It took me a while to process all this new information that Akio, Jonghyun, and Makoto have revealed to me. All this understanding of how fooled we were, it’s giving me a throbbing headache. I actually release tears of frustration from how we could’ve possibly let this happen. As I’m shaking my head from disbelief, Jonghyun just scoffs at me and orders to Akio, “Alright, enough with this. Akio, finish her!”

I turn my head towards Jonghyun then back to Akio. In the faintest part of his mind, I can clearly hear him struggling with the order, “No, I….I…..I can’t. I still love her…”

Immediately, I come up with a strategy. Right before I start, Makoto releases me from my harnesses and keeps my hands right behind my back. She puts me right in front of Akio and demands, “Kill her Akio! She made you suffer for far too long, finish her!!”

Beads of sweat begin to drip from his forehead, his chest is rising up and down at a fast pace, and I can hear his small muttering from trying to think of what to say. He tries to look to Jonghyun and Makoto who are urging him to kill me, but I decide to give myself an advantage. I gather all my hurt from everything so that I may cry and I make sure my eyes look as innocent as possible. I look into Akio’s eyes and keep my eyes locked on him. With a weakening voice coming out of my throat, I plead to my old best friend, “Akio, you don’t want to do this. I know I broke your heart and you have every right to make me pay for what I did. But you and I both know this is not what you want. You still love me and I know in the deepest part of my heart, I always loved you.”

Jonghyun places his hand over Aki’s shoulder, “Don’t you believe her! She’s just trying to trick you! She doesn’t love you, why would she?!? Don’t forget she left you back in Japan, she left you for someone else. She already has a mate! Mi-Hyun is in love with Kris.”

I quickly argue back, “Akio, don’t believe Jonghyun! If anything, don’t you think you were being tricked by these two?!”

Akio’s expressions quickly begin to change. I can see that he’s now contemplating what I’ve just told him. “Think about it, Makoto has the ability to make people fall in love with her, how do you know she didn’t just make you believe that you loved her so you could do her biddings for you?!?”

I feel her grip on my hands tighten, so my arms are pulled further down, stretching it to an uncomfortable level. Makoto growls through her teeth, “LIAR! I love Akio unlike you! I never played with his heart!”

I retract, “Don’t believe her Akio, she played you like a fiddle. Jonghyun used your affections for me to turn you against me! If anything, you were a pawn in his game. Without Makoto here to use her ability on you, what’s the guarantee you wouldn’t change your mind? You have to believe me, Akio. We were best friends. I always hold a sincere love for you. I just don’t want you to do something you’ll regret later on.”

Jonghyun’s lips turn into a sinister frown, his forehead creases severely, and his fists clench from my words. He grabs Akio by the collar and pulls him toward him. Jonghyun uses his other hand to grab me by the throat and tighten his hold. “You got one last chance, Akio! Either you’ll kill her or I’ll do it myself!”

Makoto looks over my shoulder and looks to Akio, “Please Akio, remember what she did to you. Remember what you told me? She left you without even so much as glancing back at you. She kept you in the darkest part of her memories without ever revisiting it. She completely erased you from existence so that she could start anew with EXO. You were and are still nothing to her. You are everything to me.”

The world slows down as everyone keeps their stare on Akio. He spaces out as he tries to decide what will happen next. I plead with my eyes for him not to kill me, but instead I receive a mouthed I’m sorry. Jonghyun and Makoto smile while I close my eyes to prepare for what is about to happen next. But out of the blue, I hear a thought that makes me smirk from inside.

“Get your hands off my sister.” We all look to the forest and see 12 wolves jump from darkness. I use a move Tao taught me; I jump off from the ground and use my leg to kick Jonghyun right in the rib. The pressure from the kick throws Makoto off balance and she stumbles backwards releasing me. I transform myself and join my pack. Right beside me, I have Kai and Tao, the best fighters I’ve ever known.

The trio of enemies transforms as well, 3 vs. 13. Like a scene out a movie, the clouds depart from the moon, revealing a full moon tonight. The light shines on us and we all keep ourselves on our heels, ready to attack whoever makes the first move. Without even blinking, Jonghyun’s pack retreats to the woods and we follow suit.

Although I didn’t think this would be much of a challenge considering the number we have, the three of them are pretty fast on their paws. Rapidly, the three split from each other and go off on their own. I command, “I got Akio, you guys take care of Jonghyun and Makoto, I need to finish this myself.” Without hearing their protest, I use my paw to turn a corner effortlessly so that I may go after Akio. I barely see him in the distance so I try my best to increase my stamina.

Ultimately, he ceases his running and walks casually over to the edge of a lake. Akio morphs back to human, so I feel the need to do the same. When it comes to fighting, I’d rather do it fair. With his back turned to me, “All I wanted was to have you back. That’s all I wanted. I didn’t want it to come to this. Unfortunately, we chose our paths, and our paths have crossed in an unfortunate circumstance. Now all I want to know is Mi-Hyun, did you really love me like you said?”

The wind begins to pick up and blows itself through my hair. I take a step forward and look at the back of his head, “I loved you as a friend. That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

I hear a slight chuckle and if I was wrong, I could see a small tear drop from when he looked over his shoulder. Akio chuckles, “They did warn me about your little mind reading ability. They did say that you could use that against me, but of course I believed you for a while there. Now I know what I have to do.”

“And what is that exactly?” I ask.

“To kill you and then take my own life. Because I know that if you and I are both dead, that means no one can have either of us. We will only be left with each other in death.”

From a rustle in a bush, out comes an enraged Kris. I see the veins in his neck pop as he threatens Akio, “You even try to make a move to her. You’ll be dead the next second you breathe.”

Akio retorts with a cackle, “I was going to let you go so that I may kill Mi-Hyun and let you feel the pain of not having her, but I guess I’ll have to rough you up a little bit before I let my plan come into place.”

I didn’t even get a chance to speak before both Kris and Akio changed back into wolves. Akio escaped back into the woods. Just as I was about to transform, Kris used his tail to push me away and chase after him. As he ran off for him, I heard in his thoughts, “Stay behind, Mi-Hyun. I am going to finish what I caused. I won’t let you suffer anymore because of my mistakes as a leader, father, and husband.”

Now normally, I stand down and let Kris come to my rescue, but not this time. Sitting on the soil ground, I can’t accept letting Kris fight this battle alone. If anything, I was a sole reason for why this happened. Akio is in love with me and he was bent on getting me back. This started the domino effect from the beginning. Once Jonghyun knew about his affections for him, he already began to arrange the end of EXO-K and EXO-M. I get up from the ground and turn back into a wolf. I give chase and try to relocate Akio and Kris. I finally hear a struggle and go towards the scene. I hear growls and howls as I get closer to the sounds. I can even feel the pain of Kris being attacked. I scream, “KRIS!”, and arrive to the fight.

Soon as I examine what’s in front of me, my stomach drops. Instead of two wolves, I am met with two humans. Two Kris’s to be exact.