I wake from the sun shining through the window. I begin to move, trying to un stiffen myself.

"Go back to sleep" Hongbin says in a groggy voice. I ignore the morning breath. 

"It's morning" I say hoping he'll believe me. I could use a few extra minutes, but I need to get up as well. I have to meet Minwoo before he comes looking for me. 

"Shh go back to sleep" he says tightening his grip on me. 

I move till I am on top, Hongbin's arm still locked around my waist.

"Can I get up now?" I ask to his pretending to be sleeping face.

"No"

"What c'mon! I'm hungry and I wanna go for a canoe ride." Lie and another lie.

"No, mine forever"

"It's a little too late for that. Now get up love birds!" Ravi says poking his head through the door. At which point Hongbin finally releases me.

                  ~

"May I be excused?" I ask finishing the very last of my eggs.

"Where are you in such a rush to?" Hongbin asks suspiciously. Shoot! I need a lie again.

"I..uh wanted to.. Flip the canoe again" I say, getting out a paddle.

"You want some help?"

"Nope I got it" and jog outside. The canoe is a lot heavy then I remember  and it takes me a lot of effort just to Teepee it. Let alone actually solo portage it.

Once I am out on the water, I paddle close to the bank and look to see if I can see Minwoo. No luck, I begin to paddle out to the middle of the water and flip the canoe.

"Aaah, cool water. Really wakes you up!" I say to myself. I swim around the boat and I finally see him. My wol-I mean Minwoo, was swimming towards me. 

He reaches me and turns to human form.

"Can you not do that, you almost gave me a heart attack, again!"

"Will you lighten up? Seriously, it's not like I'm bungee jumping or sky diving."

"Whatever, just let's go"

"Wait, what about the canoe?"

"Leave it."

"I can't, my brothers will be worried"

"Or they'll suspend their disbelief and assume you're having a whale of a time with the fishes."

"Very funny, but I have to take it back" I say flipping the canoe right side up. The swim back does not take long, but I am exhausted afterward. On the beach I leave a message in the sand saying 'Gone for a walk',  I don't know if they'll even consider looking for a sand message, but you never know. 

"Where are we going?"

"Someplace, you'll see when we get there"

"How much farther?" I yawn and stop. I was basically dragging myself through the forest at this point. 

"Get on" Minwoo says, shifting to wolf form. I get on and let me tell you riding a wolf, not as easy as it looks. Since wolfs don't wear collars,  I was basically gripping his fur for dear life just to stay on.

We soon reach a small log cabin. I knew there were other cottages in the area, I was surprised I'd never seen this one before. Then again, it's quite isolated, where it is.

I see a man sitting on the porch looking into a mirror. 

"Jeongmin, I'm back"

The man doesn't look up, he simply shrugs and says "Yeah what ever"

"And I brought someone, watch her a minute while I  put on some shorts." Minwoo says hugging me from behind and then running into the cabin. Only then does the man look up.

"Who are you?" 

"Uh, I'm Mory" I say nervously. Jeongmin shrugs again and looks down at his mirror once more. I had no idea anyone could be so self absorbed, to not even look up from their reflection for two minutes.

Suddenly Jeongmin lifts his head sharply. He begins to sniff the air, I could've sworn I heard a growl from his throat. 

Jeongmin begins to walk toward me, his stare like a laser. Okay, so the conceded image is momentarily gone, this guy is officially scaring me. 

"You smell like the enemy" 

"What?"

"The enemy, I knew they were close by. What are your affiliations with the vampires!?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You reek of their metallic stench, you know the rules vampires and werewolves are a big no no!" He says stepping forward, I have nowhere to go but backward.

"I'm not a vampire" I say "honest!"

"Really? Prove it!"

"How am I supposed to prove it?"

"Open your mouth, I wanna check for fangs" I open my mouth wide, until he seems satisfied. 

"Okay, show me your neck." 

"What?" One hand pushes my neck, the other shoving my shoulder.

"OWW WHAT ARE YOU?? CRAZY??" 

"HEY! GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY MATE!!" Minwoo warns, pushing Jeongmin. 

My heart stops. I can't be his mate, it's wrong. He'll be killed if my brothers don't kill me first; but I also can't say anything now, or Jeongmin will go rogue on me for even speaking to Minwoo. Let alone "following" him back to his house. Oh god what do I do!?!? Nothing now, I'll just keep my mouth shut.

"Sheesh, calm down" Jeongmin puts up his hands in surrender. "I was only making sure she's not a vampire!"

"Don't be an idiot, Mory's a human!"

"She smells like a vampire"

"We'll drop it or better, get your smelling checked."

"if she's one of them I will rip her head off!" Jeongmin says yanking at  Minwoo's tank top. Jeongmin stomps off, I liked him better when he was staring at his reflection.

"You okay?" Minwoo asks pulling me into a hug. 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but I knew you were my mate the moment I saw you."

"It's okay, but I don't think I can do this"

"What do you mean?"

"I know about werewolves and their mates. As soon as a werewolf finds their mate, the two basically get married and have babies. I'm fifteen, I've never even had a boyfriend and now suddenly I'm being asked to commit the rest of my life. I'm too young to get married and I don't even want children." I let go and turn away, I feel trapped. I can accept the mate thing, but not all the responsibilities the come with it. 

"It's okay, we'll get through this together" Minwoo says kissing my forehead. 

"Do you trust me?" I nod.

"Let's go, I want you to meet the rest of my pack" Minwoo says taking my hand. I'm very afraid of what is to come. If one Jeongmin could smell my brothers on me. Who knows what discoveries the rest of the pack will make.