"You sure you don't want to shower here?" Dessa asks.

   It's six in the morning and the dryad woke up to the alpha putting his extra pair of shoes on. After the hobgoblin incident (those pesky little creatures) Kyungsoo brought up the idea of everyone in the pack leaving an extra pair of clothes and shoes at Iridessa's house just in case. They originally left it in her car but there was barely enough room in the trunk for anything else. So between the front door and the couch was a huge plastic container used just for that.

"Yeah, it's all yours. I got to go get my school stuff from home anyway."

"Well alright, if you insist."

"So...what are your plans today?" he asks while idly scratching the back of his head.

"Uh," Dess sputters, "I think I have work, so the boys will be with Suho. I will probably have to check on the chaos in the nursery before I pick them up."

"You know it's not going to be fixed, it's not like your mom can call a contractor over this."

"I don't want to leave my mom here with a gaping hole in the house."

"We will figure something out. How about you and the twins stay at my place tonight?"

   Iridessa feels as if a frog develops in the back of , and with her heart pounding so fast she's sure it's the only reason why it hasn't jumped out of . Kris tenses as he hears her heart rate skyrocket and looks at her in question, and she can tell it's with a hint of oblivious concern. She shakes her hands out and takes in a slow deep breath to calm her racing heart. The dryad knows that Mr. Wu is hardly ever home, so it's possible that it would just be them.

"What's wrong?"

"Uhm-"

"You shouldn't feel afraid. I already planned to ask some of the pack to stay with us."

   Her heart falls to her stomach.

"You know what," he thinks out loud, "I'll have some of them stay the night here at your house too. I'm a little nervous with this tar incident happening so close to your yard and we should protect your mom. I already told you before I wasn't too comfortable with you guys staying here anyway."

"Garden."

"What?"

"You mean my garden, it's not a yard."

"Whatever," he rolls his eyes, "I'm gonna go."

   After showering, getting dressed, and setting up a quick breakfast for the boys, she finally wakes the twins. While they are securely strapped into their highchairs eating (and making a mess) she packs their day bags. Before zipping up their duffels, she remembers to grab an extra set of clothes. Once she opens the door to the nursery, she sighs in relief to see the plants slightly angled toward the sunlight shining through. It wasn't much, but it was a healthy start. 

   On the way there the boys fight over something trivial as usual but the dryad's thoughts are lost and wrapped around the alpha. There are times where she feels as if he actually wants her around. When he made the comment about her and the boys being pack it made her heart soar. It just feels so good to belong somewhere. However, there are so many more moments where she believes otherwise. It confuses her and sends her so many different emotions. One minute he's yelling at her and the next he could be showing such care. She decides to delve into her thoughts later as she pulls up to the driveway of the Kim's. She turns off the car and turns around in her seat to unbuckle the boys. Forgetting what they were bickering over, they started to cheer upon recognizing the house they were at.The dryad practically ended up racing them to the front door. Ms.Kim cheerfully opens it to a bunch of smiles.

"Good morning boys!" she sing-songs.

"Nanny Kim!" They yell in unison.

The older woman is barely able to move to the side of the doorway to let Iridessa through before being collided with the toddlers. They hold onto their legs and blab gibberish while the dryad takes the opportunity to bring their day bags to the spare room. She pulls out the extra set of clothes and lays them on the bed before turning around. Mr. Kim is there standing in the doorway and she jumps upon seeing him.

"Oh, you scared me Mr. Kim. Good morning." she bows.

"Mm-hmm. Good morning Ms. Kwon." he gives a smug look and remains in place.

"Where's Suho?"

"He lost some bet to the other boys and went out to buy donuts to bring to school."

"Oh. Okay."

"Yep."

"Uh..Did you..sleep well last night?"

"I'd say so. I bet you did too." he grins before leaving.

"Leave her alone and help me run their baths!" his wife calls from down the hall.

   Iridessa gives one last quizzical look before shrugging her shoulders.

"Alright babies, I'm going to school and you better behave! Ms. Kim I put fresh clothes on their bed." she says while passing the bathroom where water has started running.

"Bye mommy!" the boys respond.

   Walking out of the house, she pulls out her phone and brings up her text conversations.

To: Joon-Joon 

So I talked to your dad. You lost a bet, huh? lol

   She barely has time to buckle herself back in before her phone vibrates in her pocket.

From: Joon-Joon

You talked to my dad?!?! What else did he say????????????

To: Joon-Joon

Uh, nothing. Why?

   She turns on the radio and waits at least another minute for him to respond. He doesn't and she finds it quite odd. Dess doesn't text while driving so she takes this as the time to hurry up and get to school. On the way there she happily sings along to whatever the station has to play. She plans out her schedule of the day in her head, mainly to figure out when she can do her homework in school that she never started. Right as she is about to cross the bridge that leads into the urban area of the town (where the school is at the center) she notices a small group of kids standing in front of the maintenance alley that runs along the water department. With curiosity, she pulls over on the side of the road adjacent to the plant.

"Hey, what's going on?" she asks, getting out of her car and shutting the door.

   The dryad notices that the kids all look younger than her; underclassmen at least. The students take one look at her and turn the other way and leave, as if instantly remembering that they have school to get to. With her question unanswered, she approaches the area they were standing at. Her jaw drops, and she takes out her phone and opens her camera app.

   Just a little ways down the maintenance alleyway there was black everywhere. She jogs in the crisp morning air and stops in front of the privacy fence. The same exact tar that is in her forest is splattered across the wiring on the fence and on the ground below. She steps back a little and snaps a wide length picture and creates a group chat with all the werewolves. She then steps closer and notices as if someone was trying to break through the fence. The links of the wire are scratched and bent. The entire scene is at least five feet wide. She immediately receives messages as soon as both pictures are sent.

"Now what can I do to fix this quickly." She says aloud to herself.

   She glances around and takes into account all the plant life by her.

"Ah-ha. Ambrosia artemisiifolia." she grins.

   At the bottom of the fence she finds what she's looking for. Reaching out her arms, she curls her fingers outwards away from her palm. Upon command, the small shrub starts to flourish. Its' once wilted leaves pop upright and by the guidance of her hands the plant grows over some of the tar that was spilled onto the ground. As a test, she only aided a couple branches. With a snap of her fingers, the plant takes in the oil and immediately withers. However, it got the job she wanted done; it absorbed the toxic tar. She stances her feet shoulder width apart and braces out her arms. Taking a deep smooth breath, the dryad focuses on energy. Photosynthesis. Growth. Greenery. With her exhale she softly but steadily pushes against the air, creating a solid force of energy to manifest. It glows yellow and warm and it makes her feel like a bathtub with the stopper unplugged. Creating energy just doesn't appear, being a dryad means she has to convert her own energy (and in times of need, her tree's energy) into the stage of photosynthesis. Dryads acquire ATP as well as high amounts of carbon dioxide and water. ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is the energy that animals (including people) have. She has to figure out precisely how much to use. Dryads do not go through photosynthesis but they can tranate it into such. She feels herself drain exponentially but she keeps pushing on seeing the shrub grow increasingly larger and larger, covering the entire area affected. Sweat develops into drops on her hairline and she wipes her face and tries to control her breathing, huffing like she just went for a quick sprint. Shaking her hands out once more, she reaches out and squeezes her eyes, knowing the exhaustion that's about to come. 

   She snaps. Immediately she is pushed back by the force and air is knocked out of her lungs. The plant soaks up all the tar and turns a dirty dark brown color. Some of the leaves fall, floating in silence and twirling in circles onto the dewy grass. She sighs. Before she can do it once more on a lesser scale to make the plant not look like something out of a horror movie forest her phone begins to vibrate. It takes her three seconds to realize it's someone calling.

"Yeoboseyo?"

"Where are you at?" Kris says gruffly and under his breath, as if there are people around who shouldn't hear.

"The water department. Somehow the tar got over here. I'm taking care of it."

"Taking care of it? How?"

"Listen, it's too long to explain over the phone. I can tell you at lunch. Bottom line, it's not just a substance we have to worry about. Someone- or something- was covered in it. They still might be."

   She hears the alpha sigh from the other end.

"Alright, stay put. I'll have Sehun come get you."

"No it's okay, I'm just about to leave. I'll see you when I get there."

"Dess, I don't think that's a good id-"

"If you're so worried just wait outside the front doors of the school. If I don't show up in ten send your search party."

   She hangs up the phone without waiting for response. Taking in another deep breath she fixates on the other shrub right next to it of the same species. A car passes down the road that her car is parked on and she halts her abilities. Once they pass she does a quick flourishing and the second shrub grows over the first one, camouflaging the scene. She sways from the spent energy and her head spins. The dryad stumbles her way to the car, carefully trying to look around. She doesn't want any stray people noticing her drugged-like state. It takes a full 3 minutes of her sitting in the driver seat with the air conditioning on to get her back to normal. She then shifts the gear into driver and takes off.

   She drives slowly over the bridge and halts to a stop at a four-way intersection. Doing her duty as a safe driver should, she checks all mirrors while waiting for the other vehicles to take their turn. While checking the rearview mirror hanging above the dashboard, she notices a black sedan pull up two cars behind her. Thinking nothing of the matter, she keeps going straight towards her school grounds. Tapping her fingers on the steering wheel further down the road, she turns right as she hums to the track that is pumping through her stereos. Looking at the mirror, she sees the sedan do the same. The dryad shakes off the eerie feeling and bursts into song at the chorus. 

   Iridessa feels her phone vibrate yet again and it starts to irritate her. They have to know she's driving, and the fact she doesn't look at her phone while in the car. Pulling up to a light she turns on the right turn signal and once again checks all her mirrors. As soon as she glances at the rearview mirror the black sedan turns on the same exact blinker. She squints her eyes to get a better look and the first thing she notices is that all windows are out, way past the legal limit for their country. The second thing she notices is that there isn't any sticker on the windshield signaling it as a student vehicle. At the beginning of each year, each student who brings their own car to school has to pay for a parking pass. This is when she begins to panic. At the next green light she sees, she turns in a random direction and the car follows her again. Making a giant square through downtown the sedan follows her every turn. The black car isn't directly behind hers, whoever is behind the wheel makes sure to stay lengths away. Somebody is tailing her; she just knows it. Her phone begins to vibrate repeatedly, knowing that ten minutes has passed.

   Knowing that she has to get to school sooner or later, she takes the shortest route there and sighs in relief upon seeing the school parking lot, filled to the brim as she was running a little late. At the front, Kris and Sehun are pacing in front of the school's double doors. Kris has one hand ruffling his hair and the other holding his phone, most likely trying to contact the dryad. Sehun has his hands crossed over his chest, rubbing his arms. Iridessa rolls down her window and sticks her arm out waving to them. Right when she enters the parking lot the black sedan takes off in another direction leaving her and the campus. The boys see her and jog towards the direction of where she is heading to park.

"You're late!" the alpha snarls.

"I'm sorry! How late am I?" she huffs, shooting out of the car, yanking her backpack from the passenger seat.

"Class starts in like five minutes." Sehun responds, trailing behind the other two up to the entrance doors.

   Once they approach, Sehun darts in front and opens the door for both of them. Kris nods his head in gratitude and the dryad jumps up and kisses Sehun on the cheek before jogging towards the correct hallway. Kris chose Sehun to stand outside with him because they share their first class, which is super close to the front of the school. The alpha watches as she hurries along and doesn't head into the other direction until she disappears from sight.

~~~

   Breathless, she flings open the door to her math class. Right when both her feet land inside the classroom the bell rings. Everyone in the class, including the teacher, snaps their heads towards her direction. She sees her friends in the back of the class and it seems as if they have concern showing on their faces. She meekly smiles.

"Ms. Kwon?" the teacher calls.

"Yes, teacher?" she bows.

"Would you mind taking a seat before I count you tardy?"

   She nods while still bowing and then rushes over to her friends. There is an empty seat next to Yixing and she silently thanks invisible forces for being able to finally sit next to the person she wants. The only problem is if they are sitting next to each other, it leaves Chanyeol sitting next to Tao. And that could be a problem. She can easily see them getting into trouble before the period ends. Her cheeks flush as students still stare after she sits. The dryad wonders what gives? before remembering that her hair and eyes are a different color, yet again. She can already just picture the thoughts running through the students heads. Yixing hunches over and leans towards her desk as she pulls out her supplies.

"I saw the group chat, you didn't respond to any of our messages." Yixing whispers.

"Yeah, sorry. I was kind of busy with that."

"Hey, are you okay? You look a little pale." he responds, placing a hand over hers. A couple tables over she swears she hears a girl hiss. Lay glares at the stranger.

"I'll be alright once we figure out what this tar business is." she answers softly, lowering her voice even further on 'tar'.

   From behind, she feels a familiar large hand being placed on her shoulder. Chanyeol massages small circles, hearing their conversation and knowing that Tao must have too. Tao then leans over as a result and whispers into her ear that they will figure this out together and the thought of having them around eases her mind, just a little.

"Kris is calling for a pack meeting at lunch." Yixing continues.

"I know, I technically asked for it. We have to update each other and make sure all of us are on the same page." 

"Kwon! Zhang! Are the two of you asking for a detention so early in the year? Eyes on the board, and no PDA in school!" the teacher yells suddenly.

   It must be a start to a bad day if Dess gets in trouble before Tao.

~~~

   The bell dings several classes later, announcing the start of lunch period. Iridessa sighs in relief. She zips open her backpack with too much enthusiasm, nearly breaking it off. She closes her notebook and places the cap back on her pen before tossing into her pencil case and putting everything away. After standing up, she heaves the heavy bag onto her back and makes her way out of the classroom. Walking down the hall towards the cafeteria, she pulls out her phone from her back pocket and checks her notifications. She responds to a text from Suho's mom saying that the twins decided to take their nap earlier. Muttering under her breath about how she wouldn't know what to do if that woman was in her life, she bumps into a girl and the phone drops onto the ground.

"Watch it!" the prep barks.

"Sorry." Dess says curtly.

   Before the dryad is able to lean over and pick the cell up off the ground, the girl snatches it away. She quickly reads the conversation between Iridessa and Ms. Kim and makes a disgusted face. She shoves the phone back towards Dess.

"Talking to the person who's watching your kids, you color-dyed freak-?" she says loudly and clearly.

   Students in the nearby area gasp and others stop to see what the commotion is. Several of them form a circle around the two girls and many start to whisper or make jokes.

"Isn't Ms. Kim, like, Suho's mother? Wait is he the father? Because you never told anyone, or do you not know from sleeping around with all those boys?" she sneers.

"Excuse me?" Iridessa snaps.

   Many of the other students gasp once more and start throwing out names such as '','', and she even heard one say 'man-eater'. Tears start to well in her eyes out of anger. They don't know her life. They don't know her story. They don't even know magic. So why is she wasting her time over caring about what they think?

"And what the hell is it to you?" says a gruff voice from behind the crowd.

   Some of her peers jump, startled from the outburst next to them. Iridessa then sees them part to either side, like watching a ship parting waves. To the rescue, thank god she thinks, is Suho. Everybody goes silent and Iridessa expresses a smug smile.

"Uh...Oppa...hi..I-" the bully stutters.

"You what? Are you about to tell me that your bullying an innocent girl?"

"Well she can't be that innocent if she had kids in high school!" the student defends.

"So what? So what if she has kids? And so what if I'm the father or not? It's none of your business. Quite frankly, Dess is a damn good mom. So back off." Suho snaps.

"Her," the bully points at the dryad, "a good mom? Yeah right, those little bastards probably run wild."

   And that's the breaking point. Iridessa lunges forward and before Suho can stop her, she slaps the girl across the face. Students scream, others are chanting fight!, but Dessa doesn't hear. She grabs the girl by the throat and pushes her into the lockers.

"You know," Dess hisses uncomfortably close to the bully's ear, "I've been dealing with your bull for years, and that's fine. It's whatever, but if you mention my kids one more time I will smear your face in the ing school parking lot pavement."

   The bully's eyes go wide and her bottom lip begins to tremble. Behind the dryad, teachers are trying to break through the crowd after hearing the crash of the girl being thrown into the lockers. Dess ignores it.

"So please, give me a reason to be sent home. I have no problem spending more time with my babies, because I am a good mom, and clearly I'm better than yours."

"Dess, let's go. I don't want you in trouble." Suho says softly, tugging on her arm.

   The dryad releases her hold and the girl slides to her knees on the floor, sputtering and gasping for air. After Iridessa deems a good amount of fear in the student's eyes, she turns around and is about to walk away when one of her teachers and the principal breaks through the swarm of students. Dess only then calms down and realizes what she's done.

"What is going on?" the principal orders.

   The crowd befalls on silence, after understanding that things could be getting risky, many of them scatter and either head towards their scheduled classes or lunch. Suho then takes a protective step in front of Iridessa, partially blocking her view.

"She was choking on gum", Suho points to the bully, "Iridessa was just helping her."

   Dess sighs in relief and quietly thanks Suho for his smooth acting. The teacher peers over Suho's shoulder at her and then towards the other girl. He is silent for three seconds, and to the dryad it feels like minutes. He then shrugs his shoulders.

"Alright, thank you Miss Kwon. And you, chewing gum is not allowed on school grounds. Don't bring anymore."

   All three of them bow in respect and the werewolf doesn't hesitate to yank Iridessa's arm and march her to the lunchroom.  As soon as they enter the loud and upbeat area, Suho glances around until he spots Chen and Xiumin waving them over at a table towards the far corner. Kris is already sitting, looking pissed (more than usual), and Baekhyun is next to him trying to take some of his rice. He looks over and glares at Dess. Oh, great she thinks.

   Everyone else is already sitting, Tao even has his food too somehow (figures that the only thing he isn't late for is food), and they give the two of them weird looks as Suho drags her towards the table, griping at her only loud enough for her to hear underneath the commotion of everyone else in the cafeteria.

"Are you crazy, Dess? You can't draw any attention to yourself!"

"I don't regret it! She's had it coming for years!" Dess hisses.

   Thanks to sensitive hearing, her entire group of friends across the room hush once they are close enough in range to hear. She notices Kris raise his eyebrows in interest before she looks down at the ground, evading his gaze and trying to stop her friend from pulling her.

"That doesn't mean to act the way you did!"

"Oh god, I've pissed Kris off enough today, how about I just go eat lunch in the-"

"Nope, nuh-uh. We have a pack meeting. Angry alpha or not."

"Su-ho!" she whines, drawing out the 'o'.

   Her standing in place does her no favors as Suho continues to pull her, nearly making her fall on her face from the sheer force (ugh, wolves), and she finally gives in. Approaching the table she stands behind him partially afraid.

"Dess, you're acting like a child!"

  Kris gives an expression, as if it could ask a question alone, and Anna pipes up.

"Dess, what's wrong?" 

"Yeah Dess, tell her how you nearly pummeled that girl." Suho chides.

"You what?" Anna, Chen, and Baekhyun say in unison.

"She deserved it Suho, and you know it!" she stomps, balling her fists at her sides.

"That doesn't mean you-"

"She called my babies bastards!" the dryad snaps.

"She what?" the alpha shouts, standing up from his seat so fast that his chair falls backwards onto the floor.

"Kris-" Luhan begins.

"Who was it?" the alpha orders, and his eyes look absolutely murderous.

"Are you serious?" Kyungsoo asks in shock.

"Oh, no need to worry. She already hit her. and choked her."

  Anna gapes in bewilderment. Kai snorts.

"No way." Luhan argues.

"I want to know her name." Kris snaps.

"Chill. She took care of it, and no offense Suho, but it was well done." Yixing shrugs.

"Nobody talks about the boys that way." Kris growls.

   The growl is unnaturally low and overwhelming that Anna and the surrounding tables are left in dead air. The students look around as if to wonder why they hear such an animalistic sound. Baekhyun punches Kris in the shoulder and gestures towards the room with such a defined look what you did expression. Since Suho and Iridessa are still standing, they end up staring at them in the end as a result. Suho awkwardly does a nervous cough and yanks the dryad down into a seat. The lunchroom only then picks back up in commentary. Iridessa looks to her left seeing as Suho sat next to Anna (which, rude, that's her best friend) so she is left sitting between with him on her left and Sehun on her right who gives her a sympathetic smile.

"If Suho is so upset, why didn't he just stop you?" he says, stirring the pot.

"I don't know, I guess I was too fast."

   Several friends at your lunch table (besides Kris, Anna, and Suho) give you a look that can only be noted as confusion. It takes her a second to understand and is about to ask what their problem is when she facepalms. Werewolves have super speed.

"I recant my statement." she groans from under her hand, feeling stupid.

   Anna looks around, confused. She doesn't know that they're wolves. Yet. 

"Wow Dess, I thought someone like you wouldn't even hurt a fly." she then says.

   Tao, Chen, Baekhyun, Kai and Sehun interrupt into fits of laughter. With the double life this dryad is supposed to live, I guess normal people wouldn't believe that just the week before she was shooting poison-tipped arrows at a malicious two-foot hobgoblin. Anna looks dumbfounded once again and the boys take their alpha's death glare as time to shut up.

"So then..." Xiumin starts.

"Suho let her?" Chen finishes.

"I don't get it, why were you ing then?" Baekhyun directs to Suho, through a mouthful of the stolen rice.

"Well I didn't think she was going to try and kill her Baek!" Suho shrills, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

   As they continue bickering, Sehun grins next to her in satisfaction. He then sees the dryad's eyebrows furrowed and he nudges in her question. She hums sharply in response and meets his eyes.

"You usually don't act this way. Are you okay?" he whispers.

"I'm sorry, I'm just on edge lately." 

"Why? You mean the tar thing?"

"Yeah, that too. But...there's something else I haven't mentioned."

   The dryad is so deep into thought and worry that she doesn't notice Kris perk his ears up and ignore the rest of the pack to listen in.

"What? What is it Dess? You know you can tell me anything." Sehun says lowly, wrapping a comforting arm around her side.

"I think somebody was following me."