ANYA :

Anya cut her call with Suhan short as soon as she informed him about the current guest requesting her presence.

When she had just arrived and noticed her attendance, Anya had dismissed Mrs. Han as just another rich wife with no job, amusing herself with accepted rich people pleasure while her husband toiled away at his job.

Mrs. Han's husband was one of Anya's Rubies suppliers. Though his performance left a lot to be desired, Anya still associated herself with him because of his reliability at delivering on date. She had still cut back a lot from him, once she found out that he also had contracts with other business.

Having that information about this couple, she had then proceeded to box them up in her "No Need To Look Further" category but having come here, knowing the undercurrents flowing around, she had to quickly revise her opinions.

Mrs. Han was not as harmless as she had thought. She had sensed it on the first night itself. Then her following actions definitely gave a clear hint in that direction.

The talk that she had with Jennifer earlier, made one thing glaringly stand out. Jennifer had been urged by Mrs. Han to come talk to her.

Something was stirring. Anya always could read any situation brewing right from the start. She knew she was right. And Mrs. Han, was part of whatever it was.

Suhan had caught on too.

But right now, Anya had no idea what Mrs. Han's motivation was. She did not know whether she was plotting to simply get back the hybrid she was so taken with, or did it run deeper? Something to do with her?

Anya needed more information.

About Han.

And this conversation, was perfect opportunity. She needed to understand her. Aside from her life history Anya would unearth, she preferred conversations.

Although, one thing needed to be taken care of first.

She looked down at her lap, where Jungkook was still resting, eyes closed and snuggled in with his tail wrapped around his own midsection. Anya carefully reached down to brush the dark locks of his hair from his forehead, rubbing his fuzzy ears a bit.

Jungkook looked at her.

"Jungkook. We will be leaving shortly after this visit. Why don't you go take a shower and freshen up?" Anya asked him.

Jungkook looked questioningly at her with his bambi eyes. Then wrinkling his nose a bit he asked her,

"You want me to remain out of sight from her?"

Running her hand softly through his hair, Anya nodded.

"Okay. I'll go take a bath." Kook got up from her lap, then hesitated. Then he swiftly placed a small kiss on her head and then sprinted off to the bathroom.

Soft chuckles came from behind her, "Kook gets shy very easily." Jin said.

Still smiling in the direction of her Panther, Anya replied, "That's what is so precious about him."

No, Anya was not at all threatened by Mrs. Han. She was merely annoyed and curious. She knew many individuals would want to explore their opportunities at the new development of her getting hybrids that she would openly treat differently than others, knowing that it could be interpreted as a sign of her weakness, but she did not expect anything so soon. Or from someone like Mrs. Han. Hence her curiosity.

But still.

She would keep Taehyung, Jungkook and Yoongi out of the woman's sight.

"Jin, ask the guards to bring her in."

"Hello dear, it was so nice of you to agree to meet me even though I did not provide you with any notice." The 39-year-old woman smiled at Anya prettily, as she sat down opposite to her, on the sofa in the inner room. She was the picture of a typical wealthy preening woman. With her label handbag, shoes, clothes, primped air, exotic perfume, jewellery, air of self-importance and air headedness.

That, plus her fragile ego.

Anya graciously inclined her head. She had already noticed the older woman looking all around the room as soon as she had entered, her eyes bouncing over Jin.

She was looking for Yoongi.

"I heard a rumour that you will be departing today, may I ask if its right?" she asked in the same saccharine sweet tone. Fake. Anya was used to such voices in her life.

"The mediocrity of the crowd is mind numbingly distasteful. Without exception, the inferior mentality and the uncultivated, ill-bred display of their mannerism is, by association, ruining the leisure time I have. As such, distancing myself from such an unrefined crowd seems to be a wise decision. After all, I have already accomplished what I came here for."

The older woman's lips tightened at the well-aimed insults Anya placed on her. Mrs. Han's perfectly manicured hands gripping her Louis Vuitton handbag on her lap in fury.

Anya had knowingly dished out the verbal humiliation, targeting her pride.

She wanted to crack the act Mrs. Han had put on show of interested civility.

It worked.

Jin came strolling in the inner room. He casually walked towards her and sat down on the floor, directly in front of her, resting his back on her legs. He folded one of his legs at knee where he rested his forearm.

He bent his other hand at his elbow and leaned back on it, resting it beside her thigh on the sofa.

His tall frame so securely folded in front of her, portrayed an air of easy seductiveness so potent, that the angry eyes of Mrs. Han snagged immediately on the handsome Hybrid.

Mrs. Han's eyes glittered greedily over Seokjin's elegant and bold presence. Then she visibly unclenched her hands after drawing in a deep breath and pasted another fake smile while her eyes still remained pinched at the corner over the remembered insults.

A woman like her let go of the hurt I inflicted over her pride? Her ego? She took another chance at civility just to continue the conversation? Which means she wanted to know something. She was here with an agenda, wasn't she?

Anya let one of her hands trail over Jin's shoulder and then let it rest on his chest. Jin reached up to grasp her hand in his strong palm, holding it in place.

The move drew Mrs. Han's gaze to it. She talked while still staring at their clasped hands,

"My, you certainly have a way of making them behave without the collar don't you? Is it the same with all of them?" Mrs. Han murmured the question. Her question held envy in it. Anya was sure it was asked without actual thought.

She was proved right the next second, when Mrs. Han shook out of her reverie to smile again at her and ask, "Even with such a control, you will still need to train them a bit right? Will you be able to do so at your penthouse?"

"I wont be going back to my penthouse."

"Oh?" the woman's gaze sharpened, "You will be residing at your estate for now?"

Anya smiled her answer, confirming it.

Although she was a bit confused.

Her questions are specific but not related to Yoongi.

Mrs. Han tittered without any prompt, then asked, "I guess your dedication at making them the perfect slaves really does show. Its good. You taking the time now to train them right so as to not be bothered by it in the future."

Anya smiled at her again, letting her make her own conclusions.

"So, will you still be attending office? Wont you take some time off?" she asked pointedly.

"I have taken leave from work for an amount of time I thought prudent, before coming here. I am going to stick to that plan." Anya answered.

"Ah. Of course. You are a woman who plans ahead. That must be the secret of your success." Mrs. Han smiled at her. Another of her sweet smiles. At this rate just by looking at her, Anya would start experiencing tooth ache.

Jin stayed quiet. But he looked directly at the woman in front of him. Mrs. Han, did not comment on it. Nor did she get upset.

Why?

Before Anya could respond, Mrs. Han went on to her next question, "But will it be wise to stick to the plan you had already made? I mean, your hybrids are a bit unruly, if only for people other than you. Would it not be better to work from home?"

"You make an excellent point. I will have to consider this when I go home." Anya replied neutrally. She was not expecting such an accurate and precisely targeted question. Or such an astute one.

Looking pleased with her efforts, the older woman preened a bit, but assumed her overtly interested but polite demeanor again and continued, "I know it must be tough after all, with work being the way it is for you. I know it will be hectic but I still felt I should contribute to help you."

"Work being the way it is....?" Anya let her sentence trail, question clear in it.

"Why yes dear! My husband kept on talking about your plans of launching a bold and exquisite new collection of jewellery? The Empress constellation? So of course, I know how much work you have ahead of you. Added on top, you also have the joint project with your brother over the new acquisition and merger of Hotel and shipping from Japan."

Hmmm?? Now how did her husband know about her shipping business?

"Right you are." Anya murmured. Her grip on Seokjin's shirt tightened while he reassuringly squeezed her hand.

The line of the woman's question was not making sense. Her objective with her questions was not getting clear, because of which Anya did not understand how to respond. Whether to lie, or to test her back.

She looked down discreetly at Jin to find him completely attuned to Mrs. Han. Jin had his whole focus sharply directed at the woman before him, keenly making his observation, his dark eyes trained on every single small move the woman made.

Something eased in Anya. In her life, this was a moment that was another first for her. Someone beside her was acutely focused on her opponent in a manner she could not be due to her participation in the conversation.

But he had her back. She could freely engage in the talk while he could monitor for her. Someone whom she could blindly trust. Someone looking out for her. Someone, who was loyal only to her.

Anya relaxed back a bit, still connected with Seokjin with her entangled fingers on his chest.

"Then again," Mrs. Han continued, "Will you be using the collar often? I noticed that you don't need to use it on them, but if you are working at home in a room or in the office, what about the safety of the workers in your estate? Will you give the controller to them while you are away?"

The questions were TOO pointed.

"Mrs. Han, you surprise me with your depth of consideration that you have for my well being which extends to even my staff. I am touched." Anya murmured her answer, her tone slightly mocking.

The married woman caught onto it.

"No," she laughed a little, the laughter again an act, "It came naturally. You have snake hybrids. They cant be controlled at all. Plus I know how much your brother despises snakes. I just was wondering how you will solve that issue."

"Oh, yes, I'll have to see what I will say to my brother." Anya chose to reply the latter part, deliberately not providing an answer to the danger the snakes presented.

She wanted to see if Mrs. Han would attempt asking about it again even after she dismissed it. If she did, then that would indicate clear intention behind this chat session.

Mrs. Han's thumb kept moving on the horizontal lines of her fingers after she asked a question that she answered to. It was almost as if she was counting. Anya had noticed it.

"Ah. You have to come up with a good explanation." She trilled out a laugh as she said it, "After all it's the snake hybrids. Any idea how you will control their blood lust? Like the one your hybrid had gotten into with Soonan?" she asked conversationally.

Not only did she bring up the topic again, but her finger moved onto the next horizontal line of her ring finger.

Jin cocked his head slightly. Leaning his head back a little on her knees.

He had caught onto it too.

Han was asking questions that she had rehearsed in advance.

She was mentally calculating how many questions she had asked. She had come prepared with the questions, and none of them were about Yoongi.

She clearly had an agenda. She was clearly looking for some answers.

But how or why did a woman with moderate intelligence have a list of seemingly innocuous general questions to ask her, that too after she was insulted, when she had an immense lust for one of her hybrids whom she wanted for herself?

Why was she asking questions which did not lead her anywhere near having any information about Yoongi?

Since Anya's arrival here, all this woman could talk about was her Jaguar. Then why was she ignoring everything else to glean knowledge about her future daily life?

No. no. I need to focus on the real question here. I need to figure that out first.

Was Han asking these questions for herself?

Or was she just a middleman, gathering the particulars for someone else? Someone else, staying behind her, who was pulling her strings?

Only one way to achieve that.

Anya took out her cellphone as she answered Mrs. Han, "I think I need to spend some time with them to be able to make a judgment and take proper actions for it. I will only be able to achieve it when I reach home."

She smilingly answered the woman while she texted Peter.

Anya : Peter, where are they now?

Peter : We are coming up to the room.

Anya : Mrs. Han is visiting. Tell the group and ask Yoongi to open the door first and slowly stroll in towards the inner room with the sofas. Ask him to only look at me and not acknowledge Han. Then ask him to come sit beside me and lay his head on my lap and close his eyes.

Peter : Got it.

"Oh yes, that's so true. You will need to spend time with them. But you need to train them, no doubt about it. I feel bad that you got a bunch of these slaves though, honestly it just increased your work."

The woman kept talking while Anya relayed her requests to Peter.

The only way to disorient Mrs. Han, the only way to force her out of the contrived character she was playing, was to tempt her.

"By the way, I heard that Jennifer gave you a helping hand as well? Are you going to accept her offer?" Mrs. Han's finger moved again.

Thankfully, before Anya could answer, a knock sounded on the door before it was opened from the other side.

Anya tapped Jin's chest with her clasped hand to convey to him to notice any change in Han now. Without taking his gaze from Han, Jin simply nodded to her once. He had got her message.

Lets find some answers to what you have been up to now, shall we Han?

Mrs. Han looked towards the direction of the sound and then clenched her body all over. Her eyes lit up while she tightly clenched her thighs instantly.

Yoongi opened the door and languidly strolled in. He reached one hand to indolently rub the back of his neck radiating an aura of a lazy wild cat.

Stretching his neck from one side to another, Yoongi silently padded forward towards them, his gaze taking in the scene quickly, then shifting to latch on to Anya.

He smiled at her and reached her sofa, and then proceeded to lie down on it, placing his head on her lap, he closed his eyes.

He followed the instructions to the t.

The other hybrids remained in the outer room. Scattered around, but alert.

Mrs. Han's whole attention was completely centered on the Jaguar. Her gaze glittered with dripping lust as she licked her lips and shifted on her seat. Her nails scratched her handbag, making marks on the expensive item. She bit her inner lips and kept rubbing her thighs.

Anya smiled. And waited.

Eyes still enthralled on the sensual Jaguar, Mrs. Han said in an almost absent-minded tone, "He is beautiful, is he not? Have you tried him?"

No counting. No false tone. No contrived politeness. No friendly laugh.

"I understand what you mean." Anya pitched her voice low to match Mrs. Han, not wanting to burst the bubble of temptation wrapped around her. Anya wanted her to talk.

"Of course I have had the bird hybrid too. His size has satisfied my urges beautifully, but Yoongi... his controlled actions, his leashed wildness does something to you, does it not?" Mrs. Han abruptly looked at Anya, her eyes holding a remembered heat of the past, her voice thick with desire.

"Riding him, biting him, having him tied under you fills you with power, right? Yoongi's growls, his dark gaze while fucking him makes your pussy clench harder, come harder right? Only he is able to have that personality." Han continued her thoughts, her eyes now glossed over, unfocused.

The hold her own need for Yoongi had over herself, was absolute. Mrs. Han was drowning in her own craving, her own thoughts. Her lechery for him having a tight grip on her.

"Hmmm." Anya said noncommittally.

Mrs. Han shook herself up with great difficulty. Focusing on her face, she said, "I babbled about Yoongi to you right from the first evening, did I not. You took notice. You listened to me and chose him, right?"

Her tone had a bitter tinge to it. Her eyes, accusing.

She looked at Yoongi again, who paid her no attention at all and kept his eyes closed. Comfortable, in her perch.

"He is very dangerous, sometimes I used to feel. That gave me a thrill like nothing else. Even now, I feel that way." Mrs. Han's eyes roamed over Yoongi.

Wrong, lady. Right now, the most dangerous hybrid for you is sitting right in front of me. His eyes, sharply trained on you. His temper is frayed because he knows you are the cause of my vexed state. But as the blind fool you are, you wont notice it.

Anya lightly stroked Jin's chest, settling his tense body down a bit.

Not knowing about him, Mrs. Han went on, still gazing at the hybrid she hungered for, "Still, he is so well controlled by you, without any restraints. He is so docile, so obedient to you."

The words, "Something I wanted him to be with me" was obvious even though it remained unsaid.

Abruptly, she looked at Anya, then leaned forward on her sofa, discarding her handbag on her side,

"How? How are you controlling them so easily?" she asked, her tone, desperate.

Now this was a good opportunity. This was a golden chance given to her. Anya would not lose it.

She leaned back on her seat and laughed attractively. "Ah, wouldn't you like to know." She pitched her voice low and then gave the older woman a wink.

Inviting her to ask again. Something that the older woman did.

Mrs. Han straightened a bit and then pouted at her, "Come now, as a token of thanks for telling you about Yoongi, at least tell me a few points."

"Well yes, I should be thanking you about that, right?" Anya teasingly replied.

Mrs. Han nodded enthusiastically.

Bending forward a bit, Anya freed her hand from Jin's grasp and the trailed her finger down the side of his throat.

"Turns out, these hybrids collectively had a weak spot. Its their neck." Anya kept the tone of her conversation casual, her voice almost at a whisper. Making an atmosphere of absorption, like she too was lost in passionate memories. Making Mrs. Han believe that the information she was sharing was spoken due to her mind wandering off in the depths of lustful nights she had supposedly shared with her hybrids.

Making the older woman believe that she was unknowingly giving the information. Making her believe that the knowledge, was the truth.

Anya tilted her head to one side, her eyes tracking Jin's line of jaw, while her fingers kept the light caress going. She spoke softly, "They crave the sensation of warm touches on their neck. Kisses, licks or even touches. They are attracted to it. Badly so."

Thankfully, all her hybrids were extremely intelligent.

Seokjin was no exception. His honed mind acutely quick on the uptake.

Jin promptly closed his eyes and moaned a little.

Not loudly or for a long time. He perfectly conveyed the emotion of desire which was unconscious. Which was almost against his will. Something that he was ashamed of.

Not only is my eagle quick to grasp the situation but he can act perfectly too.

Seokjin was indeed dangerous.

And Potent.

Anya continued lightly scratching his throat, still looking at him, painting an image of herself to be in a trance in front of Mrs. Han. She said, "Look. Look at how he craves it. He knows its his weakness, but he still cant help himself. Almost at the mercy of these sensations." She whispered thickly.

Anya scratched a bit harder above his collar, and Jin acted out perfectly, moaning a bit harder.

Still in the lost-to-the-world voice Anya said, "He cant help it. None of them can. Especially since I am the owner. They all want it. Pathetically so. It makes them complete puppets in my fingers. My obedient little slaves. Wanting to please me in everything, just to get more of these touches. Them being touch starved really worked for me, didn't it? That and their foolish, childish and utterly stupid yearning for a block of wood, like a toy."

Anya paused for a bit and then chuckled in a cruel way, "Dumb animals that they are, their brainless longings express their stupidity perfectly. Pitiful creatures. Even those snakes. Guess animals can only ever be beneath us. Can only ever become our slaves." She continued in a whisper.

"What about the wood?" Mrs. Han asked.

Anya acted startled, instantly letting go of Jin, sitting back and looking at the older woman in a surprise.

Jin too was perfect. He opened his eyes at Anya's sudden withdrawal and then lowering his head, as if in shame with his reactions.

Mrs. Han was sitting at the edge of her seat, completely engrossed in what Anya was saying. Her eyes indicated that she completely believed what Anya had just shared.

Wasn't that easy?

"Nothing. Nothing about the wood." Anya said in a rush, her voice a bit high. She hardened her eyes on the woman, "Nothing I said to you should be ever shared to anyone else, if you do..."

Han laughed, acting friendly again, "Oh no dear. I would never do that. It's a secret between us." She winked at her.

Anya smirked inwardly.

Then she said, "As for Jennifer, I will be having her over for dinner one evening when my brother has the time. Why don't you join her? I'll send you the invitation as well." She said, her words still in a rush.

To Mrs. Han, the invitation appeared as a tactic by Anya to change the subject, wanting to make her forget what she had heard.

To Anya, it was deliberate.

"Why of course dear, I would love to! I will wait for your invitation."

"Good. Now if you will excuse me, I have a lot to do." Anya kept up her abrupt manner. Her objective, was now complete anyways.

Taking the hint, Mrs. Han rose up from her seat. Her eyes shinning in excitement of the information she had gleaned. She looked down at Yoongi one last time and then said to Anya, "Yes, I understand. Thank you for accepting my presence this evening. I will be seeing you soon again. Oh, and another thing, I have called upon one of their original trainers to meet you before you leave to help you out, but I suppose its moot now." Smiling wide at her again, she nodded and then strutted out of the room.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Anya slumped in her seat.

Yoongi opened his eyes to look at her.

Jin shot up from where he was seated, to pace the room.

Her hybrids gathered around her.

No one said anything for some time, giving her time to deal with the annoyance she had festered due to the woman's visit.

"Why particularly did you lie about our necks Master? The rest I understand, but that bit has me puzzled. You made her believe your lie too." Namjoon asked, breaching the silence.

"Made her believe? Hell I almost believed it myself! Even though I know its untrue." Jimin commented, perching himself on the handle of a sofa.

He made her smile at that.

"I was convincing, wasn't it?" Anya preened smilingly. She looked at Jimin.

"Exceedingly." Yoongi replied in his deep amused voice from beneath.

"But why? Why go to so much of an effort?" Namjoon persisted.

Taking a deep breath, Anya explained, "Earlier, before you came, Han had questions that were different. Questions which did not involve Yoongi. She had me confused. I did not understand her motivation, nor did I understand her agenda. Was she here just for conversation with me? No. Her probing was too pointed for casual gossip.

Then was she here to know something in particular? Maybe. But her queries were mainly on general topics. So maybe she was here to get a picture of what would happen next for me? How much I thought about you, was invested in you? Maybe she was just getting a feel of me. Analyzing me, watching me for any signs of emotions projecting any weakness for you? Any information she could to take me down? Any small tidbit."

Anya paused, looking at all her hybrids. Even Jungkook and Taehyung were present. Carefully attentive of what she was saying. Their serious faces expressed their understanding. They were with her so far.

So she continued.

"But then few things jangled around for me. Her knowledge, especially about the merger I am working on with me brother, should be something she should not be aware of. Only very few sects of people know about it. None who are connected even remotely to her husband, her or her friends. So how did she possess that info?

Secondly, her voice and manner. Mrs. Han has a really fragile ego. Bruising it usually sets her afire. Yet she took my barbs and continued to strive to be friendly to me. Her voice did not have any natural flow of emotions accompanying the changing tone of conversation. It remained steady. Which means she was consciously acting.

She kept repeating her questions in a different manner to attempt to get my answer. Usually if you are talking generally, you simply go with the flow. But if you repeat something, it means you want to know the answer to it. Wanting that for random queries points towards preparedness. She had her list of quiz prepared before she came to me."

Thinking back to her behaviour, Anya added, "Thirdly. She was counting the questions. Nothing wrong with it, but its just that.... If its you yourself who has prepared the questions you want answered, you don't have to count them. You will always end up asking the important ones."

Namjoon nodded right away, understanding her. Hobi, Tae and Jungkook considered her arguments and then pressed their lips, agreement in their eyes. Jimin simply kept staring at her with his unnaturally calm expression.

It was the one that she recognized. He was soaking every single one of her words. Learning, memorizing. Absorbing.

"That was when I messaged Peter." Anya continued. She looked at Yoongi still resting his head on her lap, his dark eyes hooded, watching her, and asked, "He conveyed it?"

One nod.

"As soon as Yoongi appeared, the contrived aura of Han disappeared. Her voice became natural. Her questions spontaneous, unguarded. It came to her more freely. She did not have to think about it. Her emotions were open for all to see. And most importantly, she stopped counting."

"Ah!" Namjoon softly said, his face clearing up in realization.

"Meaning what?" Jimin asked.

"Meaning the questions she was asking previously were not her queries. She was directed to ask those. By someone else. She was a puppet for someone else. Her purpose was to gather information for someone else." Seokjin's quiet voice shed light on Jimin's confusion. He was standing with his back to the wall, leaning on it, his eyes closed.

"Her random general questions did not make sense about her end goal because it was not hers to ask. Someone else was interested in the answers. Someone unknown." He concluded.

Bingo. Jin was precisely accurate in his deductions.

"I have very many people who want to take me down. It was perhaps one of those people. They wanted to know about you." Anya continued. "Now that it was established that she would be relaying this talk to someone else, someone who may potentially cause you harm, I needed to at least give you all an advantage."

"Advantage?" Hobi asked

"Yes. A warning and advantage. Whoever it is, will believe the part about the neck thing I told her. That works to your advantage. If out of the blue or in whatever situation, you find a human trying to suddenly pull a stunt like kissing you neck, without any context, you will become alert enough to know that you are dealing with someone who means you harm. Who believes they can control you. Who is associated with this-unknown person."

"That would be the warning you told us about. What about advantage Master?" Joon asked.

Anya smiled as she gently pushed at Yoongi head and then got up from her seat. She walked towards Joon as she said, "Can you please kneel before me?"

Joon did not hesitate.

"Tae, pass me my scarf behind you."

Taehyung was quick to obey.

Reaching him, Anya looked around. All her hydrids were watching her.

"Hold your hands up for me, I want to tie them at the wrists." Anya asked Joon who again, without any hesitation raised both of his hands with his forearms fused, making it easy for her to tie his wrist. She did so.

Anya lowered Joon's hands and then bent at her waist to put her lips near his neck, "Your hands are tied while you are kneeling. Hypothetically, imagine you are captive. I am trying to control you by kissing your neck. What will you do Joon?" she asked huskily.

Namjoon hesitated.

"Act it out for me."

Joonie lifted his hands, bound still, towards Anya's neck "I can claw her neck? Stab her or pierce her with my claws?"

Straightening her frame, Anya smiled delightedly at Joon, "See? Advantage."

Her hybrids had their jaws slackened. She laughed at their expressions. "Yes, see? Now if someone tries anything, they will do something that they might think is handy but is the exact opposite."

As the hybrids started talking to her one over the other, Anya thought to herself.

The thing about the merger was known only to her most trusted people and the elite associates. Whoever this person was, this light questioning was sign of an impending thought out plot. Whoever the person was, they were gathering information, preparing the groundwork. Such easy and simple questions were never ignored by her. She knew the tactic.

Another thing Anya was sure of was, the person represented some danger to her. And her hybrids. To what degree, she still did not know. She needed to keep her eyes peeled.

And, she needed to get the fuck out of this place. Now. She needed to leave right away.

"I am making a call to my housekeeper. Park is late, should he come with the requested information, just take it from him and ask if he has any message for me. I will not speak to him. Rest all, freshen up. We are leaving in about 2 hours. I am not waiting for this original trainer to show up."

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

"Yes, I had instructed them to have the boxes labelled. Yes. Yes. Right. So just have them distributed in their rooms. Yes. I know. I know. But still.... Right so just have the mattress.... Yes I know it's a king size... no. Arissa trust me. Ari trust me they will do just that, so just have it prepared. Right. Right." Anya was on the call with her Housekeeper while the Hybrids moved restlessly around the room.

Currently Jin was taking a bath while the others lounged about, eyes glued to the beautiful woman pacing the floor.

Jimin slid from the place on the bed where he had been resting. Ever since Anya had given them permission to sit on her bed, Jimin had consistently hogged the pillow she hugged to sleep, for himself. Not letting go of the object carrying her intimate body fragrance.

So it came as a surprise when he let go of it to stroll to the inner room, without any prompt. Taehyung, Hobi and Joon looked up towards him and quietly followed, while Jungkook and Yoongi patiently sat on the mattress, eyes following the graceful figure of their Master while having their ears peeled for any movement outside of the door for any indication of Park coming up.

Hobi, Joon and Tae went to the inner room to see Jimin carefully picking up her garments and folding them. Her suitcase on the table.

He was packing for her.

"Let me help too." Taehyung said as he reached for a dress hanging on a hanger.

"Just be careful. I have done this a lot." Jimin called out.

Taehyung nodded and kept his attention focused on the garment.

Hobi took a seat on the sofa while watching them work and said casually, "She did not say anything about what we did in the basement. Do you think she doesn't know?"

Jimin shook his head at that, while he picked up the white dress, "No, I asked Peter. He said he had sent her a brief of all that took place." He brought the dress he was folding up to his nose and inhaled deeply.

The vanilla and cherry blossom scent clung to the fabric. Jimin smiled in remembrance as his fingers stroked the delicate white satin fabric, eyes becoming a little misty.

He lifted the dress and pressed a lingering kiss on it, hugging the dress to himself. Smile still in place, he kept caressing the white satin while a single tear leaked down the corner of his eye.

"She wore this when I first saw her." He reverently whispered to the others, who had all stopped their activities to look at him.

Jimin rubbed the front of the v neck and swooped the dress in his arms carefully, "At first I noticed her because of the way she looked. In midst of the usual vulgar humiliation of the evening, it shocked me a bit, to see a beautiful lady wearing such an exquisite white fabric with dark long hair, enter that room. Her dress was startlingly white, and startlingly out of place in a place wear flesh was the only common denominator. Whether it be the naked flesh of hybrids, or humans."

Taehyung quietly reached for another garment, still listening to what his friend was telling. Hobi too wanted to know. He wanted to know how Jin, Yoongi and Jimin had met her. Joon, quietly held on to the nightgown he was folding, pausing his actions to hear Jimin.

"Then I saw her face, and her eyes. But her beauty did not move me. How could it? We are the ones who are probably most aware of the fact that most of the times, beauty only hides a decay, it hides a rotten core which is too ugly to contemplate." Jimin carefully folded the dress.

His eyes lit from within, his lush lips relaxed in happiness, his voice, deep and honeyed from the memory. His hands fondled the satin and he immersed himself in that memory.

A memory from one of the evenings in his life which resembled hell. An evening full of pain. A night filled with numbing ugliness. A time of agonizing degradation.

The evening when he had met an Angel.

The night, he dreamt. The night, he hoped.

The time, a miracle took place.

"She was wary of me at first, did you know? Almost afraid?" Jimin looked up at his friends. Seeing doubt in their eyes, he laughed low, "Yes. She was. I think it was because she understood which breed of hybrid I was."

Shaking his head while still chuckling, Jimin felt the warmth the remembrance carried. It still reached out and embraced him, making him feel the butterflies he had experienced the first time it happened.

"She was with Jin hyung, but she did not touch him. So I still stared. I was already strapped down being whipped at that time, I figured if she punished me for my insolence, it would be more or less the same. But, she-"

Jimin reached up to cover his face with the dress. His voice muffled as he continued.

"Master saw me being whipped, saw me unflinchingly looking at her. Instead of being angry, she-she did something unexpected." his voice became a bit thick.

"All my life, even though I have been feared, all anyone did to me was to heap hurt upon hurt for their own pleasure. The only genuine emotion I ever learnt were lust, greed, passion, avarice and cruelty.

There were times I used to bleed out on the floor, tears flooding my face, my flesh, a torn scarred mess, the cold seeping into my bones making me shake violently, but all I got in its response was annoyance at that state I was in.

My blood spilled on the floor did not matter, my anguished screams went unheard, my begging for a scrape of kindness was invisible, my tormented sobs causing only irritation. I had long since learnt that I was less than an afterthought. My whole purpose of existence was. I truly, did not matter."

"Jimin..." Taehyung reached out to him. Even though the circumstances were the same, even though Tae himself had experienced the same thing, the way Jimin verbalized his festered pain, it made the others wrench in unhappiness.

Because Jimin had always kept his smile in place for them. Had always kept them cheered up. Had been a source of unending support for them.

He never let them know or even guess at the depth of his own thoughts, his suffering. Hearing it now, rang a small bell of shame in their minds too. They had been comforted by him, without realizing the extent of his hurt.

Jimin lowered the fabric suddenly, and looked it over. Emitting a small sound of distress when he spotted a wet stain from his tears. He gently picked it up and rubbed it with the sleeve of his hoodie, thin trails of tears plain to see on his face.

"That evening too, I simply looked around, curious to see if any new faces were present. Honestly, the whipping was not too bad. I mean, I was only bleeding from the torn welts, and my back had long since gone numb. I already knew what awaited me after that evening. I knew I would be killed by the end of this auction, I just did not know how. So I was pretty reluctant about adhering to the rules."

Jimin carelessly talked about his death. A death the others had thought he would share with Hobi this year. A death which would no doubt would have been merciless and brutal.

Such was a life as a snake hybrid, that the topics relating to their own barbaric death, was something that could be discussed casually. No tone of tragedy, no voice of surprise. Just an acceptance. An acceptance like it was a natural fact.

Jimin started blowing on the wet stain, trying to dry it off. When he saw that no permanent marks would be left behind, he folded the dress again and looked at the others.

"So mostly I curiously observed her. The anomaly with a dress in a room of gyrating naked bodies immersed in their vulgar needs. The gaze she directed at me, to observe me took me aback. She saw me. Me. As in Jimin. Not just another hybrid strapped down. She saw what was happening to me and in her gaze I could understand that she felt helpless. Helpless because at that moment she could not do anything about it."

"Helpless? She felt helpless at our condition even when she had no idea of who you were? She knew you were a snake right?" Hoseok asked suddenly.

Jimin turned to him and leaned back on the cupboard, his svelte frame gracefully resting back, his angelic face with aberrant eyes alight with happiness.

"She was worried. I saw it. she kept looking at the people with the whips behind me and then gazing back to see if I was in pain. Her worry was so clear in her eyes. Imagine what I felt." He laughed aloud.

"That evening was no where close to the usual scenarios where my skin colour is not visible, red covering every inch with my hollow sobs piercing the air. I wasn't even flinching. I am pretty sure not a single expression of pain was visible on my face, but the Angel in white was worried for me. I saw that emotion for the first time. The emotion of worry, from someone who wasn't even causing me any hurt."

He folded his hands on his chest, still having the satin in his grip, "I remember that moment. A moment that is burned in my mind forever. Her looking straight at me and then smiling. She gifted me with that magnificent smile. To me. A snake hybrid, essentially a slave. A smile full of support, a smile to cheer me up. A smile filled with care. For me."

Jimin rested his head back on the cupboard, "There was this, sudden thud in my heart. At that moment, in that instant, I could see her. Her beauty, her lovely soul. In that second, something in me awakened. A lost, forgotten part of myself, starved for some affection. That part of me bloomed uncontrollably, reaching out to her, bathed in that warm expression.

That smile told me that I existed. It sanctioned my presence, something that I valued, wanted since long. She became someone who gave me happiness. Who made me smile back, genuinely."

Jimin looked at the white garment, then carefully placed it inside the now filled suitcase, kissing it again.

"When I smiled back at her, feeling happy, do you know what she did? Seeing me smiling?" Jimin stroked the dress on top, "She burst into tears. At my condition, seeing me smile back while I was being abused. Her sparkling tears flowed out involuntarily, because she felt my pain."

Some of his friends inhaled sharply at that.

"I never cried that night, being used to the beatings as I was. But she cried for me. Tears weren't spilled from my eyes, but she gave the physical manifestation of my torment for me. The agony was mine, but the teardrops were hers." Jimin's voice was scratchy, the venom flowing in his mouth causing a slight burn, welcome.

"I met my Angel in white on that evening, and without any words being exchanged, she became my Gospel. She became my light." His words were sure, stating the root of his devotion.

This memory was so very precious to him. A moment in time where his life had intersected with his Master. A moment, which would always be his. A moment in her life, which he shared, in which he was irrefutably, a part of. Her memory would remain incomplete without him.

That was a part of her time Jimin could claim. Which would always belong to him. Which would always tie him to her.

She could never recollect and enjoy that moment without thinking about him.

The heavy emotional silence in the room was Suddenly pierced by the sound of tearing garment.

The sound, was loud.

Jimin and Taehyung froze in their place, not even moving their gaze, while Hoseok closed his eyes.

All the three hybrid had a sinking suspicion of what the sound was, where it came from, what it signified and most importantly, who was responsible for it.

And they desperately wanted their suspicions to be incorrect.

Taehyung braved his conjecture to turn around.

"I honestly don't know how this happened!" a panicked Namjoon whisper yelled at him.

There, standing behind them was Namjoon, with tears streaming down his face at the tale Jimin had told, Nose red with emotions, sheer alarm in his eyes, holding the nightdress Anya wore to bed with them in his hands.

The nightdress, was torn in two pieces.

"All I did was accidentally wipe my nose on it as I was holding it in my hand. Then I understood what I had done so I tried to wipe it away and suddenly this-this-I mean-this happened. I swear I did not mean to tear it!!" Joon continued his whispering loudly.

Jimin face palmed himself hard in resignation while Hoseok let out a groan.

"WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW??? HELP ME!!" Joon's whisper was odd to hear. Its pitch so high that half of his words remained unheard, while he wildly shook the unsalvageable piece of cloth in his hand back and forth.

"Is everything okay?" Anya called out from the outer room, coming towards them.

Joon threw the clothes to Taehyung in panic, who quickly dumped it on Hobi's lap, flustered at the sound of her coming closer.

"Why me???" Hobi whisper yelled and balled up the cloth to smack it at Jimin's face.

"SERIOUSLY????" Jimin grabbed it and then looked left and right. Anya was way too close now and his mind stopped working on where to hide the garment.

Just seconds ago he was so emotional and nostalgic over his precious memory only to be wrenched from it to this state. As such, his idiotic actions were somewhat, excused, he thought as he stuffed the torn nightdress in the pocket of his sweatpants and then drew the hoodie over the bulge it created. Putting his hands in front of it, he pasted a beatific smile on his face.

It would seem everyone followed him.

Anya peeked in and stopped to stare at the four hybrids who were beaming ridiculously at her. Pausing in her conversation with Arissa, she got confounded at the sight.

Namjoon, and Taehyung's smile stretched out unnaturally wide, but they looked, kind of, constipated. While Jimin and Hobi were smiling charmingly at her so excessively that she blinked at the explosive cheerfulness.

The sight was...... Weird.

"Uhh, ummm, everything--- okay?" she asked

"Of course Master, what could be wrong? We are at last leaving here." Jimin enthused at her.

"Yes. Yes. Yes Whoo hooo! Yas! Wooo! We are so happy." Joon enthusiastically laughed and agreed with Jimin.

"Uh-huh." Anya looked over at Joonie, phone held a little away from her ear. Her face doubtful and suspicious at the excessive flowing joy from her usually somber Wolf.

They looked, almost, comical in their excessive joy.

Taehyung and Hoseok winced at Joon's words, hiding their sigh.

Anya's gaze went to Jimin and stuck there. She wrinkled her eyebrows as she stared down Jimin's body.

Following her gaze, Jimin looked down, finally taking in the mess he had created trying to hide the nightgown.

As he had stuffed the garment in a balled up manner deep in his pocket, the bulge from it was, central in location. Right in front of his groin. Added to that his hands were trying to hide the bulge, but to another's eye, it looked to be cupping and hiding a bulge smack dab in the region of his erection.

Anya looked back at Jimin, eyes a bit surprised, blushing a little.

Eyes widening at the realization of the misinterpretation that his Master had no doubt made about him, Jimin started protesting, "No! Master no, its not what it seems, i-"

"Its okay. I mean, its fine. Like its normal. You have nothing to be ashamed of." Anya overrode him, flustered but still trying to calm Jimin.

"NO! I mean no Master. I am not-listen, I -" In horror, Jimin blundered around for words to explain the situation without giving away the real story.

"Its honestly okay. Long time association can result in this." Anya tried to say calmly, her cheeks still a little pink.

"No! umm, i- That is NOT the case!! Master, I-I was-the thing is-"

Hobi had a tight grip of his thighs, nails painfully digging in while he had his head lowered, trying so hard to stop his laughter at the situation from spilling out. Taehyung had his lips pressed hard to not burst into guffaws at his friend's state.

Both of them held on to their Belly aching laughter, feeling a little proud of themselves. Jimin's horrified expression nearly breaking them.

"Master? Can you help me a little?" Yoongi's clear loud voice reached them.

Anya nodded at that and awkwardly said, "umm, yes, carry on." And then turned to go back to the outer room.

Hobi let out his laughter while Tae slid to the floor, body shaking with the force of his humour.

Jimin's face was astonished and his mouth open. His Master had just misunderstood him greatly! She no doubt thought that he had gotten an erection while talking to his pack!

The horror soon translated into anger as he took out the cloth from his pocket and shouted lowly, "You idiots! Master-"

"Just thought you are hot for us!" Taehyung giggled uncontrollably from the floor, clutching at his stomach.

Closing his eyes, Jimin slumped back in resignation, "Why me??"

"Cheer up, we'll think of something later. No big deal." The perpetuator of the situation casually advised him.

"Oh really?" Jimin looked at Namjoon, who was trying not to cower at his own fault, "you tore her clothes and somehow I am being labelled, I don't even know what, and its okay? Here Hyung. You are on your own with this now." Jimin threw the ball of fabric at Joon, who helplessly caught it and looked around.

"You know, she will not mind if we just tell her what happened." Hobi kindly suggested.

"Really? Fine then, you tell her you tore it. Personally I don't want to be associated with it. Besides, I shouldered a huge misunderstanding just to get you all out of hot water." Jimin snapped back.

"Cross me out too. I packed the entire suitcase for her." Taehyung quickly piped up.

"Hobi? Will you take the blame for me? you are so kind my friend, I will definitely pay you back for-"

"Hey! Whoa! Hold on! I meant for you! If you confess, nothing will happen. Not me. Sorry." Hobi interrupted Joon clearly.

Looking lost, Joon stared at the nightgown. Then suddenly, he reached out and started tearing the fabric more, making strips out of the once beautiful dress.

Outside, Yoongi started talking a bit louder. No doubt trying to mask the sound of tearing. Earlier too, he had deliberately drawn Anya out to help them.

The three other watched as soon Joon held a handful of white long strips in his fist.

"I think we can like, soak these, then bundle it up in a ball and leave it behind. No one will recognize what it is. Later, if Master asks, we can say we don't know. What do you think?" Joon asked the others.

Eyebrows high on their foreheads, they looked at the wolf hybrid, not understanding the nonsense he was speaking.

What they failed to notice was, the utter silence from the outer room.

"Or you could have just told me ya know?" the clear melodic whisper of Anya made four of the hybrids jump up in fright. Joon, crashing onto Taehyung to turn and look at their Master standing behind them, trying to suppress a smile, flanked by a giggling Jungkook and Yoongi with a long-suffering look on his face.

"Its his fault!" three voices shouted out with fingers pointed at Joon.

"So I see" Anya let her giggles out, laughing at the sight they made.

The moment : a pocket of happy silliness, immortalizing yet another moment of priceless memory of their story in the book having countless blank pages yet to be filled.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Jin had come out a long time since, Anya and her guards were all packed and ready to go, but there were still two things holding them up from leaving.

Park had still not brought in the promised data, while Joseph was stuck in the outer perimeters of the mansion.

Jackson had come in to check, "Still not here yet?"

"No. He is being held up, being asked to show some godforsaken documents!" Anya's restlessness was apparent now

Jackson stood puzzled, "What documents? By who? The police?"

"No freaking clue what documents! And no. By the estate security. Not police."

"Wait, that does not make sense. Park would have given the clearance by now. Why are they holding our driver and car up?" Jackson asked again.

Anya looked up to him, "Honestly Jackson, does it look like I have any idea?"

"Well, the security of this estate is not controlled by Park, Master." Hoseok ventured as he came to stand beside her.

Anya looked at him and he continued, "Although he is the one who is the ultimate owner of all the operations taking place here, but he is NOT the one who manages the day to day activities and responsibilities of this place, or the hybrids."

This was new to Anya. She glanced over to Jackson who was equally baffled by the new information that they should have already known.

"You did not know?" Joon asked, his cheeks still adorably tinged with light pink.

"Tell me."

Hoseok came in front of Anya, and lightly held her by her waist, keeping contact while talking, his cold hands gentle in its grip.

"All hybrids who come here or have been here have been trained under 3 maste-persons. Those 3 people are the ones who regulate the security here. Wilson and the other guards, although given their wages by Park, are actually more loyal to those three. Same with all the estate security."

"These 3 trainers, these were the people Mrs. Han was talking about?" Anya asked.

"No doubt about it." Jimin answered.

Something was not clicking yet.

"Where are they now? Have I seen them?" she asked

"No, one week before the auction, they leave. They come back after 2 weeks again." Jin answered this time.

"So how do the patrons know them?" Anya persisted.

"They don't have any contact with them in the auction Master. Only if they are personally acquainted can they talk to them. We too know them only by the initial alphabet of their name. Mrs. Han must be having individual contact with them outside of this auction." Hoseok explained.

"But then, if they never come, why did one of them agree to Han? To come meet me?" Anya asked.

The hybrids all looked at one another, their gazes a bit nervous. Anya watched their silent conversation.

Collectively, the pack looked towards Yoongi, who was seated on the bed. He understood what his friends wanted him to do. Yoongi's gaze locked with his Master.

"You can say, we are his ultimate Favourite. They have, a kind of, obsession with us?" he let his answer trail as a question, not wanting Anya to know the extent of never-ending twisted fascination the three had with them.

Anya remained quiet for a bit.

"Fuck it all!" she cursed out, "Please go help Joseph, Jackson. We need to get out of here before the Trio of mentioned Cartoons show up."

"On it."

As Jackson walked hurriedly out of the room, Anya placed another call while murmuring to herself, "Its like people are reaching out to grab us and make us stay I swear!"

"Hello? hi Guk. Yes, I will be bringing them in a short time. Maybe and hour and a half? Yes, please have everything ready, I want to be able to take them home from your place soon. No, injections for 5 hybrids, I have 2 snakes. Calm down I told you this before..... no they will not harm.... ARE YOU DONE? I swear my nerves are frayed as it is, please don't try your brand of humour on me, I'll just snap back. Okay. Meet you soon."

Anya flicked the phone away, then looked at Hobi, who still had a hold of her.

"That was a doctor trained in Hybrid Medicine."

"What? An individual field for us? A Hybrid doctor? Not a scientist?" Jin's surprise was echoed by everyone in the room.

Specialty doctors in the field of Hybrid Medicine were rare. Usually, if any problem arose, the hybrids were just taken to the scientists who worked on creating, training, subjugating and selling them. They were taken to the nearest such institution and then handed over, while the owner went away and came back to collect their hybrid when advised. So their shock, was justified.

"He works for me. He is a genius, he studied Biochemistry and Hybrid Medicine. The hybrids of my employees get checked by him. He is nice, just flirts a bit so," turning to Jimin she said, "Be nice."

Jimin smiled angelically at her, turning his face into a picture of innocence, "I am always nice Master."

"What a liar." Anya shook her head.

A knock on the door.

Anya turned to go to the inner room, her attention back on her cellphone, while Yoongi and Jungkook stood up from their places and silently padded towards the door. Without any prompts from anyone.

Yoongi opened the door abruptly, making Park flinch back again. He had already steeled himself to come up to meet them, but the sight of the jaguar who had so savagely bitten one of his patrons, that too before getting owned by Anya, made his forehead wet again.

The dark eyes were Hostile and cold while he drawled in his deep voice, "You are intolerably late."

His voice was rich in an icy cold anger which lashed out at Park, stinging his mind. On that spot, Park's mind went blank and he hastily retreated 3 steps.

"Are you delaying the task given to you even further?" Yoongi's quite voice laced with steel gave the poor man no reprieve.

Not being able to manage any words, Park simply held out a small USB in front of him, his hands shaking in fear.

Yoongi calmly plucked the USB from his hands and pocketed it. Then he turned on his heels and simply went inside, leaving the man standing there with Jungkook.

Park's racing heart soothed a little.

"Any messages for Master?" Jungkook asked in a pleasant voice, which was a welcome relief in comparison to the deep pitch of the Jaguar's.

Park looked at Kook. He was one of his most docile ones. Instantly, he relaxed completely, knowing that at least he was now in a company he did not have to fear.

"Yes, two things, fetch your Master for me, she needs to know."

"I'll be sure to pass it to her. What are the messages?"

Park felt a little discomfited. He knew this Panther to be a hybrid who could not even look straight, let alone talk back. Had Anya taken a hold of this timid animal who had been conditioned for so many years?

Or..

Or, was she unlocking his Code that easily?

Shivering a little, Park decided not to test him any further.

"I was held up because of two reasons, the first is that I am trying my best to have the estate security to not be so unreasonable, its simply that no one in the history of such auctions have ever left before the event was completed."

"In the history of such auctions, no one like my Master has ever attended one." Jungkook smoothly retorted back, his eyes still innocent, but something in them hardening slightly.

Park backtracked from his complaints, "Yes that is exactly what I explained to them. Its just a little hold up, it will get freed soon."

"The second?" Jungkook's demeanor was slowly changing, slowly losing the easy nature, to grow into something else. Evolving into terrifying stillness. The more time he spent talking to Park, the more easily he kept shedding his timidness.

Park blabbed out, "All the guests together with the 3 trainers have pushed for a masquerade ball. It will start shortly. I was powerless to stop it."

Jungkook went completely silent, his eyes, changing, narrowing, focusing more pointedly at Park, "The ball like usual? With all that goes?"

Park nodded helplessly.

"My Master will be informed. You may leave." Kook shut the door on his face, then turned to the room, where all his friends stood nervously, having heard it all.

Taehyung was close to where Anya was, and had relayed all that he had heard.

"What nonsense is this now? The fuck is going on??" Anya's lips were pressed in a thin line at the new development.

Tae supplied her with the particulars, "Usually these kinds of balls occur in the first evening. All the attendants are adorned with masks that don't come off the entire night. Rules are the same. They may use any hybrids they want however they wish for. Its just, their actions are more... wilder... more cruel, I don't know how exactly to explain it Master-"

"The mask, the sense of fleeting anonymity gives them that added pulse to let all their inhibitions go. The kind of actions that they would normally not indulge in, even in the company of like-minded, just to keep their ego up, are openly executed. Any last string of humanity or sympathy are cut out. Their activities with hybrids become utterly demonic. I understand Tae." Anya tightly said.

Just then, a call came.

Anya looked at it fleetingly and then picked it up, "Talk." She bit into it.

"I am sorry, I was calling you. I just got to know. All the guests sanctioned the permission for their hybrids to be used Anya, they sanctioned them to be used till the point of death." Ye Jun's voice was crisp.

"And?"

"They brought it with unanimous vote with a sanctioned plea signed by the assistant minister of Hybrid Control. All hybrids in the mansion are fair game. Owner or no owner. As long as the whole affair remains in the Mansion and does not spill out, and as long as the hybrids in use don't actually die. Since all the guests except you were willing, hell they pushed for it, our department cannot refuse to sanction its implementation."

"Inference?" Anya's grip on the phone tightened, her fingers going white. Her anger had become molten.

"As long as you are in the house, legally I can't do anything. You need to get out."

"Who mainly pushed for it? Who instigated it?" one question was all that mattered.

"One of the original trainers and Jennifer. All agreed in seconds."

"Push back the implementation by 45 minutes." Anya curtly.

"Okay." Ye Jun let the line go dead.

Anya lowered the phone, staring ahead, while her breathing got deeper and faster in fury and irritation.

The pack kept quiet. They knew it was serious and that they needed to leave before the ball came to pass. But they also knew that it was because of the continued good health of the attendees, not them. Currently, the state that their Master was in, the guests were at serious risk of getting burnt to their bones by her rage.

"These people here are determined to keep you all back, aren't they? They don't want to let you all go. They can't accept that they cant touch you again?" she murmured in the room, her voice mocking, her expression savage.

Anya leaned back on the sofa, letting her long hair to drape on one side, crossing her legs, while she played with her phone in her hands and said absently, "So desperate. Childishly trying to cling on." She smirked.

"Do they know what they are doing? Do they have any idea of just how badly they are pissing me off?" a cruel chuckle came out in her husky seductive voice.

Jimin smiled wickedly at that, while Jin hid his own savage smile. Yoongi prodded forward to give her the USB.

Anya accepted it and looked up at Yoongi, "Should I play with them?"

Yoongi's eyes snagged to hers. The bubbling fury in them searing even him. She was gone past the limits of rage. Right now, Anya was dangerous. Fiendishly dangerous. Her calm, low voice was erroneously deprecating. Right now, no one could survive the promised violence in her eyes.

Thankfully, her phone rang yet again, saving Yoongi from deciding the fate of the other humans.

Her face wearing the smirk, her hair, a luxurious seduction, eyes still locked with his, Anya wordlessly accepted the call.

She did not speak, just heard what the other person said, "We are past the security. Joseph got mad. It was a sight to behold. We are already parked. Will be reaching the room in 5 minutes." Jackson cut the call.

The ferocious wildness in her eyes dimmed with every spoken word, till they returned to the state of banked anger.

Anya just closed her eyes and slouched back, breathing deep.

Taehyung's attention could not stray to any other place than the woman he belonged to. Her magnetism, holding him captive in the embrace of protection and belonging. Her anger had ironically made him feel so cherished.

The one glaring fact that Seokjin, Yoongi, Namjoon, Hoseok, Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook collectively realized was staggering.

Their Master was wilder, more vicious and dangerous than all of them combined.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

"Ms, Anya! These fiends thought they could stall with nonsensical excuses! But I am not Joseph for nothing!" Joseph came bustling through the door, his hands holding a black side bag.

The sight of the tall fit man in his early 50s made Anya smile automatically.

"I knew you would come through." She smilingly embraced him.

"Of course I would. Here Ms, have them dress in it. I will be keeping the engine going on the front gate to speed out of this ugly place at once. I will greet them properly once we are home." Joseph handed her the bag while she nodded at him.

Turning to look at the hybrids peeking at him curiously, he bowed down, "it will be my pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Taken aback, the boys bowed down immediately for the old man. The problem was, in the nervousness of finally leaving this house, they stood clustered together. As they bowed without thought, the boys at the back bumped into their friends standing before them, making them fall.

"Ouch"

"Oof!"

Yoongi Jimin and Jin fell down like little figures of dominos, landing hard on the floor.

Joseph laughed at that display, "Charming men."

Anya too chuckled, "They have their moments."

Joseph bowed once more, and left.

"Make sure you all are ready too. Pack and have your cases stowed away. Give us 5 minutes." Anya said to Jackson.

"Yep, crazy bitches in masks kept grabbing me to shout that we could not leave yet before the ball. The whole place downstairs has gone completely mental. Its like rabid animals frothing and looking upstairs, waiting for you to descend." Jackson told her.

"We will be out shortly." Yoongi almost pushed the other guy out of the door, closing it. Not wanting Anya to revert back to her wrathful mood.

"What's in the bag Master?" Jungkook came closer to her.

His clear, innocent eyes, and his fuzzy ears twitching in excitement, drained the mounting anger in Anya at the state of things downstairs which Jackson had shared.

Smiling at Jungkook she said, "Can you all please gather around here?"

Everyone moved towards her.

Anya bent down to unzip the bag and she checked the contents, smiling fondly at it while she explained, "Joseph's wife Arissa is my housekeeper. She was my nanny. Someone who took care of me when I was a baby. I value her greatly. She has a few principles."

Anya looked at her hybrids, "She says, if you are returning home, or if you are coming home for the first time, you should never enter possessing things that belong to another. Hence, she sent new clothes for you all."

Saying so, she took out 7 black cargo pants, black tsirts- some v neck, some round, some full sleeves, undergarments, and casual sandals.

"Sorry, all are a bit big, we were not completely sure of your size. Also we had no idea about your shoe size hence the sandals. The cargos have elastic waist." She handed over the bundle of clothes to the dumbfounded Boys.

"Wear whatever you like. Get dressed quickly. We need to get out of here fast."

Jimin, Tae and Hobi snatched up the full sleeves black shirts and quickly started to undress. Their actions prompted the other to begin too. Jin hesitated a bit, "Do you have any preference over what we should wear?"

"Hyung, she would have said that from the start if that was the case." Jungkook called out while he swiftly shed his clothes.

Anya turned around, mentally preparing herself for the march downstairs. She needed to be collected and impassive.

"Done."

Turning around to give them the instructions on what to do, Anya physically took a step back. She reached out behind her to grab onto the nearest item that could steady her.

Her heart thudded loudly in her chest.

They were all stunning.

If the 7 temptations had a physical manifestation, they would be their representations.

Dressed in all black, the Tshirts snug on their muscled frames, they were striking.

Jimin's eyes mischievously sparkled. He stretched out a little, knowing the effect he was having on his Master, with his silver blonde hair, contrasting against the Vneck shirt showing his contour, while his legs were sheathed in the cargos.

Jungkook on the other hand was confused. He was a bit worried on hearing her galloping heartbeat, not understanding the influence his snug shirt with his biceps on display and his tall sturdy was causing in her.

Taehyung looked abnormally stunning. His serious expression with his gorgeous eyes, dark hair with honey skin draped in black created a sense of otherworldly beauty. The likes of seeing which was rare. Extremely rare.

Yoongi just lounged back, smirk on his lips, expression knowing, as he saw his Master melt at the sight of his attire, which highlighted his leashed wildness. His pale skin a stark contrast to his dark eyes, hair and clothes, he looked like a dangerous predator, enjoying the attention he got.

"Master, are you okay?" Hobi prowled forward, his steps measured, his gait suggestive, his aura dark with lust, his anomalously odd eyes shining in desire. With his dark hair and raw magnetism, Hoseok kept advancing on Anya, who involuntarily took a step away.

"Hoseok, don't." Anya's head snapped to the voice. She looked to the side to see Namjoon and Jin standing together. Both of them decked in the Black tshirt which was a size smaller than what was needed. It stretched out over their frames, defining their taut chest, and showing the impression of the defined abs they possessed.

Joon's eyes were hooded, his body completely attuned to her as he inhaled deeply, collecting lungful of the heavily scented air. Scented so richly with her sweet passion. He was addicted.

But Jin.

The eagle's expression was blank. His expression neutral on his exceptionally Handsome face. With his sharp jaw, high cheekbones set in a face that would draw anyone in, his allure and charisma was darkly potent.

The neutral expression was nothing new, being the master at hiding his feelings as he was.

No.

It was the banked lava of torrential need in his eyes, an inferno of craving he was keeping in check, that shocked her with its intensity.

Shocked her enough to bring her back to her senses.

She looked again at them. The 7 men standing in her room with a vehemently dark animal magnetism, barely tethered.

The time spent with their evolving Code, adding a stroke of attractive confidence to their silhouette, the strength in their body, the assertiveness in their eyes enchanting.

The boldness in the way they walked, the poise with which they indulged in their silence completely bewitching.

And these magnificent beings belonged to her.

They called her Master.

A tendril of desire wound its way in her soul, whispering the temptation to satiate herself with them, use them the way they begged her too. They would moan out their pleasure to her too, drunk in the passionate web of cravings they would quench their mutual lust in.

"The fuck is wrong with me?" Anya mercilessly quelled that tendril. Squashing it completely in its wake. She reached out to cover her face with her hands, finding her bearings, stabilizing herself.

Her hybrids were becoming too potent.

Another thought horrified her.

If their potency reached out to put her in such a chokehold of enticement, then what kind of an effect would they have on the sex crazed soulless rabid brutes downstairs??

"Oh no. That is bad."

The knock on the door made her race to open it. Peter looked at her, raising his brows at her frantic expression.

"Look at them!" she directed.

Peter curiously looked behind her to the 7 hybrids standing tall and whistled out, "Wow. They look like fucking catnip for the crazy freaks downstairs."

Anya narrowed her eyes at him, "Thanks. Great. That was beautifully helpful." Her sarcasm sharp.

Peter shrugged, "Our window of 45 minutes is down to 20. You need to manage them. We need to move."

"What is the holdup? Lets go--- oh shit! They look like freaking models!" Jackson had come out to see what was keeping the rest from leaving, only to realize the problem as he took one look at the 7 hybrids who had now come to stand near the door.

Anya face palmed herself hard. "Why did Arissa not send potato sacks to dress them in?"

"Uh, because that would have been rude?" Jackson answered her, his voice trailing.

"I was being rhetoric!!" Anya snapped back. She looked back again and then slumped down, "Great. Who knew a simple dress change would do this?"

"Its not just a change of clothes Anya. I think you know that too. They now resemble the status they have. Being yours. Their confidence will change them more." Peter quietly added.

"I know that." Anya moaned, "But I want to leave here without any incidents. Right now, this is not welcome."

"Okay, listen up." Anya turned around to them, "Stay close to me, move together. Make sure you are surrounded by my guards. Don't talk to anyone please, but DO NOT look down. Just act like they are all beneath you. Okay?"

Jin and Yoongi came forward, standing before the group, while Joon went to the rear, taking his position at the back. Keeping the rest in the middle.

With one signal from Peter, her guards came up to surround them further. 2 of them standing before Jin and Yoongi, 2 flanking the sides, while Peter and Jackson took their positions behind Joon.

Taking a deep breath, Anya said, "Let's leave."

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The group moved together, leaving their room, going forward in the corridor, to the grand stairs.

Below it, Anya saw all the guests gathered around the landing. Masks securely in place, while they wore flimsy see through dresses or untucked shirts with unzipped trousers.

Many males already had few hybrids kneeling before them, making the hybrids suck them slowly, while their eyes were trained on the stairs.

As soon as they made an appearance, it seemed like the air in the Mansion stilled, the tension in the atmosphere thick and clogging enough that a knife could possibly cut through it.

Keeping a bored expression on her face bereft of any masks, Anya regally descended the staircase, her eyes searing any who dared to attempt at approaching her.

When those hungry eyes fell on her hybrids behind her, an audible gasp reached her ears. The wariness the guest had on witnessing her aura, fading in the wake of depraved hunger the beauty of her hybrids inspired in them.

Still, no one approached them as they reached the landing. Except one figure.

Wearing a see-through golden gown with her breasts bouncing as she ran to her, with a black lace mask covering her eyes Jennifer screeched, "You cant leave yet. You need to participate in the ball. It's a sanction from the legal department."

She actually dared to screech at HER?

Anya's anger went from simmering to a full blast as she clenched her fists, "Who the bloody FUCK do you think you are talking to?"

Her voice stopped everyone in the room, including the young girl. The viciousness in it whipping every ear. Although Anya had not raised her voice, it still deafened everyone.

"When I ask a question, I expect it to be answered! Do you think you have any standing, any status high enough that you dare to command me?" Anya forced out the words through her clenched teeth, her eyes tearing the girl into strips.

"No-no. in my ex-excitement, I th-thou-thought you had n-not been in-inf-informed." Jennifer stuttered out, fear shaking her thin body. She wanted Jungkook and Taehyung. She was salivating for them.

It was because of that reason that she had gone to the great lengths of arranging this ball. But in her raging enthusiasm, she had made the mistake of accidentally insulting Anya.

Anya kept her gaze fixed on Jennifer, then calmed herself down. She spoke clearly, "I am aware. I am leaving before the sanction is implemented. My tolerance for the poor, vulgar company I am forced to associate myself with, in this pathetic excuse of a Mansion has been shredded to thin ribbons.

If you think I will sully myself further by staying longer in a place filled with people who have no control over their childish, tantruming wants, with no hint of any sophistication or refined nature, resembling lower animals, present company included, then you are dead wrong.

Have I provided you with your answer?" Anya's answer ricocheted in the hall, cutting almost all people in their egos, badly bruising their pride.

These were all collection of people who wanted her approval. Who wanted to be having the good fortune of bragging of being associated with her. Even after the delivered insults, all they thought were of ways to make it up to her. Anya was too much of a Diamond Goddess in their world to ever isolate. Her power was heavy enough to drown them all in one instant.

Jennifer nodded frantically to her words, but her eyes kept going to Jungkook and Taehyung in the middle. All she got was glimpses of them, the other hybrids surrounding them completely.

"Give us a chance tonight, we will make up for our deficiencies in the past. Stay for the night?" an older woman said to her in the most polite friendly voice Anya had ever heard, her eyes, attached to Seokjin.

Seriously, even my outburst could not dim the freakish lust you have for my hybrids? The hold of their own salacious, filthy appetite over my hybrids is too strong. Or they are on drugs?

Which meant, insults would not keep them away.

10 minutes now. The gates would close otherwise.

"Park!" Anya called out chillingly.

The man came running immediately.

"Manage this."

She turned and beckoned her group to come with her, only to find her path blocked by more people.

"Anya-shii, then why don't you go ahead with a few of your hybrids? As the original trainers want to be reunited with your hybrids, why don't you leave them behind? We shall deliver them to you in the morning." The nearest man cooed out to her, "Its impolite of anyone to turn the request of the person who trained your hybrid since they were born, right?"

In the society they lived in, it was indeed downright impolite of doing so. No owner ever said no to a meeting requested by the original trainer to the hybrids they had shaped.

No complaints were made by the owners of the state their hybrids would be returned to them after the original trainers had used them.

Such was the norm of her world.

Right now, Anya could not refuse the man for two reasons.

Firstly, that would go against the belief of the system of hybrids. Anya had no intention of rocking that particular boat before her hybrids were properly settled into their real personalities, their Codes.

Secondly, her refusal would show her attachment to her hybrids. The way she wanted to protect them. Anya wouldn't have thought anything about it earlier, but the visit from Mrs. Han changed that.

She was sure that the person who had sent Han, was in a league where she usually played in. and right now they were at a stage of gathering intel. Merely observing. This situation was engineered by people who simply were an annoyance for her. But still, this was something that was out of her control, the response to which would be completely unfiltered. Something anyone with a mind could jugde.

And right now, she did not want anyone to know the lengths she could go for, for her hybrids.

6 minutes left.

Anya used the side of her that she usually did not use. It was kept for occasions such as these.

Smiling at the man, she said, "Of course, you are right. I will do so then."

The man smiled wide.

"Just, can you provide me with your name? I had plans of calling my Uncle after this, he likes to keep thorough updates on my life, you see? He will be interested in knowing the name of the person who suggested I be parted from my slaves while returning home."

The smile had long since vanished from the man's lips. The path before her had also abruptly cleared up at the mention of her other side of family. Her Uncle. Someone, she associated with too. Someone who dearly loved her. His adoration, no secret to the crowd. His identity and his influence over her and vice versa, well known.

The man did not even speak once. He just turned and walked into the crowd.

Anya looked around. Although the vulgar gazes were still fixed on her hybrids, no one was attempting to come near, or to stop them.

Without gracing anyone with a proper goodbye, Anya strode out of the hall, towards the front door.

She never paused, as the door was opened by men manning it, as she walked out into the dark night, Joseph having the engine on, of the car right in front of her.

The hybrids looked around, their chests tight with apprehension, clustered together, still doubting if they would be able to leave.

Anya nodded at her guards, who dispersed in the 2 cars standing parked behind the long limousine Joseph opened the door for.

"Go, we need to leave." Anya whispered to Yoongi.

He jerked and then pulled a timid Jimin and Tae toward the car. Jin ushering in the rest. Anya waited on the graveled path, staring at the lit Mansion, while her hybrids all seated themselves in the car.

With one last look at the manor, Anya got inside and closed the door.

The car started immediately, and it sped away from the place. The mansion slowly getting smaller and smaller.

The band of constriction around each occupant of the car eased bit by bit. The hybrids still in shock. They had actually left the mansion. Their prison for their whole life till now. A beautiful place filled with their nightmares, their pain, their ugly horrid life. They had truly left it. The last string attaching them to Park, snipped away at last

"Who is your Uncle?" Yoongi was the only one who was normal enough to ask her.

Anya smiled, lifting her head with a mysterious expression on her face, "Do you know? I am said to own more than half of South Korea?"

Yoongi wasn't surprised at that. He knew she was extremely wealthy.

"My Uncle," Anya said, "Owns the other half."

Yoongi's brows puzzled over that.

"If I own the light Yoongi, my Uncle owns the shadows."

"Do you mean your Uncle is in mafia, Master?" Yoongi asked guardedly.

Anya let out a husky laugh, "No of course not."

"He is the man who Controls the Mafia."

The silence in the car stretched out to infinity.

Until a small voice asked her, "Where are we going now?" even though the voice was small, the happiness in it was overwhelming.

As the velvety darknessof the night hid them in its shadows, the car, silently cutting through it,shrouded in its protection, Anya turned to Jimin and whispered, "Home."

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A/N: 14.5k

The boys and Anya are finally going home! Their lives in it will be sheltered away from the rest of the world to develop their true natures. A time when they will strengthen further, get in touch with their animal side, become a family, and so much more.

Someone in the shadows is observing them all, armed with a plan. How will it affect them? Who can it be?

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