Mihye hissed to herself when her finger came into contact with the hot oil spitting onto her skin. Here she was, trying to cook a decent dinner for the wolves while Lin was out on a date with Lay – Lin was usually the one with the beautifully cooking skills. Mihye in that department and always stayed away from the kitchen at all costs- and the only thing she has managed to do was burn herself. Why wans’ she surprised? Grimacing at her own stupidity, she was about to put her finger into to the pain off while averting her eyes again to the pieces of meat when a large, warm palm grasped her wrist.

A gasp escaped her lips and she turned with widened eyes. Kris gazed back at her with an amused look on his face and a quirked up brow, “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to cook” she huffed, turning her attention back to the food in fear of it burning when the wolf startled her by poking his tongue out to her finger softly. The contact sent her skin reeling with sizzling desires and the pain on her finger was forgotten as easily as it had come. Instead, she looked up into Kris’s eyes in mild curiosity. Since they had been mated for so long, she had to say that he wasn’t as attentive as he had been back then, namely because of all his responsibilities as a pack leader, attending international meetings concerning the Wolf Packs and trying to keep their enemies- the coyotes- at bay, not to forget his day job as well. But Mihye understood. Most of the time when he’d return at the peak of dawn, he’d be too tired to even kiss her, instead just slumping onto the space next to her and loosely cuddling her close to him. Not a protest escaped her lips because she was well aware of his tiredness, and thus did not wish to take any more of his energy.

So it was no surprise when the girl was shocked at his action, doing something as daring as her finger for instance.

“W-What?” she asked dumbly when he didn’t reply, instead keeping his gaze on her brown orbs as his lips pecked the burnt skin. He was cradling her hand with affection, like she was a piece of porcelain he feared would break.

“I’m sorry” he suddenly murmured. A stormy emerald flashed through his brown pupils and Kris slipped his hand around her waist, one of them hugging her to his chest while the other turned off the stove before she could burn the meat any further.

“Yah!” She cried in protest, struggling against his embrace, “What are you doing? I have to cook dinner!”

“You already burned them anyway” He answered with a snigger as the girl kicked his shin with a scowl imprinted on her face. There was no way to see whether he felt the pain and she shrieked slightly when he whipped her around to face the dinner table. Mihye was more than surprised to find plastic bags filled with take-away’s.

Frowning, she gingerly opened one of them. Her scowl deepened, “Takeout again?” she threw him a glare, “The kids will get fat, Kris”

“A little grease won’t hurt them, babe” he chuckled from the depths of her neck, lips brushing over the skin on her shoulder. Sparks flew behind Mihye’s eyelids when a gasp involuntarily left her lips. Instantly, she grasped onto his huge hands and tried pulling them away from her, her words a breathless string of words, “Yah, let go”

“I’ve been neglecting you lately. I’m sorry about that” turning her in his embrace, a flash of guilt was present in his glowing emerald irises and Mihye blinked up at him, “Who told you that?”

He tapped his forehead and smirked, “Did you forget I could read your thoughts?”

She gave him a ‘are you kidding me’ look, “And?”

“I’m sorry” he confessed so genuinely that for a moment her brain halted it’s action. But then she shook her head and sighed, tiptoeing upwards to peck his lips and leaving him wanting for more. He crooned softly with a sigh.

“You don’t have to say sorry, Yi Fan,” His proper name rolled off like a lullaby, reaching his ears and causing a low growl to rumble through his chest, “I understand that you’re busy”

“Yeah but still…” the guilt ate at his stomach. Kris reached up to curl a strand of hair behind her ear, letting his breath wash over her face to give her some kind of comfort, “I was actually thinking about Luhan”

“What about him?” Mihye leaned closer to his touch and looked up at him with doe eyes, so adorable that he couldn’t resist from leaning down to give her an eskimo kiss.

“If Seulmi doesn’t accept his bond, then-“ Kris cut off in mid-sigh. He was always reluctant to talk about his brother’s commitment issues. Ever since his older mate’s departure, Luhan had been a mess of emotions and decided that it was better for him to hide behind this mask. It had been ages that Kris hadn’t caught sight of a genuine smile lingering over the older boy’s face and the stone block that Luhan had first set up in his mind to keep them away had actually started crumbling. Slowly, Kris had felt the bond connecting their minds as one once more, and the idea of it worried him.

Mihye’s hand cupping his cheek brought him back to reality. The girl’s eyes were hard and firm, “He’ll be fine. Seulmi’s not that type of girl”

“That’s what we thought about her as well”

“Did you see the way she looks at him? Did you see the way he looks at her?” Mihye sent him a smile that filled his stomach with butterflies, “It’s just a matter of time. Although they’re acting like brats, there’s only such a limit at which they’ll be able to resist that pull”

“Annyeonghaseyo” I said flatly for the millionth time this day when the bell attached to the door tingled. Not bothering to raise my head at the new arrival, I kept stacking the cakes with precision next to each other and kept my gaze concentrated on their alignment when someone cleared their throat loudly.

Straightening myself and stopping my eyes from shooting that particular individual down with a glare, I found a pretty cute boy standing at the counter with a small grin on his face.

“Hi!” He greeted chirpily, almost making me blink from the flash of his white teeth. So white, I thought to myself as he continued his introduction, “I saw the sign on your shop window about needing someone good with the counter”

I nodded and wiped my hands on the front of my apron, “You good in maths?”

“I love maths” He chirped again enthusiastically.

Okay, his fake bubble smile was starting to get on my nerves, whether he looked genuine or not. Restraining a sigh to fall from my lips, I called out to my fellow partner to mind the front of the shop for a little while so that I could the mysterious boy to the back of the staff room where I asked him to fill in his contact information and that I would like to see him working a trial test before talking to the manager.

He agreed with another -eating grin on his face, bowing like I had just let light into his life. Like god, don’t be so overdramatic, I thought to myself before throwing him an apron and glancing at his personal info.

“Kim Donghyuk?”

“Yes sir!” oh god, great. Dimples. He has ing dimples. If some of you hadn’t known, dimples were my weakness.

“Show me what you can do”

Half an hour later, I had dismissed him with a promise to leave a good impression to the manager, which granted me another dimpled-smile that caused my own face to morph into a chuckle. He made me think of a golden retriever in many ways; his enthusiasm was pretty exhausting but nonetheless kind of refreshing. It has been a while since we’ve had this sort of staff, and the thought of it caused another willful smile to dangle over my lips.

A sudden growl snapped me out of my daze, and with mild confusion I looked back towards the tables of the shop to realize that someone in particular had been present all along. When I caught his gaze, his silver orbs were flashing with something more than annoyance, a much stronger and bitter feeling. Luhan, his name rolled over my mind. Although I hadn’t said his name out loud, the wolf cocked his head at me and instantly all violent aura surrounding him vanished.

I blinked then mouthed, what are you doing here?

He replied me with a pointed look that said something along the lines of, ‘what’s your problem?’. I shrugged and shot him a glare before starting to close down the shop. I noticed that when I got out of the shop while waving the staff goodbye, Luhan was there, leaning against a nearby lamppost with his arms crossed over his chest as his brown orbs found mine even through the darkness.

“What do you want?” it came out more harshly than I intended it to, but he didn’t give anything away about being affected by my choice of words.

“Oh nothing, I’m just here stalking you off” Was his witty comeback, to whom my scowl deepened.

“Well get lost. I have to go home” Not waiting for his response, I turned my back on him and started for home. It wasn’t that I was being mean because I wanted to, but see, the thing was I couldn’t help myself. It was a way of showing that I cared, because when I cared, I just couldn’t let myself show it. I was scared that once he saw through this strong façade of mine, he’d just play me like a toy. Better that I act like it wasn’t affecting me in the least because hot damn Luhan has been on my mine ever since that intimate embrace we had shared, and I was pretty sure he wasn’t feeling the same way. After what had happened with his mate, wouldn’t he be all the more cautious?

“Seulmi” His voice as a caress of a whisper. Before I knew it his hand had shot out to grab onto mine, forcing me to a stop. “Wait”

I looked at him, at his dark pupils in the dark shadows of night and gulped. What now? What have I done this time?

“Who was that?”

My breath caught in my throat and yet I struggled against his firm grip, “Why should I tell you? You don’t care anyway” I spat almost against my own will.

I snarl raked at his throat before he pulled me closer, my body crushed to his at the intensity of his force, “I care, Seulmi. I ing care a lot”

That was enough to falter the words I was about to spit out of my mouth. I gaped at him with my jaw slack, then narrowed my eyes away to avoid his face so that I got a chance to recollect my sanity and organize my thoughts into place because goddamnit Luhan’s voice did things to me I didn’t particularly like, specially when he’d growl or grunt like a y beast.

Wait a minute- did I say y beast?

NO NO NO. THIS WAS WRONG WRONG WRONG.

PARK SEULMI YOU ARE NOT GOING THERE.

“I heard that” I heard Luhan’s mumble against my ear shell and noticed that he had taken this chance to get closer to me. When I gasped at him in shock, I noticed the small amount of space that separated our bodies, our lips were just millimeters from each other. His breath hit my lips and as a reflex I them, a soft whine falling from my throat before I knew what I was doing.

I felt his entire body still, his eyes boring into mine with a look I couldn’t decipher, while I distracted myself with his white muscular neck. , this was not supposed to happen, I thought to myself while gritting my teeth. The way he was staring at me made me feel , like he knew what was going on through my head. My fingers throbbed, ached to touch him and I was surprised by my own need to satiate myself. What was going on with me? A sudden flash brought forth before my eyes, a silver cord that I had never seen before, wriggling and shining the distance as it connected our two souls together-

But then, everything disappeared instantly when Luhan swore softly under his breath, “-.”

“What?” I asked but within a split second, I was thrown onto a muscular furry back-furry?! I screamed in my mind and I grabbed at him, now morphed into the big silver wolf I knew before we were racing through the forest like lightning. I cowered against him with shock and held my schoolbag tightly against my own chest, my thoughts aimlessly wondering what the hell was happening for him to act so rashly because Luhan was a wolf big enough to control himself. Something big must’ve happened for him to give in to his animalistic nature. Wind whipped past my hair and covered my eyes while I buried my face in between his strong shoulder blades. Although he was still in the form of a canine, he still smelt like Luhan, the Luhan I knew and was accustomed to. Breathing in his essence calmed down my heartbeats, as weird as that sounded.

The grass crunched under Luhan’s paws, and within seconds we had reached the wolves’ house. Luhan didn’t even bother putting me down on my feet and instead whipped me up in his arms as he sprinted to the front door, someone opening the door for him as he burst in.

“Wh-What’s going on?!” my voice rose by an octave, never had I felt the panic as I was feeling it now. Not to forget that Luhan’s restlessness had got to me.

The house was still, without wolf or mate. My heart started thumping loudly inside my chest and Luhan raced up the stairs, ignoring my protests and calls at him to ask him what the hell was happening. My mind was a blur of room before I was hauled up some kind of ladder, the wolf climbing right after me and shutting the entry.

As I swiveled around, I caught sight of a long hallway lighted with dim yellow candles, a red carpeting on the floor as well as all the mates huddled together to look at us with wide eyes. I heaved a sigh of relief I hadn’t realized I had been holding before they engulfed me in their arms.

“Where were you?!”

“We were so worried”

“If you had been one minute too late-“

“Oh god, thank god you guys are okay”

I still didn’t understand what the whole deal was about. When they scattered off, I was about to ask them what in the world was going on when sudden lips landed on my cheek, Luhan’s face an inch from mine before he whispered a soft, “It’s okay”. Then, like a ghost he vanished. Whether it was his inhumane speed or his teleporting skills, they made my legs buckle underneath me. Before I knew it, Haerim and Lin had grabbed a hold of each arm as my knees shook beneath me like branches threatening to be snapped off.

“It’s okay Seulmi,” Mihye tapped my cheek making me look up to her gentle gaze, “It’s normal. Every now and then we get threatened by a group of werepeople or shapeshifters, it’s going to be okay”

I gulped, “W-Where has Luhan gone to?”

“He went to kick some ” Haerim stated before she got elbowed by Taehee- Baekhyun’s mate- who stepped up to me and laid a hand over my shoulder with a look of understanding in her eyes. They almost seemed like they mirrored mine and yet I felt my heart drop slightly knowing that the wolves were in danger.

“Luhan is one of the best fighters out there, only once did he get an injury,” Taehee said.

My ears perked up at the last few words delivered, “What?”

“Yeah, but he was just being his usual rash self” Krystal quipped from the other side of the corridor, her long dark hair flowing across her shoulders as she tilted her head to the other direction, “We should get going or they’ll scent us”

“They?” I asked again. Trust me that was what being thrown onto a werewolf’s back by surprise and found in the arms of all the group of mates in an attic does to one’s sanity. Talking about sanity, I was probably on the brink of it and it wasn’t long before I’d burst, I thought to myself.

“A pack of lynx” I did not fail to see the flash of red jolt through Krystal’s eyes when they narrowed into threatening slits, a slight growl rumbling through her chest. “Come on, before it’s too late”

Together, they led me down the corridor and I think that they sensed my uneasiness and fear of the dark for at all times I felt Haerim and Lin’s hand tangled through my elbows. It calmed me down somewhat that I wasn’t the only one in here, that they would be there to help me no matter what. The realization of these faces becoming as important as my family made warmth rush to my chest, so intense that I had to blink back the tears as they burnt through my sockets.

The corridor led to the center of the forest, where a meadow greeted me with its trees surrounding us like a circular barrier keeping out harm. The sound of water trickling through rocks got my attention towards the left of my peripheral vision as floating lilies drifted towards the riverbank. When the wind whistled through my ears, I got a whiff of the minty woody scent that surrounded the place. My fingers went to brush down towards the long pieces of herbs, surprised to find the caress of baby’s breath on my skin.

“Where are we?” I couldn’t help but break the peaceful silence with my sharp tongue.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Haerim gestured towards the source of the mini river, it’s water trickling through her fingers, “this is where we seal the bond of the imprint”

“You basically cut your hand and grasp your wolf’s hand before both your bloods mix to drop into the holy water, before the holy spirits” Taehee added.

“That’s why it’s safe to come here though it’s not even sheltered. Spirits habit here, no evil beings with evil intentions could cross this place” Mihye stated, but her eyes scanned the perimeter around just in case, breathing a sigh of relief when nothing was detected.

The night caused shivers to crawl up and down my spine like spidery fingers tracing my flesh, I made me shiver and Haerim came to put an arm around me protectively. Although I hated skinship, I couldn’t help but feel thankful for her touch this time seeing as I wasn’t accustomed to the dark and hated it, even.

“It’s going to be the full moon soon” Sarang’s face was bathed in moonlight, her eyes twinkling mischievously as I cocked my head in confusion.

But then, Suho’s words floated back through my brain like a whisper.

“Our hormones run wild during the season of the full moon” He said it so simply with a gentle smile that I had to blink and replay his words in my head to make sure that what he said actually contained a ual innuendo, and then my eyes widened to the size of golf balls. I probably looked like an oversized doll as my jaw dropped. “Oh” I said after a long awkward silence.

“Yup, so that’s probably why he’s staying away”

Aha. Was that what Sarang was implying? Her swift glance at my face didn’t give anything away, though I was pretty tempted to ask why. On the other hand, I think it would be better to lay low instead of answering the embarrassing questions that would follow closely behind. I already felt the rush of heat flooding through my cheeks like paint would spread over a white page.

I was in for some kind of .

I don’t know for how long we waited in that forest, but I think that between the conversations I slowly dozed off only to be awakened by a loud shriek. Snapping my eyes open, my gaze instantly fell on the bruised wolf in front of me and it took only a second before everyone was around him with a first aid kit. Scrambling up from my position, I went around with concern suddenly twanging my heartstrings when arms laced themselves around my middle, pulling me away from the commotion.

I resisted the shriek that was about to burst out of my mouth and instead turned to gape at Luhan’s blood-decorated face. The sight was so horrible it made me want to throw up on the spot. I believed that he did notice my widened panicked orbs as he said in a repeated rush, “I’m okay. Hey Seulmi, I’m okay. It’s not my blood”

I took in his features; his greasy hair matted with dried blood, his doe eyes filled with worry. Worry for me? It almost seemed like the boy was concerned whether I was okay or not. His nose sporting a scratch like a claw had dug into his face and his lips – oh hell his lips- bruised and split the side. All in all, Luhan looked a mess and it did little to calm my panicked heart.

“What the did they do to you?!” I suddenly blurted out at him with annoyance in my tone. I was more than a little irritated because they had just messed up his pretty face-

Wait a minute.

Wait a ing minute.

Why did I ing care? It wasn’t like I was hurting or anything.

But my heart said otherwise for when I dragged my brown orbs back to his own I felt something snap between my heartstrings, and released a breath I hadn’t known I have been holding for all this time.

He caught me red-handed with an evil grin, “Worried about me?”

“SHUT UP!” I cried, instantly changing topic, “Who got hurt then?! Is he alright?!” I made a move to turn but Luhan’s palms cradled my face, causing me to direct my attention once again on the bruises he sported. I hated seeing his skin turn blue black, even more prominent with the light of the moon.

“Hey hey, don’t be so dramatic” He chuckled, “its Chanyeol but he’s fine. He just got a torn tendon”

“What?!”

“It’s nothing, Seulmi,” His silver orbs danced with amusement, “it’s funny to see you freak out. You usually never do”

“I-I” I gulped, sending him a scowl, “Don’t talk too much, ahjusshi”

He laughed softly, the sound vibrating through his chest as I was about to make a more witty comeback about how he shouldn’t be the one laughing when his brother was in need of help, but before I could open my mouth, his arms had suddenly wound around my small frame.

Luhan tucked my head under his jaw, which I felt was set and firm, locked with tension. Something definitely had changed in the air, for the now peaceful atmosphere seemed to have turned thick with danger.

“Well well well, this is a surprise” a voice coming from nowhere sent a shiver down my spine in fright. Unconsciously, my hands had crumbled Luhan’s shirt while his grip tightened onto me.

“Lynx” he breathed.

4000 words for this chappie. Omg, this was by far the longest update yet. 

I hope you guys like it! Luhan and Seulmi are slowly getting closer day by day, I can't wait for when they announce that they accept each other's bond T.T I mean my fingers are just aching to write out the fluff but arghhh they're making it so damn harddd! ~ /le sighs/. 

Anyway, I don't know when i'll be able to update again so... i just wanted to leave this long long chappie in case i go MIA for over a week or so because of deadlines and schoolwork >< 

Thanks a lot for giving this story lots of love! Thanks to all the subscribers for dropping beautiful comments omg you guys are just so sweet :) <3 thank you all, i love you! ~ 
CHU!~