Wolves. That was all that played inside Lina’s head. The swift movements of the beasts just slinking in and out of the trees truly made her nervous; and the final grey wolf that stood strong and proud seemed to be lodged in her memory. She had never seen anything so wild so close to her before.

“Dad?” She said aloud in the Jeep. Another day at school arrived and her father was faithfully driving her to it.

“Yeah?” He hummed as he focused well on the road.

“Did you know there are wolves in that forest by the house?” She enquired, looking carefully for his reaction.

He shrugged his shoulders, “You do find one or two wolves in the area from time to time. Nothing threatening. They never come by the house anyway so you can relax.”

Lina blinked and went quiet all of a sudden. One or two?

There was more than that the night before. It looked like a large collection of wolves, and they were dangerously close to the house. Before Lina could say anything further about the topic, they had arrived.

“Have a good day!” Her dad smiled. Lina smiled back and jumped out of the vehicle, trying to remember the way to her classes were so she was somewhat prepared.

Sehun was absent. When Lina cast her eyes over to his seat during tutor time, it was empty. She couldn’t help but feel a wash of disappointment run through her as she sat down in her own seat beside Maru.

“Hi Lina!” She greeted with a cheery smile. She had a lollipop in that was turning her lips a redder than normal.

Lina greeted back and her day went on. She would scold herself for thinking about the boy spontaneously during her classes, wondering if maybe he was late. Would she see him at lunch?

No. He wasn’t at lunch either. But she saw his friend, with the lilac hair. He sat in the far corner, taking bites out of his sandwich as he had his nose stuck in a book.

“That’s Lu Han,” Maru informed, noticing where Lina’s gaze had fell, “He’s kind of a mystery as well. If you ask me, he’s a bit too pretty, I mean, way to put down a girl’s self esteem.”

Lina chuckled at the thought and she thought there was a change in expression on Lu Han’s face as well, but it was gone before she could analyse further.

“He’s not with Sehun I guess,” Lina commented with nonchalance as she took a spoonful of her own food. Maru had already picked up on her true intention. She nudged Lina playfully, “Ah it’s alright to admit you miss the guy.”

Lina scoffed, trying to hide her embarrassment, “What are you on about? I barely know the guy.”

“Whatever you say,” Maru sang knowingly, finishing off her food.

Lu Han threw his bag on the sofa and leaped up the stairs, making a quick beeline to Sehun’s room. He burst in without warning.

Sehun’s mother was still tending to him. “Ah you’re back from school? Try talking to him while I get some food for you two. He needs a distraction,” She advised and left them to it.

“Alright?” Lu Han asked, sinking into a cushioned chair by the window. Sehun groaned, “No!”

Lu Han chuckled quietly, “You’ll be happy to know that your mate mentioned you, perhaps once or twice.”

Sehun snapped his head in his friend’s direction in interest, “She did? What did she say?”

Lu Han scoffed, “Listen to yourself, you sound like a girl!”

Sehun whined once more, tossing onto his stomach before kicking off the blankets completely on the floor. He was covered in sweat and feeling uncomfortable. He could barely gather the strength to stand up. He couldn’t even lay down to rest; every position just brought him discomfort and pain.

“Gah, why is this happening to me?!” He growled.

Lu Han sympathised with his friend, “It’s the aftershock of not forming a bond when you first saw her. The pain will go soon Sehun, just bear with it.”

Sehun just complained further, “Of course I couldn’t form the bond straight away. She’s human for god’s sake! I couldn’t just bite her and then be like, ‘Oh hey there, we’re destined for each other, oh and I’m a werewolf’.”

Lu Han took in all his anger calmly, “It seems frustrating now because of the aftershock but tomorrow you’ll see it different. Tomorrow you’ll feel better and you’ll see your mate and sooner or later, she’ll accept you.”

Sehun sighed, flipping onto his back and stared at the ceiling, “She better.”

The next day at school, Lina rushed to her homeroom to be registered. She didn’t know why she was rushing but her feet were going at quicker pace than usual. Her shoulders slumped unconsciously when she saw Sehun’s seat was empty again.

By the time it was lunch, she was making a small trip to her locker to put all her books away. Maru would meet her in the lunch hall at their usual seats.

Her skin suddenly crawled with goosebumps and sparks of electricity shot down her spine. There was a new presence beside her and she could guess exactly who it was. Sehun stood by her locker, leaning boyishly against the others. His uniform was messy; shirt not tucked in and tie hanging loosely. His hair was dishevelled as if he had just woken up from bed.

And yet still, he looked so appealing to Lina.

“Hi, “ Lina managed to greet. She quickly grabbed the gloves that were placed carefully in her locker and held them out to Sehun, “Your gloves. Thanks for letting me borrow them.”

Sehun looked down at the gloves and pushed them back to her, “Keep them.”

Lina gulped slightly at the subtle touches of his fingers grazing upon her hands. She nodded, unable to find the words to speak, placing the gloves back. Sehun noticed her hands drop back to her sides and without thinking, reached out for it.

His fingers slipped past her palm delicately before the reaching her fingertips. Lina felt uncertain, her eyes stuck on Sehun’s grey pools. Her breathing was becoming shallow as Sehun bravely took a step nearer to her.

His other hand wove its way up to cup her cheek, allowing his thumb to over her blush once. Lina’s eyes snapped down to his lips, lips that had been moistened by the of his tongue.

She swallowed again, unable to stop herself from leaning into him.

The sharp, shrill sound of a bell snapped Lina into reality and she jumped back in alarm.

“What’s that?” She asked, looking around. It couldn’t be the end of lunch already.

“Fire alarm,” Sehun informed. The noise suddenly stopped, “Must be one of those pranksters pulling the alarm.”

Lina sighed in relief. The air around Sehun was thick again. She had almost kissed him and now she felt even more nervous around him.

“Well, I’m hungry,” Sehun announced, trying to lighten things up, knowing how Lina was feeling at that moment, “Let’s go.”

He turned, expecting Lina to follow. She kept up with his long strides and learned they were heading over to the lunch hall.