“Please introduce yourself.”  

With a narrowed brow, Emma focused on the pack’s alpha. Was he expecting her to introduce herself to every Turned present? She bit her tongue to prevent her sarcastic retorts from escaping her.

Hyunseong smiled reassuringly at her, placing her hand between his, it lightly. Emma’s expression hardened. She felt as if the wolves were imposing something undesirable on her. Fuming, Emma drew her energy closer to herself, preventing any of the lupines within the room to so much as sense or smell her.

Several of the Turned moved in their seats uneasily. Hyunseong’s eyebrows drew together with hurt. She had never before sealed him out of her presence. Feeling slightly guilty, Emma allowed Hyunseong, and only Hyunseong, within her protective walls.

Donghyun regarded her with hard eyes. He did not appreciate the manner in which she shielded herself against them. He felt as if he were staring at an empty spot before him. He could not hear her breathe, could not hear her heartbeat; her scent had vanished. Her impenetrable shield made him feel… human. He could not hear, see, or smell anything a human wouldn’t be able to perceive.

But while the wolves were unable to perceive Emma, the dweller of the Plains remained acutely aware of them. Prejudices, hatred, loathing older than the combined age of the Summit reared their hideous heads as the Vogel girl found herself surrounded, cornered, by the prowling denizens of the Woodlands.

Snatching her hand out of Hyunseong’s, leaving him startled and anxious, the girl of the Plains rose to her feet. Her behavior brought a wave of fear in Hyunseong as he noted the fierce scowl that distorted her usual pretty face. Slowly, he rose as well, feeling how her eyes followed his every movement with caution, carefully calculating his actions.

“Noona,” he cooed, placing his hand on her arm. “It’s alright. We won’t—”

“Are you going to continue acting like a cornered rabbit for the rest of the evening or will you come to your senses and act like the future head of House Vogel anytime soon?”

A jolt of electricity made Emma jump at the sound of the Ancient’s prestigiously private tongue. Donghyun's command of the sacred language intimidated Emma. Every word had flowed with ease, privilege, and a stress on the werewolf’s accumulation of power throughout the ages. Her command of the language would always sound a couple of centuries too young; a fact that greatly irritated the proud Vogel child.

“What have you done to these people? How dare you—”

“We are not,” Donghyun hissed, “here to discuss that matter. You will take your seat. You will answer our questions. You will cooperate. Is that understood?”

Emma clenched her jaw, lips pursed. She refused to be the first to cave; she kept her eyes on his, daring him, challenging him as much as she could before having to submit to the laws.

“Who is that woman?” Donghyun said, returning to the common tongue.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Does it look like I’m kidding?”

The young girl stared, confused. “You’re serious?”

“Emma-ssi,” Minwoo eased his way into the debate. “That woman has committed great crimes against our pack. It is vital that you tell us all you know about her.”

“Wait, you mean to tell me that you have absolutely no idea who she is?”

Minwoo shook his head. “Not whom she really is, no.”

Incredulity knocked Emma off her feet. All color drained from her face; the blush that made her so pretty disappeared without a trace. Hyunseong had shifted his body quickly, supporting her, preventing a complete fall. There were several cries of worry from the flower boys she had grown close to throughout the day. Donghyun himself half rose out of his seat upon seeing her collapse.

The girl fought the shock, swallowed her incredulity, her wrath, pushing down her insubordination.

“Donghyun-ssi?”

“Yes?”

She wanted to kill him, oh how she wanted to strangle the life out of him! But that thought could be harmful to her, so she pushed it out of her mind. “Is it true? Did you really not know whom she is?”

“She’s human—or at least we thought she was,” Jeongmin answered for his hyung, feeling as if such proof of ignorance should not be spoken by their leader.

“Of course she’s human!” snapped Emma. “She’s nothing but human!”

“N-noona.”

Emma shook Hyunseong’s supporting arm off her shoulders. She slammed her hands on the table, making the boys flinch. She pointed an accusing finger at Donghyun. He could see the rage in her eyes, the insubordination she struggled to overcome.

Without a word, Emma swung her arm out behind her. Suddenly, the windows darkened, obscured by curtains of darkness that had appeared from nowhere. Every Turned jumped to their feet, the sound of chairs scraping the floor rupturing the tense silence, yet adding more fuel to the fire.

“Sit down!” commanded Emma. Instantly every wolf obeyed her. They exchanged confused glances amongst each other before looking towards their alphas for guidance.

Donghyun exploded to his feet as soon as he witnessed Emma’s authority over his pack. “You dare!”

“I dare!” retorted the girl. “I shall dare to do whatever I wish with these children for they are clearly under the jurisdiction of an incapable leader.”

“You better watch your tongue. I do not fancy getting embroiled in another struggle like the one we had previously. It’s enough that I had to be punished for your insubordination.”

“My insubordination? Ha! You’re one to talk! If it weren’t for you—” 

“Enough!”

Hyunseong’s thundering command in the tongue of the Ancient’s rattled their bones. Donghyun’s breath caught in his throat. Emma’s heart froze in her chest.

“H-Hyunnie, h-how do you—”

“Never mind that,” he dismissed the occurrence with a wave of his hand. “You two need to focus and stop making a scene. Could we please, please, sort this out without your annoying, incessant, bickering? A psychotic woman almost killed us and she’s killed many of our pack members. Whatever lover’s quarrel you two wish to have over who wears the pants in the relationship can happen later. Right now, you need to focus and share information with one another. Lives depend on this. Is that clear enough to the both of you?”

A stunned silence stretched between them for a long time. Hyunseong’s steady, confident stance remained unwavering. “Is that clear?”

Donghyun’s lips twitched into a half-smile. “Transparently.”

Emma nodded, reaching for a glass of water to moisten her dry mouth.

The younger wolf smiled charmingly. “Good, now let’s get on with this meeting.”

*

Standing atop one of the tables was the hologram of the witch. Her body, clad in black, rotated on the surface, providing everyone a complete view and analysis of the woman in question. Her eyes were slender, void of any and every emotion; her lips turned downward, fiercely adding to