The mid-term break came as quickly as clouds would flood a summer sky, and no sooner had the school gates opened to let students out that I had been captured once again by those sort of monstrous canines to bring me over to their farmhouse. Seriously, they could’ve given me a warning or something at least so that I could pack some stuff and clothes, not to forget that I had to call my mom otherwise she’d just freak out on me. Angry mothers weren’t the best especially when you went over to their bad side, trust me I talk with experience. 

When I’d returned home the day after having spent the night at Ahjusshi’s house (well technically they all lived there) I never heard the end of the argument. She kept yelling and shouting and about my responsibilities or more specifically my lack of responsibility with my own self and to her pride as well. Thinking that I’d gone to a nearby club to wear my youngness away, I decided to just let it pass and let her Imagination run wild. After all, I don’t think that she’d go as far as thinking of wolves and vampires and other magical stuff that I’d scoff at in a heartbeat a few days ago when I was oblivious to everything. 

“Why do I have to stay over anyway? It’s not like I’m doing productive stuff” I grumbled mostly to myself when we reached the famous domain. How the hell did all those werewolves and humans fit in one house, I’ll probably never know. 

“Didn’t we say that you had things to learn?” Luhan sniffed like he couldn’t be overjoyed at my suffering. 

I rolled my eyes, not phased at all by his diva-like behavior. If he was going to act like a , then so be it. “Like I want to learn anything about you ahjusshi” 

He suddenly growled and I was about to make a witty comeback when a hand on my arm interrupted my train of thought. Trailing my eyes across to identify its owner, I was greeted by angel-faced Suho where I instantly found myself trying to act more docile. There was just something about him that made me want to change myself for the better. Did he have some kind of superpower or something? If he did it would totally be useful to spread peace and make amends with everyone for sure. 

“Don’t provoke him. You never know when he’ll snap” the second tallest dude named Chanyeol passed by with a stupidly wide grin stretching across his face. I had never in my entire life witnessed someone conceiving so many teeth. It was impossible how shiny and white and pearly they looked. It almost looked surreal. 

What am I talking about? Of course it’s surreal. He’s a werewolf for god’s sake. 

“Hi Seulmi!” Krystal jumped at me from the kitchen as I entered the doorway and I restrained myself from pulling away. This girl definitely needed to learn about personal space. That was one thing I could teach them. 

If they didn’t bite me first. 

“Hey” I answered like an awkward penguin. The other mates turned to look at me with smiles of greeting on their faces, and even though I still found everything utterly bizarre around here, I couldn’t help but feel the warmth on their faces, the glow that embedded all of them from their core and how they seemed to be molded into one. They blended next to each other so peacefully, so harmoniously like colors on a palette. I wondered how the hell was I supposed to fit in there especially when it seemed like my attitude needed some fixing, to start with my reactions towards Luhan. 

“Would you like some chocolate chip biscuits?” Lin swiveled around with a plate in her hands. The cookies seemed to be freshly baked, not to say that they smelled amazing. It wafted through my nostrils and I couldn’t resist breathing in the air only to exhale with a contented sigh. 

Hesitantly, I took hold of one and held it to my lips, biting the crust softy. The taste exploded in my mouth, a series of sensations shocking my sensory system, “Man, this is good” I commented. 

“Oh yum cookies!” the older brown-headed girl going by the name of Haerim swooped in and started munching on them like she hadn’t eaten for ages. 

Until someone came and slapped her hand away from the fresh batch. I looked up to notice Kyungsoo entering by the side with a disapproving but amused look on his face as he pulled the plate away, “Stop eating! Enough for you!” 

“Ah waee?!~ I only had five!” Haerim whined like a kid. A muffled laughter escaped my voice box and from the corner of my eye I caught Luhan turning his head to blink at me, probably wondering if I had gone bonkers yet, probably. 

“Sharing is caring. Did you forget about the rest of the pack?!” Kyungsoo whacked her head in a joking manner before a snarl was heard from outside. 

“Relax Sehun” Luhan snorted as he went to get himself a glass of water, “Kyungsoo’s only teasing’ 

A second later, right before my very eye I saw Sehun enter the doorway. How the heck did they know who was where? It freaked me out somewhat, was it something like telepathy? I couldn’t understand, could they read each other’s minds so easily? If so was there no privacy within the wolves? 

And why did Sehun growl in the first place? 

Man, I was lost. 

The eldest girl – Mihye and also Kris’s mate- chuckled at my befuddled expression before dragging me to the table and sitting me down. She placed the plate of cookies in front of me along with a glass of fresh milk. Ew, I hated milk, not that I was going to tell her that, or she might pull out her teeth on me. Better be safe and keep the boundaries stable around here, I thought to myself. 

“Wolves are overprotective of their mates. Since Haerim’s bound to Sehun, he feels what she feels, and since he’s a young wolf he’s kind of possessive” Mihye said. 

“But why are the wolves all male?” I blurted out, my female ego bruised and hurt and at the sudden realization that I hadn’t caught sight of any female wolves. 

They all burst out laughing. Krystal shook her head at me and knocked my forehead with her knuckle, “You crazy girl. Of course there are female wolves” she then grabbed my chin and turned it so that I was facing her as she tapped her head, ears springing up from each side, “Here. I’m a werewolf” 

My jaw almost dropped. And here I thought girls could’ve been normal. 

“I’m also a wolf” Haerim leaned upon the kitchen counter. “Don’t worry we don’t bite” 

“Yeah and the boys aren’t all that scary either” Taehee –Baekhyun’s mate- added with a swish smile. 

As we talked, I didn’t notice Luhan lingering behind us but one second the glass of milk was there and the next it was replaced with a cup of coffee. I blinked suddenly upon realization and grabbed the mug in astonishment. “Hey, wasn’t there milk in-“ 

“Luhan switched it” Haerim remarked with a smirk tugging at her lips. I blinked at her in bewilderment, “Huh? But-“ 

“How did he know?” She interrupted me with a soft smile, “Easy. You spoke so loudly inside his mind that he heard it” 

“See how he melts in your hands” Krystal said.

Lin leaned onto the table, placing her chin in her hands “Actually, the wolves are pretty docile because of us” 

“That’s right. They’re all submissive. Women have power over here” Mihye sniggered in agreement. My eyebrows rose up to my hairline, well wasn’t that interesting? I actually quite liked that theory. I was about to open my mouth to ask about the bonding and how did it happen that they learnt to love their wolves when Kai and Sarang appeared at the door. 

“Urgh not the lovebirds” Taehee threw her hands in the air, “I’m out of here” 

Sarang pulled out her tongue at the retreating girl, “Oh shut up, may I remind you about Baekhyun?” 

“We weren’t that into pda!” She shouted from the staircase. Kai chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist before dropping a kiss onto her forehead, “I’ll be going. I have night shift tonight” 

“You do?” it was impossible not to hear the soft whine in Sarang’s voice. 

He proceeded to cup her cheek in his palm, brushing his thumb over her red skin, “I’ll miss you” 

“We got it gawd get outta here!” Mihye threw her shoe at them as I watched with wide eyes when it whizzed past me. Did she just-? Omg they were crazy here, they should be put in a mental asylum, and to say that I thought of myself as insane in school. This was taking crazy to a whole new level, I could even be considered normal! 

Thankfully, Jongin caught it with his hand, smirking, “You’re just jealous cause Kris isn’t as lovey dovey with you” 

“Shut up” She grumbled. An echo of a booming voice we all recognized as the second alpha’s floated through the air “I heard that Kim Jongin!” 

“Good for you! You know what she’s expecting tonight then!” Jongin called back as I watched in fascination her blushing face. I thought that Mihye was the most mature amongst the girls. Unless I was wrong since she seemed to have been reduced into a mere little schoolgirl at Kris’s words. 

Man, was that the effect of having a mate? 

Could I just kill myself? 

I looked back down unconsciously grabbing onto the mug of coffee for support; the only stable and normal thing I could find inside this house. Even the cookies seemed monstrously good, and this was a very bad sign. I was scared, I had to admit to myself, Badass Seulmi was scared of what will happen to her. Funny, now when I realized it, Luhan had changed the drink without having been asked to. Was it possible that he heard it because I was shouting it out loud? But he hadn’t been obligated to change that drink, it was his choice. His sudden and touching action brought heat to my cheeks before I slapped myself in realization. 

I couldn’t let my guard down yet. Especially not here. 

Not where I could get hurt. 

Not where I could be left behind once again. 

“Actually the bonding is quite a simple phase in itself” I returned my attention back to Krystal who was busy sipping her orange juice. “You have a vow to make before the holy spirits and then you slit your palm and grasp your mate’s hand. Your bloods will entwine and fall into the holy water and that’s when you’re officially mated” 

“Usually after that, the werewolf marks his mate as his” Mihye suddenly chuckled. What was so funny? I cocked my head while my eyebrows met at the center. 

Lin giggled at my facial expression before I asked, “Mark? How?” 

“Ooh well aren’t you a curious little one” Haerim sniggered and the rest of the girls burst out laughing. Okay, this was weird. Why were they telling me all this? More importantly, what the heck were they hiding? There was something strange, like a gleam in Haerim’s eyes when she looked back at me, a smirk sliding onto her face and making her seem a lot more evil than she actually was. There was something they definitely weren’t telling and I don’t know if I should be worried or not. 

“It’s for us to know and for you to find out” 

I looked from one face to another and my judgment began to cloud as puzzlement took over my feelings. 

“What do you mean?” Maybe I said that a little too harshly, for Lin flinched at my response and casted her eyes downwards towards the table so as not to look into my eyes. I understood that I intimidated them a lot especially since I was on the outside a very rough and tough girl. They probably thought I’d try to beat them up if they didn’t spare me any good and valid answers. 

“She doesn’t need to know any of that” Luhan suddenly came in to cover my ears. Yelping slightly, I turned harshly and pushed him away from me as I cleaned the area where he touched me. Dude, I would not want to have Lu-germs-Han on me like geesh. If they were germs to become an , then I’m sorry I’ll pass. 

“Aish what’s your problem?!” I snapped. 

“We won’t even last that long, so you don’t need to know the whole process right?” 

“It’s not like I’m happy either that I’m your mate ahjusshi” 

Mihye interrupted our small catfight before it got too out of hand, but already we were nose to nose with steam coming out of our ears. “Hey kids, calm down. Fighting was never the option” 

“I swear they’re even worse than Haerim and Sehun when she just came in” Krystal murmured in Lin’s ear. 

“Ahjusshi” I cut them off while glaring into Luhan’s dark, bottomless eyes. There was no mercy, nothing present to tell me that he at least cared a little about what was going to happen to me. Okay fine we weren’t on the best of terms, but since we were linked by a bond that we couldn’t snap off no matter how much we tried, it was better to start and acknowledge each other’s presence. But no, Luhan wasn’t sending me any signal that he contained any other feeling other than hatred for me, and I think it was enough to make me stand up from my chair. 

“Ahjusshi, look here, I’m making an effort to be here and to try and understand your ing religion” I spat so viciously it was a wonder venom wasn’t spurting out of my mouth at this rate, “But if you’re going to be a ing about it, then I’d gladly show myself to the ing door because you seem like you don’t ing need me.” 

I heard one of the girls whisper a soft “ooh, touché.” And despite the situation, tried hard to clamp down my lip in order not to snort. Instead, I drew in a breath before looking at him coldly, then swiveled onto my feet and went out through the door. 

Okay so I hadn’t really gotten far from the house. Actually, I’ve been roaming around in these woods for ages and I still haven’t found my way out of this stupid forest. It frustrated me to no end while not forgetting the fact that I was still hugely pissed at Lu-Ahjusshi-Han. He didn’t care whether I died or not, it looked like it wasn’t his problem. If he did he’d already be here by now and try to win me back because from what I understood he needed me to live, like we all needed air otherwise we’d be wiped off this planet. But he was just so stubborn, I understood that as well. His pride seemed to glower more than his feelings and that was just the thing that would be his obstacle in life. That guy had just too much of that male ego to let it go for once and run to desperation. 

Sighing in annoyance, I let my knees collapse onto the ground and leaned my back onto the tree while looking out at the shadows casted over the forest-

Wait, shadows? 

. 

It was getting dark. 

Darkness meant fear, and it was going to be in a ing forest of all places. 

I have to find my way back to the wolf household; else I don’t know if I’ll be able to find the strength to get out of this place. Already I felt my muscles shaking in protest as I stood up, heart panicky and beating like a hummingbird fluttering against my chest. What if I didn’t make it in time? What if it got dark before I had the chance to escape this natural maze filled with unknown creatures at night? Damnit, why was I so stubborn in the most horrible places? It hadn’t been a good way to make my grand finale by storming away, I admit, but see Luhan had just pressed on too much. He thought I was invincible, he was like everyone else, judging a book by it’s cover just because I appeared tough and scary to him. 

I sighed, I never asked for this. 

Okay this was not the time to panic Seulmi. Everything was going to be fine. 

But it’s not. 

A whimper escaped from my mouth and I tugged at my lower lip with my teeth in nervousness. Where to start? I didn’t even take my things; my bag nor my cell phone. I’m such an idiot for running out like that when I knew damn well how darkness could make me weak. 

Before I knew it, the world was filled with stars and the blue sky was covered slowly with a blanket of darkness, deepening like a bruise over the sky. Trying to make myself as small as possible, I huddled over to the tree and forced my eyes not to cry. I wasn’t about to cry for something as stupid as this. I’ll just close my eyes and try to sleep. Maybe tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll be able to find my way back. But for now- 

I couldn’t even recognize my own voice when something rustled beside me. I screamed and leapt away. 

The bush rustled again, harder this time and my breath caught in my throat. What the was that? Someone must be ing kidding me; there couldn’t be any dangerous beasts in a forest right in the middle of the city right? 

But then again, I never thought werewolves existed. 

I spun around on my feet and was about to make a run for it when I collided with a hard chest. 

I looked up. 

Luhan gazed back at me with an unreadable look in his eyes, almost like he was worried for me. But no, this was Luhan we were talking about. He didn’t even have emotions, that guy. Nevertheless, I was so grateful to see him at that moment that I didn’t care and just launched myself at him before burying my face in his torso, trying to forget the darkness that was surrounding me, surrounding us.

He was burning like fire, a sweet kind of heat that trapped me in its embrace and instantly lulled me into a cajoling comfort of peace. 

“Oh so now you’re acting like damsel in distress?” The spite in his voice was present but a small whimper of his wolf wanted to fall out of his mouth when he caught sight of Seulmi leaning back to look at him with fearful eyes, eyes filled with desperation and this kind of need to be protected. Ever since he had met her, he’d have to say that fear was something that couldn’t enter Seulmi’s list, and here he was looking at the very proof of it. Whatever she had seen or felt, it must have been something she thoroughly disliked because the girl looked traumatized. 

He softened slightly and reached out a hand to clasp onto her shoulder, “Hey, What’st wrong?” 

She shook her head slightly and looked away, avoiding his gaze at all costs for she was certain that he’d know the truth by looking into her eyes. “Nothing” 

But her thought echoed the loudest to him, and he smelt the fear rolling off her in waves. It wasn’t long before he heard it, like the soft melody echoing to his ears: I’m so scared; thank god you’re here. Man, he had to clench his hand to keep a grip onto his sanity. Granted his wolf loved hearing those words fall from her thoughts and he bit his lip to restrain himself from purring in satisfaction. 

Before he knew it though, his arms had wrapped around her small frame as he leaned down to say, “It’s okay. It’s okay now” 

Hiya guyssss! 

I'm so sorry for the late update! Just that maybe I won't be able to update as much as I used to because of school, so forgive me for that. :( 

What do you guys think of Seulmi and Luhan now? heheheheh Don't you feel the sparks?!?!? <3 

thank you to all who've commented and i'm really sorry for not being able to reply to your sweet comments because I'm not supposed to go on this website in the first place =.= So forgive me once again :(*Bows* 

love you all! <3