#werewolf!changbin

You were the first ones to leave, but it was pretty much expected by everyone. Yes, you had fun, but it started to become too much and you needed to leave. Changbin could tell your heartbeat was off and your breathing was a little funny, so he offered to call a taxi before you could even ask to go home.

Dr. Haeun said going out would be good for you, and despite the week of mental preparation to leave the house to go clubbing, you had fun...ish. You definitely didn’t get as carefree as some of the other mates who were dancing all over each other and their respective mates, but you did have a couple drinks and swayed to the songs very closely facing Changbin. It was...progress, right?

He’d definitely say so.

You also didn’t get nearly as drunk as everyone else -- well, Chan and Changbin both seemed even more sober than you, so you at least beat someone -- but you were drunk enough that you did some things you wouldn’t have normally done. But it might’ve also been the alcohol that added to the anxiety that began to set in while at the club, hence why you left early.

Changbin got you into the apartment and helped walk you into the bedroom -- not that you couldn’t walk but you did sway just a little bit and he didn’t like it. The two of you got ready for bed, taking off makeup and peeling off sweaty clothes and Changbin asked if you had fun and teased his pack about dumb things they did in their alcohol-induced states.

But it was your alcohol-induced state that made you blurt out your next question so suddenly. 

“Are you leaving again tonight?”

It didn’t sound accusatory, although you were a little concerned he planned on ditching you when you were intoxicated. But the question made Changbin pause his actions -- he was half bent over as he put clothes in the hamper -- and look at you speechless. It was as if he didn’t think you suspected a thing.

You sighed, sitting criss-cross in bed and holding one of the pillows in your lap, “Changbin, don’t look at me like that. I’m not stupid.”

He was stunned, blinking now-golden eyes as you because he had no idea how to reply. You’d never been so...bold. He knew it was the alcohol -- you both did -- but he didn’t think you even had it in you to take advantage of the liquid courage in your body.

Then again, he was talking about the same girl who threatened him with a knife.

Finally, but softly, he asked, “...How’d you know?”

“I said I’m not stupid,” you repeated flatly. You actually felt a little annoyed that he thought you wouldn’t know. “You know I went through this shit already, right?”

Now, stunned was an understatement. He couldn’t even describe how taken off-guard he was by your statement and your tone. You went from asking a seemingly innocent question to giving him an attitude. He wasn’t upset about it, he was just...shocked.

Changbin stood up straight and completely turned his body toward you, “_____, did I upset you?”

“No, I just--” you stopped and tried to think about how it did make you feel that he left.

You weren’t even really sure why you were getting into it with him, but you couldn’t stop yourself. You were pretty fed up with him sneaking out, especially when he knew your past and where you came from before him, and the alcohol was just helping you get it out, apparently.

“You’re not helping yourself,” you told him, somehow even having the balls to look him dead in the eye when he talked. But you didn’t see any malice like you expected. He seemed almost scared of you. “You want me to trust you, but you’re sneaking around just like--”

You stopped yourself at the same time Changbin narrowed his eyes. If you compared him to anyone in your past, you’d know that would be too far. It might make him snap.

But, after taking a second, Changbin realized you were right. He closed his eyes and sighed.

“I’m sorry,” he told you, eyes still closed. “You’re right.”

You eyed him warily, hugging the pillow tighter to your chest. The fear that the alcohol seemed to hold back was starting to rush forward again now that you thought you’d pissed Changbin off.

“Forget it...” you mumbled quickly, averting your eyes. “If you’re gonna go, just go.”

He opened his eyes and looked at you softly -- a stark contrast to the way his eyes had all but dared you to continue your statement earlier, “No, _____, I wasn’t mad at you. I was upset with the comparison, but you’re right. If I’m sneaking around, I’m no better than him. I just didn’t want to tell you anything and make you more afraid of me.”

“What’re you doing...?” you wondered, your voice still coming out in a mumble as you played with the frayed ends of the pillow tag.

He sighed, running both hands through his hair as he tried to figure out how to come clean. He didn’t think he’d have to -- at least not for a while -- but he did really want you to trust him. Maybe you knowing more about him would scare you more, but it might scare you even worse to not know anything he was doing.

“Can I tell you over breakfast tomorrow?” he offered. “Tonight’s been a lot for you already.”

You glanced up at him, “You’re gonna keep your word?”

Changbin held his pinky out to you with a slight smile. You considered it for a second, and then finally reached up and hooked yours around his. His smile widened before he crawled into bed beside you.

“Are you still upset with me?” he checked as the two of you got comfortable.

“No.”

“Okay, then get some sleep.”

-

‘Breakfast tomorrow’ never happened. Changbin knew as soon as you woke up that you were not okay. 

The day after drinking, you were hit with really bad hangover anxiety. You felt shaky, your heart felt like it was buzzing with how fast it was beating, and your stomach had this weird warm feeling in the pit of it like you might throw up. You didn’t necessarily feel sick, but you didn’t feel good, either.

“We can order something,” he offered. “We’re the only ones home so we can take up the living room, too, if you want.”

Truthfully, you weren’t sure you could even force anything down. You just felt awful. You wanted to curl up into the blanket and go back to sleep for the rest of the day, but your anxiety even made that difficult.

When you didn’t even shake or nod your head, Changbin already knew your answer. He sighed, “_____, you have to eat something.”

He understood you too well.

But Changbin did at least keep his word about staying all night. That at least made you feel a little better. The thought of waking up and dealing with all of this alone that morning made you feel even more uneasy.

Changbin did momentarily leave the bedroom in search of something for you to eat. He tried to find something light that would be a little easier for you to get down, but there was nothing. He made a mental note to do groceries or ask Chan to do it.

“Why don’t you sit in the shower for a bit and see if that helps?” he suggested. “Shout if you need anything, and I’m gonna figure out breakfast.”

You still weren’t hungry, but you took him up on the offer, anyway. But you couldn’t help but wonder if Changbin was stalling. You remembered asking him to explain everything to you, and you were sure he remembered, but you wondered if he either hoped you didn’t remember or if he was just trying to avoid it altogether.

You sat under the hot water of the shower for maybe a little less than an hour, letting it relax your tense muscles as you tried to figure out the reason for your intense anxiety. But honestly, alcohol seemed to just be the place it was stemming from, so you just had to accept that there wasn’t anything you could do to get rid of it -- at least until your hangover was gone.

When you got out and were dried off and back in comfy clothes, you walked into the main room to find Changbin with plastic to-go bags. You didn’t know if he’d ordered something to be delivered or he’d gone out himself -- though you doubted the latter unless he asked you first if you’d be okay with him gone. 

Honestly, you couldn’t tell if you were starting to trust him more or if you were just getting used to his patterns.

“Minho swung by with some breakfast,” he told you, holding up the two bags.

You half-smiled and shook your head, your eyes closing. You didn’t understand how Minho could be so sassy all the time and act like he didn’t give a shit, but go out of his way to do things like bring you breakfast.

“He’s nice sometimes,” Changbin agreed, already knowing what you were thinking.

The two of you took your breakfast and got settled back into bed to eat -- you really didn’t feel like being anywhere but the comfort of the bed -- and ate in silence for a few minutes. You were slowly chewing your first bite, trying to manage to get it down. Changbin was already completely done with one of the giant pancakes by the time you managed to swallow.

“Okay,” he suddenly said, but the softness of his tone made sure you weren’t surprised by him speaking up out of nowhere. He set his plastic utensils down in the tray and looked at you beside him, “I promised to explain everything. Did you still want me to or are you not ready for that today?”

He could tell you were surprised that he brought it up, and he chuckled when he saw your expression -- wide eyes, raised eyebrows, and frozen mid-cut into your pancake as you looked at him.

“I get it if you’re not feeling up to it today,” he told you. “I know you’re not feeling the best.”

You shook your head before he had time to back out.

He sighed, “Okay, but... Just know I didn’t tell you anything because I was afraid of scaring you away, okay?”

You nodded.

“I didn’t think that not knowing would be just as scary,” he chuckled to himself, looking down at his lap as he shifted to get more comfortable. “Okay...where should I start...? Shifting, I guess.

“I shifted in high school. I was already doing really shitty with my grades, and my parents were like, this close to sending me to boarding school or something. Honestly, they were probably looking for a reason to kick me out,” he laughed softly to himself, but it was more of a sad laugh than anything else. “So I ran away. Never went back to school, never graduated -- nothing.

“I got into a bad crowd of guys. They weren’t werewolves or anything, but they knew I was and used that for their personal gain. We went up against some of the biggest mobs, toughest gangs, and even a mafia boss or two. I started making a name for myself, but then word got around and I started getting hunters on my ass. The guys I was running around with obviously were gonna rat me out when they were up against werewolf hunters, so I had to cut ties and run away alone. I laid low, but I had to do some...favors to try to get them off my trail. 

“Not everybody knew what I was, which was good -- at least, it’s been...coming in handy lately, but I’ll...explain later. But people knew my name and who I was. I started getting hired to...basically, get rid of people. Nobody knew how I did it, but I could do it without anybody knowing who did it. They didn’t even think a human did it. But I had nothing and nobody and I needed to get my ass back on my feet after all the shit I went through. A lot of bad people were after me and I owed a lot of people a lot of money -- and I can’t even blame it all on those assholes because I was one of those assholes.

“Eventually, Chan found me. I felt bad for the dude because he’d be getting tangled up in my shit, and then he also still lived with Aya... I figured...the two of them were working shitty bartending jobs, so the least I could do was help them with rent, right? Aya was sleeping in the bedroom and Chan crashed on a blowup mattress like now. As long as they let me just like, sleep on the couch when I needed it, I’d give them whatever they needed. I didn’t know them but I already felt bad for them. Because the thing is...I know what a shitty life is like, and that’s taught me a lot of empathy. I’d fuck up any bad person in this world without a second thought, but I could never let just some innocent person suffer because I’ve been there. So like, if I could help them, I was going to.

“Anyway, so I did that, and shit caught up to me here and there but I dealt with my shit. When Minho came around, he started getting involved because...I don’t know, he’s Minho. He thought it was fun or something. He was always a troublemaker before I met him, I guess. But, god,” Changbin started to laugh and shake his head, “anytime shit got really bad, he’d run off with his tail between his legs -- literally one time.

“But...then you happened,” he turned to look at you with a softness in his expression and a sparkle in his eye that you couldn’t quite place the meaning of. “I said I’d fuck up any bad person without a second thought, and I did that. But I did it in front of you, who was...already beyond traumatized,” he chuckled. “I made the world’s worst first impression, and I decided on the car ride home that I had to be better for you. I wasn’t going to be somebody you had to be afraid around. I had to make things safer for you.”

Changbin looked back down at his lap and took a deep breath, “The reason I’ve been out most nights is because I’m tying up those loose ends. I’m dealing with the bad people trying to catch up to me, and I’m making sure they can never catch up. I’m making sure nobody who’s trying to get to me can ever use you for leverage to do so. I know I’m doing bad things, and that’s what I was worried would make you more afraid, so I didn’t tell you,” he turned to look at you, and you were pretty sure his eyes were filling with tears. You’d never seen Changbin cry before. “But please know...I’m only doing bad things because I want to make you feel safe all the time. I never want a single bad thing to happen to you. I just want to protect you. Even if you decide right now that you’re afraid of me still, I’ll do everything in my power until the day I die to make sure you are okay.”

It was a lot to wrap your head around, and you were still trying to. But Changbin’s eyes welling up tugged at your heartstrings.

Without thinking about it, you reached a hand out, cupping Changbin’s cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into your touch, a tear falling from one eye. You wiped it away with your thumb.

“I...”

You were suddenly blanking on what to say. You couldn’t say you fully trusted him because you still felt like in the back of your head, he could completely flip and betray you. But you also knew you cared about Changbin and, at least for now while you had no reason to, you could never leave him.

“I’m not going anywhere,” you told him quietly. “Unless you give me reason to, I’m not leaving.”

He opened his eyes, his warm golden eyes still shiny with tears as he held onto your wrist with both hands, “I’ll never give you a reason to.”

You knew what Changbin was capable of. You’d seen what a werewolf could do, and you’d heard firsthand from him the stories of what he’d done in his past.

But you also knew Changbin. You knew he didn’t leave the apartment -- while you were awake -- without asking you first if you’d be okay alone. You knew he put your comfort over his social life -- if he had one, anyway. You knew he kept putting you first time and time again, even after all this time when you figured he would’ve gotten comfortable like your ex did. 

Suddenly, his face broke into a smile as he wiped under his eyes, “You’ve made a lot of progress, y’know.”

You frowned slightly, dropping your hand, “I don’t feel like it.”

Changbin kept your hand in both of his, though. His hands were warm.

“That’s because you don’t see it like I do,” he told you. 

You sighed and looked down at your hand in his. Sometimes you wished you could make things less complicated, but you wouldn’t tell him that out loud. You already knew he’d tell you to not talk about yourself like that and a bunch of other mushy stuff that would make your cheeks heat up and make you unable to look him in the eye.

Changbin was chockfull of mushy stuff despite being one of the toughest and most dangerous people you’d ever met.

Changbin leads you towards the sliding back door, but before he can get it open for you, someone opens it for you both.

A silver haired freckled man rushes out in excitement, his smile contagious. “Hi! Come in!” he says, holding the door open.

You lean against Changbin as you take him in, realizing he was the silver wolf from before. “You tore its arm off,” You say, leaning into him. “I like you,” you laugh.

“I like you too,” he giggles. “I’m Felix, by the way.”

You nod as Changbin gently guides you forward. “I’m Y/N,” you say, turning to look at him and wincing some, since he was on your right.

“Careful,” Changbin murmurs, guiding you into the living area, which was set up with a sectional and couch to make plenty of room.

He guides you over to a seat on the couch, helping you sit before sitting next to you. The werewolf with the pinchable cheeks from earlier was there, and Felix comes and sits next to you.

“Are you Minho or Jisung?” you ask him, his soft eyes watching you.

“Oh! I’m Jisung! It’s nice to meet you properly! Sorry about earlier,” he says, frowning slightly.

You attempt a slight shrug, but your bandages keep you stiff. “It’s really not your fault,” you murmur, shaking your head. “What were you guys watching before I came over?” you ask, looking at the paused tv.

“We were just starting Deadpool!” Jisung says, grinning.

“Oh! That’s a good one!!” you agree, shivering a little. “I love it. It’s really funny!”

They had a slight look of relief that they tried to hide.

“Great!” Felix says, smiling happily. “Jisung, turn it back on then!”

Jisung nods, pressing play on the remote.

“Do you need a blanket?” Changbin softly asks, his hand gently touching your thigh to get your attention.

You bite your lip, hesitating to nod as to not be a bother. You absolutely hated being unable to do simple things for yourself. And while you could get up and find one yourself, you knew the pain medicine was just working so you wouldn’t feel the bruising your body experienced.

Your lack of an answer didn’t matter, as Jeongin came in the room at the same time with something in his hands. He picked up a blanket from the top of the couch and draped it over your legs with a shy smile. Jeongin crouches in front of you, holding up what turned out to be a sling.

“We forgot to have you put this on,” he explains, putting the strap around your neck.

A soft whine escapes you despite how he was gently guiding your limb into the sling. “I’m sorry, you’re okay,” he hushes you, focusing on his task. Jeongin gently adjusts it for you, positioning the cushion part properly. “There,” he murmurs when he is done, gently brushing some of your hair out of your face before squeezing your good shoulder.

You give him a soft smile as he stands up and gets out of your way, watching him sit on the other couch next to Jisung. You turn your focus back on the movie, awkwardly trying to pull the blanket up and over your shoulder.

Thankfully, Felix seems to notice and pulls it up, gently tucking the end of the blanket behind your injured shoulder to keep you warm.

“Thank you,” you murmur, a smile tugging on your lips as you focus your attention back on the tv screen.

You don’t know when in the movie it happens, but you eventually slip off and sleep, leaning into Changbin. It wasn’t even that you found Deadpool boring that made you sleep, but you figured it had to do with taking so much pain medicine. You knew at the very least that you fell asleep before the sex scene, which would save you the embarrassment of any potential arousal you may have felt.

As you slowly regain consciousness, you realize that someone is arguing with Changbin about waking you up. A soft chuckle escapes you as your eyes flutter open, a yawn immediately escaping you as you stretch a little bit.

Your eyes land on the other werewolf from earlier, and you blink a few times. “Minho, right?” you ask, sitting up from leaning on Changbin and rubbing your eyes slightly.

“Yeah, sorry if we woke you,” He says, not sounding too sorry. “I was coming to let you know that dinner is ready.”

“You could always reheat it,” Changbin says with a shrug.

“It tastes better when it’s just done, and you know it,” Minho responds, shaking his head as he offers you his hand to help you up.

You take it and he helps you to your feet, catching you as you stumble forward.

“Careful there,” Minho says, his hand firmly on your hip.

“Sorry,” you say, blushing as you step back and nearly fall back onto the couch.

Minho doesn’t let go of you, and Changbin carefully places his hand on your lower back with a giggle as he gets up.

“You know, I never really have much of a problem with this,” you huff, frowning.

“What do you mean?” Minho asks, letting go of your hip and heading towards the dining room.

“Normally my reflexes are great and I don’t normally get injured. Or loopy. Hey Seungmin, do I get more pain medicine soon?” You ask, biting your lip as you look for him.

“You want more?” Seungmin asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Nah, it’s still working. Maybe you gave me too much,” You say, letting Minho pull out a chair for you and sitting down.

“I gave you the right amount,” Jeongin says, tilting his head. “If anything, it would not be enough. Since we normally treat werewolves,” he tells you.

“Right, right, wolves,” you murmur, still feeling tired.

“Is this chicken?” You ask, the scents of dinner suddenly hitting your nose.

“Yes, we made chicken!” Felix says, smiling brightly.

“I really love chicken,” you say, perking up more.

“Well then, eat up!” Felix responds with a bright smile.

You nod and give yourself a plate of food, watching as everyone else comes in and sits down. You recognize most of them, but get a little anxious when Chan comes into the room.

You make eye contact with Seungmin, who raises an eyebrow before giving you a reassuring smile. “Talk to him tonight,” he mouths to you, and you nod.

He was right. Since Chan was the alpha and you were supposed to be staying there for a while, it would be best to smooth things over with him. You needed to be on his good side. And wanted to be on his good side too.

“I can feed you,” Changbin cutely offers. Minho rolls his eyes, getting you a fork before sitting next to you.

“Changbin, I’ll be okay,” you laugh shyly, biting your lip.

Changbin immediately pouts. “But you’re injured~! Jeongin fed you earlier!”

“Not really! I still held the spoon,” You immediately argue back.

Someone you have not met yet rolls his eyes at the two of you, shaking his head.

“See? I am perfectly capable. Even better if it’s a fork, so thank you, Minho,” you huff, stabbing the chicken tender and taking a bite from it.

Your irritation immediately diminishes as you look for Felix. “This is really good!” you praise him, and he beams from the attention.

“Thanks,” he says, his cheeks turning pink.

“Yah~~ Y/N~~ let me at least cut it for you,” Changbin whines.

You stubbornly take another bite before setting it down and pushing your plate towards him. “Fine,” you huff, but you’re actually really grateful.

Changbin lets out a happy hum as he cuts it for you, and you glance around the table. You had met Changbin, Minho, Jisung, Felix, Seungmin, Jeongin, and Chan, which left only one person a stranger. Or more of a stranger than the others.

His brown hair was longer than the others, silky and smooth to a bit past his chin. He has supple lips and a slim figure, but you know that he is still muscular as he eats a piece of chicken as his hands look strong and veiny. You don’t realize you’re staring at him until he lazily makes eye contact with you, a slight smirk tugging at his lips.

You quickly look away from him, but Minho loudly laughs at you. “That’s Hyunjin,” he tells you.

“Nice to meet you,” you softly squeak, looking over at him.

“Y/N, right?” Hyunjin says, his smirk gone and replaced with a pure smile.

You nod, about to say yes, but Changbin stuffs a piece of chicken in your mouth.

“Hehehe, I still got to feed you,” he giggles, and you whack his arm. Because of the pain medicine, it was a bit harder than you expected, to which he immediately whines in pain and holds his bicep, groaning.

“Y/N, you hurt me~” he whines dramatically.

You look at the others, and Seungmin rolls his eyes as Jisung stares in awe.

“Nah, I think you could take a real punch from me and still be fine,” you say around the piece of food you were still chewing. “You’re too muscular to not be.”

“You’re right, I am,” he says, immediately perking back up.

You immediately take the opportunity of his calmer demeanor to snatch your fork out of his hand, taking a bite of your food on your own.

“Hey! I was going to feed you!” he complains.

“I don’t need you to,” you argue again, frowning. “And if I did, maybe I would want Minho to feed me!”

You glance at him, and you can tell his thoughts are racing as he decides his reaction. It happens within seconds, and you’re sure you’re the only one who sees it.

“Yeah, maybe I wanted to feed them!” Minho says, astonishing you.

“Yah~ but I offered first,” Changbin complains.

You shrug, stubbornly feeding yourself.

“Seungmin-ah, tell them that they need to be fed~” he complains, wanting the healer’s input.

“Nah, they’re fine. Ambidextrous or not,” Seungmin responds with a shrug.

“Thank you Seungmin!” you say as you continue to eat, delighted by the food. You knew it was home cooked and it was amazing. Much better than what you had been eating and making for yourself.

You definitely zoned out while eating, but you could feel Jeongin’s worried eyes on you regardless.

“Is she okay?” he whispers to Seungmin, which you barely register.

“I think they’re just glad to finally eat solid food? I’m not positive though,” Seungmin responds to the youngest with a shrug.

You come back to reality with a frown as you realize you ate everything that was on your plate. You look back up, musing if you wanted more. You shake your head slightly, but there wasn’t much left anyways.

“Y/N, we may have made you a cake…” Felix shyly begins, playing with his thumbs as a sheepish smile finds its way onto his face.

“A cake? For what?” You ask, confused because it was definitely not your birthday.

Felix giggles, turns on his heels, and dashes into the kitchen. The others had started collecting their plates to clear the table more. Jisung and Hyunjin take the plates into the kitchen, and you hear giggling from within.

Hyunjin brings out smaller plates and forks for everyone, setting them down and handing them out. Jisung is right behind him, hiding Felix behind. When Jisung sits down, you see a beautiful cake.

It is covered in white frosting, cutely decorated with little gummy bears on the side as if they were dancing. The top was outlined with fresh strawberries and a tall candle was lit. Felix gently sets it in front of you, and you read “Congratulations on waking up!” on the top.

You let out the most pure laugh as you read it, brightening the room immediately.

“Make a wish and blow it out!” Jeongin excitedly says.

You think of a wish - to get along better with Chan - and blow out the candle.

“I can cut it,” Felix says, smiling as Hyunjin hands him the cake knife.

“It’s white cake?” you ask, watching him cut into it.

“Funfetti,” he admits, placing a piece on the plate in front of you, exposing the inside that was sprinkled with colors.

“I hope you like it,” Felix sheepishly adds, smiling.

“I have a sweet tooth,” you admit quietly.

He giggles and says, “Me too!”

“Thank you,” you say, first softly to him, then louder to all of them, “Thank you all… You really didn’t have to.” You weren’t sure why they were being so nice to you. It was too genuine to be out of fear for not being registered with The Accord, and even Chan seemed happy.

You carefully take the first bite, letting out a soft moan as you bite into the fluffy cake. It was the best cake you have ever had, although you would never admit it to your mom… if her memory was still okay.

A slight blush dusts Felix’s features at the sound, but he does his best to ignore it. “Is it good?” he asks hopefully.

“Very,” you say, eagerly taking another bite.

When you all finish, they argue over who is going to clean the dishes. It ends up being Changbin and Jisung, leaving you without him. You felt comforted by his side all day, as you felt oddly safe with him. You figured it was probably trauma related to him carrying you out of the nest, so you didn’t dwell on it too much.

“Let me show you around the pack house,” Minho offers, standing up and holding out his hand for you again.

“Oh!” you say, a little surprised. “Sure, that would be nice,” you add, smiling slightly as you let him help you up.

Minho wraps his arm around your waist when you stumble, his hand gingerly lingering on your side to avoid aggravating your injuries further. “You’ve already seen the living area, the dining room, and the kitchen,” Minho begins, guiding you around. “Jeongin and Jisung’s room is down there, as is a bathroom and spare bedroom,” he says, pointing down the hallway.

You nod a little as he guides you to the stairs. “Do you think you can go up them, or do you want me to carry you?” Minho asks, completely willing to take you up.

You hesitate, thinking about how the few stairs on the back porch were difficult. You didn’t want to burden Minho, but you also didn’t want to stumble more.

Your hesitation is an answer enough for Minho, as he gently picks you up bridal style and walks you up the stairs. Once on the second floor, he sets you down very gently.

In your shock you say nothing, getting flustered as he puts you down. “Minho, you didn’t have to-” you begin, only for him to cut him off.

“I offered. No one wants you getting more injured. Now come on,” he says, guiding you down the hallway once more.

He points to a door and says, “This is my room. I share it with Hyunjin and Seungmin.” Minho then opens the door, letting you peek inside. It was well organized to be shared by three people. There was a bunk bed and a regular twin bed. “This one is mine,” he gestures to the bottom twin bunk.

You nod, not really knowing why he was telling you, but you weren’t going to question it.

“And across the hall,” Minho begins, shutting his bedroom door and pointing to the one across from his, “Is Chan’s, Changbin’s, and Felix’s. It’s pretty much the same as ours, but with their own stuff,” he admits with a soft laugh. “Theirs is the master bedroom though,” he adds with a shrug.

He leads you down the hallway, showing you a few more guest bedrooms and bathrooms before taking you the other way.

“This is one of our favorite rooms, depending on who you ask,” he says with a laugh. Minho opens the door to what seemed like a gaming room. There were quite a few PCs that were definitely set up for gaming. “Don’t touch anything without permission,” he whispers, shutting the door and looking around to see if anyone saw him looking in. “If you’re into gaming, most of us would love to play with you,” he says, smiling.

“Really? I may have to take that up with you when I can use both hands,” you tease, bumping into him lightly with your good shoulder.

He laughs wholeheartedly, shaking his head a little. “Then, depending on who you ask once more, this is the other favorite room,” Minho declares, opening the door and leading you into the library.

It seemed like it used to be two rooms with the walls knocked down, as it was double the size of their bedrooms. You look at it in awe, recognizing titles of books you liked. Minho lets go of your waist as you wander the shelves, running your fingertips over familiar books and books you had always wanted to get your hands on. Eventually you get to the werewolf section, to which you raise a brow. They had basic titles like The Lunar Impact, Lycanthropy for Dummies, Ethics of Turning, and more interesting titles like Werewolf Pack Bonding and Mates: An Introduction. You reach for the book on mates, but Minho stops you.

“Sorry, this section is mostly off limits, even for you,” he says with a slight frown, blocking your way of the book.

Your fingers twitch in irritation, craving the pages of that book. It was decently worn, but a well bound book. You had heard some about werewolf mates here and there, but your information was just the basic werewolves mate for life. You wanted to know what such a thick book would hold.

Minho notices your pouty frown, and he sighs. “Chan may let you read some of the books, but that’s up to his discretion,” he lets you know.

If it wasn’t Chan, you would perk up more. But you felt like you had to go suck up to him to make up. You were growing attached to the boys, but also knew you really needed Seungmin and Jeongin to help you heal.

“Come on,” Minho gently chides you, comfortably wrapping his arm around your waist and guiding you out of the library. He leads you to the last door in the hallway and knocks. “This is Chan’s office,” he says to you before declaring louder to Chan, “It’s me.”

“Come in,” Chan says softly.

You almost didn’t hear him, but Minho does, as he opens the door. Chan was sitting at a desk with multiple computer monitors, looking a bit tired. Chan smiles at the sight of you, waking him up some.

“We didn’t interrupt you, did we?” you softly ask, sitting on the couch Minho guides you to.

“Not at all,” Chan reassures you. “I was hoping you would end up here. Minho, can we talk? I will take them back.”

“Sure. Just carry them down the stairs, okay?” Minho says. When Chan nods despite your protest, Minho exits and shuts the door behind him.

Now left alone with Chan, you can’t help but fidget some.

You weren’t sure what to say as you tried to collect your thoughts. When you finally look back up at him, his gaze is more gentle than you were expecting.

“I’m sorry,” you begin, and he immediately shakes his head.

“No, I’m sorry. You have a point,” he begins, but you cut him off.

“But you probably have your reasons-” you start, and he huffs a little.

“I mean, I do,” he says with a short laugh.

You sigh softly, unsure of yourself. You were never this unsure of yourself.

Chan gets up and sits next to you on the couch, leaving distance between you as he faces you. “When packs register with The Accord, they are required to have at least eight members. There is an unspoken rule between werewolves where the alpha should have a mate before registering,” he explains, tapping his fingers on his knee.

“Well that shouldn’t be too difficult for you,” you say, raising a brow slightly as you look at him.

Chan purses his lips and looks down, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s not as simple as finding a partner. Mates aren’t the same as a partner, not really…” he begins, looking back up at you in the eyes.

You feel something stir within you, but you can’t place the emotion.

“Mates are more… well, let me just go grab the book,” he says, getting up and leaving you. It doesn’t take him long to return with the book you had wanted to read earlier- Mates: An Introduction.

Chan sits closer to you this time as he flips the book open, turning to one of the first pages. His finger skims the page for the paragraph he wanted, stopping and reading it out loud.

“Werewolf mates are similar to what other cultures and people would call soulmates. Every werewolf has a mate, whether they were born with lycanthropy or infected. A mate does not have to be a werewolf, but few tend to be humans with no knowledge of the supernatural. Generally, mates that are not werewolves are supernatural beings, such as elves, mutants, and similar humanoids. There have been instances of werewolves being in polyamorous relationships with their mate, as a mate is not guaranteed to be the mate for only one werewolf. Such instances are rare, as werewolves tend to be protective over their mate and are generally unwilling to accept anything other than monogamy.

“Werewolves can identify their mates by scent, and eye contact intensifies the bond between the two. When the mate is not a werewolf, eye contact is vital to establish the initial bond, as it can also alert the mate.” Chan stops there, closing the book before setting it down on his desk.

A soft, “oh god,” escapes you as you look away, suddenly embarrassed to be so close to him. “Why are you sharing this with me?” you tentatively ask, refusing to look at him.

“You needed to know,” Chan says simply. “I can let you borrow the book, but feel free to ask me if you have more questions. Okay?”

You nod a little, your head spinning. “Does this mean-” you begin, unable to finish your sentence.

“That you’re our mate?” Chan softly offers up. When you nod, he adjusts himself on the couch and begins to bounce one of his legs. “What would you do if I said yes?”

You think about it for a moment, considering your options. Which wasn’t a lot of them, considering you knew you couldn’t drive, and needed to remain with the pack to heal. “I don’t want to be tied down to one place, Chan. I have a purpose, and I don’t want to give that up,” you decide, biting your lip as you wait for a harsh reaction.

“Did I imply that you couldn’t?” he asks, laughing and showing his dimples again.

“No, but it just seems like one of those things…”

“Being protective isn’t the same as possessive. I’d hope none of us would be so in an unhealthy manner.”

“This doesn’t mean that all of you-” you begin, getting choked up on your words.

Chan says nothing for a moment, and your cheeks heat up. “What do you think it means?” he gently prods, wanting you to ask yourself.

You take a deep breath and look him in the eyes before repeating in full, “does this mean all of you are my mate?” You swallow nervously, anxiety rising in the pit of your stomach and squeezing your chest.

“Deep breath, Y/N, deep breath,” Chan murmurs, immediately picking up the change in your mental state. “Breath with me, okay? In, and out. In and out.”

When he gets you to calm down more, your fingers start twitching on your good hand.

“I can only speak for myself,” he says, shrugging a little. “But for me, yes.”

His admission soothes your nerves, relaxing you some.

“Is that why you were helping me when I was in a coma?” you ask curiously.

“Yeah, it was. I had hoped that if I was touching you you would wake up. It only worked once, kind of,” he sheepishly admits, shyly smiling.

You don’t know how to respond, so you sit in a comfortable silence. You let the information settle within you, realizing the truth and severity of the issue at hand.

Eventually, you ask, “I can’t write that in my report, can I?”

“That we are your mates?”

You nod, and Chan purses his lips into a slight frown. “It would be better if you don’t,” he tells you honestly.

You sigh, but nod regardless. “I do need to write my report. They’ve been waiting for it for nearly a month, it seems,” you murmur.

Chan nods in understanding. “I can… or someone can help you write it tomorrow. You need rest before then, and I won’t take no for an answer,” he says, his tone teasing.

“Okay, then carry me there,” you say stubbornly.

He immediately picks you up, gently setting the book in your lap.

“Chan! I was joking! Put me down!” you say, frightened but impressed.

“Nope, you asked,” he stubbornly responds, carefully opening the door before heading downstairs with you in his arms.

“Chan, please?” you ask, whining slightly.

The commotion causes a few of them to peek down to see what was going on, only for you to hear Felix’s laughter.

“Felix! Don’t laugh at me! It’s not funny! You try getting carried down stairs, it is not fun!” You huff.

Chan rolls his eyes at your dramatic behavior, taking you out the front door which Jeongin had opened.

“Thanks Jeongin,” you say, smiling at the younger boy.

“Sleep well,” he responds, shutting the door after you two.

You nod a little even though he can’t see you.

“If you’re feeling alright tomorrow, we can show you some of the territory,” Chan offers.

“I need to do my report,” you remind him.

“Well, is it going to take all day?” he asks with a chuckle, heading to the healer’s building.

“That depends on how fast I can type,” you admit with a shrug.

“You can ask Jeongin to help you. He is a fast typer,” Chan suggests, carrying you up the few steps and inside.

“Is he? I suppose that wouldn’t be a problem…” you think, pursing your lips. “Yeah, I’ll ask him. One handed isn’t going to go well.”

“No, I agree that it would not,” Chan laughs, bringing you to the bathroom and sitting you down, taking the book from your lap.

“You need to do your business and brush your teeth, then I can tuck you in,” He says. “The toothbrush we’ve been using for you is the purple one,” Chan adds, pointing to it before leaving you be.

“Chan, I don’t need to be tucked in,” you say through the door.

“I can’t hear you, Y/N,” Chan lies, and you roll your eyes.

You take your time, awkwardly struggling to get your pants back on. You end up giving up and brushing your teeth, which takes a little longer in your non dominant hand.

When you finish, you open the door only a crack. “Um, Chan? Can you bring me a nightgown or something?” you shyly ask him.

He looks so serious, and you knew he thought something had happened like you strained yourself too much.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” he says, going to your room and quickly returning.

“Found one,” he says, smiling. “Let me help you put it on,” Chan says, nudging the door open a little, not wanting to make you uncomfortable.

“Chan,, I’ll be naked,” you deadpan.

“I’ve seen you naked,” he responds without batting an eyelash.

You feel the heat rising to your cheeks and a soft huff escapes you.

“It wasn’t in a perverted way, come on,” he huffs ever so slightly, shaking his head.

“Fine.” You properly let him in, opening the door.

He nods and sets the night gown on the countertop. Chan is gentle as he takes off your sling, holding your elbow to keep your arm in the proper position. He easily helps you out of the tank top, leaving you in just your bandages. You swallow at your proximity, but Chan continues to just take care of you, seemingly unbothered by your nudity. He slides your injured arm through the arm of the gown before sliding it over your head. You help him by putting your non injured arm through it on your own as he picks the sling back up.

“Does that feel right?” he asks as he puts the sling back on.

“Yeah, it feels fine,” you murmur, nodding and adjusting the night gown. You hated that it was so short, but at least it covered more of you than the tank top.

“Let’s get you to bed then, okay?” he says, stepping out of your way. He helps you off the counter, but this time lets you walk on your own.

You nod and head back to your room, smiling at the fresh sheets on the bed. You pull them back and lay down, Chan helping you back under the covers.

“If you need anything, Seungmin is across the hall, okay?” he tells you as he brushes some of your hair out of your face.

You nod, and you can tell from the way his lips twitch that he nearly kissed your forehead. “Goodnight, Y/N,” he murmurs, turning off the light and shutting the door.

Your exhaustion pulls you under like a riptide, and soon you are fast asleep.

You normally don’t dream. But when you do, they are as vivid as reality, and sometimes it can be nearly impossible to tell the difference.

Your eyes open as you feel a burning sensation, as if acid were dripping onto your arm. The ghast was halfway shifted as your father, an evil grin resting on his face. The hairs on your body stand up, an all too familiar memory surfacing despite your attempts to repress it.

"No!" You cry, trying to push it away from you.

It laughs maniacally, tearing at your nightgown. You would let it rip for all you cared, struggling to get out of the room.

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐖

Your breathing gets caught in your throat as it forces you against the wall, your dad's eyes meeting yours.

"It's our secret, remember Y/N?" He says.

Your eyes widen as your body freezes in fear, and the ghast releases you, taking your lack of motion as submission.

Despite the shock you were in, your instincts were begging you to run.

Before anything worse could happen, you stumble out of the room and outside, stumbling down the steps on the porch.

You could have sworn it was daylight, but your tear stained eyes were seeing shadows in the darkness.

You try to scream out for help, but only a soft sob barely makes it out as you run. You stumble as you run, but are careful not to trip.

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐍𝐃

You hear the thudding of someone running nearby, spurring you on to run faster.

As you glance behind you to figure out where they were, you trip over a root and barely catch yourself from face planting into the dirt.

A wet nose nudges you, trying to see your face. You feel his tongue licking your tears, and you slowly look up.

It was the sleek brown wolf, and you knew immediately who it was.

"Hyunjin?" You ask, your voice shaking as you hold back your sobs.

He wags his tail and nudges you once more, shifting in front of you. You weren't sure if you could ever get used to the sound of joints popping, but he soon picks you up.

"You're safe," he whispers, carrying you so gingerly as if you would break any moment.

He lets you softly cry on his chest, and he brings you inside the pack house. He gently sets you on the bathroom counter and kisses your forehead, handing you tissues as he takes out a first aid kit.

He tentatively cleans off the scrapes on your knees, hushing you by kissing your legs.The stinging sensation of the alcohol and the gentle kisses on your legs starts to ground you. As you slowly come back to reality, your tears begin to stop. You blow your nose and dry your eyes, throwing the tissues in the trash.

Hyunjin takes your hand and helps you wash your entire forearm, patting it dry before kissing the back of your hand. Hyunjin carefully puts bandaids on the bleeding scrapes before he picks you back up.

You cling to him as much as you can, seeing as how he still didn't have a shirt to put on. Hyunjin takes you to his room where Minho was fast asleep and quietly shuts the door behind you. You groggily look at Minho as Hyunjin sets you on his bed. From what you could tell, Minho looks peaceful in his sleep. You look back at Hyunjin as he opens a drawer beneath your feet, taking out some clothes before putting on a pair of boxers.

Hyunjin takes off your sling and removes your dirty nightgown, replacing it with one of his shirts. He puts the sling back on and smooths your hair back. "There, all better," he whispers, laying in bed.

He helps you lay back, carefully pulling you into his chest. You snuggle into him, feeling safer in his arms. You close your eyes as he pulls the blanket to cover you both.

"You're safe here, I promise," Hyunjin reassures you, gently nuzzling into your neck.

You nod, staying awake regardless. You feel his breathing slowing, and you know he falls asleep. You weren't sure how he found you in the woods or what really happened, but you at least knew that Hyunjin's grip was real. In that moment, his closeness was all that mattered. He was keeping you safe and warm.

You let yourself fall back asleep, Hyunjin’s and Minho’s breathing lulling you into a deep sleep.

You wake up in the morning to what sounded like a cosmic disturbance. There was yelling, shouting, and running around that ignited your fight instinct, but Hyunjin held you firmly.

"They're looking for you," he says softly, giggling softly as he hides you under the blanket.

"Where's Minho?" You softly ask, letting him hide you.

"Checking the borders. It's his turn this morning," Hyunjin murmurs.

"How could you lose our mate?" You hear Chan growling.

"Hyung! I didn't lose them!" You hear Seungmin respond, clearly not phased by Chan’s anger.

"Then where is she?" He half growls half whines.

"Can he not track me?" You murmur with a soft laugh.

"Probably, but I think Minho may have covered it outside this morning," Hyunjin whispers.

"He did not?" You whisper in disbelief.

Hyunjin nods, looking at the door when it gets thrown open.

"HYUNJIN GET UP WE HAVE AN EMERGEN- oh," Jisung says, definitely noticing your body hidden behind Hyunjin's. "Were you awake this entire time? Did Minho know?"

Hyunjin's smile is enough of an answer for Jisung.

"I can't believe you," Jisung huffs, turning and yelling down the hallway, "I FOUND HER WE CAN STOP PANICKING!"

Hyunjin pulls the blanket off of you as you begin to laugh so hard it hurts. And it quickly really hurts.

"Get Seungmin!" Hyunjin says, his eyes flashing.

Changbin walked down the dark, empty street with his hands in his pockets. He was doing his best to settle every deal or loan he had because now that he had you, being under that kind of pressure was too dangerous. When it was just him, he didn’t care. Changbin was never one to be afraid of getting his hands dirty, and his very dingy past was proof of that. But he couldn’t have guys like this on his ass now that he had to look after you. Not only that, but you’d been through enough.

Arriving at the warehouse, Changbin banged on the door twice before sliding it open easily. He strolled in despite the group of 7-10 large men surrounding a table, talking about something they thought was confidential, but Changbin could easily overhear. They looked up, all heads turning to glare at Changbin as he entered.

“Ah, Seo Changbin,” the boss smirked. “Don’t tell me you have an early payment for once.”

“Actually,” Changbin began as he walked up to the table. He took a hand out of his pocket and slapped a wad of cash on the table, bundled in a rubber band, “I’m paying off all of it.”

The boss’ eyes widened as he reached for the money, “How did you get this?”

“Uh, consider them side quests,” he shrugged, running a hand through his hair before returning it to his pocket.

The boss quickly thumbed through it before his eyes narrowed, “I knew it, it was too good to be true.”

Changbin’s eyebrows raised, “Huh?”

The man smirked up at Changbin from where he sat, “You’re 100 short.”

“What?” his eyebrows furrowed, trying to redo the math in his head. But when he couldn’t figure out where he’d gone wrong, he shook his head. “Can’t you just let it slide? 100 is a hell of a lot less than 10,000.”

Again, Changbin wouldn’t talk about how he got that kind of money. Even worse was that his debt was originally significantly more because it was owed to multiple people. He wouldn’t even tell Chan how he got money like that to pay it off, though the whole pack had a pretty good idea.

The boss merely scoffed, “What, do you think you get a friends and family discount? Just because I’ve known you since you were 15, Binnie, doesn’t mean I’ll just let you jip me my money.”

“That’s a really insensitive term, y’know,” he pointed out. “It comes from--”

The boss stood, hands slamming on the table, “Until you give me the rest of my money, I’m gonna be so far up your ass--”

“I really didn’t wanna have to get out of this the hard way...” Changbin sighed as he looked at the floor, actually seeming somewhat upset as he shrugged off his jacket.

The boss laughed at him, “What, you think you’re going to be able to get out this? How? You’re just one, puny guy.”

His eyes flashed up to meet the boss, glowing a frightening red that had a few of the men leaning back away from him, and even the boss gasped.

“I wish you didn’t ask.”

-

You hated the feeling of being flung into consciousness after sleeping. Sleeping meant not thinking and not worrying. Being awake meant...well, thinking and worrying. And yeah, maybe things were going pretty well, but you were still trying to work through your shit. It was a lot. Therapy was a lot. Everything was just a lot.

Rolling over to see if Changbin had woken up before you again, you’d gotten your answer when you saw the bed empty. That was something that happened maybe half the time you’d woken up. Sometimes Changbin would be snoring beside you having gone to bed in the early hours of the morning -- because little did you know, but he had his own things to do after you went to sleep. But other times, he’d already be awake either in the kitchen or in the shower. A few times, you’d even found him crammed on the air mattress with Chan in the living room while Minho had himself slung over the couch. Did you suspect something? Of course. But would you ask? Absolutely not. You knew better.

This time, Changbin opened the bedroom door, dressed in a t-shirt, sweatpants, and rubbing at his damp hair with a towel.

“Oh,” he looked surprised to see you awake, “you’re up.”

You looked him over. There had been a few times you’d caught him in the living room asleep where he looked like he’d gotten into a fight of some kind -- bruised face, blood dried on his clothes, etc. So you kind of figured whatever he was off doing wasn’t good, but again, you kept that to yourself.

You figured that’s why he sometimes was showering when you woke up.

There weren’t any bruises or cuts or blood that you could see, so you figured maybe he had a night in and just happened to wake up before you.

“Um, your therapy appointment is kind of early today,” he reminded you, “so I was thinking we could go out for breakfast after?”

Changbin didn’t know much about taking care of someone else, but he knew therapy would be good for you. Could he afford that? Nope. But he was doing everything he could to scrape together some money -- hence being out at night -- so he could get you the help you needed. But now that he was able to pocket the money he tried to pay last night -- and then some -- he figured he could take a break from that and put it into his savings. He could treat you a little today, maybe do some job hunting on his phone while you were talking with your therapist. He’d been meaning to find a stable job but not many places were hiring for a decent amount of money. Plus, he didn’t even have a high school diploma so he wasn’t really qualified for anything.

‘Remember to ask Aeri about the GED thing,’ he reminded himself, recalling Chan’s mate had offered to help him.

You nodded at the offer before getting out of bed to get ready for your appointment.

“Is there anything else you wanted to do today?” he wondered.

You shrugged, “No, hanging out here is fine.”

“We could watch some more Stranger Things.”

You nodded.

“Okay. I’m gonna make some coffee.”

After Changbin left, you got changed. It used to take you a while to actually do that, afraid he was going to burst through the door at any moment. But slowly, you were trusting him more.

Slowly.

-

It was difficult at first for Changbin to find a therapist who knew anything about werewolves. Most that he found online seemed like scams or just some stupid joke, but thankfully, Chan’s old roommate was a werewolf, and her mom was a doctor so she had some connections. Something Chan pointed out was that it was kind of ironic how difficult it was to find a credible therapist who knew about werewolves considering how many werewolves and people who were associated with them needed therapy.

Thankfully, Dr. Haeun was really great. She listened to you and never made you feel like she was trying to force her thoughts and ideas on you. She was patient and quiet and made you feel safe.

“How’re you feeling this morning, _____?” she asked when Changbin brought you in for your session.

He always made a point to leave and go find something to do for the next hour so you wouldn’t feel like you were eavesdropping.

You shrugged, “Okay.”

“Did anything new happen?”

“Changbin was showering again,” you sighed.

Dr. Haeun already knew your theory but how you kept your mouth shut about it.

She was silent for a moment, staring at her clipboard, but you were too busy staring at the wall above the door. Your back was against the armrest of the couch while your knees were curled to your chest.

She cleared her throat and asked, “I know I say this every time, but--”

“’But I should voice my concerns’,” you sighed, saying the sentences in two beats and tilting your head from side to side as if you were mocking her. “I know, but...I don’t like the risks.”

“Sometimes we need to push ourselves out of our comfort zones, _____,” she told you.

You looked at her, “And sometimes doing that gets you killed.”

“But if you’re feeling unsafe--”

“I’m--” you sighed, looking at your knees. “Okay, it’s not necessarily that I feel unsafe...it’s...I don’t like knowing what he’s capable of. And I don’t think he’s incapable of hurting me if he wanted to. I felt safe for a long time before, and then...yeah.”

“You said you know what he’s capable of. You know for a fact what he’s been doing?” she questioned.

“No, but I know what he’s done in the past,” you mumbled.

“He’s told you?”

“No, but I’ve heard them talking. They’re vague, but I know what they’re talking about. I literally saw him kill in front of me!”

As Dr. Haeun scribbled on her clipboard, she asked, “Do you think you’d feel safer if Changbin was more transparent with you?”

That sparked something. You sat up straighter, your arms falling from your legs before you turned your head to look at her. You’d never considered that, but...maybe? The more you thought about it, the more you wondered. Would you feel safer knowing exactly what Changbin was doing at night? Would you trust her more knowing what he’d done before meeting you? 

“What if he lies?” you asked quietly. “He could just lie.”

Dr. Haeun put her pen down on the clipboard and leaned forward slightly, clasping her hands together over the papers she was writing on, “_____, I know I’ve asked why you continue to stay with them. You said you don’t have a choice because you don’t trust anyone else -- not even Bomi. You trust Changbin more than any of your other options. That means something. You said you’ve been talking to him more and doing things together. _____, that’s progress, you’re trusting him.”

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t think he could snap at any moment,” you snapped.

“You want to trust him. You feel it in your heart. You didn’t feel that with--”

“Don’t say his name,” you hissed.

“I wasn’t going to,” she replied in a calm tone. “I was going to say: you didn’t feel that with him. That’s already a good sign.”

“You’re just repeating things I already know,” you grumbled, now set in a bad mood that was difficult to pull you out of. “We’ve been over this shit a million times.”

“I know,” she nodded, “but sometimes the answer is time and repetition.”

You just scoffed and rolled your eyes, going back to your original position of holding your knees to your chest and staring at the wall.

-

You walked into the apartment wordlessly, going to the bedroom as always if Changbin wasn’t around. He usually picked you up -- if he didn’t, you’d go find him in the tiny apartment -- but Chan had picked you up from therapy and told you Changbin was at Aeri’s. Changbin was trying to get enrolled for his GED but he didn’t tell you that.

“How was the conversation?” Minho joked after you’d shut the bedroom door.

You knew Minho put up a front when you were around because you’d heard the pack talking about the situation. You knew he was torn up about what was happening with him and Ryujin. But he didn’t want you to be even more freaked out by some mopey werewolf on the couch, so he tried to perk up when you were around.

Chan looked at him tiredly, “This is why you’re never asked to pick her up.”

“Hey, I’m nice to her,” Minho insisted with a pout. “I try to talk to her.”

“You make her uncomfortable, you dick.”

“How would you know, she doesn’t talk to you either!”

“She doesn’t need to say it for anyone to know.”

Minho crossed his arms over his chest, “You’re just saying that to give me shit.”

Chan turned his head toward the bedroom door and called, “Hey, ______, would you rather have me pick you up than Minho?”

There was a pause, and then came two knocks on the wall. Two knocks always meant yes, and one meant no.

Chan turned back to Minho with a smirk, and Minho rolled his eyes, grumbling, “That doesn’t mean I make her uncomfortable.”

“Means she likes you least, though,” Chan chuckled before Minho punched him in the arm, only making the alpha giggle.

Thankfully, you only had to listen to Chan and Minho’s back and forth for a few minutes longer. You heard the front door close, followed by Minho saying, “Finally, there he is. You’re keeping your girl waiting!”

You heard footsteps come to the door, and then three light knocks. They were replied by you with two knocks on the wall. Changbin poked his head in cautiously as always before opening the door and smiling at you where you sat on the bed.

“Hungry?” he asked.

You looked up at him from the bed and shrugged.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, the smile on his face falling. But it wasn’t like he was angry, it was more like remorseful. Somehow, Changbin never seemed angry despite what you knew about him and how you met him.

“I know, I’m sorry I was late,” he told you. “I wanted to pick you up but I needed Aeri’s help with something. Are you mad at me?”

You shook your head. You truthfully weren’t mad, but you were hoping it would be Changbin getting you from your appointment since you were already put into a bad mood. You were hoping waffles would fix that, but then it was Chan who was waiting in the waiting area for you with a nice but awkward smile.

“Do you still want breakfast?” he offered.

You answered by getting up from the bed.

-

There had been a handful of times where Changbin had taken you out somewhere to hang out, whether it be to get food or to an arcade or just to go for a walk somewhere -- but it was always somewhere decently populated. He wanted you to feel comfortable, and he figured if you knew there were people around, that would help. Maybe it would make you feel like he was less likely to do something -- not that he’d ever dream of doing anything bad to or around you.

Whenever your outings involved talking, Changbin would explain you were non-verbal before doing the talking for you. That was the case getting breakfast when you wanted chocolate chip waffles with extra whipped cream.

“So how do you feel about grabbing a few quick groceries?” Changbin wondered after swallowing a mouthful of food. “I have some extra money so I was thinking we could restock some of your snacks.”

Once you started staying at the apartment, the wolves kept some of your favorite foods -- or at least foods they thought you seemed to like -- in the cupboards. The problem was, Minho kept getting into your snacks, claiming that if you’re going to live there, everything belongs to everyone.

You nodded as you chewed your waffles, still looking down at your plate.

“Oh, and Aeri said she wants to have a movie night next Saturday. Did you wanna go or did you wanna stay home?”

You glanced over at Changbin across the table, “Do you wanna go?”

He shrugged, “I just want to do whatever you’re comfortable with. If we stay home, we can still watch movies. It’s just...less people. Plus, I don’t know if Elsie and Ryu would be there, and I don’t know if them not being there would be awkward with Minho and Seungmin...”

“Are Ryu and Minho okay?” you wondered quietly.

“Currently...no,” he answered slowly. “Maybe they will be. I don’t really know.”

“Do you like her?” 

“I...feel...for her,” he answered even slower, considering his words very carefully before speaking them. He studied your face to see how you took them in, but you didn’t show any emotion. You just kept eating your waffles. “What she did... I understand the weight of her actions. But on the other hand, she regrets her past and what she was --  is? I’m not sure what’s going on with her. The only one who really seems to talk to Elsie is Jeongin, but he doesn’t tell us what she says.”

“She doesn’t talk to Seungmin?”

He chuckled, “She does, but not like she does with Jeongin. I don’t know, but they must have some deep fuckin’ connection for her to keep that kid in line lately. But, I mean, there is a lot going on right now. At least he found the attention he needs -- and in a good way, at that. He didn’t go off doing something stupid, y’know?”

This was how your conversations usually went. You’d spark something with a few words, and Changbin would fill the silence for you. But you never minded. You never felt like he talked too much, and he didn’t get frustrated with how little you said to him. You balanced each other out. 

You didn’t know how to feel about that.

-

One breakfast and a trip to the grocery store later, you were sitting on the couch alone with Changbin. You had no idea where Chan or Minho were, but you also didn’t necessarily care to ask. Your trip to the store consisted mostly of you silently picking out what you wanted, and a few comments under your breath about Minho stealing your food. Though, you knew he was going through a rough time at the moment, so maybe you’d let up a bit.

After things were put away, you and Changbin decided to catch up on Stranger Things. Changbin had been binging it and was completely caught up before meeting you, but he wanted you to experience the glory of Stranger Things, so he re-watched every single episode with you until you were on the current season. Admittedly, you did like the show and you liked watching it with Changbin.

By the time Chan and Minho returned home, the apartment was dark, only being illuminated by the TV. Changbin made you a sandwich for lunch, and the two of you got up to make instant ramen for dinner. When the pair got home, you were sitting by one arm of the couch with your legs curled loosely to your chest. Changbin was sitting right at your feet, legs sprawled out in front of him as he leaned back into the cushions.

Minho sniffled before calling out, “Hey, turn that off! I’m not caught up yet! Ah, no spoilers!”

He dramatically covered his eyes, and you knew it wasn’t actually to keep himself from seeing the screen -- though, that might’ve been half the reason. Your eyes darted over to him as soon as he spoke, and the TV was lit up just enough for you to see the leftover tears on his cheeks. His eyes were puffy from crying. And as he uncovered his eyes, he sneakily wiped away the moisture from his face.

‘Because of Ryu? Would Minho cry over her?’

Chan waddled over and sat himself down in front of the couch on the floor, “What’re we watching tonight?”

“Yeah, yeah, just invite yourselves,” Changbin said sarcastically, offering the other end of the sofa to Minho, who then plopped down beside him and seemed to drop the façade a little, a frown settling on his face as he stared at the Netflix home screen.

Still, his comment made you laugh softly, which made Changbin smile warmly and glance over at you. Chan grinned and seemed to get a little more excited about the impromptu movie night, and Minho leaned forward just enough to peer at you from around Changbin, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“What about some good ol’ Big Hero 6?” Chan suggested. “Can’t go wrong with Baymax!”

“You always suggest Big Hero 6,” Minho pointed out, rolling his eyes.

Chan exaggeratedly gestured to the TV with both arms, “Aeri loves Big Hero 6!”

“Yeah, but...Tadashi makes me cry...” Minho muttered.

As Chan and Minho went back and forth, Changbin handed you the remote. And as always, you put on whatever was suggested. Chan cheered as the movie started, and despite his grumbling, Minho settled in to watch the movie. 

About halfway through the movie, your legs got cramped, so you tried to find a comfortable way to stretch them out without kicking Chan in the head. Changbin guided them across his lap without looking, eyes locked on the screen. He didn’t even acknowledge the gesture, so you decided to leave it and continue on with the movie.

By the end, Minho was a sniffling mess -- his excuse was that the ending got to him -- and Chan was stretching his arms above his head.

“Well, I’d say it’s about time to hit the hay,” Chan grunted before putting his arms down with a sigh. He turned to look at Minho, who was trying to hide his face behind a throw pillow. “Do you need someone to cuddle with tonight, Minnie?”

“Fuck off,” the younger boy spat before launching the pillow at Chan’s face.

Changbin looked to you, “Bedtime?”

You raised your eyebrows almost questioningly. Was it bedtime, or was Changbin going to get up in the middle of the night to do God knows what?

“What?” he asked.

You shook your head before moving your legs from him and getting off the couch.

As the two of you got ready for bed, he kept imitating parts of the movie. As he pulled off his shirt, you heard him say, “Haiiiiry baby!” quietly, which made you chuckle. 

“What?” he asked, popping his head up and looking at you with wide eyes before a smile started to break. “Stop listening to me!”

“You’re the only one in the room,” you reminded him with a quiet laugh.

Like every night, you went and laid in bed with Changbin. He’d talk aimlessly about one thing or another, and you’d listen. Sometimes you’d throw in a sentence or two if you felt like it, but you were usually silent until you fell asleep, listening to Changbin’s voice. Tonight, he talked about the movie and kept saying different lines. The last one you recalled hearing before you fell asleep was, “Are you satisfied with your care?”

Then Changbin would get up so he could tie loose ends to keep you safe.

It was supposed to be pretty simple, at least that’s what Aya had said. One of the mates she’d helped save from another pack who collected mates had managed to get word that there was another pack doing the same thing. This one was smaller, but had a few more mates than the last ones. That was why she called in Chan’s pack to help.

“There’ll be less werewolves, but we need more space for mates,” she explained. “I know you don’t have a lot of space at your place, but I was wondering if maybe Aeri had some space?”

Without hesitation, Aeri agreed to help out and house as many mates as she could. Sam lived with Felix and Seungmin in their tiny apartment in campus -- she wasn’t even supposed to be living there -- so they couldn’t help. Minho and Ryu ‘weren’t serious enough yet’ to ask her to help. Chan knew Jeongin’s parents were really sweet and would probably help out if they needed to. Jisung lived on campus with someone outside of the pack so he was definitely a no. And Hyunjin was couch-hopping the last month or so, so he was out. But Aeri and Jeongin’s parents would probably be enough.

So the mission was supposed to be simple, but like the last time Aya had asked a pack to help, it got much more complicated than expected. Last time, Changgu had ended up imprinting on Sora, one of the rescued mates who was terrified of werewolves because of what she had been through. This time, though, it was just a little more complicated than that.

“He barricaded himself in there with hostages,” Chan reported as him, Aya, Changbin, and Seungmin -- the rest of the wolves were downstairs dealing with the other wolves and trying to help mates get out -- crouched together in the hallway outside the door where the werewolf was. “If we go in there, that girl’s dead.”

“There should be a window that’s accessible from the side of the house,” Aya recalled -- she obviously had some recon done a few weeks prior to attacking. “If we can distract him from in here, someone can get him through the window and take him off guard. But it’ll have to be with intent to kill. We can’t risk him harming that girl.”

“I can do it,” Changbin nodded.

Changbin had a past with a pack that he wasn’t proud of, so he was more than willing to take the toll of killing someone rather than have that fall on the shoulders of one of his brothers. So Chan nodded for him to go.

The trio waited a few minutes to give Changbin some time to get into place before they went with the plan. Aya and Chan made it seem like they were trying to negotiate with him, while Changbin shattered the window and pounced on the guy. He slit his throat, letting his lifeless body fall to the floor.

That’s when he saw you, cowering on your knees and covered in the warm red substance that had come from your captor.

And you looked up at Changbin, also drenched in blood from the man who ruined your life, with same red eyes -- they had faded to gold when he saw you -- that you saw in your nightmares.

Both of you were hit with the same feeling. Neither of you had felt it before, but he knew what it was while you had no idea.

The three in the hall burst into the room and saw the scene before them. They could tell what was happening from the way Changbin looked at you. And them and Changbin all knew how this looked: Changbin had just murdered someone right in front of you, and was also the thing you had been conditioned to fear. The situation really wasn’t working out in his favor.

“Hunters!” Felix called from downstairs.

“Shit,” Aya hissed. “You guys go, I’ll help her out.”

You and Changbin continued to stare at each other -- you in fear, and him in a mix of wonder and remorse. It took Chan saying his name multiple times and physically pulling for him to walk away for him to finally go. But not without looking over his shoulder at you twice before he was gone.

The girl ran over to you and tried to get you to move, but you saw the color of her eyes and tried to push her away. There was no way you were going to go with another werewolf, even if this one appeared to be female. You didn’t trust any of them. 

“Aya,” Chan appeared in the doorway, out of breath, “we have to go now.”

Aya looked at Chan, then back down at you. Then she muttered a curse under her breath as she reached into her pocket.

-

Changbin was like a statue the entire way home -- a red, sticky statue. He stared at the glove box, his face still set in the same expression as when he saw you. He wondered where you were. Did Aya get you out? Were you safe?

“You okay?” Minho asked as he gripped the steering wheel with one hand.

But Changbin didn’t move or reply. He wasn’t really sure what to do with himself now. All he could seem to focus on was you. Was that normal, or was it because he had just traumatized you?

“We think he imprinted,” Seungmin spoke up from the backseat. “Clearly, it was...an experience.”

“You killed a dude in front of her?” Jeongin asked with an almost excited-sounding laugh. “Nice.”

“In what world is that nice?” Hyunjin scolded, jabbing the youngest in the side with his elbow.

“Hang on,” Minho used his free hand to wave it and shush the three in the back. “So you’re telling me you imprinted on one of the collected mates? The ones traumatized by werewolves, and then you literally killed someone right in front of them?”

Changbin finally looked away from the glove box, his eyes slowly finding his brother to his left as he stoically replied, “Yeah.”

Minho glanced at him and his eyes lingered for a few seconds before he looked back at the road and sighed, “I hope we’re not expected to pay for their therapy.”

-

Chan and Jisung were the two helping Aya and Seungcheol’s pack relocate mates -- they needed the extra cars. They were afraid of bringing them to women’s shelters because of everything they’d been through with their involvement with werewolves, so they tried to find as many people that could be trusted to take mates in. Three girls were brought to Hansol’s house to be taken care of by his parents who still kept in touch with him, Bomi was staying at Areum’s apartment for a while to help her house one of the mates, and the rest were going to Jeongin’s parents and Aeri’s.

“Are you nervous?” Akira asked as she watched Aeri fold laundry on the other end of the couch. “I’m nervous.”

Aeri looked at Jisung’s mate, raising her eyebrows, “Yes, but I know I’m nowhere near as nervous as whoever’s staying here.”

Aeri had asked Akira if she’d stay for a few days at least to help her settle in the rescued mates that she was taking in. So the two girls were anxiously awaiting their new housemates.

Except it wasn’t multiple people that Aya, Chan, and Jisung delivered to Chan’s mate’s door. It was just you.

“What happened to her?!” Akira cried when the two girls saw you.

You were passed out in Aya’s arms, still covered in blood. It definitely didn’t look good.

Aeri politely shushed the younger girl before tugging her mate inside, so Aya followed, and Jisung closed the door behind them.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Aya quickly reassured them. “She wasn’t going to go with me, so I had to...do something I’m not proud of.”

“What, murder her?!” Akira shrieked.

“I said it’s not what it looks like,” Aya stressed.

“Baby, she’s okay,” Jisung promised, putting a hand on his mate’s upper arm and rubbing it softly before adding on, “...I think.”

“She’s not dead, she’s just...” Chan paused, unsure how to continue his sentence to make the situation sound any better. “Let’s just say...that’s not her blood.”

“That’s not reassuring, Christopher,” Aeri told him, making a disgusted face.

“I can promise she’ll wake up and be just fine,” Aya stated. “Well, not fine, but like, y’know what I mean.”

“Yeah, and she’ll be scared and confused and our problem to deal with,” Aeri frowned. “I don’t think you thought this through.”

“Okay, it was this, or leave her for the werewolf hunters to take back with them to question and torture and eventually kill. This seemed like the better option,” Aya snapped.

“Listen,” Chan put himself in the middle of the two groups, “Jisung and I can stick around and help take care of her when she wakes up.”

“So you can scare the shit out of her?” Aya asked, raising an eyebrow. “She’s terrified of werewolves.”

“Well we don’t know if she’ll be violent when she wakes up, and I don’t know anyone tough enough to handle that other than you guys,” Aeri shrugged.

That’s when Aya got any idea, saying, “I know a girl...”

-

When you started to come to, you felt groggy. You felt like your body was being weighed down or something. But then your memories started coming back to you, and your eyes snapped open. You were in an unfamiliar room, laying on an unfamiliar bed, and there was an unfamiliar girl looking down at you from where she sat next to your bed. 

She had short, dark hair that had a blue tint to it. She wore a black turtleneck with a few silver chains layered around her neck. Her brown eyes were locked on you, like she had been watching you the whole time.

Despite the fact her eyes were a normal color, you didn’t trust her. The last thing you remembered was that one female wolf doing...something to you. Then everything was black. So you immediately shot up, ready to fight and run.

But the girl was faster. She pinned your wrists down to the bed as you thrashed against her to get away.

“Whoa, hang on, relax,” she told you. “Look, I’m a human, okay? You’re okay.”

You spat in her face. She flinched back but didn’t let go, but it was enough to catch her off guard so her grip loosened. You freed yourself and shoved her away before bolting for the window. You immediately opened the window, kicked out the screen, and climbed out -- at least the window was on the first floor. But after only taking a step forward to run, you lifted your head and saw someone was already outside.

The boy from your house was standing in front of you, except he wasn’t covered in blood this time. His dark hair was still damp, and he was wearing a baggy sweater and some jeans. He stared at you without saying anything, and you couldn’t read his expression.

Did Changbin know going to Aeri’s to see you was a bad idea? Of course. Not only did he know it himself, but everyone told him not to go. But he couldn’t resist. He had to go make sure you were alright.

“You--! Oh, Changbin!” he saw Bomi stick her head out the window behind you. “You scared the shit out of me! Why are you creeping around the backyard?”

‘So his name’s Changbin,’ you thought.

He cleared his throat, forcing his eyes to focus on Bomi instead of you, “U-um, just...going for a walk.”

At first, he was confused as to why Mingyu’s mate was invited over to the house. But once he registered that she was wearing a black turtleneck, he realized you were probably called over to help with you. Bomi was an ex-werewolf hunter so she was strong enough to deal with you if need be, but she wasn’t a werewolf so she wouldn’t scare or traumatize you.

“Okay, well now you have two choices,” Bomi was looking at your back this time when she spoke. “You can either come back in here and hear me out, or stay outside with Binnie.”

You and Changbin continued to stare at each other in silence. You were wondering two things: why did you feel so strange being near him and looking at him, and what were the odds you could get away if you tried to run?

But instead, you reluctantly backed up to the window.

“Yeah, though so,” Bomi nodded as she reached to help you back into the spare bedroom. “By the way, you could also apologize for spitting in my face.”

But you stayed silent.

You stayed silent all night and into the next day.

Days turned into a week.

You didn’t even talk to Aeri or Akira when they tried to talk to you. They’d bring you food or anything else you needed. You were told you could freely explore the house, but you stayed in the bedroom and read the books Akira had offered to you. When they asked you questions, you’d nod or shake your head, but that was as much as they could get out of you.

“Well, I have some news,” Chan said one afternoon when he’d gone over to visit quickly with his mate -- he didn’t want to stick around too long in case you noticed. “Hansol’s sister apparently got some information from the girls living with them. They said they think her name is _____, but they’ve only heard her called that once when one of the wolves was really mad at her. They said they usually called her Sunny, and she’s always been quiet.”

“Did they say why?” Aeri wondered. “Is it because of the wolves she was with?”

“They said she was always like that,” he shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Is she mute?”

“I don’t know, they didn’t say much about her. None of them knew a whole lot because she didn’t talk to any of the other mates.”

Aeri chewed on her lip before asking, “How’s Changbin doing?”

“You haven’t noticed him outside your house?” Chan chuckled.

At least once a day, Changbin went and stood outside Aeri’s house by your bedroom window. You never noticed because he was gone before you could pull the curtain to the side, but he went to see how you were doing. He listened for your heartbeat and your movements.

On the bright side, he found that you were doing pretty okay with Aeri -- Akira went home after a couple days when the girls and Bomi decided you wouldn’t be a threat to her and you were pretty content at the house. You were unaware of any werewolves hanging around there, and you decided Aeri was harmless and just trying to help. You still didn’t fully trust her, but you stayed because you had nowhere else to go and because you figured you could take her if she did happen to try anything.

“It’s sad that she’s afraid of him...” Aeri mumbled.

“That’s what happened with Changgu and Sora, too,” he sighed. “It’s unfortunate, but maybe she’ll come around.”

“I don’t think Changgu murdered someone in front of her, though.”

“Yeah, that’s...yeah...”

“Maybe we should--”

Whatever Aeri planned on suggesting was cut off by loud crashing and banging going on down the hall. Her and Chan exchanged a look before both bolted up from their seats and ran to see what the commotion was. Chan went straight to your room where the sounds were coming from, and that’s when you froze.

You had Changbin bent backwards over the small desk in the guest room, holding a knife to his throat while you gripped his shirt with your other hand. He was just laying on his back, his feet still on the floor. His hands were up by his head in surrender.

“What the hell are you doing in her room?” Chan demanded.

Aeri pushed her way in front of her mate, “Is that one of my kitchen knives?!”

Had you snuck out in the middle of the night the first night to get a knife and keep it in your room just in case? Yes. Were you going to tell her that? No.

“Changbin,” Chan said more forcefully, but was careful to not be too intimidating because he didn’t want to scare you.

But both him and Changbin could hear how fast your heart was racing, and they both took note of the way your eyes darted from Changbin to Chan and back again. You felt like you were trapped.

“I... I thought she was in the bathroom,” he finally said quietly.

“So you were going to sneak into her room while she was gone?” Aeri asked. “And do what?”

“I wasn’t going to like, hide under her bed or anything!” he insisted. “I just wanted to... I-I don’t know.”

Chan sighed and shook his head.

Aeri pointed to the window that was still open, “Go home.”

“In fact, I’ll take you,” Chan stated before gesturing for Changbin to follow him.

But there was a problem: you. You were still holding a kitchen knife to Changbin’s throat and you were showing no signs of letting him up to leave.

“U-um,” Aeri cleared her throat. She wasn’t sure if she should call you Sunny or by the name the mates thought might’ve been yours, so she just awkwardly paused before continuing, “you can let him go now. He’s not going to hurt you.”

‘Yeah right,’ you scoffed internally.

She closed her eyes, scrunching her eyebrows, “Okay, wait, that was dumb to say. Obviously you wouldn’t believe that.”

You looked at her, then pointedly at Chan, and then back at her. Clearly she was buddy-buddy with the two werewolves, so of course she’d try saying they were harmless. You didn’t know until now that she was friends with them, so now you were questioning pretty much everything.

She let out a deep sigh, “Okay, I know this makes me look really bad, but--”

“Oh, hang on,” Chan said, taking his phone that was vibrating in his pocket out and looking at the ID, “Minho’s calling me.”

“What do you mean ‘hang on’?” Aeri asked, exasperated. “We’re in the middle of something!”

“They’re not going anywhere,” he said, waving her worry away as he walked a little down the hall and pressed the phone to his ear.

“She has a knife, Chris! Changbin’s gonna be going somewhere, and it’s to meet God!””

But despite his life being threatened, Changbin didn’t feel afraid. Though, he wasn’t sure if he actually trusted you wouldn’t kill him, or if it was just the imprinting instinct -- probably the latter.

While Aeri somehow became distracted by yelling at Chan to save his brother instead of actually making sure you didn’t kill Changbin, the boy beneath you cleared his throat. Your head whipped to look at him, and his golden eyes widened.

“I-I’m Changbin, by the way,” he stammered.

You didn’t understand why he was telling you that. Why would you care? Why did he even want you to know? You just blinked at him, eyebrows still set low on your face, but now slightly pulled together in confusion.

These werewolves were...weird. 

Chan suddenly appeared back in the doorway, his expression now worried and his tone conveyed urgency -- as if, for some reason, Changbin held at knife point wasn’t worrying or urgent enough, “We have to go.”

“I can’t,” Changbin pointed out.

“No, I mean all of us,” he clarified. “Minho said Hyunjin saw that pack somewhere. They were talking about finding someone named Sunny.”

Your eyes widened.

Chan looked at you, “You have to come with us.”

There was a second of dead silence. A second of nobody moving. Because in that second, you were deciding if trying to get out the already open window was a good idea or if one of them would catch you.

Eh, you had a knife. The chances were in your favor.

You leaped for the window, but as you were halfway out, someone grabbed your hips. You immediately jabbed at their left hand with the tip of the knife, and they let out a cry of pain, but their grip only tightened. They managed to pull you back in, and you landed on the floor on top of Changbin as he wrapped his arms around you to try to keep you from going outside. He knew it wasn’t safe for you out there alone. Even if you didn’t like it, he knew it was better for you to stay with them.

“Ow, ow, ow!” he winced as you continued to jab him with your elbows and even bent over to bite into his hand.

Chan rushed over and squatted down to your level, trying to help Changbin restrain you, “Calm down, we’re not going to hurt you. We want to keep you safe.”

Bullshit. Did they not realize you knew how all this worked? They’d lure you in with fake promises and nice facades until you were comfortable, and then they’d ruin you and your life until you had no one to rely on but them. You’d hate yourself and distrust everyone around you. Werewolves were manipulative and dangerous, and you weren’t falling for the same thing twice.

You kicked your leg out, hitting Chan in the chest with your foot.

He sighed and looked at Changbin behind you, “Where’s that pressure point again?”

Changbin’s eyes widened. He already murdered someone in front of you, he wasn’t about to force you to pass out, too. His track record with you wasn’t good at all, and the end goal was to get you to accept him. How was he going to do that if he kept fucking things up with you?

“Dude, it’s for her safety and ours,” Chan insisted. 

Changbin sat there, his arms squeezing you at you continued to fight against him and try to kick at Chan. Unfortunately, he knew his alpha had a point.

You felt pressure somewhere around your neck and shoulder, and that was all you remembered.

As you slumped back against Changbin, he looked back at the older boy with a frown, “I’m trying to make her like me, y’know.”

“By sneaking into her room?” Chan scoffed. “Yeah, she’ll really love that.”

“I just wanted something with her scent, okay?” he said as he picked you up in his arms and got up from the floor. “I just need something. I wanna give her space, but it’s hard.”

“Yeah, well lucky for you, she’s gonna be living with us for a while. Babe, you might have to crash at Seungcheol’s for a while. We’ll have to keep her in the bedroom to make sure she doesn’t do anything. She’s definitely going to be even more pissed when she wakes up.”

“I can’t even imagine how she must feel...” Aeri mused quietly. “Poor girl...”

Changbin looked down at you in his arms. Even unconscious, you didn’t look completely peaceful. He couldn’t imagine what that pack had put you through the make you so terrified of werewolves.

He let out a soft whine.

“Yeah,” he whispered, gently stroking your cheek with his thumb, “poor girl.”

-

The pack stared down at the couch. They all wore different expressions.

Minho's was a look they could only describe as disgust as he asked, “So what’s the plan here?”

Chan told Changbin to place you on the couch so they’d at least know when you woke up. But from there, he didn’t really have any ideas.

“We could just like, sweep her up in a blanket and throw her in there,” Seungmin suggested with a shrug.

“Like an angry cat!” Jeongin agreed with a grin.

“No,” both Changbin and Chan said -- Changbin in more of an offended tone while Chan just sounded tired.

“We’ll see what she does and act accordingly,” Chan stated.

“Won’t a bunch of werewolves surrounding her freak her out?” Felix asked, looking across the couch to the eldest.

“Bomi’s working so we have to handle her ourselves.”

“Or get friends outside of the pack,” Minho muttered.

Chan looked up from you to look at his pack, “Let’s just be gentle with her, okay? Changbin will restrain her if need be, and the rest of us will help him and try to talk with her.”

“Yeah, because Changbin restraining her worked out so well before,” Jisung’s tone was dripping with sarcasm as he pointed to Changbin’s hand wrapped in gauze.

As the pack began bickering on if this was even a good idea to begin with, you started to shift on the couch. They all went silent and froze, eyes on you as your eyes slowly and groggily fluttered and you stretched, before you froze yourself and your eyes popped open, looking up at eight pairs of golden eyes.

It was silent for a while before a deep voice very awkwardly said, “hey,” and a blonde boy with freckles waved down at you.

Instead of triggering your fight or flight, this situation triggered your freeze response. You were completely surrounded with no weapons, no help, and no ideas on how to get out of this situation. So you did what you would do with the pack you had lived with for however many years: you stopped and cooperated because it might’ve cost your life if you didn’t and you had no chances of escaping.

“Um, we’re...” the one that Aeri was apparently with spoke up. “Um, okay. I’m Chan, first off. Uh, this is...my pack. You remember Changbin, probably.”

Changbin raised his bad hand to awkwardly wave before he realized how bad that must’ve looked. He quickly switched hands as his cheeks heated up.

Your gaze flickered to the other five boys as Chan pointed to them and listed off names, but your eyes went back to Changbin after. God, why couldn’t you shake this weird feeling you got from this guy? You weren’t even sure what to call the feeling. It didn’t feel bad -- it felt close to one feeling that you refused to compare it to -- but that was what was scary about it.

“--but you can have the bedroom.”

You looked over at Chan, who was pointing behind him to an open door. From what you could see, the bedroom was very tiny. But hey, if it was your own space away from them, you didn’t care.

“Just a warning, though,” Chan continued, ”the fire escape ladder was ripped off, so there’s just a hole in the platform.”

“And there’s some addicts that live in the alleyway so if you do decide to take your chances running away, watch out for the needles,” Minho nodded before being jabbed in both sides by Felix and Seungmin. He grimaced and rubbed his ribs while rolling his eyes.

He was already the one you hated the most.

“Anyway,” Chan softly glared at him before looking back at you more warmly, “shower’s over there, kitchen’s free to use whenever, and there’s some extra clothes for you folded on the bed. So...yeah.”

You looked at the tiny space between Chan and Jisung where you could see the bedroom. You pointed in that direction.

“Oh, yeah,” Chan and Jisung both stepped to the side as Chan gestured for you to go, “go ahead.”

And like that, you sprinted to the bedroom and slammed the door shut.

The eight boys watched you go and stared at the door.

“She’s not much for conversation, is she?” Hyunjin asked.

“Apparently she never talks,” Chan nodded. “Can, but doesn’t.”

“So what’re we supposed to do?” Minho asked. “Just play the guessing game with her?”

“Just feed her three times a day,” Felix shrugged. “Give her water. That’s it.”

“And let her rot away in a bedroom for who knows how long?” Changbin sighed. He looked beyond exhausted. “We don’t know if that pack will ever give up on finding her. They blame her for their alpha dying. They’re not gonna stop.”

“What, are you suddenly afraid of murder?” Minho scoffed.

“I’m afraid of traumatizing her even more. I’m trying to do my best to be...normal, but--”

“But she knows you’re not,” Jisung told him, “and she’s not going to trust you because of what you are.”

“Those wolves messed them up really bad,” Chan nodded. “She thinks all werewolves are awful because of them. What you did definitely didn’t help, but it probably didn’t make it worse, either.”

“But,” Seungmin interjected, “maybe the imprinting pull could help you out. Maybe you could get close enough to show her we’re actually not assholes.”

 Changbin looked almost scared, “That’s...a slim chance.”

“Cool,” Minho nodded, “then don’t fuck it up.”

Jisung reached up and whacked him in the back of the head.

-

At first, he tried to give you space, but he wondered if you were lonely. He absolutely knew you were petrified. He wanted to make you feel better, but he wasn’t sure how.

Then one night after a few days, he sat down in front of the bedroom door. You heard the creak of someone coming, and you tensed. They’d been giving you your meals the same time every single day, and it was past dinner and late at night.

“’Long ago in France there lived a King and Queen. More than anything...’”

You listened as one of the werewolves began reading the story of Sleeping Beauty. You didn’t do anything, you just stared at the wall and listened.

Changbin sat with his back to the wall and the door to his left. He had the giant book of fairy tales open in his lap as he read loud enough that you would hear through the door.

While he read, though, you wondered why he was reading you children's stories.

“Changbin,” a new voice interrupted the reading and made you jump, “what’re you doing?”

You didn’t know it was Changbin reading. It made your heart do...weird things. You felt weird.

“Shh,” was all Changbin replied with before carrying on.

“‘“We have kept you safe from that spinning wheel for 16 years,’” he read. “’Soon it will be time for you to take up your royal life as a princess.’ ‘And the first thing for you will be to get married,’ said Fauna.’

“Jesus, married at 16?” he muttered. “That’s weird, but...alright.”

The corner of your mouth barely twitched upward.

“’Just do everything your husband tells you to do,’ said Flora, ‘and you will be fine,’“ he read before scoffing and saying, “Yeah, don’t do that.”

You let out a breath through your nose that might’ve been considered somewhat of a laugh.

But Changbin heard it and smiled to himself as he continued the story until it was done. Then he wordlessly got up and went back to the living room to let you sleep.

The next night, he read Rapunzel.

“’Fine!’ said the witch. ‘Here's the deal. Go ahead -- take all the lettuce you want. Your wife will have a baby girl. And when she does, the baby will be mine!’“ he read before making a face at the book. “Who the fuck would sell their baby for a head of goddamn lettuce? Go to a market for fucks sake.”

The soft chuckle he hear from the door made his heart swell.

As he read the story, you wondered if there would ever be someone to rescue you like Rapunzel. If only it was as easy as throwing your hair down and having someone climb up and save you. But the only person who might climb up to your window were the drug addicts in the alley.

It wasn’t until Changbin stopped reading that you’d realized how lost in thought and in his voice you’d gotten.

He continued to read you fairy tales every night that week. Every single time, you didn’t realize how lost in the story you’d gotten until he stopped talking. Every single time, you quietly chuckled at his commentary on how dumb the kids stories sounded. And every single time, you fantasized about living a fairy tale where someone good would come sweep you away from the shit show your life had turned into.

The last night that week, Changbin was reading Beauty and the Beast. He was just going through the large book in order, and this one was next. The story started off normal with him putting in quiet comments here and there. You sat on the bed and listened and daydreamed.

“‘The days were long and there was no one for Beauty to talk to at the palace,’” he read. “’Every night at nine, the Beast would come for dinner. At first he would only grunt and she said nothing. After all it was not easy to be a prisoner, even if it is at a palace.’”

Your mind started to think of being kidnapped that night from your home. You were stuck in Aeri’s house, and now you were stuck in a small bedroom surrounded by the wolves. At first, they didn’t say anything to you. They just brought you food and water to keep you alive. 

“‘Then one time at dinner, he made a little joke and she smiled. Another time, he made a comment, and she looked him in the eye. After that, he would ask her about her day, and she would tell him.’“

Like how Changbin suddenly started reading to you at night. And you started smiling and chuckling at the things he would say.

And it was then, as the story continued, that the kind and noble person that you hoped would come save you slowly turned into Changbin in your head. Listening to his voice and remembering how he was the one to take care of you built up this fantasy in your head that he was the Beast to your Beauty. 

And maybe the imprinting pull had a hand in that, but you didn’t know that.

It wasn’t until he got toward the end of the story and you suddenly snapped out of your daydream. Why were you thinking so fondly of one of the werewolves? You didn’t want him to save you -- he never would anyway. He wasn’t kind or noble or anything good. He didn’t care about you. Werewolves weren’t good in any way, shape or form.

“'And so Beauty and the Beast were married. They lived happ--’“

You flung your shoe at the door, causing a loud bang. Changbin jumped at the noise and looked at the door. He stopped for a moment before his face fell and he slowly closed the book. Then he silently got up and walked away.

You didn’t hear him read to you again after that.

-

It was all weighing down on him. Changbin was already anxious enough about his first impression on you, but now he was worried about you ever coming out of the bedroom and having actual human interaction because you apparently hated when he read to you, this pack that was trying to hunt you down to more than likely kill you, and on top of all of that, he kept reflecting on himself and it was only making him feel worse.

He was slumped up against your door which was how he’d been sitting for the last 24 hours. He hadn’t slept all night, but he also hadn’t showered in the last week.

“You look like shit,” Minho commented, staring at his brother from the couch.

Changbin lazily looked over at him. But all he did was look. He didn’t say anything.

Minho sighed and leaned forward, “Okay, seriously, are you alright? Are you like...dying?”

“I don’t know,” Changbin mumbled, closing his eyes.

“I mean, technically, she didn’t deny you, right? You can’t die yet, right? Please say right.”

“I don’t know, Minho,” Changbin said with a little more annoyance in his voice.

Minho shrunk back a little bit, “Sorry, Binnie...”

“No, I’m sorry. It’s just...” Changbin inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, keeping his eyes closed. “I feel like this is karma for how shitty I’ve been.”

“Karma?” Minho’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“Remember the pack I ran with before I found Chan?”

“Yea-- Oh... Well...look, Changbin, you’ve changed since then.”

Changbin’s eyes peeled open, “Have I? I murdered someone else -- and right in front of her. I scarred the poor girl!”

“No, I think that pack did that before you,” Minho shrugged. “But I get what you mean. But I mean, if you didn’t kill him, he would’ve killed her. I think this murder gets a pass.”

“Those other times don’t.”

Minho sighed, “Changbin, we’ve all gone over this with you a billion times: you’re not a bad person. You can’t hate yourself for the things you did in the past. Plus, every werewolf is super impressionable when they first turn. You wanted a place to fit in, and unfortunately, they found you before Chan did.”

Changbin shook his head slowly, looking up at the ceiling, “I don’t deserve her. She’s so...innocent. I’m everything she’s afraid of.”

“Okay, we don’t know she’s innocent,” Minho pointed out with a slight half-smile, trying to lighten the mood. “Maybe she’s wanted in 8 countries, we don’t know.”

Changbin rolled his eyes, “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah...” Minho fell silent, not sure what to say to his brother to make him feel better or reassure him.

Instead, Changbin spoke again, “Do you ever wonder why she doesn’t talk?”

Minho shrugged, “Isn’t it because of that pack she was forced to be with?”

“The mates said she never spoke as long as they knew her. It’s gotta be something before that.”

“What if she just doesn’t feel like talking? I’d get that, I hate wasting my breath with you guys...” Minho muttered.

Changbin frowned, “I could be dying and you’re insulting me.”

“Not just you.”

The two heard the sound of the apartment door unlocking. As Chanbin’s eyes closed again, Minho turned his head to see Chan walk in with a girl he’d never seen before behind him, and Seungmin following with Lee Chan’s mate behind him.

Minho stood, “Uh, Hello.”

“Minho, this is Janie,” Chan introduced the unfamiliar girl. “Janie, Minho.”

“She’s one of the mates staying at my place with Bomi,” Areum explained. 

“Oh,” Minho waved and smiled, “Hey, nice to meet you.”

“They’ve been doing really well so I asked if they’d help us with...Sunny, right?” Chan turned to look at the three girls.

Changbin slowly crawled over to poke his head around the wall to look at the three girls.

“That’s what they called her,” Janie nodded. “But like we said, she never said much anyway.”

“That’s okay,” Seungmin assured them, “we just want someone to be able to go talk to her. She won’t let anyone in.”

Chan saw Changbin’s eyes around the corner, so he quickly pointed him out, “Oh! That’s Changbin, by the way -- the one we told you about.”

Changbin scrambled to his feet so he didn’t seem weird before stepping fully into view and giving a small wave. The rescued mate seemed to look at him with pity.

“I’m...sorry about your situation,” she said quietly.

“Yeah, no offense, Bin,” Areum spoke up, “but you don’t look that great.”

Changbin nodded, “Nice to see you, too, Areum.”

“I’ll bring you to Sunny,” Chan decided, gesturing for Janie to follow him.

-

There wasn’t much to do other than stare at the wall and sleep. So when you were snapped out of your staring-at-the-wall-time, you thought time between breakfast and lunch had really flown by. But you froze getting off of the bed when you heard a voice.

“Hey, Sunny,” Chan’s cheery voice still managed to turn your insides into ice, “I brought a visitor for you!”

‘Fuck no,’ you thought to yourself, ‘absolutely not.’

“Hey, Sunny,” a new but familiar voice spoke up shyly. “It’s Janie. Can we talk? Just you and me?”

The pair stood outside the door for a while in silence -- Chan still a little behind Janie just in case you did open the door.

The door creaked open slowly until one of your eyes could be seen. You first saw Chan, and then your eye focused on Janie’s shorter frame in front of him. You shoved your arm through the space, grabbed Janie’s arm, and opened the door enough to pull her through -- she almost tripped on her way in from how quickly you pulled her -- and slammed the door shut again.

Once inside the bedroom, Janie looked around. It was so small she couldn’t believe you had spent all your time there. Sure, Areum’s apartment was no mansion but at least she wasn’t stuck in a closet of a bedroom.

“You...choose to stay in here?” she asked, turning to face you.

You nodded and sat back down on the bed.

Janie sighed, “Look, I get you’re afraid. We’re all afraid, too. But these guys aren’t Akio and them.”

You internally scoffed, ‘Great, so all of you are brainwashed by these guys, too.’

Janie frowned, “Don’t look at me like that. I know it’s hard to believe but they’re literally just normal people. Akio’s pack was toxic and abusive. I mean, Areum’s boyfriend is super sweet, and Bomi’s is...kinda dumb and clumsy, but he means well.”

You continued to stare at her like she was trying to tell you the sky was green. All of you were brainwashed by your previous pack into thinking they were great, and you didn’t realize they weren’t until it was too late. Clearly, they had all gone and done just that again. But you weren’t going to.

“Minyoung’s having trouble, too,” Janie continued. “She won’t go near any of them. If Mingyu or Chan or anyone comes over, she hides in Areum’s room.”

‘Oh, so someone still has common sense.’

“I know it’ll take longer than others to realize,” she sighed as she sat on the edge of the bed. “You and Minyoung were there longer than me, anyway. I know that it’s scary, but did you fall off your bicycle and just never get back on because you were scared?”

Did she not realize this was way different than a bicycle? A scraped knee wasn’t comparable to mental, physical, and emotional abuse.

“Plus...I don’t know if it’s true, but I heard one of them read to you everyday.”

Your eyes widened slightly.

“He seems pretty fond of you,” she shrugged, turning her head to look at you, “and from what I’ve seen, werewolves don’t hurt people they actually care about. Akio and his pack...they never cared about us. They wouldn’t have cared if we were fed or not.”

She let out a quiet laugh, probably trying to make a joke about the shitty situation the two of you used to be in so maybe the memories wouldn’t hurt so bad.

“Anyway,” Janie stood up and turned around to face you, pulling something out of her pocket, “I was told to give this to you.”

She held out a shiny knife to you. It was folded in so the blade wasn’t out, but when you took it and pressed the button for the knife to pop out, the whole thing shone in the light of the bedroom.

“It’s a silver knife,” she told you. “Chan and Changbin thought it would make you feel safer to come out if you had a weapon. If any of them attack, that’ll do some damage.”

Your eyebrows furrowed as you looked down at the knife in your palm. Did they want to die or something?

“Um...I think I said everything I could,” she sighed. “I know words won’t fix much, it’s seeing it. But you can’t prove anything just sitting in here. Hopefully I’ll see you around, Sunny.”

And then she walked to the door, opened it, slipped out, and closed it behind her.

You stayed on the bed, staring at the knife.

-

It was at least an hour or two passed midnight. Minho was asleep on the couch while Chan and Changbin sat on the floor in front of the couch. The two were leaned up against the couch while they watched whatever was on TV at such a late hour. Chan was always more of a night owl, while Changbin was just having trouble sleeping lately, anyway.

They suddenly heard the click of the bedroom doorknob. The two boys snapped their heads toward the sound. After a few beats of silence, you appeared at the corner of the wall, gripping the pocket knife Janie had given you. You pointed it at the two wolves, but they didn’t move. They just looked at you in surprise.

Quickly, you scurried to the kitchen, grabbed a roll of crackers you found, and went right back to your bedroom. You kept the knife in your dominant hand the whole time.

Unfortunately, you decided Janie had somewhat of a point.

Chan turned to Changbin and seemed somewhat impressed, “Well, that’s a start.”

Changbin turned back to look at the short hallway where your door was. It was definitely a start.

-

Over the next couple weeks, you began coming out of the bedroom more and more. You started off just grabbing snacks at night, and that grew to going to get your own meals. Minho had even said hi to you once, but that didn’t go down too well.

“Hi, Sunny,” he said simply as he entered the small kitchen area to grab something from the fridge.

You were just pouring hot water into your cup ramen, but hearing the nickname, you turned to glare at him. His golden eyes widened and he quickly stepped away from you.

“Fine, I take it back, sorry.”

Whenever the wolves addressed you, they called you Sunny, which was what the old pack called you -- Jiro had started it and it quickly caught on with the other wolves. That was the name all of the mates knew you as. So that was the only name Chan’s pack knew to address you. So when you’d give them a dirty look for saying hi or asking you a question, they thought you didn’t want to be spoken to. Maybe it was a step you weren’t ready for despite leaving the bedroom.

But Changbin thought of something and decided to test his theory.

“Hey,” he spoke up when he saw you exit the bathroom after showering, “I was gonna make some lunch. Did you want any?”

You paused toward the edge of the living room, looking at Changbin. And after a moment, you slowly nodded.

He tried again later, asking, “I was gonna order takeout, did you want something?”

Again, you paused before nodding slowly.

After the three boys were done picking out what they wanted, Chan held the menu out to you, “Here, Sunny.”

You glared down at the alpha sitting on the couch before snatching the menu and retreating to the bedroom before coming back with things on the menu circled in pen.

The next day, Changbin stopped you on your way to the kitchen from the bedroom, “Oh, uh, I was gonna run to the laundromat. Did you want me to bring anything of yours?”

You nodded before going back to the bedroom to get some clothes.

Changbin was sure his theory was correct.

One of the nights you were making yourself dinner -- Chan had gone to visit Aeri and Minho was on another study date with Ryu -- Changbin padded into the kitchen to start making himself some food. The two of you did your own thing in silence, with Changbin stealing glances at you here and there. And then he finally broke the silence and asked, “Do you like being called that name?”

You were taken off guard and weren’t quite sure what he was asking. You turned your head to look at him, eyebrows slightly pulled together.

“The name the other mates call you,” he clarified. “Do you like that name?”

You continued to just look at him. Did one of them finally catch onto that?

Slowly, you shook your head.

He chuckled, “Yeah, I figured.”

Changbin had a thought that maybe it wasn’t that you didn’t want them speaking to you, but that you didn’t like the nickname. The other rescued mates had said the other pack called you that and that they didn’t know your real name. Why would someone want to be called something that people who had hurt them would call them?

“So then...what do you want us to call you?” he asked.

Did you want them to know your real name? No. But would they just keep calling you the nickname the wolves would use to tease you for seeming so pessimistic and cold?

“Our little ray of sunshine,” they would tease as they poked at your cheeks and did anything -- anything -- to try to bring any expression to your face or get a sound to pass your lips. “Smile once and a while, won’t you?”

Ugh, they made you sick. And the awful nickname only brought a bad taste in your mouth to accompany the memories that made your skin crawl.

Your eyes scanned the counter before you saw a sticky note and a pen. You grabbed them and scribbled your name before sliding the pad to Changbin, taking your food, and quickly going back to the bedroom.

“_____...” Changbin read your name softly to himself.

He loved the feeling of your name rolling off his tongue. _____. He quietly said it to himself the rest of the night, even when Chan and Minho gave him odd looks.

-

You were starting to get more comfortable going around the apartment as you pleased -- keeping the knife with you at all times, of course. To Chan and Minho, you were like their grumpy roommate who wanted nothing to do with them but needed a place to stay. To Changbin, you were like his grumpy roommate who he was in love with but was trying to not overwhelm as to not make you uncomfortable or come off as creepy.

To you, the three boys were werewolves who you didn’t trust but you had no other choice than to just deal with them at this point. But at least none of them had tried to hurt or kill you yet.

But even with Jiro and his pack, that’s how they started out. Then again, they never read to you...

The longer you were around Changbin, the more intrusive the romantic thoughts about him got and it drove you crazy. Why were you getting all warm and fuzzy for a boy doing the bare minimum like asking your name and offering to make you dinner? Most of all, why were you getting those feelings over a werewolf when you knew they were bad? 

With you being around more and the oddly romantic and soft thoughts of Changbin bombarding you, the wolf in question began noticing you staring at him more and more often. There was a time where he felt your eyes boring into him as you were internally battling yourself over these feelings and thoughts as he was curled up in the beat-up beanbag they had put off to the side of the couch just so there were more places to sit other than the floor -- because they were a little nervous to sit on the couch with you. He didn’t look back at you or anything, but he could see you staring from his peripherals as he silently read to himself.

He parted his lips and inhaled deeply, the sudden movement snapping you from your thoughts. Then he cleared his throat and started reading softly out loud. He did that for about a chapter of the book -- you weren’t really sure what book it was because he was in the middle of it -- before he lowered the book and looked at you with his golden eyes.

“_____, can I ask a weird question?” he wondered.

You considered it for a second before shrugging.

“Did that...other pack... Did they ever tell you about imprinting?” he asked slowly.

Your eyebrows furrowed at the word. Sure, you knew what it meant but you’d never heard Akio or any of his pack mention it in reference to werewolves. So you shook your head. 

Changbin sighed as he looked down at the book. He closed it and set it aside before he leaned forward -- as best as he could -- in the beanbag chair, “I want you to know, _____... Whoever in that pack told you that you were their mate, was lying to you.”

You just stared at him, your eyes slightly narrowed, almost like you were glaring at him. Were you supposed to believe him?

“Imprinting is a big part of getting a mate,” he explained. “Actually, that’s how you find them. You imprint; you just feel it. It’s nothing the werewolf controls, it’s completely up to fate. And if they had imprinted on you, they wouldn’t have treated you the way they did, and they wouldn’t have collected more mates.”

Your gaze fell from him as you thought this over. But then you stopped and asked yourself why he brought this up in the first place? Was he trying to get you to trust him by stating the obvious: Jiro and his pack were assholes? So what?

But then he stood up and continued, “I figure I should be honest with you, because...I mean, we want you to trust us, and that can’t happen unless we’re open with you.”

‘Oh god, where is this going?’

“I’m bringing this up because...” he paused and seemed like he was fighting himself internally.

Changbin wanted to confess to you and just get it over with so he wouldn’t freak you out later. Keeping it inside was eating at him too much. But what if him telling you now scared you away? Or what if you stabbed him with your knife because the confession made you feel threatened?

Well, that last one would be worth it.

He took a deep breath before he forced his golden eyes to meet yours, “_____, I imprinted on you. The moment I saw you, I just...felt it. But I know your feelings toward werewolves -- and toward me since our first meeting wasn’t really great -- so I want to give you as much space as you want. But I just wanted to tell you that even if you reject me and stab me 50 times, I’ll never do anything to hurt you.”

You just stared at him, your expression unreadable.

Changbin became antsy in the silence and started toward the door, “I’m sorry, I’ll give you some space.”

And then it was just you in the apartment, sitting on the couch with your thoughts and Changbin’s confession hanging in the air. 

Why did it make you feel...happy? Terrified, absolutely. But also kind of warm and fuzzy and maybe a little giddy? Why?

The bathroom door suddenly opened. Minho walked out with a towel around his waist and one around his hair as he looked at you and snorted, “That sounded awkward.”

You considered stabbing him with your knife.

-

Changbin trusted you with his brothers, so he felt giving you as much space as he possibly could was best for your sanity. But he felt so conflicted. He just wanted to know what you were thinking.

He only got a few blocks away before stopping dead in his tracks. He was suddenly overtaken by a very bad feeling, and he somehow knew it was connected to you. He immediately turned around and raced back to the apartment, going as fast as he could.

-

Even though you didn’t want to, clinging to the werewolf holding you was your only option unless you wanted to hit the pavement underneath the broken fire escape. 

Akio’s remaining pack had managed to track you down, steal you from the bedroom you’d gone into after Minho’s snide comment, and go back out the window with you. You recognized the man holding you as Jiro’s brother, Kenji. There were three others from his pack waiting in the alley, and your blood ran cold.

Before Kenji could even set you on the ground, Minho dropped from the fire escape in just a pair of sweatpants. His golden eyes turned to red as he growled lowly at the four wolves, “Let her go.”

“Oh, you’re from the pack that helped kill my brother,” Kenji smirked. “Great, I can kill both of you -- two birds, one stone.”

“Did you at least have her empty her pockets before you tried to kill her?” Minho wondered as he straightened his stance. “That’s not very smart on your part, buddy.”

‘The knife!’

With panic taking you over, you’d completely forgotten you had the silver knife in your pocket. You reached for it, popping the blade before pulling it out and going straight for Kenji’s face. You slashed across his left cheek with the blade, causing him to hiss in pain and drop you.

Minho took that as his opportunity to jump. He lunged for Kenji as you landed on your back. You had dropped the knife on the way down to block your head from smashing back against the concrete.

Even though Minho was trying to buy you time to run, you knew it wasn’t enough time to get far away. It was four versus one, and Minho was quickly getting overpowered. He was already beaten and bloody, but he wasn’t backing down. You were shocked to see that he was continuing to fight even though it was a losing battle.

Why would he do that for you?

Just as you began scrambling to your feet, one of the other three wolves noticed and lunged forward to grab your ankle. But they were suddenly tackled backwards by a black blur. 

Your breath was taken away realizing that black blur was a werewolf. You watched as the wolf snarled and snapped before tackling the guy to the ground and continuing to make growling noises as he attacked the guy until his yelling and cries were silent.

Why did you feel like you knew who that wolf was? And why did it make you feel almost safer? Or relieved?

As you started scooting backwards away from the fight, Changbin helped Minho. Kenji shifted to fight Changbin, so the other two shifted as well.

“_____!” you heard a voice call your name from behind you. Bomi and Aya standing halfway into the alleyway, a gun held in Bomi’s hands and pointed at the mess of werewolves with a still-human Minho in the middle of it. “Get out of the way!”

But what if she didn’t know Changbin was in there? What if she just saw it as Minho fighting off four wolves?

You turned back toward the fight and shouted as loud as you could to be heard over the snarling, “Changbin!”

Changbin suddenly stopped what he was doing and turned his head to look at you just in time to see you duck. He saw Bomi standing with a gun and her finger on the trigger.

The shot went off.

Aya was crouched down and rushing over to get you as Bomi shot again. Your hands were over your ears, eyes squeezed shut from the loud noise. As Aya scooped you up effortlessly and ran you back toward Bomi, you had no idea what the outcome was.

-

After getting you away from the fight, Aya ran you the few blocks to where they’d parked their car. She explained on the way to her pack’s house that Bomi had been keeping tabs on Kenji and his pack, so when they noticed the four were in the area, they called Chan. He was supposed to show up not too long after to help Bomi so she wasn’t alone, but Aya promised Bomi knew how to hold her own.

“She has silver bullets, so,” she had snorted.

So you sat in another unfamiliar place as you waited to see if Minho or Changbin would make it back. Jeongin, Seungmin, Felix, Hyunjin, and Jisung had all shown up. Aeri was already there. Various members of this other pack -- you were informed their alpha was named Seungcheol -- kept staring at you curiously or like you had grown five heads. Everything about the situation was making you anxious.

“Junhui can you like, back up?” one of the girls -- she had a black mask on to hide her nose and mouth but you didn’t know why -- scolded as she pulled a tall, broad wolf farther away from you “What part of traumatized did you not understand?”

‘Oh, they know about me.’

Then again, you’d not only been thrown into a house with an even bigger pack, but you were carried three blocks by a female werewolf, so your boundaries were just out the window now.

“Why did she think going to follow them was a good idea?” Mingyu whined, pacing the floor. “It’s in such a shitty part of that city, too. Nobody gives a shit if they hear gunshots -- nobody would help her if she died!”

“She almost killed you and Chan when you met her, but you think she’s going to die?” Jeonghan snorted.

“And Changbin and Minho would never let anything happen to her,” Seungcheol stated, trying to reassure the tall wolf. “Bang Chan wouldn’t either, and I know he got there to help.”

From what you were able to gather, Bomi was an ex-werewolf hunter who Mingyu had made his mate. What you were still confused about were why a werewolf would make a hunter his mate, and why Chan’s pack would bother protecting a mate that wasn’t their own.

‘Maybe...Janie’s right...’

But that was the only explanation you could think of. Why Minho tried to take on four other werewolves alone and continued to fight even when he clearly was struggling. Why Changbin came out of nowhere and was helping fight for your safety. Why the three wolves would keep Bomi safe above all else. Why Aya and her pack were keeping you housed at their house and why they’d taken Aeri in to keep her safe.

Maybe -- maybe -- not every pack was like Jiro’s.

Or, at least, Changbin certainly wasn’t like other werewolves.

“They’re here!” Soonyoung called.

Mingyu immediately rushed out of the living room toward the front door.

A moment later, Mingyu entered the room with his arms wrapped around Bomi from behind. She was chuckling about how she’d get the jaws of life if she had to.

Then Chan walked in behind them, looking a little scraped up but otherwise okay. His golden eyes met yours and he offered a warm smile as he nodded toward you, “Glad to see you’re safe, _____.”

Minho followed behind him -- he looked awful but at least he was awake and walking -- jokingly saying, “Yeah, I almost had to fight them with my dick out. I deserve a ‘thank you’.”

And finally, your eyes met Changbin’s as he rounded the corner. His cheek was cut but not bleeding anymore, and he had bite marks on his right arm. But still, he looked at you with relief, pausing when he saw you.

Without even thinking, you pushed yourself off the couch and flung yourself at him, your arms wrapping around his neck. Changbin was safe. He made it home.

He was definitely taken off guard, and he swore his brain stopped working for a second. But then he finally put his arms around you, warm and strong, as he just enjoyed the feeling of holding you for the first time.

“You’re lucky you called his name when you did,” Bomi commented. “I would’ve hit him instead of the other guy.”

“Wait, she talked?” Jeongin asked.

Chan used his hand to tell the youngest to relax, not wanting to ruin the moment for Changbin, “One milestone at a time, please.”