#if the werewolf transformation does not make you Completely lose yourself and also isn’t a grotesque agony to transform then you’ve lost me

[brittlebutch]

puppyfied werewolves becoming the bane of my existence. where is the distraught body horror. the existential terror of the body you cannot control. the dread of being lost to something not yourself and still inexorably You. the combined nausea of “what happened to me?“ and “what did i do?”. we are losing something vital here and we need to bring it back.

[sachigram]

I know Halloween has long passed (*sob*) but what do you think of Izaya as a Witch? 🤔 (maybe with a side order of Shizuo being his beastly but also angry familiar? 😂😂😂)

((Okay so I went rogue on this one. It’s funny because @lateniteslacker and I have an rp going where Izaya is a witch right now so I wanted this one to be darker and wanted Shizuo to be a beast for real.))

The thing about humans is, they really do have more in common with wild animals than they'd like to believe. Izaya has always studied human behavior extensively, obsessively, and he's always excited when a completely civilized person gives into their instincts, usually in a moment of complete desperation. The four f's really are a universal truth, and while Izaya is captivated by humanity as a whole, he can't deny he feels a certain...thrill in knowing society could topple at any moment, with only the slightest push, and then people would show their true colors and what lengths they would go to in order to survive.

Thinking this over, Izaya lifts his eyes to the beast pacing around his apartment. It's late at night, obscenely early morning, actually, but neither of the occupants in the apartment have slept yet. It's close to sunrise, Izaya realizes, and Shizuo has still yet to kill him.

“You're letting me live again? How generous of you, Shizu-chan,” Izaya says, and when Shizuo growls at him in answer, Izaya's lips curl into a small smile. Shizuo can't reply at length, of course. No werewolf in existence can speak when they're transformed.

Shizuo's body could be considered grotesque, but Izaya's never been squeamish, and he doesn't mind watching the huge monster walk in circles, his features lit only by the city lights streaming into the windows. His skin is dark and leathery, only some of it covered in thick, wiry fur. Shizuo's mouth is gaping and filled with sharp, jagged teeth, so many that it seems to be hard for Shizuo properly close it, thus making him leave drops of saliva in his wake. His eyes are the same color as normal, so dark they're practically a mirror for anyone who looks into them, but they're filled with bloodlust and hunger, instincts Shizuo would be acting on if not for Izaya's potion keeping him in his own mind.

“You could sleep, you know,” Izaya continues, watching with glee as Shizuo's ears perk towards Izaya, hearing him whether Shizuo wants to or not. “I'm not going to do anything to you. We seem to be in a truce, don't we? Unwilling companions.”

Shizuo snarls openly at that and makes his way over to the desk, looming over it and salivating onto Izaya's papers. Izaya merely looks up at him pleasantly, knowing Shizuo won't actually kill him. Shizuo is too afraid of being left alone to do so.

“Is it some kind of atonement? You think keeping yourself sleep deprived will help you feel better about what you are? It's actually only making it worse.” Izaya listens to Shizuo's deep, rumbling growl, and hears it for the question it really is. “I'm not awake because I want to be, Shizu-chan! It's not the same. You know I have insomnia. At the very least, I'm grateful for your company.”

Shizuo huffs and turns away from him then, going back to pacing. Izaya knows how cruel it is of him to act as if Shizuo has any choice to be here, but it hardly matters to Izaya why Shizuo is here. He's here. That's all Izaya needs.

It was months ago, another full moon. Izaya was fed up with Shizuo, wanted him gone for good. Shizuo wasn't rising to Izaya's challenges anymore, would actually ignore Izaya if they crossed paths on the street. More and more of Shizuo's time was spent with that woman, that doe-eyed assassin, and Izaya decided he was done playing around. He hired some men, some higher-ups in the Yakuza, actually, and Shizuo fought as he always does, but he couldn't avoid the sharp teeth when they broke his skin and infected him with something that could never be cured.

It took two weeks for Shizuo to come to Izaya. Shizuo was pale, haggard, looked as if he hadn't slept in days. He stormed into Izaya's apartment and demanded to know what was wrong with him, why he wanted to bite and tear, why his dreams were filled with blood and viscera— “guts” is what Shizuo actually said, but that's besides the point.

“Why did you come to me?” Izaya had asked. “What makes you think I know?”

The answer was more than Shizuo could put into words. All monsters make their way to Izaya sooner or later, all of them knowing Izaya can help if he chooses to. It's why Shinichi made contact with him, why the more beastly members of the Yakuza put up with him. Izaya is stronger than he looks, smarter than is good for him, and filled with a constant boredom that makes him dangerous. To top it all off, he's one of the only witches in Japan, and an incredibly powerful one at that.

Izaya explained that Shizuo was bitten by a werewolf, and he would succumb to his desires during the next full moon unless he relented to trusting Izaya to help, and at first, Shizuo stormed out, cursing, threatening to bash Izaya's head in. A week later, one week before the next full moon, Shizuo was back, looking worse than before, and he had a tired sort of acceptance about him that let Izaya know the monster had already worked through all the other stages of grief.

Now, they can be around each other for extended periods of time, but never without underlying malice and contempt in their words and actions. Shizuo refuses to take the potion home and be alone in this, and Izaya hardly minds being subjected to Shizuo's transformation, despite the fact that Shizuo keeps promising to kill him before sunrise. They're at an impasse, and like all shaky alliances, they're waiting for the other one to break it first.

The next time Izaya looks up from his computer, Shizuo is back to normal, curled into a ball in the floor, panting at the strain of his return to humanity. Izaya stands and goes to his side, offering him a blanket to cover his trembling, naked body, and Shizuo swats him away, sending Izaya toppling to the floor. Izaya only laughs, pleased Shizuo still has some fight in him. It's so much more fun this way.

“Fuck,” Shizuo hisses, lifting his head to glare openly at Izaya. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” Izaya asks earnestly.

“Like you love this.”

Izaya opens his mouth to respond, but he decides Shizuo has suffered enough for one night. He stands and goes back to his desk, leaving Shizuo to his own devices. Normally Shizuo will dress and leave immediately, but he lingers this time, hovering almost uncertainly by Izaya.

“Your mind is a mess,” Izaya says, hating that he can hear the majority of Shizuo's thoughts. Izaya tries not to read minds very often, feels like it's an unfair advantage in his line of work, and he so loves an actual challenge. But Shizuo's mind is different; it's loud and demanding, wanting more than anything to be heard.

“Why are you helping me?” Shizuo asks.

“I help many members of this world and the next, Shizu-chan,” Izaya replies without looking up. “It's part of my job.”

“Why wouldn't you want me to lose my mind and kill someone? Everyone would know then, wouldn't they? That I'm a monster. Isn't that what you want?”

Izaya looks up at him at last, a bored expression on his face. “It's enough that I know it.”

“Bullshit,” Shizuo snaps. “I keep waiting for you to sell me out, to tell everyone what I am. Why the fuck haven't you? I wouldn't help you if the tables were turned.”

“I know that,” Izaya says, shrugging. “I guess you could say I've been touched by how pitiful you are. How helpless.” Izaya's smile stretches into a leer, and he can see the way it makes Shizuo's skin crawl. “You need me.”

“I could find someone else,” Shizuo says. “Celty could know another...magic person.”

“By all means, go find them,” Izaya says. “Go explore the country and beyond on your measly second rate bodyguard salary. Better yet, go to Kasuka and tell him what you are and beg him for help in finding someone else to give you the same potion I give you for free every month.”

Shizuo flinches at that. He's obviously terrified of Kasuka finding out, which is hilarious in itself, as Kasuka is dating Ruri, another of Izaya's clients. It's true she doesn't have much vampire blood in her veins, but she has enough to feel the bloodlust. Izaya hasn't told Shizuo any of that, though. If nothing else, Izaya is loyal to his clients until they give him reason not to be, even if those reasons are nothing more than being more interesting once they find out Izaya betrayed them.

“You could go to Celty, see if Shinra and his crazy father can help you look for a cure. You could do a lot of things, but you come to me every month.” Izaya rests his chin on his hand and watches Shizuo carefully. “Is it because you already hate me, so you don't mind me seeing you at your lowest?”

“Fuck you,” Shizuo says, and he marches towards the door. Izaya rolls his eyes and goes back to typing, but he looks up again when he realizes Shizuo hasn't left yet.

“Say whatever the hell you have to and then leave me alone,” Izaya huffs. He needs to finish this assignment soon, and he'd like to do it within the next few hours so he can sleep afterwards.

“I know how rare it is. What you are,” Shizuo says, his back still to Izaya. “Celty told me.”

“I'm surprised you spoke to her about any of it.”

“I didn't tell her what I am. I know she wouldn't judge me for it, but still, I just...” Shizuo trails off, and he turns to face Izaya. “But she knows what you are, and she told me. That's why I came to you.”

“And what did she say about me?” Izaya asks, amused. He knows the courier despises him, but he doesn't care much for her either aside what she can do for him.

“She said there's a reason witches are so rare, and it's because most of them have been killed off.” Shizuo moves closer. “She said the majority of them abused their powers, the same way you do, and that's why they're targeted so often.”

“She neglected to mention the part where it was everyone else who came to us first,” Izaya says sharply, remembering the first time he saw members of the other world. Ghosts, demons, monsters of every kind flocking to him, asking for help. He was a child then, a neglected one at that. He was on his own with no one to help him, and that was when he realized how unfair the world could really be. “You're always barking about how you can't control your strength, well I can't control this. I didn't ask for this either.”

“You did this to me,” Shizuo accuses. It's not the first time he's said it, but Izaya has never admitted to it.

“And if I did?” Izaya asks, annoyed by this entire exchange. “What are you going to do about it?”

Shizuo roars with rage and lurches towards Izaya, lifting him up and slamming him against the wall. He breathes into Izaya's face, his sharp teeth bared.

“Why can't you just leave me the fuck alone?!” Shizuo shouts, and suddenly it seems as if he's being deflated, like all the strength is leaving him. He drops Izaya's feet to the floor, but he doesn't step away from Izaya's space. “Why can't you leave me alone?” he asks again, defeated.

“Because you're interesting,” Izaya says, and when he lifts his fingers to Shizuo's face, Shizuo only flinches slightly at the touch. “Because you're right, I'm alone in this, and you were alone, too. You were surrounded by people, but you were alone. No one knows better than me how that feels.”

“You ruined my life,” Shizuo says, no ire to it.

“You ruined mine first,” Izaya says, not bothering to elaborate. Shizuo doesn't seem confused, just tired, and when Izaya tucks his face into Shizuo's neck, the beast only growls softly before allowing it.

The thing about wolves is, they always protect their necks. It's one of their most vulnerable areas. Shizuo is allowing this, and that speaks volumes in itself. Izaya smiles and wraps his arms around Shizuo, clenching his fingers in the fabric of Shizuo's shirt.

“It'd be easier for you, wouldn't it? If you actually hated me,” Izaya murmurs. He presses his lips to Shizuo's neck, and he can feel the tremble of Shizuo's body before Shizuo's arms wrap around him in return.

“You won't die, right? You can't,” Shizuo says, his voice muffled in Izaya's hair.

“Wouldn't it be better for you if I did?” Izaya asks.

“Yes. No. Fuck.” Shizuo kisses the top of Izaya's head, and he makes a disgruntled noise when Izaya pulls away, growling until he realizes what it is Izaya wants. Their lips brush together gently, a complete contrast to all their harsh words and usual actions. “Izaya,” Shizuo breathes, clinging tight enough to Izaya to hurt.

“You won't be alone, Shizu-chan,” Izaya says, sighing sweetly when Shizuo kisses him again. They wind up on Izaya's couch, their clothes scattered around them as they give into their basic instincts, showing each other just how beastly they can be.

[devilsskettle]

(^^^ from howling (and bleeding) at the moon: menstruation, monstrosity and the double in the ginger snaps werewolf trilogy by erin m. flaherty) 

tw for discussion of suicide ideation

okay. so. i agree with the “doppelgänger narrative” idea but the idea that brigitte “[comes] to stand for the symbolic order she resists so enthusiastically at the start of the film” is, in my reading of the ending, a misinterpretation of what ginger’s “monstrosity” signifies in the film. flaherty’s reading follows a common structure of creature features in which the monstrous transgresses social norms, so the overarching conflict is the “other” vs. normalcy. in that case, killing the monster at the end is a return to normal and reinforces societal expectations. however, i don’t think that ginger snaps is actually that kind of story. at the beginning, both ginger and brigitte “resist so enthusiastically” being part of society to the point of rejecting life, becoming isolated and codependent. before ginger gets her period, brigitte tells her that she better not become basic like all the other kids at their school, but she leaves her behind pretty quickly once she becomes interested in teen society sex drugs and rock n roll and is more accepted by her peers. brigitte continues not to give a fuck about what anyone thinks of her, even though ginger is part of that world now and not their own. part of ginger’s transformation actually helps her gain social acceptance - she is now part of the “symbolic order” even as she transgresses it. i’m not saying her transformation doesn’t transgress this order, or that she gains the acceptance of everyone at her school - trina in particular certainly isn’t a fan - but especially at the beginning, the changes that she undergoes is perceived as her becoming a “normal” teenage girl instead of the freaky death-obsessed kid ostracized by her classmates. 

i would argue that ginger’s transformation makes her both super- and unfeminine - super-feminine in the sense that all the side effects of puberty for people with uteruses (menstruation, body hair/shaving, developing new body parts, hormones/mood swings, and awareness of sexuality/being sexually active) are exaggerated during her transformation - and a lot of these symptoms are ways in which a woman’s body is policed or found unacceptable or gross; unfeminine in the sense that, first of all, she’s becoming inhuman and gender is a very human concept, and second of all, she still doesn’t fit the mold of female expectation (i.e. shaving, dressing a certain way, being demure or nurturing, not being overconfident, not being a slut OR not being a prude, not having physical strength, etc). flaherty does make this argument via david j. hogan’s dark romance: sexuality and the horror film: “in complete confrontation with the classic view of the werewolf as ‘masculinity carried to an outrageous extreme,’ the werewolf is actually aligned with femininity carried to an extreme,” an idea that i think works really well in discussion of ginger snaps in particular. she also rejects the identity of “girl” several times - “wrists are for girls, i’m slitting my throat,” yelling at brigitte and saying she’s “just a stupid little girl” - and disparagingly points out the difference between the expectations for male and female sexuality - “he got laid, i’m just a lay.” so.... i definitely do get the interpretation of ginger’s death to have a kind of punitive logic for transgressing gendered expectations in these two different ways, but i think that’s a meta-criticism on the part of the writers, not the role that brigitte fills (for a movie that rejects the “death by morality call” of hollywood monster movies, they really did still punish her narratively for moral transgressions lmao - like flaherty says, “it appears that as subversive as the ginger snaps films are in respect to the werewolf narrative, they also reflect a deep cultural ambivalence about female identity. there is no option offered to ginger or brigitte, and due tot heir unwillingness to accept the roles predetermined for them in the society in which they live, they must be punished”). honestly i think i am nitpicking a little bit because i guess i do ultimately agree with flaherty that the story follows a normalcy > otherness > return to normalcy pattern with gendered ideas of what normalcy is, and where she loses me is her interpretation of brigitte and ginger’s social standing. to me, ginger seems really frustrated trying to navigate gender roles and her own position in society - but she is engaging with society.

you know who’s still not engaging with society? brigitte. she isn’t part of that “normalcy” at all, so to me, her rejection of the lycanthropy that ginger embraces signifies less that she sides with the social order and wants to reinforce normalcy, and more that she did a lot of growing up over the course of this movie as well, in a different direction than ginger did, and she reclaims her agency as well as her will to live. i feel like the monstrosity vs. normalcy framework ignores the fact that both ginger and brigitte are actively suicidal at the beginning of the movie - the first shot we get of ginger is her holding a knife to her wrist. at the beginning, brigitte hesitantly agrees to their suicide pact despite her obvious reservations. at the end, she strongly asserts, “i’m not dying in this room with you. i’m not dying.” so if we consider ginger’s mimetic role for brigitte, killing her isn’t reestablishing the social norm, it’s rejecting her own destructive and suicidal tendencies. i think her narrative arc teaches her: 1) how to make her own decisions separate from ginger and have agency in her own life, 2) recognition of her mother’s feelings of estrangement from her family, 3) how to connect with other people in a way that isn’t codependent, 4) rejection of suicide ideation. all of these lessons are ways of treating yourself and others with respect, compassion, and understanding - even though brigitte doesn’t change dramatically, magically becoming a saccharinely nice person or a social butterfly. she maintains her isolation and personality much more than ginger does over the course of the film. while at the beginning their fascination with their own deaths “not only demonstrates the duo’s disgust at the banality of their suburban surroundings, it also proclaims their self-stylized exclusion from the heterosexually fueled dynamics of the teen scene” (via menstrual monsters: the reception of the ginger snaps cult horror franchise), it’s ginger, not brigitte, who ends up participating in this “compulsive heterosexing high school culture,” where brigitte’s choice to not commit suicide isn’t her opting into this culture, but attempting to find a less destructive way of escaping or coping with it. 

flaherty argues that because brigitte’s first period is never discussed in the films, “she remains a child and therefore is unable to understand the true restrictiveness of woman as Other, what leads ginger to eventually embrace and enjoy her monstrosity,” but in unleashed, a fair amount of time has passed and i think it’s fair to say that brigitte no longer seems child-like (that role is assumed by ghost), and also she starts experiencing the same kind of monstrous sexuality as ginger did in the first movie - i think it misrepresents her characterization in the sequel to say that she maintains “child” status. i also think it’s not relevant to try to distinguish between “girl” and “woman” in terms of the monstrous-feminine. she still experiences alienation and otherness because she’s female and transgresses gender roles. so.... i don’t know. it’s a weird argument to make, especially since, like i said before, i consider this story a kind of coming of age for both sisters. “lycanthropy and femaleness” are not “ultimately unknowable” to her because.... she does become a werewolf over the course of both movies and she’s already female (like..... getting your period doesn’t magically make you a Real Woman lol)

i also think it’s significant that as a stand-alone movie (ignoring the sequel, which is worth watching but seriously bleak as hell) the ending is tragic but tacitly hopeful as well - as far as we know at that point brigitte has the cure (which actually works!) and is not going to kill herself. in her final confrontation with ginger, she has the cure in one hand and a knife in the other hand, and i think that nicely represents the choice that is hanging over her head the entire movie: choosing to live or choosing to die. (flaherty calls this “a telling moment of double phallic-appropriation” which..... meh. okay. not every weapon/tool used in a horror movie has to be a phallic symbol but also, sure, whatever. that’s one way to read it i guess). ginger made her decision at the very beginning of the movie 

this quote by karen walton expresses this interpretation really well:

The two sisters had this childhood bond with their pact. These two sisters were also best friends who created a bubble for themselves and took strength from each other, nourished and informed each other for a long time; but the film is not just the story of Ginger turning into a monster. It is also a story about Brigitte surviving her sister who is on a death spiral. Ginger's is a story of self-destruction. But where people get confused is that they think Ginger is the hero, but the film is really about a sister who survives a sister, who survives a best friend. An intimate relationship that becomes unhealthy and deadly.

and i’ve talked a little bit about why i feel uncomfortable with attaching a ~*girl power*~ narrative to ginger so i won’t get to much into that but i have some thoughts about that here 

also i’ve said a little bit about this before and i am basically copy/pasting from a post i already made but with a doppelgänger story like this, especially with a focus on women and madness, to me it immediately brings to mind jane eyre. i am thinking in terms of the mimetic function of jane/bertha and brigitte/ginger, with the repressed emotions and desires of the protagonist coming through in the actions of the “madwoman” character. especially brigitte’s assertion of “now i am you” when she voluntarily lets ginger turn her into a werewolf. the “madwoman” is portrayed as bestial, hypersexual, intemperate with substances, jealous, vengeful, as well as dealing with extreme anger toward confinement (ginger’s panic at getting locked up and her escape and weaponized sexuality brand of revenge is so similar to bertha like. trying to burn rochester alive and biting her brother badly enough that he passes out and other shit like that). but ALSO the other women in jane eyre have a mimetic function as well, where they can be read as potential paths for jane to follow (these choices generally can be summarized as dead or married). i think ginger snaps can be read the same way - ginger, trina, and her mother are the models of womanhood brigitte is presented with, and she is repeatedly told that what’s happening to ginger is normal, that all women experience that, and soon she will too. like the women in jane eyre, they’re models of femininity that she rejects but has to navigate because there are no other models for her. these three characters are either killed (directly or indirectly) or abandoned by her by the end of the movie. it’s actually ginger who defines the roles that women are cast into: “a slut, a bitch, a tease, or the virgin next door.” this is similar the female archetypes that jane has to navigate (and resist) throughout jane eyre. anyway this is a really roundabout way of saying that although brigitte does reject her worldview from the beginning of the movie, she doesn’t accept social order and normalcy. she doesn’t fall into any easily defined category. which is the point - “no one thinks girls do fucked up shit” but of course they do, no one thinks they can be more complex than these categories but of course they are, no one entertains the possibility that brigitte isn’t going to follow some made up universal experience of girlhood but she resists that through the end of the movie. she’s still a total weirdo <3

so yeah, i will also disagree with the assertion that both sisters lose their identities, because while i think there is a loss or a shift of identity in both ginger and brigitte, like flaherty argues, part of brigitte’s narrative arc is figuring out who she is without her dependence on her sister. brigitte saying “now i am you” feels less about loss of identity to me than actually identifying herself with the traits she sees (or used to see) in ginger - where ginger’s response (“i know you are, but what am i?”) indicates actual loss of identity rather than something transitory 

oh and also one of the main claims of this paper is that the male werewolf’s source of pain is beyond the “lifetime of morning-afters where he must confront the previous night’s excess,” and is really his “bodily alignment with another ungraspable Other, the woman” which 1) i don’t think follows the definition of the Other she establishes earlier in the paper as something that is repressed in a self or society - this use of “otherness” seems more about alignment with something different than his own identity and less about the jekyll and hyde comparison she evokes with the expression of a repressed self (imo i don’t think she should’ve used that story to support her argument since it isn’t actually about werewolves, even though i get her point about the repressed self, it’s kind of irrelevant to her argument), 2) brigitte in the first movie doesn’t seem repressed to me - she genuinely doesn’t seem to have the same impulses as ginger does and it’s not until the sequel that she actively is attempting to repress the changes that are happening to her; however, since the paper does concern the whole trilogy, i think the point is still valid, but there’s such a heavy focus on the first movie that i feel the need to dispute that interpretation of her character arc, and 3) i don’t think this interpretation really lines up with classic werewolf movies - there’s nothing particularly feminine about your standard werewolf except arguably the cyclical alignment with the moon that ginger snaps uses as a menstruation metaphor, but like. for example. i would never watch an american werewolf in london and think, “oh, his distress isn’t actually about killing innocent people, loss of control, loss of sanity, guilt and mourning because of the death of his friend, a predetermined fate, and suicide, it’s about him being female-coded” or something. like, yes, “the tragedy of the male werewolf is believed to lie exclusively in the deep anguish he feels in violating the very societal boundaries he has come to live under” and it’s interesting to dig deeper into that in terms of gender and sexuality, but i don’t think femaleness is inherent in the distress of the male werewolf - of course this is true in ginger snaps (with jason’s transformation being particularly distressing to him because it mirrors menstruation). the assertion that the classic werewolf “bleeds uncontrollably until his transformation is complete” similarly seems unfounded to me because i’ve never seen that in werewolf movies and she doesn’t cite where she finds that symptom of the transformation - maybe i am missing something there? if anyone knows of a depiction where that’s the case let me know, because that’s definitely a stronger argument for werewolves = menstruation-coded.

and re: the quote i cited earlier about werewolves = femininity taken to the extreme: i don’t think that argument holds true in the classic depiction/cultural perception of the werewolf. i think this post makes a more supportable (and concise) argument:

There are hardly any female werewolves because they break all the classic rules of femininity. They force you to confront female violence, strength, size, grotesqueness and uncontrollability. Historically female shapeshifters always shift into something dangerous (snake) or sleek (cat) or dainty (bird) but female werewolves ignore the masculine gaze completely. They're distorted beasts that have no ulterior motive except to destroy. Nothing about them is nurturing or modest. They're the opposite of what a woman "should be." Their omission from pop culture is not an accident.

all that being said, i did enjoy this article, especially starting at the section titled “wrists are for girls; i’m slitting my throat:” ginger fitzgerald’s monstrosity and all the stuff about ginger’s transformation as a reflection of "monstrosity” as a teenage girl, and suburban landscape of repression. one description of brigitte’s conflict that i actually really like: “unlike the male werewolf’s double, brigitte yearns not for the eradication of her other half but for the reconciliation.” i think it’s a really interesting read, even if i don’t agree with a lot of it. and maybe i’m way off base? maybe i’m interpreting brigitte as a character too generously? let me know what you guys think 

[nuttydelphox]

The Moon is Brighter By Your Side

Story by @nuttydelphox

Companion art by @slytherinliththorne

Words: 5,200

My half of the @hphmbang2020 done with slytherinliththorne! You can find her half here!

Prompt: Chiara once lost a friend to her lycanthropy and had avoided contact with people since then. But the unexpected friendship with Jae Kim changes it all.

==========

The night was still in the Hufflepuff dorms where Chiara slept. The only movement was her own tossing and turning. Her breathing was short as if she were being chased. When her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright she found that the sun was beginning to rise.

Sunrise…

Chiara let out a sigh. The night was over, and with that her nightmares. At least for now. She lays back down and stares at the canopy of her bed, thinking to herself.

The nightmares came every night recently. They pop up every now and then to remind her of her past, and what she has been doomed to. They were always the same. A bright smile that twists into a look of horror the second the sun goes down.

Chiara shook the thoughts out of her head. No use dwelling on them now. She slowly and quietly gets out of bed and dresses, trying not to wake her dormmates. Without a sound she slips out of the dorm and out of the Hufflepuff Common Room.

With the sunrise came the end of curfew, meaning that the Great Hall would be opening for breakfast soon. Her stomach grumbling, Chiara ascended the stairs out of the basemen and into the drafty hallway. She found the Great Hall was still closed. A bit disappointed, Chiara decided to take a short walk to kill some time.

The windows along the corridors were open, letting the chilly wind pass through and nip at her ears. Pulling her robes tighter around her, Chiara notices that she wasn’t the only student up this early. A small crowd was gathered around a bench at the other end of the corridor. In the middle of the crowd was Jae Kim, selling his usual contraband - or as he liked to call it, “uncommon collectibles.” Seems like the early morning is a good time for business as most professors and Prefects aren’t awake yet.

Chiara’s stomach growls again as she notices that Jae is also selling sweets. Pumpkin Pasties, Peppermint Toads, Bertie Bott’s Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizzbees, Cauldron Cakes, and Sugar Quills to name a few. Having not eaten since an early dinner the previous night, Chiara was quite hungry, and found herself approaching the small crowd.

“What can I get for you?” Jae asked as she got closer and the students parted to make room for her.

“Oh, sorry. I was just looking… I don’t have any money on me,” Chiara said truthfully.

“That’s cool,” Jae said before turning his attention back to the other students.

As his customers purchased what they wanted and the crowd thinned, Jae noticed that Chiara was still looking at the sweets intently. After his last customer purchased an Auto Answer Quill and Chiara was the last one standing there, Jae finally asked, “Are you just looking for a snack?”

“Huh? Oh… Yes. Sorry, I’m hungry and the Great Hall isn’t open yet…”

“Tell you what, how about I give you something on the house? Since you aren’t looking for anything that’s actually against the rules.”

Chiara was a bit startled by the offer, but wasn’t about to turn down free sweets. “I’ll take a Sugar Quill then.”

Instead of handing her just one, Jae gave her two. He considered saying something like, “Cute girls get extra,” but only Diego could pull off something like that. Instead he said, “A little sugar to kick start your day.”

“Thank you, Jae,” Chiara said with a smile on her face. She walked away, already chewing one of the Sugar Quills.

==================

“Um… Jae?” Chiara asked. “Are you going to be able to stay awake for this lesson…?”

From the looks of it he wasn’t. His eyes were fluttering trying to stay open and his face was slipping from its rest on his hand. Chiara knew full well that Divination was a class Jae frequently slept through, and she wasn’t too thrilled to be his partner for this lesson.

They were reviewing dream interpretation that day, and were separated into pairs. Knowing that Jae drifts off in class, Professor Trelawny had paired him with Chiara, hoping that her most enthusiastic student would help her least enthusiastic student to focus. So far it didn’t seem to be working.

Chiara had always assumed that Jae slept through this class because he found it boring. But now she was finding out that it was more so the heat and the fumes that were putting him to sleep. Not that she could blame him; it was quite stuffy in the room.

Professor Trelawny gave them a rundown of the lesson, then floated around the room assisting students as they tried to discern their fortune from their dreams.

“Jae?” Chiara asked, prompting him to open his eyes. “What kind of dreams do you have?”

He fixed his chin into his hand and looked off into the distance, thinking. “Well… I don’t often have dreams… That I remember anyway… I remember when I was little I often had dreams where I was watching a play with my mom and I would have to go onstage and fill in for one of the actors. Does that count?”

“I don’t think so… What about recent dreams?”

“Um… Last week I had a dream that I was being chased.”

Chiara started to flip through the pages of their textbook. “Chase dreams are common. They mean that you’re avoiding something in your waking life. Responsibilities or even yourself.” She found the page on chase dreams. “Seems like they can also represent close-mindedness and fear.”

Jae blinked. “You know all that from the top of your head?”

“Well, I’ve been studying dream interpretations… This is my favorite class after all.”

“I am glad to hear that you are enjoying my class, Miss Lobosca,” Professor Trelawny said as she moved closer to their table. “Mr. Kim, you are having dreams of being chased, I hear? As Miss Lobosca said they are very common. What dreams have you been having my dear?”

The question was directed at Chiara, who was startled at the sudden inquiry. She knew full well what her nightmares of horrified faces and the full moon represented…

“I-I’m also having dreams of being chased, Professor…” Chiara lied.

==================

“No really,” Jae said, pleadingly, “it’s my stomach. I think the sandwich I ate was bad…”

“Is that so,” Madam Pomfrey said in a voice that made it clear that she was not convinced. She had no time to expose him however, as she was busy with a wave of students who decided it was a good idea to listen to Mandrake cries, so she tasked Chiara with taking care of Jae while she focused on the other students.

While it was true that Jae wasn’t ill, he did have good reason for needing to go to the Hospital Wing. His late night trips into Knockturn Alley were proving fruitless lately, and he was losing profits as well as sleep. He had an idea of what he needed to change for the better; the issue was putting that into action. But first he needed sleep.

Sleeping in class wasn’t an option as he would only get caught and given even more detention time, not that he cared but it wouldn’t help him at all. And skipping class to sleep in his dorm or the Gryffindor Common Room would only get him caught by a Prefect. Even faking illness wasn’t fool-proof, as he could easily be caught by Madam Pomfrey. But it seemed like the least dangerous option.

Chiara closed the curtains around Jae’s bed to block out some of the scolding the other students were receiving from Madam Pomfrey. She placed a bucket next to his head. “How long ago did you eat the bad sandwich?”

“It was during lunch, so an hour ago…” Jae rolled onto his side, clenching his stomach in his bid for believability.

“What was on the sandwich?”

“Uh...roast beef?”

“Hmm… Maybe it was expired, or left out too long.” Chiara sat down in the chair next to Jae’s bed. “Let me know if you have to throw up.”

Jae nodded slightly then closed his eyes. The Hospital Wing was far from quiet, but at least he had a bed. He dozed off and on, occasionally holding his stomach and groaning to complete the act. As he rested he tried to think of what he could do to increase his profits. His mind kept coming back to the same conclusion, and he groaned at the thought of it.

“Jae, you don’t have to groan,” Chaira said. “I know you’re faking but I’m not going to tell Madam Pomfrey.”

Jae rolled over and said sheepishly, “...You won’t?”

“No. I can tell that you need sleep, and I know what it’s like to need sleep. It’s important for your health and you’ll eventually get sick if you don’t rest. ...Besides, I have to repay you for the Sugar Quills.” Chiara smiled at him.

Jae smiled back at her and felt a rush of warmth in his chest. He rested his head down to sleep again, thinking that he would have to pay her kindness forward.

==================

A few days later in Astronomy class, Professor Sinistra was despondent. “I had wanted to study the new moon for this week’s class, but since the night sky is still cloudy from this afternoon’s showers we shall make do with our lunascopes.”

Chiara was unsure of how they were supposed to see the new moon even with a clear sky, but she didn’t bother to ask. While she enjoyed Astronomy class and divining the future based on the stars, she was unable to find much beauty in the moon, even with a lunascope. Her nightmares were just as frequent as before, and she was beginning to dread sleep again.

As she looked through her lunascope, the stars seemed to form the outline of a face she was never able to forget. Selina…

It was a suitable name for someone who looked like the full moon. Shining eyes full of wonder and a smile that lit up the night. She hadn’t been deterred when she first heard that her neighbor was a werewolf. Chiara found validation in this. Here was proof that her parents were wrong to shut her away from other people. Wrong to prevent her from making friends.

Chiara and Selina became fast friends, as children are wont to do. But the first time and only time she saw Chiara transform… She would never forget how fear had filled those shining eyes and the terror in her scream… Perhaps she was doomed to never have friends. Perhaps that was part of being a werewolf.

“Psst, Chiara,” Jae whispered next to her, nudging her arm. “What’s the difference between ‘waxing gibbous’ and ‘waning gibbous’?”

Chiara was a bit startled to be so suddenly shaken from her memories. She was only able to stutter at Jae in response.

“Miss Lobosca! Mr. Kim!” Professor Sinistra scolded them from the front of the class. “Care to share with the rest of us your conversation which must be so much more interesting than my lesson?”

Chiara was so stunned that she was speechless; she had never been called out in class like this before. Was she going to get detention?

“Sorry, Professor,” Jae spoke up beside her. “It’s my fault. I was asking her for help.”

“If you need help, Mr. Kim, you can always raise your hand to ask me the question. That way it won’t be an interruption.” With that, Professor Sinistra returned to the lesson.

Chiara and Jae looked at each other. It was unusual for him to take the blame instead of deflect it. She smiled at him a silent ‘thank you’, and he smiled back.

==================

Jae sighed as he counted his stock for the third time in a row and came up with the same small amount. His income was the lowest it had been in weeks, and still wasn’t improving.

“Still coming up short?” asked Charlie from his bed.

“Yeah,” Jae put the money away in a bag and locked it in his trunk. “I have to come up with a way to get some more goods…”

“Where do you even go in Knockturn Alley to get your stuff?” Charlie asked, looking up from his Herbology homework.

“Here and there,” Jae said evasively. “But my sources haven’t been that good or reliable lately. I have to find more…”

Jae thought about his plan to do so. It would require delving deeper into Knockturn Alley and coming out of his hiding place in the shadows. He preferred hiding where it was safer. Out in the open you were vulnerable to the denizens of the Alley and whatever transgressions they felt like doing. He shivered at the thought. He was horribly unprepared to come out of the shadows…

But he had a plan to prepare himself. The plan was just as dangerous as Knockturn Alley itself, but he knew he had to go through with it. If only to keep his business from going under.

‘I’ll go in a few nights…’ Jae thought to himself as he looked out the window onto the rainy grounds.

==================

Chiara closed the book as the last of the ghosts drifted through the wall and left. She had just finished reading Cinderella to the ghost of a somber looking Slytherin boy, but her heart wasn’t in it. Sure she had read the book aloud and the Slytherin boy didn’t seem to have any complaints, but her mind was elsewhere.

She had joined Penny in reading fairy tales to the lonely ghosts of the castle a while ago, and she loved it. But tonight she was distracted and subdued. She looked out the window into the rainy night. Even through the gloom the moon could be seen peeking out of the clouds. The full moon was only a few nights away…

Penny was packing up her own book when she noticed the faraway look in Chiara’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Chiara pulled her gaze from the window. “Oh, nothing. Just thinking about the story.”

“Cinderella? It’s a Muggle classic. What do you think of it?”

Chiara wasn’t going to tell Penny about her thoughts of Cinderella magically changing back into her rags at the stroke of midnight and how it mirrored her own magical transformation in the light of the moon. Instead she simply said, “It must be nice to be whisked away to a life of luxury and certainty.”

Penny nodded as they set off for the Hufflepuff Basement together. “It must be. It’s every girl’s dream.”

“It is?” Chiara asked, genuinely confused.

“Of course! To have no worries, for the rest of your days… Hakuna matata and all that.” Penny chuckled at Chiara’s bewildered expression. “Never mind that. Let’s talk about something else. What’s going on with you and a certain Jae Kim?”

“The question was so out of left field that it took Chiara a moment to process what Penny had said. “I-what?”

I saw that look the two of you shared in Astronomy the other night. What was that about?”

“Oh that? That was nothing.”

“Come on, you can tell me. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Chiara wasn’t sure how true that was. While she and Penny did get along very well both in and out of classes, Chiara was reluctant to let people get too close to her. Especially knowing that werewolves are Penny’s greatest fear… True, she was accepting of Chiara and even brewed Wolfsbane potion for her, but Chiara didn’t want to risk another Selina.

“It’s...nothing. Really, it’s nothing.”

Penny gave her an appraising look. “Alright, if you say so.”

They walked in silence after that.

==================

The darkness was thick, and swallowed the light from Jae’s wandtip. The only time he could see a tree was right before walking into it. He frequently tripped on roots and shrubs, despite walking back and forth along the same path.

“Come on, Jae,” he said to himself. “You have to do this. You can’t continue your business unless you can get a good stock. And to get a good stock you have to go deeper into Knockturn Alley.”

He took a deep breath and stared into the trees. He wasn’t in Knockturn Alley, but along the perimeter of the Forbidden Forest. Sneaking out was easy - he’d done it so many times. What was hard was working up the courage to walk into the Forest.

This was something he had to do. Chiara’s dream interpretation basically confirmed everything he had already been suspecting himself. He was avoiding his responsibilities as a business owner and he was avoiding himself. In order to overcome his fear of the dangers the darkness brings, he’ll have to face them himself.

The clouds parted, and revealed the full moon. It’s light illuminated the path in front of him, giving Jae some reassurance. He held his wand out in front of him and delved deeper into the Forest.

The path was well worn by both Hagrid and Kettleburn, so he was no longer tripping on shrubs and roots. As Jae continued to walk in the Forest he was becoming more and more anxious of every noise he heard. Was it something harmless, like a Unicorn? Or was it an Acromantula? Or a Centaur?

A particularly close rustling made him pause and point his wand, ready to attack if necessary. Out of a shrub came a small creature that looked quite like a dog. It looked up at Jae with big round eyes and turned its head to the side.

“Oh...hello there,” Jae said. “You’re quite adorable.”

The cub wagged its tail, which Jae took as a sign of friendliness. He relaxed his arms and knelt down to look more closely at the cub. “Are you lost? Or do you live here?”

It turned its head to the other side, then walked up to Jae and sat down in front of him. Jae scratched its head. “You’re quite friendly. Do you have a name?”

“Borf!” the cub barked.

“Shh!! You don’t know what could be lurking nearby.”

“Borf borf!”

Before Jae could respond the cub turned around and ran back the way it came.

“No, wait!” Jae called out a bit too loudly. “Come back! It’s too dangerous for a cub like you!”

Jae gave chase following the cub through the bushes and undergrowth. The cub was consistently at the edge of his wandlight, but just out of reach. It had a much easier time slipping under roots and around tree stumps than Jae did. On top of that it seemed to know where it was going. All the while the cub was barking.

“Shh! You’ll attract something dangerous! Like a...a…”

Jae’s words trailed off as they reached a small grove in the Forest. A gap in the trees allowed some moonlight through to the ground, where it perfectly illuminated a small bag and moonstone necklace. They were neatly placed at the base of a tree, almost as if hidden. What startled Jae the most was that he recognized them.

“These...belong to Chiara. What are they doing out here…?”

Jae picked up the two items and inspected the bag further. In it was Chiara’s wand and a photo of a sunrise over Hogwarts. The cub sat down next to him and wagged its tail.

Jae looked around, as if expecting to see Chiara nearby. He’s just beginning to wonder if she was okay when the cub began to chew on her bag strap. “Hey, don’t do that!” Jae scolded, pulling the strap up and away from the cub’s mouth. In retaliation the cub barked again.

“Shhhhhh!!” Jae said again, putting his finger to his mouth. The cub stops barking and turns its head again.

From somewhere in the trees they hear a howl.

He drops Chiara’s belongings. Fear rushes through Jae’s body as he scoops up the cub in a panic and looks around the grove. In his rush to follow the cub earlier, he had unknowingly abandoned the path. He was lost now, with nothing but his wand to defend himself. He cycled through all the spells he knew in his mind. He could cast Red Sparks into the air, but will anybody see it to save him? What if he just attracts more danger? Are his concealment charms good enough to hide him? Can he handle himself in a duel?

Why had he come into the Forbidden Forest at all? Why did he follow the cub instead of just letting it run off? What was going to happen to them now?

The howl pierces the night again, closer now.

Jae crouches against the tree trunk, extinguishing the light from his wand and trying to make himself smaller. Suddenly, the cub in his arms howls back. A cold wave washes over Jae as he realizes that what he’s holding is a werewolf cub.

He hears footsteps nearby and across the grove he can see the outline of a large creature with long limbs and pointed ears. An adult werewolf.

Jae bolts to his feet and furiously tries to climb the tree. He makes it up three branches when he realizes that he was still holding the cub in one arm. He was too high off the ground now to drop it, and he couldn’t climb down. He stared at the adult werewolf, and it just stared back at him.

Then it slowly stepped forward into the little light pilfering through the treetops. It was a bright white, whereas the cub in Jae’s arms was a muted gray. The blue eyes were just as bright, and Jae registered that it was odd to see something so bright in such a dark forest.

The werewolf slowly came closer to the tree, which Jae realized it could easily scale. He tried to climb a bit higher, but with the cub in one arm it was tremendously difficult. As he reached for a branch, Jae’s foot slipped beneath him and he fell several feet to the ground.

Pain exploded in his ankle and he bit down on his cheek to suppress a scream. Tears stung his eyes and he finally lets go of the cub, who was unharmed. The cub calmly walked over to the adult werewolf, who pet it like a human would.

Jae couldn’t be in a worse situation. He was severely injured and alone at the feet of a werewolf. Even if he managed to cast Red Sparks, the werewolf would have bitten him - or worse eaten him - by the time help arrived.

...But the werewolf wasn’t attacking him. He looked up at it with tear-filled eyes and saw that it was not even growling at him. In fact it looked nothing like the bloodthirsty monsters werewolves were always described as. This one wasn’t out of its mind or acting on instinct. Jae could see that the blue eyes were sane, and intelligent. And familiar…

The adult werewolf picks up Chiara’s bag and begins to fish around in it. If Jae wasn’t in searing pain and scared out of his mind he might try to stop it. The werewolf pulled out Chiara’s wand and crouched closer to Jae. He couldn’t move away from it even if he tried.

The werewolf points the wand at Jae’s ankle and within a moment, the pain began to quickly ebb away. He flexes his ankle and finds that it was perfectly healed. Instead of mauling or biting him, the werewolf had saved him…

But how could the werewolf perform magic with Chiara’s wand? True, Jae wasn’t that familiar with wandlore and the rules of wand magic - he probably slept through that lesson - but something still seemed off. He looks back and forth between Chiara’s wand and the werewolf until he makes the connection.

“...Chiara…?”

The werewolf’s blue eyes widened and it backed up. The cub however stepped forward and licked Jae’s face. Then it pulled on his hoodie until Jae got the message and stood up. He gingerly put weight onto his ankle, finding that it didn’t hurt at all now. He looked up at the werewolf, who was several feet away now. Jae lit his wand again to see it better. The werewolf retreated an inch further.

“I...thank you,” he says, at a loss for better words. “Are you...?”

Without answering, the werewolf pointed into the trees and then ran off into the opposite direction. Jae was about to give chase before the cub pulled on his pant leg. He looked down at it, and it walked away into the direction the adult had pointed. Seems like now it was going to lead him out of the Forest…

Jae was not paying attention as he followed the werewolf cub. Instead he was lost in his thoughts. Those eyes...the healing spell…the necklace and bag… It had to be Chiara. He had heard rumors of a werewolf attending Hogwarts, but that was mainly something used by the seventh years to scare the first years. To think that it was not only true, but someone he knew…

The cub led Jae all the way to the path that they had met on before standing on its hind legs to place its front paws on Jae’s legs. “Thanks for being my guide, little one,” Jae said, scratching it under the chin. It responded by licking Jae’s palm and then climbing down to disappear back into the Forest.

==================

Chiara was mortified. It was her worst fear come true. Someone at Hogwarts knew her secret, and he was going to tell everyone.

When the sun rose and her transformation wore off, Chiara made her way out of the Forbidden Forest on trembling feet. In fact her whole body was shaking in fear. What was going to happen when she showed back up at the castle? Would the students start hurling insults at her? Run her off of the grounds? Where would she go to school now? Where would she live?

She peeked around every corner before proceeding down a corridor, terrified of running into someone. She was nauseous with worry and anxiety. Jae was the first person she saw, and she almost threw up there. He was sitting on the same bench that she found him on just a few weeks ago. This time he was alone, counting his stock.

Chiara steadied her breath. Maybe this was an opportunity to convince him not to tell anyone if he hadn’t already. She planned what to say to him and then marched around the corner before she could change her mind.

When she got close enough he looked up. She had barely opened her mouth to speak before Jae said, “Hey, Chiara. Are you looking for more Sugar Quills?”

Chiara blinked and faltered. He asked it so casually. As if he didn’t see her in werewolf form last night.

“I...no. No, not right now. I wanted to talk to you.”

“Okay.”

Chiara had completely forgotten what she was going to say. She stood there dumbly looking at thim. Jae stared back, beginning to feel uncomfortable.

“Um...what did you want to talk about?”

“I...I forget.”

Feeling lame, Chiara plopped herself down on the bench next to Jae. He shuffled his stock uncomfortably. “Does it...have to do with last night at all?”

“...Yes.”

“Okay. Well, for starters are you feeling alright?”

“...What?”

“I heard that the transformations are painful. Are you feeling alright?”

Chiara wasn’t sure at all what to say now. He didn’t seem scared of her, and he wasn’t angry with her. It seemed like he actually cared. Which couldn’t be right.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Are we?”

“Yeah? I thought?”

The last time a friend had seen Chiara transform, she screamed and ran away. She reacted so poorly that Chiara’s mother had to Obliviate her and move the whole family away. And now Jae was sitting next to her, calling her a friend after seeing her transformed.

What was different about Jae? Or was it Selina who was different?

“...You saw me transformed.”

“I did. I’m sorry that I was afraid of you at first. I didn’t realize that one: it was you. And two: that you weren’t a bloodthirsty monster like I was led to believe.”

Chiara blinked and recoiled a bit. “Bloodthirsty monster?”

Jae threw up his hands defensively. “I didn’t mean it like that! I meant that I was always told that werewolves were out of control and always hunting people. And I believed it because I never knew anything different until last night.”

Chiara wasn’t sure what to say, so she didn’t say anything. She turned her gaze to her hands instead of looking at Jae. She didn’t want him to see her tears.

Jae let them sit in silence before saying, “Thank you for healing my ankle by the way.”

Chiara wiped her eyes in what she hoped was a casual manner. “Oh that? Yeah, no problem. I heal bones all the time in the Hospital Wing…”

“Was that a werewolf cub that led me to you?”

“Oh year! That’s Borf. He’s a good judge of character. What were you doing in the Forbidden Forest on a full moon night anyway?”

“Oh…” Jae looked sheepish. “Well… Looking back it was a stupid plan. See, I need to make some new connections in Knockturn Alley in order to keep my business running. But in order to do that I need to go deeper into the Alley. Which...frankly I’m scared to do. So I’ve been avoiding it and staying in the safe shadows rather than risking going out into the open. I...was avoiding my responsibilities and running away from myself, which you figured out from my chasing dreams a few weeks ago in Divination class.”

It took a few moments for Chiara to dig up that memory. “You paid attention to my dream interpretation?”

“Well, yeah,” Jae shrugged. “It seemed to mean a lot to you, and you knew what you were talking about. You said it represented fear, and I’m obviously afraid of being out in the open of Knockturn Alley. Which is why I was in the Forest. To sort of practice for Knockturn Alley.”

Jae turned sheepish again. “And you also said that my chase dreams represented close-mindedness. Which you were right about again. I was close-minded about werewolves until I saw you…”

Chiara looked at him in awe. “Wow… I always figured you thought Divination was a hack profession just like most people do… Guess I was close-minded about you as well.”

Jae smiled and handed her three Sugar Quills. “Well it seems like we make each other better. I’d say that’s a pretty solid foundation for a friendship.”

Chiara graciously accepted the treats. “I agree.”

She thought about Selina again. Perhaps their falling apart was just because they were too young to understand one another. Maybe Selina was in a better place now. Chiara certainly was. She knew now that she could trust Jae. And if he was good enough for Borf he was good enough for her. And of course Jae proved himself well.

Chiara began to realize that she had a lot more friends than she knew about. Penny, Tonks, Badeea, Liz, Talbott…

Chiara smiled and bit into a Sugar Quill.

Maybe she wasn’t so alone after all...

[cocosvtfanatic17]

If The Hip Hop Unit Were Werewolves

-for your mythology project, you were tasked with researching the phenomenon of the lycanthrope -or, more commonly known as, the werewolf -originally, you were just gonna do some good ol' research on the Internet and look for the first few articles that came up on Google -however, you then had the idea to make your project visual as well as oral -meaning you had the idea of adding some sort of moodboard to the presentation just to make it look nicer -so you went out into the local forests near your school to look for some leaves and dirt -you were planning to go to the thrift store to get come old faux fur samples to act as the 'werewolf fur' -you were minding your own business, collecting what you needed -it was only 3:30 PM - just after school finished - so it was still pretty light outside, much to your relief -so you received quite the shock of your life when you heard a howl not too far away from you -you froze, in the middle of picking a leaf off the floor -you could not move, you didn't want to until you knew what that was -had there always been wolves in your neighbourhood? -after a long silence, you, slowly and cautiously, began to resume your leaf and dirt picking -until you heard it again -the same howl -but much closer this time -you began to panic, is this when your life comes to an end? So soon? Before you've even really been anyone? -"Please show yourself if you're the one making the howl," you called out boldly, hoping and praying it was some stupid kid at school trying to be funny -you didn't get an answer, cementing your stupid schoolkid theory -until you heard a, "Sorry, that was me, actually." -turning with a gasp, you saw a young looking boy walk towards you -he was only wearing sweatpants and a tank top, showing off his muscular arms, his light hair was messy, as though he had ran his hand through it multiple times, and he had a sheepish grin on his face -he looked as though he was your age -"Are you having a laugh? You scared the shit out of me, y'know!" you grumbled irritably turning back to the pile of leaves you had collected. -"Yeah, sorry; I was just practicing my howl for the Annual Howl Contest tonight," the boy said, causing you to turn back to him in amusement -"The what, sorry?" -"Y'know, the Annual Howl Contest," the boy said as though it was obvious. "All the werewolf packs get together to see which pack has the loudest, most powerful howl." -you stopped listening past 'werewolf' -was this boy really insinuating that he was a werewolf? -deciding to entertain him, you said, "Hmm, now it's funny that you say that, because I'm doing a mythology project and my topic is supposed to be werewolves!" -"Wow! Really?" the boy exclaimed, genuinely sounding excited -"Really! And, y'know, I would love to get a picture of you in your wolf form, if you don't mind." -turning back to your leaves, you chuckled, feeling as though you had caught the boy out -so you weren't expecting him to say a casual, "Okay," and hear a bunch of ripping noises -immediately turning back around, your jaw dropped as you saw that the boy was gone and, standing in his place was a big, blonde wolf -not knowing what else to do, you screamed -and you screamed bloody murder -the wolf looked almost alarmed (if that was even possible) and bounded forwards as though to comfort you -you, however, were not having it, and you backed up, screaming out, "HELP! HELP!! WOLF!! WOOOLF!!!" -as though your prayers had been answered, you heard footsteps running, getting louder as they approached the forest -however, when the owners of the feet arrived, your hope fell -"You're not police," you stated in disappointment to the three men in front of you -they all seemed to ignore you and, instead, focused on the blonde wolf that tried to attack you -"Vernon, what are you doing out here? You missed afternoon roll call!" the man with black hair scolded, causing the wolf - apparently named 'Vernon' - to whine and his ears to droop -which was pretty cute even if it was coming from a humongous wolf -"Hyung, who's that?" another one of the men said. He was a lot younger looking and also really attractive as well -"Yeah, good question, um, who are you?" the black-haired man asked you -"Uh, I'm (y/n) and I'm currently terrified because I was talking to this boy who was making these howling noises and said they were for this howling contest that fucking werewolves go to and I think I'm losing my mind!" you blurted, feeling yourself get more and more hysterical with every passing word -the black-haired man walked forward, his hands out cautiously. "Okay, (y/n). My name's Seungcheol, and I need you to calm down. Your life isn't in any danger, I promise you." -somehow, hearing the calm in his voice calmed you down as a result, your breathing slowing as you regained your composure -"Vernon, turn back into a human; you're scaring her," the quieter, bespectacled man said. -Vernon the wolf did as told, and, before your own eyes, transformed back into the same boy that you were talking to before -"I'm sorry for scaring you, (y/n)," he said, "but why did you ask me to transform if you were gonna react like that?" -"BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW THAT YOU WERE GONNA TRANSFORM IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!" you cried out, feeling yourself get hysterical again -"Breathe, (y/n); I need you to breathe," Seungcheol instructed, holding his hands up again -"I think (y/n) may be another non-believer," the bespectacled man remarked -"That seems to make the most sense," Seungcheol agreed, before turning back to you -"'Non-believer'? What do you mean by that?" you asked after you had calmed down for the second time -"It's kinda in the name," Vernon said, "By 'non-believer', we mean someone who doesn't believe in the existence of 'mythological' beings such as vampires, sirens, zombies and werewolves." -"Wait . . ." you began, "does that mean that all that you listed--" -"Are real? Absolutely," Seungcheol finished for you. You inhaled deeply, before bursting out into laughter -"This is just a dream, isn't it?" you said through your laughter. "I'm gonna wake up, and I'll still be picking leaves for my project, and everything will be as it should be." -you closed you eyes for a good five seconds, before slowly opening them and groaning out loud when you saw the four men still standing, staring at you blankly -"Oh, I knew it wasn't a dream!" you complained, before exhaling again and looking back up at the men. "So, I'm assuming all of you are werewolves, then?" -"That's correct," Seungcheol responded. "My name's Seungcheol, as you know. This is Mingyu *gestures to the attractive guy*, that's Wonwoo *gestures to the bespectacled man*, and, well, I think you're already well-acquainted with Vernon." -"Uh, nice to meet you guys, I guess," you said, forcing a smile as you waved. -"Hey, I just had an idea!" Vernon said excitedly. "You said that your project is about werewolves, right?" -"Uh, yes?" you answered, not entirely sure where he was going with this -"How about we bring you back to our base and you can hang out there until you've gathered all the information you need to know!" -"WHAT?!" that 'what' came from two parties: you and Mingyu, Wonwoo and Seungcheol -"Vernon, are you crazy?! (y/n) can't do that!" Mingyu protested. -"Yeah! I don't wanna get eaten alive!" you cried out, before covering you mouth. "I'm sorry, was that offensive?" -"Little bit," Wonwoo replied -"Yeah, just a bit," Mingyu added. -"I have never, for the life of me, understood this stereotype: werewolves don't eat humans because normal wolves don't eat humans; it’s as simple as that," Seungcheol explained, sounding slightly annoyed. -"Right, right. Sorry," you mumbled awkwardly -"Now about Vernon's idea," Seungcheol continued on, "as insane as it may sound on paper, I can see where Vernon's coming from." -"You can???" You, Mingyu and Wonwoo all said at the same time. -"Yeah; I mean, it may go completely wrong," Seungcheol admitted, "but I think it would be the best way for (y/n) to get the best grade for (his/her) project, because the real thing is better than some Wikipedia article, isn't it?" -". . . I cannot believe you're actually willing to go through with this," Wonwoo said. -"I can't either!" you agreed, before turning to Seungcheol. "If we are to do this, will you guarantee that I would be completely safe?" -"(y/n), I'm the Alpha of our pack," Seungcheol bragged. "Managing others' safety is practically in my job description." -you couldn't help but laugh at that, before weighing up your options -you could accept and possibly put your life on the line for some project which didn't even go to your final grade anyway -or you could decline and try to go on living a normal existence, and simultaneously forgetting that this ever happened -of course you went with the logical option -"Eh, what have I got to lose? I'm in!" you cheered, causing Vernon to cheer with you -"Well, here's hoping this doesn't completely fail," Mingyu said, causing you to laugh nervously -you really hoped that this didn't end up being a huge mistake -in some instances, your life was depending on it

[cant-icle]

For the 200 follower promptaganza can I request an angsty (although with a happy end) Werewolf!Ryuji x Akira/Ren fic please?

“Look, I’m not expecting you to want to talk, but I feellike we need to. There’s some things we should discuss before you just shut meout completely, right? You’re my best friend. I...though we were getting to becloser than that, even. Can you...will you call me back? Please? I miss you.”

Akira hangs up the phone and barely keeps himself fromthrowing it at the wall. It’s been threedays. Three entire days sincehe’s so much as seen Ryuji, three days with no response over the phone orthrough text, and the anxiety would be clawing its way up his throat if Annhadn’t told him she’d visited him yesterday.

He doesn’t know what he did wrong, that’s the thing—if he did something, Ryuji should’ve toldhim, so he could’ve fixed it and not just ghostedhim. And it’s not like—he doesn’t even know where Ryuji lives, Ryuji always comes to Leblanc to hang out, so it’s not likehe can bring over some soup if he’s sick.

He’d thought—he’d really thought that maybe, they might begetting somewhere that night in Inokashira Park, when Ryuji’d put his hand ontop of Akira’s and leaned in, and the full moon was so beautiful in his eyesthat Akira’d blurted something stupid—

Is that what thiswas all about? The stupid thing he’d said? Something like “The full mooncouldn’t compare to your eyes,” god,Akira cringes so hard thinking about it that his shoulders touch his ears.Okay, yeah, if someone said that to himmaybe he’d ghost them for a while. But still!

It sucks, and he sucks, and his life sucks, and it’s makingPhantom Thievery very difficult without his right-hand man at his, well, righthand. He gets knocked on his ass three times during a single fight in Mementosbefore Queen all but drags him back to the Mona-Mobile.

He’s not sulking.

(He’s maybe sulking.)

When he tries to slink off at the entrance to Mementos, Anngrabs his arm. “You’re this torn up about it?” she says like she already knowsthe answer.

“He won’t answer any of my messages,” Akira mutters,scuffing his shoe along the floor with his hands in his pockets. “I don’t knowif he’s dead or sick or hit in the road somewhere or arrested or—“

“I can guarantee that he’s none of those—or, well, most ofthose. He might’ve been hit in the road.”

“Ann, don’t saythat—“

“Ugh, boys andtheir feelings,” Ann groans, and tugson his arm. “You probably would’ve found out sooner or later, but if you’regonna be distracted enough in Mementos that you’re getting your butt whooped bya Pixie—“

She leads him to a line that leads out towards the edges ofthe city. It’s still early in the day; the train isn’t packed enough that theyhave to stand, but Ann refuses to answer any of his questions and spends theentire ride messing around on her phone.

They ride for almost an hour and a half, long enough thatthey pass the suburbs and get into fields and forests, and the train car is allbut empty when they disembark. It’s hot; hot enough that Akira regrets wearinghis overshirt and rolls the sleeves up as high as they’ll go.

The road, once they leave the station, is unpaved. Ann leadshim down it for nearly twenty minutes, confidence in every inch of her body,every step that she takes. Somehow, she looks more like she belongs out herethan she does in Tokyo.

She leads him to a house, big and sprawling, that backs ontoa long field backed by a deep, dark stretch of forest. Akira expects thatthey’ll knock, but Ann just opens the door and walks right in, bold and brazenas you please, toeing off her shoes once she gets inside. “Ann,” Akira says,low and uncertain, “what—“

That’s when the biggest fucking dog he’s ever seen in hisgoddamn life steps into the hallway, its claws clicking on the linoleum, it’sears tilted up and at them. It’s big and black and bushy and one of the mostbeautiful things Akira’s seen in his life. “Holy shit,” he breathes in awe and delight (and a little bit ofapprehension,) “Ann, look at how big that dog is, what the fuck.”

The dog laughs athim.

Literally. It drops its jaw and huffs, front paws shufflingback and forth on the floor as its tail swishes once-twice behind it. “Oh mygod,” Akira groans, dropping down to his knees. For a brief moment he doesn’treally care where he is or what’s going on, because if there’s anything KurusuAkira loves in his life, it’s dogs.

(Don’t tell Morgana.)

“Hey, do you—is it friendly?” He looks up at Ann, who hasboth hands slapped over her mouth looking like she’s trying not to laugh athim. “Ann, is it—“

The dog laughs at him again and clicks its way down thehallway, shoving its face into Akira’s. He’s greeted with a muzzle full of verysharp, very white teeth as the dog sniffs his face, his ears, his hands, andfinishes off with a big sloppy lick right across his glasses. Ann loses herfight with laughter at that, even more so when the dog shoves its head into thegap between Akira’s arm and his side. Seriously, it’s huge. It dwarfs him while he’s kneeling—it’s gotta weight at leasta hundred kilo, easy.

He’s finger-combing his way through the dog’s thick ruffwhen he realizes that Ann’s further down the hall, talking to someone. He leansback and up to look, but the dog rolls over and exposes its belly veryappealingly – welp, his belly,clearly—and wriggles in invitation, distracting Akira enough that Ann andwhoever she’s talking to are almost on top of him before he looks up again.

“Akira,” Ann says, laughter in every line of his body, “I’dlike to introduce you to Sakamoto-san, Ryuji’s aunt. Ryuji, get off the floorand stop making an idiot of yourself.”

Akira stands and makes polite introduction before Ann’ssecond sentence sinks in. “You, um, named your dog after your nephew?” heblurts out before he can help himself. Sakamoto-san, Ann, and the dog laugh at him.

Or, well...now that Akira’s looking closer, it looks morelike a wolf than a dog—it’s got the big triangular ears, the long, slendermuzzle, the narrow eyes and very large teeth. Maybe a mixed-breed? A wolf-dog?They have that sort of thing, right?

Wolf-dog-Ryuji follows him around the house whileSakamoto-san makes pleasant talk and insists that they stay for lunch; eachtime Akira stops, dog-Ryuji shoves his head under Akira’s hand. Dog-Ryuji istall enough that Akira can rest his hand on his back and ruffle his fur whileAkira is standing; dog-Ryuji is also shedding fit to burst, leaving long, softfur all over his hands and his leg.

Out of habit, he takes his phone out and levels it atdog-Ryuji; dog-Ryuji tilts his head and drops his jaw, just a bit, in a caninesmile. It’s a cute picture; he saves it and sends a copy to Ryuji out of habitwith the caption met your namesake today.

Across the room, attached to a charger on the kitchencounter, Ryuji’s phone goes off.

As it turns out, dog-Ryuji isn’t a namesake. As it turns out, it’s a wolf, and it’s alsoregular Ryuji.

“Hold up,” Akira blurts in the middle of the explanationSakamoto-san tries to give him, grabbing onto Ryuji’s head and staring himstraight in the eye. Ryuji makes a grumble in the back of his throat and foldshis ears back in appeasement, shuffling his paws and wagging his tail. “So youmean—all this time you’ve been hamming it up, watching me make an idiot ofmyself—“

Ryuji nods, and drops his jaw to grin a little wider. Hiseyes are the same, a warm chocolate brown. “I would’ve thought you’d be blond.”

“Nah,” Ann says, “he dyes his hair. It doesn’t carry overwith the transformation.”

Akira has a lot of questions. Like, a whole lot of them. “Is this why you ran off the other night?” heasks, a little tentative. Ryuji whines and pushes himself up onto his haunchesto drape his forepaws over Akira’s shoulders. He then proceeds to swipe histongue very messily over Akira’s face, over and over and over again until he’showling in laughter and his glasses have been knocked off somewhere.

They’ve got a lot totalk about, that’s for damn sure, but in the meantime it’s nice to have Ryuji’shead warm and heavy on his lap, and it’s nice to run his fingers through Ryuji’sthick fur and scratch behind his ears hard enough to hear his tail thumping onthe ground behind them. Ryuji’s just as cute a wolf as he is a human; so whatif he goes all furry a few times a year? It’s something Akira thinks he canbring himself to deal with.

(things i wanted to fit in but couldn’t figure out how:

ryuji’s extended family has a massive property outside of tokyo bc werewolfism runs in the family, it’s basically a pack house for the times when they have to be transformed

in this the full moon is a very strong call; they can resist it for one moon, but no more than that, and if they forcibly stay human for too long they’ll be stuck as a wolf for like a week or so when they can’t resist anymore (like stretching a rubber band too far or smth whatever this is just a small prompt why am i trying to plot)

[dontcheckthis-blog]

Blood by Blood [17]

EXO Vampire!AU/Werewolf!AU

Summary: Huáng Jié (黃 杰) is a human turned vampire by a Pureblood. After that incident, she is presumed dead since three days. When she wakes up, she is sucked into a new yet darker world to which she never wanted a part in.

Warnings: Blood, gore, mature content, dark subjects, if you are disturbed by such then do not read this. Further warnings will be added as the story progresses.

Part 16 - Part 18

Where am I?

What’s that smell?

It smells........sweet........

Delicious but.....

No.......

Blood

Opening her eyes, she feels her mouth on his neck. Quickly retracting herself away from him and scurrying back to the wall, she wipes her mouth and sees Sehun trying to calm her down, holding her. “Hey, it’s me. It’s only me.” He says, putting his hand on her cheek softly and looking at her. “It’s just me, Jie.”

“W-What happened? Where are we?” She asks, slightly panicking. “Don’t worry, we’re safe. I got us out of there, we’re out somewhere far away from them, some abandoned house here.” Sehun explains to her, gesturing to the almost ruined place. Scratches around the walls as well as cracks and the floor creaking whenever it was walked on. Jie looks around her, seeing the windows covered in dried blood.

She felt a sense of safety yet a sense of uneasiness. Possibly from smelling the dried blood splatters that were on the windows as well as specks of it on the floor and walls. Breathing evenly now, she clutches to her wound, finding it with a clothing around her stomach. Looking at Sehun who gives her a small smile. “You were bleeding a lot, I tied it up, I didn’t see anything, don’t worry.” He softly states, gesturing to her bandaged wound.

Noticing the blood seeping out of his clothing, she reaches to him, he questions her actionbefore realizing why. He stops her, holding her hand with a reassuring smile on his face. “Jie-yah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“You’re still bleeding, if Luhan hadn’t fed from me and ruined the bond, I could’ve.....healed us....” she remembers Yixing, a look of worry and her heart dropping slightly at the thought of him. Was he.......part of it as well? Did he turn her because of this? Was it all a lie then? All of it? Everything? Everything he has told her, from accidentally turning her for a food source to finding out everything?

Was he......

“Jie-yah? Do you.....” Sehun hesitates to ask her, stopping in his tracks. She notices his action, slightly curious. “What? Say it, Sehun.”

“Do you love....him?”

Her heart stops.

Do you love him?

She didn’t answer him but instead, said what came to her mind. “Did your feelings change for me?” After it hit her, she quickly averts her gaze from him and gulps. “I-I’m sorry....I didn’t me-“ a sudden stop to her sentence, she feels something warm on her lips and a hand on her cheek, Sehun pushes closer to her, tilting his head slightly and kissing her softly, after a few moments, he pulls away, looking at her softly.

“They never changed. It’s still the same, always has been.”

She didn’t know what to say. She freezes. Her feelings were all mixed. Sehun. Yixing.

But this situation had to come between them. She looks down nervously as well as fear mixed in her, Sehun senses her discomfort. “What is it? Tell me.” He softly asks her, caressing her cheek lightly. Blinking her eyes a few times, she looks at him. “This.....just....i-it’s.....the situation now.....I..don’t know if...I..if we...I-“

“Don’t force yourself, I don’t expect you to love me back, Jie. If you love him, I’m okay with it. Just know that I’m here for whenever you need me,” he kisses her cheek and gives her a smile. Jie smiles softly, looking down and leaning against his hold. “Thank you.” She mutters under her breath. Sehun caresses her head, leaning to her gently, smiling to himself.

Even if she didn’t love him, he is still grateful to have known and love her. He didn’t care if she didn’t love him back, he didn’t care. What is only important to him was that she’d stay his friend. Just like before.

Fooling around and joking, chasing and teasing. The first they met, and then they met again. They became friends, starting to become close. Until he developed feelings for her the more time they spent with each other. He didn’t know if she felt the same too but if she didn’t, he would never force her.

“Hyung, they’re gone.”

Luhan scoffs, his eyes turning into a dark crimson color before looking back at Chanyeol who was standing around nervous of his response. “Well then, we’ll just have to find them now, the wolves aren’t just there for nothing, you know?” Chanyeols’ eyes widens at his suggestion. He wasn’t really going to do this, right? He gulps, slightly fearful. “H-Hyung, you’re not really....going to let them...out, are you?”

Luhan smiles. “Of course, Chanyeol. Well, it would be a bit useless and the wolves are just there not doing anything, we should try and give them a chance and if that doesn’t go well, then we’ll do it ourselves, that is our plan.” He says, his voice as innocent as it could be, going well with him but in reality, he was far from it. A monster. All of them.

Chanyeol swallows a saliva before bowing to him and leaving Luhan alone, Luhan turns to Yixing who was on the ground, laying motionless and the blood dried. He was still alive but barely holding it in. Luhan walks towards him, swiping Yixings’ hair away from his face to show the bruises and cuts on him. He smirks. “You’re still holding on, that’s good. Wouldn’t want to leave her alone out there in the cold now would you? Of course, you wouldn’t. Didn’t you say that you.....

......love her? So much?”

Yixing grunted, trying to move away from him. Luhan chuckles darkly, grabbing Yixings’ jaw and making him face infront. “So, what would you feel if I....maybe did the same thing to her? Oh, but my feeder likes her too. Now, that’s unfortunate for you since you also want her, the same way he does.” Luhan lets out a sigh.

“Don’t....hurt....her....if you-“

“If I touch her, you’ll kill me? Yixing, you know it’s difficult to kill us, especially you. You play a part here where you’re only an extra but your feelings decided to force itself to come out and ruin everything and for that,” Luhan slowly, agonizingly pushes his hand through Yixings’ stomach wound that just barely healed from the earlier conflict as he makes him suffer through it again. Yixing groans, slightly letting out a small scream from Luhans’ doing. Gritting his teeth to stop himself, clenching his fists in pain that he was feeling at the moment.

“Luhan......S-Stop....d-don’t even-“

“Are you going to.......d-“

“STOP!”

Yixing lunges himself at him again, only to be pushed back to the wall and held in place. Luhan raises his hand, slowly letting it down and tilting his head slightly, a sinister smile on his as he takes a few steps towards him. “I’m glad your feeders’ blood powered my abilities, god I wish I could taste her even more, maybe even better when I,” he sets his hand on Yixings’ neck, smirking. “Take her away from you completely....I bet she’d feel even better too, besides, you’ve done it yourself haven’t you? You enjoyed it, you both did.”

“You’re sick.....you...crazy bastard....”

“Hmm, Aren’t we all?”

“Fuck you....”

A sudden opening of the room interrupts them. “Hyung, Minseok hyung wants to talk to you.” Jongin enters, seeing Yixing on the ground as Luhan releases him and gestures to Yixing. “Watch him for me, will you?” He asks before leaving the room. Jongin walks to an injured Yixing, bleeding on the ground as he clutches to his deep wound. Yixing slowly looks up at Jongin, who stood motionless over him. “Jong..in-ah....” he mutters, Jongin swallows a saliva, not knowing what to say or do.

“Jongin...please....” he pleads, trying to manipulate the young feeder to turn him around, making him help him. Jongin looks down, letting out a heavy breath before looking back at him. “Hyung.....”

“Jongin-ah....help me, please.” He asks him, trying to get himself up on his knees and clutching to his wound. Jongin sees the deep wound on him, a slight concern washing over him. Yixing senses his feelings and turns to him. “I’m okay......just please, Jongin. I know there’s still something left inside of you, you’re not like him yet....please...”

He could still feel a little bit of humanity left inside of him. He knows it, he sees it. He’s still human to him, he isn’t like Baekhyun whose gone completely out of it. He’s still him. Still human. And Jongin knew too, he knew he still had it in him. But he tried to always surpass it. He tried to always not think about it, searching more for his vampire side. But he didn’t exactly want it to completely go away, he didn’t want to merciless. He didn’t want to kill just anyone. Sometimes his hunger could make him lose control, that was when he was beginning to transform but now, he’s managed to control it better than before. He knows it’s still inside of him.

He just didn’t know for how long it will be until it will be completely washed away.

“Jongin, please. We can’t let them do this. Please, let me go.” He asks him, looking at the ground. Jongin clenches a fist, not knowing what decision to make. Let him go or leave him be.

“H-Hyung...I-I...c-“

“I can’t leave them out there, Jongin-ah. Anytime soon, Luhan will let the wolves out and try and get them.”

Jongins’ eyes widened. He knew about the wolves, how they were. How.....hungry they always were and how desperate they can be. But because there was a slight fear in him, he didn’t move. “H-Hyung.....they can.....hear us...”

“Look around you, do you see anthing out of the ordinary?” Yixing asks, gesturing his surroundings, Jongin takes a turn on the environment. He didn’t know what he meant, it was still all normal to him. “I-I don’t understand what you mean, hyung.”

Yixing smirks. “Can you see the Red Moon?” He asks, looking at the ground and waiting for his response. Jongin shakes his head. “No, I don’t.”

“Exactly, you don’t see the Red Moon. There are no windows too.” Yixing explains, pulling himself up to his feet and leaning against the wall for support. He looks at him. “There’s not a single window in this room, the Red Moon can’t be seen. That’s why they can’t hear us even if they tried to eavesdrop from outside, the Red Moon powers it.”

Jongin, in slight shock, couldn’t believe it. He did wonder why sometimes they couldn’t hear each other even if they were far away from the ‘pack’, it was all just the Red Moon powering it. The Red Moon controls it, controls their reading. “They would of course, never tell anyone. No one knows except Purebloods themselves, us only. If the Red Moon is nowhere to be felt or seen just like in this room, then nobody can hear us and nobody can know what we are thinking, we need the Red Moons’ power for our ability to work. It’s like our gasoline.” Yixing explains to him.

Jongin was still unsure a bit. “Hyung...how do-“

“How do I know this?” Jongin nodded at his question.

“I’ve experienced more than they have, one of the oldest Purebloods to have lived with them.

Whenever the Red Moon comes, it’s always a celebration. It’s a big deal for every vampire and werewolf out there, because it strengthens us more, it powers us. But it also makes us hungrier, more desperate. If there’s no Red Moon, we are just your average vampires and werewolves, they are grateful to have the Red Moon last for a long time, and then gone for 4 years again. Then we wait for it to come back.”

Yixing gives him a weak smile. “I know you at least cared for her, Jongin-ah. You helped her a bit, you told her what you know about our customs and such, your human side is still there.”

Jongin gulps nervously, he’s right. He did care for her. He helped her a bit, explained for her about their sides and fed her too when she couldn’t find a source of food. Looking at the ground, thinking of it. He’s made his decision.

He slowly looks up at him. “Okay......but you have to....hurt me then...make it look like you fought back, hyung....” Yixing nodded, he needed to be careful as to not hurt him too much. Jongin immediately made himself bleed on his neck, Yixing walks towars him, holding his shoulder and looking at him in worry. Jongin gives him a small smile. “It’s okay, hyung, I’ll be healing anyway after this, don’t make a count, just do it.” He explains, grabbing Yixings’ other hand to his stomach and waiting for the impact.

The door is not locked.....

His hand is covered in blood, Jongin lays motionless on the ground, bleeding. His eyes closed and unconscious. Yixing looks at him with an apologetic expression before muttering ‘I’m sorry’ under his breath. Walking to the door, he tries to open it silently and closes it.

Looking at the Red Moon, his eyes turn into a pale blue as he attempts to escape from this place and from the ‘pack’. Leave all behind and find them.

Find her......

Jie-yah....I’m sorry....

“Sehun-ah, are you okay?” Jie looks at Sehun worriedly, as his wounds don’t stop bleeding no matter how much they were bandaged. Sehun holds her hand, nodding. “I’m...f-fine...don’t worry, Jie-yah...” he reassures her but it did not convince her, he looked tired out, exhausted and almost broken. Has he even fed himself?

Biting her wrist, Sehun smells the blood, immediately turning his head to her and seeing the blood growing out of her wound. “Just-“ her sentence was cut as he pulled her wrist to his mouth, sucking the blood and satisfying his hunger.

You were hungry......you just held it in.....

After a few more, he lets her wrist go, wiping his mouth from the excess blood and licking the leftovers. “Thanks...” he mutters, shifting slightly in his place. “Don’t mention it.”

Sehun swallows a saliva, the metallic taste still there on his tongue. So sweet. He admits it, he wanted more but he didn’t want it, he didn’t want to hurt her. He didn’t want it from her. This was already enough despite the fact that his throat was itching more for blood. Looking at the Red Moon.

Jie didn’t know anymore what to do. What’s next after this? Thoughts lingered in her mind of what would most likely happen. The ‘pack’. That place. Yixing. What about him? Is he okay? Was he a part of this? Did he also lie to her like the others?

Did he really love her?

“Sehun....”

“Yeah?”

“What are we going to do next?”

“....I don’t know....for now, we’ll just have to be careful and lay low...”

“Will they come for us?...Of course, they would...”

“....I have a bad feeling...”

“What is it?”

“...The wolves......I think....”

Jie gulps nervously at his next response.

“I think....they’re going to use them....”

“They.....will really.....kill us....”

“...They wouldn’t hesitate to do that.....they will do it so they can get us... It doesn’t matter if we’re dead or not....they will do it...”

There was a sound from outside their place, they stop in their tracks. And then, a loud knock came from the door. Sehun and Jie look at each other in shock, frozen and unsure. Another knocking on the door and then silence. Jie gulps, looking at Sehun. As she was about to get up, Sehun stops her, gesturing to him that he’ll be one to open instead, Jies’ widened, pointing at his injuries to which he ignored and told her to sit down, standing up himself and walking towards the door.

Letting out a soft sigh before getting ready to attack a possible enemy from outside. Setting his hand on the door knob and turning it, he opens the door and sees him standing there infront of him.

Slightly covered in blood and his eyes a different color, canine teeth potruding away and faint bruises evident on his face from an early fight.

He smiles at Sehun who was still in shock of seeing him.

“Hi there, Sehun-ah.”

Author’s Note: big thank you to @oh-beyond for telling me about the using of the -ah and -yah, when to use it and such, I apologize for the incorrect using of it from the previous chapters

[soriseerakyra]

Full Moon

Request for an anon who wanted a werewolf!reader

While it wouldn’t have been as romantic to have knowledge of the rather romantic getaway your boyfriend had planned for you, you sure wish that you had input on the timing. Nervousness pricks at your spine, and you try to keep the emotion off of your face, but your ever-observant boyfriend, notices the agitation in your eyes and the way you can’t seem to keep your focus on him.

“All you alright?” Bruce asks, sliding his large warm hand over yours, squeezing slightly. You can’t help but squeeze back giving him a rather shy smile.

“Yes,” you say quickly, hoping he won’t notice the hurried nature of your tone, but of course he does. His eyebrows furrowing almost accusingly at you, something would have made you rather defensive in most cases, but the concerned look in his blue eyes caused you to hesitate.

“Okay,” you say with a huff, “I have to tell you something.”

“Is there something wrong? Do you not like the cabin? I was trying to think of someplace, where we wouldn’t actually be bothered.”

“No this is lovely,” you say motioning to the view around you. The patio of the cabin gave you a beautiful view of the forest, and the sleepy chirps of the forest was most pleasing to your ears. There was even the occasional firefly, lighting up the inky black forest that encircles the cozy cabin. It was more than a welcome change of pace from the city. You could see the stars out here and it was beautiful, but that also meant that it was also a perfect place for the moon to appear. The sun would be completely set soon and you were worried about what would happen when the sky fell from day to night.

Bruce laces you fingers together and squeezes your fingers gently, “Tell me.”

At his gentle urging you swallow your nervousness, “I’m not human.”

The silence that follows is almost deafening, but it's also not the reaction that you were expecting. Most would have laughed you off, or asked “What?” But his eyes narrow, not angrily, but as if he's examining you. It feels strange, but a part of you feels happy that he isn’t running away and not saying that you’re out of your mind.

“I’m-”

You don’t get to finish your sentence because pain begins blossom in your thigh. It rips through your flesh and then soon you begin to feel the familiar burning of silver begin to spread up from your thigh. The pain is so intense that the initial screams that builds up in your chest, dies in your throat, choked back by the shock that is working its way swiftly through your system.

Your body begins to freeze as the silver begins to spread through your system. You begin to fall to the side, vision going hazy as the blood begins to pool from your wound. Your senses are so impaired by the feeling that you barely register the other gunshots that are peppering the dream like cabin, that Bruce had taken the time to pick out for you. You only peripherally recognize that you’re being quickly being huddled from the balcony to inside the cabin.

Your hand curls into his chest as he cradles you to his form. His heartbeat is elevated, you notice, but it registers as something other than nervousness. There is no panic in his pulse, just adrenaline.

Your head begins to lull back and he supports it expertly. Your body is rested quickly on the soft bed and for the first time he seems uncertain of his actions. His gaze quickly flips between her and toward where the noise is coming from outside.

“Take it out,” you whine pathetically. The burning is close making you pass out, and if he doesn’t remove it soon, you won’t be able to heal yourself, and you won’t be able to protect either of you.

He gives you a stern nod of his head and he quickly and quietly maneuverers his way down stairs. The shooting from outside had stopped, but there was no doubt in either of your minds that if they caught view of any movement inside of the house, that the shooting would begin again.

He comes back quickly up the stairs and he has a knife, a towel, and a small bottle of water in his hand. He puts the items down on the bedside table and begins to remove the belt from his waist. For the first time since the shooting started he looks into your eyes, they are full anger, hard in a way that you haven’t experienced from Bruce. When he notices your worry, his eyes soften slightly and he allows the frown to fall from his face, attempting to give you a comforting stare.

“This is going to hurt,” he says slipping the leather into your mouth. Your teeth bite down hard and you dig your nails deep into the fabric of the bed. You nod your head at him, or the form you think is him, the dizziness is causing you to see multiple forms of the man.

He pulls a lighter from his pocket and he quickly begins to heat the knife, when it’s hot enough he meets your gaze, you give him a nod. Soon a different type of heat is running over your skin. Your eyes begin to roll back into your head as the knife cuts through your flesh. Your back arches up and almost off of the bed as a screech runs through your clenched lips and your grateful for Bruce’s belt, you most definitely would have bitten down on your tongue without it.

“Almost done,” he says evenly almost unmoved by your thrashing, by the bullet, by the blood. He angles the knife and uses it to wedge free the silver bullet. As soon as it is loosened from your flesh, it falls to the floor and would have rolled across the floor if Bruce hadn’t have stopped. He removes the knife from your leg and switches it out with the towel, you want to tell him to not to press on the wound that it needs to bleed so that the surrounding contaminated blood can exit your body, but you don’t have to. Instead of applying pressure to the wound he sets the towel gingerly underneath your leg and begins to press on the outside of your wound, bleeding it. The blood pours from the wound and a horrid stench permeates the air around you, causing a stink that made you nauseated. He quickly dilutes the blood with the water, trying to cut the smell.

He continues to let the wound bleed and soon, the pain begins to fade from your body. Your mind becomes more aware of your surroundings as the dizziness fading from your mind. Finally, when the smell stops, and the silver is seemingly out of your system, he begins to out put pressure on the wound. You want to tell him its unnecessary, you can already feel the torn muscles beginning to pull together. After a few minutes, he releases you. He pulls the towel from the room and a frown pulls at his lips when he sees the wound almost completely healed.

His eyes flash to yours, a disappoint present that makes your heart pound with nerves. There is a need to explain yourself, that rises in your chest.

“Bruce I-”You start but you cut yourself off. Your senses are more attuned now and you can hear the movement of the hunters outside the cabin. They must’ve regrouped. They’ll want to catch you soon, before the sun is completely gone, otherwise they’ll lose their chance.

Worriedly your gaze turns back to Bruce, thoughts about how to get him out of here safely running through your mind. But to your slight surprise, he doesn’t seem worried at all. In fact, if you didn’t know better you’d say he was planning.

“You’re a werewolf.” He says flatly after a moment of silence.

“Yes,” you say honestly.

“And they are after you, why?”

“I don’t know,” you say with a shrug. He looks at you with a raised eyebrow as if questioning your honesty. “I’m telling the truth. They must have seen me transform before and have decided to come get me. I’m not violent, I’ve never hurt anyone, so there is no one who would have a grudge against me. Some hunters just like to add pelts to their mantle.”

He considers you for a moment, and you wonder if he believes you. Although it won’t matter if he does or not. They have seen him with you, they’ll assume he is of your kind and won’t stop hunting him until they kill the both of you.

“It doesn’t matter,” he says after a moment. “We need to come up with a plan to get out of here.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary.” You say looking out of the window.

The oranges and pinks of sunset have given way to the pitch-black of night and you know the moment that you exit the building and your form bathes in the light of the full moon, none of these hunters, no matter how expertly trained they were, would be able to stop you.

“You’ll be putting yourself in danger,” he says in harsh almost scolding whisper.

“I’ve put you in danger already, so at least I’ll be able to make up for it this way,” you say with a smirk.

You push yourself up from the bed and stand. Your leg is almost completely healed and there is only a slight sting of pain to let you know that it had previously be injured.

You stand face to face with your partner and give him a small smile, “I suppose we’ll have talk about this when I get back.”

He face softens for a second and he looks like the man that was smiling at you earlier.

“You don’t have to do this by yourself,” he says somewhat cryptically.

“You can’t fight them,” you say with a furrowed brow. “You’ll just get hurt.”

You walk turn your back on him quickly and begin to walk to the balcony door, so you miss the slight smirk that crosses his face.

“I’ll try to be quick,” you say calling over your shoulder.

You don’t get to hear his response and quickly move through the door. The moment your foot hits the moonlight you are both exposed and empowered.

A bullet nearly grazes the side of you head as your skin begins to burn. Your fingers begin to break and move in odd fashions, a feeling that you’re more than used to. The skin on your back begins to move as if its splitting around the areas of your spine as it extends beyond its natural barriers. You throw your neck back and forth, side to side as it breaks, heals and re breaks itself as it and your face elongates and both vertically and horizontally.

It’s not long before the fur sprouts on your bare flesh and suddenly your human fingers are replacing with the slightly curved sharp-clawed appendages of your wolf.

The light of the moon catches your eye and an instinctive need to howl comes over you. Your body stretching to its full height of nine feet to let out an ear drum shattering howl.

“Woooooooo~”

*** He removes his hands over his ears when the noise stops. He’s sure that if he was outside his ears would have bleed from the sound of her howl.

He had known that she was hiding something from him. She’d been nervous since they set out on this little vacation that he’d planned for them. Internally, he felt slightly smug at having picked such a secluded place. Before her attackers had arrived and she was going to reveal the truth to him, he had begun to think that perhaps he had been overzealous in dragging her out here so far away from the city, a part of him thinking that her secret wasn’t as dangerous as he presumed it was. But his cautious self-had been right, and out here she would have more than enough space to maneuver.

Speaking of danger, he was currently in it too. He suspected there were more attackers than she realized and if he was going to help her, he’d need to get to the roof. His package would be arriving soon.

There is a banging from the front door of the cabin followed by heavy footsteps and a shouting of, “Move, Move, Move!!”

They were going try to surround and overwhelm her. Unluckily, he had a little bit of time before his package arrived, but he could handle a few “hunters.” He picks up the knife that he’d used to remove the bullet from her leg and he braced himself.

They slam the door open. One, two, three, four, five, come pouring in and he almost can’t keep the smirk from curling across his face. He’d been up against worse odds, and they seemed like rather easy targets. The clothing that they had on could barely be called armor, more like reinforced leather jackets. He imagined that they were sacrificing protection for speed, there were probably few things that could protect from the bite of a werewolf.

He beckons them to come and the first one to charge swings at him with a closed fist. He’s quick to catch it, twisting it painfully and pulling the man into him before sinking a cruel elbow into his face. The man falls to the ground unconscious.

The others look shocked, unprepared for his skills. The leader, a woman with a high ponytail, scowls at him and growls out, “Rush him!”

Attack quickly, and he responds by throwing the knife, nailing one of them in the shoulder and they fall to the ground releasing a silver rod. He picks it up and repositions himself toward the other three. A woman attacks him, silver knuckles launching at him quickly, her precise strikes hitting him on his cheek causing a cut to spring open. He ducks down to dodge her next attack, but he’s sent flying to the side and rolling slightly into a wall as a leg kicks into his side.

They swarm on him, the woman with silver knuckles falling on top of him to begin punching him in the face.

The leader moves her subordinate form on top of him and she looks down on him with a smirk. She raises a silver spear over her head and quickly begins to bring the weapon down to stop him.

However, metal never meets flesh. A scream rings out through the room and a thrashing is heard. The leader barley has time to look up before she and her subordinates are violently swept away from him.

Bruce wobbles his way up to his feet and he can’t help but be surprised at the size of the log that flew through the window and knocked out his attackers.

He quickly makes his way out onto the balcony and feels shock run over his spine.

There she is, in all of her glory, looking worriedly toward the cabin, were he was. When she sees that he’s safe, and relatively unharmed, her golden eyes relax. She lets out a heavy snort from her snout along with slight nod of her head. He nods back to her. There is a shadow that starts moving its way toward her. Before he can warn her however she quickly turns around to her attacker and growls into his face.

Forcefully, her large paw grabs the attacker by his clothes and shakes him rather violently before effortlessly tossing him toward the forest. There is an echo of groans that rolls through the forest, letting them both know that there was even more in the forest.

Her tail beats irritated on the ground of the forest and with a growl she bounds off into the forest

Simultaneously, there is a rumble the rolls through the cabin. His eyes look up into the sky, to see the Batwing zipping through the sky.

He makes his way to the wall of the cabin and he begins to climb up the side of the building. Soon he is in front of the capsule that holds his suit. He performs his verification and he steps inside the capsule and the doors shut. After as few moments, he exits the capsule, fully outfitted in the Bat suit.

He jumps from the roof and uses his grappling hook to zip from the balcony into the trees. He’s not too far behind her, the destruction of some of the vegetation gives away where she was going, not to mention the amount of unconscious bodies strewn across the floor.

Screaming hits his ears and he deftly begins to make his way through the forest. He sees her form, and for a moment he begins to think that she doesn’t need his help.

She’s surrounded by at least ten of these so-called hunters, but it looks like they are the ones that are outnumbered. A couple of the hunter’s launch spears at her but she catches them out of the air and although the silver seems to burn her flesh, she takes the time to menacingly bend the metal and through it back to them.

She scans her attackers before letting out a deep throaty growl and launching herself at them. She picks one up in her mouth and begins to shake him back and forth violently, the way a dog does its favorite toy.

She drops him and then uses her long arms to swat at the hunters, and suddenly six of the ten are out of commission.  She stalks over to the waiting to hunters and he realizes that something has changed. Two of the hunters drop their weapons, terrified. The other two move in front to protect their teammates but it’s useless. She grabs the pair of them by their legs and he slams their bodies against a tree. One of the hunters lets out a screech of terror and this seems to trigger something inside of her. Her ears perk up in interest and she cocks her head to the side. There is an arch in her back and her tail straightens to a point as she bends down, front paws bowing to touch the ground.

‘She’s hunting them,’ he realizes morbidly.

And this is when he begins to make his move. He grapples down until he’s is over her body and he jumps down, landing on her back. She immediately begins to shake and twist violently, groaning as she tries to get him to remove himself from her back. The hunters take the time run at the distraction, and he curses mentally. For now, he’ll just have to let them get away.

“Calm down!” He screams trying to be heard over her growling. “It’s me!”

At his pestering, she squeals and slams her body onto the ground back first. He groans body stunned from her weight and the impact.

She recovers quickly and is on top of him and she bares her teeth. Her hot breath blowing on him as she inhales his scent. He can’t move, so he can’t access any of his gadgets, but luckily it seems like he doesn’t have to. She pauses her intimidating stance, her gold eyes looking at him in slight confusion. She inhales again, and she’s off of him almost instantly.

He sits up slowly as not to startle her, but she seems uncomfortable.

He opens his mouth to say something to try and calm her down but she seems to shake her head and she turns to the forest and bolts.

With a sigh he begins to stand, soreness rolling throughout his body. He looks to the direction in which she ran, but he decides not to chase her. She’ll be fine and he has bodies to round up.

*** How should you approach him? Does he hate you? Will he call you a freak? These are the questions raking through your mind. Part of you thought not to comeback. You’ve done it before, disappeared from a town and never comeback, but part of you knows that if you ran today you wouldn’t be able to get over the pain that you caused.

He sits there in the living room of the cabin, reading, mug of coffee steaming. He looks well, unharmed, aside from some slight bruising around his face. Part of you realizes that you have reason to be slightly wary of him. The bodies of the hunters are gone and you are wondering how he got rid of them. Is he also not what he seems?

There is another reason that you are hesitating, an unfortunate side effect of your transformation meant that your clothes did not survive the changing of your body.

Your bare foot steps down on the wood causing it to squeak slightly. His sharp blue eyes lock on to your form. You’d pressed your body against the door frame so he wouldn’t be able to see all of your nudity, but he could tell what the problem was by the shy look in your eye and the exposed nature of your thigh.

He puts his book down on the table and he disappears upstairs. He comes back with one of the quilts from the bed and he hands it to you.  He turns his back to you as you wrap your body with the blanket.

You follow him into the living room but the pair of you don’t sit.

Its quiet for a moment so you begin first.

“Are you hurt?”

“I’ve had worse,” he’s says plainly.

“Did I hurt anyone?”

“Hurt? Yes. Kill, No.”

You let out a sigh of relief. You remember being so angry last night, but you didn’t remember what you did.

“Do you hate me?”

He looks at you with furrowed eyebrows and a questioning look in his blue eyes, “Of course, not. I just wish I would have known not to plan a getaway around a full moon.”

“I should have told you,” you say after letting out a chuckle.  You move to embrace and he accepts. You let out a sigh of relief as his scent runs over you. “I’ll tell you the truth about everything from now on.”

“Is there more to being a werewolf?”

“No, but just in general. I feel like it’s only right since I put you in so much danger.”

His eyes are stormy as thought runs through his head, “Then I should be fair to you too.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you remember last night? What happened after you transformed?”

“Not all of it, it gets fuzzy when I transform. Sometimes, my mind isn’t completely my own. The memories always come to me eventually, it’s how I know I haven’t killed anyone before.”

“How do you feel about bats?”

You pull back and look at the man, confusion running over your face and suddenly your eyes go wide.

“Are you a vampire?!”

He chuckles and presses a kiss to your forehead, “Not quite.”

“A man-bat?”

“Closer.”

[thathpheadcanongirl]

Tonks didn’t pine after Remus, okay?

Pic found: https://trustahope.deviantart.com/art/i-waited-for-you-to-speak-88221062

So, I’ve been reading up on a lot of Remadora lately (one of my OTPs) for possible fanfics. And what I can’t stand is when people think that Tonks just pined after Remus like a lost puppy for months after Sirius’s death. No, my dudes, they were much more than that, and I’ll tell you how and why...

(Lots of Remadora Head Canon below)

I don’t believe Remus or any of the Marauders met Tonks when she was a baby (Andromeda and Ted were in hiding for their own safety during the first war, and they were not canonically part of the Order at that time.) Therefore, this made their first meeting pretty mundane, nothing worth mentioning. It was most likely an Order meeting where they first met, and Tonks probably thought Remus looked super bad ass with scars on his face. I see her being into “misfit” type people, so Remus’s appearance peaked her interest. Remus probably thought she was too young to be part of the Order, but was impressed with her morphing ability and how both Moody and Kingsley talk her up as this amazing Auror protégée.

Honestly, I don’t think they’d pair off without a little help from Sirius. Alone and shut up in his old home, Sirius invites people to stay after Order meetings. Remus basically lives there, so Sirius always has at least Remus. Tonks refuses the first few times he’s asked (because just a few months back, she was still hunting him down). She needed time to adjust to him actually being innocent. Eventually, she warms up to him and agrees to stay for a few drinks. This is how Sirius unintentionally brought his friend and his cousin together. Although their personalities were different, Sirius oddly saw how much they had in common. Tonks was a refreshing face to their lives. It’s what Sirius and Remus both needed.

Because Sirius was not allowed to go out on missions, Remus and Tonks would pair up, bonding even more. They’d talk and flirt pretty much the whole of their missions. At this point, she had to have known he was a werewolf. Maybe they didn’t discuss it at length, but she’s a smart cookie. And it wasn’t really a secret either; the Order made him Wolfsbane and Sirius accompanied him in one of the rooms in Grimmauld Place during his transformations. Despite this knowledge, Remus’s condition did not bother Tonks. On the contrary, she found it quite relatable to her ability. She never looked at him any differently or made him feel inferior because he wasn’t all human. In her mind, that was okay.

Remus thought that her view on his condition shouldn’t be treated like a gift. He was dangerous. He was known as werewolf first, human second, if at all. He thought it was odd that she was okay with going on missions with him, and he mentally beat himself up every day for falling for such a beautiful, whole, and talented girl.

In some ways, Sirius and Remus were both jealous of each other when it came to Tonks. When Sirius realized the connection Remus and Tonks shared in and outside their friend group, he started to worry about them leaving him. Just like James and Lily did. If he had it his way, the three of them would remain friends, drinking in his kitchen until the day he’s considered a free man. Tonks cares for Sirius’s wellbeing in that she always makes sure he feels included, even if it means talking up non-existent encounters she and Remus had on their missions or pulling pranks on the older Order members. It brightened his spirits, and made him hopeful, even if it was just for a moment.

Remus was jealous of all the attention Tonks gives Sirius, but he made it seem like he didn’t like when she fed him lies and gave into his fancies. Tonks was just doing her thing; making other feel better was her specialty! She had romantic feelings for Remus, unlike what she felt for Sirius. She didn’t know how to go about telling such a melancholy (and quite selfish) person, so she’d tell him through her actions. And he wasn’t stupid either, he knew what she was doing, but he didn’t want to admit it to himself. Who could ever love something like me? (<- Something Remus would probably say to himself every time he thought he could make a move on Tonks.)

It wasn’t until Remus brought up Sirius did Tonks finally confess her true feelings for him.

“He’s still handsome, isn’t he, even after Azkaban?”

“I suppose you’ve fallen for him then? He always got the women.”

“You’d know perfectly well who I’ve fallen for, if you weren’t too busy feeling sorry for yourself to notice!”

After that, he gave into his urges to kiss her and hold her and be with her. I like to think they were together for a big portion of OOTP, where Sirius was still quite jealous of their relationship but did everything to keep it from falling apart. He knew Remus would find a way to sabotage it with just a thought. And there wasn’t much else going on to keep Sirius occupied. What Sirius didn’t know was that Remus and Tonks were actually falling in love. The feeling was new for all involved. Remus broke it off with Tonks (by not telling her directly, of course, and choosing different missions or not showing up for meetings as consistently anymore). And when Sirius asked Tonks where Remus was, she’s always like, “I don’t know, you tell me.” Because he just… vanished for a while.

He came back eventually, and any time Tonks would get near him or try to talk to him, he’d walk away or ignore her. She honest to God it was something she did to hurt him. She wanted to apologize, but she needed to know what she did. The only thing she could think of was maybe he was still jealous of her relationship with Sirius. She tried to catch him after every Order meeting, but he kept avoiding her. She got so fed up with it that she started avoiding him and being the first to leave.

Sirius confronted Remus like a big brother protecting his sister. “Why are you doing this, you prick? She obviously wants to help!”

“I’m falling for her, Pads!” It was the first time he admitted it out loud. Sirius was just as surprised as Remus. “And I can’t help it.”

This sends Sirius back to when James confessed how much he loved Lily, and he had to watch his best mate leave him right before his eyes. (Don’t get me wrong, Sirius loved Lily… he just didn’t want to lose Remus and Tonks the way he lost James and Lily. He wanted to protect them, to make up for not protecting his friends before. And romantic love just makes things complicated, in Sirius’s opinion.) Even though he’d rather help Remus get away from these feelings, Sirius recognized Remus’s anguish and longing. His brotherly duties outweighed his personal agenda (old habits die hard). He couldn’t help but ask through gritted teeth, “Then why aren’t you with her?”

Remus shook his head. “You know I can’t. You, of all people, should be on my side. She deserves someone young and… just look at me! I’m a mess.”

“We’re all a mess in this crazy world. What’s life without a little risk?”

And Sirius pretty much made Remus talk to Tonks about this. She was honestly relieved it was nothing serious, but Remus thought the contrary. They fought about this for a while, probably all night. But they finally came to the consensus that life was too short to worry. Tonks didn’t care about Remus being a werewolf, she knew how to help, and she was a master at concealing things, so the Ministry wouldn’t catch on. I mean, they hadn’t for about a year, so forever shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Just as their relationship started to mend, the Battle of the Department of Mysteries happened. Tonks did get hurt and was knocked out cold by Bellatrix, who probably screamed something about being a traitor and mutt-lover or whatever. And Remus most likely overheard this exchange during battle and was like “Shit.” But then, Sirius went through the veil and everything stopped. Remus’s last friend in the world was gone forever. But he had to stay strong for Harry.

Remus went to St. Mungo’s to check on Tonks, but she still hasn’t woken up yet. He felt very guilty for allowing his feelings for her cloud his judgment. Being with her would never be okay because she would become an outcast, and he would never wish that upon her.

He���s not there when she comes to. She still didn’t know about Sirius’s death when she left the hospital. She had a feeling something was off when not even Remus was by her side. She went to Grimmauld Place, hoping to see the two men drinking a few Butterbeers and comparing battle scars. But she only saw Remus sitting by the fireplace with a Firewhiskey in hand and in tears. She dropped to her knees and held his hand by his side. They needed each other more than ever. They comforted each other for pretty much the entire Summer.

Then, that’s when Remus was like “I can’t do this… not again.” And Tonks pleaded for him to stay. They’ve done so much to heal; why would he just throw that away? But he does (because he’s a little shit who thinks that by steering clear from her, he’d save her from a life with him). He throws himself into recruiting werewolves from the underground, which he knows is basically a suicide mission.

Tonks did not pine. Tonks was grieving the death of her cousin and dealing with a pretty harsh breakup. The only person she felt comfortable talking about this was Molly, but she was zero help. Every time she thought Molly was giving good advice, she’d turn it around to get Tonks to start dating Bill. And Tonks is like “Um, no thanks.” (Not alternative enough, sorry Molly.)

So, this is when Harry sees Tonks all sulky and stuff, completely unaware of what’s actually going on.

Tonks was put on guard duty and she kinda hated it. It’s a lot of waiting for things to happen. And when all she read in the paper were Muggles and Wizards and Magical Creatures killing or being killed, she couldn’t help but worry for Remus’s wellbeing. She had no idea what was going on in his life, and that scared her. It also angered her knowing that the only reason he’s literally throwing himself to the wolves is so he could eventually die and she could live a life without him. She was understandably distracted, therefore did not perform as well in the Auror Department. Because of this, Kingsley gave her a small leave of absence (Maybe Kingsley and Moody thought Tonks being an Auror and going on missions for the Order was too much for her, idk). She spends that time with her family, not wanting to think about what’s happening to Remus.

No one has seen Remus in literal months at this point, but he showed up to an Order meeting right before the kids were to arrive for Christmas break. He most likely failed his mission or something, and having nowhere else to go, he resided at the Burrow. And OH MY GOD, Tonks thought Holy shit! He’s alive! It was a moment of not knowing what to expect. Did he miss her? Did he finally come to his senses and want her back? Did she even want to deal with this shit near the holidays? Just looking at him made her feel exhausted, and the feeling was definitely mutual.

LOTS of tension in the meeting, even Dumbledore felt it and dismissed them early. 11/10 they confronted each other again, and ended the same way: Remus almost letting himself be happy, but taking it away. There were many instances after that in which that happened, and frankly, Tonks was sick of it. And Fleur still wanting to marry Bill after he was attacked by Greyback was the tip of the iceberg for her, and Remus was forced to confront his own feelings for once in his life. But once he did let go, it was like a dam had broken and ALL of his feelings came out at once. It was a bit overwhelming for both of them, but Tonks was there to help him.

So yeah, there was no pining. There was just a lot of frustration, sexual tension, and time passing with no results. And it sucked for everyone involved (Yes, pretty much the whole Order had an opinion). But they made it! Tonks helped Remus mend in a way, and Remus took a while to accept that he loved her. It’s all so tragic and gross and amazing. And then they got married! But that’s a different story…

[thisbiasedlife]

A New Livelihood (Werewolf! Jimin x Werewolf! Reader)

(The GIF of the wolf is intended to represent Aera when she transforms. I admittedly do not possess the ability at this current juncture to even fathom what godly wolf form Park Jimin would take on.)

Hello guys! So, here's the fanfic that I've been working on in tandem with 'Risen from the Ashes'. If you guys have yet to check it out, I would certainly appreciate it if you did. If not, that's cool too. Without further wordiness from me, here are details of the story:

Pairing: Aera x Jimin (though it can totally be taken as a Reader x Jimin. Just replace her name with whatever you'd like to be addressed as, as her name is very seldom used)

Genre: Fluff, Angst (Smut to come in later chapters)

Rating: PG - PG13 (for this chapter)

Characters: Aera (or reader if you like) and, of course, BTS. Aera'a brother Jung (though this could also be replaced with whatever name you fancy)

Word Count: 4,516

Summary: Aera (or really Y/N) belongs to a pack of more traditional werewolf values led by her brother, Jung (or really Y/B/N). The very brother that murdered their parents in cold blood solely for the purpose of ascending to the position of Alpha. With her tyrant brother in control, Aera (or Y/N) is forced into a mating ritual with a rival pack in order to cement their alliance with her own pack. Things take a turn for confusing when this forced ceremony turns out to be far from forced. Aera (Y/N) must learn to adapt to an entirely different lifestyle, one that stands in drastic contrast from her own, while simultaneously navigating the confusing and passionate nature that is the mating bond.

The testosterone characteristic of authority wafted through the air. "You cannot be serious?!," I directed at my brother whom had just given the order. "I am. I'm the Alpha. My word is law," he replied coldly. "You're only Alpha because dad trusted you more than you deserved! I refuse to let you reduce me to a bargaining chip in your quest for glory. Especially when I already know it isn't exactly going to be a success story!," I reply with a growl. "Unless you, the weakling that you are, desire to challenge the Alpha, you must comply. My supporters in the pack greatly outnumber yours. You know it's just not okay for a female to lead the pack," my brother cut back still lacking any hint of emotion or sympathy.

"You know, mother would be so ashamed. You're still so traditional, just like dad. Get over yourself. I'm not letting you sign me over as someone else's bitch just so you can make an alliance with another pack," I protested with a flash of my teeth, knowing full well these were all characteristic of a challenging body language. The Alpha was never to be opposed, or so my dad used to say. Though raised to have great respect for those occupying the Alpha position of any pack, I refused to venerate or obey my brother's orders. He hadn't considered anyone other than himself in their formation.

"You speak as though you are never going to be submitted to a mate. I'm mearly expediting the process. I know that your mate is somewhere in that pack," he answered calmly. It took every ounce of me not to shift. A shift would announce total defiance and lead in a fight to the death. As much as I hated my brother for everything that he'd done, I didn't want to kill him and I wasn't exactly keen on the concept of dying. "Bull shit! Don't get all high and mighty! No one could know that! Hell I won't even know it until it hits me in the face. You aren't some great leader like you'd have everyone believe! You're a cowardly mutt trembling in the shadow that is our father, you know, the one you killed when his back was turned," I snarled. I felt claws elongate where my human nails had once been. I inhaled, trying even harder to keep my feelings in check. That was another matter I wouldn't air in front of the rest of the pack. They'd all revolt and kill both of us if they knew the truth of the evil that my brother had committed. Sure, in the animal world, that was perfectly normal, but werewolves weren't all animal. We possessed a certain degree of civility that made it completely unokay to kill someone when their back was turned.

"I could honestly care less about anything you have to say. You've always been sheltered by that bitch we used to call a mother and that weakling we called dad. He could only see a fourth of my ideals. No where near enough to make him the leader our pack needed. That leader is me. Now, I suggest you put the only three valuable lessons he ever taught us to work: 1) Female werewolves are always to be respectful, polite, and subdued in the presence of a male werewolf, 2) All Alphas are to be universally respected and acknowledged, and 3) Female werewolves must submit fully to their mates. No questions, no exceptions. You live to serve HIM. Bangtan will be here soon," my brother commanded with finality.

"The only problem with your logic is that I've always had trouble following dad's sexist logic. Especially in this era of human civilization where women are given more than in the past, allowed to strive for more, allowed to fight what is unjust. If I can have a voice in my human skin, I will have a voice in my wolven fur! You think that this forced mating is going to bring you any benefit? You'll be lucky if I don't wind up making sure that it kills you! Enjoy the rest of the short time you have left in the sun because, as long as I draw breathe, you will not remain Alpha long," I finished flashing the blue glow of my Irises before retracting my claws and canines.

Before I could verbally lash at him any further, an unfamiliar scent wafted with the blow of the wind. On further inspection it was not just one new scent, but seven. Bangtan had arrived. One of the scents sent a jolt of electricity throughout my body and I felt my Irises flash painfully to a shade of pink. Fuck! I refused to believe that my brother was even remotely closed to right. I shielded my eyes with my hand hoping that no one else had noticed. "Welcome, Bangtan! I'm so glad you could join us today. I respect that you trust us enough to arrive in your human forms just as we have elected to receive you," my brother addressed the seven approaching individuals. "I am Namjoon, the leader of Bangtan. We have chosen to show up this way in order to show respect for the sacrifice that you are making today. Please make no mistake in believing that we possess any level of trust for you yet. Today will determine such. This is merely a showing in hope of a positive alliance to come," their Alpha answered as his eyes briefly flashed red. The symbol of the declaration of an Alpha, something to be respected even if I absolutely hated everything about this situation.

I hid myself in the cluster of my pack, the very pack which was to abandon me in a matter of minutes at the request of my own brother. Not that I could really call him that after everything though. Namjoon suddenly tilted his head in observation. "There's been a shift in my pack. She's here," Namjoon observed aloud. Shit.

The pain racking my body was getting more intense by the second as I was resisting the pull coming from an unknown exact location. The flashing of my Irises was growing more intense judging by the increased burning. My body was hot. It burned. My bones ached under the pressure and splinters bursted at my sides. Someone out of the seven had noticed the bond and was pulling at it. As much as it fucking sucked, my mate was one of the seven and I couldn't resist much longer. He would undoubtedly try to symbolically submit me soon. "Let us commence with the ceremony then. As is traditional, both packs must let it play out how it does. The male must submit the female without help in acknowledging who she is. The two will remain in human form until the commencement of the symbolic submission," my brother declared as his own eyes flashed red. Namjoon appeared to second the opinion as he uttered the word, "Begin" with a red flash in his own eyes.

I tried to turn my body and walk in the opposite direction of the seven, but the pain splitting through my body glued me in place. I gritted my teeth and felt my canines begin to extend from my gums. The bond was strong if it was already forcing my transition. "You're here. Your scent is driving me crazy," a voice shouted out. "Every fiber of me screams to turn," the voice continued as it got closer. His scent intensified in my nose and consumed my senses. Pain in my shoulder forced me to lower the hand covering my eyes and my eyes, now violently radiating a hot pink, became visible. That's when I locked eyes with him and my entire body violently shook. Though not tall, he was muscular and possessed a strong jawline. His hair was jet black. The muscle shirt he was wearing drew attention to his toned arms and his tight jeans hugged, what were becoming, his irresistible thighs. As his scent magnified with his approach, his features became more and more attractive. By now, he too had noticed me and was smirking wickedly, his animalistic nature taking over.

The pain intensified to an unbearable degree and my transformation furthered as claws erupted from my hands and feet. I was losing control over the change and losing even further control over resisting the bond he was tugging so hardly on. As he finally stood directly in front of me, I couldn't look him in the eye and my canines erupted fully from the roof of my mouth. I emitted a low growl, to which he chuckled and snarled back, his own canines now visible.

"I, Park Jimin, claim you as mine. From this day forward, you are my mate, you will bear my children, and I will do with you what I please," he challenged as he began to accelerate his transformation, the symbolic submission looming. "That is if you can submit me. If not, I, Min Aera, walk free, never again to be bothered by your claim," I returned my own challenge accelerating my own shift to finally ease the pain racking my entire body.

He let out a howl that reverberated throughout the entirety of the woods. My own howl followed. His sole goal following that howl was to firmly grip my neck in his mouth, force me to whimper and bow my head in submission. He had to make me stop resisting. I lunged at his legs, biting firmly when I met fur and flesh. He snarled menacingly. I darted quickly to his hind quarters and bit down on his right hind leg. He snarled menacingly again and moved with a speed I thought impossible. Within seconds, he was biting down on my throat and crushing my wind pipe. I let out a whimper and bowed my head in defeat. I was claimed by Park Jimin. My body shifted of its own accord following my defeat. I laid on the ground naked and defeated. Jimin shifted back just as quickly grabbing a blanket extended towards him by one of his pack members. He covered me with it. "As defeated as you are, you're mine and no one else is ever going to have the privilege to gaze on your naked body like I will," he said bending down to brush my hair out of my face. With me covered, Jimin went to retrieve a change of clothes from Namjoon and proceeded to clothe his naked form. A form that I could not take in because of the weakness that consumed my body forcing my eyes closed.  His pack had thought of everything, had been considerate, had been sympathetic to his plight. It wouldn't surprise me if Namjoon had in his possession a change of clothes for every member. Meanwhile, my pack had nothing for me and only looked on my shivering form. No sympathy, no consideration, only cold abandonment could be found in their eyes.  

I tried to lift my weakened frame off of the ground only to come crashing back down to the ground. My body was effectively done. Jimin returned and crouched down beside me. "Don't struggle," he commanded as he lifted my form from the Earth. He carried me over to where the other six members were standing. "Welcome to our pack. Trust that I will ensure that you are taken care of just as the other six members of my pack are," Namjoon spoke up. I took the little remaining energy I had to bow my head to him. At least it was evident he cared a little.

"Can I trust this seals the alliance?," my brother spoke up. "I suppose you can Min Jung, but do know that if your pack is ever to harm any of mine, including your sister, the deal is off.  She will not ever return to your pack and her loyalty lies with us so don't try to sway her either. Do not enter our territory without express permission from myself or my Beta, Yoongi," he says gesturing to his right. A pale individual with green hair is standing beside him and smirks slightly at the utterance of his name. With those final warnings uttered, Namjoon turns to leave, his pack falling in line behind him.

The walk remains silent, my body steadily bumping against Jimin's as he carries me. When we are out of ear shot, Namjoon speaks. "Whew! I hate being so serious like that. You okay Aera?," he asks turning to me. My alarm must have registered on my face at his sudden transition from authoritative to, well, sorta fluffy. "I'm not really like that at all. None of us are. It's really more of an appearance we put on for more traditional packs like yours," he says shooting me a smile. His smile makes me relax a bit in Jimin's arms. I'd been too preoccupied with fear about where I would fall in this new pack to take in the feel of Jimin's arms around me.

Now more relaxed, I felt like practically melting into them. I felt more secure than I had felt since the death of my parents. It was strange and it scared me a bit. This whole mate stuff was new to me and I had no idea how it was going to pan out. "There see. You're way cuter when you relax," Jimin said looking down at me and chuckling. My cheeks flushed. Embarrassed and intimidated by the intensity of both his stare and my growing desire to be even closer to him, I spoke up.

"I'm recovered enough to walk now," I offered squirming a little. "I don't mind carrying you," he replied without hesitation. I squirmed a little more. "No really. Can I walk?," I asked. He nodded and crouched to set me down. I pulled the blanket tighter around my frame as my feet met the ground.

"Oh, Jungkook is carrying your things. Apparently your brother preemptively packed them up for you. Would you like to change? I can promise all but Jimin will look away. I really can't control what he does when it comes to you, as much as I would like to help," Namjoon offered. I nodded, hoping to get out of this blanket and not feel as vulnerable or naked. Namjoon motioned to Jungkook, who brought over my things.

I pulled a pair of black skinny jeans with rips up the thigh, a black thong, a white push up bra, and a lacy white crop top from the suitcase. I pulled on a pair of white no shoe socks and slid on a pair of white Vans. Closing the suitcase, I grabbed a hair time and tied my long black hair up in a pony tail.  Now dressed as I pleased, I breathed out a sigh of relief. "All done," Jimin hollered to the rest of the boys and they all turned back to face me. My cheeks flushed crimson. I'd been so excited to finally get clothed that I forgot Jimin had been watching me.

The object causing the crimson dust to appear approached me. "Nice body," he said with a wink teasing me. "I'll explain how we work so you can fit in as soon as possible," Namjoon started drawing my attention and preventing the somewhat biting comment I had for Jimin. "I am of course the Alpha. Yoongi is the Beta. Beyond that we don't really have a hierarchy as I don't really feel the need to berate or relegate any of my pack members to an omega position. Past Yoongi and myself, the rest of the pack is pretty equal with respect given to age. Jungkook is our youngest and I expect you to address him just as everyone else does. You don't really need to pay him any special kind of respect. Taehyung is next youngest, but is only slightly younger than Jimin. You may need some respect there, but not as much as you'll need towards Jimin not only for his age but also for his relation to you. I will allow him to police that fairly hard. Next is J-Hope, he's older than you even though it may not ever seem like it. Of course respect is due there. Then, there's Yoongi, of course, as he's my Beta, you'll need to have respect there. Then myself, you already know how that one goes though because I'm the Alpha. The eldest is Jin. I would remind you to respect him, but you should have no trouble with that. He's easily likable. While my word is final, I do take suggestions from the pack. Also, in case you've been living under a rock, we're sort of always traveling because we're a famous band," Namjoon finished trying to scoot past the last sentence like it was nothing. "Hold up! What?," I spoke up. Apparently I'd been living under a rock. "Yes we are Bangtan Sonyeondan. Better known as BTS," Namjoon answered. I'd never heard of them. Clearly, I didn't get out much, even in human form. "Wait, how do you even juggle both? I haven't ever strayed far from the reserve that my pack stayed on," I asked curious. Their lifestyle was something completely different from everything I had ever known.

"Like I said, we aren't exactly traditional. I won't explain us much further. You'll kinda just have to figure out. Just watch out when the more animalistic, traditional nature comes out. As it's more suppressed, it tends to come on stronger," Namjoon cautioned. His words of caution began to mold a fear within me. It wasn't like I wasn't used to traditional ways of thinking. I'd been around it my entire life and it always manifested in varying levels of severity, but the way Namjoon said it, gave the impression that even the most severe experiences I'd had with my traditional pack would be overshadowed or even bested by their traditional manifestations. Eager to hide my growing anxiety and prevent the characteristic pheromone of anxiety from escaping my body, I offered a change of topic.

"So, could you tell me more about Bangtan? I've never heard of it. My pack was never really into listening to modern music. Or any music for that matter. My dad sorta wanted us cut off from the rest of the world," I both explained and inquired. "Well, it's not exactly easy for us all the time, but we love our fans. We must always keep our aggression in check as you know that facilitates a transformation faster than any other emotion. Other than that, it's about suppressing the more animalistic urges whenever we are in the face of the public. We've sort of adopted the minority approach when it comes to integrating with human society in that we've assimilated. We rarely undergo transformation save the necessary times of the full moon and the blood moon and any eclipses that might occur. We don't hunt often and generally consume meals which are still high in the necessary protein but also still socially acceptable. The few times that we do hunt are during blood and full moons. As you know, these moons peak transformative sensitivity and aggression. We use hunting to channel these emotions and normally shift to hunt on each night a full or blood moon is present. This assimilation aids in reworking instinct enough so that the public isn't able to cue in on what we are. It promotes control so that this lifestyle is possible for us," Namjoon explained in great detail.

I nodded with each of his points realizing almost instantly that I preferred the way his pack worked to the way my own pack had worked. Though a preferred lifestyle, it wasn't what I was used to. A complete one-eighty actually and I wasn't sure if I was going to adapt well. Having been given a sufficient amount of information on their pack for one sitting, I decided that I'd inquire specifically about the music. Something about Namjoon made me comfortable enough to ask all that I wished to know.

"What about like what you guys do as a band?," I asked. "I can answer that," Jimin spoke up quickly, perhaps jealous at my conversing with Namjoon. "Taehyung, Jin, Jungkook, and I are the vocal line. Namjoon, Yoongi, and Hoseok (better known as J-Hope) make up the rap line. J-Hope, Jungkook, and myself are undoubtedly the best dancers," he said his confidence appearing to rise with the last sentence. I nodded my head. I wasn't entirely sure what all music comprised being that I had been away from it basically all of my life, but he seemed passionate about it. For some reason, that made me want to be passionate about it. I caught myself before expressing such as I was still somewhat fighting the insane strength that was our mating bond. Jimin seemed to sense this as he rotated his head slightly to the right in confusion. "We'll have to let you listen to our stuff when we get back to the dorm," the boy they'd been addressing as J-Hope spoke up. He sent a smile my way. A smile I literally couldn't help but to return. It went against every fiber of me not to.

"Yah! You don't smile at me! You should smile at me the most," Jimin shouted out at me in slight agitation. I don't know why, but my body reacted instantly by slouching and bowing my head in a submissive position. Completely uncharacteristic of my normal reaction, I attributed it to the bond again and shook it off within a few seconds hoping no one had noticed. It was undoubtably certain that Jimin had noticed. Given the looks I was receiving from the rest of the pack, it was apparent that I had secreted some pheromone that had alerted them as well.

I heard the individual they had been gesturing to as 'Jin' emit a chuckle. "You'll get used to the bond with time. I promise you won't always respond like that. Eventually, you'll be just as ready to bite his face off as you are ready to fully submit to him now. It's the newness of the bond. As with all things, it will get worse before it gets better. You'll be even more submissive after the marking confirming the submission and the.....consummation....if you will.  But then, you'll be able to go toe to toe with him to a certain extent as you become more familiar with him and grow to test the bond," Jin exclaimed with a warm smile. I was thankful that he could provide some insight into the current situation that was leaving me completely flabbergasted and without a single shred of control. "Hyung! Don't tell her that," Jimin complained with a light blush dusting his cheeks. A small giggle, uncharacteristic of me, nearly left my lips before I suppressed it. He was hot when he was being dominant, but totally cute when he was being slightly childish.

"Jiminie doesn't want her to know because it's when she's submissive that he can create pups," the one they'd gestured to as Taehyung spoke up. "Yah!," Jimin complained loudly glaring at Taehyung. Taehyung busted out in an intense fit of laughter that concluded with a somewhat boxy smile.

Namjoon cleared his throat, effectively silencing the rest of the pack. "I'd nearly forgot to mention that you'll be traveling with us. Being as your Jimin's mate, we can't leave you alone at the dorm while we tour, at least until it is widely and firmly established that your claimed. Unfortunately, this means that you're going to need to adapt quickly. You'll have three weeks before the start of our next tour. All seven of us will be your guide, but I expect the responsibility will fall more to myself and Jin. The others are still learning some of it themselves," he said sending glares to the younger members of the pack, including a now embarrassed Park Jimin. Though I felt that he wanted to protest, not a word slipped from his lips. Namjoon might not have been a strict Alpha, but his presence commanded both respect and attention.

"That being said, expect the next three weeks to be stricter than the rest of your time with us. Just until you get used to our ways and learn to cope with our less desirable habits. After Jimin's claim has been firmly established and we no longer need to fear the snooping around of rogue or packless males attempting to force a claim, you'll no longer be required to accompany us on our tours and can stay at the dorm for extended periods of time by yourself. You are of course still welcome to continue to accompany us," Namjoon finished with a small smile. He had a way or wording restraints and regulations. He made every one of them seen as if they were intended solely for my protection and well-being rather than making them seem tedious and like an object I would be inclined to rebel against.

"I can't actually think of any other rules off of the top of my head. I'll likely just need to mention them along the way as you accidentally break them or as they come to me. Though not a rule, a word to the wise: don't wake Yoongi without his express permission. He tends to be quite krabby and even violent with the boys from time to time," Namjoon finished.

"I can vouch for this! I bruise the least easiest of all of us and he punched me so hard this one time that I had a bruise on my shoulder for a good month," the one they'd referred to as Jungkook spoke up for the first time. "That's entirely because you deserved it. The first time you speak and it's to berate your hyung," Yoongi teased shaking his head. "You'll just have to excuse him Aera. He's shy, especially around females and strangers," Yoongi added addressing me directly. My head snapped in Yoongi's direction at the direct mention of my name. Though he spoke less enthusiastically or loudly than the rest, his voice too held a level of authority and control. He was calmer than the others, more reserved. "Well then I guess that means I strike out twice," I attempted to joke looking over at Jungkook. He sent me a small smile.

With that last awkward exchange, we arrived at our destination. I was surprised at how close their pack was relative to ours. Separated by only a few miles, were two completely different lifestyles and two completely different spreads of compassion and acceptance. Glad but apprehensive about being on the other side of the territorial bounds, I wondered what it was my future held with this new pack, with my newly found mate, and even with this new lifestyle. Namjoon said that I only had three weeks and I prayed that that was enough.