Running with the wolves [j.jk ff.]

N A R I

On trembling legs, the girl stumbled into the forest, sobs wracking her small frame and her red hands trembled. What is happening to me? I've lost control again. Nari hid behind one of the taller trees, her chest heaving and slowly she started hyperventilating. She could hear the panicked screeching of her townspeople, see the flickering of their fire in the condensation on the leaves.

She couldn't remember what happened as soon as the sun set, but when she came to her senses again, her mother lay dead on the floor, her jugular ripped out messily and blood stained Nari's hair, clothes, and skin. "What is happening to me?" she whimpered like a scared kid, wiping the red liquid staining her hands and lips on her yellow shirt. "Last month the dog, now my mother... Did I kill her?" she asked the trees, not expecting an answer, obviously.

She risked a look back to her village, seeing the men search the forest for her. Suddenly the light of a flashlight shone right at her and collective screams of 'There she is!' sounded through the forest. Without thinking she bolted the opposite direction, angry people hunting after her. Then she made the mistake of turning around. A gunshot sounded the next second and she thought it was her end. Someone pushed her to the ground, however, dragging her away from the mob.

Nari kept kicking and trying to scream, but the hand of the stranger who had pushed her to the ground was firmly clasped over her mouth. "Sh sh... Calm down my little lily" a familiar voice called out, the nickname freezing her in a second. "Dad?" she asked in a whimper, as the hand was released from her mouth. Her father smiled down at her with sadness in his eyes.

"Oh, my baby... What happened to you?" he sighed, looking at her messed up state. Finally, tears started falling from her eyes. "I don't know, Daddy! I'm so scared!" she cried out, pulling her hair in frustration. Her father pulled down her shirt the next second, revealing a healing bite mark on the juncture of her neck. "So I was right..." he muttered grimly. Nari hastily pulled her shirt up again, putting a trembling hand against the mark.

"What are you talking about?" she whispered. "You don't remember and we didn't want to tell you, but about three months back, a rogue she-wolf kidnapped some of the girls here from the village. You were one of them, but the only one who was found alive. You seemed fine, but we feared it would come to this" he sighed, running a hand over his tired face.

"To what? Please just tell me what is happening to me!" the girl pleaded with her father. "She turned you, my little lily" he replied and Nari froze. "But..." she didn't even know what she wanted to say. "Aren't you mad about mother?" she finally asked, in a silent and unsure voice. Her father shook his head sadly. "It wasn't you doing it, Nari. It's the monster, not you... Don't beat yourself up ov-" his little speech was cut short by another gunshot, paired with an 'It's me you idiot!'

Her father turned back to her. "You have to go, you are not safe here any longer!" Nari shrunk in her height at his words. "I don't want to leave" she whimpered in fear. "If you want to live, you have to" he insisted, kissing his daughter on the forehead one last time, before pushing her deeper into the forest.

Nari stumbled on for days, her feet cut open by the thorns of the thick underbrush and her shirt barely a shirt anymore. She was hungry and cold, every step hurt her aching muscles even more. Her tears had dried a long time ago, she was also too exhausted to cry anyway. I have no idea where I am. The forest she was now wandering through was unknown to her. "God, if you exist... Please give me food" she prayed with a rough voice from not using it for so long. Her prayers were heard, when a young deer stumbled through her path unexpectedly.

It might've been the hunger or the animal she was now sharing her body with, but the small little deer looked so delicious to Nari, her eyes turned a light shade of green and she pounced.

***

Jimin was kicking stones as he walked through the forest, grumbling to himself how he hated going on patrols alone. Normally he would at least have Hoseok-hyung or Taehyung with him, that way it wasn't that boring at least. He had walked almost half his way when he suddenly picked up the strong smell of fresh blood. The metallic smell was so overpowering he could almost taste it in his mouth. Jimin cowered in a defensive stand closer, growling in warning when he jumped to the clearing, where the smell was coming from.

"I believe you stole our prey!" he hissed angrily at the girl, crouching in front of a dead deer. Her back was turned to him, but upon hearing his voice she turned around. Jimin straightened in surprise. "Please help me" the girl cried quietly, her face and clothes dirty and stained with fresh blood. Jimin's head swam, he was overwhelmed with sudden feelings that weren't his own. Helplessness and fear the main components of the emotion cocktail. "I don't know what is happening to me, please help me" the girl cried.

"Mate" Jimin whispered more to himself, than to the girl when he could finally place that feeling. It was an unconscious response, his wolf just knew that second. The girl in front of him, the dirty girl who had just killed a deer without turning into a wolf, was his mate. He took slow steps towards her, before sitting down beside her. Nari flinched at that. "Don't be afraid anymore. I will help you" he smiled warmly at the girl. Nari smiled back, with that stranger she felt safe.

***

It was a tough job helping Nari control her wolf and especially the full moons it wasn't a rare occurrence that Nari would wake up from her frenzy and see Jimin bleeding profusely from a lot of scratches. Never ever would he lay a finger on her, not even when she was clawing at him in her wolf form. His top priority was to keep her locked away before she could hurt someone else because he couldn't take the guilt she would feel for days afterward. He wanted to keep her safe from everything as best as he could and he swore to himself he would keep doing it for the rest of his life. That's why he smiled at his mate, even when he hurt all over.

***

Jimin knew how much Nari hated the scar on her neck, a reminder of the she-wolf that had ruined her life, that had killed so many people and animals in her name, because of the curse she had put on Nari. She hated her new existence as a werewolf, but with her newfound family and Jimin, she mused that it wasn't so bad after all. She fell hard for the caring and shy boy that had helped her control her demons so she and everyone around her would be safe even during the full moon. So naturally, when he confessed his feelings properly, beyond the existing mate-bond that they knew of, she happily agreed to a 'forever' with him.

And Jimin marked her over her scars, showing her that they didn't symbolize the ending of her life as she knew it, but the beginning of a new life with him by her side.

How much do you hate me now for not telling you if Jungkook survives or not? *Evil cackle* Are y'all anxious? Are y'all sad? Don't worry, Jisoo is even more anxious and even sadder than you are ^^
I promise I'll tell you soon tho... Maybe sooner than you think? *hehe*
I still love you tho! Don't hate meeee~