel. Forever."

"You're just a lonely . A useless, broken doll that no one wants to fix."

"They'll leave you to die alone. And I will always be there to watch as you try to crawl and fail to stand on your own two feet."

"I always like a chase. But now that I've found out your secrets, I don't need you anymore."

"No one wants you, sweetheart. The innocent, pure girl is in fashion nowadays. Did you really think you'd belong? That you'd begin a new adventure? I thought you were smart. This is how you were born, this is your destiny. But, alas, one day you'll find out why the gods have chosen such a path for you to take."

Their very thoughts penetrated my head. The past that I had once tried to push down started to fill up my mind, letting me fall into my depressed and crazed state once more.

I threw my head back and let out my own sound, the sound of an ear-shattering agonized scream of my loss.

I was lonely again.

And I didn't like it one bit.

"Get out of here!" A familiar voice hissed.

"What, so now I can't even enter my own room?!" A light-hearted voice shot back irritatedly.

"Shut the hell up and just move!"

"Yah, I'm older than you, you brat! Treat me with respect!"

"The both of you get out before I sentence you to two weeks without meat!" Another reprimanded, it's voice deep and stern, full of authority.

The loud whispering and the quick scurrying of feet woke you up. You slowly opened your eyes as the back of the person's head disappeared followed by the quiet shutting of the door and you stared at the line of sunlight that landed on your bed.

You didn't make a sound. You didn't want any of the wolves in here to see you so vulnerable. The tears had slipped down your cheeks as you stared wide-eyed and shocked at nothing, feeling your heart race impossibly.

"What...was that?" You whispered and touched the wetness of your cheeks. Why were you crying? "It felt so...real."

You scrunched up your eyebrows in concentration to try to remember the faces you saw in the dream. But to no avail, you only saw their bodies and you only heard the howls and the screams. It was all vivid yet so surreal.

You weren't able to continue your questioning when the door burst open and two giant bodies jumped on you. You quickly wiped your tears away and sniffed right when they shouted so that they couldn't hear you.

"AHRAAA!"

"NOONA!"

You let out a squeak as Sehun crushed you with his arms and yelped when his elbow pressed down into your shoulder. Your head was still pounding and as you reached up and touched your eyes, you noticed that your glasses weren't on. The movement also instilled a sore ache in the bite-mark on your arm, and as you looked down, the bite-mark was healed but remained a scar. It was the same with your shoulder, just the sore aches remained.

"Yah!" Chanyeol scolded and kicked him off you. He landed on the floor with a whine and Chanyeol looked down at you worriedly. "You okay?

"Ah..yeah..." You said and sat up slowly. He helped you with gentle touches and propped you against the headboard as two more heads peeked in.

"Ahra." Suho said in relief and gave you a bright smile. "Are you hungry? D.O. just made a fresh batch of steamed buns."

You nodded your head slowly and winced as the ache in your head came back more than ever. The four boys all saw it and Suho furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'll get you some medicine. Take care of her and switch the towels every ten minutes, okay?" He ordered the younger boys and they all nodded obediently as Suho turned and walked away.