🐈🐈🐈

Monday morning I rush into school, ten minutes later than usual because Lucifer decided to sleep on my phone, effectively blocking out the sound of my morning alarm. Thank god that Steve is such a little shit that he decided to slap me until I woke up, for no apparent reason at all. More annoyed than usual I rush straight past a waving, purple-haired Namjoon to-

Wait.

I halt in my struggle and turn back to Namjoon, who now sports a shock of bright, purple hair. His eyes light up when I turn back to stare at him. He looks...cute.

"Good morning," he greets with pink cheeks.

Pink cheeks. Purple hair. Those dimples. He's too cute. My jaw drops at his new appearance. I can't manage. Is he trying to kill me? I think he's trying to kill me.

For once I'm grateful for the bell as it shrieks overhead.

The 'good morning' I had managed to utter out was drowned by the sound, but strangely he still seems to hear it and his grin grows. I think I'm gonna die.

Without a another thought I scramble away to class. It's the only way to save myself. Namjoon is clearly trying to kill me. Why do I have to have a weakness for cute things? Is this an answer to my unresolved feelings? Settling down into my desk, I mull the thought over carefully. Namjoon is cute. I think he's cute. Also, BooBoo is cute. I feel warm and happy when I think of my old orange kitty, fast asleep and drugged up on pain meds at home. When I think of Namjoon...I just think he's cute. Inwardly I groan.

As if I haven't been tortured enough already, this morning our teacher is out and our less-than-adequate substitute teacher wants us to group up in pairs to study. Study what? I don't know, I wasn't listening. The reason I'm feeling tortured is because I'm paired with two extremely cute boys that I know I've seen in Namjoon's group of friends before.

Seriously. Why do 90 percent of the boys in this school look good enough to be kpop idols?

Once we're all settled next to each other's desks I don't acknowledge them and they pay me even less mind. In fact, they seem to be purposefully avoiding making any sort of physical or verbal contact with me. The one with dyed blond hair shoots me a look at one point and then averts his gaze quickly, as though expecting me to smack him.

...ok.

Maybe Eun-ji was right. My exterior is tough. Perhaps too tough. But this type of avoidance...It's not what I'm accustomed to. Did Namjoon tell them I'm mean? I frown at the thought even if I know he wouldn't be wrong if he had said that. These two—I glance at them stealthily—they're very tense.

This is weird.

I thought it couldn't get stranger but then the bell rang and the two boys jumped up and away from me, way too quickly for me not to get suspicious.

Why is everyone in this school weird?

When lunchtime rolls around I'm in my usual spot with a book but not really paying attention to the story. My eyes continuously shoot to the door and when I see a purple head coming my way my heart jumps and my palms start to sweat. My left ear itches at the sound of Eun-ji and In-guk, once again on speaking terms but only to constantly bicker and pick at each other. Trying not to be too obvious about it, I scoot more to the right for Namjoon to settle in between us and he does just that, greeting me warmly and handing over a pack of Jolly Ranchers.

This is...nice. He settles in with his lunch and we sit and listen to the petty argument of my friends over tree trimmers of all things. Who the hell even knows how they landed on that subject.

Warm autumn wind pushes my hair back and sends a few orange leaves to the ground. From the corner of my eye I notice Namjoon's nose scrunch up. "How is your day so far?" he asks a broad question but I get a nagging feeling that he has something else on his mind.

"Good I guess...kind of weird-" I halt mid sentence, wondering if I should mention how odd his friends were behaving. Would that be insulting?

Namjoon presses for more, however. "Weird how?"

"Mm." I hesitate for a second before going ahead and telling him. It's not a big deal, right? "I was put in a study group with some guys in first period and I think they're your friends? Anyway they were...weird."

"Weird...how?" he was asking the same question again but this time his voice came out high, strained. There was now a look in his eye that confused me. Suddenly he wasn't cute anymore.

"Uuuuh." I said dumbly. "They just ignored me, is all. Like I stank or something."

"They didn't touch you?" This should have been posed as a question but it didn't sound like it; not the way Namjoon spit it out.

I'm so confused. "No. They didn't even look at me. Why would you ask that?"

A breath he'd obviously been holding came out of his mouth and his shoulders relaxed. It took a bit but eventually he was back to the normal, relaxed Namjoon I've become used to. "Sorry. They...they know I like you so I told them not to tease you about it. I know you can take care of yourself." he quickly added. "I just didn't want them to bother you."

It was a good enough explanation, but one that I can't make myself fully believe. For one, Namjoon's reaction was extra, to say the least. For two, the pair of wooden chopsticks in his hand are now split in half.

"I like your hair." I comment, feeling the urge to change the subject, but then flushing pink when I hear the words that came out of my mouth. "I mean, I like purple. It's my favorite color."

"Really?"

No, it's orange like my favorite cat. I nod and smile anyway, feeling too flustered to admit this.

"By the way, Y/n, I thought of something." Thankfully, this time Namjoon is the one to change the subject. "You should get a nanny cam. For your cats."

"What's that?"

"It's a camera you can put in your home to watch them when you aren't there. Then there's an app you can put on your phone and check on them throughout the day." he informs me. "That way if something happens like what happened to BooBoo, you'll know it immediately."

I stare at him, my heart thumping painfully as a warm, tingling feeling comes to life inside of me. This time, I know exactly what I'm feeling.

With a groan, In-guk stands and stretches, turning to regard me over his shoulder before he leaves. "Y/n, looks like Namjook is the perfect guy for you."

"Namjoon hyung." Namjoon corrects him.

Once school is over I somehow manage to avoid everyone and get home by myself, all the while cursing myself.

How did my life get to the point where I'm not in school and no where near Namjoon and yet, that's all I can think about? I feel stupid for caring so much about it...but what's up with his weird friends? And why was he so weird about his weird friends?

"Did they touch you?" Of all questions for him to ask, that's one that I can't make sense out of. That's something you would ask someone if they came near someone dangerous. Which poses the question. Were his friends dangerous? They didn't seem dangerous. Then again, looks can be deceiving.

Why do I care? I hate caring. I'm gonna go hang with my cats.

🐈🐈🐈

Sometimes I hate being a wolf. Jimin and Taehyung can't help where they sit in class and so far they've been mindful in keeping their distance from Y/n. It isn't their fault that she's my mate and it isn't their fault that I haven't scented her yet.

Seeing Y/n around other men bothers me. Just thinking of her near another wolf is unbearable. My dad, along with other elders of the pack, had warned me that this was coming. We all go to the same school and coming across each other is going to happen sooner or later. Wolves are territorial by nature, that's just instinct. But Y/n is my mate and I have not scented or marked her.

That means today Jimin and Taehyung are going to die.

The door to my house flies off the hinges when I open it, though I can't remember using that much force. Neither of my planned victims are in sight but their scent lingers. It doesn't matter. I'll find them. I'm going to rip their arms right out of their sockets, their eyes—they don't need those—Taehyung's Gucci collection? GONE. Jimin's-

"Namjoon. ."

At the sound of that command, everything in me screams at me to calm down, and against my will, my anger begins to subside. My gaze lifts to Hoseok, a foot away and standing on the now splintered remains of the door, arms crossed and yellow eyes daring me to move.

I don't. I can't. My eyes lower as quickly as they had raised, not wanting to challenge that much power. For a split second I wish I'd been born the alpha, but then remember that if I had, my friends would be armless and eyeless and Gucci-less right now.

Hoseok sighs as he steps off and eyes the ruined door. Remorse washes over me as I take in the mess I created, then my eyes widen as I realize I'm still gripping the brass door handle, which of course has been separated from the door.

"Hyung? Are you still mad?" Taehyung is peeping from behind the wall leading to the kitchen and guilt hits me again.

"No." I drop the door handle to scrub a hand over one eye and then up to my hair. "I'm sorry I lost control."

Jimin inches his way over from the living room. "It's ok. I understand."

"It's not." Hoseok sighs, continuing to eye the door. "Do you know how annoying it is to hang a door?"

"That's your issue?" A bleary eyed Yoongi sits up from the couch and turns his head to glare at us. "I get woken up and you're concerned with the logistics of hanging a door?"

All signs of his alpha side disappear as Hoseok grins sheepishly at Yoongi-hyung and apologizes. Not for the first time, the thought crosses my mind. 'This guy is an alpha?' But he definitely is.

It was rare that anyone saw that side to him. Most of the time Hoseok was a happy-go-lucky, bright guy that could compete with Santa Claus in terms of spreading cheer and being jolly. Then underneath that smile lurked that alpha gene. He would come out only if he found it necessary and never failed to assert dominance. Then just as quickly as he'd come, this happy Hoseok would be back and laughing and joking and as friendly as ever.

I miss Y/n.

Where did that thought come from?

What did I even think about before Y/n?

What's she doing right now?

What is she thinking about?

Most likely its something to do with her cats. Again, unbidden jealousy swirls in my chest, although it's a lot more tame and childish than the usual envy I feel when it comes to her. She likes the cats more than me, I know that. It might be more bearable if I thought that she might like me at least a little bit.

Then again, during lunch there was something different. At the time my mind had been filled with Jimin and Taehyung being near her. My wolf still felt restless at the thought but Hoseok's voice, "." is imprinted in my mind as a permanent reminder to hold my temper.

Now that I think back on it with a clear mind, Y/n was different today. She paid closer attention to me, she moved over to make room for me to sit. She even liked my hair. "I like your hair." The reminder of her words brings about a goofy grin that the guys have dubbed the 'thinking of Y/n' face and I hear half of them snickering while Yoongi groans and lays back down.

For ten minutes Jungkook and I wrestle the broken door over the hole it used to cover and clean the mess before I'm out the door, trying not to skip, but there's a definite spring in my step.

Y/n's house wasn't very far driving, but around a twenty minute walk on foot. As the sight of her front door came into view I start to feel anxious, wondering if I should have asked first. I should ask for her phone number so I could have called. Why haven't I done that yet?

Abruptly I halt mid stride when her scent hits me. 'The smell of dawn' I think idly as I move my eyes from side to side, trying to catch a glimpse of her. Oddly she's no where to be seen. There's no one out on the neighborhood street apart from a few cats resting on her front lawn under a patch of sun. All except for one. This one sits apart from the rest, grooming one delicate paw. Silky black fur shines in the sun and one thought comes to mind before I can stop it. Beautiful.

Huh? Why...

As if sensing my presence, the black cat pauses and flicks wide, green eyes up to meet my own.

Something in my heart freezes for a split second before warming over and flooding with emotion, filling me up and threatening to spill over. My pulse picks up and my palms start to sweat, tingles finding their way from my neck, down my back and then up again.

But...that doesn't make sense.

Our gaze doesn't break. We continue to stare one another down and instinctively I know with everything in me.

That's my mate

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Edited 7/22/21