disclaimer: this is pretty long, i hope you don't get bored🥺

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"Come out!" You growled, laughing. "It won't hurt a bit. I pinky swear!"

You spun around, hearing a twig behind you snap, and you saw the man. He held his hands up, trying to reassure you. You stepped forward, licking your lips.

"Took you long enough." You smirked. "I just want a small bite."

You pounced, taking him down to the ground. He looked into your now yellow colored eyes, and smiled.

"You'll thank me later." He whispered.

"Excuse me?"

He jabbed something into your neck, and a deep, aggressive growl escaped your throat. "You'll really thank me later."

He stood up and scooped you off the ground as you lost all of your strength, and you looked up at him with angry eyes. "You better watch yourself, if- if I ever see you again."

You woke up with a small jerk and slowly stood up, a little dizzy from whatever that guy stuck you with. You looked to your right and saw him, but when you tried walking to him, something stopped you. You poked the inside of your cheek with your tongue as you saw the burst of purple light emit with the impact of your body.

"Welcome to Arcane Academy." The man said. "I'm Headmaster Min Jeongshin, but you can call me whatever you'd like. I still don't know your name."

"Y/N." You told him and looked to the dark haired boy that had appeared in the doorway. "And be careful what you ask for, Jeongshin."

He stood up and walked over to the dark haired boy. "Seonghwa and I are taking you on a tour of the school. He put this barrier spell around me so that you couldn't go through with that threat from the woods."

You rolled your eyes and walked in between them. "I'm not going to this ridiculous academy."

Before you could go too far, you involuntary stopped in your tracks, and you growled under your breath. "We just want to show you around." Seonghwa said.

He undid his spell and unfroze you, so you turned and walked up to him, inches away from his face. "Watch it witch boy. I'll tear you apart on the next full moon."

He smirked and leaned in closer. "I'd like to see you try."

You smirked back and turned, hitting him with your hair. He intrigued you, so maybe you'd suffer through his little tour and find out more about the school. Him and the headmaster got in front of you, so you got in between them.

"Everyone's having lunch right now, so we'll take you there." Headmaster Min said. "That's where the other werewolves, vampires and witches are."

You followed them down the grand staircase that overlooked the cafeteria, which had beautiful chandeliers, dark red lush carpet, and nice long tables. There were probably three hundred more kids just like you, but you immediately knew who the wolves were, just by the way they were staring at you.

"Everyone usually sticks with each other, witches with the witches, vamps with the vamps, and of course the pack." Seonghwa said. "Good luck with the alpha. His name's Mingi."

"Oh, I can handle him." You smirked, flashing the alpha a pair of yellow eyes.

Mingi chuckled and turned his back to you, while the three of you observed everyone. You sighed, unsatisfied, and sat down on the stairs.

"You have friends, Seonghwa? Or are you a lone witch?" You questioned.

"I'm actually friends with Mingi and a few other wolves, along with a few vampires and witches." He replied. "Thank you very much."

Seonghwa pushed you off the stairs and continued the tour. By the end of it, you knew where everything was, including your new room. Despite the fact that you didn't want to be at the academy, you did like the room. It was big and luxurious, it had nice light fixtures, a large bed, things you hadn't had in a while. As you were looking in the closet full of clothes, someone knocked on the door and let themselves in.

"Come down for dinner." Seonghwa said.

You turned around and smiled. "Good thing I wasn't naked, hm?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just eat dinner with the rest of us. Maybe you can meet your alpha."

"I'm my own alpha, thank you very much." You mocked him. "I'll be there."

He shut your bedroom door and you changed into some grey sweatpants and a black t-shirt, letting your hair fall over your shoulders. You hummed and went downstairs to the cafeteria and grabbed a blood bag from one of the trays in the middle of the room. You looked at your packs table and made eye contact with Mingi, then you looked straight and headed back up the stairs and up to your bedroom.

Seonghwa watched and sighed, disappointed, while Mingi snarled and gave you a dirty look. You shut your bedroom door and plopped down onto your bed, taking a sip of the blood bag and being taken back by its taste.

"Is this animal blood?" You mumbled. "Seriously?"

You set the bag down on your bedside table and laid back, enjoying the quiet. You wondered about Mingi and what he had to do in order to become alpha.

"You know that blood bag is supposed to help you, right?"

You slowly opened your eyes and looked to your doorway, seeing a brown headed boy standing there. "With animal blood?"

He nodded. "I'm San, one of the vamps. Headmaster Min gives us animal blood to help us control our urges for human blood, but I'm assuming you've already had a taste?"

"You would assume correctly."

You sat up and invited him in, so he sat on the edge of your bed. "I didn't mean to intrude, but I saw you leave the cafeteria and I could smell the animal blood in here, so I got curious. Mingi was pretty mad that you didn't sit with the pack."

You scrunched your nose. "I don't like his attitude."

"He hasn't even done anything to you." San laughed. "Maybe because you're both clearly dominant wolves?"

"How did he become alpha?" You asked.

"He fought the old alpha. That's really the only way an alpha can be replaced." San told you. "Don't tell me you're thinking about it?"

"I've always been the alpha. I don't like someone else being in charge."

"I would say that you and Mingi could both be the alphas, but one- a female wolf has never been brave enough to ask him, and two- the two of you got off to a really bad start."

"I don't like sharing either."

He nodded slowly and stood up. "Please consider staying here. It's a good place for people like us, and Headmaster Min does everything he can to protect us and keep us safe."

"I'll think about it." You told him as he walked to your door. "Thanks."

He hummed and left your bedroom, leaving you with thoughts of Mingi. You couldn't stand the thought of him being your alpha.

The next morning, you woke up early and took a shower, putting on a nice outfit. You took a glance at the blood bag on your table and shuddered at the thought, but took a sip anyways.

You left your bedroom and went downstairs, mainly to look around for yourself, but when you got off the staircase, Mingi was waiting for you.

"Wolves should stick with their pack, Y/N."

"I know."

You turned away from him, but he grabbed your arm and held you against the railing of the staircase, his werewolf strength on max.

"You should respect your alpha."

You punched him, hard, and he let you go as he stumbled back. You were both growling at each other, that vicious yellow color taking over your irises. He grabbed your shoulders and threw you into the wall, so you kicked him in the stomach and took him to the ground. You bent down and got in his face.

"I've never had an alpha, and I will not start now." You growled. "Change your attitude and maybe I can respect you as a wolf."

"Watch it, Y/N. You're testing dangerous waters."

You went to punch him again, but you were in the air before you could touch him. You growled and looked at the witch underneath you.

"Put me down!" You yelled.

"Why are you fighting each other?"

Mingi stood up and wiped the blood off his lip. "Because she doesn't know what respect is, Hongjoong."

Hongjoong put you down on the ground and you wiped your pants off. You rolled your eyes and turned away from both of them, going to the gardens that Seonghwa showed you. You sat on the bench and looked up at the sky, the clouds and wind calming your rising rage. No one had ever been in charge of you, and you weren't sure that that was a change you were willing to adjust to. Not to mention, Mingi did in fact have a wicked attitude.

You heard someone sit on the bench with you, so you looked over to see another wolf with your favorite flowers in his hands. He held them out to you, so you took them and gave him a small smile.

"I had a feeling that they were your favorite." He said. "I'm Wooyoung."

"Y/N-"

"Wooyoung, I wanted to pick her favorite flowers." Another wolf from the pack cut him off and looked at you. "Hi, I'm Yunho. These are for you."

He handed you a handful of flowers, and you couldn't help but laugh. "Why are you guys picking flowers for me?"

"To welcome you to the pack?" Yunho said, as if it were obvious. "Mingi did not give you a very warm welcome."

"Yeah. On our way out here, I saw that hole in the wall by the staircase. He must've been really aggressive." Wooyoung added.

You shrugged. "Nothing I can't handle."

"I also saw that you hit him pretty good, too." Wooyoung stated. "No one has ever been brave enough to hit him."

"I mean, we playfully hit him all the time, since we're friends, but other wolves in the pack-" Yunho shook his head. "Definitely not."

You stood up and smiled at both of them. "Thank you for the flowers, and thank you for trying to make up for Mingi's rude welcoming."

They smiled in return and you went inside, back up to your room so you could put the flowers in some water. A little later, Mingi was telling Seonghwa about how you socked him in the face, and Seonghwa was wondering why you couldn't behave.

"I think she wants to be the alpha." Mingi snorted. "She's new and already challenging me?"

"We don't know much about her, Mingi." Seonghwa said, looking at the hole in the wall. "Headmaster Min brought her in because he's a savior, you know that. We don't know how dangerous she is."

"I think she's nice." San chimed in.

Wooyoung nodded in agreement. "Yunho and I talked to her. She's sweet and she took the flowers we picked her."

"You picked flowers for her?" Mingi questioned. "Sucking up?"

"Being nice." Yunho smacked the back of Mingi's head. "The alpha wolf is supposed to protect, not put in danger."

"The only thing I've seen her do is fight with Mingi, so I'm with Seonghwa on this one." Hongjoong said. "We should be careful."

Mingi rubbed at his eyes. "Jongho and Yeosang haven't met her yet, right?"

"I just haven't gotten the chance to talk to her." Yeosang said.

"I don't know if I'm avoiding her," Jongho paused. "Or if I really just haven't seen her around. Y/N and the witches don't seem to get off on a good start."

"I think it's a respect thing." San said. "If you respect her, she'll respect you. Treat people how you want to be treated- the golden rule."

"That would explain the sass she gives Seonghwa and the disrespect she gives Mingi." Yeosang said.

"She's really interesting." Seonghwa mumbled. "No one like her has ever stepped foot into Arcane Academy."

Everyone agreed with Seonghwa as you found yourself at the top of the staircase. You looked down at the cafeteria table all of the guys were sitting at and made direct eye contact with Seonghwa, his eyes enticing. You were still very intrigued by him. He got up and walked up the stairs, getting dangerously close to you as he walked by.

"Let's go to your room." He said.

"Oh?" You grinned. "And do what, Park Seonghwa?"

"Talk."

He made a gesture with his hand and your bedroom door swung open, so you walked in and he followed behind you, shutting the door. He looked at you and gave you a look, making you tilt your head.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah. You're getting in fights with your alpha?"

You groaned as your eyes turned yellow for a split second. "If someone calls him my alpha one more time, I will maul someone."

He walked to the edge of your bed and leaned down, both of his arms on either side of your body. "Y/N, this academy is not a game and we're not your enemies. We're your friends, and I'm helping you by telling you that there is nothing you can do about the Mingi situation."

"I could fight him." You whispered.

"That's a horrible idea."

"Maybe, but I'm very serious about being in charge."

He hummed and got another inch closer to you. "I bet you wouldn't mind me being in charge."

You smiled and leaned in, your lips brushing against his cheek. "I guess there's only one way to find out."

You pulled away and looked at him, and he pressed his lips to yours for a moment, then pulled away. This time, you closed the gap with a longer and slightly more heated kiss, only until there was a sharp pain that jolted through your head. You groaned and collapsed to your bed.

"Seonghwa, is the full moon coming up?"

"Headmaster Min!"

Seonghwa bursted through his office doors with you, unconscious, in his arms. "What happened?"

"The full moon." Seonghwa replied. "You've taught the other wolves to control themselves and reduce the symptoms of the full moon, but Y/N can't do that. Before she passed out, she told me that we needed to keep everyone away from her."

"Because she's dangerous."

Seonghwa nodded and Jeongshin grabbed you out of his arms, taking you back out to the hallway, where he laid you in the middle of the floor.

"Get Hongjoong, Jongho and the other witches. Put the strongest barrier spell you can around her. Maybe being surrounded by people will help her when she turns. I lost track of time or else I would've taken this precaution already." Jeongshin said.

Seonghwa gathered all of the witches, which of course brought attention, and eventually, everyone was staring down at you. The witches circled around you and held hands, chanting together as the barrier started forming. You woke up just as they were finished with the spell, and your eyes were now a dangerous red rather than their usual yellow.

"This is bad." Seonghwa said. "Mingi. We need to get you away from her."

"Why?" Mingi questioned.

"Because, the two of you have been competing for alpha ever since she got here, and all of the wolves are turning tomorrow night, including you. The rest of you are good at containing yourselves during your turn, but Y/N can't, and with her around, I have a feeling that both of you will be dangerous."

Mingi looked at you for a second, then remembered something. "Do you remember how you helped me, Seonghwa? I was new to the academy, it was my first full moon here and I couldn't control myself yet. You purposely cut your hand so you could get my attention, then you coaxed me out of eating you by telling me that I didn't need human blood. You could do that for Y/N."

"Except she's ten times more dangerous than you were back then. She would definitely tear me apart if I did that." Seonghwa replied.

"I don't know. It seems like there's something going on between you, so maybe she won't eat you." Yeosang said and Seonghwa gave him a look. "What? It's not my fault I have heightened hearing."

"Fine." Seonghwa sighed. "But I'm going to need someone to stay up here when she turns, just in case it goes bad."

"We can all stay." Jongho said. "Except Mingi."

Mingi raised his eyebrows. "Really? You do know that I'm an alpha, Jongho?"

"Yeah, I know." He replied. "But it's not like you're the head of my coven. Plus, I'm just saying that it could be a really messy situation if we let Y/N out of the barrier when she turns and you're here in your wolf form, too."

"And you should stay with your pack." San added.

Mingi sighed. "Fine, but get me up here if you need anything."

Seonghwa nodded and eventually, it was just you, him and Headmaster Min upstairs. Your breathing was heavy and you looked limp in the protected circle you were sitting in. Your eyes were still a deep shade of red, but Seonghwa sat on the other side of the barrier and looked at you.

"Turning is my least favorite part of being a werewolf." You whispered. "It's the worst physical pain I've ever felt in my life."

"I can imagine. I remember the first time Mingi turned- it sounded painful." Seonghwa replied.

"You would think after all the times I've turned, my bones breaking wouldn't be as horrible as the first time, but-"

You cut yourself off with a loud growl as surges of pain rushed through your body. Seonghwa knew that the full moon wasn't going to be pretty for you.

"Seonghwa, nobody can stay on this floor with me when I turn." You said. "I mean it."

"We're not leaving you up here by yourself."
He said.

You pushed yourself closer to him and touched the barrier. "Especially the witches and Headmaster Min. You guys have human blood in your veins and I will come after all of you."

Seonghwa stood up. "Headmaster Min won't be up here, but I'm not leaving."

"It wasn't a suggestion." You said. "Do not stay up here."

Seonghwa thought about it. "Fine. We're evacuating everyone tonight anyways, just in case. The only people staying are the wolves, and the rest of the guys, and we'll stay downstairs while you turn."

You nodded. "Thank you."

He went downstairs and sat with the rest of the guys. Everyone had already started evacuating, especially the much younger supernaturals. The wolves were already being put in their cages, which were decorated and picked out by the pack themselves for comfort while they turned. Except for Mingi, Yunho and Wooyoung, who knew how to stay in control during the full moon, so they were often left to watch over the pack from the outside of their cages.

"What'd she say?" Yeosang asked.

"She doesn't want anyone near her during the full moon." Seonghwa replied. "But I want to put a crystal ball up there so we can keep an eye on her."

"I'll go get on that." Jongho said.

Seonghwa was one of the most powerful witches in the school, and he barely ever got worked up about the full moon, or one of the wolves' turning, but this was different. He had this feeling that something terrible would happen, and he knew he wouldn't be able to stop it.

The next night, the guys were in the cafeteria, watching your movements carefully. You were becoming more aggressive, trying to get out of the barrier. They could tell you were in pain by the way you'd growl and collapse to your knees. Your eyes were an even deeper shade of red, which they didn't know was possible, and eventually you just sat against the barrier, your chest heaving as you waited.

Mingi, Wooyoung and Yunho were a little bothered as well, because even though they had been well trained, their turn was still painful. Every now and then they'd growl loudly, and at one point, all three of them got up and disappeared.

Then they heard that horrid noise that they were all anticipating. The loud noise of bones breaking and growls as the wolves turned, but as the guys were watching you turn, they had to look away as it was too hard to watch you be in so much pain. After all of the noise subsided, the guys looked back at the crystal ball, completely shocked at what they saw.

"Wow." San whispered. "She might be the same size as Mingi."

"She's a really pretty wolf." Hongjoong added.

Seonghwa agreed as a a few low growls came from behind them. Mingi, Yunho and Wooyoung had turned. Wooyoung and Yunho sat near the table while Mingi walked up a few of the stairs. Seonghwa rested his head in his palms and watched carefully, knowing that if Mingi heard you, he'd go upstairs. They wouldn't be able to stop him either- no one gets near the wolves after they've turned.

Upstairs, you were clawing at the barrier, jumping at it and doing everything in your power to get free. Mingi heard this, and ran up the stairs. Yunho and Wooyoung went back to the cages to keep an eye on the pack, while everyone else followed Mingi upstairs. Mingi wasted no time in going up to the barrier and showing his teeth at you, so you did the same. You were just as dominant as Mingi and you'd show him if you needed to, but deep down, you weren't sure you wanted to hurt him.

And Seonghwa saw this. He saw the red in your eyes subside, just for a second, but he saw it. "We need to take the barrier down. I'm doing what Mingi mentioned, I need something sharp."

"You're joking, right?" Jongho questioned. "Please say you're joking."

Seonghwa made a simple swiping motion with his hand, and the barrier fell. "I'm not."

The guys freaked a little, jumping together and huddling. Jongho put another barrier up, but just around the four of them.

"Good luck, Seonghwa." San said.

You circled around Mingi and growled, as he did the same. He jumped at you first, but you slid past him and jumped on his back, trying to bite his neck, but he flung you off of him. Before you could get back up, he held you down and bared his teeth at you, his eyes flashing red before he bit the muscle in your shoulder. You yelped and threw him off of you, and he slid across the floor as a strong scent of blood hit you.

You looked at Seonghwa, who was now bleeding profusely from his hand. Mingi backed away from Seonghwa to prevent from hurting him, but you did the exact opposite. You couldn't contain yourself, and even though you warned them, they didn't listen.

Seonghwa looked down at you as your blood colored irises pierced into his brown ones, his fear really setting in. He bent down to be eye level with you and lifted his uninjured hand, gently placing it behind your left ear.

"It's okay." He whispered. "I know you can fight the urge."

You growled in response, but you could smell his fear. It reminded you of the fear of the other humans, but this fear was different. You couldn't hurt Seonghwa, even if you tried. He touched your torn through muscle and brought his hand back, showing you your own blood, and you growled one more time before backing off and laying down in front of your bedroom door.

Seonghwa sighed out of relief and did a quick spell to close the wound on his hand. Mingi had disappeared- he probably went back downstairs and into the cage room. You were still staring at Seonghwa, but you didn't move. A part of you wondered why you couldn't do it, but another part of you were glad you didn't hurt him. You had never been hesitant before, and you couldn't understand why you were now.

After the full moon, you woke up in your bedroom, dried blood all over your shoulder and some nasty bruises. You took a shower and changed into a new outfit, sitting at your window seat.

Your body ached, that was normal, but your chest ached too- your heart. Every full moon brought back bad memories, but the one you just experienced was by far the worst. You couldn't stop seeing your parents faces from that night, and it gave you chills.

You groaned and went downstairs, where everyone was already eating breakfast together. You tried to keep from looking at anyone, but the way everyone was staring at you intimidated you, and that was hard for you to admit to yourself.

As you were grabbing a blood bag from the table, someone grabbed your injured shoulder and turned you around, and your first reaction was to growl at them. It was one of the female vampires, Minjae, and she had a nasty smirk on her face.

"I heard what Mingi did to you last night." She said. "Too weak for the alpha?"

You smiled and reached up, grabbing her hair and pulling hard in one swift motion. "Watch it, bloodsucker."

You let go of her hair and she gave you a dirty look before going back to the vampires. You looked at Mingi, the bruise on his neck dark and large, then you looked at Seonghwa, who was already looking at you. You rolled your eyes and made your way in between the tables to get back to the stairs, but someone tripped you.

You went down hard, and you closed your eyes for a moment. You sighed and got back up, not looking at anyone or turning to see who had tripped you- you already knew that Minjae did it. You fought the urge to turn on her, and just kept walking, all the way up to your bedroom.

Yeosang turned to Minjae. "That was rude."

"You care because?" Minjae questioned.

"It's not hard to be at least a little decent, Minjae." Another vampire jumped in.

Yeosang nodded in agreement, and Minjae pouted and went back to her blood bag. Meanwhile, Yunho and Wooyoung were staring at the bruise on Mingi's neck.

"Y/N did that?" Wooyoung whispered.

"Weren't the two of you supposed to be far away from each other?" Yunho added.

"Yes, and we clearly did not stay away from each other." Mingi sighed. "It's not a big deal. It was an impulse action."

At the witch table, Seonghwa wasn't talking as much as he usually would. Hongjoong snapped his fingers, but Seonghwa didn't even flinch.

"Seonghwa!" Jongho exclaimed, and Seonghwa finally blinked and looked up.

"What?"

"What's wrong?" Hongjoong asked. "You've barely said anything all morning."

Seonghwa stood up. "I'm gonna go talk to Y/N."

You were sitting on your bedroom floor in front of the mirror, your shirt off, staring at all of the scars. The door opened and you didn't move, but Seonghwa grimaced at the large cluster of scars on your back, in a criss-cross pattern, healed but still prominent. He shut the door as he looked in the mirror, taking notice of the old scars along your ribcage and torso, along with your new shoulder wound.

Seonghwa walked over and sat against your bed frame, not far from you. "Holding up okay?"

You shook your head truthfully, which Seonghwa wasn't expecting. "Last night was bad, Seonghwa."

"I know. I saw it happen-"

"No. Not just that, but what it reminded me of."

"What did it remind you of?" He asked.

You looked over as a few tears fell to the carpet. "I'm telling you this because I trust you. I hate thinking about it, much less telling people about it, okay? It makes me look weak, and I'm asking you not to tell anyone."

"Bad experiences make us who we are, Y/N. They don't make us weak." He said. "I won't tell anyone."

It was quiet for a moment and Seonghwa reached out and grabbed your hand. You nodded and took a breath.

"My parents were both werewolves, so we lived in a very secluded area. They taught me how to control my urges and take care of myself, like every parent does, but since we were wolves, we were in a lot of danger. I was nine, and it was a full moon, you know we all turned and stayed in our home. We didn't know that a hunter had been keeping eyes on us, and he broke into our home to kill us that night. I remember him shooting my dad with a silver bullet, and I can still hear the noise he made as he died. I could tell my mom was scared, and I knew I had to do something-"

You stopped to keep your voice from cracking as your throat closed up and you wiped your eyes. "Stop if you need to."

"No, no. I'm good." You replied. "I needed to do something, so I attacked our attacker. He shot my mom in all of the chaos, and she made this horrible noise, but she held on. I was watching my mother bleed out, and if you considered my human age, I was still just a pup. I got so angry, that I lost my humanity and tore that hunter apart. I knew I couldn't save my mom, so I just laid with her as she died and my fur was covered in her blood by the time the full moon was over. Watching them die was horrible, but seeing them there, back to their human form, was overwhelming."

Seonghwa was still holding your hand and he gave it a little squeeze. "What did you do after that?"

"I covered them out of respect and said my goodbyes, and I wandered into the woods. What else was I supposed to do? I was nine years old, I was lost, I was scared. I spent three years in the woods, handling myself and hiding, then one night, another hunter came and captured me." You told Seonghwa. "He put me in this tiny cage, took pint after pint of my blood just to have it as proof, told me I was disgusting, he would whip me, and he gave me these cuts on my back. I still tried to be nice after that, even after all of the things he did to me. He held me for two years until I had enough- it was another full moon, and he didn't make it that night. That was my second taste of human blood, and after that, my humanity was gone. I was ruthless, I was dangerous- still am, and it stopped when Headmaster Min brought me here, so I guess that was good on his part."

"Is that why you treat people the way they threat you?" Seonghwa asked, and you nodded. "You may feel like you're gone, like you're not yourself, but we've all been there. It just takes hard work to come back and that's okay."

"You've been there before?" You asked.

"Black magic." He replied, chuckling slightly. "It was actually because of San, but if you ask him, he'll deny it."

You smiled and looked at Seonghwa. "He probably just feels bad."

"He does." Seonghwa nodded. "But it was my choice. He was in serious danger, and the only efficient outcome I saw would have been the result of black magic, so I used it. It consumed me, made me dangerous, hurt me physically, mentally and emotionally. Everyone helped me, though, and I came back. I recovered and I'm stronger than ever. I know you can do the same, but you have to let us help you."

You shifted to face him completely. "Having help is scarier than being alone sometimes. I'll be judged, treated like an animal again-"

He grabbed your face and kissed you, looking at you as if you had said something hurtful. "Nobody will treat you like an animal. That's not how things are here, Y/N. Jeongshin's goal is to make everyone feel safe and in control, you're no different."

You nodded slowly. "At my own pace. I'm not good with change, it'll be baby steps."

"Whatever you're comfortable with."

You smiled and sat next to him, leaning your head on his shoulder. He let his head fall gently against yours, his thumb rubbing across the back of your hand.

"Thank you for last night. I haven't said that yet. I don't know why you'd put your life at risk for me, but I appreciate it. That was a step towards self control." You told him.

"That was Mingi's idea, actually. That's how I helped him during his first turn here, and I'm just glad that it worked for both of you."

"Me too." You whispered. "I'll make sure to thank him, as well."

It went quiet for a moment, and it was very comfortable. Seonghwa made you feel like you belonged somewhere, and you hadn't felt that in a very long time. Seonghwa was still rubbing circles into the back of your hand when you looked at him, and he looked at you.

"Don't tell anyone about this."

He laughed and shook his head. "You're so dramatic."

"I am not!" You exclaimed as both of you stood up. "I just don't talk about my feelings or my past."

"I can tell."

"Actually," you paused. "You're the only person I've ever told about my family and my past."

His eyes widened slightly. "The only person? In the world?"

You nodded and he made an odd noise as he grabbed your shirt and handed it to you. You slipped it over your head and sighed.

"I'm gonna go find Mingi." You said.

"Okay."

After searching for a little while, you found Mingi in the library, sitting at one of the tables as he read a book. You quietly joined him and he looked up slowly.

"Hey."

"Hi." You gave him a small smile. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

He noticed the way you scrunched your nose and laughed. "Was that hard to say?"

"Just a little, yeah." You replied. "But I am. I acted horribly towards you because I'm not used to having an alpha. I've always been my own alpha, you know? But I know that you probably worked really hard to get your spot and I'm going to try everything I can to accept that and try not to fight you for it."

He smiled and leaned back. "I was also pretty rude. No one has ever challenged me before, so it was a change I didn't expect. I did work hard to become alpha, but I was actually reading this book." He pushed it towards you. "Normally when a male and female wolf are both alphas, they're usually together, but I'd rather skip that part."

"Yeah, me too." You said, then paused. "Wait. Are you saying we can both be the alpha?"

"Yeah. You're strong and definitely capable, it's also hard to keep up with the whole pack sometimes, so another set of paws won't hurt."

You smiled and stood up, as did he. You gave him a quick hug and pulled away, grimacing at his bruise.

"Sorry about that bruise." You apologized.

He pursed his lips and kissed his teeth. "And I'm sorry about that torn muscle. We kinda went crazy last night."

You shrugged, smiling. "Yeah, but this alpha position makes up for it."

Later, during dinner, you went downstairs and grabbed a blood bag, then you actually sat with your pack. Seonghwa smiled from his table, knowing that you were making an effort to become better like you wanted to.

"How's that shoulder?" Yunho asked.

"Hurts, but it won't last forever." You replied.

Wooyoung nodded. "And you're an alpha now!"

He said it loud, and you expected the pack to give you dirty looks, but they didn't. That was something that gave you a little bit of hope, and with hard work and determination, you would be a good alpha to the pack.

You were walking with Seonghwa, side by side, in the gardens, when he grabbed your hand and stopped walking. You tilted your head, unsure of what he was doing.

"Seonghwa?"

"Yes?" He smiled. "You don't want me to hold your hand?"

"You know the answer to that." You grinned.

"I do."

He wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you into him, kissing you for a moment before pulling away. "You belong here. You know that, right?"

"I think you're just telling me that because you have a crush on me." You teased. "Am I wrong?"

He laughed and shook his head. "You're not wrong, but you do actually belong here."

"Thank you. I feel like I belong here." You whispered.

He leaned in again, kissing you with more passion. As your lips moved together, Seonghwa made the flowers rise around the two of you, and when he pulled away, he smiled at the way your eyes sparkled.

"You know," you paused, laughing. "I used to think you were a petty witch, but you're far from it."

"And I used to think you were the big bad wolf, but I was so wrong."

You rolled your eyes playfully and looked at the flowers again. "This place is ten times better with you and the guys."

He squinted his eyes as you. "But more because of me?"

"Seonghwa," you said slowly. "You're a big baby."

You started to walk away, but he grabbed your waist and picked you up off the ground. "I know it's better because of me, Y/N L/N!"

You laughed as he walked through the flowers and they fell gently to the ground. "Yes, it's better because of you, Seonghwa."

He smirked and grabbed your hand as he started walking inside. "That's what I thought."

-
a/n: i missed writing in this book, maybe i'll do it more often now, but i'm not sure. i'm just really grateful to the people who read this and support it, so i wanted to write something for you guys. i hope you liked it😌🤍