"Maybe we should do a town patrol first, see if there are any more areas affected by the tar."

"It's already dark, but I agree. We have to contain this from getting out into the public."

"Check social media too."

   The pack was huddled in Chanyeol's garage. The sun has set and they were currently discussing their plans for the forest. So far they have decided to meet in Iridessa's backyard after they split up. They feared that whatever or whoever caused the scene at the water department didn't care about discretion, and with how the world is now the public can't learn about magic beings. It would turn into a global hunt, making past witch trials look like child's play. What they're doing tonight is recon for the city while trying to save their magical race. It's the only mission now. Protect the magic.

"Okay, Dess you head straight home and protect the house." Kris begins.

"Right." she nods.

"Me, Tao, and Chen will patrol the north to north-east side of town. Suho? You, Sehun, and Chen take east to south-east. Chanyeol, Kai, and Yixing have south to south-west. Xiumin, Luhan, and Kyungsoo have north to north-west. Once we are done patrolling, say forty-five minutes, we meet at the highschool and then travel to Dess' house. Understood? Don't stray off by yourself. We have no idea what's out there."

"Keep your phones on. Only transform if you have to." Dess warns.

"Wouldn't it be faster if we were wolves though?" Luhan questions.

"Yes, but we are spread thin. Listen to what she says." Kris finishes.

   The dryad is thankful that she will have extra time for herself at the house. She decided to leave the carseats for the boys at the Park's just in case Iridessa had to use her car and room in it for an emergency. She said her good-bye's and see you soon's to her friends and got in her vehicle. The drive back to her home was solemn and quiet. She was too worried to turn on music and sing her feelings away as normal. Her stomach was in knots and was cotton dry. She was constantly looking in the mirrors and shamelessly using her brights on the road. The evening was eerily still for a weekend, barely a single car she passed the entire way home.

   She silently pulled her car into the driveway and turned her ignition off. The house looked dark and she wondered if her mother was asleep, and she decided it'd be best if she were. She quickly grabs her extra sets of arrows she bought earlier in the day along with a bigger quiver that has external pockets that she intends on filling. After unlocking the front door and entering she reaches behind it and opens the coat closet. She grabs another set of arrows but leaves her original quiver behind. 

   Dess has a couple of stashes throughout the property. Up until now she only kept one quiver but had several stacks of arrows in places such as the living room closet, her bedroom, the shed, and the trunk of the car. It was another reason why she made the choice to just buy more on top of making some too. The past year or so has been more troubled than before and she intended to not be caught off guard defenseless. She previously just fought with her bow and arrows, but when things got harder she upgraded with by training more of her magic and by using poison. Dess still fears that it won't be enough.

   She tiptoes to her bedroom and doesn't turn the light on until the door is already closed. She haphazardly tosses her things onto her bed while she searches for a change of clothes. The dryad learned the hard way what a night of travel and battling could do to fresh blouses and clean jeans. She has since kept a bag of clothes set aside from the adventures she's endured. She learned to sew from how-to videos online but has either been too busy or just too lazy to start on the ever-growing mount of shreds. She digs around her dressers and through her closet until settling on a worn black tee and jeans so old the ends were slowly inching up her ankles from the years passing. 

"Let's pray that this isn't a combat boot night." she mutters to herself.

   Dess grabs her high quality rainboots. They are a deep emerald and she had to have it as soon as she saw it resting on the store's display shelf. When it comes to battling it's always best to wear tennis shoes or combat boots. They stabilize the feet the most and it doesn't get in the way of running. However, when she wants to tread through the woods she favors her green boots. They're tall enough to touch her calf and it's great for a night like this when her pants are just a little too short. Iridessa then silently notes to grab long socks as well to tuck the jeans in. There are a lot of plants out in the woods, many that people don't want to be exposed to. Dangerous ones like poison sumac or oak, and annoying ones that get in the way like briar bushes. With how tall and thick rainboots are, they're ideal for keeping anything out someone wouldn't want in.

   The dryad would like to say she knew the forest like the back of her hand, but it simply couldn't be true. Forests change overnight, and there are nooks and crannies she just hasn't seen. The forest, in whole, is one of the biggest in that half of the country. The urban town is on the outliers that border the wilderness which in some parts stretches to the sea. When it is night, like now, it makes things difficult even for a professional tracker or dryad. She would simply rather be prepared while still remaining comfortable. Thinking of the woods and the sea, she grabs the phone off her desk that's next to the door.

 

To: Kris the Gigantor

I just thought of something

 

From: Kris the Gigantor

This better be important Dess.

 

To: Kris the Gigantor

Just listen to me. Some of the woods are protected nature reserves and some employ hunters to regulate the population of animals each year.

 

From: Kris the Gigantor

? Are you saying we are looking for someone wearing camouflage?

 

To: Kris the Gigantor

No . I'm saying we need to be careful. Some could have already seen and we need to be discreet. I'll research which areas are designated for gaming.

 

From: Kris the Gigantor

Later. Focus on right now.

 

"Why does he have to be such a ?" she whispers to herself, tossing the cell on her bed.

   She pulls off her shirt in one go and nonchalantly tosses it onto the ground. She pulls the top drawer open in her dresser and grabs whatever sports bra is on top. After changing bras she turns back around and catches a glimpse of something dark outside the window, standing out from the night sky. At first she silently cursed herself for leaving the curtains pulled back, but then she stops in her tracks and covers her chest.

   It's a person. Standing on the sidewalk on the other side of the window, watching her.

   She wants to lock the window. She wants to close the curtains. Did she lock the front door? She can't remember.  Why doesn't she grab her bow and arrows? She wants to pick up her phone, but she can't. She's frozen on the spot, too terrified to move. The shadowy man remains there, the blackness of night masking his face. The pounding pulse creeps its' way up to , her eyes widening. There are no streetlights when you live on the outskirts of town and she doesn't believe her bad luck. She's alone. This is happening and she's alone.

   She doesn't know how long she remains in place, feeling as if the stranger is staring straight into her soul. It's too quiet, vastly too quiet for her that her panicked rapid breaths resonated off the walls. Who is he? Is it a he? Is it even human?

   Her phone vibrates against her bed comforter and the sudden intrusive noise make her yelp in fear. She looks down at the phone and then right back to window, terrified to see the person- creature?- disappear out of sight. The phone vibrates again and it seems to snap her out of the twisted trance she's in. She takes a deep breath and paces herself quickly to the bed, snatching the phone up. 

 

From: Joon-Joon

So far we're good on the southside.

From: Joon-Joon

Do you need us to grab anything for you?

 

   That's it! she thinks. She can call Suho. She lives on the southside of town and his group is probably closest. She pops her head back up to the window and squints to see the figure out front. It's not there anymore.

"No, no, no!" she squeaks in terror.

   She doesn't know what scares her more, seeing someone stalking her or the person disappearing, not knowing where it is. Did it leave? Is he trying to break in? Are the twins okay?

"The twins!" she gasps.

   She doesn't stop her legs then. She quickly calls Chanyeol's mother while racing around the house. She has the phone placed at the crook of her neck, held in place by her shoulder and face. With every ring passing her heart rate spikes higher and sweat forms on her face. She locks her bedroom window, closes the blinds (curtains too) and races to the living room to do the same. When she finishes locking the living room window Mrs. Park answers.

"Yeoboseyo?" Mrs. Park yawns.

"Mrs. Park, I'm sorry it's so late, I just wanted to check on the boys."

"They're still sleeping dear, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. You know me, I get anxious when they aren't with me."

"They're in good hands Dessa, I promise there's no need to worry."

"Okay, thank you so much again. I'm so sorry, goodnight."

   Should she trust it? Should she trust that this thing won't show up there? Is it safe to go into the forest tonight? She pushes the questions out of her mind, whatever this tar thing is could hurt people next with how toxic it is and the Parks are a werewolf family so she has to trust them. Going into the forest might help them figure out what it is or what to do. Even with children she has to put everyone in the town before her. Protecting the town is protecting her family. Her pack's family.

   It takes her a full minute of self-convincing to step out into the back garden.  There are supplies that she needs in the shed that she doesn't keep inside the house. Some of the items are too poisonous, too deadly, to keep under the same roof where her children sleep. That doesn't mean she can't be quick about it though, so she scrambles to find the keys in her pocket. She hastily tears the door open in the small shed and takes the extra measure to close the door behind her once she steps in. She installed a single light inside last year, more like had Kyungsoo install it (bless carpenters) to help her in instances like these. Ironically enough, creatures usually attack at night so it's usually somewhere in the evening when she is most likely in it.

   Her phone vibrates in her pocket but she decides to ignore it in hopes of hurrying up to get back inside the house. She pulls open drawers and raids shelves for several different kids of plants, ashes, and medicinal herbs. She also chooses last minute to grab a couple test tubes. She places everything she has grabbed on the personal sized work table (where she normally grinds plants or makes medicine) and pulls the extra large quiver off her back. She first checks that her arrows are secure and then places raw plants in one pocket, labeled ashes in the second, medicinal herbs in the third, and in the largest pouch the map and the rest of her first aid things. She finds 2 small ones on the strap and places test tubes in one and a pencil and highlighter in the other. The quiver feels weighted on her back and she adjusts the length and tightness before heading back out of the shed.

   The walk back to the house is fairly short but it seems much longer tonight. Wind flows through the air and sends a chill down her spine right before she steps back in. She locks the door and tiptoes back into her room to grab a windbreaker she's too embarrassed to wear to school. It's green as well and has pink flowers on the linings. Luhan's mother got it for her years ago and she was too afraid to tell her how ugly it is. Dess knows windbreakers make noise when you move your arms but deems it safe since she doubts a talking pack of wolves will be quieter than her. The dryad then remembers while grabbing a battery pack that she received a text back in the shed.

 

From: Joon-Joon

Clear, heading your way. Your heart is pounding, are you alright?

 

   Once werewolves are in a pack with humans they can hear their heartbeats from a longer distance, nothing too crazy, maybe several blocks, but she always thought it odd and yet comforting at the same time. Kris once told her it's habit, they just let their senses flow especially when their humans are close by. It's reassuring to them.

   Dess hears commotion coming from outside the back of the house. So she turns off her bedroom light, closes the door, and heads out.

"You good?" Suho asks before she's completely out of the house.

"Peachy." she fakes.

   All of the boys are still in their normal forms and they're all dressed comfortably. Sweats, jeans, and sneakers seem to be the common trend and Iridessa makes a note in her head to convince them to get rainboots one day. Even though they were just running all over town it seemed like none of them broke a single sweat. None of them are breathing heavy and it makes the dryad just a bit jealous. Her race really is limited when it comes to abilities and she hates it. 

"Alright. Let's go over this." Kris announces.

   His voice wasn't incredibly loud, trying to be respectful of Dess' mother and neighbors she guesses, and she snaps her head towards his direction.

   The alpha is dressed simply, really. Just a pullover, dark jeans, and sneakers. So why was she so enthralled? Why can't she stop looking at him?

"Maybe we should step inside first and go through the map again." Dess blurts to cover why she made intense eye contact.

   He doesn't answer. He just stares back and it's almost as if his eyes sharpen, if that's even possible. The alpha just genuinely nods in response and for some crazy reason it means so much to her. With how the day has been going she must be losing it. She just has to be.

   The dryad leads them inside and it takes a full thirty seconds of shoving, whispering, and restrained laughing before they're all gathered in a circle on the living room floor. Iridessa feels warmth soak her face watching Kris weave his way through the small crowd of wolves to sit directly next to her, her knee against his.  She looks down to avoid any looks but she knows she can't hide the uptick of her heart when he did. She shrugs off any reason why he would choose to do so except to help lead the meeting and be able to reach the map.

"Okay, so what have we figured out?" Xiumin asks on the other side of her, leaning over her shoulder.

"Here," Dess points, "is my house and there is the water facility. As you see there's nothing really pointing to a pattern or a certain direction. And this is the clearing we will be going to."

"Why there?" Kai questions.

"Because the first time we saw the tar was here," Kris adds while gesturing towards the other 'x', "and this clearing is north of it."

"What are we expecting to find?" Luhan asks.

"No clue. Be on alert. Don't transform if you don't need to, our magic is more trackable that way." Kris responds.

"And your paws." Dess jokes.

"How far out into the forest are you familiar with?" Baekhyun interrupts.

"I can't say. There is no direct pathway either. We will be taking this direction though, it seems to be the least resisting of nature." Dess answers, gliding her finger along the map to highlight the path.

"Number one thing is protecting Dess. She's going to be our way in and out. Don't stand in her way, just stand close. The tar affected her last time." Suho adds and Kris grunts in agreement with his second-in-command.

"Alright, so stay human, stay close, look out for creeps and ooze, and protect Dess." Tao sums up.

   The dryad snorts but confirms and they start to leave. They all stand from their spots, bumping into each other and stretching their legs. Dess ends up doing the same after carefully rolling back up the map and placing it into her quiver.

   That's another thing she doesn't care too much about having. Because she isn't fully Korean her height is much taller than other girls. She has lanky legs and has even saw boys shorter than her. It makes her feel too masculine, and it's only multiplied in feeling by trying to be a mother and a father. But she can't think about that right now. She's accepted her life and needs to stick to it.

   Dess makes it a point to turn on the outdoor light for the back, making her the last one to step out. She has full faith she won't get lost, and neither would the pack, but did it just in case. Who knows what position they will come back in and they all plan on going to Chanyeol's house after.

"Dess?"

   She was adjusting her strap once more, mainly because she was nervous, and meets eyes with him. God he's beautiful, she thinks. He looks concerned and steps closer leaning his head and shoulders down ever so slightly.

"You're going to be okay, you know that right?"

"Huh?"

   He hugs her. He hugs her without warning and her heart completely stutters as she feels all her worries melt away, slipping off her skin. She exhales in relief and he hugs tighter, and she swears its replenishes her soul. It may seem awkward but she refuses to let go.

"You heart has been all over the place lately."

   You have no clue, she thinks.

"And if you're going to be scared," Kris mutters into her hair, "don't, okay? I would never let anything happen to you. None of us will."

   She blinks away tears on his pullover and nods into his shoulder. She needed this. She needed to hear this. She's been craving the "we got this" and "don't you worry" 's for so long. Forever, it seems, that it had to be her. Her being responsible every minute of the day, her being reliable, her having to be so strong, when all along she's been wanting someone to come along and tell her to sit back. To relax. To take a deep breath. 

"He's right, Dess. We got your back. Always." Chen says.

   Only then does the two separate, she finds Chen in the dim-lit setting and smiles as bright as she can force from . She should trust them. She needs to or else they can never be a devoted pack.

"Guys, it's getting late." Yixing pipes up.

   They decide to have a reverse triangle formation and to adjust accordingly while traveling between the trees. The front row is Chanyeol, Suho, Dess, and Kris. Behind them will be Xiumin, Yixing, Kyungsoo, and Luhan. The second to last row is Baekhyun, Tao, and Chen with the final being Kai and Sehun. The first row is for tracking and searching, the second is for protecting the ones in front of them, the third row is to maintain formation and make sure nobody strays, while the final is for protecting the pack from the back. Only in the event of a battle will they choose to split.

   The pack finally enters the forest. It starts out as low-lying shrubs, bushes, and young trees. Chanyeol scans the left side, Suho tries to scent anything out of the ordinary, Dess stares straight ahead (bow in hand), and Kris is scanning the right. It's almost eerie with how quiet it is. The forest is still pretty silent besides crickets from a fair distance away and the guys are as well. She doesn't know which one is more odd to her, the quiet forest or a quiet pack of twelve wolves. The dryad tries straining her ears to possibly hear anything but it's impossible with their feet crunching against the grass, leaves, and twigs. She wasn't gifted with expanded senses (besides things earthly anyway).

   At first, she couldn't help her palpitating heart. Dess has no idea what they're stepping into and none of their parents have any idea where they're actually at. Most of them aren't even aware that the pack goes into the woods, if something happened there would be no one else to come to the rescue. The group of teenagers have to do with what they have.

"Anything yet?" Kris whispers, seeming it weird to speak loudly.

"No." Chanyeol and Suho say in unison.

"Nothing to track yet." Dess adds.

   Twice within the next five minutes she nearly pulls an arrow. The first time Chanyeol tripped over a large branch and the noise of it crunching beneath his feet scared her. The second being an owl calling out from several hundred feet to the north, closer to the neighborhood. Kris actually places his hand on the back of her neck and rubs a quick circle with his fingers to calm her down at the last instance. Iridessa feels like a fool. She's around wolves who hardly get scared of anything while she is terrified of a twig.

  It's not that the tar terrifies her. Sure, it's dangerous to the community and that's scary but she finds things like mages and demons far more horrifying. She's not even sure they could survive a mage, they can barely survive warlocks or vampires. The biggest problem here is she just doesn't know. This is like nothing she has ever heard or witnessed before and they aren't even sure if it's a person causing or creating it. The unknown is what keeps her alert and worried.

"We're coming up on the area where we first saw it." Suho says after a long sniff.

"I know, I think it's killing other plants." Dess answers solemnly.

   She secretly prays that this tar doesn't spread it's toxins throughout the air or through the ground. It will be much harder to contain if it's a substance that keeps finding plants to feed off of, if that's what it's doing.

   She freezes upon approaching the same place she was previously at just a couple days ago. Kris holds his fist up high, signaling to halt after she doesn't move.

   It's grotesque. She gags upon seeing the once beautiful scenery. The tar still hasn't dissolved, even after the rain they had the day before. It looks a little watery but not any less toxic. She loses her stomach at the sight of the slow-decaying doe. There are no bugs or critters feeding off it like there normally should be. It's body looks sagging and rigid at the same time and concludes that it's the tar keeping away the ones who normally feed off carcasses. The smell suddenly becomes overpowering and Dess covers the lower half of her face with the bend of her elbow. She hears someone cough behind her but she knows she has to keep going.

   The closer she walks to the animal the more she's convinced that she will have nightmares picturing this. The deer still seems stuck in it's state, alive but not alive. Dead but not dead. Although she adds that it seems like its' life is leaning closer to death now that the poor animal can't eat. She fumbles upon approaching the toxicity, affecting her once again. She pushes on.

"Rest, little one." she whispers to it.

   The grass underneath and surrounding is yellowing and disappearing with the absence of light paired with the toxicity of the oily tar. Too scared to let the forest succumb to whatever this phenomenon is she places her bow over one shoulder and holds her hands out.

"Heal." she calls out.

   Warm auras of greens and yellows slowly accumulate over the grass like a feathery fog as the grass begins to turn green again. She didn't have to use much energy since she wasn't going to repair anything back to it's full health. Just enough to keep it from dying.

"Dess cut it out! You need to save your energy!" Kris whisper-shouts.

"It kills the grass over time but not the animals." she says aloud, mainly to herself.

   The dryad makes a mental note to add the observation to her notebook of the supernatural once they get back. She knew it wouldn't affect her as much and it was confirmed when she had to blink away the stars in her eyes. Kris heaves his shoulders in distress and grabs her by the elbow, dragging her around and forward of the scene. 

"Look at you, about to faint."

"I'm fine."

"No you're not, quit it."

"You're not the boss of me."

"Yes I am, I'm your alpha."

   With a bit more arguing Dess finally adds structure to the formation once again and they continue, slower this time since Dess is still recovering. With every step they take farther away from the initial tar zone she recollects her senses. It's a relieving feeling since she has grown to relying on her extra senses very much. Not feeling them makes her feel vulnerable, like she's missing a security blanket. Her stomach flips at the thought knowing this oily substance clouds her powers. It could make things dangerous, especially tonight.

   Her mind trails and she thinks about the person who was stalking her. The word feels foreign and unfriendly to her. But with that car following her and now this, she knows she's being stalked and she has no idea what to do. Is it the thing that caused this whole tar mess? Is it someone after the person who caused it? Is it whoever summoned the hobgoblin from before?

   Not paying attention like she should be she ends up accidentally kicking a rock. She nearly trips but catches herself fairly quickly and is thankful that no one brought up any stupid remark. With her mind back to the mission at hand she becomes eerily paranoid and her skin starts to crawl. Thinking about earlier she quickly glances behind her, out to the left. Nothing's there.

"Why do you keep looking over your shoulder? Is something wrong?" Kris asks.

"No,I-no. Just taking in the surroundings."

   The forest grows thicker and the pack at times has to squeeze together or dance around fallen branches and dense bushes to maintain structure to their formation. Dess makes sure to point out poisonous plants to the rest as they pass them, believing that they should eventually know the in's and out's of toxic herbology. Wolves are strong and fierce, but that doesn't make them invincible. They can still get rashes from poison oak and with aconite being so fatal Dess wonders when she can find a day to teach them about what to look for in a plant to determine if they should stay away from it. It wouldn't hurt for her to have a refresher either.

"I might be wrong, but I think I smell chemicals in the distance." Suho says suddenly.

"No, you're right. I smell it too." Yixing says behind them.

"Why would it be in the woods?" Chanyeol questions.

"Guys." Dess interrupts.

   Kris halts them once more as Dess kneels into the cold dewy grass. She grabs her phone and turns the flashlight function on to get a better look at the patch of ground directly in front of her. There's a glob of the tar around the size of a foot splashed across more dying grass. She aims the light and a slight upwards angle and notices another splatter of black drops just a couple feet ahead.

"We found it. We found the trail." she says.

"Let's get going." Kris orders the pack.

   He reaches his hand down and the dryad grabs it, pulling herself up. She pops up too fast and stumbles before Kris catches her against his chest, easy there he adds. She nods, the tar still bothering every cell in her being. She then starts thinking how desperately she needs to find an antidote or at least what the tar contains. If it were to get into any of the boys' system she wouldn't know how to flush it. She could do what she did with Tao when he got attacked with wolfsbane, but it would mean it could kill her and she really doesn't want to go through that again.

   The trail was fairly easy to track from there. Every couple of steps they would find more and more. That's when they started changing their original direction. Chanyeol brought up how they should just continue to finding the clearing but Sehun countered saying it'd be best finding where this trail leads since the tar is what they're actually trying to track.

"I've seen that stump already." Xiumin says, 20 minutes after following the trail.

"Yeah, we're traveling in circles." Dess mutters.

"I'm thinking this is either a person or an animal. It seems like they got lost." Kris guesses.

"Then why does it leave this sticky stuff everywhere it goes?" Baekhyun contradicts.

"Maybe it isn't lost, maybe it's guarding something?" Kyungsoo suggests.

   Dess takes in her surrounding and lets her senses flow through her. She quickly recollects what direction they're in and where the clearing should be. It actually isn't too far from where they are and she wonders if whatever this is was actually looking for the clearing and it lost its' way. 

"I have an idea." Dess says quietly.

   She avoids the path of the tar and takes off ahead of the pack. She hears Kris and Suho call out for her but she's too buys relying on her abilities. Every plant she passes she knows, every howl of the wind gifts her with refreshing air, and she just knows what she's doing is right. As she races closer and closer she hears the thumping of several feet behind her. Right before she gets to where she's supposed to be she spots more of the black inky substance on the grass next to her boots. This confirms what she has been thinking. There's something in this clearing. There has to be.

   Out of breath, it's as if she explodes into the patch of forest where trees refuse to grow. It must be at least several acres wide and the quiet darkness artistically draws attention to the bright shining stars in the sky. Dess feels closer to the moon and she can't help but stare into the night. She jogs out a couple more feet and takes in a deep breath, thanking mother nature for giving such beautiful life. 

"Dess?" Kai calls out.

   The rest of the pack enter the vast openness without pattern. They all join next to her and do the exact same; stare up into the beautiful moon and stars. It's hypnotic and calming and Dess wouldn't want the moon any other way.

"Never ceases to amaze me." Dess says breathlessly.

   Kris' eyes cast upon the dryad in admiration. If only he could tell her the same thing. If only he could man up. 

"I know we're on a mission here but I don't want to move from the spot." Luhan says with passion.

   Dess sighs.

"I know. But we gotta go." she responds.

    Kris finally takes the time to scan the area in which they are standing and nothing seems out of the ordinary. They all finally started hearing the wildlife once again, the crickets, owls, frogs. It made the atmosphere less tense and it takes Kris back to the times where they would all sneak out just to run through the woods playing and howling. His pack was new back then and they were so ignorant to the world around them. It was before Dess was pregnant, before she was even a part of them. Their only worries consisted of curfews, sports, and school. Sometimes he wishes the simplicity of it all could be lived through again. 

   He noticed Iridessa back then, he always noticed her. There was something different about her that he couldn't get close to. Like she was always just beyond the fingertips, out of reach. Then she joined the pack and shortly after surrounded herself by other men. Older men. It hurt him, especially with her being in a pack. If you are in a pack, you stay within the pack. You hang out with the pack, you mate with someone in the pack, you spend your life with the pack. It felt as if she was personally trying to go against him. Proof that as the years went on life got harder and harder. Because of this it was only recently that the alpha and the dryad got closer again. He was always there for the twins but for some time that was it. If the boys needed something and Dess actually asked him for it (rarely) he went and got it instantly, and then they were back to their barely talking or touching. The result of this was that she got closer with the rest of the pack, and Kris declares that a silver lining. It is crucial for a pack to have intimacy and that was the point where Dessa's developed the fullest.

"Go where? What do we do now?" Kris questions, purposely breaking himself from his thoughts.

"Uh...I didn't think this far," Dess begins, "so let's just look around."

 Iridessa knows without looking (she's checking the treelines) the look Kris is already giving her. It's the eyebrow-plus-frown-"seriously?" look and she acts innocent and continues steady with their mission. She doesn't move much from where she stands while the rest of the pack spreads out wide. Kris urges them not to change unless there's danger (once again) and to explore but not to stray too far. He then decides that everyone has to at least be within earshot of Iridessa since she doesn't have their advanced hearing. It's satisfying Dess thinks, watching them pace themselves equally outwards in a circle. Everything is dark blue and green and Dess finds it incredibly hard to stay focused. Nature gets her every time, it never gets old. Blues, browns, golds, greens; she adores it all. The fresh peaceful night air fills her lungs and she feels greatful to be closer to all this with her senses. It's a high, euphoric in the way that time could fly past and she wouldn't notice.

   She then glances over to the alpha, his back to her several feet away. Whenever she senses him it's like being enveloped in rays of warm gray and faded blue. Like a soft blanket on a chilly autumn morning. Like a cabin and a cup of coffee. Like comfort and protection. It's addicting and one of the very few things that can tear her vision away from such a beautiful environment. 

"Dess?" Chen asks from somewhere out in the dark.

"Mmm?"

"Are you even looking?"

   It's not an annoyed statement, it's an instigating one. She's able to glance at the reflection cast on his white teeth and she blushes. Chen caught her staring, but she can't help it. Who could?

"Bite me." is all she can come up with in return.

"Does anyone else smell that?"

"If you were paying attention Tao, we already established the chemic-"

"No, it smells like...lead pipes...and old paper."

   Dess locates Tao to the northeast of her, just beyond the trees. He obviously caught the attention of the others too because they all started to head towards his direction. For unknown reasons she suddenly feels afraid. She spent her whole life next to these woods, even inside them. She shouldn't feel fear, not here. How can she fear something that's a part of her? And why does she keep feeling so?

   Luhan reaches Tao first, who remained in place after hearing that the pack was going to follow him. The dryad sees Luhan sniff around in a circle, shadows from the moonlight and the trees flutter on his pale skin, and he nods at Tao in agreement. The forest is well, forest. So why are they smelling something so weird? Dess notes that this particular area of the woods is notably dense for it to be bordering a clearing. Shrubs and rocks and branches completely cloak the ground and it reminds the dryad to warn them about watching their step. She plants her right foot forward towards the two wolves, and as she pulls her left food ahead it catches onto something hard. She yelps as she trips and falls, arms flailing.

   It was too unprecedented, a dryad tripping in her own forest, and so no one was there to catch her. Her face feels as if it cracks against metal and she wails in pain. She grips her face in agony while the twelve wolves close in, Kris pushing his way to the front.

"Oh my god Dess, you're bleeding." Kris says, panicked.

"What? How?" someone asks, she can't tell who.

   She feels the copper taste drip into , blood flowing through her fingers, running down her face and falling off her chin. Her eyes sting and well from the sheer misery and ache overwhelming her nose and mouth. She's nauseous.

"Keep her head tilted forward, just let it bleed." someone instructs.

"Jesus, is it broken?"

"I don't know, it's too dark to tell." Yixing replies, Dess finally recognizing who's speaking.

"What could she have broken her nose on? The grass?" Kai exasperates.

"Definitely...not...grass." Dess gags.

   Kris lightly touches her chin, gently shifting her face upward for him to see. He then looks down at the ground, sees the blood, and digs his hands through the accumulating pool and drenched leaves. He scrapes it away and it doesn't take much effort before his nails scratch against something solid and cold. Dess does him the favor of moving her body ninety degrees so the blood could fall somewhere else and she finds it to be one of the most embarrassing moments she's ever been through. He knocks on it and the sounds of metal echoes back to stun everybody.

"What the-"

"I'd take that as a definite broken nose." Baekhyun says in disbelief.

"Dess, are you dizzy?" Lay asks. She nods.

"Okay so, she might have a concussion."

"What?!" Kris exhales sharply.

"Dess? Can you try to stand? Here, give me your hand." Lay adds.

   Iridessa really doesn't want to get up, she wants to lie down and let the pain fade. Behind her forehead is pulsing and her nose has only started to slow. She's tired, bruised, and positive her arms and legs are scraped. She feels Yixing tap her shoulder and she blindly reaches out a hand to him. Kris then wraps his around her free hand and the two wolves help her up. She grunts in the utter effort it takes to push her own body to move.

"What the hell is this?" Chen questions, leaning over the metal slab.

"I told you she was going to get hurt!" Kris snaps, pulling her to him.

"I...think it's a door." Kyungsoo musters.

"Ohhhh..." The dryad moans, her head lolling.

"That's it. We are heading back." Kris orders.

"Are you kidding me? We just found what we've been looking for!" Sehun argues.

"We don't even know what we're looking for!"

"What if the person who's causing all this is under that!" Chanyeol defends.

"We are down a packmate-"

"Kris, I'm fine. I'll be fine." Dess groans.

"I would say that you can't even say that with a straight face, but it's too busy bleeding!" he snarls.

"We need to take down whatever this is! I'm not going anywhere!"

   It's probably another full minute of arguing that passes before Dess threatens that she will stay alone with boys for the night if he doesn't stop. It shuts him up quick, too worried about their safety and too pissed that she would dangle her life around. She rubs her face with the back of her arm, ruining her windbreaker, and wipes her hands on her jeans. Her nose is still throbbing and she is slowly getting sleepy. It must be the concussion.

"I'll open it. Kris heads in first. Tao, stay back with Dess. You two will head in last." Suho decides.

   Moments like these prove that Suho is pure beta material. It's not the first time Kris has veered off the mission and Suho had to take over. Suho does it to keep stability in the pack and to set Kris straight. It's common lore that if an alpha passes the beta will become the new alpha, therefore a new beta will be chosen. They've talked about the concept in private before and decided if something ever happened to Kris, Chanyeol or Xiumin would most likely be chosen as the next beta. It's all determined by leadership qualities each wolf has. Some say that it's the powers at be that make the change, others say it's the wolves ancestors who watch over them. Either way the first time Dess set eyes upon the pack she just knew immediately it was Kris and Suho.

"Be prepared for anything." Kris gives in.

"I got her." Tao reassures.

   Dess steadily regains balance and is able to walk her way to Tao without trouble, of course with Kris following behind. Tao smiles at her and she slings her arm over his shoulder. Tao wraps an arm around her back to keep her steady just in case.

"If something happens, remember it was me who saved your after the blackmarket."

   Tao laughs.

"Don't worry I got your back. Who else is going to heal us when we act stupid?"

   Iridessa isn't able to see anything happening due to all the wolves standing in front of her blocking her vision. She faintly hears Chanyeol mutter something about a wheel or a crank and she's praying whatever they're about to get into won't require her to do any fighting. She can't even think about running at the moment, let alone taking on monsters.

   They then hear what sounds like metal grinding and Suho grunting in effort to open the air-tight metal door. After Suho successfully turns the wheel in a full circle a sharp pop! noise escapes from the air pressure. Everyone abruptly falls in silence to where Dessa can only hear her own breathing. Suho tugs on the wheel knob and the lid eerily creaks open.

"Stairway." Xiumin notes.

"Alright, going down." says Kris.

   The dryad's heart pounds in her chest, resonating of her bones and echoing in her ears. Anything could be down there waiting for them. Anything could jump out and attack Kris. She goes to pull away and Tao firmly grabs her arm, shaking his head. Tao would do anything to protect Dess, he's not going to let her go, especially with direct orders.

"I don't hear anybody down there." Luhan says somewhere ahead.

   They all hear the alpha's footsteps reverberate off the metal stairs leading down. He's quiet for about five seconds, most likely checking if the coast was clear. He then informs them that it's vacant and the rest of the pack follow in. 

   There's enough space on the stairs to stand side by side, so the wolves in front of Dess headed in two at a time. Dess is still very much in pain but now after understanding that there won't be any fighting tonight she's a lot more cooperative. Tao reaches out to hold her hand once they reach the opening and she hastily grabs his. She hears someone down below complain about needing to turn on a light before descending into one of the most life-changing fortifications she has yet to meet.