“Where did she go?”  A voice in the dark forest yelled, sounding frustrated.

“If we’ve lost her again, we’re going to be out of a job.” Another voice replied, sounding just as frustrated.

Grinning, the petite female sat comfortably in the crook of a tree on a branch that didn’t look like it could have held her weight. She watched as the two men muttering in a weird combination of Korean and English searched the woods near where she was hiding, one carrying an industrial flashlight and the other carrying a bag that obviously was meant to carry a body.

Feeling the tingle of magic on her skin, the female waited patiently until she could no longer hear the voices of the men before she carefully climbed down the tree, pausing at the base of it to lovingly caress the tree bark and whisper a quick word of thanks in a language that was long since considered dead.

Crouching low to the ground, the female advanced from her hiding spot by the tree in the opposite direction that the men had gone some time before, being careful to walk slowly and feeling her way on the ground so she won’t create noise that could bring the men back.

What she didn’t expect to encounter an hour later, as she’s still focused on sneaking away from the men, were two big wolves. Big enough that the female knew from the sudden tingle of her magic, that they were not ordinary wolves. One was a dark grey color, the other a dark silver color that would have stood out in the forest had it not been a full moon night.

‘.’ She thought, freezing in her tracks. It wouldn’t do for her to piss off another set of supernatural beings, especially since this was their native grounds and she was the foreigner sneaking around them. In the middle of the night. On a full moon night no less. She’d probably interrupted their hunt or something equally important. She raised her hands in a non-threatening manner and slowly took a step back. “I mean no harm.” She said in Korean.

Another growl behind her made backing out away from the werewolves a bad idea. She stopped mid step and tried to relax her body. She knew werewolves had very sensitive noses, so any change in her scent would either disarm them, or cause them to attack her.

“Who are you and why are you in my territory, druid?” A deep male voice demanded.

‘He must be the Alpha.’ She thought, turning her head to the right to see one of the wolves who’d surrounded her had shifted to his human form. “My name is Jessa.” She said. “I was being chased by hunters about 2 hours ago and fled into the woods.”

A wolf to the left of the alpha snuffed as if to disagree with her story. The alpha looked at the other wolf and nodded. “My pack mate agrees that hunters were in the woods an hour ago, though the distance between their scent and your scent are greater than a 2 hour distance.” He said, not ashamed in the least about his ness.

Jessa frowned. She hadn’t used any of her magic to move faster from the hunters, so either they had given up and returned to the city, or nature had decided to give her a helping hand without requiring any compensation. “Where am I?” She asked, still keeping her voice as neutral and polite as possible. Druid or not, she knew that she’d not make it out alive if she pissed off the pack.

“You are just north of Seoul, South Korea.” The man replied.

Jessa had noticed that he hadn’t given his name, a sure sign that the wolves were still wary of her presence in the woods. She nodded at the information. “Indeed, I am further north than where I should be.” She replied. “Last I checked, I’d been near the ocean.”

“Seeing as you know what we are,” The man gestured to the group surrounding Jessa. “And the fact you are a druid, I’m afraid we need to you to our Pack house. Don’t be mistaken, I am not holding you hostage, or kidnapping you or any of the like.” He frowned when the wolf next to him huffed again. “But with these hunters out there, we will need to cover both your tracks, and our own to ensure that no harm comes to my Pack.”

Jessa nodded. She’d figured that would happen since she’s stumbled into their territory. Werewolves were true to their wolf side on that matter. “I will comply with your request, Alpha.” She said respectfully.

The man raised an eyebrow, but didn’t reply any further to her. She sighed, turning her head away politely so the man could shift back to his wolf form. The silver wolf that had stopped her huffed in response to another huff, most likely the alpha or his mate, and stepped forward to nudge her leg.

“Lead the way.” She said, trying to show that the wolves were in control. She knew the dangers that werewolves would face if they met with the hunters. The hunters would have no problem slaughtering every single werewolf that surrounded her, and then taking her into what they would claim to be custody, supposedly to protect her. Probably would make up some bull excuse that she was being kidnapped by werewolf’s intent on eating her body and gaining her druidic powers for themselves.

The though makes Jessa want to chuckle, but she refrains for fear of upsetting the wolves. While she’s not familiar with them other than the typical stories, she knows better than anyone else out there that the stories are more fiction than fact, and she’d rather not find out the hard way.

The thrum and natural energy of the forest helps keep Jessa calm as she follows the wolf pack back to the Pack house, the journey taking less time than she’d thought. Since she’s unsure of what the proper protocol for going into the werewolves pack house, Jessa waits patiently by the porch steps while the pack shifts and takes clothing from the piles stacked on a bench. It’s obvious from the synchronized movements of some of the members that they’ve been together a long time.

A surprisingly mellow voice startles Jessa out of her thoughts. “Alpha says you are ok to come in now. The house is safe.”

**

Leeteuk, Alpha to the ragtag pack of werewolves, swallows a sigh as he gives the all clear for the rest of his pack to come in, and signals to one of his newer pack members. “Kyuhyun, please let the druid know that she is safe to come inside.” He says.

“Sure thing hyung.” Kyuhyun’s chocolate brown eyes twinkle in excitement as he turns on his heels.

Leeteuk glances around the large living room of his Pack house and decides that in order to get information out of the druid, he’s going to have to employ some tactics rarely used. “Ryeowook, can you please come here?”

“Yes hyung?” A petite, feminine looking male pokes his head out of the study to the left of the living room. He looks up curiously at Leeteuk, his face void of any particular emotion.

“Can you make some of your homemade hot chocolate?” Leeteuk asks. “I don’t want to scare our guest any more than she already is.”

“Sure thing hyung! Do you want me to make enough for the pack or just you two?” Ryeowook’s eyes light up.

Leeteuk smiles softly at him. “I think you know better than I do that the moment the others smell the scent of chocolate cooking that they will want some.”

Ryeowook has the grace to blush. “I should have figured you would say that.” He teases. “Alright. Will we all be gathering in the living room for our usual post hunt talk?”

Leeteuk nods. “I think while everyone is showering I will have my talk with our guest and have her settle into the guest room off from Taehyung and Jungkook. The two boys will be more than enough to keep her safe.”

The two wolves mentioned were the newest addition to the pack besides their brothers Jimin and Hoseok and had been clamoring for more pack related duties lately. Leeteuk knew that giving them charge of protecting their guest while she was there would calm the young ones down.

Ryeowook nodded. “That sounds like an excellent idea.” He muses. “Any word about the whereabouts of their missing friend Seokjin?”

Leeteuk shook his head. “It’s been 3 months since I sent out word through the wolf lines about the missing pup but no word so far.”

Hearing Kyuhyun’s voice in the foyer of the large Victorian style house, Ryeowook nodded his head towards Leeteuk and moved off towards their amply stocked kitchen to start making his homemade hot chocolate while Leeteuk settles down in his favorite chair. His own shower will have to wait until after the druid’s been settled.

“This house is beautiful.” The sincerity of the druid’s voice makes Leeteuk smile. He’d inherited the old oddly placed house from his old Pack when he’d presented at his coming of age ceremony as an Alpha.

“Alpha is waiting for you in here.” Kyuhyun said politely, something that Leeteuk’s going to tease the younger about later on. Kyuhyun’s not known to be polite or respectful to many of his fellow pack members, so hearing him being nice and friendly is really astonishing. Leeteuk couldn’t even get Kyuhyun to be nice to the newest pack members, even though Jimin really hadn’t meant to insult Kyuhyun about his obsessive StarCraft time.

Leeteuk smiles at Jessa as Kyuhyun shows her into the room, and gestures for her to sit down in the love seat near him. “Thank you Kyuhyun. You can go shower later for our pack meeting.” Leeteuk makes sure to add a little bit of Alpha authority in his voice.

Kyuhyun’s eyes stray to Jessa, surprised that he wants to stay and learn more about her, but the soft command from Leeteuk is enough to ensure his submission to the subtle order from his Alpha. Bowing, he mutters some sort of goodnight towards them and turns to the staircase to the right of the living room and heads up to his room.

Smiling at Jessa, Leeteuk relaxes in the chair, the smell of chocolate cooking wafting into the living room. “So, what brings you to this part of the world, young druid?”