Kyungsoo didn't see it coming. 

He wrenched his arm back so violently that the plastic package almost got ripped in two with his sheer force. He momentarily lost his footing and stumbled before regaining his composure. But no matter how hard he tried to veer his thoughts away from the sudden overwhelming sensations clouding his thoughts, there was one distinct element that would not let go of him no matter what, that would not free him from the sudden grasp tightening around his throat and gnawing at his chest like nails would on a chalkboard. 

"Kyungsoo!" Chanyeol was at his side in an instant, placing a huge palm on his back to stabilize him out. But the said man barely registered his name rolling off his friend's lips, gaze drilling right through the girl on the other side of the counter as if he wanted to murder her. 

Chanyeol, suddenly noticing how tense he was, looked up. A flash of understanding passed through his brown orbs while he was suddenly hit with a scent he seldom recognized as familiar. What in the world-- 

"We need to get out of here," Jongin was suddenly beside him, grabbing onto the smaller man's other arm in an attempt to pull him back. Kyungsoo's were glistening, an apparent red flashing through his brown orbs when a sudden gargle rippled through his throat. He was trying to growl, to get rid of the sudden pain striking him right below the neck, trying to stop the gnawing in his stomach and the burning sensation running through his veins. He didn't seem to see anyone but his target, whom he noticed that her scent was strange and unfamiliar but exploding with a vivacity of color and desire at the same time. 

"Come on, hyung" he didn't even feel Jongin's grasp tugging him backwards towards the exit. But when they tried to turn him over, his jaw snapped as he swiveled around, a soft growl emitted from his mouth. 

Chanyeol held up his hands in surrender, "hey its okay, we're getting you out of here." 

 Kyungsoo knew that at the farthest, darkest part of his logical reason that was clouded by the sudden natural urge of a predator. His own sanity struggled to resurface as Chanyeol quickly guided him out while telling Jongin to pay for the groceries. It wasn't until Kyungsoo's head hit the side of the car that he realized the taller man had slammed him against the vehicle, breathing hard. 

"Damn, you're so troublesome when you get out of control," Chanyeol breathed while wiping his brow, raising one up in question at the newly imprinted wolf, "can I trust that you're sane enough for me to let you go?"

Kyungsoo nodded. Chanyeol breathed out a sigh of relief. 

He settled in place beside the younger wolf and folded his long body to lean against the vehicle, "that your mate?" He nodded towards the store.

It was a dull ache slowly ebbing away from Kyungsoo's jaw now, and his eyes had turned back into their familiar brown warmth. But the sudden mention of the particular girl caused him to clench his fists by his sides. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't ask for this, why now? Of all times? They had more important things to deal with than a newly found mate. 

" I'm taking this as a yes," Chanyeol chuckled, " that's not fair. I wanted to find my mate." 

Kyungsoo sighed and rubbed his temples, "why now, out of all times?" He groaned. There were so many things to deal with, so many things they had to figure out. The priority at the moment was to get rid of the coyotes once and for all, and now he had like an added weight upon his shoulders. 

"Hey, but how did she smell like?" Chanyeol nudged him out of his thoughts, "I couldn't identify her scent." 

"She's not human" Kyungsoo replied, "And she's not a lynx, that's for sure." 

"Well I don't think I know any other shapeshifters," 

Kyungsoo sighed as though the world wad coming to an end. Another additional weight; the mystery of her scent. 

He couldn't deal with such complications now. 

"Hyung," both heads turned towards Jongin's voice, who emerged from the sliding doors while pushing the trolley filled with food, and a grimace on his face. 

"Oh, sorry Jongin. We forgot you back there while I was trying to calm down Mr. wolf here," Chanyeol joked as he moved over to open the boot. Jongin let him do the work and turned to Kyungsoo. 

"I think I know what she is." 

Kyungsoo's eyebrows shot up quizzically, his question echoing around them louder than his words. 

"It's more complicated than you think. But here," the youngest wolf dug inside his pocket and brought out a small piece of crumpled paper. He extended it out in his palm towards Kyungsoo with a small smile dancing across his lips, "I managed to get her number." 

The snow was falling heavily, the fields and forest blanketed in white. It was cold and the wind was harsh as ever, blowing through the trees and howling through the mountains like a beast deprived of food. And of course, out of all days, Luhan decided that this was the best say to collect some more wood to keep the fireplace alive. 

And so, guess who was the lucky individual having to accompany him throughout this storm? 

Of course, it was none other than I.

Heaving a ragged breath from exhaustion and placing my hands onto my knees, I took a moment to catch my breath from the steep slope that we'd just ascended. I had never been at peace with exercise, and the fact that I was doing a lot of it now just proved how bad of an idea it was for me to have been swept into this insane plan of his. But Luhan was still cheerfully calling out to me, teasing whenever I stopped for too long, whistling random melodies that were seemingly out of tune. 

Why in the world was he so happy when the weather was a storm? I couldn't understand. I concluded that he was a weird sadistic individual with twisted, inane thoughts that were incomprehensible to human minds. 

But then again, he was a wolf.

Did the cold make animals go wild or something? 

I almost screamed out in shock when a sudden weight pushed me over from behind. I toppled into the snow head first, putting my hands in front of me just seconds before I fell onto the hard, cold ground. Great, and now my clothes were soaked through with snow. 

I could only guess who the hell had the audacity to mess with me, of all people. My head whipped around and I mustered up the scariest glare, wanting to burn the big wolf alive, "you did not just do that." 

Luhan barked, tongue flopping out of his mouth which was lifted up into a sloppy smirk, teeth glinting in the light. I felt like slapping him senseless. 

"Oh off." I snapped while I tried to hoist myself up. But Luhan either was total douchebag that failed to understand the consequences of messing with me, or he just felt like playing with fire, for before I could even blink, he had pushed me over once more. I fell on my this time and winced at the sudden pain jolting through my backside. 

He really was asking for it. " you, ahjusshi!" I yelled in irritation, trying and failing to aim a snowball at his head that he dodged without much needed effort. The wolf grunted as though amused, and that riled me up even more.

"I ing hate you." I kept repeating over and over under my breath. Why the hell was I so weak? It wasn't fair that Luhan got the advantage of the situation. Plus, he was a wolf, which didn't help the case at all. He had such sensible hearing and smell and sight that it was almost impossible to catch him off guard. I swore under my breath and proceeded towards the forest with a rage that was boiling through my veins. Since I couldn't do anything about the unfairness of the world, stomping was the only way to vent out my emotions. 

Though I had to admit, it wasn't the best way. 

What would be extraordinarily satisfying was if I could punch Luhan's face in so that the bruise would imprint over his porcelain skin. 

Luhan. him and his weird antics. I couldn't keep up with him, and the frustration was more than just an itch under my skin. Wanting to ease some of the anger that seemed to be bubbling like a volcano and would soon erupt if not for me superb self control, I accelerated my pace. 

"Seulmi. Hey Seulmi, wait up!" I ignored his calls, walking at an even faster pace upon hearing the crunch of his foosteps in the snow. He was either stupid or really dense not to feel the rage emanating from my pores. 

"What? You're gonna ignore me now?" And in fact, that was just what I did, deciding that collecting the dried pieces of fallen branches was a much better task than having to exchange any kind of decent communication with someone who riled me up. 

"Seulmi," he called my name again, the sound rolling off his lips in a manner that suddenly made me want to sigh in contentment. But then I snapped, what the ? I thought to myself. I felt like hitting my head with a saucepan with such idiotic thoughts. What in the world was happening to me?! Just by hearing my name fall from his mouth did not make me want to curl up at his side! 

"Seulmi," he tried again, but this time I made sure to restrict my thoughts. If he caught even a small whiff of what I had been thinking about seconds ago, he'd have his ego inflated as wide as the world. 

"Hey, I'm talking to you--" I my heel so rapidly he barely had time to blink before I had grabbed onto his arm, fingers squeezing through his skin. 

I scowled, "And I don't ing care."

"Geez," he huffed, "what's gotten your in a twist?" 

"It's cold. I'm hungry. I want to get back as soon as possible." I said coldly, "and you're not being any ing help." 

He frowned, eyebrows dipping in the middle to form a crease, "such a party pooper" 

"Anyone would be one if they had to deal with someone as irritating as you" I shot back.

"Do you even hear yourself talking?" 

"Do you hear yourself talking?"

Luhan raked a hand through his hair before muttering something along the lines of "I don't understand you, woman" 

My scowl deepened, "well maybe you'd be better off with Vivian"

I knew, even without looking at his face, that it was a shallow blow from my part. I almost regretted it the moment the words shot out of my mouth but it was too late. He had riled me up to an extent where I couldn't go back. It wasn't only because of him, but I had woken up on the wrong foot ever since morning, and the fact that it was cold and wet just dampened the mood even more, not the forget the fact that I was hungry and starving for food. In the back of my mind, I tried to reason with myself. This was ridiculous, fighting him just because I wasn't in the right mood, just because he decided to trip me twice for fun's sake. 

I didn't want to hurt him, and yet, when the shimmer of pain swam through his silver orbs, it was too late to take back the words that were knives to his heart. 

"I'm sorry," I coughed out grumpily. I had overreacted for nothing, but I still had my pride to keep. Turning away from him and busying myself once more with the task at hand -- purposely avoiding his gaze-- I managed to stack up a small pile of wood and Luhan still hadn't uttered a word. I was starting to get really anxious, wondering whether I had insulted him more than I actually meant to. 

But my gut should've cautioned me before I was taken from behind and tackled to the ground. Luhan turned me around so that I was facing him, cushioning my fall into the snow while his body pressed against my own. His warmth seeped through my clothes and instantly shot sparks of wildly dancing down my spine to my fingertips, almost numbing me. 

"You're really hard to get, sweetheart" he murmured in my ear, breath tingling against my skin, "you know that?"

I grunted in agreement, knowing full well that today of all days was not one of my best, "and you love playing with fire." 

"Yeah," he sighed dramatically. 

"Uh, I wouldn't want to break the atmosphere here," I peered up at him, "but my is freezing." 

"And nobody cares~" he singsonged back. 

I scowled, "and you're more than annoying today of all days." 

"But that's exactly my purpose in life, sweetheart" he replied, "to annoy the hell out of you until we both die" he paused thoughtfully, "or until the end of the world." 

"The cold's getting to your head" I grunted, "we should get back"

"But I like it here" he mumbled. Opening my mouth to bite out another retort, I didn't have the chance when he suddenly his nose into the depths of my neck. I froze. 

What in the world--

His lips ghosted over my skin, the overwhelming warmth a contrast to my cold flesh. 

Goosebumps skittered over my arms and rose the hair on the back of my neck. 

"W-What are you doing?!" I squirmed in his grasp in an attempt to free myself, in vain. He was strong, as strong as solid rock. I was torn between this tingling desire between my fingertips and the pool of embarrassment at the base of my stomach. 

"Hey, stop that" I called out and was relieved that my voice came out strong and clear, unlike the quivering mess of nerves that I was. Luhan's mouth trailed up the base of my neck and latched onto my jawline, eyes finding mine through his lashes. 

"Luhan" I hissed in between gritted teeth. This was definitely not the right moment, although I had no excuse since the unexplainable, palpable heat rolling off Luhan's body was wrapping me up in a cocoon of its own, as though I had cuddled right into a thick blanket on a cloudy day. I resisted the attempt to melt in his hold and instead tried wriggling out from under him. 

Luhan growled softly, and I blinked up at him when he pulled himself up by the elbows. Cocking his head to the side, a frown creased between his eyebrows.

"What?" I barked out a bit too aggressively.

"Sweetheart," a smirk danced across his face, "you have a moustache"

A beat of awkward silence passed. I processed his words through my brain, channeling my energy into not punching him senseless, trying to force myself to take a deep breath and think about multiple reasons not to behead Luhan right there and then. 

Finally, I heaved it out through my nose. "You," I forced anger down my throat, "are such an insensible jerk!"

"What?" 

"Don't make as if you're confused!" I snapped, "I know I have a moustache, okay?! You got a problem?! Does it make me a monster to have one?!"

"I didn't say anything"

"Your tone implied everything" I narrowed my eyes, "it's enough having to deal with insecurities as it is, now having you pointing them out so radically just makes it worse!"

"Hey, hey" his hands shuffled to grip my arms, blocking my elbows from causing any further damage and locking my legs in between his, "I don't care about that" 

"Everyone cares" I huffed while lowering my eyes.

"I couldn't care less if you were a monster, had hair sprouting like a gorilla with stretch marks," he peered down at me, eyes softening, "I don't care."

Trying my best to look away, I grumbled out, "you're just saying that to save your ." 

"Seulmi, if I really cared about that stuff, then I wouldn't have commented so lightly on it in the first place" 

I opened my mouth to bite back another retort when a sudden wave of emotion hit me. It wasn't my own feelings, but Luhan's which were echoing as though pulsating through my skin and drilling through my pores. The sincerity rolling off his body was no joke, taking me by surprise at the sudden intensity. It wasn't everyday that I got a whiff of what Luhan was thinking, but when I did, he made sure I got the full package of it. He was being sincere, his aura emitting the genuine softness of his expression, of his heart. There was no underlying mockery in his tone. Nothing to bring me down.

I was jerked back to reality when I suddenly felt a pair of lips descend on my forehead. Blinking stupidly, my eyes searched for the silver orbs. 

Luhan grinned, "you, in your very natural state, with your obnoxious temper and bratty fits, is enough to make me love you."

My jaw fell open. He did not just say that he loved me. Wasn't that a bit too early? We barely knee each other, and yet here he was gazing at me through those silver pupils of his, as though within me he found something fascinating enough to stop and stare and take it all in. But I was nothing, I wasn't someone easy to love, I knew that as much. I was bold and annoying and brash and anything far from expectations of how women should conduct in society. And yet, Luhan had proclaimed his feelings so surely, as if he'd never made any better decision in his life. 

And that made my heartstrings tug towards him in yearning. 

Because if he kept saying all those things, he'd really sweep me off my feet and fall onto my . 

Luhan, the sneaky little bastard. Playing with emotions like they were a bunch of excited puppies. 

"Well don't just stare at me," Luhan grumbled as he burrowed his face more into his scarf. Not because he was cold, but so that he could hide the sudden blush over his cheeks, "say something."

A smirk plastered right onto my face, "wow, I never took you for a confession kind of guy." 

"Oh shush" he grumbled, "Can't you just squeal or blush or something? And stop smirking like that!" he slapped my shoulder playfully. My smirk widened and laughter bubbled up from my lips. It was too tempting to act how Luhan didn't want me to, to defy what he had been expecting of me. Seeing his red face was enough to swell some kind of satisfaction at the base of my stomach. 

"I'm sorry but I just had to" my laugh turned into a snigger, covering it with the back of my hand, "Your face is so red."

"Shut up!" 

"My my, where did all your confidence go?" 

"You're annoying me." 

"I know. And I like this kind of situation." 

"Well I don't" 
"Well," I shot back, "Clearly you have no sense of humor whatsoever--" 

He interrupted me with a peck on the lips. 

They were soft, warm, as comfortable as sitting in front of a fireplace and cuddling up in your favourite blanket. 

He drew back after a while, and this time, I was horrified to discover that it was his turn to smirk, while I felt the heat creep up the back of my neck with sudden embarassment. 

"Seems like you're not laughing anymore." Luhan pulled out his tongue at me. Then, without warning, he drew his body away from the ground and the cold suddenly seeped within my bones and froze my insides. I yelped at the sudden contact of the cold wind that was so ferocious it was almost a blizzard surrounding us. A small slither of anxiety troubled my mind, but I knew that with Luhan around, there was no possibility of us getting lost. He was a wolf after all, and he could manage getting us out of here safe and sound. Sometimes, when it came to dire circumstances, being a wolf would've been a wish upon a star. 

"Come on. We should get back" He turned his back on the mountains and looked towards the direction of the chalet in which we were residing, "There's going to be a blizzard by tonight." 

"Good to know you're actually human" I rolled my eyes. Ha, I was such a comedian I swear. 

Chaos greeted us as soon as we stepped foot inside the porch. All the wolves and respective mates were packed in the kitchen when I walked in the room, with Luhan dragging the pile of dried up branches behind him like it weighed nothing to him. I frowned upon noticing the crowd and the sea of faces that turned to look at me with something bordering upon excitement and panic at the same time. It was weird seeing everyone - even all wolves - present in one space. Usually, some would be lying around in the tv room at this hour, while others would be about playing in the snow outside. But this almost looked like a gathered meeting, and curiosity piqued my senses. Before I could open my mouth to ask however, Luhan beat me to it with his words: 
"What the hell's happening over here?" 

"We've got some good news!" Sehun exclaimed before Lay slapped the back of his head with a swipe of his hand. He looked everything but amused, "That's not what you'd call particularly good news." 

"Aw come on, lighten up Yixing," Chen placed a comforting arm on the said man's shoulder, who sighed in defeat. That made me wonder even more about the topic of the subject they were debating over, and I searched for Haerim until my eyes locked with hers, tilting my head to ask the question with a frown over my face. 

She raised up a hand and signalled 'so-so', which did not clear my doubts any less. But then she flashed me a grin, which signalled that whatever problem that was stirring through the group, it wasn't as bad as Lay had made it out to be. She was smiling, it must be something that could be joked about. So without further delaying anything, I took a step forward and blurted out my question without any hesitation, considering that no one would say it out loud if I wasn't persistent about knowing, "What's going on?" 

"Well," Kris exchanged a look with Suho, a flash of contemplation along with an apprehension that I didn't miss. They might be werewolves, but I've lived long enough with them to know how they communicated without language. It was something that was normal to me now, too, even though I wasn't a wolf to begin with. Their mannerisms had grown on me, "We've gotten quite a surprise." 

I blinked, huh? 

"It's about Kyungsoo," Suho gestured towards the said wolf, who -- now that he made it obvious -- was sitting by the table with his hands gripped tightly around a cup of coffee. One might've thought that this was a normal image that could be seen everyday, but not if they caught on to Kyungsoo's clenched hands that were  deathly white because it was gripping it so hard, and the way he flinched when I shifted my eyes towards his body, almost as though he wanted to disappear from here. His head was lowered, gaze on the coffee mug, shadows dancing across his face to hide his expression. Kyungsoo was protective of himself and his feelings, he was reserved, and never really said out loud what he thought about a situation unless he was against that idea. He was usually very calm and poised, very sure of himself, had his head on his shoulders and his feet anchored to the ground. But the young man sitting at the table almost looked like a nervous wreck, as if he was about to throw up from having drunk too much at a party. 

"He found his mate." 

My jaw dropped open, "He did?! When? How?!"

Luhan burst out laughing before shaking his head, his index finger pointing towards the said individual in question like a child, "I told you that you'd be next!" 

"Just now," Kris answered my question, "When they were at the supermarket buying groceries." 
"Damn, I should've gone with them," Luhan replied, which earned him a nice feral glare from yours truly that he royally ignored. 

"Who is she?" I turned back to Kyungsoo, who's hands were now so white the skin had stretched across his knuckles and threatened to break the cup in his hands from so much pressure. His face was also a deathly white sheen, with spots of sweat beading his forehead as though he was running a fever. When I gingerly placed my hand on his temple, I noticed that he was burning, "Damnit, Kyungsoo are you okay?" 

"It's normal. Don't worry about that." Suho chided while prodding the newly imprinted wolf with the back of his hand, "Kyungsoo, say something. Don't just sit there." 

The boy opened his mouth, closed it again, then opened. Like a goldfish breathing under water, his eyes were just as wide, a look of utter helpless foreshadowing his face as though there was a storm ahead that he couldn't stop even if he wanted to, as though something terrible was going to happen and he wasn't strong enough. We all looked at him, waiting for him to say something, anything. He looked as if he had just seen a ghost. I thought that werewolves were supposed to be the brightest, to jump about and be overjoyed at the fact that they'd found a significant other with whom they were going to spend the rest of their lives with. But Kyungsoo was the complete opposite. His faace weas as pale as a white sheet as though he wanted to throw up. 

"She's..." Kyungsoo gulped down the saliva, squeezed his eyes shut and tried again as his lips trembled beneath the pressure of our stares, "She's not a wolf." 

We kept waiting. A sinking feeling slowly descended through my stomach. Don't tell me--

"I imprinted on a Kitsune." 

Booyah! Updating two stories in one day is no joke. But hopefully you guys will like this chapter! A lot of Seulmi and Luhan moments there in the snow, so romantic ! And of course, we finally find out what Kyungsoo's mate is really, or do we? Stay tuned for what will happen next! <3 Thank you guys so much for everything and I really hope you guys love this story as much as I enjoy writing it. 

I know updated have been long and slow, and I apologize a lot for that mainly because a lot of things have been happening in my life recently. I've been trying to figure what I want and who I am, philosophically speaking and although i don't want to bring down your moods and everything, I'm sure we've all had the blues once in a while. But my life until recently had become a huge total chaos of a mess and I had to clean things up. And that got into the way of my writing. 

But thanks to you all, and to these stories, I can still manage. I can still have this sense of comfort coming back to me. i forgot how good it felt to press those keyboard keys and how relieving when people would actually enjoy what you write :) xx <3 thank you so much and I'll see you in the next chapter! 

love, 

-nutmeggu.