It takes the trio an hour and a half just to get the groceries, and the cashier is staring at them in disbelief when each of them pull up with 2 carts full of foodstuffs and tell her it’s all on one transaction.

It comes out to some astronomical amount of won that is happily placed on the Pack credit card by Amber, who’s giggling softly to herself while all their groceries are being packed into extra boxes and bags.

The cashier asks if they need help with their purchases out to the vehicle, to which Amber shakes her head. “Nope. That’s why I have these two with me.” She replies as they use the carts to haul all the packed food out to the car.

The ride back is quiet. Donghae opts to sit in the back, claiming that since Zhou Mi sat in the back on the ride into the store, he should be nice and sit in the back on the way back to Ha Rae’s house.

Some of the wolves who aren’t sleeping help the three carry the groceries in, and one of the closer neighbors wanders over and starts small talk with Amber while Donghae and Zhou Mi continue to get the groceries out of the car.

“So, you guys going to have a party or something?” The neighbor is too nosey for comfort sometimes when there are more than 3 people over at Ha Rae’s house, but they usually chalk it up to the fact that the neighbor is very protective of Ha Rae, having known her since she was a child.

 “Yeah.” Amber’s racking her mind for some sort of excuse to have a party when Ha Rae comes out after hearing that Amber’s been waylaid by the neighbor.

“Amber! There you are!” Ha Rae smiles. “We still have a ton of prep work to do before our guest of honor shows up for his birthday party.” She glances over at the neighbor. “Oh, Mrs. Park! I’m so sorry I didn’t see you there!” She bows to the older woman.

The neighbor smiles softly at Ha Rae, nodding her head in acknowledgement of Ha Rae. “Oh it’s a birthday party?”

Ha Rae nods, her smile bright for the neighbor. “I promise we won’t be too loud halmeoni. The birthday guest is one of my clients who wants to keep things about his real birth date quiet from his adoring fans.” Ha Rae says leaning in toward the woman, as if she’s giving some special secret away.

“Oh, oh!” Mrs. Park exclaimed. “Well then, I won’t both you ladies anymore. Wish the young man a happy birthday for me! I will just settle down in the basement tonight with the cat and a good movie.”

After making their goodbyes to Mrs. Park, Amber and Ha Rae breathed a sigh of relief as the older woman waved to them from her front door and disappeared inside. “Well, there’s part of the alibi.” Ha Rae says as they head towards the car.

Amber nods as they grabbed the very last bags from the car. Locking it with a beep, the two women went into the house.

While Amber’s busy cooking in the kitchen, Ha Rae gets a text from Leeteuk that the ‘guest of honor’ is in his position. “I’m going to pick up the ‘birthday guest.’” Ha Rae announces to the group.

Hyukjae’s waiting patiently at a café about 15 minutes from Ha Rae’s house, where she plans on purchasing some much needed caffeine for the group.

By the time they get back to the house with the various coffees and lattes’ purchased, Amber’s gotten some snack foods ready for the group and they all become busy stuffing themselves with the delicious food that will sustain them after shifting.

It’s a precarious waiting game for the group as the sun slowly sinks down toward the horizon, getting to a point where they can safely shift and head out of the back gate without raising suspicions from any neighbors who might be out at that time of night.

**

Sometime during the night, Zhou Mi’s fallen asleep while waiting for news from the Pack members who went to save Yesung.

He doesn’t hear his phone vibrating on the table, which would be very odd, considering his supernatural hearing and all, but it’s Amber who hears it as she’s fighting to stay awake in the living room, where Zhou Mi’s phone happens to be.

It’s a number that she doesn’t recognize, nor is it saved in Zhou Mi’s contact list. Amber’s debating on answering it when the caller either hangs up, or the phone goes to voicemail. When the screen clears of the incoming call, Amber’s eyes widen as she stares at the screen. “Zhou Mi!” She shouts, lunging off the chair, wide awake.

Amber knows Henry’s a deep sleeper, so he wouldn’t hear her yelling at the shifter, but Zhou Mi should have woken upon her yell. Instead of finding Zhou Mi awake, she’s shocked to see he’s passed out cold on his bed. “Well, .” Amber sighs. She hates waking shifters up, the tiny scar on her left cheek a reminder of the one and only time she’d ever tried to wake Heechul up while he was napping on the couch.

Praying that Zhou Mi doesn’t lash out as he’s being woken, Amber’s just reaching out to shake him on the shoulder when his phone starts buzzing again in her hand.

“HUH!? Wha--? Amber, why are you, and oh my god is that my phone?!” Zhou Mi’s suddenly wide awake, eyes wide as he jerks upright. He swipes the phone that Amber’s holding out wordlessly and stares at the number on the screen.

“Hello?” And just like that Zhou Mi answers the phone without having to question why Amber’s in the room.

“Is this Zhou Mi from the Kwon Modeling agency?” An unfamiliar male voice is asking him.

“Yes? Who is this?” Zhou Mi asks politely.

“Oh good. We finally got a hold of you. Um. Sorry, my name is Cha Sunwoo. I’m one of the feline shifters that was asked to come to your Pack.” The voice sounds unsure, as if he didn’t know if Zhou Mi had been informed of the news.

Zhou Mi breathes a sigh of relief and the sound relaxes Amber. By the time Zhou Mi finishes talking with Sunwoo, Amber’s sacked out cold on his bed. Now that he’s wide awake from the phone call, he quietly covers Amber up with the blanket and goes into the living room. Turning on the TV, Zhou Mi’s just about ready to settle down with his phone, a hot cup of tea and a late night snack when the news come on.

“Earlier today, reports found that Choi Siwon, the CEO of Choi Enterprises and the son of the owners to the Choi Supermarkets was attacked and seriously injured today in Chungcheon…” Zhou Mi’s eyes widen at the news in shock.

He doesn’t feel a deep overwhelming concern for Siwon, but he is worried. He’d known Siwon going in to give the ransom money would only result in him being hurt, but not to this extent. ‘Something’s fishy about this whole thing.’ Niqui says, sounding curious.

‘I think you are right.’ Zhou Mi agrees quietly. It’s not about the fact he’s not been contacted by anyone about Siwon, though he would be surprised if he had been. Not many knew that he and Siwon were in a relationship, though Zhou Mi’s starting to wonder if it’s more of a business transaction on Siwon’s part.

Zhou Mi’s phone vibrates with a message from Jungsuk. ‘Siwon’s been infected. He’s at the Pack hospital. Ryeowook informed me of what has happened about your mate bond. Come to the hospital.’