Eighteen

Here she was, meandering along her thoroughly acquainted and used trail, when she should have been home. Amusement rang from her, and she could swear she was tipsy, but she had avoided the shots. It was feasbile that chugging a few more drinks ahead of hitting the road was what did her in.

Chaerin really should not be down this path, her vacation wasn’t going to magically acquire a couple of more days off. What sane twenty-two year old would be walking in this winding path on a Friday night? God, she needed a life. Mr. Lee’s absence was not helping her case, either.

She clambered over roots, trudged through dirt and blotches of mud. First of all, she couldn’t see Baekho, Yongguk made it perfectly crisp and clear he wanted her far from his pack, and she didn’t even want to begin with the mess Kris left her in. However, Yongguk had given her an excuse to see her lovely wolves, with a bit of help from her inebriated state.

Her twisted thoughts concocted the idea that she could clear up the hostility brewing amongst the wolves after the violent encounter they had. It was her mission, her duty, and so she rested along her designated oak tree, humming to her own tune, patiently waiting for a young man with red eyes to step into the clearing, glower, and scold her.

He didn’t come, and he wouldn’t.

“What the hell are you doing here, Chaerin?” It was decided; she was going to steer clear of liquor for some time.

His deep sigh seized her wandering attention, breaking her thought pattern. Someone did come by, startling her out of her wits. Yongguk rubbed a crick in his neck, berated her for coming back. “Your thing for danger, coupled with dogged determination makes you hazardous. Can you blame the head for avoiding you?”

Hapless, she concurred, a sob on the rise, so he assisted her to her feet and held her close. 

Juxtaposed, they leaned on the oak tree, Yongguk’s jacket draped over her shoulders. She got him to talk more about his boys, his features brightening at the topic. In terms of roles, he was the father, the second oldest, Himchan, was like a mother. They worked together to tame their rowdy lot.

While he was against playing favorites, Zelo did have a special place in his heart – the brat. Youngjae was the brain, Jongup was the brawn; Himchan beat, Yongguk disciplined; Zelo caused a ruckus, Jongup transported into another dimension.

She noticed the way his eyes sparkled as he talked of them – he was proud of them, and he would fight tooth and nail for them. Chaerin bitterly wished she hadn’t almost got the brunt of that side. And then he continued on into their true nature, after her cunning prying skills were put to use – bestowing her with facts and trivia she would not have ever guessed.

Such a waste it would be to let this opportunity slip through her fingers.

“It’s in our nature to shun outsiders, humans. It’s how we have survived for many years under the radar. Don’t let them vanishing from you let you down.” When he noticed her mark, he also threw in that its effects would diminish in due time. Baekho hadn’t properly marked her, and she would lose the bond among them soon enough.

Unknowingly, she touched the brand, her brows furrowing with this new information. If it didn’t scar her, she was perfectly fine with that, but she had come to love the surge built betwixt her and Baekho. Yongguk reasoned it was the result of having been influenced by it for so long.

She huffed, jabbed his ribs as if he hadn’t been a werewolf that tried to smother only a few days ago. The night wore on, their laughter and snarkish comments occupying their environment. Upon the lack of stars blinking in the sky, he sighed, knocked into her.

A statement she had heard uttered from two others were destined to reach his lips, and she just didn’t want to listen to it.

“Please, don’t say it. I understand. I just don’t want to hear it again.” It shriveled the heart plenty already.

Two months dragged on since her last involvement with the supernatural. Brightly, she continued on without them, happily she acted like a stranger to Yongguk, smoothly evaded Baekho’s presence - for two whole goddamn months her life flowed back into stability.

Mr. Lee eventually reprised his role as manager, re-opened the library’s doors, and she slipped back into her duties without intrusions from furry mongrels. All without a decent goodbye from him. She grunted, holding grudges was most unwise.

Thus, her quiet reaction on the sight of Ren and Zelo clawing at each-other mercilessly in the quad as the evening crept in could be excused. Her jaw set, her fists clenched, she swiftly turned around, a crowd of curious spectators hindering her from full on dashing away. As soon as the throng of morons stranding her there cried, instigating further violence, she was tearing apart the boys, a silver necklace hanging delicately upon her neck quite the motive to cease pummeling the other.

Zelo and Ren eyed her hotly, what business had it been of hers to intercept?

Reminded of the onlookers, she towed them into a more secluded area, disappointed in their behavior. She tore them a new one in private, Ren glowering, Zelo simmering. She attempted to quell the festering tensions but the thin platinum blond would have none of it – he snapped.

He jabbed the air around her, spewing his anger at her lack of loyalty. What of her bond with Baekho, of her tie with the pack? Caught off guard, she stumbled back, Ren unleashing his wrath. Wasn’t she so quick to switch sides? To find another group to latch on to and barge her way into their affairs? How dare she toss aside the very fact that they attacked Baekho and befriend them, it was ludicrous.

Registering Yongguk’s claims, Chaerin made to spill his pack’s innocence in the Baekho incident, yet Ren exploded in fury.

“How could you trust his words so easily after what he did to you? After all that went down upon his arrival onto the scene? Are you in need of common sense, too?” Getting a little too close for comfort, she tore off her necklace, the silver glinting in the sun repelling Ren instantly.

Cheeks tinted a red hue, she commandeered Zelo to a different location, all-the-while professing she knew Yongguk enough to trust his words, his actions. He did not inflict any harm on Baekho’s form and that was a claim she was willing to believe in. Couldn’t he take a goddamn moment and let the words sink in before he viciously, and foolishly, attacked another being?

Zelo kept a distance, he didn’t want to drown in her scent and have to explain himself to his group. In spite of this, his evasive tactic was rendered useless when she broke past his personal boundaries, inspecting the damage dealt on his facial features. Armed with a feisty backbone, he struggled in her grip until she shook her precious silver necklace in full view.

Tearing out a handy cloth, she dabbed at his face, wiping dirt and tidbits from his face. His mind wandered to her, the wretched female cleaning him up, displaying an act of kindness he didn’t think she had after she rightfully kicked his . Zelo wasn’t sure what to make of her, his nose scrunching in tight concentration.

Daehyun was true in his advice to avoid females until he was ready to be confused and manipulated by them.

Finished with her task, she bit her lip in dismay. She needed to relay information to the respective leaders of each pack, lest they wanted a war on their plates. Sourly, she considered of leaving the issue at hand to them – they did oust her after all, the jerks. But, she wasn’t going to bail on her boys.

Grasping his nose, she muttered, “Wait, just a minute there, kid. I’m going to need your nose.”

She hadn’t any other scents for him to lead on, therefore Zelo pursued Ren’s individual aroma, the pair landing themselves back in fight-zone territory. Odd for it to be fresh in this area, Chaerin looked to Zelo to confirm if he had followed the proper scent when Ren flew past them, his back thudding harshly against the dirt floor. Beside her Zelo tensed, his senses kicked into overdrive, Chaerin straining to catch on to what he felt.

Whipping to the left, she noticed one of the boys from Kris's pack on standby, his countenance nonchalant at the ensuing battle. His eyes were thick with eyeliner, his hair a maroon tint, his attention on his friend currently slamming Ren towards prickly bushes.

Impulsive as ever, Chaerin tore off her silver chain, brandishing it towards the lean boy, her stance set on protecting the prima donna that was Ren. Kai hung back, his smirk wiped from his face.

“Zelo, get him out of here. Now.”

They fled, Ren grudgingly so.

Kai sent Chaerin a glare, her eyes shooting daggers in response. Their feet slowly paced around in a circle, his steps in tune with hers. This one had never been overly fond of her, or her race for that matter, and he made that painfully clear. He derided her, snickering as he wondered why she came back into things beyond her understanding.

His aura was meant to intimidate and suffocate, but she wasn’t going to have any of his . “Not much of a man, are you? Do you like stirring up for fun?”

Roughly, and rudely, he shoved her, and she bounced back, jutting her chin past personal boundaries. “You know nothing of what you speak, . In fact, this is more your fault than anyone else’s!”

Her subsequent response died as he stunned her with an inquiry of his own. “Why do you smell the way you do? You are drenched in a mixture of scents, it’s almost like you’re a mongrel of your own. Consorting with other wolves, eh? Is that what you do for fun?” He leered and she brashly struck him across the face, the moment he sought as he flung her back.

Reeling from the pain that shot up her leg, she stared on as Kai neared, his chest swelling with each intake of breath. He pulled his arm back, his full intention on crashing it against her figure, except the appearance of Luhan deflated that prospect.
Golden boy accepted the blow meant for Chaerin, and snarled menacingly, his fingers digging into Kai’s fist. “I would reconsider my next course of action if I were you.”

All it took was a glimpse of his red gaze to have Baekhyun snatch Kai and forcefully haul him away; Luhan was ruthless when he chose to be. It would be unwise to challenge him, especially at their level.

Luhan groaned, stretched his arms, “You always land into our mess when things are getting heated.”

“Danger just can’t get enough of me.”