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It was nearly soundless but she heard the rustling though Joohyun never failed to jump. Wind rushed in, chilling the cozy dorm with late evening air that whistled through the window as it slid open. It shut with a click and Joohyun held her breath, counting the silent steps from behind until hands landed on her shoulders and smoothed across her collar in a hold.
“Hi.”
Joohyun shuddered from the chill yet to leave the room, from the warm touch of a cheek pressed against her own, and the smoothness of the voice that slipped into her ears. Her pen stopped working on the notes she was scrawling in her journal, textbook cracked and laptop open to a study playlist. She was trying to get as much as she could get done before the night. There was an exam coming up that she needed to be well prepared for and a master’s thesis she needed to finish outlining. She didn’t expect Seungwan to drop by.
“Hi,” she said back. She heard lips part in a smile. “What if Sooyoung was here?” Because it wasn’t normal for humans to scale the side of dorms and sneak in through the windows.
“She wasn’t. I checked.”
By checked, she meant she smelled for her. Joohyun once asked Seungwan what her roommate smelt like. Because Joohyun was only human and she could only smell the shampoo and light perfume Sooyoung liked to squirt on the insides of her wrists from time to time. Seungwan could smell more than that, the fragrance deeper than skin, a scent unique to every individual.
“I’m still working.”
The arms around her neck loosened and the springs of her bed creaked as Seungwan sat down on the edge. Joohyun got a good look at her then. She was in jeans and a long sleeved shirt—a poor attempt at blending into the dropping temperatures outside. She didn’t feel cold the way Joohyun did and sometimes she was too lazy to be bothered with putting on acts. Especially when it came to Joohyun.
“I know, I…” she bit her lip, pretty teeth pricking into fleshy pink.
Her canines were a little too large to be natural but not alarmingly so. They always made Joohyun remember the old Grimm’s Tale accompanied by the urge to say cheesy things like, “My, what big teeth you have!” But Seungwan wouldn’t eat her. At least not in the way the story implied.
“I wanted to see you,” she bashfully admitted.
Joohyun didn’t want to smile but it snagged on her lip anyway. “You’re going to see me in a few hours.”
A pout puffed out her bottom lip. “I couldn’t wait that long.”
“I thought time didn’t matter to wolves.”
Seungwan scrunched her nose. She said those words herself. She wasn’t immortal but she told Joohyun that time moved differently for werewolves. Slower. Longer. The days, weeks, months, years just began to blend after a while.
Joohyun watched as Seungwan struggled to form a snarky come back.
“I’m teasing you.”
Seungwan stuck out her tongue. Joohyun laughed and cocked her head, signaling for her to come over. Her request was easily obeyed. Reaching out a hand, she let Seungwan take it and lead her in closer until she was between her knees, pout on her lips perfectly suited for the giant pup that she was.
“Closer?” Joohyun urged. Seungwan bent down and Joohyun met her in the middle, letting their lips touch. She sighed at her softness and breathed in the cinnamon and pine scent of her skin. “Wait for me a little longer?”
Seungwan whined and sank into Joohyun’s lap, face dropping down to kiss her neck. “I could wait here.”
“We had—“ her eyes fluttered shut, head falling to one side as Seungwan nuzzled into the sensitive spot behind her ear and sucked lightly. “—an agreement.”
An agreement that Joohyun would go with her if she let her finish her work without interruption. She would’ve gone with her regardless of the work being done or not but setting boundaries always helped them keep from this very thing that was happening now.
“Sorry.” Seungwan found her way to Joohyun’s ear that she kissed. “The pillow at home still smelled like you.” She moved her lips to Joohyun’s temple. “And it made me impatient.”
“That’s no excuse.” Lips brandished her forehead in another kiss and Joohyun craned her neck back to catch moonlit eyes. The color in them flashed and the sight of it made Joohyun a little more breathless than she already was. “Seungwan,” she tried but lips smothered hers. Palms burned against her face as Seungwan cupped it and Joohyun’s fingers balled against her hips. “Mmm, you have to go.”
She pulled away slowly but not far enough away to keep her lips from brushing when she husked out a breathy, “Fine.”
“Thank you.” Joohyun sighed in relief and sat back in attempts to break some of the building tension. She always commended herself on her steely resolve but Seungwan had a way of dismantling it.
A finger tapped her nose. “Don’t be late.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
Seungwan pushed in for another kiss. Joohyun could taste her impatience and she nearly took back her words, told Seungwan to stay and forget about her studies. But she had to be strong. “I’ll see you later.”
Joohyun accepted one last peck and shivered when the wind came back as Seungwan climbed out the window and disappeared into the night.
Letting out a breath, she turned back to her textbook, mind clouded with sharp canines, puppy pouts, and desperate kisses.
She wondered if she would survive the night.
-/-/-/-
Joohyun was of the practical sort. So learning that the girl in one of her classes who started as just a classmate turned into a project partner turned into a crush and eventually, girlfriend was a werewolf wasn’t the easiest thing to swallow.
Not to mention she wasn’t supposed to find out.
“Not this soon!” Is what Seungwan said. Because eventually, she was going to tell her. But the cat—or dog—was out of the bag.
Joohyun remembered being confused but maybe it did make sense. Seungwan liked to nuzzle into her neck and sometimes her soft pawing at her turned to light clawing against her back that Joohyun didn’t mind at all. She liked feeling Seungwan’s nails gently scratching into her shoulders when she was particularly into their makeout sessions. And maybe once or twice she heard the girl growl when Joohyun pressed her deep into a mattress.
Looking back, they were all signs but it was the eyes that did it. One night. While she was in Seungwan’s lap—a common occurrence—interrupting the girl who was in the middle of trying to make them something to eat. It was one of the first few times Joohyun had been over to Seungwan’s place and her best friend wasn’t around to shoot glances and smirks at them as they disappeared into the bedroom, homemade dinner plans forgotten.
They were only kissing. Nothing unusual. What was unusual were the glowing blue eyes that were staring back up at her.
At first, she thought nothing of it. Maybe it was a trick of the light. Maybe Joohyun was just seeing things. Maybe she was just so madly into this woman that she quite literally saw the sky and beyond in her eyes. However, Seungwan blinked and Joohyun knew better than to think her brain was malfunctioning. Seungwan’s eyes really were blue, the electric color, oozing like molten lava over the normal deep, chocolate browns that she was used to.
”What’s wrong?” asked Seungwan.
All Joohyun had to say was, “Your eyes—”
And Seungwan freaked out, pushing Joohyun off her lap so easily it was like she hardly had to put in any effort to do so.
“You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“See what?”
“See that! See my—“ she snarled in frustration, the sound more animalistic than any noise a human could make.
Seungwan turned away from her, pacing the room with nervous hands running through her hair.
Joohyun had seen Seungwan nervous many times. Before tests, the night Joohyun asked her to be hers, that one time Joohyun’s parents were in town and they had dinner with them and Seungwan was sure that she’d screw it up. But none of those moments were like this. She had never seen Seungwan shake so badly and she had never seen her almost on the verge of a breakdown.
“Seungwan,” she called out but her voice fell on deaf ears.
Seungwan continued to walk back and forth, muttering under her breath to herself about mistakes and everything being over and that everything was ruined.
Joohyun didn’t like those words and so she went for her. All she wanted was to get her to calm down. She didn’t think she did anything wrong when she reached out for her shoulder.
“Don’t touch me!” Seungwan growled and that’s when Joohyun saw the fangs. All four canines spiked and her eyes were even bluer than before.
Joohyun drew back and Seungwan caught herself. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry, I—”
Cowering, she hid in a corner, knees pulled up to her chest.
Joohyun let her be.
It took nearly an hour before she spoke up. She had moved to sit on the bed, back against the wall and legs crossed in front of her where she wrung her wrists nervously with her hands.
“I’m not like you,” said Seungwan. “I’m not human. Not really.”
Joohyun stared back at her from where she was sitting on the desk chair. Only the lamp was on and the light barely reached across the room, shading part of Seungwan in the shadows. Something inside of her told her she should be scared. After the things she saw, she knew there was more to Seungwan than she thought. By the way she acted, she knew Seungwan wasn't totally lying to her. Yet at the same time, Joohyun had known Seungwan for a long time now and not once had she hurt her. She had only cared for her and no matter what she was she didn’t think once that suddenly she would turn on her.
“What are you?”
A werewolf wasn’t what she expected. In fact, she didn’t even believe her at first. It was just too...crazy. Really? Maybe she was dreaming and all that happened were just figments of her imagination. But Seungwan did that thing again with her eyes and she bore her teeth so Joohyun could really get a look.
And when she reached out, cupping Seungwan’s face in her hand and was able to sink into the wildness that she saw swirling in those blue rivers, Joohyun didn’t question it anymore.
Just like that, the world wasn’t so black and white anymore.
-/-/-/-
The night was cold. Joohyun pulled the lapels of her coat tighter as she stepped out of the cab in front of Seungwan’s building. Hurrying inside, she boarded the elevator and hit the button for the third floor. She was nervous. Had always been when it came to Joohyun and wolf things.
“What if they don’t like me?” she remembered asking in the beginning. When she first met Seungwan’s best friend and roommate. She would no longer be the girl from uni but the mysterious girlfriend finally revealed.
Joohyun had read books and seen the movies. She was human and Seungwan was not. She was weak and vulnerable with a shorter lifespan. Seungwan was the opposite though none would think so. Despite her work hard and play hard attitude and her diligence to her studies, Seungwan seemed...normal. But she and—
"Your pack?”
”My pack!”
Since the secret was out, Seungwan was much more relaxed. And the way she spoke about the other wolves was endearing. Joohyun hated that she had hidden those parts from her for so long. She hated that any of the others had to for fear of what would happen to them. They weren’t monsters. Someone like Seungwan could never be. It wasn’t fair and maybe that’s what made Joohyun love her even harder.
“It’s made up of a few families,” Seungwan explained. “We all live in the city. That was the alpha’s decision.”
“So there really is an alpha?” She thought a lot of that was ignorant humans trying to make sense of things they didn’t know or understand.
“He’s different than most. A lot different from the rural packs.” Seungwan said that bit with the hint of a growl. Joohyun was curious to know about these other types of packs but she would save those questions for later. “He takes in strays and helps place them with other wolves—helps find them jobs and how to blend in better than they were on their own. It’s protection.”
“What about your family?”
“The pack is my family. Seulgi is my littermate.”
“Your what?”
“Like a best friend. We were paired together. We look out for each other.”
Joohyun learned a lot that night. She learned a lot more things as the days and weeks went on. Like she learned that the alpha’s mate was a human and so he was open to letting one of his own find a partner in one. And though Joohyun promised to keep their secret and that she swore to protect Seungwan just the same, blessing wasn’t given without knowing the consequences of breaking that promise. Consequences like death.
It was the tensest dinner she had sat through. She could hardly remember the taste of the food the alpha’s mate had prepared or the lovely home they invited her into because she was so nervous. They were kind, however. Progressive the way Seungwan said. It didn’t change the fact that she couldn’t relax until the night was up and Seungwan was kissing her all over the face, thanking her for being so brave and understanding and amazing. The alpha didn’t approve of many but Joohyun he did.
That was a long time ago but Joohyun was still nervous when it came to things that concerned Seungwan’s pack.
The door opened before she could knock. Seungwan took up the doorframe, her smile pulling lopsided and dimpled. She had thrown a leather jacket with furry lapels over her black, long-sleeved shirt and her shoulder-length hair was tossed like she’d been running her hands through it.
“You’re late.”
Joohyun checked her wristwatch. “You said eight.”
“It’s a minute over.”
Joohyun hit her lightly on the shoulder and Seungwan laughed, grabbing her by the wrist with a tug. Joohyun gasped as she fell into her, chest lighting up in heat that was echoed in the dust of pink that spread on Seungwan’s cheeks.
“I’m kidding.” She touched the end of Joohyun’s nose with a swift lick that made her squeal. Joohyun pushed at her, trying to get away but Seungwan was strong and she found herself crushed against her. “Sorry.” She kissed her. “I know you hate that.”
Her nose scrunched. “It's gross.”
“You let dogs do it.”
“You’re not a dog,” she countered. Seungwan’s eyebrows lifted and Joohyun rolled her eyes. “Technicalities aside.”
Chuckling she let their lips meld back together. The world around them slipped away and Joohyun forgot that they were doing this in the middle of the hall of an apartment building for all to see. She just couldn’t seem to care when teeth nibbled and she tasted Seungwan against her tongue and her neverending warmth was running through her veins.
“Maybe we can be a few minutes late,” Seungwan muttered against her mouth.
Momentum moved Joohyun forward and she heard the door close somewhere behind her. Feeling the world tilt, she gained the upper hand, spinning them around. Air puffed from Seungwan’s lip as her back hit the door and Joohyun grinned at the surprise on her face.
“I thought you said tonight was important,” she said.
Eyes widened. “You pinned me!”
“Before you could.”
Seungwan floundered. “I wasn’t going to—“
Joohyun cut her off with a finger against her mouth. “You’re a bad liar.”
Seungwan huffed but it was short-lived when Joohyun smoothed her finger over her lip and against her cheek where the others joined, cupping her against her palm.
Seungwan eased into her touch with a whine. “We shouldn’t be late.”
“Right. The alpha will be disappointed.”
Seungwan hummed as Joohyun pressed into her. “Maybe—maybe he’d understand.”
Joohyun laughed under her breath, face drawing close enough to Seungwan’s that she could feel her breath against her lips. “Abusing your power, aren’t you?”
“Just because he raised me—“ she tried to tilt up for a kiss but Joohyun slipped back just enough for her to miss. “—doesn’t mean I have favoritism.”
“You could blame it on the human.” Joohyun ran a finger down her chin and hooked it underneath. “We’re slow.”
She snorted. “Not the S word I would use to describe you.”
“Which would you?”
Seungwan lunged forward and Joohyun evaded her once again.
“Sly.” She glared.
Joohyun smirked. “That’s all?”
“Seductress.”
“Hm?”
“But mostly—“ hands gripped her hips and crushed her forward drawing a gasp of a breath out of her. “—sexy.”
Joohyun’s heart fluttered. It was that moment lapse that allowed Seungwan to claim the kiss she was being denied. Liquid heat pooled through her at the prick of nails from hands that had slipped beneath her shirt. Everything was hot. She knew part of it had to do with Seungwan’s body temperature while the rest was her.
Teeth bit gently into her neck and Joohyun moaned causing her hips to cant forward on reflex. With a low growl, Seungwan pulled back, head cracking against the door though it took all her willpower to do so. Joohyun knew it did because her eyes had already changed color the way they did when she was rising to the peak of intense emotion. She used to hide it from Joohyun, thinking it made her uncomfortable. Now she let her true nature show all of the time and Joohyun was always in awe when she saw glimpses of it bleed through her human side.
“Enough, you temptress.”
Joohyun did her best to keep the breath out of her voice. “Who kissed who first?”
Seungwan glared. “You’re dangerous.”
“Says the predator.”
Teeth snapped at her nose and Seungwan pushed up with her shoulders, jostling Joohyun off her. “Tease,” she muttered walking away.
Straightening her clothes out, Joohyun surveyed the room while Seungwan went around, turning out the lights. She noticed something was missing. “Where’s Seulgi?”
“She went ahead. Do you think I would’ve let that—“ her hand motioned back toward the door—“happen if she was here? She’d be able to smell us from the other room.”
“Smell us?”
Seungwan’s face ignited in red. “Don’t make me explain.”
It took a couple of seconds but Joohyun caught on. Aside from the fact that wolves could smell arousal being slightly humiliating, she was amused at how embarrassed the thought made Seungwan.
“It’s not funny.”
“Maybe a little.”
Sucking her teeth in annoyance, Seungwan picked up a set of keys. “Let's go.”
Locking the door, they headed out.
“You never told me what tonight is.”
All Seungwan said before was that it was a family thing which meant a pack thing. Joohyun wasn’t sure how she fit into pack business but she was honored to be invited along. Most ordeals, Seungwan went alone. It wasn’t that she didn’t want her to be part of her other life but some things were strictly wolf things.
Seungwan never really explained why she couldn’t always join her. At first, she thought it was because she was human but learning that the alpha's mate was made her rethink. She figured it had to do with that she was just a girlfriend and until she was more than that, she wasn’t allowed a full initiation. At first, it didn’t bother her, but the longer they were together the more Joohyun felt like she was missing another half to the woman she was with. And she hated that.
“It’s The First Hunt,” said Seungwan.
Joohyun’s brow creased. She never did like the idea of guns and killing animals for sport. “That sounds bloody.”
Seungwan laughed as they slipped into the car. Starting it up, she turned on the heat, angling the vents Joohyun’s way who shivered in her coat.
“It used to be,” she explained. “The First Hunt is a ceremony. When pups reach thirteen and bear their first pelts, they are to go on their first hunt—shed their first blood. For rural packs, that’s a direct interpretation. For urban packs like mine, it’s different.”
“Different how?”
She flashed a toothy grin. “You’ll see.”
-/-/-/-
It was a while before Seungwan pulled the car off the road and parked amongst a few others peppered across the dirt. They were far away from the city, surrounded by nothing but an expanse of greenery and trees that scaled up against the night sky.
Darkness was thick here with only the light of a silvery, white full moon and stars shining down on them. With no major roads or neighborhoods, it was quiet. Chirping crickets and the rustle of leaves were the only things that accompanied the crunch of their footsteps along with other sounds of night that Joohyun couldn’t name.
It was nights like this when Seungwan would go out for runs with the others. Though the full moon didn’t have power over them the way the stories said, it was customary to honor its—”Two sides, light and dark. Like us”—by abandoning their skins and offering their pelts and howls up to it.
On these nights, Joohyun would sit and wait for Seungwan’s return. She was always a little more alive on a full moon. Like the power of the celestials was vibrating in her bones. Her eyes would be their bluest of blue and her heart would beat wildly as she pressed herself chest to chest with Joohyun’s and they would devour the rest of the night against sheets until it was Joohyun who was howling to the skies.
“It’s so dark,” she said, her voice clashing with the stillness.
Seungwan’s warmth came up on her side followed by a hand that slid into hers. “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” she assured. “I promise.”
“I’m not afraid.” She never was. Not with Seungwan. She knew the beating of her heart contradicted her words but it wasn’t out of fear for what could happen to her. It was anxiousness at being an outsider human entering the territory of wolves.
Seungwan led them along a trail that had been stamped out by feet. Joohyun didn’t wonder where they were going. She trusted Seungwan and it wasn’t long before they broke into a small clearing where they were greeted by a group of others.
They spread out across the clearing in many faces and names that Joohyun had never seen or knew. Young ones ran about, chasing after one another in sort of game while older ones talked and laughed amongst groups. A cluster of wolves around Seungwan’s age were cheering on two others who were racing up the trunks of trees and howling in laughter when one of them nearly slipped, putting him behind the girl who had reached the first large limb.
“Not your typical BBQ,” joked Seungwan.
Joohyun elbowed her earning a soft laugh. Seungwan was right. It wasn’t like something she’d been to or seen before.
Surveying the rest of the crowd, she spotted the alpha easily. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and deep, black hair. Beside him was his mate, stunning and elegant just the same. They were each dressed in dark, forest green—he in a robe with golden embellishments along the collar and down the front and she in a tunic with the same beautiful designs.
Joohyun recognized only a few other faces. Like Seulgi who stood with two other boys, each bare chest, who looked like their muscles were carved from marble. One played with a lighter in his hand, flicking on the flame over and over again while the other's eyes blazed the color of topaz.
“That’s Taeyong and Minhyung,” said Seungwan. “They’re littermates. The four of us grew up together.”
Joohyun nodded and offered a smile to Seulgi who caught sight of them. The others followed her gaze though only one of them landed on Joohyun friendly. She couldn’t quite place what Taeyong’s stare meant and she turned away just as a tall, graceful swoop of a person dressed in a white nurses tunic walked by. It was Seohyun, the pack's physician. Joohyun met her once when Seungwan had accidentally gotten burned by a flame. It was one of two types of injuries that didn’t heal quickly and Seohyun took it very seriously.
“Joohyun,” Seohyun greeted. “I’m happy you could join us. It is a very special night.”
“I’m glad I could come,” she answered genuinely. From being able to attend a pack ceremony she had already been overjoyed. Being there and seeing everyone, she couldn’t help but simmer in excitement to what else the night would bring.
Offering her a warm smile, her attention turned to Seungwan. “Be careful tonight. I’ll have my station set up here at base if you need me.”
“I will. Thank you, Seohyun.”
With a pleased nod, Seohyun stepped away to join the alpha. Others dressed in the same dark green color had joined him. Each one had age lining their faces and streaked with gray in their hair. Joohyun figured they were the pack elders that Seungwan spoke of. They were the council that helped govern the pack along with the alpha. Each was well into their seventies, eighties, and nineties and possibly even hundreds though they didn’t look over forty or fifty.
“What did she mean be careful?” asked Joohyun.
“I’m one of the rabbits.” Seungwan couldn’t contain her smile that burst across her face or the gleam in her eyes. “In the old tradition, rabbits or other animals would be released,” she explained. “The pups would have to hunt them down and bring them back. We got rid of that practice. Instead of actual rabbits, a select few adolescent wolves serve as the prey. When we’re caught and defeated, first blood is shed and the hunt is over.”
Joohyun smirked. “Adolescent?”
She rolled her eyes. “Our timeline works differently than humans.”
Joohyun nodded. She knew that though she kept to herself how it made her uneasy. What would that mean for them in the future? When they grew older and only she showed the weathered signs of age while Seungwan did not.
Glancing across the clearing, she found the alpha’s mate. They were well matched in their ages even though Seungwan told her that they had been together for many decades. She wondered how that was possible. She wondered if she and Seungwan for decades to even a century was possible. And if it was, how?
“Joohyun?”
She turned back around. Seungwan’s brow was creased in worry noting her uneasiness. She pushed on a smile. “Don’t get hurt.”
“I won’t.”
“Seungwan!” Seulgi called as she jogged over, the ends of her crimson robe fluttering behind her. In her hands, she held a folded robe in her hand. “Hey, Joohyun.”
“Are you a rabbit, too?”
“Third year.” She was just as proud of it as Seungwan was. “You should hurry and change,” she said to her littermate. “We’re going to start soon.”
Nodding, Seungwan took the robe from her.
“Whatever happens,” she said to Joohyun, “don’t be scared, okay?”
She tightened her grip on Seungwan’s hand, keeping her from pulling away just yet. “Wait—”
“It’ll be okay,” she assured with a squeeze of the hand. “Seohyun will take you to one of the towers so you can watch.”
Seungwan kissed her on the cheek and she watched as she walked away with Seulgi. The two boys welcomed her over with taps of fist on the shoulders and a ruffle of her hair. Seungwan elbowed one in the stomach and he laughed until it was cut off by her shirt tossed in his face.
“She’s going to be fine.”
Joohyun looked up at the voice to find Seohyun beside her again. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped when the elders broke away from their group causing everyone to fall silent. Joohyun looked out, searching for the sight of Seungwan but she couldn’t find her or Seulgi or a few of the other faces that were once amongst the crowd.
Fanning out, the elders formed an arching line at the edge of the clearing with the alpha and his mate at the center. The rest of the pack moved to complete a full circle against the fringe of trees. Joohyun stood with Seohyun at the far end where she could see the alpha straight across the way. His silver eyes were like stars and Joohyun nearly coward when his powerful gaze landed on her for a moment before continuing across the circle to all in attendance.
“By moonlight and by flame,” said the alpha, his deep voice echoing off the trees, “we begin The First Hunt.”
Two broke from the circle, stepping forward into the center with torches that they speared into the ground. Orange and yellow flickered as they lit them each and gray faces burst with color as the flames shined on the circle of bodies. There were so many that Joohyun hadn’t seen with it being so dark before. There had to be seven or eight families and an array of others who must’ve been the strays that had found safety and refuge in the city and with the pack.
She could feel that others were looking at her. Eyes of all sorts of shades glancing her direction, curiously gazing upon the human joining their numbers. Never with Seungwan or Seulgi had she felt like an outsider but she felt it now. She could sense that she was not part of them. She wasn’t part of this family. Not completely.
“Rabbits, step forward,” the alpha called.
From the shadows, bodies emerged. There were seven of them in total, four of who were Seungwan, Seulgi and the boys she saw them with earlier. Their crimson robes rippled as they stepped into the circle and formed a line on one side of the torches where they stood still with hands drawn behind their backs.
“Hunters.”
From the opposite side of the circle, the pups came up from the brush. They were young, with lanky limbs and youth in their rounded cheeks and robes of yellow. Joohyun saw smiles touch the faces of pack members. She figured they must’ve been proud parents, watching as their young ones lined up facing the rabbits, torches burning between them.
“Robes.”
The seven rabbits undid the belts of their robes and let them fall. Joohyun was compelled to look away but no one else did. Nakedness was a part of the wolves and they didn’t shy from it. She looked on in awe of the glittering skin and toned muscle that was presented. Once Seungwan told her that they were beautiful in their skins but it was in their pelts that they were and felt the most magnificent. She was right.
“Hunters, choose your prey.”
The young ones moved forward slowly, eyes darting between the faces of the rabbits before them. One of the young girls approached Seungwan. Her eyes flashed a steel color that glittered a unique shade of pale lavender. She was grinning as she did so, her too-big canines gleaming in her mouth.
“That’s Yerim, the alpha’s youngest,” said Seohyun. “She’s one of the most cunning among the pups.”
Cunning. A good match for Seungwan’s wit, Joohyun thought.
Yerim circled Seungwan with her chin lifted high making her the same height as the adolescent wolf. Seungwan didn’t move a single muscle. She was stone and focused as a soldier. Stopping behind her, Yerim ran her nose along the back of Seungwan’s neck, breathing in deeply.
“She’s catching her scent,” Seohyun explained. “That’s how they know who to hunt.”
Yerim’s lips moved in something too soft for Joohyun to hear. Seungwan responded with an amused kink at the corner of her lips that quickly went away. Joohyun wondered if they were close considering the alpha had raised her when she first joined the pack. There was still so much that Joohyun didn’t know and the more she watched the more she desired to.
Yerim tore away, returning to the place she stood before. Once the last was done, the alpha spoke up again.
“Rabbits, take your forms.”
At those words, Joohyun held her breath.
The first time she saw Seungwan’s pelt, she was terrified. She knew she shouldn’t be. Seungwan was sweet and kind and gentle. She reassured Joohyun that the shift didn’t turn her into a dangerous predator the way the folklore stories said. She would be the same Seungwan just a little furrier.
It sounded okay in Seungwan’s mouth but when she saw it, Joohyun couldn’t keep from trembling.
"It’s not pretty,” Seungwan had warned her. “You can cover your eyes if you want.”
But Joohyun couldn’t take her eyes away.
This time was no different. She watched with bated breath as Seungwan’s pelt burst across her skin in prickles of color. First tips of silvery gray and black on top of white that needled across her stomach. Her bones cracked, compressing into a new shape for the new form she was taking on.
Seungwan groaned as it happened, her face contouring into pain as her jaw extended and her soft, milky features were taken over by a muzzle full of teeth.
It was grotesque but it was beautiful. She was mostly white, the color making up her underbelly and legs and paws and the underside of her tail that ended in a tuft of black. Her head and back were peppered in silvery gray with wisps of black woven in that also darkened the tips of her ears. But what was most striking were her eyes. Blue. Stunning, summertime blue.
She wasn’t the largest nor the smallest of the other wolves around her. She was smaller than Seulgi, Joohyun noticed, who stood to her left with burning, golden eyes. But where Seulgi was lean, Seungwan was thick with muscle. But size nor strength mattered to Joohyun. All she saw was a wonderfully crafted masterpiece that she would never get tired of witnessing nor never stop wanting to be apart of.
“Joohyun,” beckoned Seohyun. “Come with me.”
Breaking from the circle, she followed Seohyun up the slope of a hill that led out of the clearing, the sounds of the pups shifting at her back. At the top was a watchtower with a ladder extended downward.
“After you,” Seohyun motioned.
Joohyun gripped the rungs and started up, casting the unnerving fear of dropping from her mind. At the top, she stepped onto a platform closed in by four short wooden walls beneath a roof and cut out windows so that you could see over the wilderness. At one of the windows was a wolf dressed in black with a long dagger attached to his hip. From that Joohyun knew he was one of the official pack guards.
He greeted her with a nod when he saw them enter and brought a pair of binoculars back to his eyes that hung around his neck.
Joining Seohyun at one of the other windows, she looked out. She found Seungwan easily, her mostly white pelt shimmering with the flames. And with the shout of a command, she took off with the other rabbits.
“Here,” said Seohyun. “You’ll see better with this.”
Joohyun glanced down at the small, retractable telescope in her hand. “What about you?”
“I can see well enough.”
Taking the telescope, she extended it and placed it against her eye. It took her a moment but she finally found her. Seungwan was swift and she was quick though not the fastest. Seulgi easily outmatched her speed and her gray, russet, and tan coat was swallowed up by the brush.
At the shout of another command, the pups took off. They weren’t as swift or coordinated but they thundered through the trees on determined paws. Joohyun saw Yerim with them in her mostly gray pelt that had strands of white and accents of tan. She was agile and energetic. It almost looked like her paws weren’t touching the ground by the way she moved.
Nearly lost in the thicket, Joohyun found Seungwan again. Leaping over a fallen trunk, she dropped down behind it, using the dense vegetation around her to cloak her from prying eyes. But it didn’t hide her scent and Yerim was hot on it, bounding effortlessly through the dirt on the hunt.
Joohyun’s heart raced as Yerim closed in on her position. Slowing down, she stopped, nose raised into the air, sniffing for a scent. Ears rotated on her head, searching for any sound that would give away her target. Seungwan remained still, flat against the earth. If she moved now, Yerim would certainly see her.
Determined, Yerim trotted one way and then circled back to where she was, head turning side to side until she locked in on something and her ears folded against her skull. Crouching, she inched forward to where Seungwan was hiding, muscles coiled and ready to spring.
Joohyun held her breath as second after second passed by watching as Yerim drew closer, closer, closer until—
They pounced at the same time, clashing in a blur of white and tan and gray as they rolled. Seungwan was larger than her but not by much. But size wasn’t the determining factor. Seungwan was better skilled in a fight and she easily broke free of Yerim’s hold and darted off again.
Yerim was on her quickly and she lunged for Seungwan’s hunches, catching her just right to send her forward, skidding across the dirt.
Joohyun gasped.
“Don’t worry,” Seohyun assured her. “This isn’t a real hunt.”
She knew that was true but Joohyun couldn’t help but worry. Teeth gnashed and paws swiped out. They wrestled in the dirt, large bodies falling and rolling and toppling one over the other. It was a sight Joohyun had never seen before. She mostly got the Seungwan with soft skin and warmth and gentle nips and kisses. She didn’t get to witness her wolf as much and it filled Joohyun with a mix of emotions. To think, the gentle and kind-hearted woman that was hers was also a strong, majestic creature of the moon with power in her muzzle and paws was overwhelmingly amazing.
“It’s almost over,” said Seohyun.
Joohyun pressed the telescope harder against her eye as if it would help her see better as Yerim slithered from beneath Seungwan and ripped her legs from beneath her. Seungwan snapped, trying to lift back up but a paw against her chest threw her down and Yerim took her throat into her teeth, holding until Seungwan stopped struggling and laid still.
“That’s it,” said Seohyun. “That’s first blood.”
The song of a howl lifted to the treetops as Yerim raised her muzzle to the sky.
The hunt was over.
-/-/-/-
Some had already changed back to skins while others swished tails still in their pelts.
There was a buzzing energy in the air that Joohyun could feel as she returned to the clearing. It reminded her of Seungwan on full moons and she felt like her own blood was singing with the rush of the night. Leaving her side, Seohyun went to tend to one of the pups who had gotten scraped and Joohyun waited.
Seungwan was quick to find her, trotting over to on paws. It was still jarring to see Seungwan’s wolf. She wondered if she’d ever get used to the large creature. She was so big, nose as high as Joohyun’s chest. If she tilted her head up, her muzzle could touch her chin.
Blue eyes blinked at her and Joohyun smoothed her hand through the light fur on her head. It was a mix of soft at the top and coarser deeper down. Earth stuck to the strands and she brushed them away.
“Someone needs a bath,” she said. Wetness lapped at her cheek. “Seungwan!”
She barked something of a laugh and bounced on her paws, prancing around her in circles. Joohyun followed her movements but she was swift, bounding from one side to the other with the occasional jab of her nose and a playful nip at her legs.
Joohyun laughed. “You’re too big for this.”
Because as much as she knew Seungwan let her pin her down in skins, it was easier to think she could overpower the girl when she wasn’t sporting paws and a tail.
Another lick dragged across her cheek.
“Son Seung—“
A gentle pounce brought her down into the brush with a squeal. Yelps turned into laughter as she shifted back into skins. Joohyun wiggled beneath her.
“You know I—“
“—hate that. I know.” Soft lips pressed into her cheek where a tongue once licked. “Sorry?”
Her innocent smile was hardly innocent but Joohyun softened at the sight of it. Hand reaching up, she stroked it through windblown hair, taming it against her head.
Dark blue eyes yet to change fully back to brown watched her all the while. Joohyun wasn’t sure why it made her feel so exposed. Seungwan was the one naked not her. But there was something in her eyes. Something soft and ignited and pure and open and wild.
She was still humming with the power of the shift, wielding the essence of the moon in her bones and radiating the vibration of the cosmos within. The heat of her pelt still clung to her skin and Joohyun eased up into it wanting very much to hunker into the earth and extinguish the heat that burned in her own belly.
“How was I?” she asked in a hushed voice, nuzzling her face into Joohyun’s neck.
There were still others in the clearing. No doubt they had seen show the two put on. Any other time Joohyun would be concerned with what the pack thought out this odd union of a wolf and a human but she all was focused on Seungwan.
“Terrifying,” she teased.
“Careful or I’ll make you the rabbit next.” Teeth bit lightly into the exposed skin of her throat.
Joohyun sighed, her stomach flipping at the electricity it sent through her and the fact that if Seungwan wanted to, she could crush her neck with a single bite of the muzzle.
“But you’ve already caught me,” she whispered.
Seungwan stilled, eyes traveling up to look into Joohyun’s. There was a shift that took place at that moment. From burning heat and desire in her gaze to something dimmer and intimate and soft and scared. Joohyun’s brow wrinkled, hand coming up to cup the side of her face.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head and hid her face in Joohyun’s chest, muttering something unintelligible.
“What?”
“You’re so...” she didn’t get to finish.
Footsteps approached and a shadow cast over them. Joohyun looked up to find Seulgi in jeans and a plaid button shirt. She smiled kindly down at them. Joohyun always liked Seulgi. She was as sweet as Seungwan with less grease. They didn’t speak much but when they did the conversation was enjoyable. Seulgi had a way about her that made you feel like you were friends even at first meeting.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she said as Seungwan stood up, dusting her naked skin of debris. Joohyun followed. “Are you coming to the banquet?”
Joohyun’s ears perked at the mention of a banquet. Seungwan hadn’t mentioned it.
“We’ll meet you there,” said Seungwan, tone tense. “Will you save us a seat?”
“I’ll try.” She turned to Joohyun and offered a nod.
Joohyun offered a wave and watch as Seulgi walked away with Taeyong and Minhyung. When she turned back to Seungwan she was confused to see the spark in her moments ago had almost completely evaporated.
“I could take you home.”
“I want to come,” said Joohyun. “If I’m allowed to...” She realized that maybe the rest of the night wasn’t open for her to be at.
“You’re allowed.” Seungwan shifted uneasily. “Are you sure? It’s just a lot of food and...stuff.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
She shrugged. Odd. She didn’t understand why Seungwan was being so timid with her all of a sudden.
“Okay then.” She smiled but it didn’t touch her eyes like usual. “I’ll get my clothes.”
-/-/-/-
Pulling into the parking lot of a hotel, Joohyun blinked. She always thought that the wolves liked to keep a low profile, be as inconspicuous as they could.
She was wrong.
The lot was full and valets were working to park cars. As they entered the banquet hall inside, Joohyun felt underdressed though she wasn’t the only one not classed up. Some were in suits and dresses while others were more casual. A few of the pups were still in their robes from the night with the rest changed over into regular clothing.
The elders took the more regal of looks including the alpha and his mate who walked around, placing flower crowns on the pups who had participated in the hunt. With each crown, they bowed to her and kissed the top of the alpha’s hand with another deep bow.
“Wow.” Joohyun couldn’t help but be astonished.
The mix of something as normal as a banquet paired with the traditions of wolf kind was amazing to her. To think there was a whole other world so close that she had never seen before but was now given knowledge of.
“The vampires are worse. Very traditional and medieval.” Seungwan once told her. Joohyun didn’t want to hear about it at the time. One fanciful creature at a time.
“In the old tradition,” Seungwan began beside her, “the feast would be made up of the animals the pups hunted. We cater now.”
Joohyun laughed. “Sophisticated.”
A hand slipped into hers and Joohyun let Seungwan weave her through the masses.
She could feel eyes cut her way and noses tilt in her direction. Now under proper light, she could see all the faces. There was a myriad of expressions. Many that she couldn’t read while others were very blatant in their show of confusion or intrigue or annoyance.
“Everyone’s staring,” she whispered.
“Did you think beauty would go unnoticed?”
Joohyun blushed but her gut told her it wasn’t her looks that was making them watch her. “Are you sure this is okay?”
“They’re just curious. Aside from the alpha’s mate, there aren’t many humans in the pack. You’re one of there. The other is there.”
Joohyun followed the tilt of Seungwan’s head to a tall, slender woman dressed in black, directing the waitstaff. Seohyun approached her with a warm smile and a lingering kiss on the cheek before she padded away to speak with an elder.
“Seohyun and Yoona have been together for almost two hundred years. Longer than the alpha and his now mate.”
Joohyun’s eyes widened. “How is that possible?”
“It’s a secret.” Seungwan winked.
The wave of a hand signaled them over and Seungwan led the way to a table where Seulgi sat with Taeyong and Minhyung. Seulgi offered them a warm smile as they took place beside her, Joohyun between them. She caught Minhyung’s amused smirk in her direction but it was Taeyong’s steely stare that made her duck her eyes away.
“You’re the human,” said Minhyung.
Joohyun flushed. “Is it obvious?”
He tapped the side of his nose. “More than you know.”
“She’s unclaimed,” said Taeyong, cutting their friendly laugh off short.
Joohyun had never been afraid of a werewolf before but the way Taeyong looked at her made her stomach drop. Under the table, Seungwan’s hand found a way into hers, holding it tight.
“She’s my girlfriend.”
He snorted. “That doesn’t mean anything.
“Relax,” Minhyung tried.
Taeyong snarled, his orange eyes igniting as they bore into Joohyun making her shrink in her chair. “She doesn’t belong here.”
“Yes, she does,” Seulgi combatted. “She belongs to Seungwan so she belongs here.”
“Not yet she doesn’t.” He scoffed.
Everyone reacted at his words but the meaning was lost on Joohyun. She didn’t know why it made Seulgi dart her eyes nervously or Minhyung look away from her ashamed or why Seungwan’s face lost its color. What she did know was that it had to do with her and she didn’t want to be the reason a night of celebration was ruined.
“If there’s a problem—“
“There isn’t,” Seulgi assured her, offering a soft smile before turning back to Taeyong with golden eyes. “Is there?”
A low growl rumbled in Taeyong’s chest at the challenge. Seungwan’s grip on her hand tightened and she saw the blue start to trickle into her irises, canines lengthening in her mouth that bore an angry sneer.
“C’mon, man,” said Minhyung. “We can move.” Getting up, he pulled at Taeyong’s shoulder until he finally rose up, breaking the stand-ff between him and the girls. “He’s a little territorial. Sorry.”
“The alpha will only protect you for so long,” Taeyong hissed.
With a yank, Minhyung dragged his littermate away. Joohyun didn’t miss the apologetic smile he tossed over his shoulder at her or the pointed look he gave Seungwan who bristled in her seat. The entire exchange didn’t go unnoticed by occupants at the other tables rather and Joohyun was sure if her ears were sharper she’d be able to pick up the whispers that raised around them. Whispers she was sure was the cause of the tension that curled in Seungwan’s shoulders.
“Don’t let Tae get to you,” said Seulgi.
“What did he mean?”
“Nothing,” Seungwan answered, cutting off whatever Seulgi was going to say. Glances passed between the two wolves in a silent conversation. Whatever it was, Seulgi didn’t agree with Seungwan but she relented and didn't say any more.
The appearance of food distracted them away from the tension. Joohyun’s stomach growled as servers wheeled out carts topped with plates that they placed onto the tables. Theirs soon came and they ate with minimal conversation. Few came by, bidding greetings and inquiring about Joohyun. Seungwan kept it short and simple but it was obvious that she was trying to ward as much attention off Joohyun as possible.
“Most people only have two in-laws to impress,” Joohyun muttered when a male wolf who smelled strong of sandalwood walked away without chancing a glance in Joohyun’s direction.
Seungwan winced. “They’re just protective.”
The music changed and the lights dimmed through the banquet hall while the dance floor remained lit. Stepping from the crowd, Yerim made her way into the center of the dance floor in her robe and flower crown. All eyes were on her and the alpha who approached her. Undoing the ties of her robe, he took it away revealing a beautiful crimson dress that received gasps and compliments throughout the crowd. Bowing to her, she returned it with a curtsy before taking his hands.
They danced. Fluid and graceful with smiles and twinkling eyes. Another pup soon joined after a few bars, a male who was accompanied by an older woman Joohyun figured was his mother by the similarity in their features.
“The customary first dance,” Seungwan told her.
Seulgi snickered. “You weren’t any good at dancing.”
“We can’t all have the grace of a cat.” Seungwan’s nose turned upward. “Traitor to your kind.” Seulgi stuck out her tongue in return.
Joohyun giggled at their banter and turned her attention back to the dancing. Others had joined in on the fun at the change of music that welcomed onlookers while others left to grab drinks and dug into their plates to eat. Seulgi left her chair and was swept up into the crowd and Joohyun saw the alpha brush a kiss to Yerim’s forehead while his mate hugged her before their youngest bounded off to dance with some of the other pups.
Joohyun smiled. She thought it was truly a crime that the stories painted werewolves as devastating creatures. They were so warm and elegant and grounded.
“When you said First Hunt, this isn’t what I was expecting.”
She should’ve known it wouldn’t be. Everything Seungwan told her about the wolves went against all expectations. But hearing it was one thing while witnessing it was another.
“The First Hunt is a ceremony but it’s also a celebration with many reasons,” Seungwan explained. “It isn’t just about coming of age. It’s more than that. When you first earn your pelt, it’s a new form. A new life. That’s what is celebrated. Pups welcome that new life with the hunt and feasting. The others...” she trailed off with a blush.
“What? What is it?”
“They…” she motioned with her head.
Joohyun followed her gaze to a couple across the room. They were just like Joohyun was earlier, forgetting where they were or who was watching as they kissed in the dim light near the bar. Heat smoldered in the woman’s eyes that burned green as her partner took her hand, leading her away and out of the banquet hall.
Joohyun understood. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “The night is also meant for making new life. Wolves aren’t being hunted like we were in the past so it’s not as necessary for new pups. Now the, uh, the sex is symbolic. Half the rooms here are rented out for that purpose.”
Joohyun couldn’t help but feel warmth rise in her neck and filter into her cheeks. It wasn’t like that wasn’t something they’d never done but there was something about knowing the night was catered to it that made it feel different.
“Is that why you were so nervous bringing me here?” she teased, poking her in the side with a finger.
“Maybe a little.” She smiled but it was strained.
Joohyun didn’t know why but then she noticed Seungwan’s focus had drawn from her to something else. She followed her gaze across the room to where the alpha stood. He was watching them, his startling gray eyes unmissable. They flickered to Joohyun for a moment then back to Seungwan. It was slight, but she saw the dip in his chin and the small gesture toward her before his attention was stolen by Yerim tugging on his sleeve.
“What was that?” Joohyun asked. Whatever it was, Seungwan had gone rigid and her face was empty of color.
“Nothing.” Seungwan’s jaw flexed. “It’s…” She sighed and pushed on a smile that was more of a grimace. “Do you want to take a walk?”
-/-/-/-
The night had grown colder. Joohyun stuffed her hands into the pockets of her coat. They walked along the grounds of the hotel, coming in and out of the cool beam of lamp posts that lined the walking path that snaked around the courtyard.
Taking a turn, Seungwan led them toward the swimming pool. The water was still, glittering with lights from below. Sinking down, seungwan sat on the edge, legs crossed against the stone. Joohyun followed, taking place at her side. It was quiet out. Still.
“Did you know that when wolves mate they mate for life?” said Seungwan.
Joohyun looked over to her, shaking her head. The light of the pool made her skin glow white. She wanted to reach up and trace her finger against the smoothness of her cheek wanting to see if she felt as much like porcelain as she looked.
“Humans do it through marriage. Wolves do it through the mark.”
“Mark?”
“Lore tells us that a wolf bite turns a human into a werewolf.” She leaned back on her hands, gaze tilted to the sky.”That’s not true. Werewolves aren’t made, they’re born but there is still a reason we are forbidden to bite—or mark—humans. It binds them.”
Joohyun’s eyebrows lifted in intrigue. “How?”
“In the old days,” she started, “werewolves would make armies. A bite from a wolf would make you want to do anything for them but it’s not real. There is no love so the bind is one of obsession. Humans would fight to the death for wolves who wanted nothing to do with them. The ones who survived were either put to death or taken in as means to make new pups then cast aside.”
She had learned enough from Seungwan about werewolves to know that not everything in the books and stories was true but it never failed to stun her when she learned these truths. Maybe this one was the most shocking of all. She seldom thought of the werewolves in history and how Seungwan was connected to a time and a past much older than her. It was only a reminder of how small she was in the world and how much more she was disconnected from what Seungwan was.
“What if there is love?” she asked.
“Then the bond is pure and you are bonded for life.” A smile graced her lips for a moment at that before it fell. “As long as a wolf’s mark is on you, a human will live as long as they do and the mark never fades. To severe the connection, the mark has to be burned from the skin.”
She sucked in a breath of surprise. “That’s why the alpha’s mate has hardly aged. Or Yoona.”
Seungwan nodded. “It isn’t common for wolves to claim humans for mates. For wolves, mating for life is it. There will never be another but humans aren’t bound by that same principle.”
She felt a twinge of hurt in her chest. The way Seungwan made it seem was like humans didn’t value their partners. Like they could cast them aside easily. Like love sometimes wasn’t binding. “We have soulmates, too.”
“It’s deeper than that,” said Seungwan, shaking her head. “It’s part of our blood. It’s why we have packs and breaking the loyalties of the pack is so severe a punishment. That is who we are by nature.”
The offense in her dissipated. It was slowly starting to make sense. She always heard Seungwan speak about the pack as a family but she didn’t realize how deeply it ran. Loyalty was the most important thing to them but that loyalty was exemplified in who they chose to be with.
It made her think about how fickle humans could be. How easily they threw around words like love and togetherness and forever. How easily it was to let someone go or betray them regardless if they were bound to you by blood or not.
She wondered if that made it hard for Seungwan to be with her. She wondered if she ever doubted her.
“What does that mean...for us?”
Seungwan couldn’t even look at her when she spoke. “When the alpha approved of you, he only did it under the agreement that I would claim you.” She blinked back up to meet her eyes. “Fully.”
“Oh.”
“He’s understanding, but there are limitations.” Turning her body, she grabbed Joohyun’s hands into hers, squeezing them lightly like she was begging for her utmost understanding as the words rushed out of her. “There are rules and an unmarked human is dangerous amongst wolves.”
Joohyun looked up from their joined hands. Now it made sense. “That’s why Taeyong…”
“It isn’t only him.” An annoyed snarl curled up her lip but was quickly erased. “Everyone has been patient but this is the longest someone has ever gone unclaimed.”
Joohyun pulled in her lip, chewing on it in thought. There was so much to take in. This entire time, that’s all that was standing between her and being able to be fully accepted. This was the missing piece that she always wanted to know. She didn’t understand why Seungwan had kept it from her but there was one thing she did know. She knew she wanted to be apart of Seungwan’s life. Completely part of her life. So it was easy for her to say,
“Mark me.”
Seungwan’s face turned as white as the stones they sat on. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Just, no. No.” Seungwan’s hands ripped out of hers as she pulled away, rising to her feet. When she looked back down at Joohyun she turned away. Like it hurt her to do so. Or like she was ashamed of herself. “I won’t.”
“Wouldn’t that be better?” Joohyun stood, reaching out to grab for Seungwan but she backed away. “If we were bonded, I would be considered part of the pack. There wouldn’t be restrictions or secrets.”
“I don’t keep secrets from you.”
“Except this.”
Seungwan narrowed her eyes but guilt caught up to her and she deflated. “I had to...I had to make sure.”
“Sure of what?”
Silence.
Joohyun took a cautious step forward. The last time she saw Seungwan like this was the night she learned she was a werewolf. She didn’t want to frighten her. She didn’t want to push her.
“Seungwan…”
“I had to make sure this wasn’t a game to you,” she finally said, voice so low and pitiful that it hurt Joohyun’s heart. “That you weren’t with me only because you’re curious about us. That I wasn’t some sort of experiment.”
Joohyun’s chest singed. She didn’t know if it was because Seungwan would think so little of her—that Seungwan thought she had stayed with her for nearly two years for shallow reasons. Or did it hurt because Seungwan had been doubting this entire time if what they shared was enough?
“I begged the alpha to let me bring you tonight,” she confessed, throwing the words out there like a boulder that she’d been carrying on her shoulders for too long. “I wanted you to see who we are. Who I am. You’ve only really spent time with me or Seulgi but there’s so much more than that. My pack is my family. They’re my everything. My wolf is who I am and I can never be anything other than that. I’ll have them for centuries but you...” Seungwan bit her lip. It was trembling and her lashes fluttered to keep tears at bay. “You’re human. I can’t take that away from you. If you are marked, soon everyone else you love will be gone and you’d be left with—“
“—you,” said Joohyun. Closing the distance, she reached out, taking Seungwan’s face into her hands. “I’d be left with you and Seulgi and the others. I would have a family. I would have you.”
She shook her head, shaking herself free of Joohyun’s touch. “How could you want this?”
This. Did she mean her? Did she mean her wolf? Did she mean her family—her pack? It didn’t matter what she meant.
“How couldn’t I?” Because Joohyun wanted all of it.
Tears escaped, slipping passed her cheeks. “I won’t mark you.” She sniffled. “I can’t, Joohyun. I’m scared.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you.”
Joohyun stilled but her insides were anything but still. Her heart was racing and her stomach was fluttering. Those words had never left Seungwan’s lips before and Joohyun felt them like a bullet to the chest.
“You’re my first and my last forever,” she whispered. “But you could always choose differently.” Arms pulled around herself in attempts to hold everything in. But it couldn’t stop her shoulders from shaking and it couldn’t stop the tremor in her voice. “If we’re bonded and you realize that it was a mistake—that I was a mistake—losing you would hurt me worse than being burned by fire.”
“You’re not a mistake.” Joohyun took her face into her hands and held her firm refusing to let go this time. “Don’t you get it, Seungwan? You wouldn’t be taking me away from anything. You’d be giving me something more than I could have ever dreamed of.” She smoothed her thumb across her cheek, wiping away one of her tears. “I want this.”
“But I’m…” Her eyes flashed blue. That beautiful, beautiful blue. It reflected everything that she was from the inside out. Pure, loving, devoted. She was steadfast and she was true. She was Joohyun’s grounding and her constant. Her wildfire and her gentle river.
“It has never mattered to me what you are. It’s who you are.” Her forehead dropped against Seungwan’s, eyes held so she could see no one and nothing else but the certainty in her gaze. “That’s who I want. That’s who I want and who I want to love forever.”
Warm lips pressed against hers. Warm and salty. Fingers threaded into short hair, pulling her closer, holding her in place, showing that she wasn’t going to let go of her. Seungwan let everything go, shuddering in her arms as she circled her own around Joohyun, pulling her crushingly close.
A forehead dropped against Joohyun’s shoulder and she stroked a hand along Seungwan’s back, soothing her cries.
“I will always want to be yours,” she whispered. “So, let me be.”
-/-/-/-
Seungwan was as warm as ever. Burning. A furnace.
Layers of clothing dropped away so skin melded. Joohyun clung onto her shoulders as she laid her down, knees on either side of her body as she pressed them into the mattress.
She had kissed Seungwan a hundred times, had her in her arms a hundred times, but she had never seen her so open and alive as tonight. She was glowing with a light brighter than stars and humming with a power stronger than the moon.
A nose soared up along her chest, breathing in her scent. Joohyun wished she knew what her fragrance was but she hoped it was Seungwan’s neverending favorite.
Joohyun whimpered at the prick of teeth in her skin and pushed, rolling them over so she spilled over Seungwan who looked up at her in surprise.
She kissed from her lips down the column of her neck and down the center of her chest where she lingered to tease supple skin and swollen tips with her mouth.
Seungwan hummed beneath her, the sound a lustful growl of passion that Joohyun bathed in as it saturated the air. She found the taut plane of her stomach where she lavished in kisses and snaked the blunt tips of her nails along thighs that shivered beneath her touch.
She devoured Seungwan like the pelt consumed her human form, turning her into something wild that squirmed against the sheets and gripped out with hands like claws trying to find purchase in the earth to ground her.
But Joohyun wouldn’t let her be grounded just yet.
She made sure she soared across treetops then kissed her back down, tasting every panting breath off her tongue as their mouths found one another again.
A snarl ripped from her throat and Joohyun squealed as Seungwan held her firm. Not hard but just enough for her to know that she was hers now. She was hers now and she would be for years and years to come. Years of this, of something more.
She moaned as Seungwan poured her love into her with generous strokes and sealed it with the press of lips.
Her eyes were shimmering jewels of azure. Joohyun reached up, cradling her face in her hand wishing she could take those oceans and swallow them whole—swallow Seungwan whole. But she wouldn’t need to. Because she would soon always have Seungwan part of her and no oceans would keep them apart.
Her chest burned knowing that this would continue on and she could see the giddiness reflected on Seungwan as she took her long and slow.
Everything was different tonight.
Tonight was a night of new. Of becoming. Of rebirth.
Joohyun crested and she fell, panting in the heady air that surrounded them. Seungwan placed a kiss to her nose and dropped to her side, body curved around Joohyun’s that she couldn’t stand to not be touching with some part of her.
Joohyun turned onto her side and ran her fingers through dark hair, brushing it back from Seungwan’s face.
“Did I do this right?” she asked.
“Do what right?”
“The First Hunt.”
Seungwan laughed and pulled her in by the hips. “You’re a natural.”
Joohyun’s giggle was drowned out by a whimper. Seungwan’s kisses were suffocatingly sweet. She almost couldn’t stand it—the way they simmered in her chest and boiled over into her veins.
Pulling back, Seungwan looked up at her from where she was pressed against a pillow. “Where do you want it?”
The mark. Joohyun’s stomach jolted. This was it. This was happening. Form this night on, she would no longer be the Joohyun she knew but the Joohyun of centuries to come. She didn’t know what the future would hold but she knew the answer to Seungwan’s question.
“Here.” She placed a finger against her chest.
Right above her heart.
Seungwan kissed the spot then pressed her fingers into it that spread out until her palm vibrated with the drumming beneath. Her eyes were serious this time when she looked up.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She was sure.
Surer of it than anything she had ever been. Because where she was Seungwan’s first and forever, Seungwan was her now and forever. An unfathomable amount of time that would stretch on and on with an endless world to see and a place amongst safety and security and loving loyal family she would never lose.
“Then you’re mine.”
Seungwan’s eyes blazed blue.
And then her bones cracked.
-/-/-/-
The floorboards creaked under the weight of footsteps that crept into the study. Joohyun didn’t dare look up, knowing that once she did she’d be distracted from the work at hand. She kept her eyes on the document in front of her, reading glasses perched on her nose as arms circled her from behind.
“Hi.” Delicate warmth pressed against her cheek.
“Hi.” Joohyun couldn’t help but smile. “I’m almost done.”
Almost was an overstatement. Legal work was never almost over. There were always things to attend to, people to help. It felt like only yesterday she was turning in her master’s thesis, walked across a stage and completely into a new life and a home with Seungwan.
They had many homes since then. Ones nicer than others. Homes that saw friends and families and heartache and triumphs. Homes that faced challenges and scares but also breakthroughs and comfort.
She cherished each one of them.
The arms around her loosened and the shadow of a woman cast over the spread of papers on her desk. A finger hooked beneath her chin, leading her gaze away from the work at hand to meet blue eyes. The warmth of the sunlight that poured in through open windows lit up Seungwan’s cheeks in the golden hues of sunset, the gentle breeze teasing her chestnut hair. It was a little too long now, brushing just past Seungwan’s shoulders.
“Are you?” Seungwan raised an eyebrow at her.
She nodded and kissed the palm in front of her. “You know I wouldn’t miss it.”
“You don’t have a choice”—she stroked a stray hair behind Joohyun’s ear causing her to shudder—"Elder Bae.”
The title had yet to settle in. She worked hard for it, Seungwan would always remind her. Choosing to be with Seungwan meant being with her entire pack. She would never sprout furs or grow a muzzle but she could do her part with them as the human she was. She was a bridge between two worlds, using her expertise in law to keep the woman and the family she loved protected.
Her efforts were recognized by all and as the years went on, she was soon given an elder title.
At times she still couldn’t believe it. She remembered when she was considered no one. When she had to keep her head high and move slowly to gain the trust and respect from the pack. Because a mark was one thing but living it out was another.
Now, here she was.
“We had an agreement,” she said.
Seungwan playfully rolled her eyes. “I won’t distract you.” Tugging at her collar, Seungwan led Joohyun to her feet and trapped her between her knees with the heat of a kiss. “Even if it’s hard not to.”
Arms circled her waist, fingers teasing the small of her back. Joohyun arched into her, holding herself steady with arms around her neck.
“What happened to not distracting?”
“Maybe one more minute?”
Joohyun chuckled into the next kiss and gave a breathy sigh when lips and teeth found her neck. “Maybe a couple more minutes.”
It was Seungwan’s turn to laugh. The sound of it vibrated in her chest and Joohyun closed her eyes, soaking in the heat of hands that slipped beneath her shirt and up her back.
She always wondered how the years would go by. She wondered who they would be and where the love she had for Seungwan would go. How deep it could run. She wasn’t surprised that it knew no bounds and even now she shuddered at her touch and her heart raced at the mere sight of her.
“Mom!” Called a voice from another room, breaking through the haze. “I can’t find my robe!”
Joohyun grinned as she pulled away from tempting lips, combing back Seungwan’s tossed hair with a ruffle. “I think our few minutes are up.” She giggled again Seungwan’s soft groan. “You should help him.”
“I will.” She tapped a finger on Joohyun’s nose and let her go so she could sink back down into her seat. “Don’t be late. It’s his first hunt.”
Joohyun remembered her first hunt. The night everything changed. The night she gave her all over to Seungwan and never looked back.
That was fifty years ago.
And she spent each of those years reminding Seungwan that she loved her no less. That she never regretted her choice. That she could never see herself with anyone or anywhere other than right here at her side surrounded by strong souls who protected and loved her back.
“I won’t,” she assured. “I promise.”
Seungwan leaned in for another kiss. Lips trailed down her neck and dipped beneath the collar of her shirt to touch at her chest. Joohyun sighed as lips grazed over the raised marks etched into her skin, patterned from there and back around to her shoulder blade.
Not once did she think the mark was grotesque. It was beautiful. A beautiful symbol that she wore proudly.
“See you tonight,” Seungwan husked into her ear. Joohyun burned from the inside out.
“Tonight.” She drew in for one last peck and watched as Seungwan padded out of the study, closing the door behind her as she went.
Letting out a breath, she turned back to the papers, mind clouded with thoughts of wolves and hunters and rabbits and soft kisses and pups and the endless future that stretched beyond them.
Fin.