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IT'S A PUPPY! NAMJOON HAS A PUPPY AND IT'S A PUPPY AND SO SMALL AND IT'S PUPPY! NFH NASD;KLNCJLASDUIFHSDIKLxdifjBNDJE!!

Now listen. You need to calm down.

I don't particularly care for dogs. But. This dog is different.

The exception: IT LOOKS LIKE FLUFFY.

Since I'm not exactly knowledgeable when it comes to canines or all the different breeds, I'm informed by In-guk (a dog lover) that this is a baby Husky.

He's wrong. That is a miniature Fluffy and my inner crazy lady is currently making grabby hands and flipping out over the similarities. Outwardly, I keep my cool so no one judges me for freaking out over a dog. I don't know why it just seems important.

This isn't a hard feat.

Except that it's a really hard feat.

Heart thundering away against my rib cage, I swallow thickly as I watch the puppy observing us all with round, curious eyes, it's head adorably titling to one side when Eun-ji gasps and covers her mouth.

But not me! Because I can control my craziness over a cute puppy. I can't with cats or with Fluffy. Dogs on the other hand, it's definitely possible.

Until I feel it. This cute ass dog is, dare I say it—fluffy. Little baby hairs adorn his tiny, compact body. Those erect ears, that pattered face, the brown eyes and the extra scruff of fur around it's neck reminds me so much of my wolf that my heart actually begins to flutter.

What is wrong with me?

"What do you think?" Namjoon draws my attention with the question. I glance to him, our eyes meeting for a beat before I look back to the puppy in his arms.

Wait.

No.

Not Namjoon.

With an alarming realization, my gaze flicks back to my boyfriend's eyes. I'd know that look anywhere. Intense and watchful, deep and full of idolization. That's not how Namjoon looks at me. It's not full moon and nowhere close. So how the hell is Fluffy active and why is Namjoon allowing it? Without turning to face them, my eyes dart to the general direction of the others and I give a near imperceptible shake of my head, trying to tell him without words not to say or do anything weird.

It doesn't work.

"You had a bad day yesterday and Namjoon was so mean!! I tried to find a cat but there weren't any for sale in the area so I got her! What do you think?" he asks excitedly, holding the puppy up next to his head. "Doesn't she look just like me?!?"

I stare, slack-jawed, my mind a blank, white canvas.

What could I possibly say in this situation that could be constructed as a reasonable explanation?

Option one.

Pretend Namjoon is acting out a script. This is a really good plan, except that would never work because Fluffy has little to no self control and doesn't understand the concept of 'act natural'. Knowing him, he'd say something like, 'Mate, you know I'm not acting. By the way, can I mark you?'

Option two.

Pretend I'm having some sort of medical emergency......aaaand have Fluffy freak out completely and bite anyone who comes near me.

Option three.

Scream, 'I LOVE PENIS!' Or something equally absurd (not that it's absurd to love penis. Nothing wrong with a little dick love. Oh my god someone stop me.) to draw everyone's attention.

...Yeah, I'm not that desperate.

Option four.

Oh shit I can't think of anything else.

That's why it's a good thing that Jimin comes to the rescue, choosing the secret, and most stupid option of all.

"AAAAAAAAH!" Everyone's attention is diverted when Jimin—god bless his soul—drops to the ground and begins to flail around wildly while screaming at the top of his lungs for seemingly no reason at all. Not wasting the opportunity or Jimin's sacrifice, I push FluffyNamjoon and miniature Fluffy out of the sun room, down the hall, and out the front door.

"Mate, where are we going?" FluffyNamjoon questions as I continue to push him from behind.

Over to the side of the building and into the shelter of the trees, I look backwards worriedly a few times, hoping no one will walk out after us. When we get to a moderately private area behind a small painted fence covered in honeysuckles, I stop shoving.

Panting slightly because once again, I forgot that Namjoon has got a thicc ass, I watch as a FluffyNamjoon puts the FREAKING ADORABLE PUPPY—ahem. Excuse me. He places the puppy, which I just now notice is wearing a pink harness attached to a leash, on the ground and wraps the end of the leash to a part of the fence.

With that taken care of, it puts the cute animal out of my direct line of sight, which helps to dispel this sort of crazy lady fog that had formed in my head. Now I can look at him and this situation with a clearer outlook so we can get to working out our—never mind, he's hugging me and this is better.

It hasn't even been a whole day since Namjoon last hugged me, but it seems like it's been longer. Too long. His hugs were always my happy place, but at some point in our relationship, the feelings they evoke had turned me into a clingier version of myself. Twelve plus hours of no Namjoon cuddles is far too long for my liking.

I love him. So much, and now would be a perfect time to tell him, with the exception that it isn't Namjoon I'm speaking to. I know they're the same person and maybe it's a bit silly, but I want him to hear it first. There are so many questions rolling around inside. Why is Fluffy here, what am I going to do with a dog, what excuse is Jimin going to give for his 'fit'. But all of those things, and the rest of my worries, evaporate into the wind when I'm in his arms. I could stay here forever because scarily enough, everything else I love and prioritize pale in comparison when he holds me like this.

Except for cats.

Cats are the bomb.

Though I hate doing so, I shift away so that I can attempt to gain answers for those questions. Unsurprisingly he pulls me back and tightens his hold.

"Not yet, Mate. I missed you so much." His hand begins a descent through my hair, gently running his fingers through it in a consoling type of way. "Namjoon was sad yesterday and he took it out on you. I'm really sorry he's a big meany."

"Why was he sad?" I question while fiddling with the buttons on his jacket. I should care more about the answer than I do, but honestly I'm so distracted with how good this feels that it's hard to concentrate.

"When that bee was trying to hurt you-" he starts to explain the reasoning for what I've been dying to know, but cuts off halfway, drawing back and looking me dead in the eye. "Mate! Tell me to do it-" he fixes me with the most die hard expression I've ever seen, "-and I will annihilate ALL THE BEES!"

Despite how serious he is, I can't help the snort that comes out at annihilate. First he was going to annihilate any wolf that touched me, now it's the bees, and possibly the toilet. My cutesy little Fluffy wants to annihilate all kinds of stuff and to be honest, it's really adorable.

Now my crazy lady is out in plain sight and I don't try to hide it—Fluffy is that powerful. The palms of both hands resting on either side of his neck, I try to match his seriousness, though I probably fail in that aspect because this silly grin won't leave my face. However, I try anyway, making sure he's paying close attention while I utter what I'd come to learn was his favorite thing to hear me say.

"Fluffy, you're a good wolf."

There's this little...jumpy thing he does that is very Fluffy and very not Namjoon. He leans back on his heels and jumps a bit as he beams with pride. I smile right back and we both giggle at one another, so caught up in our soap opera that neither of us notices we have an audience.

"This is the weirdest foreplay I've ever seen, but I can't say I hate it." I jerk around to meet Eun-ji's interested expression, not missing the way she's looking back and forth between Namjoon and I with a calculative look. A look I know all too well. Eun-ji has the ability to size people and their actions up and understand them.

Next to her stands a red faced Hoseok, who looks like he'd rather be shot out of a cannon and into the Dead Sea than be where he's currently stationed. His gaze skips right over me and onto the Namjoon, but that was to be expected. Even after apologizing, since that day when he really needed milk he hasn't been able to make eye contact with me. Beside him stands Jimin, watching us with an expression you might wear while watching the fluffiest (pun intended) romantic comedy.

My first instinct is to come up with some excuse to give Eun-ji for what must look like the weirdest role playing game ever, but before I can get to that, FluffyNamjoon speaks first.

With a pout and one last kiss to my forehead, he says to Hoseok. "Fine, fine. I'm leaving." Then mutters under his breath, "stupid alpha."

I've never actively seen Fluffy...how do I say this? Go away? Go back to the house inside of Namjoon's head he usually resides in? Or something like that. I'd never been able to watch Namjoon and Fluffy switch places so to speak, so I pay rapt attention to face, mainly his eyes because that's where Fluffy is most recognizable to me.

The switch turns out to be underwhelming, to say the least. There's a simple blink and then I see Namjoon. Soft instead of intense, interested as opposed to watchful, and that small spark of fondness that is always present.

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What have I done?

Our wolf taking over while in human form wasn't entirely uncommon, but I was under the impression that I had more self control over myself for something like this to happen. Fluffy is able to take over during full moon because, in short, our emotions and senses are so high it's far too difficult to control.

Last night, the moment I laid down to sleep, sleep was the last thing I was capable of. Our disagreement had been all I could think about. Why had I been so childish? Why couldn't I simply tell her what was on my mind instead of acting passive aggressive and petty? That I pushed her to the point that she actually thought I would be angry over not marking her—something I would never hold against her—laid a heavy blanket of regret over my entire being.

Of course that started the train of what ifs and the maybes to circle around. What if she holds this against me? What if she decides I was lying and thought I really was angry over not being able to mark her? Maybe in the space of a single afternoon I ruined our entire relationship and now she hates me and she's going to dump me and then everyone will laugh at me and I'll be a failure as a wolf and man and mate and be a public disgrace to our pack and my parents and friends and worst of all, Y/n.

I can't live without her. That much is obvious. Logical thinking and reality left the scene when that idea hit me. And that's when I lost control. Fluffy, for the most part, was optimistic.

'Let's get her a cat or two and forgiveness is imminent.'

At the time it was a decent idea. Never mind that she already has four cats. As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, Y/n will always want more. Therefore we (or Fluffy) set to looking. There weren't any animal shelters nearby so we switched to searching for anyone selling or giving away free cats and still, nothing.

I, personally, never would have bothered to look for dogs, but something caught our eye. Huskies. Fluffy insisted she would love it. His argument didn't entirely convince me, but at that time I was still too weak and discouraged to take control back so had no choice but to go along for the ride.

It was right at sunrise when we set out. An hour's walk there, over a million won spent, another hour's walk back, Fluffy nearly exposing us to Y/n's father, Jimin appearing unhinged and then many cuddles later and I'm capable of taking control back. If I hadn't been able to, Hoseok would have forced it, so I'm grateful that he came down to oversee.

There's a lot to be answered for, but one good thing to come out of this mess, or so I hope, is that Y/n doesn't appear to be mad at me, nor on the brink of leaving me at all.

Eun-ji's questions are answered first. She wants to know the reason for my behavior and why her friend is calling me Fluffy. There's a look in her eyes that give me the impression of her building a case in her head, and Y/n catches onto that swiftly, take her by the arm and walking off. Is she going to tell her everything?

Next is Hoseok, who wants to know how this happened. I give him the short version and he says he understands, but lets me know that he's still going to have to report it to the elders of the pack. That was inevitable. Any time there was a potential for humans to find out our secret, the elders had to be in the loop.

Lastly was Jimin, who had no questions but told me bluntly, "You owe me one. I had to tell them there was a spider in my pants and now Y/n's dad thinks I'm nuts."

He was right. I did owe him.

Finally, after a good while, Y/n came back. The guys had headed back inside and I can only assume Eun-ji had done so as well since she was alone. In that time I'd become acquainted with this puppy, and decided then and there that if Y/n didn't want her, I would take her. Jin-hyung would most likely crap a brick, but I couldn't look at her furry face and send her back. She was a friendly dog and very loving.

When my mate was once again standing by my side and looking to me for answers, I decided. Now was the time. Not only does she deserve answers and an explanation, but I can't wait anymore. She has to know how I feel. How I really feel. Right now. Today.

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Edited 6/7/22